How Digitalization Has Changed The way Artists Are Made.

Stegner, M. (2013). Social Media Drives Digital Music Sales

Marketing has always played a factor in the music industry one way or another. It is known that artists will develop a larger fanbase if they appear likable in some way, that their personality or look is what sells them. This idea is only further ingrained today as social media is the route to success for many of today's musicians.

Platforms like TikTok are skyrocketing many music careers as it allows artists to reach their targeted audience at no cost to themselves. This has opened many doors for independent artists, giving their music an outlet without anyone else's help (Leight, 2022). With this shift, artists are now able to see an immediate response to their work. They can tell what is working and reach the most people, allowing them to adapt their strategy almost immediately, giving them even better chances of success.

With TikTok, songs can often reach the top of the music charts without even trying while artists do not need to be tied to any major label to reach this type of success. With how prominent social media is in a song's success, it has changed almost every aspect of how music is released. Many songs are now pushed out faster than ever as TikTok often gives listeners a snippet of a song leaving them wanting more. With how quick the turnover is when it comes to music and TikTok, strategically planned campaigns might not always work. Instead, artists often have to go with the demand and traction they are getting at that moment, sometimes releasing music earlier than expected or without more campaigning.

Outside of the marketing of an artist, the music created has even changed due to digitalization. Music creation is no longer only available to those with a studio, it can be made by anyone with the right digital software (Dov, 2020). You can record audio easily from your phone or computer, creating music anywhere. This has broken down many barriers that were in place for artists first starting out in the music industry.

These two factors mean that anyone can make and distribute music now, but some do not always see this as a positive thing. The idea of a 'TikTok Artist' is now receiving a negative connotation as you do not necessarily need to do as much or have as much talent to make it as far as many of these young artists are now. It is much easier for them to reach the top, making personality an even more prominent factor in the making and marketing of music.

Regardless of some negative feedback, the surge in independent artists is something that will continue to shift how the music industry works. Digitalization has helped many artists get their start and will continue to make it easier for them to be successful. Technology is continuously changing how artists are made, making me curious to see how much more it can evolve to assist artists and change how we look at music as a whole.

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Citations:

Dov, Y. (2020, June 5). What it takes to be a musician in the Modern Digital World? We Rave You. Retrieved from https://weraveyou.com/2020/06/what-it-takes-to-be-a-musician-in-the-modern-digital-world/

Leight, E. (2022, March 9). Tiktok already helps artists go viral. now it's helping them build careers. Rolling Stone. Retrieved from https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/tiktok-launches-soundon-distribution-marketing-muni-long-1318624/