The Future of Music
What is the future of music in a post-Internet, post-Napster, social media streaming world? This question has been on my mind a lot lately. Especially now that in-person concerts aren’t returning for the foreseeable future (at least in Massachusetts). Small and large musicians alike rely heavily on touring to generate profit. Many of them tour for most of the year because they don’t make sales from albums.
Speaking of albums, many see “the album concept” as a thing of the past. With the rise of Napster in 1999, consumers could search, select and download whatever songs they want from an artist on an individualized basis. These downloads sent no monetary value back to the artist.
Lars Ulrich: 'Napster F*Cked With Us, We F*Ck With Them'
I remember downloading songs from Limewire and creating my own mix CD’s in the early 2000’s. I thought it was the coolest thing ever! And as access to digital downloads increased we also saw the rise of music streaming websites. Now instead of downloading music to a device and potentially using up precious storage space, it can stream through the cloud by means of an app. These streaming apps also provided small but symbolically significant royalties and ensured that copyright and licensing agreements were valid. Seemingly a win win for consumers and musicians, right? Kinda.
Now that I have my own songs on Spotify through a global digital distribution network I can see I get $0.00437 per stream! Amazing! In 2010 I sold about 300 physical CD’s for about $10 each, and for the album I put out in 2015, I have made about $26 from streams. Even in a five year span I have closely understood the value of my music decreasing at sonic speeds. Although more folks have the opportunity to hear my music, I make significantly less money.
[Digital Distribution screenshot for Barbaloot Suitz albums, “Giant” (2015) and “Lost” (2019)]
The rise of streaming apps and the use of social media show no signs of slowing. These networking apps are amazing tools and the data available is very powerful. Musicians and record labels can use data to find out where our listeners are, where they are located, and what else they like. This info can completely change the way we connect and relate to our existing fans and potential new fans.
But if a musician or record label can’t create a “thumb-stopping” social media post to promote a show or single, how are they supposed to sell albums or plan full tours? Artists of all sizes will increasingly rely on their own "brandability" in order to go direct to consumers. Luckily, bands have more control of their image now more than ever and can announce whatever they want, whenever they want via social media. Many times, bands can generate and nurture connections with their fans through social media alone, not even using a website or email newsletter list!
There are also A LOT of musicians making music. With the rise of Pro Tools (and other DAW’s) anyone can create a professional sounding recording from their laptop. What once was a “garage rock demo” is now “bedroom pop”. So MP3’s are everywhere and the exposure via social media is “everywhere”, but I wonder if fans are getting overexposed? If musicians can’t even get record labels or entertainment news publishers (even indie ones) to notice them how can they expect fans to? The concept of a fan also seems to be disappearing. Instead of discovering new music, the nostalgia trend keeps people buying comebacks/revivals etc. while social media creates a certain genre specific “music elitism” phenomenon through FOMO which results in following a herd mentality (ie. hipsters).
I polled my followers on Facebook and Instagram to see how they discover new music.
I asked “How do you discover new music? Comment with the letter or letters that best represent how YOU discover new music.” and provided the following options:
a. Streaming algorithms (Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, etc)
b. I don’t - I just listen to my tried and true faves
c. Through FOMO (following the herd mentality or artists representing a certain “genre elitism” ie. i am a hipster)
d. Following record labels (watching studio session videos, buying compilation albums, going to their shows)
e. Supporting local music
f. Subscribing to indie music publishers (reading their album reviews, lists, and features)
g. The radio
h. Word of mouth
I received over 20 responses and overwhelmingly people chose the A and B as their preferred ways to “discover new music”, C, H, G and E followed behind. The small group of people who answered D and F were fellow musicians.
But it’s not all bad. Dire means generate creative ways to adapt and overcome. Virtual concert experiences are a great example of this and I think there is something to be said about the quality of the fan over the quantity. Resources like Kickstarter or Patreon like Amanda Palmer uses provide strong access points for fans and musicians to connect and generate added value. But ultimately, I think the future of music will be very customizable and personalized to the individual consumer. Data is king and these algorithms can select exactly what a consumer wants to listen to based on their history and engagement.
Travis Scott’s Virtual Reality Concert within Fortnite for “Astroworld”
Indie record label 100% Electronica founder musician George Clanton’s Virtual Utopia Concert Series
We've got a lot of reality star hip-hop stars, ex-Disney singers, and "Got Talent?" show types consuming a large majority of the mainstream media airwaves and it's very clear to see a stark difference between the "Future of Music" and "Golden Age of Music". It’s amazing to me that five of the top ten best selling albums of all time happened all in one decade (the seventies)! And it’s extreme how much money grassroots musicians were getting paid then, compared to now. Now the highest paid musicians have to somehow be more than just musicians. They have to be digital marketers, brands, actors, dancers, models, makeup gurus, or some other obvious viral quality or “shock value”. These tactics aren’t new things, it just seems more exacerbated and exploited with time. Especially now that people aren’t typically paying for music anymore.
I’m not saying one era is better than the other, I love modern tunes for sure! It just seems like a certain level of compensation and appreciation for the more humble musician-only types are being vastly undersold and underrepresented on the world stage and within smaller circles. I’m also concerned about Gen Z’s ability to listen to a song all the way through that’s not a meme or the length of a TikTok.
Lil Nas X’s Old Town Road was a viral TikTok meme before it broke the world record for longest running No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100
I realize this take is rather bleak but I am truly an optimistic person by nature, I promise! It just really seems like the world has a bleak aura to it lately. The music industry poignantly reflects the larger reality of ongoing wage gaps within our economy. The rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer. But I do think music will adapt and overcome any and all challenges it may face. I have faith in rock music with bands like Higher Power and Wolf Alice from the U.K. And U.S bands The Used and Hayley Williams (from Paramore) creating my favorite albums of the year. It’s also nice to see musicians like Travis Barker working with hip hop artists and Fever 333 continuing the rap/rock crossover.
My hope is that people will learn to appreciate its value more as society transforms. And as a musician, I think that as long as you're aligned with your true self, and experiencing happiness in your daily life, you are successful. My focus for success in the ever-evolving future of music is ultimately driven by personal fulfillment, creativity and happiness. The world spins on, i’m just happy to be writing songs all about it along the way!
Sources:
https://www.vulture.com/2019/04/how-indie-artists-actually-make-money-in-2019.html
https://www.sageaudio.com/blog/music-news/what-is-the-future-of-music.php
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/may/31/napster-twenty-years-music-revolution
https://www.dittomusic.com/blog/how-much-do-music-streaming-services-pay-musicians
https://www.reviews.com/entertainment/streaming/music-streaming-royalties/
https://studybreaks.com/tvfilm/meme-music/