New Media in Music

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Contents

Licensing

Money can be made everywhere, especially in regards to music, which also means in regards to licensing. How much money can be made, it depends on the music, artist, song etc. the world of music licensing is a world where the rights to use music are bought and sold everyday. It happens when our favorite song is being used in a TV commercial, movie or TV show. Music licensing happen everyday, on the radio, in the department store, restaurant, etc. it is possible in United States because of the protection that U.S. copyright law provides for artists. According to the U.S. copyright office: “The copyright code of the United States (title 17 of the U.S. Code) provides for copyright protection in sound recordings. Sound recordings are defined in the law as works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds, but not including the sounds accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work.”

New media has allowed easy, off the shelf licensing of music for creative purposes ( TV/Film/Advertising) through services with everything to be done over the Internet...including all the boring legal work and payments.

These services allow independent artists to showcase their work and get them licensed by productions. It's a win-win situation for all parties: artists benefit from greater exposure and studios benefit from lower costs and preventing red tape due to complicated policy regulations and contracts. A new form of music promotion and distribution is being created because of new media.

Some sites where such services providing music licensing through new media are Rumblefish, BeatPick and YouLicense.


Distribution

Distribution is pretty much how albums get into shops. Distribution companies sign deals with record labels that gives them the right to sell that label's products to the record stores that have an account with that distributor. The distributor takes a cut of income from each album sold and then pays the label the remaining balance. Before, most users would illegally download contents through P2P file sharing it's only when the music industry decided to significantly lower prices, that it's still in existence. There are not too many industries that have been more disrupted by new media than music distribution. It is essentially free now, thanks to new media. Various services have come up to cater to this free price point, while others attempt to price music in a reasonable way. Either way, new media has helped more artists achieve worldwide distribution than ever before. There are also blogs that post mixtapes that were made by up-and-coming artists as well as already established ones. A lot of these mixtapes can be downloaded for free legally since there is no copyright on the property. Also, there are DJ's that use mixtapes to promote themselves. Their mixtapes include music from labels but since it's on a mixtape can be attained for free.


Some music distribution sites:

  • Beatport - Beatport, the first authentic online record shop designed by DJs for DJs. Beatport provides quick, secure, and legal high-quality downloads of dance music in various formats (mp3, mp4, and wav) on a pay per download basis. In here, DJs can find their favorite tracks to be part of their collection and create their own mixes.
  • LaLa - The place where you can listen to unlimited music streams through your web browser. What this means is that you can play your music anywhere, anytime on the web.
  • MySpace - You can listen to music for free or for a charge.
  • TheSixtyOne - The place where independent artists can expose their music.
  • LeakJones - This is a blog that posts links to download mixtapes for free.


What's the Difference Between Licensing and Distribution?

There are many questions concerning licensing and distribution, so I would like to explain what is the real difference between them.

Licensing is when another business, usually another record label, "buys" the rights to an album from the artist. They pay them an one-time fee, and then they take on the task of acting as the label for that album in the territory for which they licensed the album. For instance, let's say I have a US based label and I have an album on my label that I want released in Poland. A label in Poland then licenses the album from me. The Polish label now has the rights to sell that album on their label in Poland. They take the responsibility for manufacturing the album, promoting it, and getting it distributed in Poland. If they make tons of money selling it there, then the rewards are all theirs - I don't make any money beyond my original licensing fee. If they lose money on the album, then that loss is all theirs - I still get to keep my licensing fee.

Distribution, on the other hand, refers to getting the albums into the shops. With a distribution deal, I only make money on what I sell by taking on the responsibilities of a music label of manufacturing, promotion, and so forth. If I make a lot of money, I get to keep it all, but if I lose a lot of money on the album, then the losses all come from my pocket.

Licensing and distribution each has its pros and cons. For your own territory, a distribution deal is ideal because it leaves you in the driver's seat. You want to build a name for your label, and to do so, you have to be in control of your own releases and your own artists. Meanwhile, when it comes to getting your albums into the international market, licensing offers plenty of benefits for a small label.


Major Events and Festivals

Resident Advisor

Resident Advisor is a website that provides information about local parties, events, djs and news all related to electronic music. It is very useful, as it gives details about all the parties in your area. So, if you are bored and have nothing to do on a Saturday night all you have to do is go to this website and you will find out about all the clubs you can go to that night. This website also has weekly prodcasts, forums, discussion boards and newsletters. You can find out about a lot of emerging djs and discover a lot of new music. This is not only useful for the public but also for new djs that want to gain recognition from the public.


Detroit Electronic Music Festival

The Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF), also known as Movement, is an electronic dance music showcase held in Michigan each Memorial Day weekend since 2000. Every year on May 23th, 24th and 25th, Movement continues the Detroit tradition with a line-up of talent gathered from around the globe. The diverse roster showcases established artists alongside up-and-coming artists, reflecting electronic music’s deep and storied past as well as its bright future. Movement is an essential destination for the international techno travelers, looking to hear the music they love the most. Detroit is the birthplace of most established techno djs and is also the place where "Minimal Techno" began. Anyone who truly loves electronic music and appreciates djs should attend this festival and show their respect to all the hardworking and dedicated individuals that make this yearly event possible.

This year's DEMF will take place between May 29-31. If you are going to be in Michigan during that time, don't miss out on this festival of 36 hours of techno music!


Winter Music Conference

Winter Music Conference, currently in its 25th year, is regarded as the singular networking event in the dance music industry, attracting professionals from over 70 different countries. With its high concentration of top international artists, DJs and industry professionals, WMC permeates the international press and is thereby one of the most publicized events in the business. Every aspect of the industry is represented including the top technological innovators, artists, DJs, producers, radio and video programmers, retailers, distributors, audio manufacturers and many more. There are countless reasons why people from all over the world return year after year for this event, the most outstanding one being that there is nothing else in the world like it.


South By Southwest

South By Southwest is both a film and music festival held in Austin, Texas for a week in March of each year. The event has taken place each year since 1987 and has grown to become the premiere annual festival for new and rising recording acts. Members of the music industry looking for the next big thing crowd the streets and clubs of Austin. The sheer number of performers is phenomenal. This year, the festival boasted nearly 2000 musical acts.


Spreading the Music

New Media has affected modern music and its industry in many different ways. There are tons of new methods and channels in which artists can easily get their music out to the entire internet community. Social networking monster Myspace has already left its footprint in music history, allowing anyone who has material to set up their own page containing biographies, pictures, and full songs, entirely for free.


A newer new media website that has gained popularity lately is iLike. iLike is similar to Myspace in the way that fans can see what their favorite bands are up to, what music videos they have posted, etc. The difference is that [http:www.ilike.com/ iLike] has suggestions for similar bands that one might be interested in listening to as well. Not only can bands create profiles, but the fans as well, who can post messages on the band pages and share with others their own favorite bands. iLike is an endless chain of information that can lead a fan to discover many other bands.


Another website that maybe people uses are YouTube. It is nott exactly known for its original music but more for its user base and the diversity of videos that are posted. It seems important to mention this website because of possible stars that could be found in its user pool. A recently famous singer, Justin Bieber, was scouted and hired because of the music video he had posted on YouTube.


YouTube and Music

The Power of YouTube

YouTube has created a new pathway for the music industry. Many people are using YouTube as a medium to share their music, whether they are singing covers of their favorite songs or singing an original song that they created themselves. All you need to have is a camera and you are able to share your music with the world. You can find videos of people singing their favorite songs all over YouTube. While some people are putting up videos of themselves singing as a hobby, others are doing it for recognition in hopes of making it big. Inspired artists put their music up on YouTube hoping to get recognized by big record labels. An example of a successful group would be AHMIR, YouTube’s #1 most watched R&B group. They started putting up videos of themselves singing covers of popular songs and they built a fan base. Eventually they were recognized by a representative of ROBBINS Entertainment/RED/Sony Music and AHMIR signed their first record deal on September 22, 2010[1]. This is the same label that Cascada is signed with.


Another artist that was discovered through YouTube was Esmee Denters. She sang many covers of popular contemporary artists such as Justin Timberlake and Natasha Bedingfield. She was eventually noticed by Justin Timberlake himself and he signed Denters as his first artist for his new record label Tennman Records.


Kina Grannis is also another YouTube found singer. Creating her account in 2007, she started posting videos of her material on YouTube. One of the first acts she did that put her on top was when her first video was aired in Super Bowl XLII, where she won a Doritos sponsored contest. Originally signed with Interscope Records, she decided to leave to be an independent artist. However, recently she has been signed to One Haven. Kina re-released her album "Stairwells" under One Haven so far. Using YouTube, Twitter, as well as Facebook, she keeps connected with her fans around the world as much as possible.


Teen singer Justin Bieber was also discovered through his use of YouTube by R&B singer Usher. Bieber became the first artist to sign with Usher’s Island/Def Jam label.


There are many independent artists that are not looking to get signed to a label but rather create and produce their own music from their own home studios. Some of these artists are exploring this new route of distributing music because they have full control of what kind of music they put out. An example would be Tyler Ward. He has gained a lot of recognition through the music he puts on YouTube. He professionally produces his own music and is able to share his music to the world. In addition to putting up videos on YouTube, independent artists are able to upload their music to iTunes and earn some money off downloads. The world has a lot of talent that has not been discovered yet and YouTube has created numerous opportunities for the music world.


Sometimes, you can earn instant fame from a YouTube Video. For example, Antoine Dodson became a YouTube sensation after Auto-Tune the News created a catchy song named Bed Intruder Song using footage of a news interview involving Dodson. Dodson was interviewed by a news reporter, after a man allegedly climbed through a window of his house in the middle of the night and tried to rape his sister. The footage of the interview found its way onto YouTube almost instantly. The song was created soon after. Dodson essentially became famous overnight with this viral video and song. The Gregory Brothers, the masterminds behind the song and 'Auto-Tune the News', also became very popular on YouTube after this song was created. They often create songs using funny or viral video clips found in news media and auto-tune software.


YouTube is also the place where you can find music videos from your favorite artists.VEVO's channel has the latest popular music videos that you can watch. Watching your favorite music videos whether they are old or new is just a search away. There is much creativity found on YouTube. Some users like to create parodies of their favorite songs and music videos and it helps build on the popularity of the song/video. YouTube has been and will continue to be an essential new media for the music world.


Digitour

YouTube has been an incredible media for musicians to showcase their talent. The Digitour was the first ever, large scale, 6 week national tour that consisted of popular YouTube musicians performing in a concert environment. The lineup included YouTube musicians:
Dave Days
MysteryGuitarMan
David Choi
DeStorm
Ricky Ficarelli and many more.


Music Lessons

The beauty of YouTube is that you can find all kinds of videos on the site. If you don’t have the money to pay for music lessons, YouTube is the perfect place to start. If you’ve always wanted to start playing a new instrument you can just hop onto YouTube and search tutorials. There are many tutorials on how to play instruments such as the guitar or piano. There are many channels on YouTube dedicated to tutorials on how to play guitar. YourGuitarSage, guitarjamzdotcom, and JustinSandercoe are a few examples of YouTube channels that offer guitar lessons and tutorials. Examples of channels that offer piano lessons and tutorials are StarlingSounds and youcanplayit. Most of these people who offer lessons on YouTube are experienced musicians and teachers so you can get quality lessons from them. If you want to learn how to play a popular song, there are usually many tutorials available as well. It may not be the same experience as having someone right next to you, teaching you how to play an instrument but it is a new and cheaper alternative.

Internet Radio

Online radio has become a huge sensation in New Media. Online radio can be accessed through PC's, laptops, gaming systems, cell phones, etc. Internet radio offers hours of non-repeat music virtually commercially free, something that local radio stations simply cannot offer. Also, these internet radio station are highly customizable. The user can pick the artists, songs, or albums he or she likes and using this information, the stations offer recommendation to the user to discover new music. According to a 2008 survey by Arbitron, internet radio weekly listerners have been constantly rising for since 2008[2]. The three biggest internet radio stations are Pandora, Slacker, and GrooveShark. Pandora is the largest and oldest. It is also growing very rapidly in the last 24 months thanks to an iPhone app, a Ford deal, and the line-up of Blu-Ray makers asking for the service[3].

It is interesting to note that even though the popularity of Internet Radio has been increasing quite rapidly, it is one of the most struggling New Media fields. Internet radio listeners grow daily, but they simply fail in comparison to the number of people listening to the traditional over-the-air radio[4]. A lot of the Internet radio stations are free and make most of their money from advertisements on their site. One would think that since this is a growing industry, advertisers would pay more and more for their ad spots, however this is not the case. Internet radio is still seen as a new outlet and has not earned the respect of advertisers. This means that an ad campaign on an Internet radio site is only a small fraction of that for a traditional over-the-air radio station[5]. This is great example of the constant struggle between New Media vs. Old Media.

New websites such as, Spotify adds a social dynamic to internet radio as it allows users to collaborate on playlists and listen together. It is heavily integrated in Facebook, where it displays what you are listening to in other News Feeds and encourages them to join in. This is similar to turntable.fm where users can go into different listening rooms and be represented as an avatar on a dance floor. Depending on the room there are a certain number of spots to DJ and users can jump into them as they become available. DJ's can either pick from an extensive number of tracks in the library or upload their own music no matter its origin as long as it's under 20min in length. Listeners can vote on whether they like the current song. If they like it, the DJ who plays it gets points, and if a certain amount of people don't like the song it gets skipped.

Some free internet radio sites:

"At Pandora, we have a single mission: To play only music you'll love." You can create up to 100 unique "stations." And you can even refine them.

"Slacker offers a much larger music library, and a pro account you can pay for that will let give you even greater control over your music."

"Our goals: To improve the connection between people and music. To change the music industry in ways they seem so unwilling to consider. To have fun."

"Last.fm is a music recommendation service. You use Last.fm by signing up and downloading The Scrobbler, which helps you discover more music based on the songs you play."

"Free music - internet radio that plays what you want!"

"A social experience in digital radio that allows users to collaborate on playlists ans share in the groove."

"Sign in with Twitter or Facebook, then pop into a room. Listen to what others are playing, or start DJing right from your own living room"

Music Is Everywhere

New Media made it possible for music to be available in the digital world through various services. There are two types of subscription services, which are known as interactive and non-interactive subscription services. The interactive services enable the consumer to interact with the service to hear a specific recording and to create personalized radio stations and play lists. However, non-interactive subscription services would not pay performance royalties to recording artists or owners and controllers of sound recordings.

There are providers who charge a fee for music like iTunes, eMusic, and Napster; there are also streaming interactive subscription services such as Rhapsody and MusicNet. Some non-interactive subscription services are provided via MusicChoice, Sirius, and XM Satellite. There are subscription services through video games such as Grand Theft Auto and Madden Football. You can even receive music through subscriptions directly from your cell phone!

In addition, there are many Internet destination sites that are music driven and visited by millions of people everyday such as MySpace (who, incidentally, just announced that they are working with SnoCap to launch a music download service that would let musicians sell music directly from their profiles and their fans’ profiles). Digital downloads increased the digital sales of songs in the U.S. back in 2006, with an outstanding 51% increase from the year before. The most popular service used for these downloads is Apple's iTunes, which reportedly sold 1.5 billion songs in 2006. Music is also provided by webcast royalties in the digitalized world. Recently, the downloading of music on cell phones has become a relatively new source of income for record companies and their recording artists.


Digital Downloads

U.S albums sales have dropped 5 percent in 2006, but despite that the increase in U.S digital sales hit and all time high especially after the Christmas season in 2006 with 30.1 million tracks sold. This is a 51% increase from the tracks sold during the 2005 year. Even though there are various digital downloading services available, the most notable one happens to be Apple's iTunes.

Apple's iTunes have offered world wide recognition to different music genres as well as new artists. iTunes is compatible on any computer. iTunes is said to have reported a total of 1.5 billion downloads sold by the month of September 2006. iTunes offers consumers the option of purchasing entire albums (on sale for an average of $10) or individual songs for 99 cents each. This is important to consumers who may not always want to buy an entire album. You can also see which songs are popular at the time. As a result of new media, consumers have changed their purchasing habits and the music industry as a whole.

Lossless File

Are you an audiophile and wonder how you can get the best sound out of your equipment? Sometimes, it may not be your equipment but the music file itself. An MP3 file is actually compressed and some sound quality is lost. One reason why this file format is the most popular is because of its relatively small file size and the loss of quality is minimized. However, if you were to get a music file straight from the recording studio, it would probably be a lossless file. This file is 100% uncompressed meaning the sound quality is not affected in any way. It is straight from the recording. There are different kinds of lossless file formats, for example, Apple uses .m4a or .ALAC while Zune on the other hand uses .WMA, a Microsoft platform. One reason why lossless files are not as popular is because of it's large file size. An average song will probably be about 30 MB while a regular MP3 of the same song would be around 5 MB. But with the increasing hard drive space in our music players as well as the decrease of the price in hard drives, why not try out a lossless audio file and see what the difference is?

FLAC

Free Lossless Audio Codec, or what is better known as FLAC, is one of the most popular digital audio formats amongst audiophiles. It's reputation stems from the fact that it, unlike the MP3 format, uses a compression algorithm that results in no loss to audio quality. Most notably FLAC is the only codec that is "non-proprietary and unencumbered by patents, (and) has an open-source reference."[6]

FLAC is completely open-source. The source code is available to anyone, free-of-charge. As far as truly lossless codecs are concerned, this is a first. Aside from being lossless, FLAC has an extensive metadata system that supports all of tagging, cue sheets, and cover art. [7]

FLAC audio files can be played using Winamp on Windows, MPlayer on your Linux distribution of choice, or with MacAmp on Mac OS X. If you want to rip your existing CD collection to FLAC, you can use the full version of Winamp for Windows or Toast Titanium on Mac. Being open-source, Linux users can choose from the many free encoders available.[8]

MP3 Files

We all know what is an MP3 player but what is the technology behind MP3 files? MP3 movement started not with the industry itself but with a huge audience of music lovers on the Internet. [MP3] file, also known as MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, format has had a great impact on the world. It was created by engineers at the German company Fraunhofer IIS. However, not all MP3 files are equal. This audio compression format produces near compact disk quality sound. An audio compact disk which can normally be about 700 megabytes can be compressed into a computer and can occupy around 65 megabytes while using MP3 format. In addition, MP3 file format has made digital file distribution more "efficient." The introduction of MP3 audio file format has increased digital technology which has had a reduction on both reproduction and distribution costs.


What is MP3 Audio File?

MP3's are one of the many best things that happened in the new age of technology. The MP3 generation started with a large amount of audience using the Internet and not from an industry. There are many audio files such as .wav, wma, and mp3, but only mp3 music files are known to play in any audio device. With MP3's, you can download songs in minutes depending on your internet connection speed rather than in hours. MP3 is simply a file format that compresses a song into a smaller size. It is then easier to move around on the Internet. MP3 music files are CD quality, depending on its bit rate. MP3 files that are encoded with lower bit rate will play at a lower quality than from a higher bit rate. The quality of MP3 files really depend on the difficulty of the signal being recorded and the encoder. A 33 MB song on a CD compresses down to about 3 MB.

Listening to MP3 music files can't get any easier and simpler than it already is. All you need to do to listen to MP3 files on your computer is a computer, speakers, a sound card, internet connection, and an MP3 player (software application). You may already have a MP3 player on your computer. If you're not sure, then simply double click on a song that you have already downloaded. If it does not play then you will need to download a player. See EZ-Tracks Music Downloads page for more info. All EZ-Tracks music is in MP3 file format. Also, all EZ-Tracks music is for absolutely free.


Why MP3's are the preferred format?

1. You can download music in minutes rather than in hours.

2. You can record your own song and then convert it to an MP3 file.

3. You can download an MP3 file from any where (EZ-Tracks) and play it.

4. You can store large amount of MP3 music on CD-R's or CD-RW's

5. You can load MP3 music files into iPods, MP3 players, or any other portable players.


Different Types of MP3 Players

  • Hard drive based MP3 players are typically larger and heavier than their competitors due to the fact that they contain a large capacity hard drive inside. This, however, may be one of it's weaknesses. These MP3 players provide the largest capacity, ten gigabytes or more, out of the different types of MP3 players. Due to the fact that ten gigabytes equates to roughly 2,900 MP3 files, most consumers buy these players because they accommodate their entire MP3 collection. However, if you are looking for a player to bring with you on a jog or to use at the gym, you may choose to shy away from these players. Any sudden physical movement may cause the internal mechanical hard drive to skip.


  • Micro hard drive based MP3 players are similar to their big brothers, the hard drive based players, except that they are a bit smaller, both in physical size and internal storage capacity. These MP3 players hold up to six gigabytes of MP3 files, holding roughly 1,700 songs. Still boasting a respectable capacity, these players have won over many consumers due to their light-weight, compact size. However, these players are also susceptible to skipping if subjected to intense physical movement. Additionally, both hard drive and micro hard drive based players commonly contain rechargeable batteries that can not be replaced for a new battery, but only recharged. If it's small size and moderate capacity that you are in search of, this type of player may be just right.


  • Flash based MP3 players are ultra compact, low capacity players with no moving parts and, consequently, never skip. Another advantage of these players is that their size and lack of moving parts allow them to use minimal power, resulting in longer lasting batteries. Also, these players almost always use replaceable, disposable batteries, allowing you to put in a new battery if your player should die in the middle of use. However, flash based MP3 players commonly range in capacity from 32 megabytes (roughly 10 songs) to two gigabytes (roughly 570 songs) at most. Therefore, most consumers with a large music collection tend to shy away from this type of MP3 player while athletes can appreciate the sturdy nature of these devices.


Some of the different types of MP3 players include additional features as well. A few of the hard drive players include a small screen that can display pictures and video that are stored on the internal drive. Other players allow for digital voice recording for future playback.

Vorbis

Vorbis is a lossy audio compression format comparable to MP3. In 1993 Chris Montgomery began development of the Vorbis codec. Unlike the MP3 codec, Vorbis is completely open-source much like FLAC. The development team at Xiph.org escalated their effort to produce their codec as a replacement for the closed-source and patented MP3 format soon after it was announced that the Fraunhofer Society intended to charge licensing fees for the MP3 codec. A stable 1.0 version was released in July 2002 and the latest build, 1.3.2, has been as of November 2010.[9]

Vorbis is more commonly referred to as Ogg Vorbis. Ogg is actually the name of the container, which can may contain audio, video, and metadata. Vorbis is the name given to the specific audio compression format developed by the team at Xiph.org. Ogg was designed to contain a variety of codecs including the lossless FLAC format.[10]

Windows users can playback Ogg Vorbis files using the WinAmp player and OS X users can use the Whamb player. A complete listing can be accessed at Vorbis 3rd Party Software.

Vorbis is most popular within the open-source community. Many supporters argue that the completely free nature of open source code has resulted in a format superior in audio quality to other closed source software, namely MP3. However, it should be noted that Vorbis has much ground to gain in order to reach the popularity status of MP3. According to the Wikipedia page on Vorbis, "A March 2011 search of all software categories on Download.com shows more than 10,700 results for the term MP3, less than 2,000 for Ogg, and less than 400 for Vorbis."[11]

Creating Your Own Music

New media allows for the creation of music without the need for a professional studio. Through the use of software, one could create music that is in high quality and sounds professional.

Compression is the process of diminishing the volume of louder parts and raising the volume of quieter parts, thus compressing the dynamic range of the audio. Compressors basically have five manipulation controls: 

1. Threshold: Sets the point where the compression takes place. Sounds that have dynamics above the threshold are compressed and sounds that 
   have dynamics below the threshold are untouched. 
2. Ratio: Sets the level of compression that takes place. For example, when the ratio is set at 5:1 and the dynamics of an incoming sound is 20 
   dB above the threshold level, the sound will only rise by 4 dB.
3. Attack: Sets how fast the compression takes place when the sound is above the threshold level. A higher attack setting will compress the 
   sound faster.
4. Release: Sets how fast the compressor goes back to normal when the sound returns below the threshold level.
5. Gain: Sets the level at which the sound is raised in volume after compression to make up for the volume lost from the compressed sounds.

Equalization is the process of raising or lowering the different levels of frequencies in an audio signal. The most basic equalization tools are the bass and treble controls. More advanced equalization has changes made to a narrower range of frequencies with the key being able to do so without affecting frequencies that were not targeted.

Virtual Studio Technology(VST) is interface technology that emulates traditional hardware through software. VST plug-ins can be used as instruments to make sounds or effects to manipulate sounds.

Notable Changes in the Music Industry

Pandora: Then and Now

Pandora radio has come a long way from struggling to pay it's workers and trying to keep the company afloat to currently being one of the most recognized online radio sites. Thanks to the new i-Pod application along with other deals, it seems as though Pandora would finally be going public which would expose the company to a lot more profits than they have been generating over the past 10 years.[12] Pandora not only allow users to look for songs, but it also provide users with songs of the same genre. It's able to study your taste in music and make recommendations. With capabilities like these, it's no wonder why Pandora has become so popular.


Piracy and Illegal downloading

Piracy has always been a huge issue in the music industry. Digital downloads has entered as the new form of music distribution, making the physical CD album begin its decline. However, people are still illegally downloading music using P2P networks such as BitTorrent. Downloading music illegally hurts the music industry in a huge away because artists are not getting compensated for their work. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the international equivalent of the RIAA, 95% of all music downloaded in 2008 was downloaded illegally.[13] There are many places where you can legally download music such as iTunes and Amazon but many people still choose to obtain their music through illegal ways. The government has been continually trying to crack down on piracy but has had little success.

In 1990, the U.S. music industry claimed earnings of $7.5 billion. By the end of the 1999, revenues had increased to $14.6 billion dollars. This growth rate took a complete dive immediately after. By 2008, revenues had declined to $8.5 billion.[14] Many individuals credit this downward trend in actual music sales to the illegal sharing of files over peer-to-peer networks. None was more famous than Napster. This platform launched in 1999 and has been credited with introducing the mass distribution of pirated material. This was only the beginning of what was to become a thorn in the side of the music industry. There are many in the music industry that argue that peer-to-peer file sharing networks are responsible for a 25% decline in overall revenue since 1999.[15]


What are they really earning?

This article may be a bit out dated as it was written in March 2007. However, it showed at the time that even though actually record sales decreased dramatically, digital sales for music increased. It discusses how much money the artists, along with producers, and i-Tunes may have received back then on the sale of a $0.99 song.[16]

Music Recognition

Shazam

One of the many music recognition software available for almost every smartphone in the market right now is Shazam. The iPhone, Nokia, Blackberry, Android and Windows phones all are capable of the software. When you hear a song you like but do not know the song title or artist, Shazam can find that information for you. This may seem magical at first, but how Shazam actually works is that they have on their servers a wide variety of songs. Each one of these songs are broken down and given a particular "ID". When you activate the program on your phone to find a song, it searches their database according to what sound it is receiving and will find a match from the song and their database.


Cloud Streaming

Amazon Cloud Streaming

Image:amazon.jpg

Have you ever left the comfort of your own home and find out you forgot to bring along your music device such as your iPod? Well recently Amazon has released the "Amazon Cloud Player". This player allows you to upload the music from your computer and you will be able to access it on devices connected to the internet whether it be a laptop or a mobile device like your Blackberry. This service is free and it comes with a five gigabyte "cloud drive storage". You are given the option to buy more storage at $1 a gigabyte per year. For example, you can upgrade to a 20 gigabyte drive for $20 per year.

iTunes Match

Apple has been planning on introducing their own cloud streaming service called the iTunes Match. They have signed a contract with the big record label, Warner, as well as bought LaLa, a popular music streaming service. This service is similar to what Amazon has right now but works in a technically different way. Instead of uploading all of your music to a digital music locker you match your library to Apple's library which can then stream to your mobile device. Even if your music isn't in Apple's library, you still have the option of uploading it to their server regardless of its origin or legality.

References

<http://www.slate.com/id/2232914/> Slate Magazine. Retrieved February 26, 2011.

<http://www.amazon.com/> Amazon. Retrieved April 26, 2011.

<http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/28/apples-cloud-streaming-service-to-be-called-icloud/> Engadget. Retrieved May 8, 2011.

  1. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQXHhd4-p7g AHMIR signs record deal with ROBBINS Entertainment/RED/Sony Music
  2. ↑ Joe Lensky; Bill Rose (2008-06-24). "The Infinite Dial 2008: Radio’s Digital Platforms". Digital Radio Study 2008. Arbitron and Edison Research.
  3. ↑ <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/technology/08pandora.html>The New York Times. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
  4. ↑ <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704498804574561540796890018.html>The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
  5. ↑ <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704498804574561540796890018.html>The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
  6. ↑ http://flac.sourceforge.net. Retrieved May 11, 2011
  7. ↑ http://flac.sourceforge.net/features.html. Retrieved May 11, 2011
  8. ↑ http://flac.sourceforge.net/documentation_tasks.html#unix. Retrieved May 11, 2011
  9. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorbis. Retrieved on May 12, 2011.
  10. ↑ http://www.vorbis.com/faq/#names. Retrieved on May 12, 2011.
  11. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorbis. Retrieved May 12, 2011
  12. ↑ Jocelyn Hoppa, Will Pandora Go Public and Become the New Old Radio?, March 9, 2010, "[1]", April 10, 2010
  13. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7832396.stm BBC News. Retrieved May 11, 2011
  14. ↑ http://hbr.org/product/the-impact-of-illegal-peer-to-peer-file-sharing-on/an/CMR456-PDF-ENG. Retrieved May 11, 2011
  15. ↑ http://hbr.org/product/the-impact-of-illegal-peer-to-peer-file-sharing-on/an/CMR456-PDF-ENG. Retrieved May 11, 2011
  16. ↑ Dina LaPolt, Taking a Glance at Other Income Streams in the Music Industry...2007, March 2007, [2]", April 10, 2010
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