New Media and Music

For better or for worse?

The entire face of music has changed overwhelmingly in the last few years. The way it is produced, consumed, listened to and performed is rapidly evolving every day. In the years gone by, people didn't create things. There were musicians and they were the ones looked up to. They were professional artists. You could hear a record and think, How did they make that sound? they were this group of almost mysterious people that produced amazing sounds. You didn't care what they did in everyday life or what they looked like because you didn't know. Now it has changed. Everyone is a musician, everyone is a creator. Anybody can make it now. The rise of the bedroom musician is coming to the fore. The question I am asking is whether this new wave of media is changing the music industry for better or for worse?

Consider a musician even 10 years ago who wanted to produce electronic music. They would have to spend thousand's of euro on keyboards, synthesizer's, drum machines, compressor's and numerous other pieces of hardware. Now all you have to do is own a laptop and have a decent knowledge of the internet and you can obtain a cracked (illegal) version of production software and a few software plugins which can produce sounds that even the creators of the original hardware cant tell the difference between. Combine this with the ability to instantly upload sounds to websites such as soundcloud and you can show the world your new track instantly. Link your songs on Twitter, Myspace, Facebook, and there is worldwide access to your creations in seconds. You can basically do in one day what could have taken an artist 6 months or even a year to achieve 15 years ago. It is bringing in a new age of creation. Waves of creativity are rising to the top. Consider 17 year old French electro/house producer Madeon who you might know from this video of his which went viral and propelled his career into stardom. 

10 million views later and he is playing festivals around the world such as Coachella and rocking nightclubs all at the tender age of 17. Could he have done this without the new media? I think not. Or take the case of Jack Colleran A.K.A Mmoths who, when bored one evening after school decided to play with a copy of Ableton his friend had given to him. Two weeks later he had two tracks on his soundcloud and blogs were going crazy over the Irish 17 year old's calm blissful music. He is now singed to SQE music in LA and playing festivals and clubs worldwide. These musicians lives have been transformed by new media taking them on a journey.

However, with this new wave of creativity also comes a wave of terrible music. Because it is so easy to create a new sound there is obviously a lot more people doing it in the hope of one day making it big, which is great to see, but maybe not so great to hear. Websites and forums are crammed with thousand's of remixes and bootlegs of Adele or Daft punk which probably should not see the light of day. This begs the question of whether or not some meaning has been lost to the release of a new record? there is so much out there now that what is one song or one album even worth anymore? Unsurprisingly, there is a fear amongst artists and consumers alike that music is becoming mundane and homogenous because of the sheer volume of music now in existence. 

Our consumption of music through the new media has gone to unprecedented levels. When is the last time you bought a Vinyl or a CD? or even an Mp3 online? Free music is accepted now and we are seeing this in the way artists are promoting their music. Using social media outlets, it is becoming more and more popular for artists to release new singles, EP's and LP's for free online. especially emerging artists looking to make a name for themselves and get some gigs. Free music translates into more people owning your music and hopefully wanting to see you perform. Concerts are the new Album release. It is where most of a musicians income comes from in the modern age. Artists are doing over 300 shows a year to compensate for the lack of income from releasing tracks. Not to say, tracks and albums are not being created often. An artist can make a track in mere hours and send it off to his label and have it released within a week if they want to. There is the story of famous french electronic duo cassius who created the track 'I Love You So' when bored in their hotel room and 4 days later the EP was released. 

Personally, I prefer listening to a record in the knowledge that it was worked hard on and thought about. But Why should musicians care about taking their time when we can instantly download it illegally and probably forget about it within a few weeks? 

To conclude, I think there is no choice but to accept the way new media is changing this business. It is too powerful to ignore and yes it is changing it radically but we are seeing more opportunities for musicians to showcase their creativity and we are listening to bands we never might have been able to hear before. There are more music festivals and live performances to attend and in my opinion this is fantastic. The new collective knowledge of music is pushing us into new genres never heard before and pushing the boundaries of music. On the subject, there is a wonderful documentary called 'presspauseplay' directed by  David Dworsky and Victor Kohler which is available to watch (for free of course) on Vimeo here about this digital revolution and it's possible effects.