In
every industry, the essential purpose is to increase capital. While sometimes
not inherently highly profitable, the business side of the arts is constantly
looking for ways to gain enough money to stay afloat and thrive. In the
twentieth century, the music industry had developed a lucrative system where
big record companies with developed distribution centers, highlighting artists
through radio and TV promotions, worldwide tours, and control over record
content. Many people have long been frustrated, however, with the amount of
money the record companies gain at the expense of the individual artist. For
example, recording costs are generally born by the artist (many times with a
loan from the record company) and for every $16 CD sold, the record companies
take $10 (Rapaport). Not only do they take from the artists monetarily, but the
record labels are notorious for completely controlling the artist’s image and
persona.
However with the
invention of the Internet, there came a shattering disruption of the industry.
New, unconventional distribution methods have emerged, changing all of the
rules. The music industry now faces a new age of music production. Huge names
are bursting on the scene from self-produced YouTube videos, and online
streaming is making it possible for people to produce and sell their own albums
without the costs of creating physical records or having to pay back the record
labels. In the midst of these and other changes, the rise of piracy, has
created a prevalent fear among the music industry giants that illegal
downloading will be the death of the music industry all together. But because
of shifts in the way people consume music, and by embracing the new methods,
the society is actually empowering artists and driving the music world into
new, potentially dynamic economic areas.
Walter
Benjamin, a German philosopher associated in the 1930’s with the Marxist
Frankfort School for social and aesthetic theory, hypothesized that by making
art mass produceable, one can democratize it. In Benjamin’s day, the
conversation was about the new, widely accessible technology of the camera,
wherein anyone could frame or create a picture, as opposed to the traditional
painting method that took unusual amounts of training and time. He said in an
essay, “For the first time in world history, mechanical reproduction
emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependence on ritual. To an
ever greater degree the work of reproduced becomes the work of art designed for
reproducibility” (Benjamin). He firmly believed that this new technology
produced and distributed cultural creations and therefore had emancipatory
potential (Benjamin). By “mechanical reproduction”, the camera unmasked the
mystery of art production, and made art much more accessible to many more
members of society; democratizing both production and consumption. Much to the
chagrin of today’s big record labels, Benjamin might be happy with our new
technology that allows musicians from basically anywhere to produce and
distribute their own music to the masses. With the Internet, new artists have
control over their own material, and are not (directly) limited by commercial
pressures to mold their identity or product. And the chance to become a big
star, in theory, is available to anyone.
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| Figure # 1 : the youtube world fell in love with him like this, and made him a superstar |
Many
artists have launched prominent and sustained careers by putting homemade
videos on YouTube. Justin Bieber, for example, started out as a kid playing
acoustic guitar online. His now manager discovered his videos and signed him at
13-years-old. Justin Beiber has since created a #1 album and three top 10
singles, been nominated for three Grammys, and grossed $44 million on his
concert tour, “My World Tour” (Ford). Another example is the hip hop duo
Karmin, who started by filming covers in a basement, and have now scored a
double-platinum hit, appeared on Saturday Night Live, and the cover of Rolling
Stone Magazine. Rapper Solja Boy initially self-published his single “Crank
That (Soulja Boy)” which in September of 2007 hit #1 on the Billboard charts
for seven weeks (Staff).
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| Figure # 2:Pentatonix in their own house, singing for their youtube channel |
Or Pentatonix, who initially started/was discovered by
a reality television show, “The Sing Off,” which won them a record deal. About
a year later were dropped by that label (read the interview here)
and started a YoubTube video to promote themselves. So even though they may not
have started organically, they saved their careers by doing so. They have since
toured around the world and are currently nominated for a Grammy Award for
their mash up of daft punk songs. All of these artists were able to carve clout
and autonomy for themselves in the world of music because of the twenty-first
century egalitarian access via YouTube.
Along with
YouTube, websites like “Band Camp” and “Reverbnation” allow artists to
self-publish, self-promote, and ultimately sell without the commercial
restraints and economic hand-cuffs of a record label, thus giving them more
control over their own music/image etc.. For example Lana Del Rey signed with a
record company in 2007, but after she released her 1st album
digitally, she bought herself out of that contract. When her 2014 album was
released, it became the #1 on the Billboard Top 200 list (click here for more
info). Now able to completely control her own artistry, Lana has
become an auteur in her own right. Thanks to the easy access of the Internet
around the globe, her artistry and her economics are her own.
From such easy
Internet access, the online phenomenon of “pirating” has come about. Pirating
is a phrase that references the downloading or accessing of something online
without purchasing it. While it is
illegal, it is nearly impossible to enforce regulations against piracy, at
least completely, and so it is becoming more and more common. There is a deep
concern among the music industry that pirating will kill the business
completely. The New York Times discussed the dangers of piracy to the industry.
In it, the music federation blamed the 30% decline in global music sales from
2004-2009 on the culture of “tolerated apathy toward illegal file-sharing”
(Pfanner). CDs fell by about 16 percent worldwide, causing overall industry
revenue to decline to about $15.8 billion in 2009 from about $17.5 billion a
year earlier (Pfanner). Album sales have decreased; the top 25% of artists sell
less records.
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| Figure # : really music sales haven't decreased, just record sales |
But the interesting development is that the other 75% of artists
are actually benefiting from filesharing and profiting (Ernesto). People have
more opportunity to discover new artists if they can browse for free. More
often than industry managers might expect, people actually buy the music after
they have pirated it for free (Ernesto). “Ironically, so-called piracy is thus
promoting exactly what copyright is meant to protect: the creation and
dissemination of new artistic works” (Neal). It is the albums and artists that
are over-promoted that are suffering; the ones that make the record labels most
of their income, it is becoming harder for artists to be marketed to the top of
the charts. From Benjamin’s perspective, because of the freedoms of the
Internet, it is becoming harder for the record companies to control their
customers because of how many people are pirating music that they simply like
to listen to as opposed to those that are pushed forward by the record labels.
Some artists have
used this increasing awareness of people using bittorrents and piracy to their
advantage. Iron Maiden, for example, used analysis drawn from music consulting
firm, Musicmetric to find out where
their music was being downloaded the most. They discovered they had a huge
amount of illegal downloaders—and therefore assumed a large fan base—and
tailored their next tour around the fan demographic found via bittorrent
analysis. Gregory Mead, CEO and co-founder of Musicmetric said, "With
their constant touring, [the] report suggests Maiden have been rather
successful in turning free file-sharing into fee-paying fans” (Rutherford) utilizing the
way of the current system to their advantage.
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| Figure # :Radiohead pay-what-you-want album |
Anther band that
turned this current world of pirating into a beneficial situation was
Radiohead. They kept hearing about so many people stealing their
music—downloading it illegally—and so they decided to just give it out. They
launched their next album, In Rainbows,
in a digital, download, pay-what-you-want model. Most people paid nothing for
the download, and even still, pre-release sales for the album grossed more
profit than the total sales from the album Hail to the Thief, which had sold 100,000 copies (Nme news). Thom Yorke
stated that Radiohead had made more money from digital sales of In
Rainbows than the digital sales of all
previous Radiohead albums combined.
Few people
expected the band to have the capacity or ambition to put an album out
completely on their own. Thom Yorke told TIME magazine, "I like the people
at our record company, but the time is at hand when you have to ask why anyone
needs one. And, yes, it probably would give us some perverse pleasure to say
'F___ you' to this decaying business model” (Tyrangiel).
The music industry
is changing. Companies and artists are adjusting to this world of Internet
reality. While the big players in the industry might be frustrated and upset
about this change, it is inevitably going to continue to democratize and
explode in different directions. Benjamin would be proud and excited for our
country; everyone who knows how to press record on his or her computer can be
an artist, and can get their art to the world without the commercial pressure
of the bourgeois culture machine pushing down on the man. How progressive.
Benjamin, Walter, “THE WORK OF ART IN THE AGE OF MECHANICAL
REPRODUCTION”
http://www.wbenjamin.org/walterbenjamin.html
Ford, Rebecca; Schillaci, Sohpie; Carlson, Erin, Justin
Bieber By the Numbers: 18 Key
Stats From His Music Empire and
Beyond. Hollywood Reporter. March 1, 2012
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/justin-bieber-18-birthday-my-world-296096#related-galleries
Neal, Meghan, Sweet Irony: How Piracy Leads to More Hit
Music. January 2, 2014
NME News, Radiohead reveal how successful 'In Rainbows'
download really was
Facts for pay-what-you-want
release finally made public. October 15,
2008
Patrizio, Andy, Smart Data. Citeworld.
Pfanner, Eric. New York Times—global business: Music
Industry Counts the Cost of
Piracy. New York Times online. January 21, 2010
Rapaport, Diane, How Record Companies Make Money. Taxi.
Rutherford, Kevin, Iron Maiden Using Music Piracy to
Drive Concert Ticket Sales.
Billboard.com. December 26, 2013
Staff, DX, Soulja Boy, Will.i.am, Akon Take YouTube Live.
Hiphoppdx News
November 12, 2008
Tyrangiel, Josh, Radiohead Says: Pay What You Want. TIME
magazine online. Oct. 01,
2007
