Before the Internet era, people used walkmans, radios, and purchased tapes, vinyl, and CDs to listen to music. Artists had to sign record deals with Music Distribution companies if they wanted to get their music on the shelves and on the radio. However, the advent of Music Streaming Services during the rise of the Internet shook the traditional Music Distribution Industry.

The online music distribution model works on a fee-based subscription basis that enables any independent artist to stream his music worldwide across various platforms. Streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music have changed the music industry. Online music streaming changed the game of album sales because of its rising popularity in the early 2010s, when the Recording Industry Association of America started counting streams as part of sales because people preferred music streaming primarily with the rise of internet and smart phone usage. Artists had to start finding ways to get their streams and, thus, their sales up.

The advent of Youtube Music, SoundCloud, and other streaming platforms completely evolved the Music Distribution Industry because people stopped buying tapes and CDs in the era of headphones and AirPods. Online music distributors completely decentralized music distribution, which was traditionally centralized by record labels. This caused the Record Labels to sign deals with artists that included splitting profit shares beyond music streams in brand endorsements and artist merchandise. Most of the artists do not make a lot of profit from streams, but the major income source has been diverted from music sales to music tours.

The role of Record labels has now been reduced to services like funding, marketing, managing Live Shows and tours, getting songs played on radio, television, and clubs, etc. However, the business of Record labels is under threat since social media influencers and artists with huge followings are now distributing their own music, marketing it using digital marketing, and also funding their own tours without the need for a label. A famous independent music artist named Russ, who reportedly gave up on $50 million to purchase the rights to his music catalog, Said that record Labels Will Become obsolete since Artists no longer need Them’.

Besides music distribution, the way music is marketed has also seen a drastic change since the emergence of TikTok. Click on the article below to find out the impact of TikTok on music sales and marketing.