The Online Revolution

How has the revolution of music downloads affected how bands/artists promote their material?

'The Online Revolution' has caused a huge impact on the music industry; ever since 1999 when Napster was brought to many and shared 8 million files in it's first year alone. This was merely someone wanting to share his music with others, but for the music industry it was robbing them of millions of pounds. This number was only increasing as in 2008, 40 billion files were shared illegally on thousands of illegal download websites. As 23% of the revenue of the album/song releases go back to new artists, there could be a stunt if the revolution continues.

It is having a negative impact on CD sales as nowadays 99% of singles are downloaded from online shops, such as iTunes, rather than brought on a hard copy. This is only the beginning of the trend as 10 million albums were brought digitally in 2008, and this is ever increasing.

However, some may be grateful for 'The Online Revolution' as it is presenting artists with new ways of sharing their music:

Spotify

Spotify is a subscription service funded by advertisements and is growing at a rate of 50% in Sweden alone. It is allowing many to access all kinds of music, uninterrupted, for around £9.99 each month. Artists can now promote their music in one of the advertisements for those who have the free version of this programme.


Social Networking Sites
MySpace, Facebook and Twitter are examples of well known social networking sites which allow a new artist to develop a fan base as they can upload their music onto the website and an audience can listen. They also show when recent events are happening, such as a concert. This advertises them successfully and means the artist can use 'The Online Revolution' to their advantage.


Youtube
This is a video website where anyone, anywhere can upload themselves performing  a song or recording a concert they are at and show it to the rest of the world. This will get the artist known by billions of people. However, a disadvantage is the 'Youtube to MP3 Converter', which means it extracts the sound from the video and the person using the converter is left with the MP3 recording... for free and illegally.

Led Zeppelin - The Traditional Approach

Led Zeppelin are an English rock band formed in 1968 - as the Internet was not invented around this time, they had no choice but to use a traditional approach of flyers, television and radio advertisements. It is safe to say they succeeded as they were ranked number one on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock".

They were managed by Peter Grant who got them a prestigious contract with 'Atlantic Records'. This meant they were already ahead as they had a strong contract - but how did they promote themselves?

It is clear they promoted themselves for events via posters. This is their 1980 tour poster - as the Internet was not there to advertise to millions everywhere, they resorted to posters being placed on buildings, cafes, clubs and bars. This increased their success as if people missed one show, there were others near the same area as it was a tour.

Posters were even designed if they had a new song on release, an example being 'Whole Lotta Love' which had a poster when it was released. This would encourage an audience to want to listen to their music.

Greetings cards were even designed so fans could send relatives and companions cards with the Led Zeppelin design.

As one of the main forms of media communications during the 70s was via newspapers and magazines, Led Zeppelin were often featured if they were in the local area, or to advertise them as great musicians, such as Jimmy Page (the guitarist) being on the front cover of a well known guitar magazine.

Information found at - http://www.ledzeppelin.com/

Kate Nash - Using the Internet

Kate Nash is an English songwriter/ singer discovered by her record label through the social networking site named MySpace. She was founded by 'Moshi Moshi Records'  and had her debut single of 'Foundations' in 2007 which reached number 2 in the UK singles charts, but then she released her successful album 'Made of Bricks', which reached number 1 in the UK album charts.

Her roaring and sudden success was down to her uploading and sharing her music online where her fans can listen for free. If it had not been for the Internet, it would be unlikely she would have been discovered by this record label and therefore owes her prestige in the music industry to the Internet.

What have I found out?

From looking in to Kate Nash and Led Zeppelin who have promoted their music on opposite ends of the spectrum but have managed to succeed, I have discovered the Internet is a quick way to build a fan base, whereas Led Zeppelin built over generations of hard and loyal work.

How has the Internet changed the promotion of music?

The Internet has allowed anyone, anywhere to be an independent artist by uploading their music on to a website where they can build an audience. The promotion of music has become Internet based as those who would like to succeed have more of an opportunity for feedback and discovery by record labels who are searching social networking sites. It allows concerts to be announced and the audience to feel a part of the life of the artist, which is part of the 'Uses and Gratifications' theory.

The Online Revolution - How will I use it?

I discovered my artist through the Internet: on the unsigned artist section on http://www.myspace.com/ - this shows the website is already creating them some success. To enhance the use of the Internet, I would create the artist an official website that would be advertised via the social networking websites that are frequently used by my target audience (e.g, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter etc.) On the website, it will contain updates of their music and tour dates so the audience understand what is happening with the artist.