The digitization of music — what it means for artists and audiences

Technology has reshaped the music business in two fundamental ways, both of which are examined through case studies. First, digital innovations often improve or lower the cost of existing processes, sometimes changing them measurably. Second, and more profoundly, technology can transform art by redefining the roles of creator and listener. This article explores how new tools — from Radiohead's In Rainbows to services like Slicethepie, Ditto Music, Music Rainbow, the YouTube Orchestra, micro-chunking, and LiveFi — have affected the industry, with special attention to classical music.

The internet's reach as a distribution tool is now taken for granted, but it has also empowered independent artists. The rise of streaming services has given the solo musician far more ways to connect with fans. As Frances Moore, chief executive of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), noted in the 2014 IFPI Digital Report: "The music industry has become a mixed economy of diverse consumer channels and revenue streams. This has been an amazing transformation, dramatically expanding the way artists reach their fans across the globe." The options for consumers today are many: physical copies, digital downloads, streaming, whole albums, or single tracks. Artists must therefore make sure their work appears on every platform their buyers might use. The online environment also gives creators far greater control than in the era when record labels and publishers held the reins. Today, a composer can self-publish and employ digital marketing to reach an audience directly.

That closer connection between artist and fan is critical. Maintaining contact through a website, blog, or tweet keeps the artist top-of-mind with their core market. As Anderton, Dubber, and James (2013) wrote: "The increasingly fragmented nature of audience profiles, and the focus on individuals as opinion leaders within social networking platforms, have seen the relationships between artists and their audiences become an ongoing conversation." This shift goes back to fan-written publications such as fanzines — the most famous being The Rolling Stone. Even as early as 1997, William Butler O'Connor predicted that the internet would bypass traditional media and create "real-time, interactive experiences; activities involving people over tremendous distances; virtual reality offerings; and many other whizbang capabilities." In the twenty-first century, that has come to pass with social networks like Facebook and Twitter, streaming platforms such as Spotify and Rdio, and internet radio services like Last.fm, which recommends artists and genre stations. Consumers collectively spend 2.9 billion hours per month on YouTube alone.

Radiohead's In Rainbows is a textbook example of using internet technology to reach existing fans while attracting new ones, notably through a "pay what you want" pricing model. The album — the band's seventh and the first released without major-label backing after a four-year gap — generated worldwide attention. Research commissioned by the UK's MCPS-PRS alliance showed 2.3 million downloads between October 10 and November 3, 2007. Figures from examiner.com indicate that 3 million purchases were ultimately tallied from the band's website, deluxe box sets, and physical CD release — demonstrating the wide range of sales channels consumers readily use today. That same strategy carried over to their next release, The King of Limbs (February 2011), which launched in stages: a digital download, a physical CD and vinyl a month later, and a special "newspaper album" edition two months after that. Co-manager Brian Message captured the rationale, describing the UK music industry as a "living, breathing and evolving relationship over a long period between artists and fans."

Coldplay also leveraged the internet effectively. Their single "Violet Hill" was offered as a free download for seven days and achieved 2 million downloads. That was followed by three free concerts in June 2008. For Mylo Xyloto (October 2011), Amazon offered the album for £3.99 in its first week, selling 50,000 units — 42 percent of the album's total sales to that point, far above the 25–27 percent digital share typical in the overall albums market at that time.

Crowdfunding has emerged as a natural extension of the close ties between performer and fan. Platforms such as Kickstarter and PledgeMusic let artists request specific sums for projects, justifying the need through their fan base, social media, and live audiences. One current campaign belongs to jazz and folk singer Sarah Jane Morris, who turned to PledgeMusic to fund her album Bloody Rain. Donors who pledge from £8 to £2000 receive escalating rewards: a handwritten lyric sheet, a dedication on the new CD, backstage meet-and-greet access at a UK concert, or an exclusive private performance. This approach achieves financial goals while building a direct line to listeners — and potential new fans.

From a fan's viewpoint, the company Slicethepie (founded in 2007 by David Courtier-Dutton) represents a different crowd-sourcing model. It connects unsigned musicians with an audience by paying music lovers to listen to tracks and write reviews. The quality of the review determines whether Slicethepie recommends the group to record labels or radio stations. Its sister network, soundsout.com, then matches a band's output to what it considers the most suitable market — a helpful tool for record companies trying to gauge public reception of new material. As Flew (2012) argued, such collaborative innovation is "part of a larger paradigm shift in 21st century market economies, driven by collaborative impulses that are enabled by the Internet and digital media technologies." Slicethepie joins other collaborative ventures like Wikipedia and YouTube under that umbrella.

If Slicethepie illustrates fan engagement, then Ditto Music is a model for artists themselves. This digital distribution service helps unsigned bands get their music onto platforms like iTunes and Spotify, operating on a fee basis. Artists keep 100 percent of their royalties. The system proved successful starting in 2007 when Koopa became the first unsigned act to reach the UK Top 40 — one of 11 top-forty hits Ditto has placed to date. The company also partners with the video distributor Vevo, increasing the visibility of its artists alongside better-known acts.

A quite different model is Music Rainbow, an audio interface that color-codes music genres. Instead of following a collaborative recommendation approach (as in allmusic.com or MySpace), Music Rainbow uses a circular rainbow — each color matching a genre. Non-genre tags such as "male," "female," "trance," "club," "blues," or "orchestra" sit outside the circle, and users rotate the rainbow to select music types. Beyond simple categorization, the system also pulls web-based information associated with each performer.

We now turn to several specific case studies that highlight innovative technology affecting the artist-fan dynamic.

Music portability is nothing new — the 1980s brought portable CD players, the '90s portable mp3 players, and the 2000s iPods. But mobile phone manufacturers have raised the bar by making music access possible while on the move. Indeed, UK online music sales jumped from £616.1 million to £663.8 million between 2012 and 2013, accounting for 63.6 percent of the market. At the 2006 International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, researchers described how mobility "can create tension between music and place and new relationships between musician, listener and music." They emphasized that "location can become a 'sensor' input to music systems," and "people nearby become part of an ad hoc networked musical performance."

The most advanced example is the mobile phone orchestra (MoPhO), established in 2007 at Stanford University. It fused more than a dozen mobile phones with human musicianship, made feasible by advances in both phone software and peer-to-peer internet sharing. A related project, the Stanford Laptop Orchestra (SLOrk), used more than twenty laptops with controllers, multi-channel speakers, amplifiers, and audio jacks — though it focused more on networked performance collaboration than on pure mobility. Meanwhile, Schiemer's Pocket Gamelan turned the phone itself into a musical instrument, using MaxMSP and other software to allow non-experts to play within a programmed compositional environment. These efforts can be seen as a natural progression from the electronic music experiments of Karlheinz Stockhausen (Song of the Youths combined electronic sounds with a boy's recorded voice) and the 1950s genre elektronische Musik, which applied oscillators and filters to create new sounds through systematic and scientific methods.

Locative music takes things a step further by building location sensing into musical applications. Users can, for instance, tag a location with a song, producing a crowd-sourced playlist that adds a fresh angle to discovering new music. Other apps help find concerts in real-time or let nearby users decide what music a venue should play. Atau Tanaka's project Malleable Mobile Music transformed passive sharing into an active experience. His installation net_dérive was split: one part in a gallery, the other using mobile phones attached to scarves given to audience members. The phones recorded sound and visuals as participants followed instructions heard through headphones; the results were transmitted wirelessly and displayed in the gallery.

The YouTube Orchestra also demonstrates the power of location technology. YouTube's global reach in the UK outpaces both Google and Facebook among 16–24-year-olds. A survey found that 77 percent of that age group used YouTube to listen to music. To capitalize on this, the BPI and media company LoveLife launched Transmitter in 2013, a 24-hour YouTube channel featuring daily shows from UK artists. Even niche genres, including classical, have begun working with this format. The musicians taken from YouTube auditions formed an orchestra that performed first at Carnegie Hall and then in other countries — proving the internet can harness talent from across the world and mobilize a traditional musical ensemble in new ways. Since 2009, the project's model has resonated with audiences and served as a showpiece for how web-based connectivity can support artistry. Classical musicians, once confined to concert halls, now have a digital platform that expands exposure well beyond what any single national broadcaster could offer. At the same time, smaller independent classical ensembles have been able to use web platforms and social media to promote recordings, sell tickets, and crowdfund recordings of rare repertoire. The changes seen in classical music broadly mirror the trends that have already transformed other genres.

Another high-profile example was chosen via videos uploaded to YouTube for a premiere performance of Tan Dun’s work, appropriately titled Internet Symphony, in April 2009. The 2011 live feed of the second iteration ranked as the 21st most-watched event on YouTube’s Musicians Channel. The live stream of the Grand Finale concert at the Sydney Opera House became the largest live stream YouTube had ever undertaken, connecting 33 million times globally across 189 countries. This included 2.8 million mobile live-streams, making it one of the largest streaming events of its time across both mobile and desktop platforms (“33 Million,” 2011). This example presents a different facet of mobile music, with live performance and technology working in concert.

Classical sector

Classical violinist Tasmin Little exemplifies a paradigm of the In Rainbows model for the classical music sector. After a gap, in 2007 she released a new recording called The Naked Violin, initially offered as a free download. The recording featured three pieces with potential appeal to a broad classical audience. The release was presented in an easily accessible format on the artist’s website, which included links to various music organisations and media outlets, along with a personal introduction about the new recording. This bespoke site – in marketing jargon a ‘microsite’ – featured a prominent invitation to burn the CD free of charge at the top of the page. It serves as a prototype for how professional classical musicians can embrace technological developments to communicate with existing fans and attract new ones. The fact that she released a second album, Partners in Time, three years later using similar tactics suggests the format was successful.

Another change concerns how artist management companies present their information. Before the internet, music agencies and press offices would assemble a press pack. This included a press release about the relevant artist or latest project, a performance calendar, and, where relevant, recordings, pictures, and CDs. Today the material is demonstrably different. IMG, one of the largest artist agencies, provides a useful case study. Analyzing the web page of one of their major artists, pianist Hélène Grimaud, reveals that within a single page an entire online press pack – akin to the pre-internet version cited above – can be instantly downloaded, along with a link to her individual web page. Each artist serves as a case study of technology being deployed effectively in a niche market segment. Regardless of an artist’s genre, innovative use of technology plays a role in their career development.

Microsites

These campaigns not only utilise the artist’s own website but extend the technology by employing a microsite within the main site, as Tasmin Little did. Another model involves a digital campaign centred on pop singer Christina Perri’s debut single “Jar of Hearts.” A microsite was created that allowed users to post stories of their own heartbreak in a virtual jar, while others could offer personal advice and, if they

helped set the hearts free. Users directed friends to the site primarily via Facebook and Twitter, and Perri integrated the microsite into her own website and social networks (IFPI, 2014). This constitutes one case study of an artist and company (Warner Australia) successfully employing online marketing methods to engage their fan base.

Another model is presented by The Smashing Pumpkins, who used internet technology including microsites to reinvent their brand for the 21st century. This Chicago-based alternative rock band toured extensively during the 1990s, building a solid fan base. After disbanding in 2000, they regrouped in 2006 and by 2010 had a new lineup, consolidated by touring. Their album Teargarden was a concept album, differing in outlook from their 1990s sound, so it made sense to distinguish it from the group’s traditional genre. Accordingly, they formed a new label, Kaleidyscope. Basing their campaign on the internet, a series of 44 songs were released free via MP3 downloads one at a time as they were recorded, with the final release promising exclusive content. To encourage both their existing fan base and develop a new one, the first ten songs were offered as free downloads on their official website.

Micro-chunking

Related to the microsite concept is how corporate actors in the industry are expanding upon what are now considered traditional methods of online distribution: streaming, mail order, track downloads, and mobile access. These can all be termed microchunking (Haque, 2011). Microchunking allows consumers to choose which segment of the market or distribution channel through which to purchase music. Options might include buying one or more of the following: an album, an individual track, a ringtone, a free 30-second sample, a music video, a remix, a sample of someone else’s remix, or a stream or download, among other choices. As it now stands:

The media industry is changing. Radical technological, management, and business model innovation is reshaping all segments of the value chain. This is the result of nothing less than a fundamental inversion of mass media economics, as well as the strategies that dominated those economics. (Haque, 2011)

These elements provide choice for both consumer and artist regarding how to

access a particular piece of music. For many artists, one goal is naturally to maximise sales of their music. The internet enables musicians to potentially reach a mass market by employing mass media tools, some of which are listed above. Considering the music industry as part of a country’s economy, the significance and growth potential of mass consumption becomes important in relation to the internet’s development as a commercial tool. Wikström’s (2009) definition of ‘industry’ as having evolved from a traditional usage to being “used to refer to the production, marketing, and distribution of most commodities” (p. 46) is equally relevant to the internet’s influence on the music industry with music being treated as a commodity. This is a natural progression from Adorno and Horkheimer’s view of development in the music industry in the 1940s. In their treatise Dialektik der Aufklärung (Dialectic of Enlightenment, 1944), they argue that culture as a business becomes industrialised and moves towards being a commodity (Wikström, 2009, p. 12). In other words, music becomes products tailored for mass consumption (Adorno, 1991). Developments in what the internet offers have increased access to this mass market.

Streaming and bundling

One of the clearest ways to observe technological change’s impact is through music streaming. The rise of live streaming means consumers can participate and be reached directly via the internet while watching a live performance. This shift moves beyond Adorno (1990) and Horkheimer with Adorno (2002), who viewed the consumer as passive in listening and rejecting unfamiliar music. Instead, if anything, the process of listening to and consuming music online has manifestly changed this perception.

The internet has given musicians opportunities to have their music listened to through streaming sites such as Myspace, Bebo, YouTube, and Facebook. These media outlets allow musicians to post music tracks and video clips on their own web pages and make them available to others online. This sphere of personal marketing has completely altered the music landscape. The ERA’s review of 2012 (2013 Yearbook: March 2013) confirms the importance of this area, stating that audio streaming services such as Spotify, Deezer, Rdio, Rara, Napster, and We7

delivered at least 3.7 billion streams in 2012, a rise of 40% (Bayley, 2013).

A further expansion in this field is bundling, where internet companies combine different products or services into a single package. One model of this service is represented by the French-based internet music service Deezer, which has partnered with mobile phone provider Orange since 2011. Its reach was undeniable by 2012; when it launched in the UK, it had already reached 20 million registered users and 3 million paying customers (Qasim56, 2013). Further integration with social media occurred in Autumn 2012 with Facebook, offering the huge potential of accessing three different subscriber tiers (Premium+, Premium, and Discovery).

Orange, now part of EE with T-Mobile, offered 4G along with a range of new developments in 2013. One was a free, ad-supported streaming service available for a year, along with two hours free for lifetime for Premium+ members (after a 30-day trial) on tablets, smartphones, desktops, and laptops (Pakinkis, 2012b). Significantly, Deezer also takes the previously mentioned closer connection between artists and fans more seriously. In December 2012, Deezer launched Deezer for Artists (D4A). This initiative allows users to subscribe to real-time feeds from artists via their social feeds; artists can also upload demos, interviews, and live concerts, providing a sense of exclusivity for both fans and Deezer. This exemplifies what Anderson (2009) terms the “three-part market,” where the online business can serve listeners and artists alongside advertisers, the two key customers of a streaming service (Anderson, 2009). From a marketing perspective, Deezer Analytics provides the ability to understand your market by offering tools that adapt to consumer needs, such as a ‘trending songs’ feature for towns and cities, which helps plan tours with a characterisation of listener demographics.

LiveFi model

From a company viewpoint, this is significant because it creates an environment for advertisers to reach potential customers. One company that has taken streaming technology further is LiveFi. This artist-led service aims to provide content delivery, planning, production, and rights clearance for recordings and broadcasts of live streaming. This represents a logical progression from existing streaming models such as Vevo and YouTube. Both models offer advertising opportunities, which should in turn lead to potential increased revenue.

Conclusion

The internet has significantly influenced the composition, performance, and distribution of music. Artists can now record, produce, and distribute music independently of a label. Music has become digital, whether composed, recorded, or released. Digitisation has also enabled closer connections between artists and consumers through social media tools. In effect, both consumer and business now interact on the closest of terms. For the artist, technology exists to support the marketing plan. King (2009) defines the importance of directing the plan towards your primary customer—your fan—as directly as possible (p. 5). This sentiment is echoed by Kusek and Leonhard: “technology is empowering artists to communicate directly with their fans” (2005).

Wikström suggests that “dramatic shifts in the dominant technologies of production, and consumption are central to the economics of media and creative industries” (2009, p. 122) have taken place. Internet growth has fuelled creative industries and likewise changed how major actors operate within them.

Advances in music technology, the emergence of new software formats, and increased use of social media have converged, allowing businesses to collaborate commercially through online output, thus creating a new model for the music industry. All examples point to the internet’s significance as a platform that privileges consumer choice.