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Fade Out...
I am neither a fortune teller nor do I
have the past experience to tell
much about what could happen in the
future
of music
business and music
culture. However, this section shall function as a
prediction of the
future by looking at some of the results my articles have come to. I
will wrap up the ideas developed
within this magazine and provide you
with a fade out to the
topic looking at the paradigm shift and its
implications in terms of music distribution, artists contracts and
patterns of the music industry.
Due to the paradigm shift relating to the physical distribution of music, CDs and records will become collectibles (Ted Cohen in Röttgers, 2003). The Internet as a means of music distribution is one factor that has led to music becoming a service rather than a physical good. Not only that the mp3-file is not a physical item, it has r
ather become a means of
advertisement for the artists’
other activities. As Moritz
Sauer states in his interview
the
distribution of free music online will function as a 'display
window' for the other items offered by the music industry.
Those are mainly concerts, which are intangible and hence belong to the
service-sector. The advice is given to completely move away from
viewing music as a consumer good and it is instead recommended to
create music as an event (Hubert Gertis in Röttgers, 2003).
For the artists this will imply a further dragging into the direction
of 360-degree deals,
or a new approach to selling
themselves and their
music depending on their connection to the record labels.
The structure of the music business will also change due to the abovementioned paradigm shift. The beginning of those new patterns has already become recognizable with the domination of the Big Four labels. It is predicted that there will increasingly exist such media-conglomerates that are responsible for everything connected to music especially in terms of the acquiring and marketing of artists (Tim O’Reilly in Röttgers, 2003). The Big Four will be mainly involved in this, but there will also be new players, which the change of Madonna to the concert agency Live Nation proves. However, it will not just be the big companies that profit, but also a few smaller ones in the independent sector will play a part. As shown in my last article the A&R people will gain a new role in the music sector. As Marten Schulp mentions the “gatekeepers” in the music industry will always have a say next to their opponents. However, they will have to pay attention to the demands of the consumers uttered online. They will become increasingly connected to the audience.
Those are just a few of the trends that I discovered and that are agreed on by the experts of the field. Most of them are already taking place and are hence not so much a prediction rather than an observation of the contemporary music business and culture. Eventually nobody knows for sure how everything will develop. As mentioned above, we are all not fortune tellers and the future remains difficult to predict. However, one thing is for sure:
Luckily, there is no need to worry about the existence of music as such!
Due to the paradigm shift relating to the physical distribution of music, CDs and records will become collectibles (Ted Cohen in Röttgers, 2003). The Internet as a means of music distribution is one factor that has led to music becoming a service rather than a physical good. Not only that the mp3-file is not a physical item, it has r
ather become a means of
advertisement for the artists’
other activities. As Moritz
Sauer states in his interview
the
distribution of free music online will function as a 'display
window' for the other items offered by the music industry.
Those are mainly concerts, which are intangible and hence belong to the
service-sector. The advice is given to completely move away from
viewing music as a consumer good and it is instead recommended to
create music as an event (Hubert Gertis in Röttgers, 2003).
For the artists this will imply a further dragging into the direction
of 360-degree deals,
or a new approach to selling
themselves and their
music depending on their connection to the record labels.
The structure of the music business will also change due to the abovementioned paradigm shift. The beginning of those new patterns has already become recognizable with the domination of the Big Four labels. It is predicted that there will increasingly exist such media-conglomerates that are responsible for everything connected to music especially in terms of the acquiring and marketing of artists (Tim O’Reilly in Röttgers, 2003). The Big Four will be mainly involved in this, but there will also be new players, which the change of Madonna to the concert agency Live Nation proves. However, it will not just be the big companies that profit, but also a few smaller ones in the independent sector will play a part. As shown in my last article the A&R people will gain a new role in the music sector. As Marten Schulp mentions the “gatekeepers” in the music industry will always have a say next to their opponents. However, they will have to pay attention to the demands of the consumers uttered online. They will become increasingly connected to the audience.
Those are just a few of the trends that I discovered and that are agreed on by the experts of the field. Most of them are already taking place and are hence not so much a prediction rather than an observation of the contemporary music business and culture. Eventually nobody knows for sure how everything will develop. As mentioned above, we are all not fortune tellers and the future remains difficult to predict. However, one thing is for sure:
Luckily, there is no need to worry about the existence of music as such!
All content © 2008 Kathrin
Weinen