How has the music industry changed?

The online music revolution is changing the way chart-topping bands are being recognized.  Bands who are using the Internet to reach their fans without the help of major labels, feel able to walk away from the big corporations claiming ‘I am tired of them taking all the money’.

Nizlopi are a duo act playing the bass and guitar, they rely solely on the Internet and intimate gigs to publicize their music. They became more apparent within the industry when they released their song ‘JCB’ via viral advertising. This method promoted them as a band to just 20 people through an e-mail, who sent it on to their friends who then sent it on again and so on. This viral effect sent the JCB song up into one of the top 10 songs of the year. This effect gave Nizpoli the ability to act as a marketing machine without the aid of an already established record label.  

‘The internet it crucial for an artist to go independent’ Bands and their fans are using the internet as a way to rebel against the big record labels who have for so long dominated the music industry; Warner bros, Song BMG, Universal & EMI have corned 80% of the sales which add up to £20b a year.' There technique is to sign bands, market them and asses their sales. If their sales drop, they drop them. However the internet has given bands the structure and ability to succeed on their own.

The Arctic Monkeys are the most successful band from the internet. They began their career by sharing music on forums with other hopeful artists and users. MySpace is the credited site that has the answers to the most important site that contributed to the success of The Arctic Monkeys.  When they released their albums in the beginning of 2006 it went straight to number 1.

The new comers teach the establishes what should be done, the major record labels claim that the internet is killing the record companies, sales are dramatically down.

Illegal downloading occurs by ‘file sharers’ known to the industry as ‘pirates’. They would buy  a CD and upload it onto the internet sharing it for free to other music lovers. Because of this the decline of CD sales deteriorated over the past few years. 


As the music industry continues to grow and succeed outside of the major record labels, the new music world looks to continue to change dramatically with more music available through internet services. This is the biggest contributor to the decline in CD sales.