How has the internet changed music press?

Ways of listening to music:

Before the internet people would be very dependent on Vinyls which progressed to tapes, with even further progression to CD's. To get music, listeners would have to go out to the shops and buy physical hard copies that were tangible. Then the internet became a big thing and people could download music onto their PC's. At the beginning it took a painfully long time and you were lucky if it was good quality. However the internet then progressed, downloading music is easier than ever! With apps such as deezer and the much loved Spotify the money no longer goes directly towards the artists, but through plenty of other companies and people before the artist gets money for their songs.


Sharing Music

Before the internet, all music news came from magazines, rumors and word of mouth. It was difficult to get straight up information without having to look tirelessly through magazines and asking many people. However the internet has introduced many platforms. An example is YouTube. Music is publicly shared on this site which also means it can be promoted on the site as well. Online streaming is a big issue for the artists now as well. It is much easier to access their music for free online which means less people are going out and buying hard copies. There is also the option of burning old CD's onto laptops and computers which you can access on your phone. As for the purpose of music magazines, you can get all that information much faster by looking it up on the wide web. This is also, usually, free information. So if you had the option of quick, free and easy over having to spend money and leave your house for one piece of information why wouldn't you choose internet?


From Print to Digital

The rise of the internet and free e-magazines has resulted in the downfall of print magazines. Some celebrity brands have dropped print readers by an example of 29.7%. The web introduced easy features that are easier and quicker to follow and pick out information than print magazines are. This has encouraged music magazine brands to create their own websites. Most sites have an archive of old issues so readers can go back and read out dated articles. This benefits the reader AND the magazine. They will still get their money from online advertisements featured on their website. However you will still get readers who appreciate the authenticity of a tangible object, however as the modern world rapidly develops new technology, so will the way music is produced. It is much easier to push an album over the internet. Adverts can pop up anywhere on any website, especially music websites. Also google tracks what things you look at so it can tailor the adverts to your need, if you're looking at, for example, Rihanna merchandise, the adverts and suggested searches will focus on her and any news to do with her. Video adverts will pop up before YouTube videos which is where a lot of people go as YouTube is a very big deal at the moment.

Overall I think that the internet has changed music press, but for the better. It is much easier for both fan and artist to do what they want with ease. The internet has an endless supply of information for anyone to see. As for the artist, it is easier and more effective to promote themselves with social media and online advertising.

Most music magazines have moved online such as NME, Kerrang and Q. They maintain their original house styles but add exclusives onto their website. You can also but digital copies of the magazine so the audience doesn't have to go out and buy it, they can access it in their own homes.

Rolling stone have a huge online presence as they have moved away from just sticking to music and have articles about fashion, films as well as music.


Convergence and Synergy

The music industry has been shown to help other media industries at crucial stages of their development. It has provided opportunities for synergy that have been used by radio, television and cinema and more developing media platforms. An example is that in 2002 the ease and gratitude of online presence and radio in the UK over the voting for ITV’s Pop Idol led to the release of the winner’s first single which showed benefits for television, phone companies and the music industry.

Since early 2000's the rise o downloading was shown to mainly males over 15 whereas now anyone of any age can download music if they know how. The music industry were threatened by many illegal file sharing websites but then apple iTunes was released in 2004.  There has been a rise in purchases of the iPod and iPhone and other apple products. Now, downloading is big business, with the participation of huge brands & companies from both the music industry (e.g. Sony/BMG) and the computer industry (Microsoft and Real Player as well as Apple).