How Technology has Influenced the Music Industry and Artists' Roles

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How Technology Has Influenced the Music Industry and Artists' Roles
Economic forces significantly affect music distribution, production, and consumption in various genres and styles. Music products are influenced by the demand and supply market concepts. With the rapid development of technology, the structure of the music sector has changed, and the roles of artists shifted. The Internet has made music available to many individuals for free, where one can stream music online from various platforms, such as Vimeo, Spotify, and YouTube. People no longer purchase CDs and vinyl records to listen to music. Since most individuals have smartphones and other electronic devices that can connect to the web, it has become easy to search for any type of music on the Internet. The demand for streaming music online has increased while vinyl records are plummeting. The paper focuses on how technology has influenced the music industry and artists' roles in the digital era.
The culture of consumerism has contributed to individuals' attachment to digital music platforms, such as YouTube and Vimeo, instead of physical products, such as vinyl records. Many people do not buy CDs and vinyl records when listening to music today (Shapero). Instead, these individuals use their electronic gadgets, such as tablets and smartphones, to stream their favorite songs and download them when they want to listen in the future. Traditionally, artists' roles were recording and producing music. They did not get involved in marketing them. However, that has changed today, and artists have retained their production roles, but they can market their songs on social media. Numerous artists have created profiles on the social networking platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, Vimeo, and WhatsApp. They have a significant number of followers and keep in touch with them. When artists launch new music albums, they notify their fans who can access these songs on YouTube and other streaming platforms. Current generations listen to different types of music instead of what happened traditionally. For example, a person might love listening to hip-hop from a specific artist, blues, soul music, and rock and roll. As a result, the direct communication and interaction between artists and their fans significantly influence the type of music that an individual will listen to and at what time.
From CDs and vinyl records to online music streaming, technology has changed how society consumes music. Online platforms have facilitated the accessibility of music, and the iconic celebrities' perception has been altered. Traditionally, renowned music artists made more money by selling millions of albums to their fans. Whenever they introduced new songs, people were ready to purchase their vinyl records and listen to them. Currently, record labels no longer control the artist's image. The Internet has changed artists' roles due to contemporary consumption patterns (Shapero). For instance, a teenage DJ can reach millions of listeners over the Internet. In addition, an unknown music band can become a celebrity overnight if one of their music videos goes viral on YouTube or other streaming platforms. Many people are no l...