How the Internet is reinventing music
Category: Music & Recording Created on Tuesday - 09.20.11 @ 2:29 AM Written by Molly McHugh @ DigitalTrends.com
Paying for music isn't dead: The Web is giving it new life. We've compiled some ways that the Internet is changing music for the better.
The music industry has been in a state of flux for awhile now. It feels like the moment Napster debuted, the entire market turned on a dime and has been grappling with the constant change every since. P2P download sites, iTunes, and the near-death of CDs has not been kind to music’s profitability – but there is hope.
The Internet may have been too big a game-changer for the industry to immediately adapt to, but now it’s shaping and creating new avenues for music to explore. And better yet – new ways to profit.
Music discovery applications
One of the best parts of the changing state of music is that music discovery sites have become hugely popular. We can remember the frustration of buying an entire CD only to be stuck with 10 songs you have no intention of listening to (and which the artists knew full well wouldn’t see the light of day). You would just get stuck in a rut, listening to the same artists churn out the same music, only a fraction of which you liked.
And then sites like Pandora came along, and in its wake sites like MOG, Last.fm, and Grooveshark. They aren’t catch-alls, and every so often you’re bound to be annoyed by the ratio of hits to misses. But they could replace radio (which is losing listeners) as a jumping off point for new artists, and an introduction to new hits for more veteran acts. All while including advertising possibilities and pricing options.