Indie Music – Phenomenon of Growth.
In response to the lowered demand, the price of audio products for the indie music industry also saw a rare decline from 1982 to 1985. The advances of the Internet have made wide distribution of music easy and affordable, allowing some indie artists to forego the former necessity of signing a record deal. Further, as discussed in my blog Indie Music – Revised Ways, the social media phenomenon and growth of online music communities have allowed rising artists to connect and establish with the appropriate fan base and provided new marketing techniques for already established acts. Some musicians have begun utilizing these new outlets to release portions or, in some cases, all of their music for free as a unique type of sampling promotion for live performance, the main source of income for most artists.
Among other developments discussed in this series of articles, this reversed strategy fuelled by direct and indirect influences of the Internet, may help describe the expansion of the concert business during the contraction of the recording industry. As mentioned before, this article is just one part of the series that I have written about the impact of internet on the indie music industry at the turn of this century. If you have been following my previous articles on Research Models, 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!
Beginning in the 2000s, the live indie music business has seen unprecedented growth, particularly from the bottom up. This developing base may be attributed to the ability of indie acts to easily promote themselves and establish and expand their following. Another notable change comes with the re-emergence and reinvention of the music festival business model. This model features over 100 artists over the course of several days. The large number and variety of artists at these events is likely made possible by the industry’s growing base of small to mid-level indie acts. As discussed in my blog Promoters and Indie Artists, in the best of their times, labels would only participate in the live entertainment side of the industry if it helped promote the sales of records. With less-famous artists, labels would financially support tours if they saw a possibility of increase in sales of record music through the expanded audience that the artist would get by touring. However, with the impact of internet on the industry, the labels were compelled to experiment vertical integration due to steep decline in record sales in the early 2000s. They started helping promote tours and music festivals, and in return revised the contracts to subsequently include a portion of revenues from live music.
Music festivals have proven a driving force of both ticket sales and revenue within the top ranks of the live music sector. Concerts will likely continue to play an increasingly important role in the broader music industry, though they may not hold the full solution to losses in record sales. Record labels will be forced to trim down to remove inefficiencies and work to develop innovative business strategies, as many of their key functions become irrelevant in time to come. Shifting focus to broader artist career cultivation and expanding the realm of their contracts to include concert-related revenues is one way in which these companies can stay pertinent. This strategy has begun to take hold with the development of “360 Deals.” Regardless of the correct approach, it is evident that the classic structure of the recording side of the industry cannot be sustained in the 21st century.
There is little doubt that the wide-ranging social and economic implications of the Internet have had an adverse impact on the value of record sales. However, these struggles have been wrongly attributed to the broader music industry. The impacts of the Internet have removed inefficiencies within the original system allowing indie artists to easily reach an essentially unlimited audience and providing consumers lower prices and a constantly growing selection of music. New business opportunities, particularly in the areas of digital distribution of indie music and live entertainment, will likely take centre stage as the progression of the Internet continues. Moving forward, the success of the indie music industry will be largely dependent on innovation, a cornerstone of the post-Internet era.
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