The Death and Life of the Music Industry in the Digital Age by Jim Rogers

Author:Jim Rogers [Rogers, Jim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Media Studies
ISBN: 9781623560010
Google: DjhMAQAAQBAJ
Publisher: A&C Black
Published: 2013-05-09T04:32:55+00:00

The content-technology relationship

A further matter for consideration in examining the apparent crisis in the record industry relates to conglomeration of music and electronics companies. For artist manager Bruce Findlay, alliances between content providers and technology providers serve the continuing interests of both sectors:

This idea about free music pisses me off a wee bit. I’m going to sound old-fashioned here, but we don’t get music for free, we buy computers, we pay for software, we pay for connections, we buy iPods and lots of us subscribe to music services. They say it’s free. It’s never free. Even when the content doesn’t cost you anything, you buy the machinery from the same fucking people, so there is always a cost to the end user. (Bruce Findlay, personal interview)

Findlay proceeds to argue the ‘add-on’ value of music to technological devices, where music is used to attract consumers or entice them to purchase devices, and ‘telecommunications licence music and the payments go into a kitty for intellectual property rights owners’ (ibid.). He further compares the present environment with that of the 1970s when he owned an independent chain of recorded music retail outlets across Scotland. He argues:

All that’s changed is the means of receiving music . . . with the internet and iPods all of the stuff that goes with it, they’ve just found another way of cutting out old record shop men like me. (Bruce Findlay, personal interview)

Some interviewees point to technology companies from the same corporate families as the major music labels gaining from internet downloading and CD-burning activities as they produce and supply electronic devices and software programmes used for these activities.

Some of those with interests in the major music labels have also acquired holdings in other areas associated with media entertainment and electronics. Here we must consider that major music companies form part of larger conglomerates that, through different aspects of their operations produce and/or supply hardware, software and content across a variety of media formats. For example, aside from music, the Sony Corporation has interests in movies, television and digital games as well as consumer electronics, computer hardware, CD manufacturing, and telecommunications (including mobile phones). Vivendi, the owners of the Universal Music Group, has interests in film, television, digital games and telecommunications. The Warner Music Group is owned by Access Industries who, among other things, has interests across various media and telecommunications. Prior to the sale of its recording and music publishing operations to Universal and (a consortium led by) Sony respectively in 2011, Electrical and Musical Industries (EMI) had been the largest stand-alone music company in the world and, until relatively recently had held interests in consumer electronics and information technology. As such, music companies are closely related to a plethora of other media and communication related spheres.

Given the level of attention that has been paid to the ‘unauthorized’ duplication of music down the years, it is worth noting some of close links between actors in the content and technology arenas. While the record industry has undoubtedly lost

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.