Week two: The Times They Are A-Changin'

          The music industry has gone through makeovers many times in the past decades. In the 1980's, music was distributed through compact disc. Then came vinyl, then came cassettes and so on and so forth. But now with the digital age, music distribution is mostly online or accessed through apps. In the last several years, there has been a 7 to 10 increase in sales of subscriptions for streaming. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, the music industry's digital revenue grew to $5.9 billion dollars in 2013. "The IFPI also reported that digital downloading remains a key revenue stream for the industry. Downloads account for 67 percent of digital revenue, said the study." However, that doesn't mean that the physical music formats like CDs are dead, in 2013 51.5 percent of all global music revenues came from physical music platforms. Robert DiFazio, a faculty in Columbia’s Business 

Distribution trends of the last 30 years

& Entrepreneurship Department, has said that one of the biggest changes the industry has endured is that consumers can download one particular song instead of buying an entire album. With distributors offering consumers to buy one song instead of the whole album, the amount of money artists receives have also changed. "'It’s a lot more difficult to make your living off the sale of your recorded music products unless you are in the rarefied air of an artist who is widely recognizable,' DiFazio said. 'Becoming a recognizable artist is what most people want, and profiting from the sale of your recorded music product on your way to becoming recognizable is almost impossible.'" 
   Throughout the years, technology has improved and has grown world-wide. From here, it can only get better.Understandably, the revenue from digital distribution has went sky high from all of the different streaming outlets available. However, there is evidence to prove that physical platforms aren't "dead and gone." And I believe that they never will be. Some people just like the tangible feel of a CD. And some people are just old fashioned and like a hard copy.

http://www.columbiachronicle.com/arts_and_culture/article_c72b6a24-5101-11e4-953c-001a4bcf6878.html

Downloading, subscription services changing music distribution. (2013, October 13). Retrieved January 16, 2015, from http://www.columbiachronicle.com/arts_and_culture/article_c72b6a24-5101-11e4-953c-001a4bcf6878.html