The Decline Of The Music Industry

At the start of the 21st century, the rise of computers and other technological advancements that contributed to the distribution of music led to changes in the music industry, ultimately changing how the artist can get their music to the consumer. One of the first affects felt by artists and record labels was the decline of overall album sales. Consumers were now capable of picking and choosing specific songs they wanted to purchase and listen too. The initial stage (from about 1998 to 2001) of the digital music revolution was the new “peer to peer” networks that let music files be freely exchanged. Following the invention of Apple’s iPod and iTunes, consumers were now able to store tremendous amounts of music in their pockets. This led to the decline of the sale of tangible vinyl records and CDs. Eventually, software was created that allowed people to record …show more content…
Consumers weren’t spending as much money on music in the 21st century as they were before. Dropping from an estimated high of 15 billion in 1999 to 9 billion in the late 00’s.
The distribution of music via the Internet became very popular. However, it did not supplement for the amount of revenue lost because no one was purchasing CDs anymore. The major record labels refused to acknowledge and were reluctant to embrace the change in technology. In the early years of the decade, the music industry fought against illegal file sharing, successfully shutting down several illegal websites. However this did not prevent the decline in revenue and was a public relations disaster. Some academic studies have even stated that Internet downloads were not the true cause of the decline.
The turmoil in the industry changed the balance of power among all the various players. The major music-only stores such as Tower Records, who was a powerful and influential player in the game, went bankrupt, replaced by stores such as Best Buy, Target,