Blog Post 2: The role of the internet in the music industry

Changes Since Web 2.0

Since the development of web 2.0, theorised by O'Reilly , the internet has played a very important part in producing, marketing and distributing products and content. The music industry also follows this trend, with the ability for artists and bands to send their sound recordings across the world. This eliminates the need for artists and bands to be discovered by talent scouts and A&R reps (Artists and Repertoire). It also means that many independent producers can market their own music to the audience without promotion from bigger labels. The lack of promotion will lead to a smaller audience, but the creative freedom and royalty-free system is something that many independent producers value.

On the consumer's side, the internet has also vastly changed how we listen to music. Before, music would come in the form of cassettes and vinyl, moving slowly to CDs before all converging onto mobile devices and on the cloud. Furthermore, the increase in internet speeds and cheaper data plans has made music streaming an affordable possibility, whereas before, all the music must be downloaded beforehand. This shift to music streaming means that the subscription model seen with many music streaming companies, as being a service instead of a one time download gives reason to constantly pay for it each month. On the other hand, some consumers have reverted back to listening with CDs, cassettes and vinyl as many see it as part of their culture and provides an authentic and physical feel to the music.

Marketing has also greatly shifted from only print advertising to digital, more interactive advertising. For example, many artists have paired up with Amazon Music for the promotion of Alexa Assistant and Amazon Music streaming service. Ed Sheeran has done a duet with the Alexa assistant as a part of the promotion for his song 'I Don't Care'. This is due to the development of new hands-free voice-controlled technology, allowing listeners to control their music remotely. In addition, video streaming platforms like YouTube have allowed collaborations to easily reach their audience. Talk shows and interviews are popular, such as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and the Hot Ones interviews.

Taylor Swift Interview

Below, we can see a talk show with Taylor Swift on the Jimmy Fallon Tonight Show:

In the interview, they talk about Taylor Swift's reaction after her laser eye surgery. Although this is not related to her music, it creates extra content that reinforces her brand image as relatable. Many fans enjoy seeing her out of performance mode, where she is saying things that would not be heard in a song. This shows how the internet can be used to reinforce her brand and her star persona through diversification on other products. Afterwards, they talk about her new album 'Lover', promoting and create anticipation for new songs that haven't been performed before. The role of the internet now is to build a character behind the music artist that people can either aspire to be like or relate to. I hope to be able to build a similar character through the use of extra content, either through interviews or potentially self-produced content.

Justin Timberlake Case Study

Justin Timberlake achieves synergy between all his platforms due to the consistent brand image, same logo and artist ethos. We can see his supportive brand on his homepage where it presents him with his hometown Stax Music Academy in Tennessee. This connotes that he is a community supporter and is a sociable, friendly person. The homepage is the hub of all the artist content. Justin Timberlake makes his website engaging by presenting interactive, clickable content immediately when you go on his website, providing the latest news. This is important as the ease of access to the internet makes users look for a website if they want to find out more about an artist.

At the end of Justin Timberlake's music video for the song 'Can't Stop the Feeling', there is a clickable link to his YouTube channel and to another song of his. The fluidity of switching to new content after watching a video keeps the audience engaged with his songs, giving them the option to look at other videos on his channel. His channel logo is his album cover, promoting the art to add value to the album itself.

Here, you can see that Justin Timberlake has made use of links in his description to his song on different streaming platforms, his website and all his social media. The ability to exist on multiple platforms simultaneously allows him to diversify to a broader audience, encouraging audience members to go follow him to stay up to date and use his hashtags. Furthermore, the different ways to listen to the song allows the audience to make the own choice that suits them, instead of being restricted to only one medium.



Throughout his social media, he uses the same logo instead of his album cover. This may be so his social media pages focus more on his personality and his life than his music. On his stories, you can see highlights from his tours and any updates, acting as a newsletter for those who follow him. His posts have lots of behind the scenes, everyday photos, photoshoots, etc.









Justin's Twitter is an example of how artists use the internet to interact with others to promote each other's content via a symbiotic relationship. Here you see Justin replying to @AnnaKendrick47 about the movie 'Trolls World Tour' with a hashtag #TimeToRock. Although this isn't music content, fans would be excited to see their favourite artists in other products, which creates hype. The internet allows this anticipation to build as fans can discuss the post with other like-minded people.

In conclusion, I think that the internet has now been incorporated into our consumer lives and how the music industry uses it to sell music. I've learnt that diversification is an important aspect to reach a large audience, but links are required to easily navigate through them. I want to be able to create the same sort of anticipation for my song as Justin Timberlake did on his social media, making sure to keep my fans updated to give them a reason to follow. A consistent brand is also helpful as it links all the different platforms together so the audience knows who they are looking at.

In conclusion, my research on the role of the internet has helped me understand how the internet allows a brand of the artist to be built. This can be done through the website and social media of the artist, seen with Justin Timberlake, which allows a large audience to reach to different platforms, where people can discuss and create anticipation for new content. Another way is to through extra content or collaborations outside the music industry, seen with interviews on YouTube like Taylor Swift's interview or the Alexa collaboration with Ed Sheeran. This creates a symbiotic relationship, which raises awareness about the artist. I plan to use social media and my website in a similar way to encourage discussion and promote extra content. In addition, I will make sure to create extra content, collaborating with other artists and getting sponsorship from companies outside the music industry.