One of the biggest factors that might affect growth in the
music industry is the flow of payments to musicians and publishers. An
innovation and government regulation that will have a positive impact on the
future of the music industry is Google’s acquisition of RightsFlow. RightsFlow
is an American company that provides organizations, bands, songwriters and
individuals with music licensing services and royalty payment solutions.
YouTube is one of Google’s greatest assets, which features millions of music videos
on its site. The previous process for royalty payments that was used by YouTube
was always deemed as problematic so this change should license music on YouTube
more efficiently.
YouTube is very helpful in the promotional aspects of music and it has quickly elevated beyond trend and into a standard. An up and coming trend in the music industry right now is the
distribution of digital music at no charge. Examples of this are common in the
genres of Rap, Hip-Hop, and Dancehall with examples being Mix-tapes and Promo
CD’s. Even the rock group Nine Inch Nails released their last album in 2008
“The Slip” for free under a Creative Commons license on their website. The
album peaked to number 13 on the Billboard 200 and received massive media
attention. If more artists follow this trend and consider music as a
promotional tool, they will change the dynamic of the industry. Revenue will be
generated in other ways such as touring, endorsements, and appearances.
Over the past decade the music industry has suffered a
massive dent in revenue thanks to the digital media revolution. This is the
main competition for everyone who is trying to collect royalties. Pirating
sites like Napster, Morpheus, Kazaa, and Limewire stem like weeds therefore the
industry will change in order to adapt to the situation.
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