The Consumption of Music

The way music is consumed by audiences today has changed significantly in the last few decades with the introduction of the Internet and music television. In the past, options were very limited and people would have to go to local record stores and purchase the Vinyl, CD, or Cassette but with the advancement of technology and the Internet, fans of music have access to their favourite artist's work without even having to leave their home through MP3 downloading via iTunes and online e-Marketing websites including Amazon and Play.com. Alternatively, many people just consider music as a service rather than an actual product and access it through free online services including Spotify and YouTube.

In the video below, EMI executive discusses how he believes music will in fact just become a service rather than a commodity.

Although these two services and similar ones are completely legal, some people like to actually own the music but choose not to pay for it resulting in illegally downloading it. As it has become the natural thing to do for some, many don't even believe they're committing an offence when they download music without paying for it. A large majority including myself prefer to pay for music for a number of reasons. Not only are you not committing an offence, I believe that if you're a fan of a band/artist and enjoy the music they make for you to listen, it's only fair to repay them, especially for new and upcoming bands who need to make as many sales as they can. For much bigger recording artists, losing out on sales to illegal downloads is not as much of a problem as they make the majority of their money from touring and merchandise yet it is still a significant problem with the music industry that shouldn't be ignored.

Events to have happened in the music industry in the past suggest that the audiences of popular
music like to be introduced to something completely new and different. When The Beatles released their album 'St Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band' in 1967, the album was widely hailed as the best pop record to date and coincided remarkably with the mass popularity in stereo recordings. Similarly, 15 years later, when MTV aired the first ever music video, Michael Jackson's 'Thriller', it resulted in a smash world hit. Some could say the 21st Century's equivalent is South Korean 'PSY''s world famous 'Gangnam Style' hit. Where an outrageous song fit with an even more outrageous video brokered into the most viewed and liked video on YouTube becoming the first to reach 1 billion hits.