Lor 1 King Lor Malcolm Campbell English 1102 March 29, 2012 Technology Deprives Musicians Music

Music has changed over the decade: from the 1990s to the 2000s and rolling into the 2010s. Its being uploaded, downloaded, and shared every day from people all over the world. With the internet becoming more available to the public, it becomes easy for people to access music. Music is affected by technology in every way, shape, or form. It could be seen as human because it has emotions and a story. Technology has been a massive contribution towards music and the music industry. It has affected the way music has been viewed and how music has been treated. Everyone has differing minds and they could either say technology contributed to their music and others could say that it did not. These conflicting minds come from musicians, authors, and bloggers or the public like us. But does technology deprive a musicians music? YouTube Sensations There are those who believe that an artists music is not being deprived. Technology has actually jumpstarted many peoples careers with social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Tumblr, and YouTube. The most beneficial one is YouTube. You can upload any of your videos onto the website and receive feedback or views. People can watch you singing or listen to your music for free; therefore spreading your music across the world. This social networking site has allowed many to become famous musicians. An example is one by the name of Justin Bieber. Youtube made Justin Bieber. He was discovered by Scooter Braun of

Lor 2 Raymond Braun Media Group, also owned by Usher. This would lead to a recording contract with Def. Jam Records and to his stardom in the world (mjtalentsearch). Another famous artist in the music industry that was discovered through YouTube is Greyson Chance. His famous video, a cover of Lady Gagas Paparazzi, had over 20 million views and was also viewed by Ellen DeGeneres. He also received a recording contract but with Ellen Degeneres new record company (Helvik). These are two out of a number of YouTube sensations in music but does that mean that technology helps? You may think so but think about it; there are over hundreds of millions of YouTube users all over the world. Of all these hundreds of millions of YouTube users, tens of millions of users have created YouTube channels. 48 hours of video content is being uploaded every minute resulting in 8 years of content uploaded each day (YouTube). These are outstanding numbers. YouTube creates stars but how many out of that hundreds of millions are actually YouTube sensations? Who knows? But not very many are. Technological advances have made it very competitive for all. What are the chances that youll get signed to a record deal? Worldwide Distribution The worldwide distribution of someones music is the major contribution to their popularity and income. Its easy to just like a link on Facebook and share it with 300 of your friends. Then another maybe four people will like it and share it again. This just keeps repeating and repeating and you would probably have yourself a good amount of views on your link. The worldwide distribution doesnt end there. Online music sites such as cdbaby.com, itunes.com, or snocap.com offer services to let you sell your music online (Mark V). There was a study of online music and its potential. Susan Kevorkian of IDC Consumer Devices and Technologies

Lor 3 commented, Consumers need to be able to get music in a place that resembles an online version of a music store, where they don't need to know which artist belongs to what label to find the music (Study: Online music market offers potential). With easier accessibility, music sales would rise. But with distributing music, does it really help musicians with their music? Will people always share the videos and talk about it? Ive had a personal experience where Ive post up videos of me singing but there will be maybe three likes and four comments. So the chances of really distributing your music throughout the social media are low. Record Labels All high priced record labels want money. Everyone wants money. The only way to get money is to have a musician who is appealing to the audience. But nowadays you dont need the record labels like they need you. You could, key word could, do everything yourself. As in recording your music, producing, mixing, and selling. But the one thing that you need is money. So having technology at your side is beneficial if you want to make it your hobby. Why do I say this? Being signed to a record company gives you access to all different kinds of equipment. A record company has different departments that are paid to help market your music (Klein). So being with a record company benefits you better than having to market your own music. Imagine how much money you would lose marketing your own music and tours. Thats a whole lot of money. Lets do some math. Youre an Indie (Independent) band of five. You have a manager, equipment, CDs, and other miscellaneous items. You sell 100,000 songs online at 99 cents each or a dollar each. Thats about $105,000 with tax. $20,000-$25,000 would be used for equipment, $10,000 for your manager, about $5,000 to make physical copies of your CDs and book recording studios,

Lor 4 and another maybe $20,000 to tour around the whole country. This leaves you at around $45,000-$50,000 of profit. The five of you would only make about $10,000 each. This is profit but is it worth it? No one really knows your band because you are an Indie band. If you were signed to a record label, just imagine how much you could triple, quadruple your profit. Originality and Creativity Technology deprives musicians with their originality and creativity. John Mayer, a famous pop musician, told students at Berklee Music College in Boston to ignore the social media and concentrate on their music (Ingram). The creativity and originality of musicians makes them who they are. This is what creates their reputation. Twitter deprived John Mayer of his concentration with music as he stated: I realized about a year ago that I couldnt have a complete thought anymore. And I was a tweetaholic I stopped using twitter as an outlet and I started using twitter as the instrument to riff on, and it started to make my mind smaller and smaller and smaller. And I couldnt write a song. (Ingram) The social media had a massive impact upon John Mayers music and deprived him of being able to concentrate on his music. His addiction made him think too much. As he said his mind became smaller signaling less work within his music. Another artist David Usher, a Canadian singer-songwriter, has also been distracted due to technological advances. He also commented in the same way as John Mayer saying: The addiction to the endless interruption and engagement does make it hard to find the flow of creation. The endless ping of your phone makes it harder to live in the moment,

Lor 5 to be present. Observing life is so much a part of the creative process for me that the constant distraction of social media has become problematic. (Ingram) David Usher is a great example of how the social media can distract someones ideals and life. Creativity and originality is the major contribution to a musicians reputation and music. Just ask a minority within a race. Im Hmong and this affects me as a musician because of the fact that there are no Hmong role models in the American music industry to look up to. Not only that but originality just isnt there. An example is a Hmong person just singing in American and never a Hmong song. Hmong music and American music is very different. The language, rhythm, harmony, and beats are on another level. To be honest my originality doesnt exist when it comes to music because Hmong music and American music is different. I grew up listening to American music such as Alternative, Indie Rock, Pop, Acoustic, and Hip-Hop. Because of this I blame technology as it deprived me of Hmong music. Growing up and watching TV doesnt have Hmong music. A great example of originality and creativity is Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift, who has won several Grammys, has written many songs about her life such as Teardrops of my Guitar, Tim McGraw, and Fifteen. This is what made fans connect to her and become one of the most successful musicians (Annaoth). Her songs are all about her life and past experiences in which fan can also experience it by listening to her sing it. Her originality and the ability to connect to fans through her music have made her one of the most successful musicians in Country Music and Pop Music History. Income A musicians income is being deprived. With todays technology anyone can freely download music if they just find the right site. There are many ways that a musicians income is

Lor 6 being deprived. One of them is CD piracy. This has been occurring since the beginning of Compact disk. This is when someone will burn music onto a CD and sell it to the public for their use (Music Industry). This makes it less affordable for the musician to pay back his agent, promoter, and recording services (Music Industry). A musicians income is affected with technology because of how people will steal their way to have their music. Free downloading and sharing has become a vast problem to musicians. About ninety-five per cent of music available online is downloaded illegally, according to a report by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (Swash). Just imagine how much a musician would make if people bought physical copies instead of digital copies on the internet. This would increase a whole lot of income for the music industry. But the technological advancements have made the music industry have to approach their businesses in a new way. John Kennedy, chairman and chief executive of IFPI (International Federation of Pirates Interests) stated: "Music companies have changed their whole approach to doing business, reshaped their operations and responded to the dramatic transformation in the way music is distributed and consumed. However, it doesn't seem to have curbed the boom in online piracy. Research carried out in 16 countries by the recording industry body found that over 40bn files were illegally shared in 2008. (Swash) The fact that other countries are also downloading and sharing files for free is astonishing. This tells us that not only do Americans steal music, people from countries such as the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, and others also illegally download music. Wyclef Jean, a record producer, also believes the music industry isnt as successful as its been (Big Think). A question about the music industry and technology appeared in an interview with Wyclef Jean The question was, How has technology changed the music industry? (Big Think). Wyclef

Lor 7 answered saying that the thing with technology was that it was quicker and faster than buying a physical copy at a store. He also commented that, we was able to sell 22 million copies because the Internet had not evolved... If it did, the kids would probably -- wed probably sell 2 million copies (Big Think). This tells us that the internet has evolved into a digital age where songs are sold separately. Basically it says that if it werent for physical copies and the success it brought to some artists, music wouldnt have some of the artists we listen to today. An age where songs are sold separately, theres really no point to release an album especially when people only like three songs off the album and only buy those three songs. Conclusion Musicians have been deprived of their income, creativity, and originality. Technology has increased the rise in digital sales but lessened the physical compact discs sales (Javaheri). Stars such as Wyclef Jean, John Mayer, and David Usher believe that technology affects music and concentration. Musicians need something to believe in again. John Kusek, president of Berklee Music College, commented, The music industry has been utterly ripped apart by the impact of technology and social media and will never be the same again (Kusek). Musicians need their confidence back and technology is holding them back. Its making them people they shouldnt be. Creativity and originality makes stars. The music industry and technology will continue to grow and it will continue to be a problem for musicians. Musicians need to believe in themselves and be original. Be a Taylor Swift.

Lor 8 Works Cited Annaoth. Behind the song, a list of Taylor's Story behind some of her songs. Taylor Swift. Fanpop. Web. 31 March 2012. Helvik, Todd. Young Singer Discovered by Ellen, Greyson Chance. Todd Helvik Marketing. Todd Helvik Marketing Phoenix. 26 May. 2010. Web. 1 Apr. 2012. Ingram, Mathew. Does Social Media Interfere With Creativity. Gigaom. n.p. 19 Jul. 2011. Web. 20 Feb. 2012. Javaheri, Hajar. In the news - digital music sales rise as CDs fall. Webwise. BBC. 4 Jan. 2012. Web. 2 Apr. 2012. Klein, Allison. How Record Labels Work. HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks Inc. Web. 1 Apr. 2012. Kusek, David. The Future of Music and the Music Business. Berklee Music. Berklee College of Music. Web. 1 April. 2012. Mark V. 6 Websites to Distribute Your Music Online. HipHopMakers. n.p. 31 Mar. 2008. Web. 1 Apr. 2012. Mjtalentsearch. How Did Justin Bieber Get Discovered. Hubpages. Hubpages Entertainment. Web. 30 Mar. 2012. Music Industry. Musicians.com: The Musicians Channel. NewMedia Holdings Inc. Web. 31 March 2012.

Lor 9 Study: Online Music Market Offers Potential. CNN Tech. Turner Broadcasting System. 21 Nov 2001. Web. 2 Apr. 2012. Swash, Rosie. 95% of Music Downloads Are Illegal. The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. 16 Jan. 2009. Web. 31 Mar. 2012. Transcript. Big Think. N.P. Web. 31 Mar. 2012.