The Impact Of Technology And Social Media On The Music Industry

The Impact of Technology and Social Media on the Music Industry
Author’s name
Institutional affiliation
Course number
Date
The Impact of Technology and Social Media on the Music Industry
Technology and social media have taken the 21st century by storm. Nearly everything today has an influence of technology in it. Through technology, connectivity between people has greatly increased, thus making it possible for people to share and interact more closely than they did decades ago (Bennett & Waksman, 2015). In other words, technology and social media have brought a revolution that has transformed today’s social order in a big way. One of the industries that have been greatly impacted by technology and social media is the music industry. Before the advent of the internet, music was very different. It was not known in the scale that it is known today. For example, it was not easy for artists to be known beyond their countries of origin. Music is a global industry that has a great impact on the society at different levels and in various aspects. Irrespective of the geographical boundaries that exist in the world today, technology and social media has made it possible for people from far and wide to interact with one another on the platform of music. Music lovers are able to get copies of their favorite music within a minute and they are also able to get the latest information on music from around the world without any struggle (Einav, 2010). All this has been made possible through technology and social media. Certainly, technology and social media have played a big role in the revolution of music and made it one of the most influential industries in the 21st century.
Easing Accessibility of Music
Accessing music has been made more convenient today than it was years ago. A couple of decades ago, music was been packaged in hardcopy format, thus it was not been spread as it is been spread today (Katz, 2004). Recorded music was only available in CDs and cassettes. According to (North & Hargreaves, 2008, p. 34), “People got to hear new music from CDs, radio stations, and music charts.” In such a format, this meant that there were people who could not get hold of certain songs, and when they got to hear them, it was after a long time. Technology was not advanced as it is today. However, with the advancement of technology in the contemporary world, the music industry has grown to a whole new level. “Accessing music has changed drastically, with people being able to access music even minutes after its release” (Suhr, 2012, p. 118). Unlike the olden days when music could only be packaged in hardcopy format, nowadays music is being packaged on softcopy. People now own electronic copies of newly-released music, a pattern that was not evident before the advancement of technology. Unlike in the analog days when one had to wait for a long time to get hold of new music, accessing music is very easy today. The internet has made it easy for people to download music online. Some of the online music downloading sites include: Noise Trade, Epitonic, and Free Music Archive. Free Music Archive, for instance, was launched in 2009, and allows music fans to download free music legally. Also, ...