The Music Industry

The music industry has changed significantly over the years since popular music was first introduced.  Today, it's dominated by three main record labels - Warner, Universal, and Sony. EMI and Independent labels such as Domino Records also account for the the latter. My 'prezi' presentation on the the music industry can be seen below.

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.

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.

Record Store Day

Record Store Day was originally founded in American in 2007 by Eric Levin, Michael Kurtz, Carrie Colliton, Amy Dorfman, Don Van Cleave and Brian Poehner. Over the past seven years, it has developed into an international event where a growing number of record collectors and independent records stores participate in each year as well hundreds of new limited edition vinyl being released from various different artists. 

The main purpose of Record Store Day is the to celebrate the art of music by bringing music lovers together from various different places across the world. From the artists point view it is also a great way for them to promote new releases through limited vinyl and CD digipack releases, etc exclusive to that day. Over 200 record stores just across the UK take part in RSD with some of the larger ones having upcoming bands and musicians performing in-store for the waiting customers. This year, the RSD is set to be held on Saturday 20th April, the official ambassador is solo artist, ex-member of The White Stripes and the man in charge of the Third Man Records label, Jack White. Some of the bands and artists releasing limited edition records this year include David Bowie, Peace, Tame Impala, Small Faces and Brian Jonestown Massacre. Below is a video of this years ambassador Jack White talking about Record Store Day and what vinyl means to him. 

HMV goes into administration

On the 15th January, the UK was shocked to hear the news that worldwide entertainment store HMV was going into administration after more than a year of financial crises, delivery a further blow to Britain's embattled high streets. With over 100 stores closed across the UK and thousands of employees losing their jobs, HMV just couldn't cope with pressure from online competitors such as Amazon, and play.com.

After the closure, I'm sure many people are left wondering where does this leave the music industry? Without a doubt, the majority of music fans will be more than upset to see the music stores leave their high-streets and feel the industry would be a better place with them. There is still and always will be a large and very significant demand for people wanting to buy music and it's only a matter of time before the digital download will take over the physical form of the CD, just like the CD did with the original vinyl record. As of May 2012, according the figures compiled by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), 55.5% of the £155.8m spent on music in the UK in the first three months of the year was of digital format. This statistic alone highlights how much of an effect digital downloads have had on HMV and it would be wrong to say they had it coming. Although the digital download is a major factor towards the demise of HMV and it's stores, the dramatic rise in illegal downloading off file sharing Internet websites has also taken a significant effect on the business.

A major worry of many regarding the music industry and the administration of HMV is the effect it could have on independent record labels. With little inner city shops left, the shops were a great way for smaller bands and artists to distribute their music nationwide. But, without them, many new bands and artists may struggle to 'break through'.

As it stands now, whilst the novelty of the physical form of music whether in vinyl or CD continues to die out, the Internet seems to be taking over the music industry. In the past year or so, statistics show that as the sales of the CDs decrease, digital downloads have significantly increased. Perhaps this is a new beginning for music and the industry surrounding it. Despite the rapid failure of HMV and it's stores, music can be accessed much more easily nowadays and people don't even have to leave their homes to get hold of it. Social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are also great ways for new and old bands to market their music. Without HMV however, music wouldn't be the same as it is today and they can only be thanked for what they've done to the industry.

NME Awards 2013 - Best Music Video

Each year New Musical Express, commonly known as NME magazine is host to the NME Awards where many different alternative bands and artists are awarded various awards including Best Album and Best Music Video. Initially, as I wanted to create an indie based music video for my main task I decided to research the different music videos nominated by the readers of NME for the Best Music Video.

Some of the music videos nominated for the award were:

David Bowie - Where Are We Now? 

After ten years without releasing any new material David Bowie fans were left thinking that might be the end of the prolific musicians career. But on the 8th January 2013, Bowie's 66th birthday, he released a new single 'Where Are We Now?' with the announcement of a new album 'The Next Day' on the way in March. Directed by Tony Oursler, the video is undoubtedly unusual and the majority of it features Bowie and an unnamed female companion's faces attached to  (later to be revealed as Ourslers wife Jacqueline Humphries) conjoined ' puppets on a pommel horse. Words relating to the lyrics appear during the video including references to the Berlin Wall and Bosebrucke, the first border crossing that opening when the wall fell. The video for Where Are We Now? could be set in an artist's studio in Berlin, the place Bowie lived from 1976. The video also shows black and white footage of the city from the 70's on a screen in the backdrop. 

 

Tame Impala - Feels Like We Only Go Backwards

Tame Impala are an Australian psychedelic indie rock band who take influences from bands including Cream, The Beatles and Pink Floyd. Taken from the band's second album Lonerism, the video for Feels Like We Only Go Backwards is directed by Joe Pelling and Becky Sloan. Unlike the other two videos linked, the artist's don't feature and it's made up from over 1000 separate home made plasticine  collages animated together into a creative masterpiece. Many people would say that the video is typical of the band's genre as the video is quite psychedelic and trippy throughout. Out of all the videos nominated for NME's Best Video of 2012, Tame Impala's was my personal favourite. 

And the winner is...

Arctic Monkeys - R U Mine?

Despite it being their 'year out' Arctic Monkeys released a new single on record store day last year. The video that accompanied the song was directed by Focus Creeps and it was made to promote the release of the single on record store day, 2013. The video is introduced by radio presenter Steve Jones who actually first aired R U Mine? at that moment in time. Throughout the song, it focuses on the frontman of the band Alex Turner and drummer Matthew Helders on a journey in a car. The camera isn't on any equipment and primarily held by either Alex or Matt. The main shots include close ups of the musician's faces, there are links between the music/lyrics and visuals with them singing and drumming on the steering wheel to the beat of the song.  The two other members Nick O'Malley and Jamie Cook also make brief appearances part way through the video.  After winning the award, Matt Helders was quoting in saying: "It were a fun video to make. Pretty easy though, to be honest, took a few hours. But, I think the result was really cool." 

Other nominees included:

M.I.A - Bad Girls
Grimes - Oblivion

Haim - Don't Save Me

What is a Music Video?

Millions of people watch music videos on a daily basis through various different sources like YouTube to music video channels such as MTV. However, although we watch and enjoy music videos regularly, do we actually know what a music video is, why they're made and the history behind them? 

A music video is a short film that incorporates music, vocals and a picture to promote a song or artist. Although many people argue that the sole purpose of music videos is to simply promote a new song or album by an artist, many musicians release them purely for artistic purposes. Other purposes of music videos include - to invoke a reaction from the artists audience leaving them remembering the song specifically because of the video, to give the audience a better idea of what the song is about if performance based, to improve or increase the artist's image or reputation.

The history of music videos go all the way back to the 1940's when Jazz musicians started making early versions of music videos called 'Soundies'. Soundies were usually just short performance based films of musicians playing on set, an example of Dorothy Dandridge's 'Soundie' for her song Cow Cow Boogie can be seen below. 

Without a doubt since then, music videos have evolved and developed significantly and first came into prominence in the 1980s due to MTV basing the format of their television channel around them. Not every music video is the same, each one uses a wide range of different film making techniques, some of these include - animation, documentaries, live action filming and non-narrative approaches like artistic/abstract film. Some styles music videos are collaborated together such as animation and live action for example. 

Common editing techniques used in the development of music videos include:
-Editing to the song beat.

-Straight cuts.

-Jump cuts.

-The use of diagetic sounds on the top of the music.

-Special effects/CGI

Today, nearly every single has a music video and many are nominated for awards each year. The very first music video aired was on MTV by The Buggles and called Video Killed the Radio Star. It was the 1980's when music videos started to become more advanced by including sophisticated effects, plots and story lines with the release of Michael Jackson's Thriller video. The concept of having a short film as a music video gave the meaning a completely different look, and without that the Thriller video, many music videos wouldn't be the same as they are today. 

Examples of some well known and important music videos of the past: 

Michael Jackson - Thriller

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody  

Blur - Coffee and TV