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

1. 2.
The Online Revolution
How has the online revolution
changed the way artists promote
their music?

2. Before the internet..
The Beatles
The Beatles first began making music and stopped making music many years before the internet ever existed,
so did not have the opportunity to take advantage of it. The Beatles were first formed in 1960, based in
Liverpool, UK, and eventually ended up international superstars. They are considered by many as the ‘most
comercially successful and critically acclaimed act in the history of music’ by means explained below;
•Magazines and Newspapers: During the 1960s TV’s were very rare to come across so magazines and
newspapers were a prime source of information for people. The Beatles regularly appeared throughout many
different magazines and newspapers during their time which helped spread the word of the music they were
producing.
•Touring: Perhaps the most common way of getting your band name known – playing the music you’ve
produced to crowds. The Beatles toured internationally which was one of the main reasons for their success,
and wherever they went, people loved and talked about them. The power of word cannot be underestimated
and in the Beatles case this was a huge driving force for their publicity and fame as people would spread word
of them by simply discussing with others how amazing their music was.

3. The internet’s influence
On the music industry..
Since the internet came into play on a mass scale in the early 1990s, many organisations have made use of the
hugely powerful tool, and the music industry is one of the most successful to do so. There are billions of people
that use the internet on a regular basis which makes it, when used efficiently, the best way to promote and
advertise different brands and products.
There are many ways to promote via the internet for the music industry. The most obvious and usually first
way to get an artist out there and known is to make a website for themselves and then add as much
information as possible which is likely to attract attention, which is a very good way of advertising. A web
address can be given to anyone which has access to the internet, and from there, the artists webpage can be
viewed by whoever you wish. Content on the website can include anything from a short introduction selling
the artist to the reader to videos of the artist performing at their latest gig. Another effective way of using the
internet is to pay a well known music website to advertise your services, for instance MTV, a worldwide
recognised media organisation regularly advertise different artists via their website, as shown below.

4. The internet has helped..
Justin Bieber
One artist who has greatly benefitted from the internet is Justin Bieber. It is widely publicised that Justin was
initially found by his record company whilst one of their staff members was simply browsing YouTube. He had
posted a video of him performing a song when he was spotted as a potential star and from there he has grown
into an international superstar.
Since his initial breakthrough Justin, like most modern artists use the internet still to promote their music to a
worldwide audience. YouTube is still a great source of advertising, however, the internet does have its
negatives.
Within the last couple of years it has been picked up on that a lot of people use the internet to illegally
download music. Just as fast as you can advertise on the internet, and perhaps even quicker, people are able to
share the latest music which is passed on from person to person for them to download for free instead of
having to purchase a CD or the single/album digitally for a price.
Original video of Justin Bieber which helped him get famous:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnUt-dZrOV0