The music industry is a big and scary place, there are
millions of people involved within it, and billions is spent every year to keep
this ever popular industry alive. The music industry generated 42.93 billion
dollars revenue globally in 2015, and in comparison to film generating 38 billion
dollars globally and TV which generates a whopping 297 billion dollars, music
does play a large part in the entertainment revenue. This is done with the help
of the big 3 major record labels, Universal Music Group, Warner Music and Sony
Music Entertainment. These 3 record labels have all played their part in the
market share for 2015, Universal being worth 27.6% of the total, Sony, making
up 20.9% and Warner with 15.2%.Within each label are many more independent
record labels but the most successful of artists make it as headliners, which
could even be seen as a marketing method for the BIG 3. Some of Sony’s biggest
headliners include Michael Jackson, George Michael and Beyonce, for Universal,
artists such as Adele, Kanye West and Taylor Swift are at the forefront, and
for Warner Music, Madonna, Cold Play and Ed Sheeran are the some of the stand
out artists.
In a very compact and fast
list: Began with the phonautogaph, then the phonograph, then the first
commercial radio broadcast to the first externally powered gramophone meaning
microphones were available but sound quality was low. The first portable
device, called the Sony Walkman was created, then crowds moved to the Phillips Laserdisk
and then to the compact CD and then to the first MP3 which we know music as
now. In terms of music in today’s society, it is now a lot more accessible to
everyone. Applications such as iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify and many others mean
that music can be downloaded electronically so there has been a significant
decrease in the consumption of CD and Vinyl sales. It is a lot easier now for
us to access music online and then plug it in to a speaker. Digital was the
primary revenue stream making up 45 percent, which came on top of selling of
physical formats which made up 39 percent.
Live
music and tours is another way that the industry revenue can be increased
because it brings the global icons to a place where large audiences can gather
to watch and enjoy the music and company of these stars that they adore. Adele
for example, has a live tour in 2017 coming up and this sold out within a day,
including all other format tickets such as VIP ones as well. Adele is currently
working under Sony Records with Columbia Records, and is named as Britain’s
most successful female artist. She currently sports 27.4 million followers on
Twitter, 65 million Facebook likes and 22.2 million followers on Instagram.
Meaning that technology now comes into play with the music industry, whereby
they don’t have to just connect with the artist through the sound of their
music or through their live tours, this is now moved on through social media so
they can follow the icons through their lives.
In addition to live music and tours, TV programmes, documentaries or in
Amy Winehouse’s case, a film can be made. This then launches a whole new
audience and publicity opportunity for these stars and their fans. ‘Amy’ was a
documentary about the life and death of the singer-song writer, delving into
the issues and problems of the star and the consequences she then took as a
result of the influences and pressures she was surrounded by. The documentary
was directed by Asif Kapadia in 2015, and as a result of this opened back up
the Amy Winehouse music sales and an increase of the CD and single ‘Back to
Black’ was prevalent. Marketing such as this brings back popularity to these
global stars, for example when Jessie J, a Cornish star who is signed with
Universal Republic, was the star of Comic Relief in 2013 when she shaved off
her hair for charity, this brought publicity to her, and her CD sales revenue
then increased. Additionally to this, Adele had a one off special programme on
BBC One called ‘Adele at the BBC’ hosted by Graham Norton on 20th
November 2015. She performed some of her old songs and some of the new ones she
was releasing from her new album ‘25’, but again this then increased the
popularity of her album as the audiences were given a sneak preview into it.
In
conclusion, the modern industry albeit it extremely large, is still growing and
developing each day. With artists being able to access their audiences in
different ways and different formats, and the ever increasing revenue value
being added to by live music tours, meet and greets and merchandise. In my
opinion, it seems that the essence of music, which is defined as: vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in
such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion,
has been lost and it is now becoming an industry of nothing but the importance
of money and success. Artists that are living on millions with a mediocre voice
and stage presence are hiding those who busk day in day out on the streets, but
expose the true talent and beauty music should be about.
No comments:
Post a Comment