Over the past decade the music industry has become an
ever-changing landscape that continues to develop, grow, and change before our
eyes. According to the New York Times, technology has allowed global music
sales to rise last year for the first time since 1999 (New York Times, 2013). Technology
and innovation have been the front-runners that have affected the music
industry and my career as a front of house engineer the most; however, what
will be the next big transition that the Entertainment Industry sees? One of
the most notable transitions over the past decade that I remember was one that
took us from the buying a physical CD to single mp3s. Do you remember how
amazing it was to be able to put every single album that you owned in your
pocket? The idea and application of the iPod as well as iTunes was amazing for
everyone involved; however, the notion that someone could buy just one track off
a full 12-song album really impacted sales and the total income artists were
seeing. Artist managers everywhere, including myself, scrambled to find ways to
keep people buying the entire albums; however, the decline of full physical CD
sales inevitably led us to focus on other forms of income. The music industry
as a whole began to focus on making touring revenue and concerts the main
source of income for artists. Coupled with album sales (even though they were
and still are declining), concerts and tours are where artists make the
majority of their money. According to Billboard’s Ray Waddell, “the touring
industry was robust in 2012 and is teed up for continued growth” (Mashable,
2013). Artists make money off of the ticket sales and merchandise but where
else could we generate revenue? I keep asking myself this question and always
come to the same conclusion, which is that the music industry needs a dedicated
in Home Live Concert Streaming Service. Is that not where every industry in the
world right now is currently trying to migrate to and monetize? It would
benefit the artist a lot if they were able to bring their concerts into their
fans homes without them actually having to attend. It would be an amazing way
for them to reach out to a bigger demographic or even around the world. The
streaming service would be set up similarly to that of Netflix where you can
pay a monthly fee and watch all the live shows of you your favorite artist or
pay per show, kind of like pay-per view; however, these tickets would be at a
discounted rate because you would not be physically there. The discounts could
expand to package deals on their merchandise, physical albums, or even
including a live concert DVD for an extra fee.. EVNTLIVE is on the forefront of
providing a service for streaming live concerts and will soon be offering
invitations for people to try it out. EVNTLIVE’s CEO Judy Estrin stated, “We
will offer webcasts of live concerts” and “our focus is a combination of
signed, popular indie [artists] that have strong followings up to the top
brands.” This is something that I see becoming another great source of income
for artists and will be watching out for it to go public in the future.
References:
New York Times. (2013). Music Industry Records First Revenue
Increase since 1999. Retrieved on April 11, 2013, from; http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/technology/music-industry-records-first-revenue-increase-since-1999.html?_r=0
Mashable. (2013). Live Concert Streaming Platform EVNTLIVE
Begins Offering Invitations. Retrieved on April 11, 2013, from; http://mashable.com/2013/04/09/evntlive/
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