History and Trends

Do history really repeats itself in the entertainment industry or how new is our current trends?  I feel no matter how much progress or growth is accomplished returning back to the roots and basic fundamental is inevitable. For example when was the last time you saw a great movie with a new story line. When I say new, I mean a brand new story line not a sequel or prequel. To bring it to your attention here are a few X Men, Spider Man, Planet of The Apes and Captain America. No wait I have better examples like vampires, zombies, love story or somebody gets kidnap and one-person try to find them.  My point is that what’s new to us is ancient. Is it that Hollywood writers and directors are running out of fresh ideas or just to lazy to create new material? What ever the case may be the people that make these films always return back to the product origins. It’s the same pattern with fashion these days. Hairstyles, clothes and shoes are all brought back from the dead. Like Mohawks, Snapback hats, Throwback jerseys and all of Michael Jordan shoes. Although, I must say that the first time when these trends came on the scene was the good ole days. I guess by bringing them back it replicates a sense of good feeling we experience at that point in time. With music it also takes place when producers use sampling in their productions.  Sampling is when apiece of music is taken and use in another creation. Some producers use current songs when sampling. Although, one of the hottest trends in beat production is sampling an oldie song pattern or vocals incorporating it with another beat. What this does is revives the out dated song and give the creation a groovy feel like the old days. So to answer the question history does repeat it self and our current trends are ancient like our ancestors.   

Source:  Passman, D., (2009). All you need to know about the music business. New York: Free Press. Frascogna, X., Hetherington, H., (2004). The business of artist management. New York: Random House Inc. 

Music Distribution

Getting music distributed without a record deal use to be nearly impossible. Now due to technology advancements online music distribution channels has made it possible for independent labels and artist to generate revenue from their music. Today there are many different types of business models packages and platforms that cater to the needs of an artist. Industry professionals did not always look upon it as a positive thing. Illegal file sharing sites like Napster caused problems in the music industry and some say is the reason for a 31 percent revenue drop in physical album sales back in 2000. Music consumers did not complain because they downloaded plenty songs of their favorite artist free of charge. Then record labels started fighting back attacking those types of websites that condoned digital piracy until they were banned and filed lawsuits against music fans that were caught on the websites. Music consumers complained that the quality of the songs on the albums being produced was not worth the retail price. So they downloaded only songs that appealed to their interest. A business model was desperately needed in the music industry. Apple answered with itunes and it was a great success. They are many positives about online music distribution. Artist and songwriters get a higher royalty percentage, its very cost effective, convenient and allows music consumers to purchase songs at the click of a button. Some online distributors offer licensing services.  Although, online distributions has been a primary music outlet for independent artist and labels because of financial reasons this particular business model has become quite attractive to the major labels. Reaching the masses or a target market is more achievable due to the number of Internet users. Technology has evolved and now mobile devices are Internet capable keeping us connected anywhere we dwell. Viral marketing has become essential for the success of both independent artist and major labels. 

Source:  Passman, D., (2009). All you need to know about the music business. New York: Free Press Frascogna, X., Hetherington, H., (2004). The business of artist management. New York: Random House Inc.