Over this last summer, I interned at a talent agency, learning about the different aspects that go into being a talent agent for artists and the ever-changing music industry. One of the topics that came up at the company was adjusting to the developing and new ways of listening to music. When Spotify and other music streaming companies began to become popular in the later 2010s, it changed the ways of the music industry. The growth of the digital age allowed for more listeners and more platforms for people to release music and listen in a legal way. The combination of the growth of music streaming and social media has also changed the music industry and allowed for songs to become popular that would not have been able to without the help of these two platforms.
During the 2000s and early 2010s, piracy was a huge issue, and music records were losing tons of money. Music platforms like Napster and LimeWire, and the U.S recorded music lost more than half their value-dropping from $14.6 billion in 1999 to $6.7 billion in 2014 and 2015 due to the switch from physical records like CDs to sound files which can be easily illegally shared (1). But Spotify came in as the shining light to stop piracy. When it launched in 2011 in the US for only $9.99 a month, streamers were able to have access to such a wide array of music easily. Many other companies joined in, like Apple Music and Soundcloud, seeing the success of Spotify.
Music streaming has allowed artists to grow immensely more than they would have without it and also grow the variety of artists a person may listen to. In the past, it was unlikely for someone to pay about $20 for an album for an artist they may not normally listen to, but now, with subscriptions, listeners are able to broaden their music taste and can browse endlessly. Artists are then able to promote and share their music to a larger audience and platform, growing their careers and success.
It also allows smaller artists to improve their careers in various ways. These streaming services provide a much easier and cheaper platform for artists to release and grow their music. Because the services allow and almost encourage listeners to try out new music, the streaming services are helping to promote the smaller and upcoming artists. Spotify curates playlists for each individual of songs they think they would like, allowing for newer and smaller artists to become discovered. The curated playlists and availability of new or less popular songs allow and encourage listeners to play music that they were unlikely to listen to before, helping artists grow their music to a bigger audience. Soundcloud was a huge platform for artists, especially rappers, to help boost their name and their music. Soundcloud is a distribution platform that allows people to upload and promote their music and grow as an artist. Rappers like Lil Yachty, Lil Uzi Vert, Trippie Redd, and many more pay a good part of their growth in the industry through Soundcloud (2). Soundcloud can be compared to social media apps in the way that users are capable of becoming successful by growing a large following. Artists on Soundcloud can become successful as people follow their Soundcloud accounts and listen to the music they continue to upload. Once they reach a certain following, they can then be looked at as a credible artist. These services allow countless people to listen to artists’ music and help grow it into popularity.
Streaming is also changing the way we listen to music because now that there are so many artists and so much different music to listen to, I feel that it has created different groups within music through artists. From the radio and the limited number of albums to purchase, people used to listen to most of the same music but now that there are constantly so many different artists in the world, people are congregating to certain artists or artists similar to each other on a smaller platform. Obviously, there are still mainstream artists that are constantly playing on the radio, but streaming has allowed for so much different music to be created and listened to.
I also wonder how streaming has increased the competition for artists and what they are doing to deal with that. Because there are so many different artists and music now, they constantly have to be coming up with something unique to engage an audience. I think that it has become a lot easier for people to become less relevant a lot quicker with the constant release of new music. It has also allowed any individual to have a “one-hit wonder” and become viral through media and streaming platforms. Services like Soundcloud allow anyone to upload and create music. Social media can then be an added source of promoting that music. Musicians use social media as one of their main tools to help boost their music, and the chance that it becomes viral on social media can be the exact pathway to their success. Tiktok has helped so many small artists grow their music because when a Tiktok sound or audio goes viral, users are playing that sound over and over, growing in extreme popularity. Many small artists’ music has become popular and given them a platform due to Tiktok audio with their music going viral or that sound becoming a trend on the app. Viral videos or audios on social media allow more exposure for these artists and greatly increase the chances that more people will begin streaming their music.
The introduction of music streaming has been a great addition and change to the music industry, creating more platforms for artists and expanding the amount and different types of music in the world. However, I can see some problems that could arise from these changes in the music industry. With the countless amounts of artists and songs now available to the public, artists may begin to have a loss of originality and work ethic when creating music. With the heavy competition music streaming platforms create, artists may feel an increased pressure to release music that could easily become popular rather than creating music to creating music and put a meaningful expression of emotions into the world. The music industry has always been competitive, but music streaming has increased that immensely because of how much more music and artists it has given a platform to. Artists may lose sight of the music or form of art they are creating when they are trying to make music that fits into what’s popular at the moment and not just for the enjoyment and the relatability of emotions it can provide to a listener. Music streaming has been an innovative and beneficial part of the music industry that has given a platform for the growth of new artists and music, but it has also given an increased pressure on artists in trying to create music to stand out from the many other artists in the world.
2. https://www.sutori.com/en/story/how-soundcloud-rappers-changed-the-music-industry-forever--6kJzT1fvECyoMGJ3Z7nZGxqx
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