Will Technology Destroy Record Labels?
We’ve heard it for decades that some form of technology will be the downfall of the music industry. Whether it was recording music with cassette tapes or the internet expanding, but through it all, the music industry has persisted. But could Technology really hinder the music industry and what evidence (beyond speculation) do we have that indicates this might be the case?
Truthfully, we have seen drastic changes to traditional shops (ones that require people to physically travel to) because of technology. Instead of going to actual stores more and more people are going online to do their shopping and as a result, we are seeing some stores fade away. Similarly, we may start to see changes in the record label. In the not so distant past record labels were responsible for finding new talent and while this is still the case, more and more artists are being discovered by the public through platforms like YouTube.
The record label is sort of like the middleman between the audience and the music artists. In the past it made sense to have it, however, today fans can just go directly to the source (the artist) to get their music, something that is becoming more and more common. Another task that the record industry is responsible for is getting music onto the radio. The problem is that many labels tend to focus on big names (because, why not? Everyone knows them) instead of focusing what the vast majority of listeners may actually want to hear. For some, this can maybe radio a non-desirable way to access music and may cause them to listen to things they feel they have a bit more control over (such as their mp3 players or a music streaming app where songs can be selected or skipped).