ARE MUSIC STREAMING SERVICES HEALTHY FOR THE RECORDED MUSIC INDUSTRY? - ELIZABETH WALSH PITTMAN

READING NOTES

• In the past, to create music, musicians would travel miles to play their music, set up their own stages and instruments. However, now this all can be done via a laptop. 
• This also goes for the people listening to the music. They are no longer having to buy tickets and travelling to concerts, or having to go out and buy a CD and CD player each time a singular album came out. It is all accessible on a streaming service.
• Spotify and other streaming services have gave listeners the chance to listen to over 140,000 years worth of music.
• Music is such an important structure within culture that changes have huge social effects. 
• For example, music radio made it accustomed to listen to music in the car, many people would find it strange without this. Or if the stereo stopped working would replace it. 
• Soon after, The Walkman was produced and radicalised this portability of music and the design of headphones.
• Later, in 2001, Steve Jobs introduced us to the revolutionary iTunes.
• However, streaming service Spotify has since become iTune competition in an arms race of who gets the most profit from daily consumption.
• However, even after all of these advancements, the revenue of the music industry has been on a constant decline since 2006, assumed to be due to the huge changes in music consumption.
• However, from a consumer perspective this is better as the accessibility and cost is the best it has ever been. 
• This problem that even though this ease of access to consumers is beneficial, it has a detrimental effect on the earnings of the singer/song writer. 
• In contrast, some musicians have claimed that with the accessibility of Spotify and other streaming services, their music has had far more recognition than ever before. 
• However, there are many artists who demand more money for their music. 

The paper then goes into depth on these points which I may go into later however, I want to stick to my question and this paper is very specific on the music industry and does not speak of the design industry's involvement. I did find this beneficial however, because it did remind me that consumers are benefitted by streaming systems. Although, what they are missing out on is not as obvious to them as it is the musicians and designers that are adapting subject to these changes. 

REFERENCES: 

Pittman, E. W. (2016) Are Streaming Services Healthy for the Recorded Music Industry? Scholarworks. Available at: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/72841442.pdf (Date accessed 6th October)