By Drew Mercadente

Before the rise of the modern technology that we are used to, the world was much larger, and people were much more separated. In order to talk to someone in another state one would need to write a letter or travel for days. Now, the Internet has connected the world in a way never imagined by people of eras before.  Not only can you connect to those same people in an instant through things like Twitter, Facebook, and Skype, but you can also access information on nearly anything at the click of a mouse, whether it is an Internet article or a song by their favorite band.

Before this modern technology though, music was only performed live – making it a full-fledged art form.  Today, however, an “artist” can go into a studio and record a song. Meanwhile, they are having their voice digitally corrected and manipulated until what was once a song is more of a digital collection of ones and zeros.  This has taken away some of the dignity of the art form, leaving much to be desired by fans.  Combined with the power of the Internet, music has become, in my opinion, something people listen to once and forget, rather than a life-changing experience.  Because of this change in music and the way listeners consume music, the music industry is now at a crossroads. They are now forced into deciding whether it should give up on trying to make any money off of recorded music, or crusade against illegal downloads and fight a war that is seemingly as endless and useless as the war on drugs or the War on Terror.  I believe that if illegal downloading isn’t stopped soon, music will become entirely free, and bands will become a thing of the past, replaced by machines reproducing sampled sounds.

Let me give some background for this belief. For the past decade, the music industry has been flipped on its head by the advent of illegal downloading.  This was brought on by the golden age of the CD, which lasted approximately from 1984-1999.  During this time period, music was treated like any other product would be treated, instead of being treated like an art. This meant that it was developed by major record labels to push quarterly profits rather than for long-term success, let alone for aesthetic value.  What this meant artistically is that artists that could build a career long fan base were forgone, replaced by manufactured pop acts that could sell singles quickly and gross higher profits for the record labels.  But, when the record labels started developing singles, they also developed a sort of throwaway culture in which singles would be released, rapidly gain popularity and sell massive amounts of units, and then fade into obscurity to be replaced by another single.  This cycle worked well and made boatloads of money for major record labels until the advent of file sharing.  Now, the same singles that used to make millions for record labels still see massive popularity, but the singles are only bought by a few people. The song then gains popularity when this small population of people who actually spent money on the song then share the file to millions of others. The record labels have dug themselves into a hole they will probably never recoup from. In fact, one of my friend’s Music Industry professor claims that for every 100 albums that a record label puts out, 3 of those albums actually break in. Meanwhile, only 1 of those 3 albums actually make a profit. That means that 1% of the record companies product is paying for the production of the other 99%!!

This, however, is the file-sharing monster of a culture that the music industry has created for itself. They have developed a culture that thrives off of short-term memory and the overnight rise and demise of artists.  But the culture they developed that was previously so loyal to them has turned on them and stabbed them in the back.  Now, the short attention spans that once gave them all of their money have become so short that people can barely concentrate on a song for more than one or two listens, not making any single a worthwhile buying experience for the consumer.  So, while the major labels are crashing and burning, independent artists are becoming more and more successful. In fact, number one on the billboard charts last week was Vampire Weekend’s album “Contra” – an independently released album.

But why is that?  With modern technology, anyone can go buy a MacBook and start making music, playing shows and gaining notoriety.  The riches and glory once gained by major artists are rarely seen today, but, rather than having a few huge bands, there are thousands of small bands all developing their own niche markets.  And because of the rise of computer technology, electronic music is starting to replace live musicians.

When one thinks of a musician, they often picture someone with a guitar and a microphone playing songs.  Now, it seems that a rising percentage of musicians are electronic musicians, producing music in project studios at their house often with nothing more than a laptop!  Since electronic music can be produced so efficiently and cheaply, the artists often have no problem giving it away for free and distributing it across the internet, forgoing CDs entirely.

It is because of this trend that I believe in 20 to 30 years, there will be no physical sales of music at all, only people producing music and releasing it for free via the Internet.  Since music will be so easy to make and distribute, less artists will be around because music won’t be a profitable venture.  Instead, everyone will be making their own music and sharing it through online communities, making music more of a massive collaboration than an art form.  This can already be seen on websites such as Myspace and Soundcloud, where musicians are often nothing more than kids making music in their free time.  This means that career musicians essentially have no incentive to pursue their art. If anyone can do what they do, there is no reason to pursue a career as a musician.

A musician myself, I wish I could propose a solution that works, but it seems there are none.  The major record labels have destroyed the attention span of the consumer and illegal downloading has destroyed the market, leaving nothing but the shattered remains of an industry that was once a commercial giant.  I cannot claim I know exactly what the future of music is, but based on the arguments I previously stated I do believe that recorded music will never again sell anywhere close to what it did in its heyday.  Unless there is a major drop in illegal downloading (which I can confidently say there will not be) the musicians of today are indeed the last of a dying breed.

The only way to keep musicians from dying off entirely is to support live music.  Whether you know it or not, if you listen to a song by a band, you care about them, and if you care enough to listen to their song you should care enough to go out and see them at a show.  After all, recorded music is, in my opinion, only a short representation of a band’s live show, functioning similarly to a trailer for a movie.  If you really care about a band you need to start supporting their live shows, as this is where musicians really make their money.  If live shows start to lose their audience too, music really will be a thing of an antiquated past.