Music Consumption

Music consumption

In the 1800’s, the consumption of music both through listening and reading about started off through hard copies such as Records and printed magazines that you had to buy in stores. The advance in technology allowed for much smaller forms of music like CD’s in 1982 as opposed to the larger records we had before. This then allowed for CD players, which became portable which gave for wider uses other than record players that stayed at home.

Radio’s also increased the music consumption as various artists could be played on the radio for the public to listen to. This vastly increased live performances and having artists perform in a studio for it to be played on the radio. This had a huge influence of the global craze of music that we enjoy today. The first radio broadcast was in 1920 and this started off what is now a global success that has over 600 licensed station in the UK alone and also over 45 million listeners a year.

The use of software such as I-tunes allowed for music to be stored in large quantities on a computer to therefore be used on other devices. This was a much more efficient device in comparison to the CD player as you could only listen to one CD at a time, and most commonly, one artist. The creation of I-pods allowed for music on the go and large quantities with the best product being able to store up to around 40,000 songs. This was a huge technological advance for the time as it allowed for the portable use of a wide range of music at the touch of your fingers.

The rise of mobile devices allowing a platform for music has globally increased our consumption of music of all genres. The global brand of Youtube had its introduction in 2005, which meant the easy access of music across the world. The increase of artists’ Vevo channel increased their population and also music consumption.  The free access that the world has vastly increased the music dominance in the market. Youtube is now becoming one of the largest consumer websites with some videos reaching over a billion views and others consistently reaching hundreds of millions. 

Live concerts are starting to become the next step up of music consumption as it allows for a much greater experience in most cases. The live experience creates a whole new consumption process that cant be replicated, this does cause a lot more money to be input into the music media but it’s a whole new process that not everyone can experience.

Music consumption is a very important factor towards the music business and is the reason why it is as popular as it is today. The consumption has changed massively over the years going from large vinyls too much smaller portable music players. The consumption of music has changed over time and allowed for a much wider audience to be able to purchase it across many different platforms. These platforms therefore became updated and more advanced which therefore improved the music consumption of today.