Throughout the past couple of decades there have been huge technological changes which have completely changed the way in which the music industry operates. New ways have been created for artists to distribute their music to the audience, as well as new ways that the audience can get hold of this music illegally and legally.
If we look at the past 20 years of music, the music industry has experienced a global change. Revolutionary technology has evolved almost every aspect of the industry from the artists to the label.
Back when music technologies arrived, the only way of accessing the music you wanted to hear would be buying a Record on a Vinyl and having a vinyl player to listen to it on, but there would also be juke boxes where you would play a small about (50p) to listen to a track. You would also have to wait for it to be played on the radio or attend gigs which were normally local. The Cassette was introduced shortly, this appealed to the public as the cassette would normally feature a whole record on it from an artist which at the most you would pay under £10, you could play it in the comfort of your own home on a stereo player, cassette player or even in your car. This was a great development to music as this started the technology of music being listened outside of one place. A few years post the popularity of the cassette; CD's were brought to the public eye as a new way to listen to music, and it was appealing because it wasn't chunky like a cassette. CD's were the new trendy way of purchasing music, like a cassette, there would be albums on the CD but now, you could also buy singles and some came with bonus tracks. CD's could also be played on stereos but Walkmans were brought out for the CD to play on which was appealing as a walkman was small and easy to take around with you instead of a stereo. The music industry was operating good as all music was being purchased. But the uprising of the internet shortly leaded to illegal downloading from CD's. CD's could be burned onto the internet and people would download them for free which declined the revenue of record labels. This was trouble for the industry.
An American multinational corporation called Apple released a technology development for listening to music called the 'iPod'. The iPod was a way of listening to music ANYWHERE! It was literally a stereo in your pocket! This was known as mp3 as tracks would be placed onto the iPod. Songs would normally come from a CD which has been purchased but because of the internet, people felt like they would take advantage and download as many songs as they can to place on the iPod.
This caused an amazing amount of money loss for the record labels and more importantly the artists. The development of the iPod unintentionally caused a heap of illegal downloading. So, Apple decided to start distributing artists music from iTunes for prices for single at 70p, Singles and albums were distributed from iTunes and this helped the illegal downloads slow down, but they never stopped. Despite having to pay, iTunes system was extremely successful and is still to this day, the music industry operates a lot through iTunes now by promoting new and upcoming artist on the iTunes store, and making deals with prices etc....
But, with the use of new technology, the way in which people listen to and get hold of music is completely different. Instead of buying a record or even a CD, the majority of people now buy their music from the internet and get an instant download of that song or album. Music can also be streamed straight from the internet on social sites such as MySpace, or even through programmes like Spotify.
Improvements in music technology have also increased piracy in the music industry. Illegal downloads happen more and more, as new software is being produced. With programmes like Limewire and UTorrent around, it’s so easy to download music for free. Like before, this affects the music industry enormously as it means the revenue to the industry is cutting down. According to the ‘Drowned In Sound’ website, the music industry only made 5% of their potential sales in 2008 due to illegal downloading. This is around a £48 billion loss in just one year. 
New and upcoming artists who want to be in independent as they may not like the conditions record labels have, for example, taking a large percentage of the money being made. So nowadays, it is very easy to record new material but using Logic Express launched by apple. This product is made for a music purpose and is a programme to help record tracks. Garage Band is also another programme launched by apple but that helps to edit a recording. By using technology like this, it helps independents artist promote they and they can be sure a record label doesn’t get a profit cut from material which is being released. But, programmes like Logic Express help labels loose out of on popularity and money as the artist who want to be independent get all credit. Artists can promote themselves by social networking as soon as they record a track. Most artists use MySpace and that provides a music player where songs can be played and even downloaded for free. Viral marketing is often used a lot by independent artists. Overall, I think the developments in technology have changed the way the music industry operates hugely! The technologies have influenced purchasing music, but the internet is powerful and is an open door to piracy and free downloads of everything which has completely changed the way music is being distributed! It has changed the ways music is being bought and listened to! Free streaming happens, and programmes like Limewire are still ongoing providing free tracks etc... The new technologies were meant to provide a safe system for records labels and prevent loss of money, but instead it unintentionally comes up with ways to access piracy easily.
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