In today's music industry world, artists are finding it hard to make money by selling their music thanks to peer-to-peer file sharing, download stores, and on-demand streams while the big industries are doing just fine, and are actually profiting. It is not necessary for digital music stores and distributors to make sure they sell or stream all of their music in stock for them to make money, which affects the artist who's work isn't selling. Instead, companies are using music for their own profit, by selling their own products and services.
"Now it is only the artist who must sell their music in order to 'stay in business.' And artists are fending for themselves against a tidal wave in a sea of technology companies and venture capitalists."
"Instead, music is used to sell smart phones, tablets, computers, recurring monthly subscription fees, operating systems and to generate market share. Or it's being used as a loss-leader in order to attract a buyer; making all the investors and shareholders rich while the songwriters, publishers, artists and music creators get little to nothing. The artist is a commodity being aggregated to provide the impression of breadth in a music catalog."
After reading this article, I have to say I'm not surprised at all with this new way the music industry is working in. I guess it was pretty obvious that companies have found other ways to make money besides selling artists' music since there are now streaming services such as Spotify, Pandora, etc. But with all of this going on, it makes you think: where do the musicians fall into this equation? How will they earn their money? There are those that have been earning very little, and those that have gotten nothing at all as a result of distributors not making the effort of promoting their music as they once did in the past. Come to think of it, when was the last time I bought a CD or a song on iTunes... I honestly cannot remember. I am an every day Pandora and SoundCloud user, so I don't find the need to purchase music anymore just as most music listeners these days.
Source:
Why Musicians Make Little While Music Services and Distributors Make Billions
Citation:
Price, Jeff. "Why Musicians Make Little While Music Services and Distributors Make Billions." Hypebot.com. N.p., 03 Oct. 2013. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.
•"Do We Consume Music More, Enjoy It Less?"
Studies show that "our brain reacts to great music similar to way it reacts to sex." In both situations the brain releases a chemical called dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure centers. This is why many times we get goose bumps when listening to a favorite song, because it stirs something deep inside of us. But after playing it too much, we don't experience the same reaction because of less dopamine being released.
"During these listening sessions, a 6-9% relative increase in their dopamine levels was detected in participates when compared to a control condition in which participants had listened to each other’s music selections. While eating a pleasurable meal, a relative increase of 6% was experienced by participants. So, in other words, listening to your favorite song is a lot like eating a cheese and Portobello-stuffed burger."
"We assume that overweight people are gluttons – that they’re unable to resist temptation. However, the opposite is true. They overeat because they don’t enjoy their food enough. They keep consuming the milkshake because it isn’t satisfying. Maybe this is also why we listen to music constantly.
We find it less pleasurable."
I really enjoyed reading this article because it is not the first time I have heard of dopamine being released when listening to music we enjoy. When I took an AP Psychology course in school, I learned about neurotransmitters such as dopamine and how similar levels can be released as a result of very different situations. This article states that in prior studies with cocaine, dopamine increases in the brain had been above 22 percent. But when eating a tasty meal, participants experienced an increase of around 6 percent, the same increase amount as to when participants listened to the music of their choice. I found it very interesting how this article brings up the idea that because music has become so available to us anytime, anywhere, we have gone from experiencing crazy goose bumps to passively hearing not listening to it in the background.
Source:Do We Consume Music More, Enjoy It Less?
Citation:
Bylin, Kyle. "Do We Consume Music More, Enjoy It Less?" Musicthinktank.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2014.
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