Introduction:
The advent of the Mp3 has changed music forever. The effects have been felt through every musical genre, country, rap, pop, but none more than electronic dance music. Deejaying through the use of digital vinyl systems (DVS), such as Serato Scratch and Native Instruments Traktor, along with other digital software, such as Ableton Live, would cause a massive explosion in the popularity and accessibility of electronic music (Check out this article: http://sites.google.com/site/digitalimo/the-digital-state-of-the-dj).
At one point in time the only way to further your career as an electronic music producer or deejay was to find a label willing to give you a deal. Not the case any more. Any man, woman, and child can use the Internet to distribute, promote, and be successful off their creative content. This is because there is now no one to tell you whether it’s good enough or not. The days of the record executive are over. Welcome the new age of Digital Distribution.
Digital Distribution:
Digital distribution encompasses the act of transmitting any and all forms of digital content through digital means, i.e. the Internet. Digital distribution allows for artists to become self-publishers and disseminate their creative works using an ever-increasing list of digital options. These options include:
• Posting Content to Blogs and other Social Media Sites. See www.soundcloud.com.
• Using a digital distribution service. See www.ingrooves.com;
• Direct negotiations with digital retailers. See www.beatport.com or www.Junodownload.com;
• Direct sales using artist websites and other means.
A common argument is for-profit vs. free. Both sides play an important role the how an artist chooses to distribute their music and each side need to each other. Digital piracy has created the need for new thinking and new models of doing business in the digital world. The primary point that should be made is: there is no money in the record industry. Primary revenue is no longer obtained through the sales of records, or downloads. Creative ideas for income are now required as is the need for more gigs. Releasing music is now as much a part of marketing and promotions as the headshots.
Digital Download Retailers
The invention of the Mp3 created a need for a source to obtain them. At first, file sharing programs such as Morpheus, as well as sites such as Napster, filled the niche. But just as quick as they filled it, they closed it because of copyright infringement legal battles.
While the likes of those past practices set a precedent of piracy, new business models were created to answer the calls of those wishing to purchase high quality music. Those requests were mainly fueled by Deejays seeking higher fidelity in the digital market. In 2004, Beatport was founded. Beatport paved the way for legal digital music downloads. Not far behind, companies such as Juno and Audiojelly soon joined as the competition. The importance of digital retailers lies in the fact that most of them are relatively easy to join. And this creates an excellent opportunity for artists/labels wishing to reach global audiences.
An excellent example of internet marketing is Family Moons artist Omega: http://soundcloud.com/omegadubstep
Reference:
Beatport, LLC
www.beatport.com
Beatport – Wikipedia Article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatport
Digital Distribution Definition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_distribution
InGrooves
ingrooves.com
Soundcloud
www.soundcloud.com
"Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care, for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill." - Buddha
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