Technology and Remaining Current in the Music Industry

        Building a career path in the music industry as a songwriter and producer may be an arduous task. Remaining current in the field is necessary to survival. In the information age, the artist is given the task of how to interpret and best utilize new technologies. As cynical or skeptical as an artist may be of the internet and technology, understanding new technology is critical to remaining relevant and competitive in the marketplace. This essay will examine how to remain current in the music industry through new emerging social media markets like TikTok and Spotify, controlling artist’s Intellectual Property through blockchain technologies, and being proactive in music organizations and local communities. 

        Bob Dylan once said, “I find the religiosity and philosophy in the music. I don’t find it anywhere else” (Gates, 1997). Similar to Dylan, music for me is an escape and has the ability to communicate complex emotions and ideas through sound, lyrics, and music. I dig it. I’m drawn to the music industry because playing and making music is my passion. I don’t even need to make much money from music to be truly happy. I get lost in the process of making new things and exploring new ideas with people. It’s fun. It’s playing music, after all. On the good days, I get to play for my job. On the bad days, I still get to play. What’s better than that?

        The internet and the onset of the information age has revolutionized the way people record, distribute, and consume music. Musicians used to rely on record labels and big studios to make music. People have gone from listening to music on phonographs, to table radio players, to record players, to cassettes, to .mp3s to streaming applications over the past 140 years (Tofalvy, 2020). Music-listening technologies are constantly changing and advancing so it’s important to recognize new trends to remain relevant in the most current market. TikTok, a Chinese social media platform for short videos, has been a useful tool in breaking new artists. After the viral success of Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” record labels began to pay more attention and energy to the cellphone application (Millman 2020). Spotify, a Swedish digital music service and social media for music-lovers’ app, has over 172 million premium subscribers. User-generated and thoughtfully crafted playlists by Spotify have been an integral part of the company’s success. These playlists can be 'liked' and shared among friends. Spotify’s ‘Spotify for Artists’ initiative allows musicians to have a say in what artist information is displayed. This control is useful for garnering a fan base. A clever marketing technique could catch some eyeballs on such a platform. Artists may also use the ‘Spotify for Artists’ tool to apply for those coveted and widely promoted playlists. Large scale promotion on such a heavily trafficked streaming app could change a musician’s career in an instant. Or at least help pay for the van. Live music performances on internet video streaming platforms like Twitch, Youtube, Meta, TikTok, and Reddit has also grown in popularity over the last few years. 

        A new revolution in technology has the ability to provide more influence for artists and creatives who have been historically powerless; the Intellectual Property (IP) revolution. There are countless horror stories in the music industry from the Beatles to Taylor Swift about the shortcomings and flaws in the traditional music industry’s systemic approach to intellectual property for artists. Blockchain is a digital ledger system that uses metadata to write digital smart contracts. These smart contracts have the ability to safely secure funds and distribute payments. Blockchain-empowered technology may assist musicians in controlling their Intellectual Property and collecting their royalty payments. Imogen Heap is a Grammy-winning recording artist. She writes in a Harvard Business Review article that the blockchain metadata capabilities have the ability to create a global registry with online profiles for each musician (Heap, 2017). There are a number of blockchain-based music licensors, databases, music streaming platforms, and music rights marketplaces that already exist. Vezt, a digital marketplace for artists based on blockchain technology, already has the rights to songs recorded by mainstream artists like Jay-Z. Drake, and Kanye West (Daley, 2021). The capabilities of a blockchain backed platform taking hold has the potential to bring on an exciting new age for artists of the 21^st century.

        Another way to remain current in the music industry is to join organizations or local communities to build personal and business relationships with music professionals. Some performing rights organizations were created to provides copyright protection and fairly compensate musicians. These groups like Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) or the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) are comprised of lyricists, composers, and performance venues. By joining groups like these a songwriter and composer may gather useful information on songwriter rights and recent legal changes in artist compensation in emerging music technologies and platforms (Pincus, 2015). In Austin, there are tons of non-for-profit organizations that support musicians to maintain a healthy lifestyle and communities like Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM), Austin Music Foundation (AMF), Black Fret, and the SIMS Foundation (Curtin, 2016). These organizations frequently host informative events, panels, and shows which could be useful for networking and meeting local professionals in the field. Attending or volunteering at a local benefit hosted by one of these organizations could be beneficial by showing recent trends in stage production, lighting, and performance styles.

Reference Page

Curtin, K. (2016, December 16). Playback – Nonprofit Holidays: The Cult of Black Fret and More. Austin Chronicle. 

Daley, S. (2021, August 11). 15 companies utilizing blockchain in music to reshape a changing industry. Built In. Retrieved November 22, 2021, from https://builtin.com/blockchain/blockchain-music-innovation-examples. 

Gates, D. (1997, October 5). Dylan Revisited. Newsweek. 

Heap, I. (2017, June 5). Blockchain Could Help Musicians Make Money Again. Harvard 

Business Review Digital Articles. https://hbr.org/2017/06/blockchain-could-help-musicians-make-money-again

Millman, E. (2020, September). Inside TikTok’s Hit Machine. Rolling Stone, (1343).

Pincus, M. (2015, November 7). The Danger Of A Two-Class System In Music Publishing. Billboard, 127(33). 

Tofalvy, T., & Barna, E. (2020). Popular music, technology, and the changing media ecosystem: From cassettes to stream. Springer Nature.