Within the past fifteen years, music has made a huge
transformation, as well as the rest of the entertainment industry. Because of
the burst in technology, all entertainment has gone digital. Many people see
this to be a good movement because of the ease of distribution. Others see this
as a bad movement. Companies are shutting down and going out of business.
In the film industry, places like blockbuster have closed
down their stores because of the digital movement. Many small music stores are
being closed because of the movement as well. Even places that offer all
aspects of the entertainment industry, such as FYE (For Your Entertainment),
have been shut down. This caused a lot people to lose jobs and money. No one
wants to buy the physical representation of music anymore if they can get the
music as a file.
The upside of the digital age is the simplicity of obtaining
music. There are countless websites that offer music downloads. Some of the
main sites are iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play. With sites such as iTunes,
buying music digitally ensures that the consumer will always have the product.
Once a song is purchased, it can be downloaded again for free, if it gets
deleted. Every department in the entertainment industry is moving in this
direction. It gives security and simplicity to the consumer.
The only flaw to the digital distribution is the piracy.
Physical products are not simple things to steal. It takes planning and it is
very risky to do. Now that music is mainly digital, people steal music or
violate rights all the time, and many do not even know. Music is very easy to
duplicate, and computers make that easier than it has ever been. The music
industry will always be a battle zone of rights and money, but is the digital
movement really a good revolution?
References:
Gibson, D. (2008, March 25). Shocking
news: record stores keep closing. Retrieved from
Go-Gulf. (2013). Online
piracy in numbers – facts and statistics [infographic]. Retrieved