! 2!

Introduction!

There!are!three!central!organizing!principles!in!my!thesis.!The!first!comes!from!

Richard!Buckminster!Fuller!who!once!said,!“You!never!change!things!by!fighting!the! existing!reality.!To!change!something,!build!a!new!model!that!makes!the!existing! model!obsolete”!(Freund).!This!motif!permeates!the!series!of!innovations!in!music! recording!and!distribution!that!have!led!the!music!industry!to!where!it!is!today.!!

The!second!is!that!while!it!is!tempting!to!subscribe!to!a!technological! determinism,!giving!too!much!agency!to!“technology”!runs!the!danger!of!ignoring! the!human!hands!that!utilize!these!technologies.1!

The!third!is!that!many!of!the!issues!that!musicians!face!today!are!not!as!novel! as!the!media!makes!them!out!to!be.!Instead,!I!contend!that!many!of!these!problems,! with!some!important!exceptions,!are!actually!compounded!iterations!of!issues!that! have!been!seen!since!the!introduction!of!recorded!music!and!its!associated! industries.!!

Past!is!Prologue!

So!many!of!the!current!problems!in!the!music!industry!have!precedents!that! it!is!hard!to!avoid!seeing!a!continuity!or!a!cyclical!nature!to!the!issues!musicians!are!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1!As!musicologist!Mark!Katz!notes:!while!design!certainly!circumscribes!use,!no!design!is! completely!deterministic.!For!example,!the!phonograph!was!originally!built!as!a!dictation! device!for!business!executives!though!others!used!it!to!calm!surgical!patients,!to!teach! foreign!languages,!and!even!as!a!purported!cure!for!deafness.!Nothing!about!the! phonograph!itself!led!inevitably!down!a!single!path.!Indeed,!that!the!phonograph!was!later! widely!used!in!attempts!to!enrich!American!musical!life!tells!us!less!about!the!mechanics!of! the!phonograph!than!about!the!contemporary!attitudes!of!society!at!the!time!(Katz! 2004:71).!Katz’s!point!is!echoed!by!computer!scientist!Jaron!Lanier’s!point!that!people!are! often!treated!as!small!elements!in!a!bigger!information!machine!although!people!are!the! only!sources!of!destinations!of!information!(Lanier!2013:8).! ! 3! currently!facing.2!Facets!of!many!of!the!current!issues!about!music!distribution!may! be!traced!back!to!the!second!format!war!between!records!and!radio.!3!Due!to!the! advent!of!vacuum!tubes!and!amplified!speakers,!music!on!the!radio!sounded!better! than!it!did!on!an!acoustic!phonograph,!which!played!through!its!horn.!However,! perhaps!more!significant!than!the!improved!sound!quality!was!that!music!was!free! once!you!owned!a!radio.!Record!sales!suffered!and!in!1922!the!Department!of!

Commerce!decreed!that!broadcast!licenses!would!only!be!granted!to!stations!that! promised!not!to!play!records.!Radio!stations!were!meant!to!rely!on!live!musicians! but!this!relationship!ultimately!fell!out!for!a!variety!of!reasons.!Ultimately,!it!was! always!cheaper!to!play!recorded!music!than!to!pay!and!maintain!live!musicians.!

Still,!record!sales!continued!to!rapidly!decline!from!110!million!in!1922!to!six! million!a!decade!later.!The!Great!Depression!had!taken!its!toll!on!the!industry!and! both!mediums!had!suffered,!but!the!phonograph!industry!suffered!most,!as!radio! was!still!free!(Coleman!2003:33b35,!38).!!

One!can!get!a!glimpse!of!working!musicians’!early!perspectives!on!the!record! industry!by!looking!back!to!the!1930s!and!1940s!and!particularly,!a!man!named!

James!Petrillo,!who!headed!the!American!Federation!of!Musicians.!Petrillo!was!a! sworn!opponent!of!records,!or!canned!music!as!he!called!it,!arguing!that!playing! records!on!the!radio!put!live!musicians!out!of!work.!He!battled!for!high!royalty!rates!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2!While!much!of!this!paper!will!be!about!the!“music!industry,”!I!want!to!assure!the!reader! that!such!an!entity!cannot!be!strictly!demarcated!or!even!said!to!exist.!It!is,!however,!useful! as!a!category!to!help!bring!the!reader!up!to!speed!before!we!address!modern!streaming! services.!! 3!The!first!format!war!was!between!the!record!and!the!cylinder!(Coleman!2003:16b17).! ! 4! and!threatened!strikes!until!he!landed!a!victory!in!the!1940s.4!However,!his!shortb term!gains!were!soon!overcome!by!technical!innovations!that!rendered!his!victory! obsolete.!While!recorded!music!certainly!cost!many!musicians!their!livelihood,!

Petrillo’s!war!on!“canned!music”!insulated!musicians!from!the!impact!of!recording! technology,!in!part!ensuring!their!eventual!replacement!by!machines.!Petrillo!is!an! extreme!example!of!how!to!deal!with!emerging!technologies!and!his!results!had! something!of!the!opposite!of!his!intended!effect.!Yet,!he!was!correct!in!his!appraisal! that!new!technologies!threaten!to!undermine!current!paradigms!and!redefine!the! musical!landscape!(Coleman!2003:xvii,!41).!

Today,!the!industry!is!still!dealing!with!effects!of!decisions!that!were!made! from!nearly!the!beginning!of!music!recording!technology.!One!example!of!this!is!the! prevalence!of!the!threebminute!pop!song!today,!which!can!be!traced!back!to!the! roughly!threebminute!time!constraint!of!one!side!of!a!tenbinch,!78brpm!record.!

However,!such!technological!footprints!have!not!only!been!restricted!to!what!has! been!designated!as!“popular!music.”!Indeed,!Igor!Stravinsky!was!among!those!who! were!influenced!by!early!recording!technology!with!his!piece,!Sérénade!en!LA!pour!

Piano,!which!was!specifically!tailored!to!fit!movements!to!record!sides.!Even!the! number!of!movements!in!the!piece!was!partly!due!to!the!reluctance!of!record! companies!to!issue!a!78brpm!record!with!a!blank!side!(Katz!2004:3b5).!!

Regardless!of!genre,!shorter!pieces!were!at!an!advantage!because!longer! pieces!suffered!from!the!discontinuity!of!flipping!and!switching!records.!Though!the! recording!technology!eventually!expanded,!for!seventybone!years!between!the! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 4!In!1942,!Petrillo!and!American!Federation!of!Musicians!went!on!strike!and!stopped! recording!for!over!a!year!(Coleman!2003:47).! ! 5! introduction!of!the!phonograph!and!the!introduction!of!the!longbplaying!record,! musical!recordings!did!not!last!longer!than!approximately!four!and!a!half!minutes.!

This!time!constraint!had!the!effect!that!listeners!experienced!compositions!as! divided!sections,!a!practice!that!lead!to!what!has!been!described!as!atomized! listening.!The!length!of!the!threebminute!pop!song!illustrates!how!musicians!were! deeply!affected!by!a!single!technological!decision.!That!there!have!been!numerous! and!significant!innovations!since!the!78brpm!record,!points!to!a!larger!reality!that! musicians!continue!to!struggle!with!today:!since!the!inception!of!recording! technologies,!musicians!have!been!forced!to!continually!adapt!to!the!demands!and! idiosyncrasies!of!recorded!music!(Katz!2004:31b32).!

However,!not!only!have!musicians!needed!to!adjust!to!new!technologies,!they! also!have!had!to!interact!with!the!members!of!the!recording!industry!(whose!roles! continue!to!change!as!well).!In!fact,!one!of!the!biggest!changes!recording! technologies!brought!on!came!from!the!fact!that!the!music!recording!process!now! sought!to!reconcile!the!sounds!of!live!musicians!with!inert,!repeatable!recordings.!

The!gulf!between!the!musicians!and!the!recordings!of!them!required!a!new!type!of! middleman,!the!recording!engineer,!who!would!eventually!become!what!we!know! as!the!record!producer.!In!the!early!studios,!the!jobs!that!the!recording!engineer! carried!out!might!include!physically!adjusting!the!distance!between!a!singer’s!head! and!the!recording!horn.5!Other!tasks!the!engineer!undertook!might!have!included! modifying!or!even!replacing!instruments!with!alternatives!that!sounded!favorably! on!recordings.!For!example,!brass!often!replaced!strings!because!the!sound!was! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5!The!recording!horn,!in!part,!would!transfer!vibrations!to!a!stylus,!which!engraved!a!disc! (Katz!2004:37).! ! 6! louder!and!more!direct.!Regardless!of!the!specific!task!they!fulfilled,!recording! engineers,!in!general,!found!themselves!as!the!new!mediators!between!the!music! performed!and!the!music!heard!on!recordings.!Recording!engineers!were!not!the! only!new!mediators,!however.!The!innovation!of!records!meant!that!musical! vibrations!could!be!sold!as!a!commodity!and!businesspeople!were!quick!to!realize! the!potential!of!the!recorded!music!industry.!Indeed,!while!the!gap!between! producers!and!composers!would!diminish!over!time,!the!clout!of!the!music!industry! would!only!continue!to!grow!(Katz!2004:37b39;!Moorefield!2005:53b55).!!

The!fact!of!the!matter!was!that!whether!major!or!independent,!labels!were! now!needed!to!help!manufacture,!distribute,!and!produce!records.!The!business!was! growing!and!the!$200!price!for!a!phonograph!in!1906!was!a!substantial! investment.6!One!might!have!speculated!that!highbrow!taste!would!make!classical! music!the!predominant!genre!of!the!medium.!It!is!notable!that!the!opera!tenor!and! head!of!Victor’s!Red!Seal!classical!catalogue,!Enrico!Caruso,!who!became!the!first! celebrity!of!the!recorded!music!industry.!7!!Yet,!despite!Caruso’s!success,!vaudeville! and!marching!band!records!outsold!classical!records!from!the!start.!Practically! speaking,!musical!styles!of!shorter!duration!were!better!suited!to!records.!Perhaps! most!significantly,!it!was!not!long!before!people!preferred!dancing!to!sitting!while! they!listened!to!records.!In!particular,!ragtime!and!blues!music!became!hugely! popular,!later!assisting!the!proliferation!of!jazz!(Coleman!2003:xxii,!17b19,!26b29).!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 6!Adjusted!for!inflation,!these!$200!had!the!buying!power!of!over!$4,773.60!today!(Inflation! Calculator:!Bureau!of!Labor!Statistics).!For!this!calculation!I!compared!1913!dollars!to!2014! dollars!(the!calculator!only!went!back!101!years,!hence!“over!$4,773.60!today).!! 7!Victor!was!one!of!three!major!record!companies!at!the!time.!The!other!two!were!Edison! and!Columbia.! ! 7!

Industry!leaders!such!as!Fred!Gaisberg,!a!talent!scout!for!major!label,!Victor,! seemed!to!recognize!that!classical!music!had!not!secured!itself!as!the!predominant! style!of!recorded!music.!Therefore,!while!he!toured!Europe!and!recorded!classical! virtuosos,!he!also!recorded!anything!he!thought!might!sell,!including!dance!music,! sobcalled!“ethnic!specialties,”!and!even!sound!reenactments!of!historic!events.!He! was!wise!to!do!so!because!classical!music!lost!out!as!music!by!black!artists!soon! became!the!definitive!sound!of!both!the!phonograph!and!the!popular!music!of!the! world.!While!the!major!labels!took!an!interest!in!black!music—such!as!urban!blues! and!hot!jazz—with!their!“race!catalogues,”!they!failed!to!notice!the!new!types!of! music!emerging!after!World!War!II,!especially!bebop!jazz!and!electric!blues!

(Coleman!2003:19b21;!Millard!2005:226).!!

The!trend!of!major!labels!and!corporations!lagging!behind!the!everbchanging! music!scene!is!a!recurring!theme!in!the!music!industry.!Yet,!the!major!labels’!lack!of! knowledge!about!emerging!music!did!not!leave!these!artists!without!an!outlet!for! their!records.!Instead,!major!labels!created!a!void!that!independent!labels!would!fill.!

By!recording!music!that!was!not!felt!to!be!commercial!enough!for!the!mainstream,! independents!could!take!advantage!of!the!changing!tastes!of!the!public.!This! opening!in!the!market!helped!the!independents!that!worked!in!spite!of!their! comparatively!lacking!distribution!networks.!One,!independent!label,!Atlantic!

Records,!was!founded!in!1947!and!quickly!became!one!of!the!most!influential! companies!that!marketed!the!changing!black!music.!Atlantic’s!artists!were!able!to! break!into!the!Billboard!popularbmusic!charts!and!build!up!informal!distribution! networks!across!the!country.!After!watching!the!success!of!Atlantic!and!other!labels,! ! 8! many!more!independent!labels!were!formed!in!the!1950s!(Millard!2005:225b229).!

Not!long!after!these!independents!began!to!form!in!sizable!numbers,!they! ended!the!hegemony!of!the!four!major!companies:!Columbia,!RCA!Victor,!Decca,!and!

Capitol,!which!collectively!accounted!for!75!percent!of!the!hits!on!the!Billboard!Top!

Sellers!list!from!1948!to!1955.!By!1958,!the!four!accounted!for!only!36!percent!of! the!Billboard!charts,!inspiring!many!entrepreneurs!who!now!saw!they!had!a!chance! to!break!into!the!charts!and!make!a!profit.!Among!the!3,000!record!labels!in!1960,! only!500!were!established!companies,!while!the!rest!were!onebshot!attempts!by! entrepreneurs!to!turn!a!quick!profit.!Independents!and!one!shots!would!only!need! to!sell!a!few!thousand!records!to!recoup!the!costs!of!production!while!the!majors! needed!to!push!in!the!hundreds!of!thousands!to!turn!a!profit.!This!incentive!meant! that!major,!independent,!and!onebshot!record!labels!were!all!in!competition,! foreshadowing!the!oversaturated!market!for!music!that!would!only!become!more!so! as!accessibility!barriers!continued!to!lessen!(Millard!2005:229b233).!!

! The!reluctance!of!major!labels!to!address!emerging!musical!styles!runs! parallel!to!the!habit!of!late!adoption!and!strong!opposition!towards!new!music! technology.!Thomas!Edison!exemplified!this!unfortunate!disposition!during!his! career!to!his!detriment.!The!first!time,!he!stubbornly!persisted!in!the!first!recording! format!war,!in!which!his!cylinders!lost!to!flat!discs.!Later,!he!hesitated!to!branch!into! the!radio!industry!and!by!the!time!of!his!debut!of!the!combination!radiob phonograph!in!1928,!he!was!already!too!late.!The!results!of!his!attitude!were!that!by!

1930!he!began!winding!down!his!career.!Edison,!much!like!Petrillo,!wanted!to! preserve!previous!models!(or!at!the!least!the!model!he!had!created)!and!in!doing!so! ! 9! ended!up!having!to!be!a!late!adopter!of!the!new!technology.!Edison,!like!Petrillo,! would!have!better!served!his!mission!by!adopting!the!new!technology!earlier.!

Especially,!because!in!the!infancy!stages!of!a!new!technology!one!can!still,!to!a! certain!extent,!shape!the!technology!instead!of!rushing!to!adopt!it!once!its! parameters!have!been!set!(Coleman!2003:24,!37).!

! Perhaps!Edison!would!have!felt!a!smug!sense!of!compensatory!satisfaction!if! he!were!alive!to!have!seen!the!new!set!of!problems!that!radio!brought!in.!Many!of! these!issues!came!from!the!fact!that,!with!the!advent!and!widespread!adoption!of! radio,!both!mass!communications!and!mass!marketing!were!possible.!These!new! possibilities!gave!the!DJ!the!simultaneous!roles!that!music!writer!Mark!Coleman! described!as!“tastemaker,!trendsetter,!gatekeeper,!and!money!grabber”!(Coleman!

2003:79).!As!the!radio!DJ!gained!importance,!the!format!of!the!single!also!gained! prominence!since!its!short!playing!time!gave!more!opportunities!for!commercials! during!a!program.!In!the!1950s,!radio!play!was!the!dominant!form!of!promoting! records!and!the!Top!40!format!dominated!the!most!significant!radio!markets.!To! cater!to!the!Top!40!format,!market!research!was!done!to!find!out!listeners’!tastes!so! stations!could!play!those!records!repeatedly.!This!choice!was!made!on!the! assumption!that!listeners!would!tune!in!for!short!stretches,!in!the!car,!for!example.!

With!this!new!format,!companies!that!placed!their!records!on!the!play!lists!of!key! stations!would!be!more!likely!to!make!them!hits.!As!a!result,!the!practice!of!bribery,! known!as!payola,!was!employed!to!gain!airplay.8!The!spread!of!such!practices!lead! to!a!1959!government!intervention,!with!the!larger!effect!of!diminishing!the!musical! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 8!Payola!is!a!combination!of!the!words!pay!and!Victrola.!Victrola!was!the!name!of!the! phonograph!of!Victor!Talking!Machine!Company!(Coleman!2003:17).! ! 10! role!of!the!radio!DJ,!who!could!no!longer!pick!and!choose!records.!The!practice!of! payola,!though!ruled!illegal,!would!come!to!haunt!the!industry!again!in!several! decades!(Coleman!2003:79b84;!Millard!2004:231b233).!

! The!early!corruption!of!payola!brings!up!questions!about!the!challenges!in! marketing!music!and!of!the!interests!of!record!companies.!Particularly,!with!the! more!widespread!availability!of!records!and!increased!number!of!labels!the! question!of!choice!becomes!more!significant.!Some!form!of!curation!or! recommendation!is!generally!going!to!be!needed!to!choose!from!the!vast!selection!of! records!available.!This!also!becomes!more!necessary!due!to!the!hierarchical! relationship!that!the!recorded!music!industry!fosters.!In!the!record!industry,!much! like!the!concert!hall!arrangement,!listeners’!relationship!with!musicians!is!that!of! consumers!to!producers,!leaving!the!only!power!of!the!consumers!to!be!what!it!is!in! general:!whether!or!not!to!buy.!Luckily!for!the!producers,!consumers!had!been! choosing!to!buy!enough!to!make!the!music!business!an!increasingly!lucrative! prospect!(Smalls!1998:44).!

Mo’!Money!Mo’!Problems!

! As!the!recorded!music!industry!became!more!profitable,!media! conglomerates!of!the!1960s!merger!movement!took!notice!and!took!a!hold!of!the! popular!music!market.!The!format!for!rock’n’roll!music!was!the!single!until!the!

Beatles!released!seminal!LPs,!such!as!Sgt.!Pepper’s!Lonely!Hearts!Club!Band!that! established!the!33brpm!record!as!supreme.!The!increase!to!$4.98!for!an!album!from! the!98¢!single!helped!record!sales!grow!from!$6!million!in!1960!to!$1.2!billion!by! the!end!of!the!decade,!piquing!the!interest!of!the!businessbminded.!Though!some! ! 11! independent!record!companies!would!flourish,!it!was!just!these!companies!that! became!targets!for!corporate!takeovers.!To!take!one!example,!between!1963!and!

1968,!Warner!Records!took!over!Reprise,!Atlantic,!and!Elektra.!By!the!end!of!the!

1960s,!CBS,!Warner!Bros.,!RCA,!CapitolbEMI,!PolyGram,!and!MCA!dominated!the! industry!of!recorded!sound,!each!with!their!own!subsidiary!labels!that!fostered!an! illusion!of!diversity.!In!the!1970s!and!1980s,!the!conglomerates!grew!bigger!and! became!subtler!in!their!methodologies.!Rather!than!completely!taking!over! independents,!they!decided!to!invest!in!their!operations!and!handle!distribution.!

From!this!point,!it!was!not!too!difficult!to!then!take!over!all!of!the!independent’s! assets!and!this!was!just!the!case!with!MCA’s!gradual!buyout!of!Motown!(Millard!

2005:331b338).!!

! The!conglomerates!took!a!massive!step!forward!during!the!1980s,!when!MTV! eclipsed!radio!and!movies!in!its!promotional!efficacy,!giving!a!distinct!advantage!to! the!media!conglomerates!that!had!the!resources!to!market!their!musicians!on!an! international!scale,!both!visually!and!aurally.9!MTV!was!brilliant!because!it!was!both! medium!and!brand;!viewers!did!not!watch!individual!shows,!they!watched!“MTV.”!10!

As!television!held!an!increasingly!significant!role!in!promotion,!image!began!to!grow! in!its!importance!for!marketing!musicians!and!there!were!several!scandals!in!which! wellbknown!performers!admitted!they!did!not!play!on!their!own!recordings!(Klein!

1999:44;!Millard!2005:340b341).!!

! While!largebscale!shifts!were!happening!on!the!business!front!of!the!industry,! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 9!MTV!was!a!collaborative!effort!between!TimebWarner!Inc.!and!American!Express.! 10!By!making!their!brand!name!as!significant,!if!not!more!so,!than!the!artists!that!they!used,! MTV!succeeded!in!carrying!out!Edison’s!early!desire!to!subordinate!artists’!identities!in! favor!of!his!own.! ! 12! technological!innovations!also!ushered!in!impetus!for!change.!BuckminsterbFuller’s! idea!that!only!innovations!that!render!previous!models!obsolete!bring!change!rings! true!for!the!new!music!formats!that!emerged!after!the!record.!Since!their!respective!

1966!and!1979!introductions,!8btrack!and!cassette!tapes!were!predicted!to!prove! significant!competition!for!records.!Yet!the!shortcomings!of!8btracks,!with! noticeable!interruptions!between!tracks!and!the!inability!to!fast!forward!or!rewind! tracks,!lead!to!its!quick!demise.!Cassettes!had!the!distinct!advantage!of!portability,!a! convenience!that!8btracks!lacked!unless!they!were!installed!in!a!car.!Portable! cassette!players!gained!prominence!in!the!form!of!personal!stereos!as!well!as!Sony’s!

Walkman!series!and!by!1986!cassette!sales!more!than!doubled!LP!sales!(Coleman!

2003:156b159).!!

! While!the!popularity!of!the!Walkman!foreshadowed!the!later!success!of!the! iPod,!a!direct!precursor!to!modern!antibpiracy!campaigns!took!place!in!the!early!

1980s!when!music!business!figures!thought!that!home!taping!was!costing!the! industry!hundreds!of!millions!of!dollars.!This!assumption!lead!to!the!hyperbolic!

“Home!Taping!Is!Killing!Music”!campaign!launched!by!the!Recording!Industry!

Association!of!America,!or!RIAA.!The!RIAA!and!its!members!asserted!that!home! recording!was!a!form!of!piracy!and!they!lobbied!for!taxes!on!tape!recorders!and! blank!tapes.!Their!arguments!were!hurt!by!an!independent!study!conducted!by!the!

Copyright!Royalty!Tribunal,!however,!found!that!home!tapers!purchased!the!most! recorded!music!and!were!the!most!affluent!of!those!surveyed.!Perhaps!the!threat!of! consumer!choice!was!a!contributing!factor!in!the!battle!against!piracy!since! consumers!could!now!make!their!own!selections!and!mix!tapes!(Coleman!2003:159b ! 13!

160).!

Although!cassettes!offered!portability!and!convenience,!the!compact!disc! format!would!truly!reshape!the!musical!landscape.!In!addition!to!removing!surface! noise,!pops,!and!clicks!experienced!with!an!LP!or!the!constant!potential!for! unraveling!of!breakage!of!the!cassette!tape,!CDs!ran!nearly!twice!the!length!of! typical!forty!minute!LPs!at!less!than!half!the!diameter!(Coleman!2003:164b165).!Just! as!before,!the!time!limit!of!the!tenbinch!78brpm!record!had!circumscribed!the!music! produced!during!that!era,!the!extended!time!available!on!the!compact!disc! demanded!to!utilize!the!limits!of!the!new!technology.!As!a!result,!artists!that!had! been!used!to!creating!roughly!fortybminute!albums!had!to!adjust!to!the!new! business!demands,!and!not!all!of!them!were!enthused!about!it.!Thom!Yorke!of!

Radiohead!described!his!experience!of!the!extra!demands!brought!on!by!the! compact!disc!format:!!

The!majors!used!to!put!huge!pressure!on!us!and!everyone!to!put!extra!stuff! at!the!end–you!know,!to!give!the!shop!something!extra!to!sell.!All!that!fucking! crap.!As!if!your!forty!minutes!of!blood!and!sweat!isn’t!enough.!But!basically,! they!were!charging!too!much!for!the!CD–they!knew!it,!and!they!were!trying! to!justify!it!with!extra!stuff.”!(Simonini!2009)! ! The!innovation!of!the!compact!disc!had!an!even!more!significant!effect,!however,!the! ramifications!of!which!are!still!playing!out!today.!Once!music!was!digitally!encoded,! it!was!not!long!before!people!figured!out!how!to!decode!the!CDs!and!rip!them!onto! their!computers.!As!highbspeed!Internet!became!integrated!into!modern!life,!peerb tobpeer!file!sharing!would!grow!in!popularity!and!later!define!many!of!the!issues! ! 14! that!the!industry!faces!today!(Coleman!2003:177).11!

Consolidated!and!Commodified!

By!the!1990s,!conglomerates!reached!their!peak!with!five!multinational! conglomerates!that!ran!the!$14.6!billion!record!industry,!ten!conglomerates!that! held!62!percent!of!the!$10.2!billion!commercial!radio!business,!and!one!company,!

SFX!Entertainment,!which!controlled!the!$1.5!billion!touring!industry.!At!this!point,! multinationals!were!effectively!run!by!their!shareholders,!who!sought!stable! quarterly!growth!in!a!volatile,!creative!industry.!Though!they!were!not!completely! removed!from!the!industry,!independents!rose!and!fell!with!new!waves!of!popular! music!and!technological!innovations!generally!hurt!them!since!the!majors!had!ties! to!manufacturers.!At!this!point,!even!major!artists!no!longer!had!opportunities!to! grow!throughout!a!longbranging!career.!Musician!Moby!noted!that!such! circumstances!would!have!resulted!in!the!dropping!of!Bruce!Springsteen,!Fleetwood!

Mac,!and!possibly!even!Prince!from!their!respective!labels!(Kot!2009:7b9;!Millard!

2004:342).!!

! A!new!level!of!greed!was!reached!and!maintained!because!of!the!centralized! control!of!the!recording!industry!and!the!results!were!harmful!to!artists!and! consumers.!One!can!see!this!greed!taken!further!in!1990!and!1991,!when!the!record! industry!made!a!firm!push!to!fully!establish!the!CD!as!the!new!standard!format!by! removing!LPs!from!record!stores.!Though!overall!growth!slowed!in!the!industry!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 11!“A!peerbtobpeer!(P2P)!network!is!a!type!of!decentralized!and!distributed!computer! network!in!which!individuals!in!the!network!(called!"peers")!act!as!both!suppliers!and! consumers!of!resources,!in!contrast!to!the!centralized!clientbserver!model!where!client! nodes!request!access!to!resources!provided!by!central!servers”!(Wikipedia). ! ! 15! during!the!early!nineties,!profits!remained!high!because!of!CD!prices.!At!the!time,! new!CDs!sold!for!$15!or!$16!compared!to!$9!or!$10!for!LPs,!however,!even!after!the! overhead!costs!for!manufacturing!CDs!eventually!sunk!below!the!cost!of!making!

LPs,!the!exorbitant!prices!of!CDs!persisted.!In!fact,!according!to!music!business! investor,!Stanley!Gold,!by!the!late!nineties!when!CDs!cost!$19,!the!cost!of! manufacturing!a!CD!had!dropped!from!$2.50!to!$1.25.!Ticket!prices!also!increased! by!30!percent!from!1998!to!1999!due!to!SFX’s!domination!of!the!concert!circuit!(Kot!

2009:7;!Coleman!2003:166b168).!!

By!the!late!nineties,!it!was!necessary!for!record!companies!to!conduct! business!with!both!MTV!and!commercial!radio!to!promote!new!music!and!both! were!becoming!increasingly!narrow!outlets!for!the!only!the!most!heavily!marketed! music.!However,!MTV’s!influence!had!already!peaked!and!nonmusic!programming! had!begun!to!dominate!its!schedule;!video!spots!were!reserved!for!select!superstars.!

This!left!commercial!radio!as!the!primary!determining!factor!as!to!what!would! become!a!hit,!and!as!Moby!described,!“You!have!to!fit!the!mold,!and!radio!defines! that!mold.!Right!now!if!you’re!not!a!teen!pop!star,!an!R&B!artist,!a!hipbhop!artist,!a! generic!alternative!rock!band,!or!a!female!singerbsongwriter,!you!might!as!well!not! even!think!about!making!records”!(Kot!2009:9).!In!the!consolidation!era,!decisionb making!was!highly!centralized!and!playlists!at!commercial!radio!stations!across!the! country!became!increasingly!hard!to!distinguish!apart!from!one!another!(Kot!

2009:9).!!

Consolidation!intensified!with!the!freedom!that!followed!the!1996!

Telecommunications!Act,!which!eliminated!most!media!ownership!laws.!Section!202! ! 16! of!the!act!would!prove!to!be!particularly!influential!for!the!music!industry!because!it! eliminated!“any!provisions!limiting!the!number!of!AM!or!FM!broadcast!stations! which!may!be!owned!or!controlled!by!one!entity!nationally”!(Kot!2009:10).!Further! monopolization!was!inevitable!and!a!select!few!corporations!quickly!took!control!of! the!radio!industry.!Clear!Channel!Communications!was!one!such!conglomerate!that! increased!its!scope!again!by!acquiring!touringbgiant,!SFX,!in!2000.!This!acquisition! was!made!with!the!goal!that!Clear!Channel!stations!would!be!able!to!promote! concerts!in!Clear!Channel!concert!venues.!By!2002,!Clear!Channel!owned!over!1,200! radio!stations,!covered!247!of!the!nation’s!top!250!markets,!and!controlled!the! biggest!concert!venues!nationwide.!Some!musicians!tried!to!fight!against!the! massive!conglomeration!by!avoiding!Clear!Channel–controlled!venues.!In!2001,!

Radiohead!attempted!to!do!just!this!to!avoid!assisting!what!Yorke!deemed!to!be,!“a! parasite!that!needs!a!host!to!feed!on”!(Kot!2009:10;!Ross!2010:91).!!

Clear!Channel’s!CEO!from!1999!to!2002,!Randy!Michaels,!said!that!before,! half!of!the!radio!stations!were!owned!by!people!who!were!as!interested!in!playing! what!they!liked!as!opposed!to!really!serving!the!public.12!After!the!transition!to!

Clear!Channel’s!domination,!professional!management!shifted!the!focus!on!serving! to!give!listeners!what!they!want.!Despite!their!claims!otherwise,!radio!stations!were! more!concerned!about!scaring!off!listeners!with!unfamiliar!music!than!giving!them! what!they!actually!wanted!since!Michaels!argued!that!listeners!preferred!familiarity.!

Though!it!is!impossible!to!isolate!specific!determining!factors!not!to!mention! causally!linking!them!to!effects,!it!is!noteworthy!that!from!1998!to!2009,!the!average! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 12!Though,!we!should!scrutinize!any!unsupported!historical!testimony,!especially!that!which! might!romanticize!the!past.! ! 17! share!of!Americans!listening!to!radio!at!any!given!time!decreased!by!14!percent.!

Perhaps!most!alarming!was!what!subsequent!Clear!Channel!chairman,!Lowry!Mays,! said!in!an!interview!with!Fortune!magazine!in!2003,!revealing!the!dominant! conglomerate’s!position!on!music,!“We’re!not!in!the!business!of!providing!news!and! information.!We’re!not!in!the!business!of!providing!wellbresearched!music.!We’re! simply!in!the!business!of!selling!our!customers!products”!(Kot!2009:10b12).!!

As!media!conglomeration!had!snowballed!and!the!music!business!became! increasingly!accountable!to!investors!and!shareholders,!radio!stations!learned!to! play!it!safe,!providing!listeners!with!familiarity.!Those!in!charge!of!the!stations! presumed!their!audience!to!be!largely!passive!and!unadventurous.!This!trend!of! seeking!a!passive!listenership!is!also!seen!in!the!way!the!industry!has!attempted!to! control!music’s!mediums!and!preventing!people!from!making!their!own!selections! as!with!the!“Home!Taping!Is!Killing!Music!Campaign.”!This!trend!of!trying!to!give! people!what!they!want!would!grow!into!the!science!and!business!practices!of!“cool! hunting”!and!commodification.!For!a!while,!marketers!had!focused!quite!exclusively! on!the!babybboomers!but!noticed!that!while!adults!were!more!prone!to!buying! generic!products!or!preferring!bargains,!the!youth!was!full!of!insecurities!and! willing!to!pay!to!fit!in.!Such!thinking!spawned!a!new!market!of!“cool!hunters”!that! would!search!out!pockets!of!cutting!edge!lifestyle,!capture!them!on!video,!and! return!to!clients!to!report!their!findings.!One!Los!Angelesbbased!company!describes! itself!as!a!marketing!firm!“specializing!in!building!wordbofbmouth!in!urban!areas! and!inner!cities”!(Klein!1999:75).!Klein!is!the!CEO!of!rap!label!Loud!Records,!and! companies!like!Nike!pay!him!hundreds!of!thousands!of!dollars!to!find!out!how!to! ! 18! make!their!brands!cool!with!trendbsetting!black!youth.!As!marketing!became!the! most!significant!priority!in!the!music!industry,!one!can!trace!the!transition!to!a! substitution!of!“wellbresearched!music”!for!art!(Klein!1999:67b75).!

The!Tipping!Point!

Richard!Buckminster!Fuller’s!words!once!again!find!prescience!here:!to! change!something!you!must!build!a!new!model!that!makes!the!existing!model! obsolete.!This!way,!as!radio!companies!narrowed!their!playlists!and!sought!to!

“summon!up!before!you!the!Ghost!of!Your!Own!Desire”!and!then!sell!it!to!you,!the! younger!generation!was!tuning!out!(Harvey).!!This!was!possibly!due!to!lower!quality! radio!shows,!but!most!significantly,!they!did!not!need!radio!to!discover!music! anymore.!As!radio!veteran!Jerry!Del!Colliano!noted!in!2002,!“The!Internet!is!here,! that’s!this!generation’s!radio”!(Kot!2009:23).!!

!An!audience!assumed!to!be!passive!is!doomed!to!be!forcebfed!“coolbhunter”! approved!music!that!is!familiar!enough!not!to!scare!off!potential!listeners!

(read:customers).!In!addition!to!not!having!any!control!over!what!music!is!played! by!the!radio,!the!disc!jockeys,!presumably!music!lovers!themselves,!were!subjected! to!the!corporate!policies,!who!in!turn!answered!to!investors!and!shareholders.!

These!bureaucratic!relationships!dictated!the!musical!experiences!of!the!general! public!so!it!is!not!surprising!that!when!a!new!technology,!with!an!unlimited!playlist! that!could!be!endlessly!rearranged,!inverted!the!entire!industry.!That!technology! was,!of!course,!the!infamous!Napster.!!

In!a!way,!it!made!sense!that!the!industry!got!completely!inverted!by!Shawn!

Fanning,!a!college!dropout!who!wrote!a!program!to!help!his!roommates!collect! ! 19! music!on!their!computers,!because!the!predominant!model!at!the!time!was!both! misdirected!and!overpriced.13!With!its!debut!in!1999,!Fanning’s!Napster!program! eliminated!middlemen!in!the!market!and!removed!money!from!the!equation,! allowing!peerbtobpeer!(P2P)!transferring!of!MP3!files!that!users!shared.!In!this! model,!the!Napster!software!provided!transfer,!indexing,!and!cataloguing!of!music! files,!and!users!did!the!rest.14!Users!could!both!rip!MP3!files!from!CDs!and!burn!their! downloaded!MP3s!to!blank!discs,!allowing!twobway!transference!of!music.!In!this! system!of!music!distribution,!files!could!now!be!accessed!from!anywhere!in!the! world.!The!newly!discovered!fluidity!of!CD’s!helped!rewritable!CD!sales!double!to!1! billion!in!2000!and!by!the!end!of!2001,!one!study!conducted!by!the!International!

Federation!of!the!Phonographic!Industry,!found!the!number!of!burned!CDs! worldwide!had!matched!the!number!of!CDs!sold!in!retail!stores..!This!was!how!it! came!to!be!that,!“From!2004!on,!the!bestbselling!CD!in!the!United!States!every!year! has!been!a!blank,!recordable!disc”!(Coleman!2003:177b178,!189;!Kot!2009:42;!

Schloss,!Starr,!and!Waterman!2012:346).!!

Opinions!about!Napster!ran!across!a!spectrum,!although!dividing!lines!could! be!roughly!drawn!between!users!and!artists!whose!interests!seemed!to!be!in!stark! opposition.!Some!users!insisted!that!they!valued!the!community!that!Napster!had! created!since!tracks!as!well!as!broader!musical!tastes!and!habits!could!be!shared.!

This!is!a!notable!comment!because!radio!stations!hardly!seemed!to!provide!a!point! of!convergence!for!public!musical!taste.!Additionally,!the!abrupt!switch!from!vinyl!to! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 13!Not!to!mention!his!friends!actually!cared!about!music!! 14!This!model!of!being!a!host!and!letting!users!do!the!work!has!become!a!paradigm!for!21st! century!business!models!(see!Facebook,!Twitter,!Instagram,!Amazon,!etc.).!Napster!also! would!later!use!this!fact!as!part!of!their!legal!defense.!! ! 20!

CD!hurt!record!stores,!which!have!historically!served!as!meeting!hubs!for!various! taste!communities.15!Furthermore,!Napster!encouraged!user!activity!in!contrast!to! the!passivity!seen!with!“cool!hunter”bapproved!products!selected!by!Clear!Channel! and!other!entertainment!conglomerates.!Users!could!transfer,!index,!and!catalogue! music!files!at!will!and!finding!music!could!become!an!exploratory!act!unmediated!by! curators!or!advertisers!(Bartmanski!and!Woodward!2013:10;!Coleman!2003:166,!

189).!

One!manager!of!a!Tower!Records!store!noted!that!CDs!became!so!lucrative! that!the!industry!phased!out!virtually!every!other!type!of!music!product.!While!the! single!had!proved!as!an!entryblevel!purchase!for!the!young,!single!releases!no!longer! existed.!Indeed,!as!Yorke!pointed!out,!the!album!format!was!thought!to!be! insufficient!so!that!bonus!tracks!were!requested!in!order!to!use!the!whole!available! length!of!the!CD.!Even!RIAA!chairman!Hilary!Rosen!noted!the!dissatisfaction!of! consumer!choice,!“The!consumers!are!telling!us!they!want!music!in!different!sizes!at! different!price!points.”!“They!want!a!twelvebounce!can,!but!we!keep!insisting!on! selling!it!to!them!in!the!sixtybfourbounce!bottle”!(Kot!2009:45).!!

Such!dissatisfaction!probably!helped!redirect!many!listeners!to!illegal! alternatives!such!as!Napster!since!by!2001,!Napster’s!users!in!the!United!States! alone!peaked!at!13.6!million.!The!major!record!companies,!now!controlled!by! entertainment!conglomerates,!were!quick!to!retaliate!with!lawsuits.!Their!trade! group,!the!RIAA!sought!to!make!Napster!an!example!for!the!other!filebsharing! websites!and!the!company!ended!up!declaring!bankruptcy!in!fall!2002.!However,! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 15!The!record!store!as!a!cultural!vehicle!will!be!explored!later!in!a!section!about!vinyl’s! resurgence.! ! 21! this!did!not!put!an!end!to!file!sharing!as!the!next!generation!of!P2P!applications! quickly!rose!with!KaZaA!Media!Desktop!grabbing!8.3!million!American!users!by!

June!2002.!Instead,!the!RIAA!soon!switched!to!suing!individual!users!for!thousands! of!dollars!(Coleman!179b181).!!

As!the!new!perceived!financial!value!of!music!descended!to!zero,!some! innovators!sought!to!reach!an!intermediary!solution.!One!website,!My.MP3.com! allowed!people!to!access!their!CD!collection!online!in!“virtual!lockers.”!Once!a! purchased!copy!of!a!CD!was!scanned!(to!prove!ownership),!one!could!access!a!copy! online!and!create!playlists!with!one’s!music.!The!founder!of!the!website,!Michael!

Robertson,!thought!he!had!properly!sorted!out!the!copyright!issues!but!he!ended!up! paying!a!$130!million!settlement!to!the!record!companies,!who!were!not!amused!by! his!innovation!(Coleman!187b8).!!

Despite!vehemently!opposing!intermediate!solutions!such!as!the!virtual! lockers,!it!was!inevitable!that!the!music!industry!would!have!to!catch!up!with!the! cuttingbedge!that!was!being!explored!by!music!pirates!and!filebsharers.!The!portable!

MP3!player!was!one!step!closer!to!the!convenience!that!had!become!a!standard!for! many!as!music!went!digital.!Though!the!RIAA!applied!for!a!court!order!preventing! sales!of!the!first!MP3!player,!the!judge!denied!their!request!and!it!would!only!be!a! matter!of!time!before!Apple’s!iPod!with!66!hours!of!music!at!6.5!ounces!took!a!hold! of!the!industry.!While!various!online!music!services!attempted!to!get!a!foothold!in! the!industry,!most!of!them!had!shortcomings,!especially!in!regards!to!consumer! choice.!The!iTunes!Music!Store!provided!a!needed!alternative!when!it!debuted!in!

April!of!2003.!Apple!CEO!Steve!Jobs!declared!at!the!launch,!“Consumers!don’t!want! ! 22! to!be!treated!like!criminals!and!artists!don’t!want!their!valuable!work!stolen.”!“The! iTunes!Music!Store!offers!a!groundbreaking!solution!for!both”!(Coleman!2003:205b

206).!The!iTunes!model!had!no!subscription!fee,!99!cent!downloads,!and!the!ability! to!transfer!a!song!onto!an!unlimited!number!of!Apple’s!iPods!as!well!as!up!to!three!

Apple!computers!(Coleman!2003:204b6).16!

! The!iPod!was!originally!marketed!with!the!provocative!slogan!“Rip.!Mix.!

Burn.”!that!seemed!to!be!in!direct!contradiction!to!the!package!deal!that!made!the! music!business!so!lucrative!during!the!CD!years.!Still,!the!five!major!conglomerates! at!the!time:!Warner,!BMG,!EMI,!Sony!Music,!and!Universal!gave!iTunes!access!to!the! bulk!of!its!music!catalogs.!Perhaps!they!had!anticipated!the!overwhelming!public! response!the!new!model!would!have!with!a!total!of!one!million!iTunes!downloads!in! the!first!week!of!May!2003.!Although!this!number!dropped!to!500,000!by!June,!their! numbers!were!impressive,!especially!considering!that!Apple!had!only!a!2.4!percent! share!of!the!computer!market!as!of!2003.!While!digital!downloads!allowed!an! unprecedented!level!of!convenience,!we!have!seen!that!nothing!is!permanent!in!the! music!industry.!Steve!Jobs!made!one!error!in!his!judgment,!however,!and!that!was! assuming!that!people!would!want!to!own!music!at!all—an!assumption!that!seems! outdated!hardly!a!decade!after!iTunes’!debut.!Any!assumption!of!finality!in!this! volatile!industry!is!premature!and!Jobs!should!have!been!looking!around!the!corner! to!anticipate!what!new!demands!would!call!for!(Coleman!2003:206b207).!

Before!addressing!the!current!state!of!affairs,!it!would!be!prudent!to!review! some!of!the!patterns!addressed!throughout!my!brief!history!of!the!recorded!music! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 16!Today!one!can!use!up!to!five!computers!(Macintosh,!Windows,!or!both)!with!the!same! iTunes!account.!See!http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/authorization.! ! 23! industry.!The!predominant!theme!I!have!addressed!is!that!time!and!time!again!when! change!has!shaken!up!the!industry,!the!tactic!has!been!to!stubbornly!oppose!those! changes!and!defend!an!old!model.!This!attitude!is!not!unwarranted,!as!music! industry!revenues!have!declined!as!many!of!these!changes!have!taken!place.!

However,!if!those!that!were!so!resistant!had!worked!with!the!changes,!they!might! have!been!able!to!redirect!and!cobopt!the!technologies!that!have!made!it!so!that!the! most!convenient!methods!of!obtaining!music!do!not!involve!paying!for!it!at!all.!!

Increased!levels!of!mediation!stands!as!another!trend!that!comes!with! recorded!music.!A!whole!new!set!of!skills!was!required!to!deal!with!the!numerous! tasks!involved!with!recording,!producing,!and!distributing!music.!Therefore,!a!whole! new!group!of!jobs!was!birthed!with!the!inception!of!recording!industry,!which! sought!to!fill!the!gap!between!musicians!and!their!audiences.!As!listeners!faced!an! oversaturated!market,!the!need!for!curation!arose!and!brought!its!own!set!of! problems!exemplified!by!the!payola!scandals!of!the!past.!Yet,!the!layers!of!mediation! continued!to!accumulate!with!some!mediators!(unfortunately!the!most!influential)! that!sought!to!instill!consumer!passivity.!The!desire!for!a!more!active!relationship! with!music!appears!to!have!persisted,!however,!and!was!one!of!the!many!attractive! features!of!P2P!technologies!that!reached!millions.!

The!troubling!pattern!of!centralized!control!of!the!record!industry!leading!to! monopolistic!practices!was!also!addressed.!These!practices!not!only!helped! transform!artists!into!products,!they!also!hurt!smaller!artists!and!commodified! cuttingbedge!culture.!Still,!perhaps!the!most!important!trend!is!that!nothing!is!final! in!the!music!industry.!If!this!last!observation!is!true!(and!I!believe!I!have!sufficiently! ! 24! proved!this),!then!if!follows!that!the!industry!is!always!in!transition.!Thus!it!is! worthwhile!to!try!to!understand!what!the!industry!is!transitioning!towards.!

However,!if!movement!is!relational!one!must!understand!the!legacy!that!the! recording!industry!has!inherited!in!order!to!understand!the!genealogy!of!the! modern!problems!it!faces!and!crucially,!which!of!these!issues!are!unprecedented.!

Present!Issues!

Today,!the!innovations!that!have!been!gathering!the!most!attention!are! streaming!services.!According!to!the!Nielsen!Soundscan!yearbend!2013!music!sales! numbers,!2013!digital!track!sales!fell,!album!sales!dropped!and!digital!album!sales! fell!(though!only!0.1!percent).17!The!only!physical!format!of!music!that!saw!growth! was!vinyl!with!an!impressive!32!percent!growth.18!The!only!figure!comparable!to! this!was!the!parallel!32!percent!growth!in!streaming!consumption!since!2012!(“The!

Numbers!Are!In:!Should!The!Music!Industry!Be!Worried?”;!“The!Music!Industry!

Moves!Kicking!and!Screaming!Into!A!Streaming!World”).!

Contrary!to!popular!rhetoric,!networking!company!Sandvine!released!a!study! that!found!P2P!traffic!is!now!below!10!percent!down!from!31!percent!five!years!ago! and!60!percent!eleven!years!ago,!correlating!a!decrease!in!P2P!traffic!with!a! decrease!in!piracy,!a!point!that!Spotify!emphasizes!and!takes!credit!for.!One!study!in!

Sweden,!where!Spotify!launched!in!2008,!found!that!since!2009,!illegal!downloads!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 17!The!actual!numbers!were!that!2013!digital!track!sales!were!down!5.7%!from!1.34!billion! units!to!1.26!billion,!album!sales!fell!to!289.4!million!units,!an!8.4%!reduction,!though!digital! album!sales!only!dropped!0.1%!to!117.6!million!from!117.7!million!the!previous!year.!CD! sales!fell!14.5%!to!165.4!million!units!while!Vinyl!LPs!rose!32%!from!4.55!million!units!to!6! million!units.!Streaming!rose!32%!with!over!118!billion!streams!(“The!Numbers!Are!In:! Should!the!Music!Industry!Be!Worried?”).! 18!The!resurgence!of!vinyl!shall!be!addressed!in!a!later!section!in!more!extensive!detail.! ! 25! of!music!have!decreased!by!25!percent.!With!physical!sales!largely!petering!out,! streaming!services!seem!to!be!the!way!of!the!future!and!Spotify!appears!to!hold!the! most!revolutionary!potential!for!the!music!industry!at!the!moment!(Ernesto;!“The!

Lie!That!Fuels!the!Music!Industry’s!Paranoia”).19!

Spotify!has!sharply!divided!the!opinions!of!artists,!industry!workers,!and! music!writers!who!each!present!numerous!perspectives!on!the!advantages!and! disadvantages!of!Spotify.!Since!much!of!the!controversy!about!the!streaming!service! has!at!least!rhetorically!focused!on!its!payment!model,!it!is!well!worth!addressing! how!exactly!Spotify!pays!artists.!

!

Figure!1.!This!picture!is!from!Spotify’s!website!and!provides!a!slightly!simplified! explanation!of!how!Spotify!pays!artists!(“Spotify!Explained”).! ! According!to!their!website,!Spotify!pays!out!their!monthly!revenue!from!ads!and! premium!subscriptions!based!on!how!a!percentage!of!how!much!an!artists’!streams! comprise!the!total!Spotify!streams!in!one!month.!About!70%!of!this!number!is!then! given!to!the!master!recording!and!publishing!rights!holders!(see!figure!1).!20!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 19!Support!for!asserting!Spotify!is!at!the!head!of!streaming!services!comes!from!various! artists’!opinions!and!music!writers’!opinions.!Also,!see!Forbes’!article:!Spotify’s!Daniel!Ek:! The!Most!Important!Man!In!Music!(Bertoni).!! 20!There!are!two!kinds!of!copyrights!and!therefore!two!different!royalties!to!account!for! with!Spotify!(see!figure!2).!There!is!a!copyright!for!the!sound!recording!and!there!is!a! copyright!for!the!musical!composition,!which!includes!the!composition’s!lyrics!and!notes!.! Mechanical!royalties!are!generated!when!tracks!are!reproduced,!retransmitted,!or! rebroadcast!and!these!are!paid!to!the!performers!and!copyright!owners!of!the!sound! ! 26!

The!master!recording!owners!are!either!the!artist!or!the!record!label!and!in!either! case!a!distributor!may!assist!them!and!take!a!cut.!The!rights!to!the!master! recordings!are!negotiated!in!unpublished!private!deals!and!favor!larger!labels!that! have!more!leverage!(“ARS!Presentation:!Leverage”;!“Spotify!Explained”).!

!

Figure!2.!This!picture!illustrates!the!two!copyrights!that!address!different!aspects!of!a! recording!and!the!respective!recipients!of!royalties!for!each!copyright!(Thomson).! ! In!more!specific!detail,!Spotify!pays!a!mechanical!royalty!of!10.5%!of!its! revenues!minus!any!amount!for!publishing!royalties.!Alternatively,!president!of!

Nashvillebbased!label!services!company!Thirty!Tigers!presented!the!simplified! analogy!that!for!every!$10!paid!monthly!to!Spotify,!$6!goes!to!the!owner!of!the! recordings,!$1!goes!to!the!owner!of!the!publishing!copyright,!and!Spotify!keeps!$3.!

This!byzantine!route!of!getting!money!from!musicians!to!fans!is!complex!to!say!the! least!and!matters!only!grow!more!complicated!when!one!puts!this!revenue!stream! in!context!with!the!other!ways!musicians!make!money!(“Agreement!Royale”;!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! recording.!Performance!royalties!are!paid!when!a!musical!work!is!publicly!performed!or! broadcast.!This!royalty!is!paid!to!the!songwriter(s),!composer(s),!and!publisher!(“How! Spotify!Streams!Turn!Into!Royalties”;!Thomson).! ! 27!

“Making!Dollars:!Clearing!Up!Spotify!Payment!Confusion”).!

! With!such!complicated!methods!of!payment,!it!follows!that!artists,!industry! figures,!and!music!writers!have!had!a!hard!time!trying!to!understand!how!effective! and!ethical!the!streaming!service!is.!Still,!many!have!been!outspoken!and!articulated! their!opinions!on!Spotify.!At!the!forefront!of!the!debate!have!been!Nigel!Godrich!and!

Thom!Yorke,!who!have!been!repeatedly!referenced,!applauded,!and!criticized!for! their!ideas.!Both!of!them!are!involved!with!the!band,!Radiohead,!and!the!side! project,!Atoms!For!Peace,!and!both!have!criticized!Spotify’s!model,!particularly!for! its!treatment!of!new!artists.!Atoms!For!Peace!removed!its!catalog!from!Spotify!with!

Godrich!citing!that:!

It’s!an!equation!that!just!doesn’t!work…!If!you!have!a!massive!catalogue!–!a! major!label!for!example!then!you’re!quids!in.!It’s!money!for!old!rope.!But! making!new!recorded!music!needs!funding.!Some!records!can!be!made!in!a! laptop,!but!some!need!musicians!and!skilled!technicians.!These!things!cost! money.!(Titlow).! ! Yorke!added!to!this,!"Make!no!mistake!new!artists!you!discover!on!#Spotify!will!not! get!paid.!Meanwhile!shareholders!will!shortly![be]!rolling!in!it”!(Titlow).!A!Spotify! spokesperson!was!quick!to!respond,!citing!that!they!had!already!paid!$500!million! to!rights!holders!and!were!committed!to!making!Spotify!the!most!artistbfriendly! music!service!possible.!Godrich!rebutted!by!pointing!to!the!fact!that!the!$500!went! to!‘license!holders,’!not!artists!(Pelly).!He!explained!that!Spotify’s!payouts!are! divided!by!the!percentage!of!total!streams!so!that!labels!with!massive!back! catalogues!by!dead!artists!earn!as!much!as!a!track!by!a!brand!new!artist.!The!takeb away!point,!Godrich!believes,!is!that!the!model!massively!favors!larger!companies.!

Although!such!imbalances!are!part!of!the!old!system!it!is!important!to!note!whether! ! 28! or!not!one!should!support!old!inequalities!when!shaping!what!may!become!a! defining!future!model!(Pelly;!Titlow).!

President!of!Nashvillebbased!label!services!company!Thirty!Tigers,!David!

Macias,!argues!with!Godrich’s!perception,!saying!that!this!model!has!the!same! proportions!as!iTunes!and!that!renting!music!instead!of!owning!it!is!beneficial! because!a!transactional!relationship!takes!place!each!listen.!He!points!out!that!many! acts!that!own!their!recordings!are!in!fact!making!money!and!that!perhaps!bands! that!are!doing!poorly!simply!made!bad!deals!with!their!record!labels.!Unfortunately! for!many,!record!deals!were!made!when!they!had!to!consider!recording,!marketing,! physical!manufacturing,!and!distribution.!Now,!with!massively!reduced!overheads,! labels!that!made!these!previous!deals!have!what!many!artists!perceive!to!be! unbalanced!deals).!This!development!illustrates!a!new!twist!that!digital!streaming! services!have!put!on!the!old!model!of!labelbartist!relationships.!(Lindvall;!“Making!

Dollars:!Clearing!Up!Spotify!Payment!Confusion”).!

Another!model!that!seems!to!be!outdated!is!the!old!perception!of!individual! unit!sales.!One!of!Spotify!spokespersons’!responses!to!criticism!is!that!we!have!to! reimagine!the!time!framework!with!which!we!approach!streaming!services.!They,! like!Macias,!argue!that!renting!music!allows!limitless!transactions!and!records!with! staying!power!can!allow!artists!to!make!money!over!time.!This!is!a!true!innovation! in!the!industry!as!accumulated!streams!earn!the!artist!money!each!time!a!track!is! played.!While!albums!and!singles!are!singlebtime!transactions,!a!single!that!is!played! repeatedly!over!many!years!could!easily!earn!more!than!a!onebtime!physical!or! digital!album!sale!(King).! ! 29!

Still,!working!class!artists!need!to!pay!bills!on!a!regular!basis!and!cannot!pay! them!in!a!lumpsum!20!years!down!the!line.!Musician!Matt!Stevens!noted!that!due!to! the!payments!of!these!services,!music!making!might!become!a!hobby!for!the!rich! since!working!bands!cannot!afford!it.!Though!there!will!always!be!a!large!volume!of! music,!the!quality!will!decline!since!nobody!can!pay!technicians.!He!echoes!

Godrich’s!earlier!claim!about!how!some!musicians!can!make!records!on!laptops!but! others!need!skilled!engineers.!Artist!Beck!also!noted!that!if!he!had!to!make!his! records!from!the!money!he!got!from!Spotify!he!could!not!hire!other!musicians!or!a! mastering!engineer.!Instead!he!would!be!forced!to!make!his!record!on!a!laptop,! which!he!noted!was!fine!but!would!result!in!him!making!a!different!kind!of!music.!

Indeed!if!these!models!persist!it!makes!far!more!financial!sense!for!future!records!to! all!be!made!on!laptops!(Bland;!Brelhan).!!

Spotify!is!banking!on!the!fact!that!they!will!increase!their!subscriber!base! and!advertising!revenue,!which!ultimately!increases!revenue!for!everyone.!David!

Macias!gave!numbers!to!back!this!claim!up,!saying!that!one!of!his!artists!who!earned!

$2,307!for!his!400,000!streams!would!get!$65,000!if!the!US!Spotify!market!were!the! size!of!Sweden’s.!Still,!if!Spotify!does!pervade!the!market!and!reach!the!70%!density! it!has!in!Sweden,!one!should!be!wary!of!the!corruption!that!has!historically!been! associated!with!monopolies!in!the!industry.21!On!the!other!hand,!Macias!noted!that! recorded!music!revenues!were!up!30%!in!Sweden!from!2011!to!2012,!while!they! are!down!or!flat!for!most!countries.!Yet,!one!must!keep!in!mind!that!Spotify!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 21!Exorbitant!CD!prices!and!a!thirty!percent!increase!in!ticket!costs!provide!two!previouslyb mentioned!examples!of!what!happens!when!there!is!centralized!control!of!the!music! industry.! ! 30! revenues!go!to!rights!holders,!not!necessarily!the!artists.!Indeed,!even!in!Sweden,!a! number!of!artists!have!threatened!to!sue!their!music!labels!over!their!unfair! royalties.!Moreover,!unlike!record!labels,!Spotify!does!not!reinvest!their!profits!into! artists.!In!fact,!Spotify!has!taken!much!risk!out!of!the!equation!by!only!paying!artists! based!on!their!percentage!of!a!month’s!streams.!This!way,!while!major!labels! partook!in!the!risky!process!of!reinvesting!profits!in!artists,!Spotify!is!free!to!keep! their!profits.!This!issue!brings!up!the!question!of!what!money!is!going!to!pay!for! new!art,!or!as!artist!Amanda!Palmer!put!it,!“But!wouldn’t!it!seem!that!the!place!that! is!making!the!lion’s!share!of!the!profit!should!actually!also!be!putting!money!back! into!the!creation!of!content!to!make!a!healthy!ecosystem?”!(Lindvall;!“Making!

Dollars:!Clearing!Up!Spotify!Payment!Confusion”;!Resnikoff;!“Spotify’s!Financial!

Viability!and!Pernicious!Fallacies”;!Titlow).!

With!a!search!engine!that!indexes!20!million!songs,!one!would!guess!that! more!fringe!artists!would!benefit!from!a!service!like!Spotify.!Indeed!Chris!Anderson! got!famous!for!his!economic!theory!of!the!long!tail!that!espouses!just!this.!He! thought!that!our!culture!and!economy!is!increasingly!shifting!away!from!a!focus!on!a! relatively!small!numbers!of!“hits”!at!the!head!of!the!demand!curve!and!toward!a! huge!number!of!niches!in!the!tail.!He!argued!that!as!overhead!costs!fall,!there!is!now! less!need!than!ever!to!lump!products!and!consumers!into!onebsizebfitsball! containers.!In!an!era!without!the!constraints!of!physical!shelf!space!and!other! constraints,!narrowlybtargeted!goods!and!services!can!be!as!economically!attractive! as!mainstream!fare.!Unfortunately,!the!exact!opposite!has!turned!out!to!be!true.!

Faced!with!a!nearlybendless!selection!music,!listeners!are!overwhelmingly!listening! ! 31! to!the!hits,!especially!in!the!digital!realm.!Mark!Mulligan!of!Midia!Consulting!did!a! study!that!confirmed!that!the!record!music!industry!has!become!progressively!more! concentrated!around!stars.!While!this!is!not!a!true!innovation!so!much!as!a!rise!in!an! old!trend,!the!news!does!not!look!good!for!the!other!99%!of!artists!seeking!to!make! a!living!(Cookson).!

Theories!

Many!current!issues!in!the!music!industry!may!be!better!understood!in!light! of!theoretical!approaches!of!the!past.!The!complicated!maps!used!to!decipher!these! new!models!point!to!the!difficulties!encountered!when!thinking!about!how!to!deal! with!these!recent!innovations.!While!many!issues!have!persisted!since!the!music! industry!became!a!lucrative!endeavor,!matters!have!become!more!complicated!with! the!most!recent!innovations.!Music!has!become!not!only!untethered!from!any! physical!medium,!but!also!people!are!shifting!away!from!even!owning!music!at!all.!

These!facts!make!it!all!the!more!remarkable!that!the!work!of!German!cultural!critic! of!the!Frankfurt!School!Walter!Benjamin!is!still!relevant!today.!Benjamin!discussed! at!length!in!1936!essay,!The!Work!of!Art!in!the!Age!of!Mechanical!Reproduction,!that! even!the!most!perfect!reproductions!of!a!work!of!art!are!lacking!a!presence!in!space! in!time,!a!unique!existence.!As!art!objects!became!easily!reproducible,!authenticity! suffers!and!ultimately!the!authority!of!the!object!suffers.!Benjamin!proposes!that! what!is!lost!in!the!age!of!mechanical!reproduction!is!the!“aura”!of!the!work!of!art.!By! creating!many!reproductions,!a!plurality!of!copies!is!substituted!for!a!unique! existence.!Today!a!music!file!can!now!be!copied!unlimited!times!with!no! degradation!to!the!original!or!infinitely!streamed!from!one!of!many!websites.!If! ! 32! digital!music!is!even!bought,!it!is!enclosed!in!files,!indistinguishable!from!one! another.!In!the!context!of!Spotify,!I!fear!that!reducing!an!entire!musical!process!to!a! few!key!terms!such!as!track,!artist,!time,!popularity,!and!album!threatens!to! diminish!the!uniqueness!of!music!as!it!is!apprehended!(see!figure!3).22!While!

Benjamin!may!have!lamented!physical!reproductions,!he!would!have!been!horrified! with!the!age!of!digital!reproduction!(Benjamin!3b4).!

!

Figure!3.!This! photo! illustrates!the! standardizing,! limited!data! that! accompanies!a! number!of! different!tracks! in!response!to!a! search!query! (screenshot! was!taken!by! the!author).! !

Modern!Idiosyncrasies!

Though!many!changes!in!how!music!is!recorded!and!sold!have!taken!place!in! the!virtual!realm!of!bits!and!bytes,!these!changes!have!had!very!real!effects!on!both! listeners!and!musicians.!!Indeed,!they!have!become!pressing!as!technology!has! continued!to!change!at!a!record!pace!due!to!the!most!recent!online!innovations!such! as!streaming,!crowdfunding,!and!social!media!networks.!The!implications!that!these! technologies!have!for!musicians!can!be!difficult!to!track!since!these!territories!are!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 22!Issues!regarding!the!data!attached!to!a!“track”!such!as!time,!popularity,!etc.!will!be! addressed!in!the!next!section.! ! 33! not!only!new!but!also!deeply!complex.!According!to!the!New!York!Times!writer!and! former!songwriter,!Alina!Simone,!one!of!the!implications!of!these!innovations!is!that! we!have!reached!the!end!of!an!era!of!"quiet!music.”!Rather!than!pointing!at!tendency! to!make!literally!louder!music,!Simone!is!lamenting!the!fact!that!modern!musicians! must!not!only!create!art,!but!also!promote!it!(Simone).!

! Since!major!record!labels!have!diminished!in!importance!with!the! proliferation!of!independent!labels!and!consumer!recording!technology,!more! artists!are!beginning!to!release!and!promote!their!own!work.!Simone!found!herself! among!these!artists!after!her!former!label!went!bankrupt,!and!though!her!selfb released!album!was!received!well,!she!yearned!for!the!days!when!she!could!refrain! from!incessant!selfbpromotion.!She!explained:!"I!was!a!singer,!not!a!saleswoman.!

Not!everyone!wants!to!be!an!entrepreneur"!(Simone).!Although!crowdfunding! through!such!websites!as!Kickstarter!may!enable!artists!such!as!Amanda!Palmer,! who!famously!raised!$1.2!million!to!fund!her!last!album,!Simone!remains! unconvinced!that!this!option!is!equally!viable!for!different!types!musicians.!Simone! argues!that!if!the!current!industry!conditions!persist,!social!Darwinism!may!only! provide!enough!room!for!musical!entrepreneurs,!and!thus!“louder!music.”!Perhaps! more!outspoken!musicians!have!always!had!an!advantage!in!terms!of!publicity—

Elvis!Presley!and!Kanye!West!stand!as!such!examples—but!less!apparent!is!that!the! largely!digital!music!market!also!favors!certain!genres!of!music!(Simone).!

! How!could!the!supposedly!democratic!platform!of!the!Internet!benefit!the! sales!of!certain!genres!of!music!while!damaging!others?!Part!of!this!answer!lies!in! the!concept!of!metadata.!Jean!Cook,!a!musician,!producer,!and!the!Director!of! ! 34!

Programs!at!the!Future!of!Music!Coalition!explains!that!metadata!is:!

[T]he!information!that!accompanies!a!sound!recording!file!and!is!delivered!to! online!stores!like!iTunes!and!streaming!platforms!like!Rhapsody!and!Spotify.! Metadata!includes!things!like!performer,!composer,!record!label,!and!release! date.!In!the!case!of!jazz!or!classical,!listing!soloists,!movement!names,! conductors,!or!sidemen!can!be!equally!relevant.!(“Invisible!Genres!&! Metadata”)! ! ! The!clumsy!and!limited!metadata!addressed!by!Web!2.0!applications!forces!both! composers!and!performers!to!fall!under!the!"Artist"!tab,!in!certain!applications!such! as!Google!Play!(see!figure!4).!This!is!also!an!issue!for!tracks!credited!to!"Various!

Artists.” !

!

!

!

!

!

!

! Figure!4.!In!this!screenshot,!there!are!similar!shortcomings!as!in!figure!3!with!the!data!that! accompanies!a!digital!music!file!(“Invisible!Genres!&!Metadata”).! ! Cook!summarizes!the!ways!in!which!the!lack!of!more!complete!metadata!hurts! classical!and!jazz!artists:!!

Spotify,!Pandora,!Google!Play,!Rhapsody!and!iTunes!do!not!make!a!clear!or! consistent!distinction!between!composer!and!performer!when!delivering! classical!music!to!music!fans.!Nor!do!they!list!sidemen!on!any!jazz!albums.! These!are!infrastructure!issues.!These!are!metadata!issues.!These!are! dealbreakers!for!classical!and!jazz!fans.!And!they!make!classical!and!jazz! undiscoverable!for!new!fans,!contributing!to!the!bigger!problem!of!these! genres’!“invisibility”!in!the!marketplace.!(“Invisible!Genres!&!Metadata”)! ! ! 35!

Thus,!classical!and!jazz!musicians!have!created!their!own!services!such!as!Blue!Note! and!Naxos,!further!isolating!them!from!other!musicians.!Indeed,!Twitter!Music!does! not!even!offer!classical!or!jazz!as!searchable!categories!of!music!(“Invisible!Genres!&!

Metadata”).!

! The!issue!of!what!metadata!to!include!is!part!of!a!larger!problem!that!the! music!industry!is!currently!facing,!which!is!how!does!one!become!relevant!amidst! the!masses!of!musicians!and!artists!that!are!available!today!at!the!click!of!mouse?!!

Curation!

! Christopher!Small!noted!that!the!profession!of!critic!developed!over!the! nineteenth!century,!contemporaneously!with!the!growth!of!public!concerts!and! concert!halls!with!a!price!for!admission,!and!with!the!takeover!of!public! performance!by!professional!musicians.!Since!music!became!part!of!the! professionals’!realm!of!expertise,!consumer!guides!became!more!necessary!and!with! all!of!these!recent!innovations!that!have!stripped!musical!experiences!from!their! contexts!into!strings!of!metadata,!the!need!for!a!curation!is!greater!than!ever.!While! people!have!as!wide!of!a!selection!of!curators!available!today!as!they!ever!did,! certain!curators!are!more!equal!than!others.!Among!the!endless!sea!of!blogs!and!

Tumblrs,!lies!an!online,!popularbmusic!review!site!that!has!risen!above!the!rest!

(Small!1998:34).!

From!March!13,!2014!to!April!11,!2014,!Pitchfork!garnered!nearly!40!million! page!views.!Founded!in!1995!by!Ryan!Schreiber,!the!site!has!become!highly! influential,!described!by!a!writer!for!the!website!Pitchfork!Reviews!Reviews!(which! critiques!Pitchfork’s!reviews)!as!“the!hegemon!of!taste”!(Caramanica).!The!site!has! ! 36! been!credited!for!bringing!success!to!a!number!of!prominent!artists,!including!

Broken!Social!Scene!and!Arcade!Fire,!both!of!which!received!9+!ratings.23!It!is!a! testament!to!Pitchfork’s!influence!and!the!changing!mediascape!that!Broken!Social!

Scene!has!sold!over!275,000!copies!in!North!America,!appeared!on!the!Late!Show! with!David!Letterman,!and!played!at!the!Chicago!Lollapalooza!Festival!all!without! ever!playing!on!a!Clear!Channel!radio!station.!While!good!ratings!may!help!a!band!

“make!it”!(whatever!that!means!today),!bad!ratings!can!be!just!as!powerful.!After!a!

0.0!rating!was!given!to!Travistan,!the!solo!debut!of!Travis!Morrison,!Josh!Rosenfeld,! the!cofounder!of!Barsuk!Records!(which!released!Travistan),!recalled!the!review’s! disastrous!repercussions.!He!noted!that!several!college!radio!stations!that!were! initially!enthusiastic!about!the!record!refused!to!play!it!and!“One!indie!record!store! even!said!that!they!wouldn’t!carry!it!because!of!the!Pitchfork!review,”!to!which!he! added,!“Not!because!they!heard!it!–!because!of!the!review”!(Itzkoff).!Since!the!

Travistan!review,!Pitchfork’s!managing!editor,!Scott!Plagenhoef,!stressed!that!the! site!has!become!more!careful!about!the!impact!of!its!negative!reviews.!Still,!the!fact! that!the!site!has!to!implement!checks!and!balances!for!its!power!further!illustrates! the!massive!influence!the!site!commands!(Caramanica;!Itzkoff;!Kot!2009:120;!

“Pitchfork!Network”).!

! While!Pitchfork!is!third!in!Spotify’s!“Top!Apps,”!as!of!April!2014,!the!service! offers!a!number!of!ways!to!get!music!recommendations!(see!figure!5!below).!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 23!The!site!runs!a!0.0b10.0!scale.!

! ! 37!

!

Figure!5.!One!may!see!the!different!Spotify!modes!listed!under!the!“Main”!section! (screenshot!taken!by!the!author).! ! One!feature!the!service!offers!is!Browse!mode,!which!has!such!diverse!offerings!as! playlists!called!“Mood!Booster,”!“Brunch!With!Friends,”!and!!“Top!100!tracks! currently!on!Spotify,”!as!well!as!more!local!offerings!such!as!“Top!Tracks!in!

Denmark.”!These!numerous!lists!are!further!divided!by!section!as!there!is!a!“Top!

Lists,”!“Genres!and!Moods,”!“New!Releases,”!and!“News”!tabs!to!click!on.!While!these! lists!are!most!likely!created!by!people!(for!the!moods)!or!automatically!by! algorithms!(for!the!top!lists),!they!do!not!offer!playlists!that!react!to!what!users!are! listening!to!in!realbtime.!For!that!reason,!the!discover!mode!uses!algorithms!to! recommend!music!based!on!what!you!have!previous!listened!to.!The!“Radio”!mode! lets!users!find!music!based!on!either!an!artist!or!a!genre.!After!selecting!an!anchor! point,!the!user!may!give!a!“thumbs!up”!or!a!“thumbs!down”!to!help!the!algorithm!

“get!to!know!you.”!Finally,!there!is!a!“Follow”!mode,!as!appropriate!as!ever!in!our! ! 38! inescapable!connected!socialbmedia!world.!This!mode!allows!users!to!follow!

(Facebook)!friends,!celebrities,!and!an!individual!user’s!“Most!Played!Artists.”!Other! than!these!options!and!the!numerous!third!party!applications,!users!are!left!with!a! search!engine!to!navigate!over!20!million!globally!licensed!tracks!(“Information”).!!

! Spotify!may!be!improving!their!recommendation!algorithms!in!the!near! future!with!their!recent!purchase!of!the!Echo!Nest,!described!as!a!“music! intelligence!company!that!powers!Web!radio,!recommendations,!and!playlists!for!a! swath!of!media!firms”!(Solsman).!Some!see!this!as!a!response!to!Pandora’s!Music!

Genome!Project.!In!the!words!of!music!service!Pandora,!the!Music!Genome!Project! is,!“the!most!sophisticated!taxonomy!of!musical!information!ever!collected.!It! represents!over!ten!years!of!analysis!by!our!trained!team!of!musicologists,!and! spans!everything!from!this!past!Tuesday’s!new!releases!all!the!way!back!to!the!

Renaissance!and!Classical!music”!(“About!the!Music!Genome!Project”).!The!Project! analyzes!tracks!using!up!to!450!distinct!musical!characteristics,!and!the!ears!of!a! trained!music!analyst!are!enlisted,!who!they!claim!typically!“has!a!fourbyear!degree! in!music!theory,!composition!or!performance,!has!passed!through!a!selective! screening!process!and!has!completed!intensive!training!in!the!Music!Genome’s! rigorous!and!precise!methodology”!(“About!the!Music!Genome!Project”;!Solsman).!!

The!Music!Genome!Project!is!something!of!a!prerequisite!to!many!of!the! recommendation!algorithms!found!in!Spotify!and!reminds!one!of!the!necessity!for! curation!in!an!oversaturated!music!market.!Spotify’s!purchase!of!a!service!akin!to! the!Music!Genome!Project!demonstrates!that!Spotify!is!dedicated!to!providing!a! diversity!of!options!for!its!users!with!their!numerous!curated!offerings!and! ! 39! modalities!with!which!one!may!discover!music.!Due!to!the!fact!that! recommendation!algorithms!use!a!genre!or!artist!as!a!starting!point,!it!is!likely!that! users!will!branch!out!from!familiar!genres!and!artists.!Since!older!or!deceased! artists!are!more!likely!to!have!had!wide!acclaim!(they!have!had!more!time!to!do!so),! one!question!brought!up!is!how!new!artists!fare!with!services!such!as!Spotify!(we!do! still!want!new!music,!after!all).!Chris!Anderson’s!long!tail!theory!that!a!larger! number!of!niche!artists!would!succeed!as!overhead!costs!have!fallen,!has!been! debunked,!so!just!how!does!Spotify!affect!the!lives!of!new!artists?!Although!she! could!hardly!be!called!an!“average”!example!of!how!Spotify!affects!artists,!insights! may!be!gained!about!Spotifybartist!relations!by!examining!the!rise!of!New!Zealand! artist,!Lorde.!!

Lorde!was!an!unknown!sixteenbyearbold!before!she!got!featured!on!the! shared!“Hipster!International”!Spotify!playlist,!curated!by!Sean!Parker.!Six!days!after! her!single,!“Royals,”!was!added!to!the!playlist,!it!debuted!on!the!Spotify!Viral!Chart.!

From!there,!Lorde!became!something!of!a!social!media!phenomenon.!Steve!Savoca,! head!of!content!at!Spotify,!recalled!this!transformation,!“The!users!felt!they! discovered!something!really!exciting!and!they!wanted!to!express!it.!They!shared!the! track!with!friends!on!Spotify,!Facebook!and!Twitter…!it!spread!like!wildfire”!

(Bertoni).!Only!a!month!after!her!song!was!added!to!the!playlist,!Lorde!was!number! one!on!Spotify’s!Viral!Chart.!Half!a!year!later!and!she!was!number!one!in!the!

Billboard!Hot!100!and!her!first!album!debuted!on!Spotify!at!number!one!with!over! six!million!plays!in!its!first!week.!Savoca!interpreted!this!success!as!proof!of!

Spotify’s!fairness!stating,!“It’s!completely!democratic,!if![users]!like!it,!they!will! ! 40! share!it!and!listen!more!and!more!people!will!discover!it.”!“We’re!brokering! relationships!here,!and!when!these!relationships!catch!lightning!in!a!bottle!like!the! case!of!Lorde,!it’s!our!job!to!read!that!data!and!to!chase!those!opportunities!and! make!sure!we’re!introducing!exciting!new!artists!to!our!users”!(Bertoni).!The!devil! is!in!the!details:!the!playlist!Lorde!made!it!big!on!was!created!by!Sean!Parker,!a!

Napster!cobfounder,!former!Facebook!president,!billionaire,!and!early!Spotify! backer.!Parker!happens!to!run!one!of!the!most!influential!Spotify!playlists!with!

814,000!subscribers!and!the!fact!that!her!song!blew!up!in!popularity!can!hardly!be! separated!from!the!celebrity!status!of!Parker.!While!the!discourse!over!streaming! will!continue!to!evolve,!another!question!persists:!what!shall!artists!make!of! physical!sales!as!the!world!continues!to!go!digital?!(Bertoni).!

Value!Added!

One!way!that!artists!are!taking!new!measures!to!stand!out!from!the!masses!is! by!using!valuebadded!packages!for!new!releases.! In!the!spring!of!2009,!the!band!

Animal!Collective!released!a!threebLP!live!box!set,!Animal!Crack!Box,!which!mostly! consisted!of!unreleased!demos,!jams,!and!sketches!with!a!limited!run!of!1,000!sets.!

Additionally,!they!sold!the!testbpressing!on!eBay!to!benefit!Doctors!Without!

Borders.!Though!the!recordings!were!unfinished!and!the!sets!retailed!for!$92!each,! they!sold!out!in!the!first!two!days!they!were!available.!One!day!later,!some!sets!were! already!posted!on!Ebay,!asking!for!as!much!as!$1,000!before!the!box!set!had!even! shipped!to!the!sellers.!In!this!instance,!the!band!had!effectively!inverted!the!modern! supply!and!demand!situation!faced!by!musicians!with!their!limitedbrun,!vinylbonly! boxset.!Innovative!packaging!illustrates!the!ingenuity!with!which!modern,! ! 41! entrepreneurial!musicians!must!market!themselves.!The!members!of!Animal!

Collective!are!not!alone!in!their!employment!of!new!marketing!tactics,!however.!

Lady!Gaga’s!marketing!team!has!also!adopted!the!new!valuebadded!trend!with!the!

2010!“GaGa!SuperbDeluxe!Fame!Monster!Bundle.”!Included!in!this!$114.98!package! is!a!lock!of!hair!from!one!of!Lady!Gaga’s!wigs!along!with!photos,!artwork,!a!paper! doll!collection,!and!a!personal!note!from!Gaga!herself.!Other!musicians!have!offered! everything!from!playing!XBOX!360!with!fans!to!recording!fans’!outgoing!voicemail! messages!in!attempts!to!make!the!most!of!current!market!conditions.!These!new! marketing!strategies!capitalize!on!creating!personal!connections!whether!in!the! form!of!unfinished!demos!or!with!the!inclusion!of!fake!hair!clippings.!What!the! immediatelybavailable!MP3!files!cannot!replicate!is!an!authentic!human!exchange.!

Every!copy!of!a!digital!file!is!perfect!and!identical,!unlike!the!rough!demos!of!Animal!

Collective!or!the!personalized!packages!of!Lady!Gaga.!This!yearning!for!something! tangible!and!unique!may!be!contributing!to!the!resurgence!of!vinyl!(Kreitler;!

Richardson;!Simone;!Vena).!

As!previously!mentioned,!Nielsen!SoundScan’s!figures!reported!a!32!percent! gain!in!U.S.!vinyl!sales!in!2013.!An!International!Federation!of!the!Phonographic!

Industry!report!measured!2012!global!vinyl!sales!at!$171!million,!a!fiftybtwo! percent!rise!from!the!previous!year!and!a!record!high!since!1997.!Conversely,! compact!disc!sales!have!roughly!halved!in!sales!while!the!digital!single!showed!the! most!growth!(see!figure!6).!It!should!be!noted!that!estimated!figures!for!sales!of! vinyl!records!sold!must!take!into!account!the!fact!that!most!vinyl!albums!are! purchased!at!independent!record!stores,!which!do!not!report!sales!to!SoundScan.! ! 42!

Furthermore,!LP!artwork!typically!does!not!include!a!barcode!on!the!album!sleeve! so!sales!figures!are!estimated!to!be!much!higher!for!new!vinyl!purchases!

(Bartmanski!and!Woodward!2013:2;!Dewey).!!

Figure!6.!This!graph!charts!the!growth!and!decay!of!different!music!formats!over!time! (Dewey).! ! What!specific!factors!account!for!this!renewed!interest!in!an!arguably! outdated!medium?!Cynics!may!be!quick!to!point!to!sentimentalism!or!fetishism,!but! others!argue!on!sociological!grounds,!citing!Durkheim!who!held!that!the!collective! feelings!that!hold!communities!together!are!conscious!of!themselves!only!by!settling! upon!external!objects.!While!vinyl’s!resurgence!upsets!a!strictly!linear!technological! narrative,!one!would!be!understand!the!relationship!between!digital!and!analogue! as!being!dialogic.!Perhaps!because!vinyl!will!never!be!the!standard!mainstream! medium!for!music,!it!has!attained!a!unique!cultural!status!as!an!aesthetic!object.!

Rather!than!displacing!analogue,!digital!technologies!have!helped!recontextualize! ! 43! the!analogue!record!(Bartmanski!and!Woodward!2013:5b8).!!

The!actual!practice!of!listening!of!multiple!sides!of!an!LP!sharply!contrasts! with!the!iPod!earbud.!The!former!demands!one’s!attention!to!flip!sides!and!carefully! place!the!stylus!and!restricts!the!listener!to!an!environment!in!which!turntables!and! speakers!are!present.!These!demands!effectively!run!opposite!to!the!ultrabportable! and!individually!tailored!MP3!experience!(it’s!called!ibPod!for!a!reason).!The! differences!between!these!two!listening!experiences!that!are!currently!both! practiced!show!that!the!two!methods!may!be!complimentary!more!than!they!are! contradictory.!

In!addition!to!hearing!music!in!a!more!participatory!fashion,!one!also! experiences!artwork!at!a!size!about!500!percent!larger!than!that!found!on!a!CD! cover!and!many!times!over!that!in!comparison!to!the!often!missing,!pixilated!images! found!on!MP3!players.!The!listener!gets!a!better!idea!of!the!artist’s!vision,!and!when! combined!with!liner!notes!and!lyric!sheets,!the!listener!may!reach!a!level!of! comprehension!much!harder!to!achieve!with!intangible!digital!files!(Bartmanski!and!

Woodward!2013:7).!

In!order!to!purchase!music,!the!vinyl!record!collector!must!physically!travel! to!a!record!store,!garage!sale,!or!thrift!shop.!Since!finding!and!downloading!music! online!is!nearly!effortless!and!potentially!unlimited!today,!it!becomes!a!mundane! task.!In!stark!contrast,!vinyl!encourages!consumption!based!on!the!quality!over! quantity!as!the!former!is!limited.!Furthermore,!as!a!physical!product,!vinyl!can!allow! record!stores!to!serve!as!meeting!points!for!various!taste!communities.!In!fact,!the! practice!of!finding!records!has!created!entire!social!networks!based!on!niche! ! 44! musical!preferences.!A!whole!subculture!of!“cratebdiggers”!who!search!through! stacks!of!discarded!and!forgotten!records!to!use!for!DJing,!sampling,!and!oldb fashioned!listening,!has!proliferated!and!catalyzed!the!emergence!of!numerous! forms!of!music!including!disco,!hip!hop,!reggae,!house,!techno,!and!drum!and!bass.!

Indeed,!the!United!Kingdom’s!dubstep!scene!would!not!be!the!same!if!it!were!not!for! the!famous!and!now!defunct,!Big!Apple!record!store,!where!producers!such!as!

Skream,!Hatcha,!and!Loefah!met!up.!Larger!artwork,!more!concerted!effort,!and! creative!potential!are!all!examples!of!how!vinyl!can!allow!the!listener!to!participate! in!the!musical!experience!to!a!greater!degree!(Bartmanski!and!Woodward!2013:9b

12;!O’Connell).!

Perhaps!taking!cues!from!vinyl’s!recent!resurgence,!Jaron!Lanier!has! suggested!a!more!general!return!to!physicality!in!the!music!industry.!Lanier!has! suggested!creating!an!artificial!scarcity!through!what!he!coined!as!“songles,”!which! he!defines!as!a!dongle!for!a!song.!More!specifically,!a!dongle!is!“a!little!piece!of! hardware!that!you!plug!into!a!computer!to!run!a!piece!of!commercial!software”!

(Lanier!2010:109).!In!practice,!this!idea!is!that!trinkets!such!as!coffee!mugs,! bracelets,!and!jewelry!serve!as!keys!to!content!like!music.!Lanier!notes!that!there! would!be!no!need!for!unnecessary!hardware!such!as!iPods!or!cable!TV!boxes,!so! there!is!a!“green”!aspect!to!this!method!as!well.!Lanier!also!notes!that!songles!make! the!music!business!more!romantic!as!he!thinks!romance!is!the!product!the!music! business!sells!and!one!can!hardly!find!romance!in!contracts!or!credit!card! transactions.!Music!promotion!costs!are!lowered!since!these!objects!that!have!a! value!determined!by!the!marketplace!that!can!vary!and!be!traded.!These!items!can! ! 45! be!an!object!of!speculative!investment!in!case!the!artist!blows!up!and!once!a!person! buys!such!a!songle,!they!are!motivated!to!promote!the!music!associated!with!it! because!they!now!have!a!stake!in!it.!This!would!also!broaden!the!channels!by!which! music!is!sold!so!that!highbend!rare!songles!could!be!sold!as!accessories!at!fashion! stores,!whereas!lowbend!songles!might!be!available!at!a!gas!station.!Finally,!these! songles!could!be!individually!tailored!to!different!audiences:!for!instance,!opera! songles!could!be!made!by!craftsmen!from!fine!materials!(Lanier!2010:109b111).!

Lanier’s!suggestions!may!have!already!been!partly!realized!by!one!musician!

Nicolas!Jaar,!who!released!his!label!Clown!and!Sunset’s!album!as!a!mysterious!prism! that!encloses!a!headphone!amplifier!for!two!(see!figure!7).!It!came!with!12!tracks! for!$40!in!a!limited!run!and!one!cannot!add!or!rip!tracks!from!the!device.!!

!

Figure!7.!Nicolas!Jaar!released!an!album!in!an!art!object/headphone!amplifier!(Lavorgna).!

Nicolas!Jaar!has!also!innovated!with!his!serial!label!approach!that!for!$10!a!month! offers:!weekly!issues!of!music,!the!opportunity!to!gift!one!of!these!to!a!friend,!and! streaming!access!to!their!archives.!This!service!is!similar!to!drip.fm,!a!website!that! offers!monthly!streams!and!downloads!of!different!labels’!music!for!a!fixed!monthly! ! 46! rate.!Jaar!along!with!others!previously!mentioned!such!as!Animal!Collective,!who! have!released!special!boxsets,!and!other!limited!edition!physical!releases!have! responded!to!streaming!services!with!innovations!of!their!own!(“Join!the!Club”;!

“Sign!Up”).!

One!last!innovation!comes!from!artist!and!producer!Dr.!Dre!and!his!partner!

Jimmy!Iovine!who,!after!creating!the!extremely!successful!Beats!headphone! business!are!funding!$70!million!for!a!new!program!at!the!University!of!Southern!

California!that!combines!business,!marketing,!product!development,!design,!and! liberal!arts.!The!first!class!will!begin!in!fall!of!2014!and!the!students!will!be!selected! for!academic!achievement!and!“original!thought.”!The!culmination!of!the!program! will!be!“The!Garage,”!requiring!seniors!to!essentially!set!up!a!business!prototype.!

They!originally!thought!of!the!idea!in!an!effort!to!find!new!employees!and!they!plan! to!utilize!its!students!in!some!capacity!for!future!ventures.!Both!Dre!and!Iovine!have! recognized!the!evolving!landscape!and!created!an!innovative!way!to!work!with!it.!

Spotify!should!watch!out!for!this!enterprise!in!particular!as!Beats!has!recently! launched!its!own!streaming!competitor!(Wortham).!

Conclusion!

Many!of!the!current!issues!the!music!industry!faces!are!mutations!of! problems!seen!in!the!past.!These!include!such!as!labelbartist!relationships,!company! monopolies,!major!label!advantages,!and!a!new!way!of!consuming!music!that! undermines!previous!models.!Yet,!to!say!that!Spotify!is!really!just!a!new!mask!on!an! old!face!is!a!bit!of!an!oversimplification.!Other!issues!are!truly!new!such!as!the! change!from!ownership!to!streaming,!a!new!time!horizon,!and!perhaps!the!most! ! 47! complicated!way!that!musicians!have!ever!been!paid.!!

While!some!musicians!may!be!resigning!themselves!to!hopelessness,!still! others!are!redefining!the!landscape!on!their!own!terms.!Today!as!the!music!industry! suffers!the!difficulty!of!finding!a!middle!ground!cost!between!nothing!and! something,!consumers!need!to!be!aware!of!the!nuances!of!what!many!perceive!to!be! free!services.!Consumers,!rights!holders,!and!Spotify!all!stand!to!gain!from!this! method!of!economic!exchange,!but!one!should!take!care!to!note!how!the!musicians! and!artists!fare!from!this!situation,!particularly!new!artists.!Streaming!services! make!up!a!small!amount!of!most!musicians!incomes!but!they!also!redefine!how! people!value!and!conceive!of!music,!an!effect!that!may!be!the!most!significant.!If!

Spotify!does!catch!on!and!become!the!predominant!music!service,!it!must!be! scrutinized!as!monopolies!are!susceptible!to!corruption.!While!musicians!and! entrepreneurs!are!helping!shape!the!future,!it!will!ultimately!be!the!consumers!who! decide!which!models!will!survive,!which!models!will!fail,!and!what!will!eventually! succeed!Spotify.!Still,!this!is!just!one!more!phase!since!nothing!is!ultimate!in!the! industry,!but!it!is!up!to!consumers!to!steer!where!it!goes!next.!

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