Research Models on Prediction of the Indie Music Industry-4.
If you have been following my previous articles on music copyrights and royalties, by now you should have a good understanding of the fundamentals. It might be wise to re-read those articles, or bookmark them to grab back whenever you encounter a subject that I have written about!
A 2005 paper by Curien and Moreau considers a new business model for the indie music industry based on live performance, which would structurally adjust to the effects of piracy rather than engaging in futile legal battles against it. As discussed in my blog Research Models on Prediction of the Indie Music Industry-3, they argue that the record companies’ lawsuits have failed to effectively slow down file sharing, citing that they continued to increase by 10% in the second half of 2004. Schultz revisits the idea and viability of a concert-based music industry in detail in his 2009 paper. He first outlines the four “challenges” that face the industry, several of which on their own would merit a re-structuring. The first, and most widely discussed, is the emergence of P2P file sharing deeming payment for consumption essentially voluntary. The cost of recording studio-quality music has also steeply declined with the introduction of advanced, and affordable, software. Third, expenses related to producing and distributing indie music have drastically fallen with the ability to release through the digital infrastructure. As discussed in my blog Indie Music in The Computer Age, historically, indie artists used to rely on publishers since it was excessively costly for an artist to create and market a collection themselves. Due to this, the music offered to the general public was chosen by the record companies. The companies had the right to decide what should be published and when. Today, innovation is at the point where it is normal for an artist to create and market a collection without the help of a label. Technology has given the power and opportunity to indie artists, who seriously want to have their work noticed, to bypass the record companies and be their own publisher – decide what they publish and when. Decide how much they charge for their work and when to discontinue a specific song or album.
Finally, social media and “online communities” make it easier for consumers to connect with and learn about artists. In this way, the digital age has revolutionized the methods, and lowered the cost of nearly every aspect of the indie music industry. Internet brought with it an increasing number of affordable and powerful software that made the production costs of music fall drastically in the 1990s, with new technologies making robust recording equipment available to indie musicians. Today, there continues to be a reduction in the necessity of expensive studio time, enabling indie artists and musicians to take the DIY approach in creating music. With the invention of technology, new, generally economical recording instruments, more people can take part in the production of music than any time in recent memory. I have discussed this in detail in my blog Indie Music in The Computer Age. Studio time is costly and hard to get, so most, if not all, of innovation is focused on the home-PC, laptop and iPads. As a result, anybody can create studio-quality music from their own home. Each home-made recording can be viewed as a fresh recording. Also, innovation makes sure this is accessible to the overall population. After equipment and programming costs, the eager artist need not stress over more costs, similar to expenses for studio space or sound specialists. As generation has been made simpler, marketing and publicizing have additionally gotten to be less demanding in view of current headways in innovation, to be specific through the web.
After touching on several other suggested alternative business models, including subscription music services, Schultz turns to one based on live performance. He makes the vital observation that, in this model, prerecorded music will serve as a necessary promotion expense for live entertainment and merchandising. This infrastructure may indeed make sense as music nears the non-excludable and non-rivalrous status of a public good. The ineffectiveness of copyright law for music deems live entertainment the only “non-copyable, eminently excludable” good that remains. Schultz also comes to a similar conclusion as Curien and Moreau about general welfare, suggesting both artists and consumers actually benefit.
In my next blog I am going to write more about the impact of internet on indie music business as a whole. Please share your experiences and I will add them to my future blogs.
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