When one uses the words ‘internet’ and ‘music’ in the same sentence, the first immediate thought is more than often one of piracy and illegal file-sharing. Yet, for all the negative publicity it attracts, for the most part the internet has, arguably, had the widest-spread positive effect of any existing technology on the distribution, accessibility, development and production of music around the world. The educational and artistic opportunities created through sharing of music as well as the opportunity for musicians to collaborate both through pre-recorded material and live broadcast, has, in the words of Greg Kot, created “... an opportunity for music to flourish in more places than ever.” (Kot 2009, p.2)
Prior to the invention of the internet, the exposure of music to the public was heavily controlled by record companies, ‘popular’ music radio stations and television networks, for example MTV. Songs were given airplay based on their propensity for commercial popularity, acceptability and success, not necessarily their musical value or originality. However, in this modern age, the internet has transformed music from an exclusionary medium into an inclusive one (Duckworth 2005, p.158). Brendan Smyth, a music manager from New Zealand, goes as far as to suggest that he invention of the Internet “... totally Democratised the means of production, the means of distribution and marketing” (Smyth 2010) of music in the modern age. Public access to all kinds of music on the internet has forced radio and television stations to reconsider the needs of their target audience, whilst “a musical ecosystem encompassing thousands of microcultures” (Kot 2009, p.2) flourishes online.
Unknown bands and individuals now have the opportunity and the means to promote themselves and their music on a global scale without requiring a contract or an agent. Websites like Myspace, Youtube and Soundcloud allow musicians to “build a dedicated audience” (Kot 2009, p.2) and expose their music to the world without necessarily being signed to a label. Case in point: Trent Reznor (a.k.a Nine Inch Nails), after severing ties with Interscope Records in 2007, raked in over a million dollars when he made Year Zero available through his own website. Since then, and despite rampant online music piracy, artists and labels around the world have made their products available for download through their own sites or larger outlets like iTunes, “the first music service that doesn’t view every customer as a criminal in waiting” (Oberholzer & Strumpf 2004, p.138), providing consumers with a legal port for downloading music and revolutionising the distribution of music around the world.
The internet also makes it possible for musicians from all over the globe to collaborate both in real time and through pre-recorded material. A collective of six composers called ‘The Hub’, formed in 1986, were some of the first musicians to experiment with collaboration over the Internet. The group played a series of live performances, where they divided into two separate trios and play at venues some distance from each other, transferring musical information to each other over the web. This meant that the group were “acoustically divorced, but informationally joined” (Duckworth 2005, p.63), forcing them to reconsider their method of performance while dealing with variables in the process. Musicians around the world today continue to collaborate online using high speed internet-video connection to collaborate with their peers around the world. According to Duckworth, this revolutionary method of communication continues to produce unexplored musical environments, landscapes and levels of interactivity between musicians and ever improving technology (Duckworth 2005, p. 168).
Reference List
DowntothewireNZ 2010 Brendan Smyth - Internet Effect on Music, video recording, viewed 25th April 2011
Duckworth, W. 2005 Virtual Music: How The Web Got Wired for Sound, Taylor and Francis Group, New York U
Kot, G. 2009 Ripped: How The Wired Generation Revolutionised Music, Simon and Schuster Inc., New York
Oberholzer, F. Strumpf, K. 2004 The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales: An Empirical Analysis, viewed 25th April 2011,
Bibliography
Colohue, T. 2009 The Effects of the Internet: Music Distribution, DottedMusic.Com, viewed 25th April 2011
Colohue, T. 2010 Effects of the Internet: Music Mobility, DottedMusic.Com, viewed 25th April 2011
DowntothewireNZ 2010 Brendan Smyth - Internet Effect on Music, video recording, viewed 25th April 2011
Duckworth, W. 2005 Virtual Music: How The Web Got Wired for Sound, Taylor and Francis Group, New York USA
Kot, G. 2009 Ripped: How The Wired Generation Revolutionised Music, Simon and Schuster Inc., New York USA
Oberholzer, F. Strumpf, K. 2004 The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales: An Empirical Analysis, viewed 25th April 2011, http://www.unc.edu/~cigar/papers/FileSharing_March2004.pdf
1 comment:
I thought it was really good of your to touch of so many positive aspects of the internet. I think you’re right in saying that when most people talk about music and the internet they immediately think illegal downloads and file sharing. I think it is important to make a point of the negative aspects that the internet has had on music as well, such as major recording companies who have to play it safe due to a lack of revenue, meaning they can’t take the risks on being new, alternative music to the larger audience, perpetuating mainstream pop as the dominate genre.
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