Music is one of the vital parts of human life. It is a way to communicate emotions pleasingly. This essay is aimed to analyze the repercussions of streaming technology on the Canadian music industry. The essay also analyses the history of live streaming technology and the impact of COVID-19 on the live streaming and music industry. It also compares the effects of live streaming on the success and failure of two artists Danny Michael and Drake. For this purpose, literature, and articles from various online sources have been analyzed.
The music industry in the 1950s was observing local and global hits. However, after the 1970s, the vinyl record sales were decreased, and a need to reinvent the industry was largely felt. The primary reason behind this notion was new technological innovations that might affect the music industry at that time. Until 1982, an analogical manner was used to reproduce and store the sounds through physical audio printing via mechanical and electromagnetic sources. In 1982, as a result of technological innovations, Compact Disc (CD) was introduced to represent digital information. The era between the 1980s to 1990s observed huge profits in the music industry due to the inclusion of a digital technology and the costs of reproduction were also decreased as a result of this invention (Norodom, 2020). That time was the period of the pop music boom. Increasingly powerful technologies and computers were being used after 1982 in the recording process. IBM PC XI that was a newly developed technology, was performing 20 mathematic operations in a second. These computers then have been undergoing new and frequent technological advancements in thirty years of timespan. Since then, the speed of the processors was also increased. Soundboard at that time was considered an expensive item to be included in the music and records processing and was used in limited amounts. Song sharing and digital sound sizing were also designed by using the domain of motion pictures. The Italian researcher in 1987 from the team of Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) was able to create a digital sound compression system by compressing them to a factor of eleven to one. After the 1990s, the increasing popularity of the internet had resulted in the acquisition of new technologies. Several methods of sound compression were developed, such as the MP3 audio file system. However, with the rapid increase in the use of the internet, piracy was also increasing for the musicians. While researching for the video soundtracks, in 1998, Napster was introduced. Again after some years, iTunes was introduced in 2003. The period after that was the era of internet broadband and frequent technological enhancements leading to innovation in the music industry as well (Kernfeld, 2011; Norodom, 2020). New ways of reaching the customers had become famous, including social media, blogs, websites, and emails. The studio evolution then completely changed the meaning of music, where a band in collaboration produces a song. Today, the gig economy is on the rise, and virtual musicians create music masterpieces by using rhythmic, drums, bass, and keyboard effects in sound.
Furthermore, technologies like iPads, tablets allow several different software and technologies to be used that could work as a studio in itself. For instance, iPad applications could generate melodies, harmonies, and rhythms with the help of screen touch and device movement. iPads could also suggest different chords, use cameras, and provide composing tools and programs to enhance creativity and perfection. Kernfeld (2011) propagates that the soundtrack storage is still dependent upon a flash drive or the hard disk of a computer these days instead of a compact disc. On the other hand, online streaming service providers such as Apple, Netflix, Warner Brothers, and many others have emerged as the global video and sound streaming giants. The streaming companies make billions of dollars, but the musicians with a very less play rate strive for their survival (The Economist, 2019). In previous decades, the balance of power was enjoyed by the performer and not the production team. Still, internet downloading had shifted the power from performers to production teams, and that is the area where the problem starts for the singers and performers (Seabrook, n.d.). So, apart from Spotify and Apple, other well-known global companies have also entered the music live internet streaming business. These companies include Tencent, Amazon, and Google (The Economist, 2020).
This essay then compares the repercussions of streaming services on the work of two musicians, such as Danny Michael and Drake. The repercussions were worse for Danny Michael, and impacts were positive for Drake. In the new era, Danny Michael’s Facebook post communicates what he has to say about the streaming culture in the digitalized music norms. He criticizes by declaring that social media has worsened the situation for some musicians and artists. He criticizes by stating the streaming services as a shame for an artist. This is because it depends on the mechanism showing the number of followers and likes along with streams to succeed further. The musician, in his post, informs that his 25 years of work experience as a musician includes his hard work and devotion. He has always had communication on family, music, friends, and guitars, but that was not the case in 2018. After 2018, musicians were having conversations on how to fight for their survival due to the trend of streaming in the music industry. He discloses that after the steady sales from his albums in the past decade, streaming services had dropped his sales by 95%. Again he then reveals the cheapest rate of earning of 0.003 per play on the platform of Spotify. He shows his concern that many other musicians were deciding to quit the music industry due to the inclusion of new trends, home recording, downsizing, and profit cuttings. The notion of “Free music” has worsened the life of a musician, ending in starvation for a musician. The rest of the issues are created by the Canadian copyright laws that discourage artists from higher earnings by causing hurdles for them. In this way, Danny Michael has shown his frustration with the audience (Fyimusicnews, 2020).
On the other hand, despite this negative impact example, there is also an example of the positive repercussions of streaming services in the music industry. For this purpose, the case of Drake’s music “Scorpion” could be quoted as a well-known example. “Scorpion” had hit record sales in the United States where it had been No.1, and its sales were 723,000 in which there was an inclusion of 746 million streams and 160,000 sold copies of his full complete album. This album has already broken the record of his previous album sales in 2016 titled “More Life.” Even in the situation of coronavirus, still, his “Scorpion” album is getting more sales. Drake has been able to succeed and use streaming for his success due to the inclusion of the platform of Apple and its technologically advanced equipment (Sisario, 2018).
The comparison between both these musicians, namely Danny Michael and Drake, enlighten that for some musicians, streaming proved to be a blessing, and for others, it ended up like a nightmare. Though there is a system of patronage for the musicians, the new era, patronage only facilitates the established and few people (The Economist, 2018). The comparison clearly shows that Danny was unable to succeed in the streaming trends due to his inability to get a platform like Apple having technologically advanced equipment that facilitates live streaming and creates such a masterpiece of music. However, many musicians are still not fortunate like Drake. The same is the case with Danny as well.
COVID-19 has a negative impact on music. The COVID-19 lockdown in Britain had resulted in gig loss for the English director and actor Samuel. The musicians under lockdown are seeking ways to somehow earn money via the internet by residing at home, but even in live streaming, they could not make much money due to fewer play rates. In short, every musician is worried about the situation and the living. Their gigs have been canceled due to the lockdown, and they get bored at home. They strive to get any work that they could do at home. Live shows have been canceled by the musicians and their bands and live streaming on various platforms such as on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have seen a boom. One such example is of the CBC Music that has set up a page where the National Arts Centre has also allocated the funds of $100,000 that have now increased up to $700,000 to send payments of $1000 per artist for hosting a live stream on Facebook (Brown, 2020; Goodin, 2020).
It is recommended that the music industry artists must focus on conducting their music shows in their room or wherever they like during the COVID-19 lockdown to strive for their survival. Though in that case, they would earn less as compared to live shows in a particular setting, still, they could not do anything about the lockdown and have to do something instead of doing nothing for their survival. They should increase their use of various social media websites such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook along with other live streaming sources where they could showcase their talent and increase their fans worldwide and get some monetary benefits. On the other hand, all the musicians and their associations should also consult the issue of their living with the government to brainstorm different ways to earn their living in the time of crisis.