There was a brief moment in the not too distant past when music was distributed for free on the Internet somewhat like news is today. Napster was the place where listeners downloaded and "shared" digital versions of their favorite music with other fans. The music industry took notice of all this free traffic and when to court to shut down Napster. iTunes rose Phoenix-like from Napsters' ashes to become the dominant music distribution system.
For newspapers grappling with a way to put the genie back in the bottle and figure out a way to get folks to start paying for their product again, the rise of iTunes may offer some hope: Maybe we can get people used to getting something for free to start paying for it again?
But were interested in the music story here, and from the business side of things, iTunes has been an unqualified success. Still, there are detractors. Jon Bon Jovi seems to think the move toward digital has diminished the discovery experience of music, going so far as to claim Steve Jobs (when he was still with us) was killing the music business. I wonder sometimes. Certainly my teenage daughters experience music far differently from how I did when I was their age. I hung out in record stores, thumbing through racks of 12-inch vinyl, admiring the cover art and wondering how it represented the music inside. No need for that (either the record store or the experience of hanging out in one) when you have iTunes. My kids gather round the computer with friends, sample songs and buy the ones they like. I'm not sure my kids have ever put on the headphones and listened to an album from start to finish the way I did.
There are other criticisms of the digital model. For instance, does it give industry leaders, some of whom have "control" issues, too much influence over music they way they once did during the payola days? Or does the Long Tail Effect level the playing field, allowing more artists to get their music to their fans?
So here our question for the week: How much is there to Bon Jovi's claim that digital killed the music industry? We've talked about the tactile experience of ink-on-paper media. Is there a similar experience that the old album cover and liner notes, as well as being grounded to a fixed-site device like a turntable, that changes music forever? Is that really a change, and if so, is it necessarily a bad thing?
I'll look for your comments by Friday when I will open the Sound Media quiz is open and ready for your test-taking pleasure.
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I think that the invention of ITunes is similar to the eBook in the sense that we are losing something. The quality of music is being compromised for the convenience of instant download ability. I feel like digital music has changed the way we experience music. Bon Jovi’s claim that digital music industry has killed the music is being a bit extreme. My understanding of the proliferation of digital music is that it has had an influential impact and has changed the music business. It seems that most importantly, it has altered the way we experience music. I do feel like music quality is being compromised. The kind of music now being produced through digital mediums does not reflect the sound technology that is available. Just like the e-book industry, there is a quality that is being lost and maybe it is just the tactile quality of holding a book in your hands or pondering what an artist is projecting with their choice of imagery on their album cover. It is almost as if the nostalgia of reading or listening to your favorite artist is being decreased by the need for instant gratification.
ReplyDeleteMy personal fear is that the little unique bookstores and record stores will be a thing of the past. I think the experience of getting lost in Powell’s bookstore in Portland or perusing records at Rocking Rudy’s is an invaluable way to experience books and music. Ideally it would be great to have it both ways, downloads and also thriving independents but statistically speaking I don’t think that this is the case. I feel like there might be an implicit cost to this technology that we don’t realize. We have seen that profits in books and music are down which is a direct effect of the digital music industry and the e-book. This shift in the book and music industry has pros and cons for the businesses and the consumer. The question is, is this convenience worth the potential cost?
This is indeed very interesting. I think it is very debatable whether or not digital music destroyed the industry. It certainly changed the music market though. In the old days of music albums, musicians would publish a few hits and a few duds together on one album. This allowed them to still make money for their not so great songs, since people will usually buy the album just to listen to the hit songs. In today’s world of digital music, music is now sold by the individual song. So now only the hits make money and the unpopular songs hardly make anything. This has potentially decreased the profit margin in the music industry. Even though digital music has potentially decreased profits for some, it has unlocked new opportunities for individual artists. The music business is no longer limited to famous bands, but individual musicians can now bring their creations to market. To some this change is probably a good thing, and to others the change is a burden; it all depends on which side of the industry you a standing.
ReplyDeleteTechnology has changed yesterday's music industry, and it will continue to change our media over the next few years in ways we cannot possibly comprehend. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Bon Jovi presents a disappointing example of an artist with a painfully closed mind. We should remember that as one tradition dies, another rises up from the ashes.
ReplyDeleteIt's comical at times to see the nostalgia people attach to the cultural norms they grew up with. I didn't live through it, but I expect the record overshadowed radio in the same way CDs later overshadowed records and digital music now dominates hard storage. If anything is different, it is simply the speed at which these changes are occuring.
So, to answer your question, digital music didn't "destroy" the music industry, it simply destroyed Bon Jovi's understanding of the music industry. Someday, the digital music industry will be destroyed just as thoroughly as records have been, and I'll be left sobbing over my 30-gig iPod classic. It's absurd, but I'm sure we'll see it more and more often with the speed of today's technological progress.
"digital music didn't "destroy" the music industry, it simply destroyed Bon Jovi's understanding of the music industry"
ReplyDeleteGood point.
I think it's really important to understand that upgrading our understanding is not destroying anything. Look at where we are with paper and pen versus chisel and rock. Apple simply followed the principle of water (path of least resistance), if Bon Jovi had a lick of sense he would realize how much easier, faster, and cheaper it is to digitally distribute music as opposed to the alternative, the archaic CD. Music is only better because of it's digital rebirth. I hope movies hurry up and get on board.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that digitally downloaded music is destroying the industry . I didnt live in the record era , so I never got to experience that. But like others have said, the misic industry is just doing what every thing else has done , which is modernize and grow with the times. I think iTunes has probably increased music sales because it is so easy and you can buy large amounts of music right from your house. People these days are all for convienance and simplicity. iTunes definitely brought that element to the music world. Bon jovis statement seems to be a possibly misguided and a personal opinion.
ReplyDeleteGoing digital didn't ruin the music industry. All it did was cut out the cost of manufacturing physical media therefore making the music industry more money. I will say there is something nice about opening up the jacket inside of the case and looking at the lyrics and liner notes from the band. Then again, anyone can sell their music in iTunes and not have the added cost of trying to peddle their music. They can simply just let people know that their music is for sale on iTunes via any social networking site and voila, money. How many people are rocking a DiscMan these days? We're in the age of the iPod. Digital music definitely reduced the amount of clutter in my house.
ReplyDeleteIt is truly crazy to think about the vastly different experiences we have when searching for music now-a-days compared to a few decades ago.
ReplyDeleteIn no way do I believe that iTunes has diminished music exploration- it just has greatly changed it. Once the value of convenience kicked in, along with the iPod, it just didn't make much sense for people to go out of their way to get CDs (and then take the effort to transfer the music from the CD to your iPod).
Music in general has become much more electronic- rather than guitars and drums, artists sing in unison with to electronic beats and bass.
To define whether is change is bad is in the eye of the listener. Everyone is different. My dad hates new music because they don't have real instruments in them a marjority of the time, yet my mom loves newer pop songs.
There is no denying that it will never be the same as it used to be.
Digitally downloaded music did not destroy the music industry. Yes, it greatly changed the way music is listened to and purchased. I myself can not say I have not bought and listened through an entire album or cd in a very long time. However, due to easy access to so much, digital download has broadened the exploration of music. One only has so much time to enjoy flipping through cd's in a book or music store. However, with digital downloads like iTunes or digital radio like Pandora it is so easy to come across new and different music you may not have even considered. Along with this "sharing" music through blogs, facebook etc (all possible through online music websites) friends are sharing artists and new music with everyone. Many up and coming music artists are being discovered online via youtube, myspace and personally posted albums/tracks on iTunes that may never have been heard if not for digitally downloaded music. As the sister of struggling music artist I have personally seen how truly beneficial going digital is for the music industry, artists and listeners.
ReplyDelete