Book Review
The Future of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution
By David Kusek & Gerd Leonhard
This book discusses the impact of technology and social media and how it has both changed and shaped the music industry as we know it today. Additionally, it looks at how the restructuring of relationship between music and technologies has led to the creation of innovative and successful strategies for driving revenue in the industry. The book doesn’t solely focus on technology alone, but rather, provides a holistic approach to the future of music. While the book is relatively short, it provides an easy to comprehend overview of some of the changing ideologies and practices in music business. Though the content is presented in a way that’s accessible to all audiences, the book would probably be of most interest to industry professionals, or artists looking to grasp a better understanding of the digital music revolution. Because of this great ‘overview’, I found myself wanting more emphasis and detail on the marketing aspect of music on the web.
The authors outlined ’10 Things That Will Guide the Future of Music’:
-Music matters more than ever.
-Artists are the brands and entertainment is the attraction.
-Publishing income is crucial for the future.
-Digital niche marketing outperforms mass marketing.
-The pricing model for music has gone out the window.
-The ‘record’ business is not the ‘music’ business.
-Artists and their managers will shape the future.
-People discover new music online and from each other.
-Audiences demand/get increased convenience and value.
-New models will embrace a more dynamic view of music.
Other interesting topics of discussion included how the digital revolution has dissolved the theory that music is a ‘product’. The book also sets to disprove that file sharing is killing the music industry, as the authors believe there is no solid proof. Additionally, thanks to social media, it doesn’t take a lot of money to launch a music career. The main message of the book is that the future of music is about “access to music, not ownership”. The internet has made the competition to get music out to the masses much larger and at a faster pace. The marketing of music has thus become about ‘exposure and discovery’. However, it’s not just a free for all… consumers still need and want tastemakers to expose them to quality artists and music. This means that the concepts of ‘’word of mouth” and authentic “endorsement” are crucial to the success of an artist today. The music business has tapped into this by focusing on direct marketing though online fan clubs, merchandise stores, fan communities, etc. By targeting a market niche online, artists can not only increase their audience, but retain fans as well. The book also addresses how distribution has shifted to the digital format as well. The fall of the CD has led to both legal (iTunes, Spotify, etc.) and illegal means of dissemination. Similarly, online radio and television are becoming more diverse in comparison to their traditional formats. Emphasis has been placed on giving audiences a customized listening experience to cater to their musical preferences. Overall, I thought the book provided a good general coverage of the changes in music within the digital age. For anyone interested in the topic, I would suggest checking out the author’s blog here: http://www.futureofmusicbook.com
(I posted this on amazon, but it hasn't shown up on the website yet)
-Emma L