Change in the mode of consumption of a good or a service over a period of time is shaped by available technologies, cross cultural learning, changing lifestyle, disposable income and others. Music has witnessed this change like none other. Initially it was a service, going strictly by the characteristics of services i.e. inseparability between consumption and production. For ages, emperors and common men consumed it through concerts or some arrangement where it was played directly in person. No sooner than the recording technology came, music became a product as well in addition to its being a service. Now you could store it for later consumption. Inseparability between production and consumption met extinction. We started to feel more emancipated and empowered since we were no longer tied to a ‘schedule’. We could now sync music to our lives the way wish. With an improvement in technology of recording and playing devices we got more control over its consumption. Walkman by Akoi Morita (Sony) further enhanced place utility of music. You could consume music now at any place. Apple’s Classic ipod, 160 GB model discontinued this month, made the device more handy, offered phenomenal storage space and back up in addition to improving sound quality. Over a period of years a very strong medium of consumption of music also emerged side by side, i.e. radio. This medium has been known for its reach. It was a very powerful medium when recording technology was not available to masses. Binaca/Cibaca Geetmala, Vivid bharati and others were having unparalleled following among middle class and rural populace in India. At present, its new avatar i.e. FM, is a huge hit among youngsters. The advent of internet again had a profound impact on music consumption behavior. Now you need not to borrow or rent CD/DVD to get your favorite music rather you could get it by downloading or sharing the same on internet. Popular music sharing websites like Netscape almost sounded like a death bell to music industry. Once again music consumption behavior is changing globally. Now increasingly a larger proportion of people wish to listen music via music streaming services like Pandora, Spotify and others. What glaringly Steve Jobs ignored was that people now prefer to ‘rent’ music rather than ‘purchasing’ the same. “After years of steady growth, digital-music downloads globally declined slightly last year, according to IFPI, the recording industry trade group. Downloads still dwarf streaming — 67 percent versus 27 percent worldwide last year — but tastes are changing. Revenue from streaming has more than tripled since 2010, surpassing $1 billion for the first time last year, IFPI data show”.[bloomberg/news/2014-05-09/why-apple-may-need-beats-music-streaming-more-than-trendy-headphones.html, accessed on 20-11-2014] They are like customizable internet FM stations. You can access them globally. Apple recently shelled out $3.2 billion for Beats Electronics. Though contribution of music downloads to Apple’s revenue stream is only $4 billion i.e. around 2.5 percent, but still Apple doesn’t want to loosen its grip on music industry which it resurrected ones. Here say suggests that it has acquired the Beats for its algorithm used for streaming music in addition to many other reasons. Lets get ready for one more change in the way we consume music!
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 18:42:00 +0000
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