Music Industry & Impact of the Internet

Recorded music only came into being in the late 1800s. Until that time, technology did not allow for the preservation of performances. Composers and musicians generated their incomes from performances, and later, from sheet music sales. The introduction of the phonograph meant that performances could be preserved and played repeatedly. The music publishing industry recognized that this provided an excellent way to promote sheet music. With the advent of radio (another new technology), the emphasis gradually shifted from using records to publicize sheet music to publicizing the recording of the performance itself. There was also some confusion about the format of the new technology, with some preferring cylinders to discs, but eventually, discs became the dominant medium (Leigh, 2000).

For much of the twentieth century, the music industry remained largely unchanged: a royalty system was worked out for the various participants in the value chain (publishers, record labels, artists and composers) and companies even developed to track performances to ensure that accurate royalties were paid. The number

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stry akin in its importance to the very shift that brought about recorded music in the first place. Sheet music is no longer the driving force behind the music industry (and photocopiers have long made it possible to pirate sheet music cheaply and without fear of being caught). Napster might start charging a subscription fee (there is evidence that users would pay a nominal monthly fee for access to the service), or record companies might accept an arrangement whereby royalties (much smaller than those currently paid to record companies) are paid to music publishers for distribution to others in the value chain. It is unlikely that retail sales of CDs will disappear entirely in the near future if only because the technology, while expanding rapidly, has not reached the ubiquitous point of being in every home and every car. Even portable MP3 players have not yet achieved universal status and until they do, the music industry is able to use the intervening time to restructure itself in light of this new technology. 3. The evolution of the Internet has a direct impact on the various scenarios that might hold the future for the music industry. As an example, Napster provoked considerable consternation in the music industry bec
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Approximate Word count = 2033
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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