Digital
media technology continues to develop. How is this significant for companies
and audiences.
It is
significant for music companies such as Sony to adapt to the current developing
digital technology as they could otherwise resolve in bankruptcy. In comparison
if the audience understand and develop
to this new media technology they can
use this beneficially to their advantage. The audience can become prosumers;
the role of prosumers and institution connect to make their own music and make
money from it, no record label needed. Resulting in audiences and aspiring
artists realising that due to developing digital technology that they do not
need to be tied to a record label necessarily in order to create and promote good quality music that can be successful.
This is why it is fundamental for record labels to adapt to developing music technology
as this current realisation from aspiring artists could result in their
bankruptcy.
Mashups allows prosumers to take a variety of published songs form record labels back catalogues and blend together to create an alternative track. Prosumers have understood how they can get this music out without being tied down with copyright laws. New music technology such as YouTube, face book and twitter allows prosumers to share their music without the issues of them being accused of copying music. This is due to social sites not being owned by the record labels and so they can easily mashup music viral. Once the music is viral it would be difficult for the record company to remove the mash up completely. Alternatively the record companies could demand a percentage of the profit the producers of the mashups have regulated which would be significant to the company.
The result of EMI’s failure to adapt to developing music technology evidently highlight why record labels need to adapt to ensure their survival in the music industry. Record labels are aware of the increase in piracy due to it being easily done now with advanced technology such as ‘MP3converter’ which allows music to be downloaded form YouTube for free, which is a risk to the company’s sales as generally customers will prefer to purchase the music if its free. If record labels adapt to this newfound knowledge with developing websites they could understand the benefits of how this online piracy could be beneficial to their company. Piracy should be looked at as a positive as it is promoting the record labels artists music getting it out to lots of people alto more easily as they don’t have to pay for it. This is an excellent form of promotion for the record label without them having to spend money on the promotional element.
Recently for record companies marketing and image more important than music. hey generally focus on artists appearance as opposed to the music material. For example, one Direction have been styled to look like ‘young role models’ even though the boys are now in their twenties. The record company focus on the look as they know there target market is attracted to the boys image as opposed to the music which is about teenage girls which basically reinforces and links back to their image. New technology can allow prosumers who want to make good quality music get their material heard to prevent the music industry from continuously recycling itself initiating stale , expected music. The role of institution and audiences have become similar and connect they now make their own music and make money form it Moreover, the music can be distributed using advanced music technology without the support of a music company. For example an array of sources such as garage band, splice ,auto tune ultimately allow a prosumer to create music easily, cheaply, and without having to give a percentage of the sales to a demanding record company. This technology has inspired prosumers to use it to their advantage so that they can create music that is of a good quality that is not stale and expected, this can be considered significant to audiences as it allows a sense of variation within music in the music industry.
In conclusion, institutions such as record labels can benefit from adapting to developing media technology like free downloading websites such as ‘mp3converter’ as a form of free promotion for their artists music. Additionally, they can understand the impact of not adapting to this technology and the fundamentality of why they should not follow in the steps of now bankrupt EMI due to their late adaption of new technology. Moreover audiences can use this new technology beneficially to adapt into becoming prosumers where they can actively produce songs with new technology such as ‘garage band’ ‘autotune’ ‘splice; which can be promote through other technology on the internet such as YouTube, facebook twitter through the use of their own music material and mashups without being tied down with the laws of record companies and the percentage cut that they would take of the artists sales.