The Evolution of Music Marketing

As technology has advanced, content such as news, shows and movies, and music have all seen a big change in the platform on which they are displayed and accessed by people. Traditional sources such as news papers, VHS and DVD players, or vinyl records and CDs have become less commonly used in comparison to things such as online news or video and music streaming websites. In regards specifically to the music industry, the introduction of sites such as iTunes had an enormous effect. Personally, almost all of the music that I own came from iTunes or some other online site for downloading music. I have probably only purchased three or four CDs in my entire life, making me an example of the difference between the way that my generation experiences music and the way that generations of the past have.

When Apple introduced iTunes in 2003, everything about the music industry changed. It was no longer necessary to drive to a record store and buy an entire album when you only wanted to listen to a select few of the songs anyways. Record Labels were hit hard by this change, because it completely flipped the way that they sold and marketed music. It became more difficult to market the selling of CDs because that form was so much less convenient than digital purchases. Therefore, record labels were forced to move the marketing focus to the internet in order to keep up with their target audience. The birth of iTunes was followed by the growing popularity of music streaming sites such as Pandora Radio and Spotify. Record labels sell the rights to music that they own to sites like these where people can listen to it. These days, people choose exactly what music they want to listen to because of the available option to pick and choose between songs rather than listening to entire albums.

Overall, music has become more difficult to market. People know what they like and want to listen to, and they don't care which songs, albums, or bands that record labels advertise to them. All music can be found somewhere on the internet, so people make decisions for themselves rather than letting record labels or radio stations tell them what to listen to.

- Paul Gielow

Sources:

- Griggs, Brandon, and Todd Leopold. "How ITunes Changed Music, and the World." CNN. Cable News Network, 26 Apr. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.
- Tee, James. "The Evolution Of Music Streaming Apps." The Evolution Of Music Streaming Apps. Digital Marketing Magazine, 1 June 2015. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.

Pictures:

- https://www.google.com/search?q=cds&espv=2&biw=1117&bih=600&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiHr-7I8NTLAhXElIMKHcaWDkQQ_AUIBygC#imgrc=S3XprQYa4itH6M%3A
- https://www.google.com/search?q=cds&espv=2&biw=1117&bih=600&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiHr-7I8NTLAhXElIMKHcaWDkQQ_AUIBygC#tbm=isch&q=itunes&imgrc=OyH-nf6OaWZTVM%3A

-P