To what extent does digital distribution affect the marketing and consumption of media products in the music industry?
Digital distribution has changed the way music is viewed and shared. Now more and more artists can share their music online for free with the help of internet sites such as YouTube and SoundCloud. This has lead to a rise in prosumers who have taken advantage of the now easy way to produce music. They follow the likes of Madeon and Beck, who produce, distribute and exchange their music by using horizontal integration. Producing music is now made easier as people can gather other peoples ideas and music to create their own piece of music. This means that artists no longer have to go to a record label and pay money for their music to be distribute, as they can distribute the music by themselves online. With music exchange, artists can share their music online in exchange for likes and views which gains them more popularity as an artist and gets them out there. With some artists, this gains them a chance to be signed to a record label, for example Madeon is signed to Sony Record Label and now everytime he uses their old songs, by back-tracking, he gains money, which he didn't gain before just as a prosumer. Many artists that distribute their music on YouTube and other sites, gain a chance to be signed to a record label, this shows how exchange for online artists is so important because it helps to promote their music. Digital distribution also makes it easier for independent artists, specifically because they don't have a major record label to promote their music for them. With the promotion of music easier, artists can then get more gigs, and most independent artists play for free because this helps to promote their music and more people will listen and buy their albums in the long run.
Marketing has changed from digital distribution as now music is marketed online rather than just in newspapers and music stores. For example, iTunes promotes their artists music with banners, pre-orders and reviews. Another example would be YouTube where music videos can help to promote their music and wider their market. This gets consumers aware of their music and possibly leads them to view other music produced. Marketing their music online helps to save costs which can be spent producing more music. However, digital distribution makes it easier for people to pirate other people's music and use it as their own. Also, even though digital marketing is becoming more apparent, not everyone will see the music as not everyone goes online to purchase their music. There is still a small portion of people who go to music stores to purchase albums and singles, rather than online. Music stores do try to widen their market by introducing products to sell in their stores that are related to the music industry such as headphones and speakers. However, they are still affected by the economy which leads them to widen across all media products by selling DVDs, TV series sets and games. For example, HMV has recently struggled with the effect of online distribution with more and more customers buying or viewing music online then purchasing CDs in store. This led to their stores closing and converting to an online store to keep up with the changing technology.
The consumption of music would be how consumers listen and purchase the artists music. With digital distribution, artists can attract more of an audience, which leads to more variety in consumers who purchase and view their music. Digital distribution also means that consumers no longer have to go out and buy actual physical DVD's, which saves the manufacturing side of music distribution. iTunes is an example of a digital distribution application which makes music accessible on several devices e.g iPhones and iPods. This means that large corporations such as Apple can be conglomerate to achieve maximum profit across all commercial interests. However, digital distribution also makes it easier for consumers to pirate an artists music. It also leads to music being leaked which makes it harder for artists to successfully market their music as people have already heard the music. There is a large market for digital consumption, however some believe that for only a downloadable content, online music can considered too high as there is no physical copy of the CD.
In conclusion, digital distribution has had a huge affect on the marketing and consumption of media productions within the music industry. Without digital distribution the chances of piracy and leaked music will be less easy to get hold of. however, without online marketing, independent artists wouldn't have a platform to expose their talents and be discovered.
Marketing has changed from digital distribution as now music is marketed online rather than just in newspapers and music stores. For example, iTunes promotes their artists music with banners, pre-orders and reviews. Another example would be YouTube where music videos can help to promote their music and wider their market. This gets consumers aware of their music and possibly leads them to view other music produced. Marketing their music online helps to save costs which can be spent producing more music. However, digital distribution makes it easier for people to pirate other people's music and use it as their own. Also, even though digital marketing is becoming more apparent, not everyone will see the music as not everyone goes online to purchase their music. There is still a small portion of people who go to music stores to purchase albums and singles, rather than online. Music stores do try to widen their market by introducing products to sell in their stores that are related to the music industry such as headphones and speakers. However, they are still affected by the economy which leads them to widen across all media products by selling DVDs, TV series sets and games. For example, HMV has recently struggled with the effect of online distribution with more and more customers buying or viewing music online then purchasing CDs in store. This led to their stores closing and converting to an online store to keep up with the changing technology.
The consumption of music would be how consumers listen and purchase the artists music. With digital distribution, artists can attract more of an audience, which leads to more variety in consumers who purchase and view their music. Digital distribution also means that consumers no longer have to go out and buy actual physical DVD's, which saves the manufacturing side of music distribution. iTunes is an example of a digital distribution application which makes music accessible on several devices e.g iPhones and iPods. This means that large corporations such as Apple can be conglomerate to achieve maximum profit across all commercial interests. However, digital distribution also makes it easier for consumers to pirate an artists music. It also leads to music being leaked which makes it harder for artists to successfully market their music as people have already heard the music. There is a large market for digital consumption, however some believe that for only a downloadable content, online music can considered too high as there is no physical copy of the CD.
In conclusion, digital distribution has had a huge affect on the marketing and consumption of media productions within the music industry. Without digital distribution the chances of piracy and leaked music will be less easy to get hold of. however, without online marketing, independent artists wouldn't have a platform to expose their talents and be discovered.
