How has technology changed the music industry?

Technology is one of the greatest developments of our time and has made a significant impact on the music industry in a number of different ways. Before digital media was introduced, fans of music  visited record stores and browsed through a great variety of albums and singles, these forms of music were great quality but some might say they lacked the ability of easy transformation for personal use. Towards the beginning of the 1990's, Walkmen and CD Players were the answer to many people's problems, they allowed people to listen to music on-the-go. During this period, car manufacturers also began to install CD and cassette players into cars to enable people to listen music whilst travelling in the car, etc. The contrast between the ways in which music can be accessed today in comparison to 20 years ago is quite large. Some of the ways people listen to music today include streaming websites such as Grooveshark, Soundcloud, Spotify (These websites allow users to stream for free but offer certain premium features that must be paid for), Vimeo and YouTube, digital downloads (either from iTunes/Amazon or illegally), CD format or even Vinyl records. Without a doubt in the past decade or so specifically, technology has changed the way we buy, listen to or even music itself.

Not only has the music itself changed with the advancement of technologies but the way artist's and record labels promote and market new albums and tours, etc. The internet alone has allowed artists to set up websites where fans can purchase tickets, merchandise or find out more on the band. Social networking websites such as Facebook, Myspace and Twitter are great ways for bands and artists to promote upcoming albums and tours with many often creating a good following/fan base on these websites. On Facebook, videos and images can be uploaded which would benefit musicians a considerable amount as they can share their latest music videos or posters with their online fans. Arctic Monkeys are a great example of a band who's success is partly thanks to the Internet. The first few songs they released were put on the Internet which if anything kick-started their career as more and more people continued to find and enjoy the songs. Today, they're one of the biggest bands in the Country, headlining festivals each year including Coachella and Glastonbury.