The Evolution and Digitalisation of the Music Industry

The Evolution and Digitalisation of the Music Industry

By Percy Steele

The music industry throughout its history has gone through a variety of changes that have shaped how music can be performed, recorded and distributed. It has taken on many different forms throughout history. A large part of this is due to the digitalisation of key components such as musical formats and digital equipment.

The modern music industry has been shaped by items such as the MP3 which had an impact in regard to music’s monetary value, allowing users to buy separate tracks from albums. The most common way most individuals listen to music today is via streaming services such as Spotify. These platforms have had a massive impact on the distribution of music and have turned listeners’ habits into data; this shows the shift from traditional promotion to a data driven form of marketing.

Paddy McDermott, guitar player and main vocalist for Vacant Pavements, shared his thoughts on this change, stating “obviously back in the day you would basically use your tour to promote your record and then you would make money from selling physical media”. Paddy notes how in the past there was an emphasis on the physical aspect of music through selling music through vinyl and CDs. Paddy further acknowledges this shift, stating that “you can use Spotify to promote your tour, that’s what they’re doing now”.

Despite the rise of streaming, physical music media still plays a large role. Many associate physical media with vinyl records and CDs which are in stark contrast to the intangible form of streaming. Due to the physical aspect of these formats, collecting them has grown more popular over the years. Robbie McNeish, guitarist from Alcatraz said this about collecting vinyl, “I like collecting vinyl because it supports the artist financially more than streaming does. It also feels very cool to hold an album I love physically in my hands”. 

Shannon Bell, drummer for Thaladela, shared her thoughts on the resurgence of physical media, saying: “It’s an aesthetic thing, but a lot of people are interested, it’s a hobby now collecting vinyl and records and things like that”. Regardless of how much of a resurgence it has, there is still that risk of being overshadowed by streaming services which Shannon highlights this saying: “there’s so much less marketing eventually it will just fizzle out, like it will always be around but I think with the way things are going digitally it’s just like that’s the way forward because it’s easier and it’s more accessible for people”.

Due to the simplicity of digital media, it became common for producers to adopt more digital techniques when recording with artists and this is commonly seen using digital equipment. For recording the current standard is digital audio workstations (DAWs) which allows editing music via computer, however a few prefer the analogue method such as cassette tape recording. The first widely available DAW was released in 1989, known as Digidesign Sound Tools, it paved the way for modern and affordable DAWs such as GarageBand and Ableton Live.  Paddy, who records with cassette tape said, “there’s something about the actual physical characteristics of putting something on tape, you get like the hiss of the tape machine, you get the saturation of like the preamps and then you also have the cracks and pops”.

With recording there is debate relating to the use of amps within the recording sector, some producers may favour the affordability and ease of use with amp sims over actual amps. Shannon shared her thoughts saying “there’s a huge difference on to why you’d use an analogue and digital delay, they both have their purpose, but with amps I think, you’ll never get the sound of the air actually being pushed with by a loud amp with an amp sim, but with plugins it’s getting really hard to be able to tell the difference but I think you’ll always have  subtle differences”.

To summarise, the evolution of the music industry is substantial in terms of its digitalisation, it can accommodate a variety of different tools and formats, the defining factor is the personal preference of those who decide to use them. 

Shannon’s closing thoughts best summed this up when she said, “Everything can exist in its own place and there is a place for everything”. No one-size-fits-all.