Music Industry.

Music Industry.

Audiences are now given multiple platforms in which they can access music. Apps such as Spotify, Youtube and Apple Music (I tunes) being some of the most popular as it has made it easier for an audience to get a hold of music from all over the world. Digital platforms have started to over take physical forms of music such as cd's as the sales from digital streaming continue to increase. However, people are still buying cd's and the rate in which the sales are decreasing are slowing down to almost 5% in comparison to the 8.5% in 2014. This could suggest that people are starting to go back to buying cd's. However 45% of the total revenues are still made up of digital revenues.

Although physical formats are in decline they still remain a popular format in other countries such as Japan (making up to 75% of music revenues) and Germany (making up to 60%).

The main companies within the music industry are Sony, Universal Music Group and Warner. Sony's market share at the beginning of 2016 was 29.5 after a 1.0% jump following the successful release of Adele's album 25. Universal music group was down 0.2% to a market share of 38.5% but still remained ahead of the other competitors by a large margin. And Warner had a market share of 18.7% with the independent label receiving 12.6% market share. From the statistics the main competitors are mainly Sony and Universal but combining all three, the three companies have a massive percentage of the market share.

Some of the artists signed with Sony include: Beyonce, Calvin Harris and Kings of Leon. However recently Adele has signed a contract with Sony which if goes through would be the biggest deal for a British Musician. These Artists are some of the biggest names in the music industry, so Sony have access all over the world and artists that will attract a large audience resulting in more money being made.

Some of the artists signed with Universal include: Adele, Kanye West and Taylor Swift. Like Sony, Universal have some big names within their company which generates lots of money. These artists are constantly featured in the latest music news which is important for Universal as the artist gets more notice adding to the success of the company.

Artists signed with Warner include: Madonna, Ed Sheeran and Cold play. Like the other two companies, Warner have some big names within the company. Madonna is one of the biggest names in the music industry and is constantly in the media. Ed Sheeran has recently released a new album gaining more media attention and money. And Cold Play are one of the biggest bands in the world.

By all three of the companies having popular music artists involved in their company is the main way they make money. With more popular artists it means an increase in album sales as more people will buy their albums. Also artists are constantly having tours which means the company make money from ticket sales as well. The higher the status of the artist, the higher the price of a ticket. Adele ticket prices range from about £90-£170 all across the world and Cold play tickets ranging from £100-£200 (across the world). These are considered higher end acts and prices but they can exceed into hundreds of pounds depending on location and act. However looking at smaller acts such as Bring me the horizon, tickets range form about £50-£80 and James Arthur tickets ranging from £50-£90. The more well known an artist the more money is made from sales as people are willing to pay more for bigger stars. Also at concerts, fans are able to buy merchandise and items from the concert which adds to the profits made. Concerts are important for music companies because it promotes the artist but also generates a massive income as they are making more money on top of album sales.
Artist can be exploited by the music companies as they get a massive share from the artists work, meaning that companies get a big profit from the stars, but also artists are made to sign contracts. The contracts force an artist to stay with the company for a certain time. This sort of exploit the artist because they have no control over what they do and how much money they receive for their music. The companies make large amounts of money from the artists talent which could be seen as exploitation as they are using the artist for their own personal gain.