Wireless Internet Has Changed Music Industry
The way music is made, distributed, and listened to today would be unrecognizable to people in the late 1980s or early 1990s, a time that was only 20 years ago but seems like 100 when you look at how technology has changed. Back then, big record labels gave aspiring musicians cash advances, sent them to recording studios with expensive sound engineering teams to record on analog tape. Then the music would be mixed - a physical process - and cover art would be designed, along with photos of the band and song order. This new package would be promoted through the radio and music video channels like MTV. A good review in a mainstream publication like Rolling Stone, or even an emerging magazine like Spin, could launch a more obscure band into the stratosphere. Discs and LPs would be sold as a whole, and no one could access the music at their convenience without laying down some cash, unless they were lucky enough to have a friend to tape it for them, which definitely took longer than burning a CD.
Now, in the age of wireless Internet, this process has changed completely. A group of kids in suburban Atlanta can record their own music using their computers or, if they're really committed, with maybe an extra $1000 of equipment, and instantly post it online for all of their friends, family, and an entire world of strangers to hear. All of this can occur 6 months after the band members have learned how to play guitar. No longer do bands have to spend years playing in dive bars and county fairs, slowly building an audience and refining their talent. Now, with little more than a wireless Internet, they can record their music instantaneously. They can mix it as well with user-friendly software, eliminating the need for sound engineers. And instead of relying on traditional promotion and distribution methods like record labels, radio stations, and music television channels, bands can do all of their own marketing and distribution through free music hosting websites like MySpace, and various social networking sites. Despite spending no money at all, an emerging band from Houston can share their music with millions of people - all they need is a wireless Internet connection. Fan bases that would have taken years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to create only two decades ago can form overnight online.
This new system of recording and distribution made possible by technology and wireless Internet renders the traditional record company almost completely obsolete. Sure, there are the occasional mega stars like Lady Gaga or Beyonce or Maroon 5. But nowadays there's an entire generation of artists that have no need for the middleman. And once the baby boomers stop buying music, this traditional record-buying audience will diminish even further. Even now, many of them are embracing online music services, buying individual songs off of ITunes or Amazon instead of shelling out $20 for a CD full of songs they won't even listen to.
While some argue that artist development has been lost, so many more bands are able to make their music, and so overall it seems like wireless Internet has served as a democratizing force in the music industry, as in so many other areas of American life.
Now, in the age of wireless Internet, this process has changed completely. A group of kids in suburban Atlanta can record their own music using their computers or, if they're really committed, with maybe an extra $1000 of equipment, and instantly post it online for all of their friends, family, and an entire world of strangers to hear. All of this can occur 6 months after the band members have learned how to play guitar. No longer do bands have to spend years playing in dive bars and county fairs, slowly building an audience and refining their talent. Now, with little more than a wireless Internet, they can record their music instantaneously. They can mix it as well with user-friendly software, eliminating the need for sound engineers. And instead of relying on traditional promotion and distribution methods like record labels, radio stations, and music television channels, bands can do all of their own marketing and distribution through free music hosting websites like MySpace, and various social networking sites. Despite spending no money at all, an emerging band from Houston can share their music with millions of people - all they need is a wireless Internet connection. Fan bases that would have taken years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to create only two decades ago can form overnight online.
This new system of recording and distribution made possible by technology and wireless Internet renders the traditional record company almost completely obsolete. Sure, there are the occasional mega stars like Lady Gaga or Beyonce or Maroon 5. But nowadays there's an entire generation of artists that have no need for the middleman. And once the baby boomers stop buying music, this traditional record-buying audience will diminish even further. Even now, many of them are embracing online music services, buying individual songs off of ITunes or Amazon instead of shelling out $20 for a CD full of songs they won't even listen to.
While some argue that artist development has been lost, so many more bands are able to make their music, and so overall it seems like wireless Internet has served as a democratizing force in the music industry, as in so many other areas of American life.
