Music--it's the most universal language on the planet. And while many of us may not know how to properly read sheet music or decipher tempos (unlike me), one thing is certain. No matter what language you speak or continent you live on, music is a part of your everyday life.
Having a Bachelors Degree of Music, I have had a very interesting relationship with this language throughout my life. At two years old, my mother enrolled me in my first dance classes where I learned the co-relation of rhythm and body movement to a piece of music in the genres of ballet and tap.
By late pre-school, I started singing along to my favorite cartoon JEM. I was so convincing that a rumor started in elementary school that I was the voice of Jem--flattering!
It was at this time that I made an interesting discovery--my parents records. Mom had Gloria Gaynor, Stevie Wonder and Blondie while my father had Steely Dan, Jimi Hendrix and Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Christmas of 1992, I was gifted with a double cassette deck stereo with record player on top. And while my peers spent time on the playground, I spent time in my room listening to my parents records, singing and tapping along.
As I began to earn an allowance, I would beg my parents to take me to Sam Goody so I could buy 99-cent cassette tapes. I even started making mixes for my elementary school dances which is a funny thing to think about now that I look back. DJ Jaclyn of All Trades.
Why am I sharing all of this with you? Because I find it very interesting to try and anticipate the next phase of music. I have had the pleasure to meet and interact with artists from all walks of life including Ziggy Marley, Forever the Sickest Kids, The 2am Club and Mikey Sabatella.
In terms of music, we (the audience, consumer, whatever you want to call us) always think of how changes in the industry will impact us-the end user and not the artist. But as the artists are challenged with financial and copyright limitations, the less freedoms they have to create new and innovative sounds.
Back in my days of Music Business study, I had thought the CD was here to stay for awhile. Napster had just launched, Limewire followed shortly thereafter. MTV was constantly on in my dorm room. Personally, I thought people liked the physical aspect of owning a CD.
Flash forward 6 plus years and we now live in a digital and visual music environment. There's iTunes, YouTube, sites for indie artists to promote themselves such as WebCeleb.com
I get that in this day in age we are digital-mp3 players, Pandora on our phones and computers. I also appreciate that we are very visual--Youtube, music videos, concerts, etc.
But I can't help and be curious as I am trying to figure out the next progression of the music industry and perhaps you are too. What are your thoughts on music? How often do you purchase digital downloads? Attend concerts? Where do you think we are headed?
I don't expect to answer these questions in one blog post. It could take a few blog posts to determine the next stages of the music industry. I merely intend to get the conversation going, I can't silence that analytical side of me. I might as well tweet this and see what answers I get back. Consider this my market research for the Music Industry 2011.
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