Music industry has become a significant source of income for artists over the past several years. It is estimated that around one-third of all music sales in the United States is generated by streaming services. While these revenues are increasing, sustaining a successful career is still not enough. To protect artists and their creative work, music streaming platforms should work to improve the royalties that are paid out for streaming tracks.
For artists to maximize their earnings from streaming, their royalties should be based on the number of streams and song downloads. In some cases, royalty payments can be as high as seventy per cent. By surrendering the role of intermediaries, music streaming services can make their revenue model fairer.
For example, TuneCore, an admin publishing company, has a system that helps artists track down their songwriter royalties. Some music streaming services leave out liner notes for artists, making it harder to earn royalties from streaming.
It has a negative impact on emerging artists:
Emerging artists are not always given the opportunities they deserve. They have to compete for a limited number of spots in the music industry and rarely receive fair pay for their work. They have to work under less-than-ideal conditions to pay off the thousands of dollars they spend promoting themselves. This is unfair, undermines the free market, and makes it difficult for musicians to create a sustainable living.
Music streaming has also had a negative impact on artists. The U.K.’s competition watchdog, the CMA, said that the growing popularity of streaming has made the music industry increasingly difficult for new artists. It estimated that more than 80% of recorded music is streamed and that 138 billion streams were recorded in the U.K. last year.
The music industry is suffering as a result, and M.P.s have called for a complete overhaul. They are also calling for the CMA to investigate the power of major players. The CMA report said that while some artists were thriving financially, most were not earning enough to make ends meet.
It lacks a centralized hub for music fans:
Traditionally, the music industry has focused on selling music to music fans. However, with the rise of internet hackers, the industry needs to rethink its business model. With the loss of recorded music revenue, the industry must focus on music licensing and live music to compensate for the loss.
The introduction of digital music technology and peer-to-peer file-sharing services has changed how people listen to music. The Napster service, for example, allowed users to share and download music for free. This harmed CD sales and led to a shutdown of the company by the RIAA. However, other sites soon popped up. In the meantime, the music industry concentrated on filing lawsuits against illegal downloaders and establishing iTunes as the only fee-based music site.
It has a negative impact on the radio:
There is a debate about whether the music industry has a negative impact on radio. Some argue that radio’s promotion of artists benefits the artists themselves while reducing the sales of other artists. While it is challenging to obtain updated statistics, Liebowitz’s paper shows that music sales rose in the first half of the 20th century.
Radio has historically played music that is popular among listeners. This is especially true of jazz, hip-hop, and rock, three genres known for shaking up the world. Yet, compared to these genres, jazz radio stations play the same songs they played twenty years ago.
It has a negative impact on CD sales:
The music industry is experiencing a massive decline in CD sales. Since the mid-2000s, sales of C.D.s have decreased by an average of 20% annually. In the first half of 2019, CD sales fell by 48%. This decline is half as significant as the decline in the same period last year. As of June 30, 2018, the value of CD sales in the U.S. was $130 million, or 1.0% lower than in the previous year’s period.
As the popularity of downloading music has grown, the CD industry has struggled to make money. C.D.s consist of a master disc, which is then manufactured into thousands of plastic cases. These C.D.s are then shipped from music warehouses to retail stores. Store clerks and cashiers then unload the C.D.s, choose a track and ring it up.
While CD sales are still crucial to the music industry, they no longer promote musical creativity. MP3s bypass all these costs and are more accessible and affordable for consumers. The RIAA has attempted to combat the growth of digital music, arguing that it is harmful to the music industry.
Author Bio:
Carmen Troy is a research-based content writer for Cognizantt, a globally Professional SEO firm and Research Prospect; an The best academic writing service. Mr Carmen holds a PhD degree in mass communication. He loves to express his views on various issues, including education, technology, and more.