Music is a universal language everyone understands around the world, even if they don’t understand the words that the artists sing. The music industry facts show that it has grown considerably in recent years. After all, it’s known that hard times (like the current pandemic) both affect the music industry negatively and paradoxically sometimes also make it as successful as it can be.
The recent pandemic was one of the stepping stones for the music industry, and people around the world enjoyed every new piece that came out at the time. It was a way to stop thinking about the bad and enjoy the little things in life. But how else does the music industry grow?
What Happens In a Music Industry
“Music is the food to the soul and mind,” said Jessica Senta Abrahms ages ago. People embrace music because it gives them peace of mind. The music industry has evolved due to changes in technology. In this era, people are going digital, so everything tends to move in the same direction.
The music industry consists of various companies. They collaborate with different artists to make money in one way or another. The artists make their earnings from their performances in the events.
Musicians have sponsors who back them up financially, and they get some profit from the events attended by the artists. The artist and the producer need to cooperate to produce the best song. The artist’s work is to develop the song’s lyrics and deliver them to the producer.
The producer’s main job is to make sure the song has the right track. The song needs to match with the idea the artist has in mind. The producer also helps the artist meet their vision in the music they want to release to their audience.
Every artist has the main message they want to pass to their listeners. It’s best to find a professional producer who will do a great job with your song.
Music Industry History
Music started in the paleolithic period, and the instruments used by then were found in Europe, where the first modern humans used to play music. In the old days, they made musical instruments using wood or bones. In 1877, music recording started, and Thomas Edison invented the Phonograph.
All through those years, there were no music recordings taking place. In 1979, the CD was created and was later produced in 1982. It would store the music recording in audio format.
This form of storing music grew to a sale of 2,45 billion in 2000. It made a lot of artists such as Micheal Jackson more famous than they already were. He released many songs, and the music industry continued to grow. Later in the early and late 2000s, the music industry started evolving bit by bit.
The pieces started to become shorter, and we went from an average of 4 minutes 22 seconds per song to 3minutes and 42 seconds. Music started to be classified as hip-hop, rock, and RnB, and it didn’t have equality as before.
Different companies started opening small branches and introducing more recording companies. They made a lot of earnings as many artists wanted to join the music team, nurture their talents, and make money.
Famous Personalities of Music and Their Impact
Various famous musicians inspired the audience with their performances. The first on the list is David Bowie. He was an art-rock star who inspired his audience to fashion and theater with his otherwordly shows.
A famous pop band known as The Beatles was a significant influence to the audience as it opened doors for pop music, which hasn’t been shut since then, and their songs were an inspiration to many.
Jimi Hendrix was a great rock icon guitarist. He influenced his audience in his guitar-playing tactics. People embraced it, and great artists such as Eric Clapton and Neil Young followed with their godly guitar skills.
Led Zeppelin wrote inspiring songs and laid the foundation for evolving heavy metal and hard rock. Then came Pink Floyd, famous architects of rock that still exist today.
They had songs that impacted the audience and inspired musicians. They came up with new chances of sound production. With its significant influence, the music industry has changed dramatically.
Distinct Features and Significant Changes
The music industry evolved as technology changed. It’s now easier to record music than back then. The recording equipment was sparse, and only a few had access to it. Small companies started to emerge with their own studios that could accommodate smaller artists.
Also, other music genres are regularly popping now, like when urban music blends with soul and gives birth to hip-hop soul. Social media has also played a part in the music industry. It has introduced various genres of music, such as vaporwave and bedroom pop.
More musical instruments have emerged. Nowadays, every team member has a tool to play in live performances, and things like bats and clubs and spray cans are featured often.
Notable Genres
The music industry has evolved, and various unique genres emerge as past and present music blends. A good example is K-pop. K-pop came from Southern Korean culture and was influenced by different music styles such as reggae, hip-hop jazz, gospel, etc.
Fusion music mixes various music styles such as jazz, rock, rhythm, and blue. It has brought together multiple cultures in one form. Everyone can understand and enjoy the music along with it.
Techno music is another notable genre that mixes disco, synthpop, jazz, and house. It gives the music a unique character that is hard to pinpoint to a single source.
Classical music has baroque and choral tones that have significantly improved the modern music industry. It has become a building block, giving a solid foundation for contemporary musicians to have a good platform.
Indie and Alternative rock have blended well with punk and metal to enable artists to express their expressions freely. They are performing their songs to the audience without any fear.
Electric dance is a music genre that involves the drum and bass instruments in the performance. It has brought together the western culture community, and most people embrace it freely.
Music Industry Evolution From the 2000s to the Present
In the early 2000s, people used to buy CDs. Today, you can just download or play a single song online. This has resulted in a rapid decline of CD sales from $14.6 billion to 9 billion in 2008.
It had ample storage to download many songs. Today, things have changed. The likes of iTunes and Spotify are popular choices. They are used to store music and playback — anytime, anywhere.
In the past, music was sold out in the form of CDs, but piracy was widespread, which lowered the sales. Due to the evolution of technology, artists can now sell and share their music on the internet. In 2007, it made for more sales than any other method.
Technology is changing day in day out with the aid of AI machines. The artist will easily compose the songs and release them on time and best quality. This will cut off the extra cost of hiring professionals to perform various tasks.