Music in the Digital Age

We are experiencing a digital age music revolution in the way the music industry operates. Digital music has influenced and is changing the way people purchase music, and changing the way musicians approach creating albums, writing songs and the forms of packaging, production and distribution.
Digital music gives the opportunity to purchase a song you like – without having to purchase the rest of the album. Artists and Record companies are both going to have to look at how music is released, and if it is worth producing an entire album if people aren’t going to buy it. The major record companies have lost the power or dominance they once had in the music industry and musicians are losing profit and money from record sales, due to the digital age, which has dawned upon us and seen a new era of music. The issue of piracy and downloading illegal music is a major issue in the music industry and the measures they have taken by putting laws in place, but with the advancement of technology; “technology always appears to be one step ahead of the law. Some companies have found success offering music downloads for a price, but this practice only enforces the concept of downloading one or two songs from an artist, and not buying the entire album”. Technologies itself in the forms of ipods are symbolic of downloading one or two songs of an artist. The growing trend shifting towards catering to peoples tastes and a more personalized approach with CD’s and personal play lists. The approach by artists could subsequently see the focus on one song instead of creating new albums. The fear of this is we could experience a revival of One Hot Wonders who would oust out real talent and who would dominate
Billboard charts reaching no.1 and control the air waves.