With the advancement of technology, music consumption has changed radically. Accessing music has become easier and cheaper with digital music platforms. For musicians, reaching new listeners has become much easier thanks to digital platforms and social media. This easy accessibility accelerated the consumption in music. With the developing technology and software, it became possible to make music in the room of a house with a computer and sound card. Big studios have turned into home studios. Thus, music production has also accelerated. All these developments even changed the genre of music. Hip-hop, which can be produced faster, has become popular. While mastering a musical instrument takes years and hours of effort every day, simple music programs such as GarageBand, a program developed by Apple, made music that can be made and produced without even knowing how to play a musical instrument. It is obvious that digital transformation contributes positively to music and instruments. As music became more accessible and producible, a world developed where consumers could develop and create their own music.
From Past to Present
Before digital, even before MP3 players came into our lives, listening and producing music was really a work that required dedication. We had to carry more than one tape or CD with us to listen to music when we were unstable with various devices especially such as Walkman, Discman, etc. Separate devices were required for each of the CDs, tapes or records. However, this need started to disappear with the conversion of MP3 players and then our phones into music players. With the age of digital music platforms, various differences began to be seen in listening habits.
First of all, album listening times got shorter. Nobody is opening an album and listening from start to finish anymore if they are not really interested. “Playlists” are often opened and listening to music with the philosophy of “a little bit of this, a little of that” is becoming more common. Musicians do not follow a different method anyway. While the concept of singles and EP was not that common 20 years ago, we now see that these are more important than albums. These naturally affect the duration of the song. Since people’s patience for both listening and watching decreases considerably, the short one becomes more advantageous.
Short and long songs were obviously present in every era. Just looking at Pink Floyd’s 1977 album “Animals” proves this. We can see that the first song is 1 minute 24 seconds, while the next song is 17 minutes and 5 seconds. Besides, the real question is that which song has already increased in popularity in which period. As a result, although short and long songs are available in every period, with the digital platforms coming into our lives, the short songs became popular in the present day.
The Future of Live Performances
Live performances and concerts are the parts of the music industry least affected by digitalization. There is no digital equivalent of witnessing the live performance of a music. Watching the recording of a live performance later or instantly on the screen is not a substitute for being a direct witness in the environment where the music is made. For this reason, live performances have maintained the same effects on the consumer. However, increasing the recognition on the internet with digitalization can affect the audience participation in live performances. For example, when a musician gave a concert in a region where he was not able to present his legal music physically or digitally for various reasons, he had the opportunity to attract an audience thanks to the promotional activities he carried out on the internet via social media.
Ultimately, as long as human beings exist, music will also exist. Popular music will change; the way of consumption of music will change in the future as it is today. Because music is the only universal language, in which people can express themselves. Maybe tomorrow we will be able to make music with an apparatus we have attached to our heads. Of course, listening habits will change again in the future, but we all have to wait for which direction it will evolve.
Take care!
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