The Makings of an Introduction

Over the years the music industry has changed. Changed so much that the whole model that the industry previously lived by has been transformed into an entirely new structure. The main reason, i feel, for this change is the development of technology and how this has been implemented and how this has effected people, artists, audiences, customers and institutions.

The main development, that i feel, has changed all facets of the music industry, is the internet and specifically web 2.0. The phrase web 2.0 is used in describing the new attitude towards operating and existing on the net, allowing anyone to create material and distribute is in a new found democratic environment, the internet.

This new found environment brings wealths of advantages to audiences, consumers and artists. However, with these advantages comes major problems that are facing the industry, such as piracy, copyrighting difficulties and illegal downloads. 

As frontman for local indie unsigned band The Jane Bradfords, Decky Gallen said, 

“The major downside of the technological advances and the internet is that despite offering you a larger audience and larger market, it also takes away a large amount of your revenue by piracy.  It feels like being handed a sword going into a fist fight and then realizing the other guy has a sword as well – in other words with every new opportunity there is a downside that levels the playing field.”

Due to this level playing field and democratic atmosphere the traditional patterns of interaction between institutions and it's audience has changed dramatically. The audience is vastly different to the wide eyed consumer of yesteryear, idling a band from afar. The modern audience is much more hungrier for information and more importantly, content.

The audience must now feel in contact with the band and their music. To create this connection, institutions must converge over all the media resources at their finger tips, ranging from having a profile on MySpace for the band for the audience to comment to a video diary of the band touring on YouTube. It is this connection between the music and the audience is the new found method that institutions are using to, 

“Get the tenner from your pocket,” 

as put by one of the co founders of local independent record label Small Town America.