An Economist's Guide to Digital Music

In this guide, we discuss the impact of digitalization on the music industry. We rely on market and survey data at the international level as well as expert statements from the industry. The guide investigates recent developments in legal and technological protection of digital music and describes new business models as well as consumers' attitude towards music downloads. We conclude the guide by a discussion of the evolution of the music industry

An Economist’s Guide to Digital Music

In this guide, we discuss the impact of digitalization on the music industry. We rely on market and survey data at the international level as well as expert statements from the industry. The guide investigates recent developments in legal and technological protection of digital music and describes new business models as well as consumers' attitude towards music downloads and audio-streaming. We conclude the guide by a discussion of the evolution of the music industry.music, internet, file-sharing, peer-to-peer, piracy, digital rights management, copyright, e-commerce

An Economist's Guide to Digital Music

In this guide, we discuss the impact of digitalization on the music industry. We rely on market and survey data at the international level as well as expert statements from the industry. The guide investigates recent developments in legal and technological protection of digital music and describes new business models as well as consumers' attitude towards music downloads. We conclude the guide by a discussion of the evolution of the music industry.Music; Internet; File-sharing; Peer-to-peer; Piracy; Digital Rights Management; Copyright; E-commerce

How the Introduction of Streaming Has Changed the Financial Focal Points of the Music Industry

For this thesis, the gathered research will demonstrate how the introduction of music streaming has made a monumental impact on the music industry and the financial effect it has had on various aspects of the creation and distribution of recorded music. The areas of research will range from the music labels in charge of producing and providing the music to the streaming services in charge of distributing the music. Focus will be on how music streaming developed in the late 1990s and took the music media world by storm, devaluing and diluting the power of the physical music industry in the process. This thesis will also provide evidence of how the shift to music streaming has fractured the financial stability that an artist previously had in pursuing music as a full-time career, as well as the current legal troubles associated with creating and maintaining value in the digitalized industry

The digitization of music and the accessibility of the artist

©Journal of Professional Communication, ISSN: 1920-685. All rights reservedThis article uses case studies to explore two ways in which technology can impact on artist production. First, technological innovations could facilitate many things that are not new by rather making existing processes better or cheaper in ways that might alter the situation meaningfully. Second, technology can change art through the more profound revision of the role of artist and art-perceiver (Fineberg, 2006). This article examines several examples of how the music industry has been impacted by new technology: Radiohead Rainbows, slicethepie.com, Ditto Music, Music Rainbow, YouTube Orchestra, micro-chunking and LiveFi. The article examines the impact of new technologies on classical music.Peer reviewe

IFPI digital music report 2013: engine of a digital world

The global recorded music industry is on a path to recovery, fuelled by licensed digital music services and rapid expansion into new markets internationally. Recorded music is also helping drive a broader digital economy, according this report.Global recorded music industry revenues rose by an estimated 0.3 per cent to US$16.5 billion in 2012, the first year of industry growth since 1999. Digital revenues saw accelerating growth for the second year running, up 9 per cent, with most major digital revenue streams - downloads, subscription and advertising-supported - on the rise.The digital music business is globalising fast, as smartphones and new licensed services span new and emerging markets. In January 2011, the major international download and subscription services were present in 23 markets. Today, they are in more than 100.Licensed music services are demonstrably meeting consumers\u27 needs. New consumer research published today by Ipsos MediaCT, covering nine markets in four continents, shows that 62 per cent of internet users have used a licensed music service in the last six months. (A summary of the Ipsos MediaCT research is provided in annex)Canadian artist Carly Rae Jepsen topped the 2012 global singles chart with Call Me Maybe. British singer-songwriter Adele achieved phenomenal success with 21, the first album to top the global albums chart for two consecutive years since IFPI began reporting global best sellers in 2001.Despite the optimism, key barriers to further growth remain - the biggest being unfair competition from unlicensed music services. Governments have a key role to play in addressing this problem. The key priority remains to secure effective cooperation from intermediaries including advertisers, ISPs and search engines, who have a major influence on levels of copyright infringement

Understanding today’s music acquisition mix: a latent class analysis of consumers’ combined use of music platforms

In response to diversifying music delivery modes, consumers increasingly combine various music platforms, both online and offline, legal and illegal, and free or paying. Based on survey data (N = 685), the current study segments consumers in terms of the combination of music delivery modes they use. We identify four latent classes based on their usage frequency of purchasing CDs, copying CDs, streaming music, streaming music videos, peer-to-peer file sharing, and purchased downloading. All-round users (9.9 %) use most or all acquisition modes, but at a low frequency. Traditionalist (33.7 %) typically makes no use of any of the acquisition modes except buying CDs. Streamers-downloaders (20.7 %) use several acquisition modes intensively, especially streaming (video and/or music only) and downloading (legal and illegal). Light users (35.6 %) also use multiple acquisition modes, but less frequently. We draw theoretical and practical implications, discuss limitations, and suggest ideas for future research

Money for Something: Music Licensing in the 21st Century

[Excerpt] The laws that determine who pays whom in the digital world were written, by and large, at a time when music was primarily performed via radio broadcasts or distributed through physical media (such as sheet music and phonograph records), and when each of these forms of music delivery represented a distinct channel with unique characteristics. With the emergence of the Internet, Congress updated some copyright laws in the 1990s. It applied one set of legal provisions to digital services it viewed as akin to radio broadcasts and another set to digital services it viewed as akin to physical media. Since that time consumers have increasingly been consuming music via digital services that incorporate attributes of both radio and physical media. However, companies that compete in enabling consumers to access music may face very different costs to license music, depending on the technology they use and the features they offer. These differences in technology and features also affect the amount of money received by songwriters, performers, music publishers, and record companies. U.S. copyright law allows performers and record labels to collectively designate an agent to receive payments and to negotiate the licensing fees that certain types of digital music services must pay to stream music to their customers. Groups representing public radio and educational stations reached voluntary agreements with the agent, SoundExchange, in 2015. Rates paid by parties that do not reach voluntary agreements with SoundExchange during a limited negotiation period are instead set by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), a panel of three judges appointed by the Librarian of Congress. On December 16, 2015, the CRB set rates for online music streaming services for the period 2016 through 2020. For nonsubscription services, the CRB reduced the per-stream rate it had set in the previous rate proceeding, but the costs paid by several “small” music streaming services are likely to increase. Advocates of the small streaming services have launched a petition asking Congress to either allow their previous agreements to continue indefinitely or discontinue the requirement that small streaming services pay royalties to performers and record labels. SoundExchange has objected that the rates set by the CRB do not provide adequate compensation to performers and record labels. Members have introduced several bills in the 114th Congress that would change the amounts various participants in the music industry pay or receive in royalties. These bills are controversial, as they could alter the cost structures and revenues of broadcast radio stations, songwriters, performers, and others at a time when the music industry’s overall revenues are not growing. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is continuing a review of consent decrees it entered into with music publishers in the 1940s. The outcome could affect the extent to which songwriters can control the use of their works

Piracy, Music and Movies: A Natural Experiment

This paper investigates the effects of illegal file sharing (piracy) on music and movie sales. The Swedish implementation of the European Union directive IPRED on April 1, 2009 suddenly increased the risk of being caught and prosecuted for file sharing. We investigate the subsequent drop in piracy as approximated by the drop in Swedish Internet traffic and the effects on music and movie sales in Sweden. We find that the reform decreased Internet traffic by 18 percent during the subsequent six months. It also increased sales of physical music by 27 percent and digital music by 48 percent. Furthermore, it had no significant effects on the sales of theater tickets or DVD movies. The results indicate that pirated music is a strong substitute for legal music whereas the substitutability is less for movies.Copyright protection; Piracy; File sharing; Music; Movies; IPRED; Natural experiment