The internet + music - good or bad?

[HND_Tob]

Hi all. I've just signed up here as a new member! I'm a bassist currently studying a HND in Music Performance, and i need your help!

Basically, i'm just interested in hearing other music lovers opinions on how the internet has affected the music industry - thats where you come in! So, what do you think? Is the internet helping make or break the industry - what pros/cons can you see? What genre of music is being the most affected in your eyes?

Thanks in advance for any response.
Cheers, Toby.

[Krummhorn]

Greetings, Toby ... welcome to MIMF.

On your subject, I believe that a very positive effect has been made via the internet for music. I listen to internet radio lots of the time when doing when I'm in my music office at home.

I am partial to the Classical genre, but the internet has been able to shift some of my focus onto different styles and venues, although there are still some that are akin in sound to that of ones fingernails scrapping across the chalkboard!!

I do believe Classical music is making a huge comeback, and gaining popularity primarily because of being more readily available on the internet.

This is great debate material and I look forward to reading more responses from our other forum members. Thanks, Toby for a great post!

[rojo]

Hi Toby,

Well, the internet has and will continue to change the music industry in ways that are probably unforseeable in the future.

Here are a few things that can be noticed already-

-There is a decline of CD sales due to music obtainable from downloading.
-Most serious bands and artists now have their own websites for people around the globe to visit and thus hear their music.
-The number of people getting their music from the net is growing.

Perhaps instead of having a few very popular, extremely high-selling artists, there will be many less-selling ones; artists will have to vie with tons of competition from other artists out there. I think this could be a very good thing; more artists will be able to make a decent living for themselves, and be able to provide good music for us all! Just a hypothesis...

[protos]

Basically, i'm just interested in hearing other music lovers opinions on how the internet has affected the music industry - thats where you come in! So, what do you think? Is the internet helping make or break the industry - what pros/cons can you see? What genre of music is being the most affected in your eyes?

Hi there,

The internet (and computer technology generally) is changing the balance of power between the music publishers and the artists. I was surprised recently to discover how inexpensive it is to produce an album (once the music has been composed/recorded). With places like CD Baby paying the artist 91% of revenues, why would any good musician/composer wish to have their music published by anyone other than themselves (unless the publisher can send the band on tour or fund time in a big studio)?

There are still costs, however - mainly in buying the music technology to record. However, when I was a teenager, you had to pay thousands of pounds for *one* good keyboard. Now for a fraction of that you get a top quality sound system, keyboard and multi-track recording studio at home (using a computer). With the internet, you can now publish the results as MP3 files at (almost) no cost using sites like 'Soundclick'.

With digital distribution the revenues are going to go to the stores and artists (if the artist publishes their own music). However, while I've noticed almost complete acceptance of this amongst young people, older people - and those who like albums rather than singles - are not so keen.

The other contribution of the Internet is low cost worldwide advertising. I'm learning all the time, but it is now possible to get highly targetted adverts to your target audience for a relatively modest outlay. This - once more - empowers the artist, but only if they have the inclination/time to market their own work.

What are your thoughts?

Rory Ridley-Duff

[Krummhorn]

Perhaps instead of having a few very popular, extremely high-selling artists, there will be many less-selling ones; artists will have to vie with tons of competition from other artists out there. I think this could be a very good thing; more artists will be able to make a decent living for themselves, and be able to provide good music for us all! Just a hypothesis...

Rojo, I like your hypothesis ... and it seems that the music world is making great strides today in bringing this to fruition.

[cessy]

It is a mixture of positive and negative effects with regard to the Internet and music industry. The Internet is one of the most effective ways to advertise and I believe that it was able to help musicians promote their stuff. However, it also noticeable that there is a huge decrease on sales that is caused by downloading mp3s.

[ViolinCyndee]

The internet is really great for independant artists, especially. I have been able to collaborate with musicians all over the world, and get gigs in the UK and Amsterdam through the internet. I have made CD sales in places that I would definitely never have been able to go and perform gigs live at, too.

[Cobalt]

I'm a huge advocate of using the Internet to distribute music to a wider audience. There are thousands of great artists out there who aren't well known at all, though with the exposure offered by the Internet, are able to compete with commercial artists.

Unfortunately it has brought about copyright theft on a grand scale, and as we are all well aware, millions of illegally ripped MP3's change hands on a daily basis. However, sales of CD's have not dropped as significantly as record labels and artists would like to make out, and I do not feel it has had that big an impact. Most users that download a CD would probably not have purchased it anyway, and those that prefer the real deal are still going out and buying them.

I don't agree with copyright theft in any way shape or form, though the statistics clearly show the Internet has had a largely positive impact for the recording artists and the public alike. I enjoy the freedom of choice and I enjoy listening to smaller and in some cases even unsigned bands - I doubt I would get that opportunity in my local HMV or Virgin Megastore.

[Miz_ai]

Internet is the reason why i can even listen to classical, it's really dry here in Indonesia. I mean there's only 1 radio in Jakarta that play classical and it's only on 23.00-01.00 mon-fri. the good thing is they play jazz all day except those 2 hours,

it brings both positive and negative
negative part of course is fact that ppl that download usually rarely buy, esp for other genre of music, ppl can download pop, rock song freely on the internet

but there're more positive effects, ppl now can easlybuy mp3 of recordings, net-radio also help ppl to listen easly whenever they don't have anything to listen, podcasts help ppl to keep the radio recording

internet also great for independent musician to promote their music ^^

[Frederik.Sjölund]

I would say that the piracy on music on the internet, illegal as it may be, has some positive effects to the music world as a whole.
More live concerts come around as they become the primary source of income for the record companies and for the artists. This is good news for all fans since music is best experienced live in a concert. And you cant download such an experience.
They are also pushed to include exclusive content on their albums. Perhaps even start making collectors editions?
Thats what they've started to do for computer games. In a collectors box of a good game you get collectibles such as statuettes, artbooks, soundtrack albums and special features.
I think this is the way to go. The internet is here to stay so they gotta work with it rather than trying to stop it.

[Kaizen]

As stated by some other posters, although illegal music pirating is running rampant, it does have its positive attributes. Not only will the music be able to reach a much larger audience than any compact disc would be able to do, but it would also allow the music to be shared more easily. Sure millions of dollars are lost through this pirating but its just one of the negatives to what I feel is very positive.

[Zippy]

I think unsigned bands would be most affected by the internet. It's the largest advertising opportunity available for any unknown band. You only have to glance through websties such as Myspace to find hoards of kids wanting to make it big. Annoyed as larger bands may be, that they aren't paid every time any song they wrote is played anywhere anytime by anyone, I think generally the internet is a good thing for music, making it more universal, and more accessible.

[FKA1]

(Hi Cyndee!)

While i agree w/ the potential of the net,
it has to be thought of the same as any market.
You've made it to the shelf in aisle 12, but
how does anyone know that?
The product setting next to yours has
a national ad campaign, posters on the store walls,
plays on radio, MTV.
Guess who's going to sell more...

The OMDs are great tools, places to direct
listeners, but it still comes down to the ability to make
consumers aware that the product exists.

P e a c e
Kirk

[StuckOnBandaid]

I think music hitting the internet has its good and bad points.

First off, I love the idea of having music on the internet because I can actually listen to songs from a certain cd I'm interested in purchasing. I've been duped into buying a cd that had 2 good songs so many times, while the rest of the album sucks.

I also like the fact that musicians can get their music out there and get some exposure. I can't count the number of times I've seen an indie/rock/etc. band and was blown away.

[ArtsWom]

I think that if you look at the big picture and take into consideration the artists rather than the companies, the Internet has mainly had a positive impact for musicians (and music fans). I have recently heard (apologies, I can not remember my source) that CD sales have actually risen in the past few years - although, admittedly, this is only in the case in the UK as far as I am aware. The resources available for us to learn about new music and for new musicians to get known has completely changed the dynamic of the music scene. Personal radio sites such as Pandora and Last FM are perfect for finding new bands you would be interested in and forums (like this one!) are an excellent way to get involved in a larger community of like-minded music fans. It would be interesting to know if concert and gig ticket sales have increased as a result of such exposure.