3. RISE AND FALL OF
PHYSICAL MEDIA
The last 40 years have consisted of
dramatic changes in the world of physical
media. In 1974 the majority (approximate
60%) of all music sales were LPs or EP. This
drastically changed over 30 years as in
2002, 95% of all music media was
purchased and consumed through CDs, and
LPs were barely even bought at all.
Then in 2003 “Napster” became all the
hype, and changed the media industry
completely, as Napster was a way in which
people could share audio files online. This
caused a major decline in consumption and
purchases of physical music
4. DIGITAL DISRUPTION
From 2010 onwards, downloading and
streaming music diminished the sales of
physical media completely.
New digital media such as Spotify,
Soundcloud and YouTube, made this
decline of physical media increase even
more, as these platforms allow for easily
accessible and cheaper or even free music.
Spotify is a Swedish audio streamer, that
provides digital rights management
protected content, started in 2006. (Can be
used on mobiles, tablets, and pc)
Soundcloud is a global audio distributor
from Germany, that started in 2008.
This decline in the purchases of physical
media was detrimental to the music
industry, as artists now mainly accounts for
millions of views to gain much profit,
whereas the sales of CD and LPs used to be
5. RETROMANIA
Retromania is a concept that considers a nostalgic continuation of a
previous generation.
This links very well with the rise of vinyl, as in the past few years the
sales of vinyls have been booming. Vinyl remains popular because
the high-quality sound it delivers, but also adored the retro style of
a vinyl player.
According to data released last week by Nielsen Soundscan, more
than 9.2 million vinyl records were sold in the U.S. last year, marking
a 52% increase over the year before, which shows a very high
increase for retro items.
7. Distributing as Physical Media
When considering how my 3 products (music video, album,
website) would be distributed as real media products, digital
disruption is very important to keep in mind.
CD Sales
Although due to digital disruption, CD sales have gone down
drastically, it is still an important aspect when putting music
onto the market, while simultaneously selling it on other
devices as well. Therefore I would sell classic plastic CDs as
one way of distibuting my album.
Digipak Sales
Unlike a standard jewel case, a digipak is a type of CD
packaging for special editions of the album. They are
typically made out of a cardboard material with one or more
plastic CD or DVD trays, as they contain extra special
content. This extra content conventionally consists of bonus
tracks, a lyric booklet, extra artwork or imagery, or a special
DVD.
Digipaks are a part of retromania as well as vinyl, as digipaks
are reminiscent of vinyl. They are also squared and made out
of cardboard just like vinyl. This would be a good way for my
artist to distribute her album because the audience would
want to purchase this sepcial edition of the album because it
contains special content. They would also want to purchase
8. Vinyl Sales
“In 2007, as the ascent of digital music continued, scratchy, unportable
records seemed to be spinning into oblivion, accounting for 0.1% of UK
album sales”
– The Guadian
However, currently, 8 years after, vinyls have made a dramatic comeback
because due to retromania, buying old school vinyls and playing them on
record players is very popular.
Therefore selling vinyls would be a very strategic way to distribute my album,
as the sales of vinyls have gone up over 50% in the last year in the USA, and
now have their own weekly chart of the Top 40 sold vinyls in the UK.
This would therefore result in a good amount of sales for my artist Elora and
would be a good way of distributing her album
9. VIP TICKETS, MEET AND GREETS,
DIFFERENT PRODCUTSDue to the digital disruption resulting in a massive decline in physical media such as CDs
and Vinyl, and an increase in online streaming on Spotify and YouTube, artists have to
attempt to gain money from other sources to make up for not selling as many CDs.
Eventhough digital disruption has caused a decline in phsyical media sales, it has opened
new convergence methods. For example because of this you get new potential platforms
and new ways of working for distributing products, that is very exciting for the artist and
the audience.
VIP Tickets
For example, one new platform is the sales of VIP tickets to concerts. This can include
backstage passes, or the best seats/view of a concert. These tickets cost more than the
average ticket for concerts and are therefore a very good way to make additional money
and a good way to excite the audience.
Therefore I would also have my artist have VIP ticket sales
Meet & Greets
This is also a common way for artists to
make more money and to excite their fans
even more. This includes a before or after
concert meet up where the fans can have a
short conversation with the artist/band and
take a picture with them. (Here is an
example of One Direction’s Meet & Greet)
I will therefore also have my artist have
meet and greets in order to make more
profit and distribute
10. Autographs and Merchandise
Autographs:
Seling signed copies of CDs, digipaks, posters, and vinyls is another great way to
distribute products, as there would be a limited amount of each of the signed
copies, which would result in a huge hype and the fans will want to purchase these.
These signed copies would be more expensive than the non signed editions which
would result in a higher profit
This would be a great way for my artists’ products to be distributed as well as it
would help her make more profit
Merchandise:
This is an incredibly popular way for artists to distribute their products, to create
more recognition, and to make more money.
Almost every artist has a merchandise shop on their website with t-shirts and
hoodies, with their logo or image printed on it.
Therefore my artist will be selling merchandise as well.
11. Working with other Brands
Another way in which artists distribute and advertise their products is
through working with other brands. For example Taylor Swift created limited
edition shoes with Keds for her 1989 world tour.
This is a good way to advertise her tour as her fans would buy the shoes and
be a walking advertisement for her tour and she would also obtain money
from the collaboration with Keds.
This is another good way in which my products could be distributed as well.
12. Online Distribution
Once again, due to the fall of physical media
and the rise of digital media, distributing
music online is one of the main sources of
income for artists.
YouTube & Vimeo
These are two of the major online music
distributors as they both allow artists to
upload music videos, audios, lyric videos, and
behind the scenes videos of their music video
production. This is really attractive for
audiences as it is free to access and
incredibly entertaining for them to watch and
consume the products.
Although the videos are free for the
consumer, the artist does make a lot of
money from them, as the amounts of views
the video gets, calculates into the amount of
money that is made.
13. Online Distribution
Another way to distribute songs online, besides through videos on YouTube
and Vimeo, are audio distributors and they are excellent ways to distribute
as well.
Legal online downloading services such as Apple Music, Soundcloud, and
Spotify, created opportunities for labels (major labels and independent
labels) to have the ability to sell their music to a large market with no
excessive cost.
Apple Music/iTunes
This distributor is also major, and allows for legal downloading, however
not for free, but for around 1 euro per song, 10 euros per album.
Spotify & Soundcloud
Both Spotify and Soundcloud online services provide digital rights and
protected content, which is crucial. These distributors allow for solely audio
content and are very popular among distributing albums, however can only
be listened to online.
14. Spotify
Spotify is available on mobile and on PCs, it as over 10 million users and asks for $9.99
a month for an account. Once this account has been made the user can listen to any
music on demand in Spotify’s library.
This is a great way for artists to distribute their music to an extremely wide audience,
however the profit made from this isn’t large.
“Spotify says that its average payout for a stream to labels and publishers is between
$0.006 and 0.0084 but “Information is Beautiftul” suggests that the average payment to
an artist from the albel portion of that is $0.001125 – this being what a signed artist
receives after the record label takes its’ share”
- The Guardian
Although Spotify is a great way to distribute music, the profit is clearly not large, and
this has caused some artists, such as Taylor Swift, to feel uncomfortable to distribute on
Spotify and Soundcloud. This resulted in her taking all of her albums off of legal
streaming sites.
Nonentheless, I think Spotify and Soundcloud would be great ways for me to distribute
my artists’ music because she is still an upcoming artist and needs the recognition and
needs to be available for a wide range of audiences in order to become big.
