Music Streaming
- Stages of Adoption
- The concept has been around and implemented going back to the mid and early 2000’s with websites like SoundCloud, BandCamp, YouTube, etc. However, since its emergence we’ve seen a massive shift in how the “Industry” works, which is still changing to this day. From a musician’s standpoint, once artists figured out that they can get discovered and make a living by uploading their own content, the whole idea of having to find a manager, hire promoters, work with publicists, and secure a label quickly shifted. (Butler, 2019)
- Currently, I would say we’re well into the final adoption stage. This can be supported with the evidence of declining numbers in tv/radio viewers and physical album sales over the past 20 years. That being said, I believe we will still see some more product evaluations and trails taking place in the future due to the fact that it still isn’t a perfect model. There are many issues which this new shift helped resolve, from giving many artists a chance at getting discovered, to helping control the reigns when it comes to dealing with online piracy. However, certain issues like fair compensation still remain a hot topic of debate among many artists, and they aren’t happy about it. (Ovide, 2021)
- I do not believe there will be a discontinuation of this approach. While we may see certain services gain and lose popularity, or change how they handle their business interactions, I believe streaming services will remain a vital part of consuming media from this point on.
Most Popular Streaming Services of 2019
Sources: (Butler, 2019), (Ovide, 2021)
- Adopter Categories
- I would put myself in the category of Late Majority or Laggards. I’ve known about the different aspects and raise in popularity over the years but, didn’t jump onto that ship myself until a handful of years ago. However, just because I entered a little late doesn’t mean these services aren’t going to change and evolve over time.
- What are other examples of innovations where you would have fallen in a different category? Explain which category and what was the innovation
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- This is a little off from the subject I was covering, but one example that comes to mind right off hand was watching the Bitcoin boom. I remember sitting in my friend’s bedroom around 2011 trying to figure out how to order them back when the price was still around $5 per Bitcoin. One of my close friends realized that this market would eventually explode into a potential money-making opportunity, but unfortunately, he never received the Bitcoins he ordered (which was another frequent problem you dealt with in an unregulated/underground market).
- Personally, I think it would be a bit of a stretch to label me as an “innovator” or “Early Adopter” (as we didn’t have any actual hands-on experience with the idea, other than failing at attempting to purchase some of our own), but if I had to put myself somewhere then I’d choose one of those groups. It was very evident to us back then that this was eventually going to blow up into something big. Low and behold, we weren’t wrong. I just wish we could have predicted the scope of which this was going reach and how much it was going to influence new technology (and maybe successfully purchased a couple coins of our own to profit from).
References
Butler, A. (2019). Backgtage Pass: Why Streaming is a Good Thing for the Music Industry . Retrieved from https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu: https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1044&context=backstage-pass
Ovide, S. (2021, March 22). ON TECH: Streaming Saved Music. Artists Hate It. Retrieved from www.nytimes.com: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/22/technology/streaming-music-economics.html#:~:text=Largely%20because%20of%20Spotify%20and,at%20Beyonc%C3%A9’s%20level%20of%20fame.
I agree that the music streaming industry is changing over time. I believe that because of musicians having the opportunity to easily post their music then they can get their name out their. Before the time of YouTube and other music streaming services, musicians would have to rely on the radio to spread their music. Now, it is much easier for someone to sign up for a music streaming service and post a video. It seems like everyone has easy access to these streaming services. I do not see these services disappearing anytime soon. The presence of music streaming services makes it less likely that there will be those who are considered laggards, but there is the potential of people who do not have access to the technology to be in this category.
After going back over some of the material I realized that I had misunderstood the ‘Laggard’ stage.
So, I’d like to reiterate on that note and state that I now would put myself into the ‘late adopter’ category since I was well aware of its use for some time and didn’t hop on until way later after I was shown HOW artists were utilizing it and just how convenient it was for consumers alike.
Remember Grooveshark? I really liked the examples of other earlier music streaming platforms from that era. I am wondering what might even replace the services we use today. It seems that there have been more music streaming platforms than other media sharing services that have appeared and disappeared. Using algorithms to better predict the specific sounds that a user prefers, and then delivering music catered to a person’s preferences is something in which we are currently seeing. Sometimes I feel that this can be invasive, although I have discovered a lot of music I enjoy through these types of suggestions from Spotify and YouTube. The idea behind personally tailored content is what I feel is largely driving the wide-spread adoption of some of these services.
I also think that it is easier now than at any other point for music artists to get discovered, although I would argue that streaming content has made some artists loose profits, as not many people are actually buying albums. Still, the music industry can be unfairly lucrative to some, and it will be interesting to see how streaming services may make deals with producers, etc. to further capitalize on the industry.