Web207: Web Media: The Digitisation of Music

The Digitisation of Music

The impact that digitisation and convergence has had on music has been phenomenal. Digitisation has made music easy to find, easy to produce, easy to distribute and easy to consume. Convergence has enabled music to cross mediums, cross platforms, resulting in multiple ways of consumption. This paper will discuss how digitisation and convergence has affected the production, distribution and consumption of music and how this has altered the relationship between artists and consumers.

Henry Jenkins defines convergence as more than a simple technological shift, that it alters the relationship between existing technologies, industries, markets, genres and audiences (Jenkins, 2004). But what does this mean? The term digitisation describes the process of making an electronic version of a real object or event which enables the object to be stored, displayed and manipulated on a computer and shared over networks and/or the Internet (Eadie, 2005). So how do we relate digitisation to convergence? And how are both related to music?

Reflecting back on the seventies and eighties, when music was analogue, makes me wonder how we managed without digital music and iTunes. I recall buying my first record and playing it over and over on the turntable, worried it would wear out. So I, along with millions of other music lovers, thought it best to record that album onto a cassette tape so I could preserve the vinyl. This was a time-consuming job – especially if you wanted the songs on the album to fit precisely onto one side of a cassette without having to turn the cassette over. It took skill, determination and forward planning to get it right.

Times have changed immensely. Now it is as simple as logging into iTunes, plugging in your iPod and downloading whichever tracks you want. Within a matter of seconds you have a song and you don't even need to buy the whole album!

Has this been a good thing for the music industry though? Yes and no! With the introduction of digital music during the early nineties, music lovers began sharing music across the Internet illegally. When record companies discovered this, they began threatening legal action, citing copyright infringement. The record companies never understood if you let listeners have a taste of new music - they would go out and buy the CD or concert ticket. They didn't understand that the Internet was a good thing (Kot, 2009).

The record industry executives had a history of feeling threatened however. When phonographs appeared at the turn of the century, they were afraid music lovers would no longer attend concerts. When radio began broadcasting the threat was if music lovers heard their favourite tunes on the radio – they would no longer buy records. The same situation with the invention of cassettes and then CD's (Kot, 2009). So it was only natural they would initially feel threatened with digital music. Being the money hungry executives that they are – they had reason to panic - they could no longer stop music lovers sharing music on a large scale using peer to peer networks.

Peer to peer isn't a new concept – its been around since the sixties with UseNet (Wikstrom, 2010), however nowadays because computers have large memory capacity and access to high speed broadband it is easy for the average home user to share content across the Internet.

One very effective way of sharing content via the Internet is by using social media. The rise of social media has been extraordinary. People rely on social networks to share information and digital property with friends and strangers. Social media platforms give users unlimited space for storage and plenty of tools to organise, promote, and broadcast their thoughts, opinions, behaviour, and media (Manovich, 2009). In relation to music, new music is being discovered by music lovers faster than ever before. Utliising websites like LastFM, MySpace and YouTube enables up and coming artists to get their music heard and videos seen at a surprisingly fast rate.

The Internet is not only used for sharing music, but also for producing it. During the days of analogue music – recording high quality music and videos was restricted to those few with expensive facilities and audio/visual equipment. Nowadays anybody with a laptop can create their own music and/or video (Wikstrom, 2010). Now many wannabe musicians are producing music and videos on their home computers, manipulating them with free software and uploading them to sites like YouTube and MySpace. Some artists, including Lily Allen and Justin Bieber have made successful careers using these resources (Leaver, 2012).

Convergence relates to the flow of content across multiple media platforms (Jenkins, 2006). He goes on to say:

“Convergence is the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behaviour of media audiences who will go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they want”.

TV fans and movie lovers are known for downloading their favourite series and films from the Internet before they are available in their country. It's the same with music lovers. Music lovers who are discovering new music via social networks, and friends on the other side of the world, will not wait for CD's to be released in their country. If they can't download tracks from iTunes legally – they will acquire them from peer to peer networks or bit torrent sites (Leaver, 2012).

Digitisation and convergence go hand in hand. It is faster and easier to share digital content across multiple platforms than it was analogue. Look at the current-day mobile phone and modern technology like tablets and touch screen devices. As technology changes it allow more content to be distributed and consumed using these devices. They allow us to watch previews of new films, download instalments of serialised novels, or attend concerts from remote locations (Jenkins, 2006).

How many ways can we consume music now? Jenkins elaborates that we can listen to music through our DVD player, our car radio, our walkman, our iPod, a Web radio station, or a music cable channel (Jenkins, 2006). We don't have to wait for our media content any longer. We can get it immediately. Media is now instant, global, multi-sensory, transmissible, networked, interoperable and editable (Sinnreich, 2010). Therefore media is transmitted at light speed to anybody with Internet access. The number of people with Internet access is greater than it has ever been in the past.

Therefore the digitisation of music has had a profound effect on the production, distribution and consumption of music. However, even though it is simpler to get digital music out there, the question is – is it easier to get recognised? There's never been more music available. There's never been more places to find music (Baym, 2010). Because it is so effortless for up and coming artists to create a video clip or record themselves playing it also means they are competing with so many more who are doing the same thing, hence the competition is greater.

Many artists have a Facebook page, MySpace account, Twitter account or a website which enables fans to communicate with them. The communication barriers between stars and their fans have been broken.

What does the future hold for digital music and convergence? Think about it. How many of us had access to the Internet when we were young? How many of our parents did? Now think about our children. Because more people across the world are connected now more than ever – how many more will be online in say five, ten or twenty years? According to the Pew/Internet Report dated April 10, 2009, mobile phone ownership is increasing every year. In 2009 71% of teens aged 12-17 owned a mobile phone. 81% of teens went to websites for music groups and 63% used social networking sites (Lenhart, 2009).

What does this mean for musicians? It means social networking is an avenue for advertising which should not be ignored. It means fans talk amongst each other and exchange information as well as content. Word of mouth is a strong marketing tool and artists need to remember that word travels fast on the Internet. Their every move is watched, anticipated and maybe even photographed or blogged about. The relationship between musicians and their fans has shifted. Now the fans have control – especially if they have a camera!

When music became digital it enabled it to evolve in such a way that it crossed over into other mediums, making it more accessible to listeners. This convergence has enabled music to be discovered and shared among music lovers at lightening speed, across the globe, with little or no barrier. The Internet has proven to be a powerful tool when it comes to digital content overall.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baym, N. (2010, June 23). Changing Relationships, Changing Industries. Berkman Center For Internet & Society Retrieved July 5, 2012, from http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2010/06/baym

Eadie, M. (2005). The Digitisation Process: an introduction to some key themes. AHDS Arts and Humanities Data Service. Retrieved July 1, 2012 from http://www.ahds.ac.uk/creating/information-papers/digitisation-process/index.htm

Jenkins, H. (2004). The Cultural Logic of Media Convergence. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 7(1), 33-43. doi: 10.1177/1367877904040603.

Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York, USA: NYU Press.

Kot, G. (2009). Napster vs. Metallica. In Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music (pp. 25-39). New York: Scribner. http://edocs.library.curtin.edu.au/eres_display.cgi?url=dc60267031.pdf&copyright=1

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Lenhart, A. (2009). Teens and Social Media An Overview Amanda Lenhart. Retrieved from http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic786630.files/Teens%20Social%20Media%20and%20Health%20-%20NYPH%20Dept%20Pew%20Internet.pdf

Manovich, L. (2009). The Practice of Every Day (Media) Life: From Mass Consumption to Mass Cultural Production. Chicago Journals, 35(2). doi: 10.1086/596645.

Sinnreich, A. (2010). The Crisis of Configurability. In Mashed Up: Music, Technology, and the Rise of Configurable Culture (pp. 69-89). University of Massachusetts Press.

Wikstrom, P. (2010). The Social and Creative Music Fan. In The Music Industry: Music in the Cloud (pp. 147-169). Polity.