The economy isn’t the only thing that is in recession, according to an article posted on Elite Daily entitled “How One Generation Was Single-Handedly Able To Kill The Music Industry.” The music industry is too, and it is nobody’s fault except our own–the fans of music itself–the “millennials.”

The mentioned article states that there are four main reaons as to why the music industry just isn’t what it used to be, including the supply (easier access to music-making software can make just about anyone an artist), the demand (torrents and music online services lead to decreased album sales), the fact that “music discovery is at an all time high,” and “millennials are forming dominant musical teams.”

But what does this all mean? Are we producing more music? Is it easier for us to create and share via new platforms? That the grassroots artists in their mom’s basements have more of a chance to make it today than ever before? Are these necessarily bad things?!

Apparently so, as the article notes the sad shift in music these days–from actually being about the music to now being about Facebook followers, trending hashtags, and money. Artists have now begun to become recognizable and judged not by their album sales, but by their presence in other forms of media. Pitbull, for example, has 50 million Facebook followers, yet has sold less than 10 million albums during his career.

However, the last two reasons stated in the article are questionable and definitely up for debate. The idea that music discovery is being viewed in a negative light is pretty striking when thinking about what music is all about in the first place.  Yes, online interfaces like Soundcloud, YouTube, and Pandora allow us to share our preferences with our friends more easily, which might in turn be “cutting out the music industry middleman,” according to Elite Daily, but how can we critisize ourselves for continuously establishing new ways to spread the joy of music to more masses and over more unique platforms? Below is a chart regarding the popularity of various musical sources for fans aged 12-24, and one regarding the number of singers who are signed versus those who are functioning independently, or without the help of a label:

 

It seems as though the purpose of these graphs is to emphasize the growing number of discovery platforms as well as the growing number of aspiring musicians out there.The two seem to go hand in hand and the article states that, “With cheap recording technology and an effective way to distribute the music, these independents team up online to rival major labels.”

Even though this does pose as a problem for the music industry, problems have erupted in the past as well and the industry has always found ways to deal with it and adjust. Napster and other free music downloading apps have been created and destroyed, respected and critisized, and yet music still seems to exist. Madonna is still topping the charts, The Rolling Stones still tour, and die-hard fans still go out and buy the vinyls and CDs of their favorites artists, old and new.

Instead of thinking of our generation as the “killers of music,” perhaps we should start viewing them as the gatekeepers to a new music industry. Sacrificing what we used to love and know as the old music business might allow us to discover a new business, and perhaps we should just have faith in the fans and the artists, and know that music will always prevail. As John Lennon once said, “Music is everybody’s possession. It’s only publishers who think that people own it,” so let’s let the new milliennium of music simply take its course and stop judging those who may be appraoching it slightly differently than before.

[via EliteDaily]

-Stephanie D’Agostini (@stefdaggg)

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