It isn’t just the way we play and ‘own’ music that has been changed by technology; the industry and songwriting itself are being affected and challenged by the leaps and bounds tech is taking. How we discover music, how we interact with its makers, and the role record labels play are all being influenced by modern technology in one way or another.
The Social Airwaves
Social media has revolutionised just about everything when it comes to promotion, but social spaces online like SoundCloud are changing the way songwriters and musicians are followed, discovered, and paid. Music was the first viral media. A catching song is like a meme, infecting the ears of the listeners and getting passed on from person to person.
Now these likes and shares happen at the click of a heart-shaped button, and algorithms allow them to cross the world in an instant and slip seamlessly into strangers’ feeds. The latest songs happen online first, and labels are taking notice. Billie Eilish was posting demos on SoundCloud before the rest of the world heard her music. All it takes is consistent recording, sharing, and investing time in an online community, and you or your band could be the next big thing.
Mixing in a Modern Studio
Classic albums, like the epic Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd, took months to make. The early recording tech, absent of computers or software of any kind, made music recording arduous and expensive. Modern, high-level music production in Kent allows singers and bands to experiment, with more time on their hands thanks to high-tech recording and production tools.
This recording studio in Kent offers modern music recording and production facilities to singers, songwriters, and bands both well-known and unknown. A reputable music studio Kent will provide high-level music production that is more accessible than ever before and is allowing emerging artists to record their work in a music production studio with an experienced music producer Kent. The importance of record labels, and the control they once had over the industry, is constantly diminishing as more and more new artists create their own fanbases and music on their own terms in recording studios Kent UK.
The Empire Strikes Back
Record labels are by no means out for the count, and unfortunately, technology is helping them develop new avenues of money-making from music. Artificial intelligence is changing everything in the entertainment industry, and soon new artists may be having to battle the chart toppers of the past for a place on people’s Spotify streams.
The voices of artists from the past can now be recreated with sophisticated software, and even singers that passed away a long time ago could be digitally resurrected and begin releasing new material. Elvis may come back one day, with a modern country album with lyrics mentioning tech brands like hip-hop artists used to sing about champagne. If labels keep missing out on the hot new thing, maybe they will bring back the good old days by generating whole new albums for bankable acts in their back catalogue.
If you are a young singer or songwriter, the news is good and bad. There are more routes to all levels of success than ever before, and you can have more control over your music and your career than many of the greats that have come before you. The bad news is the greats may be coming back from the past to take on the charts. The competition for a place on people’s playlists is going to be harder than ever before.
