The music industry over the years has seen a wide variety of different changes from music pirating websites to copyright strikes on music videos to the development of the MP3 player. Technology often plays a pivotal role in the music industry and in this article we will evaluate how and why technology overall has had such a significant impact.
Music Piracy
One of the biggest shake ups of the music industry came around the early 2000s when music pirating websites such as Napster , lime wire and others were becoming increasingly popular with growing numbers of people on them.
The problem with these music websites was there was not the legislation in place for music companies or record labels to take direct action and have the music taken down. Eventually after a number of high profile court cases lime wire , Napster and other similar sites were forced to close down. It was noted by the judges that artists and record labels alike would be losing out on valuable royalties each time a track was played.
It is clear that overall music piracy has had a negative impact on the music industry overall. Although having said this , one of the reasons that it has benefited the music industry is a lot of reform and change has come as a result of it.
The MP3 Player
As well as piracy websites there have of course been other technological developments that have left a significant mark on the streaming industry overall. One of the most significant developments has been the development of the mp3 player.
The mp3 player is a small portable device that can play music and was a step up from bulky cassette players. One of the reasons why the mp3 player is so important is the way it changed music and how it was listened to. Millions around the world swapped cassettes and radio for mp3 players.
This then led to the development of portable music players on mobile phones as well as the iconic iPod product range introduced by apple. The iPod music player which was essentially an mp3 player proved to be a massive success with record breaking sales after its introduction and tens of millions sold across the world over a number of years.
Music Streaming Services
Music streaming services are yet another significant technological development within the music industry. One of the reasons why music streaming services have been so significant is the numbers of people using them. Since its creation spotify streaming services has seen a massive hike in the number of people using their services to over 200 million.
Streaming is different from traditional music purchases as you pay a subscription based payment and then listen to millions of songs available across the platform for a set period. Another fundamental difference is you have no rights to own the song and as a result when your subscription ends you can still listen to songs but with adverts and heavily restricted features. Streaming services also pay artists less royalties than traditional music sales.