Impact on Consumption of Popular Music
According to one historian, “Technology has made its impact on every industry: fashion, entertainment, architecture, science, computers, and especially the music industry,” (Tech 1). Indeed, technology has dramatically altered the nature of the way music is created, manufactured, marketed, distributed, and consumed. Digital technologies have significantly changed the way musicians record music, the way record companies distribute music, and the way consumers consume music. From Peer-to-Peer (P2P) technologies to Mesh Networks, technology has also dramatically changed the way consumers consume music. The advent of the Internet and such technologies as those above has enabled music consumers to download MP3 music files. However, many P2P networks enabled consumers do download music files, both old and recently released music, for free. Websites like Napster offered access to thousands of computer users to swap music files for free. Such files included the latest music available, including many selections available even before being released for sale by the artist or record company.
Such developments have significantly impacted the way consumers consume music. By downloading music files for free, consumers forced the record industry and angry artists to completely retool the way music is priced, marketed, and offered for sale. The motivation for such retooling was decreased sales of CDs in record stores and throughout the industry in general, as millions of computer users downloaded even the most recent music for free. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), during the first six months of 2002 music shipments were down ten percent due to the use by consumers of online music downloading programs, (Tech 1). The RIAA, record companies and artists have not sat idly by while consumers continue to download free music files online in increasing numbers. Fac...