The Music Industry : Social Media and Streaming ' s Impact
Mauricio Jaime
From the Disco explosion in the 70 ’ s to the Synth-Pop and Gothic Rock domination in the 80 ’ s to the Hip-Hop and R & B boom in the 90 ’ s , the music industry is a place that is constantly changing every decade or so . For the past decade , we saw the rise of streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music . Now , we are experiencing the boom of social media ’ s impact on the industry .
Since the dawn of time , artists have had to sign with record labels who distribute their music through physical copies . Sales peaked during the end of the 1990 ’ s , however , something would happen that would change everything . It was the year 2001 , Shawn Fanning published a website called “ Napster ” which allowed site-goers to download music illegally . Record label executives quickly caught on , Fanning was sued by many record labels
attempting to erase any trace of this website . These labels beat Fanning which led to the website needing to shut down , but it was too late – the damage had already been done – according to BBVA OpenMind , a portal focused on archiving knowledge and data , “ a string of other , increasingly sophisticated services immediately followed suit ” ( Wiström , Patrik ). In other words , the rise of Napster paved the way for other softwares such as Kazaa , Limewire , DC ++, The Pirate Bay , Grokster , and many more . Major players of the music industry did their best to sue and take down these websites , however , whenever one would be banned , another would rise , and by 2013 , sales had reached an all time low since the early 1970s .
Napster may have been taken down quickly , however , its model would be infamous seeing as platforms such as Spotify have designed its applications based on Napster ’ s design . With the boom in technological devices such as phones , computers , and tablets : companies such as Apple began offering services like iTunes , which allow people to buy an album or a song and download it digitally . However , it wasn ’ t until Spotify successfully negotiated a deal with various music companies in 2008 that allowed the legal distribution of music online via a subscription service that we see the huge boom of streaming as we know it today came to be . On October 7 , 2008 , pre-selected European countries got to test a trial of Spotify . Jump forward into today , and now , we see an industry dominated by services following the Napster model : Spotify , Apple Music , YouTube Music , Deezer , etc .
While the long-lasting effects that streaming will have on the industry is on clear , big artists have been struggling to sell , seeing as anything over 200k sales is considered a rarity nowadays , in contrast , artists used to sell over a million records back in the 2000 ’ s . Finally , the digitized business models have also allowed apps like TikTok , a platform that can be used to make short clips , to play a role in the industry . Now , songs are topping the charts because of their TikTok virality , from Say So by Doja Cat to Old Town Road by Lil Nas X , songs that get TikTok challenges often grow rapidly , which is both a great thing because it opens the door for smaller artists to make it big without needing big teams , however , it also opens a door of negativity , specifically , artists who are willing to pay big TikTokers to create dance challenges to their songs . The future of the music industry is uncertain , and with digital platforms growing at rapid rates , the music industry may never “ settle ” again , seeing as in the time of social media , everything is in fast motion .
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