| Abstract: |
Since its early days, the Internet has been used by the music industry as a
powerful marketing tool to promote artists and their products. Nevertheless,
technology developments of the past ten years, and especially the ever-growing
phenomenon of filesharing, have created the general impression that the
Internet is responsible for a crisis within the industry, on the grounds that
music piracy has become more serious than it has ever been. The purpose of
this paper is to present the impact of new technologies and the Internet on
the three main actors of the music industry: consumers, artists and record
companies. It is claimed that the Internet has changed the way music is
valued, and also, that it may have a direct effect on the quality of the music
produced, as perceived by both artists and consumers alike. |