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MUSIC PRODUCTION &DISTRIBUTION

Media Issues & Debates

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Developments in technology and the emergence of the Internet have enabled far more artists to reach a wider audience. Where once recording equipment was prohibitively expensive; it is now widely available at a low cost. You can purchase sophisticated music production software for a few pounds on your mobile device or tablet. Damon Albarn recently produced a Gorillaz album in its entirety using software on the iPad.

In many cases artists are able to promote and distribute their music digitally without the assistance of a record label. Unsigned artists can sell their music on iTunes, have it streamed on Spotify and produce their own videos for YouTube.

Introduction

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Major Players

Worldwide Record Sales 2005Source: Wikipedia

The world music market is dominated by the "Big Four Record Labels.” They control most of the expertise and capital to market, influence airplay, and fill shelf space at record retailers. They can be considered as a music cartel that is very powerful in their market distribution. The “Big Four” control around 70% of the world music market and around 85% of the US music market, demonstrating the concept of oligopoly within the music industry

Source: MEDIA MARKET: Major Record Labels

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Independent’s Day

Independent record labels (or ‘indies’) are labels that operate outside of the control of the major labels. Typically they are less reliant on mass sales for success; with lower overheads and production costs than major labels even comparatively modest sales could generate more profit than a record released on a major.

“The punk rock era brought about a turning point for independent labels, the do-it-yourself ethos of the time seeing the emergence of a plethora of independent labels. Many of the UK labels ended up signing distribution deals with major labels to remain viable, but others retained their independence (e.g. Factory Records, Warp, Wax On, BlancoMusic) and the factor that came to define independent labels was distribution, which had to be independent of the majors for records to be included in the UK Indie Chart, which was first compiled in 1980” – Source: Wikipedia

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“The music industry has been undergoing drastic changes since the advent of widespread digital distribution of music. A conspicuous indicator of this is total music sales: since 2000, sales of recorded music have dropped off substantially while live music has increased in importance. The largest music retailer in the world is now digital: Apple Inc.'s iTunes Store”Source: Wikipedia

The rise of digital distribution

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Free Music

Established artists who may crave more creative control after years spent under the control of major labels have come up with some interesting ways to release their music independently. Radiohead released their album In Rainbows in 2007, it was made available for download and fans could choose how much they wanted to pay for it. Despite the fact that many downloaded it for free the band still sold 3m copies (this includes more traditional CD sales as well as paid downloads)

Prince took another approach to the release of his album Planet Earth. This was given away free in the UK with copies of the Mail on Sunday newspaper and was not available to purchase in stores. His label decided against releasing it for purchase in the UK as there were so many free copies ‘floating around’

Both artists were criticised for devaluing music and making it more difficult for smaller bands to make money from their own music. Do

you think this is the case?

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Crowdfunding

In the traditional model of music production and distribution a record label would loan the money to artists and this would be recouped through sales. Crowdfunding allows artists to raise the money from fans and other investors. This gives the artist far more creative control as they are not under the control of a record label more concerned with sales than artistic merit. Artists will often devise innovative ways to repay ‘investors’

Click here to view US musician Amanda Palmer’s Kickstarter page.

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New Media PlatformsThe growth of the Internet has opened up different platforms for artists to release, promote and indeed sell their music. Artists can now produce and release their music without the support of a record label at all. Digital distribution platforms such as iTunes and Google Play allow artists to sign up and release their music. Music can also be released onto streaming platforms such as Spotify. Artists can use social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to quickly reach a large audience.

Typically one of the largest costs in distribution music is the cost of producing physical copies on CD or vinyl. The exponential growth of iTunes means that artists can sell thousands of copies of their music without needing to have a physical copy. The UK charts were changed in 2007 to allow downloads to count as record sales (this has previously existed but the artists had to have a physical copy available for sale as well).

Many artists also release videos on YouTube, which now operates a revenue share scheme that allows artists (and indeed any other YouTube user) to make money by showing adverts before their videos. ‘Artists’ have even been signed to major labels after being spotted on YouTube (I use the term ‘artist’ lightly in this case!)

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Useful Links/Further Reading

http://blakesgangblog.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/demise-of-cultural-hegemony-in-music-as.html

(Discussion of the impact of new technology on the established hegemony of the music industry)

How the DIY ethic of punk rock influenced indie record labels - Helium

Did Radiohead's 'In Rainbows' Honesty Box Actually Damage The Music Industry

Music industry attacks Sunday newspaper' s free Prince CD