Music in this digital age had changed a lot to compare to what it was back then. The way music was in those days is totally different from what it is now and the digital age had a lot to do with the improvement and the diversities that have crept into music and the music industry.
The digital age have really revolutionized the music industry and here are some key changes of note:
Change in the accessibility of music, the democratization of music production and grassroots root music making: With the aid of technology, upcoming artists and aspiring musicians have easy access to produce and distribute their music whilst having the ability to reach the global market without necessarily having the support of a record label. The production of music is no longer limited to only those who have extensive resources or those who are professionals alone but to a large extent, a wider range of people are able to have access to these privileges with the inception of technology.
With softwares like DAW’s, (digital audio work stations) amongst others, artists are able to produce recordings of high quality from the comfort of their homes and this have helped to give them more control over their music making process. Digital platforms have helped to break the barrier of geography and hence created a collaboration of global music creators who form communities taking music beyond the shores of their continents.
In the past it was difficult to have access to music except you buy cassettes and CDs but now, platforms such as Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon music etc to mention but a few have made music readily accessible thereby breaking the stereotypes form of music consumption we were used to in the past. Do I even mention the fact that streaming services have made relishing music even way better through the use of music algorithms to bring to us the type of music we love thereby making our music type discovery easier. The barriers of traditional gatekeepers in the industry have been broken as musicians can now bring their music to their fans directly through the use of the different social media platforms.
With the digital era has come new models of businesses for artists and music professionals thereby increasing their opportunities as music have been democratized. Artists now have more liberty to exercise control over their music including the pricing, ownership and the rights of their work. The fans of these artists are not left behind in this beautiful flow as they have first hand opportunity to engage with the music they love through remixes and virtual challenges as we see trending on most social media platforms adding a whole new spice to music which was never there before now. Above all, the social media have enabled these artists to be able to connect directly with their fans and this have made for more interpersonal relationship between the artists and their fans.
Well, whatever had a pro also has a con and the cons of the digital age on music cannot be over emphasized. There is now the increasing need for streaming royalties as the continous rise in steaming music have impacted how the musicians or artists monetize their music. In all of these, the concern about piracy has been on the rise and has been a challenge as there are more cases of illegal sharing of music files and even downloads that ends up depriving the artists of their supposed revenue.
All of this is a total shift from the norm and these is only attributed to the digital age of course. The digital age has brought about a welcomed revolution to music which we all are enjoying and we are still at the thresholds of more beautiful inventions to unfold in regards to music. All thanks to the digital age.