In this section of the essay I will be exploring how the distribution of music has changed from before the internet era to present times and how the discourse around music has changed over the decades.
In the earlier decades such as 80’s discovering new music would lead to making a trip to a local record store and browse either vinyl records or CD’s. Some record stores would have already set up listening stations so customers could get a listening preview into what the record is like before deciding to purchase it. In a article for red bull in 2021 Adrian says that people would out on their coolest clothes, get on the bus and spend a day in the record store checking out music.(Adrian Yap CK, 2021) After spending a certain amount of time in the store and browsing different records people would then decide which records they would end up purchasing and taking home with them. Another way people would discover new music would be through live shows radio broadcasts and television. Radio and television broadcasts provided a way for people to listen to and discover new music from the comfort of their own homes. Also family and friends would often share music with each other which also allowed more people to discover their favourite artists and bands. In addition to the methods already mentioned above more ways people could discover new genres and artist was through going to music festivals which were very popular in the past. Music festivals are still very popular to this day, these events often include large line-ups of varied artists performing on different stages and times which gives the audience enough time and options to always have something new showed to them. Magazines and music publications like Rolling Stone and NME were a popular way of discovering new music as they featured articles and reviews of newly released albums and interviews with artists.
Today however, as we are deep into the internet era of music the way we discover new music is significantly different. With the ability to search through millions of songs within seconds discovering new music is much easier than it was ever before. With services like YouTube Spotify and recently TikTok finding new music comes exceptionally easy. With all these platforms widely available distributing music is also much quicker as all of these platforms rely on digital distribution of music which eliminates the need of producing physical copies of music. However the market for physical music still exists and is still very popular although it is slightly different. Due to most music being available digitally people can preview music with their mobile phones. This eliminates the need for in store listening stations that I mentioned before. The picture below represents a currently running record store in London on which you can see that the only thing available for customers is to browse actual records. On the other hand due to the mainstream use of digital music people tend to buy music they already know as physical copies which alternates to how people used to do it in the decades before. With platforms such as YouTube and even twitter the discourse around music has changed significantly as well. As we are able to communicate globally on social media platforms and discuss our opinions on music with thousands of people.