As the music industry has developed and changed a lot has happened in the terms of digital media, distribution being one of the main developments. The Majors (Sony) have had to adapt to this, as well as Independent (Indie) Record Lables (Domino). However the audience has seemed to of blossom in this new age, becoming more active in there own age of music (prosumers). Then you have unique individuals like Beck 'Score and Song Reader' who have completely changed the way things are done in the music industry with their D.I.Y attitude.
Major record labels are greatly effected by digital distribution. Sony, is one of the big three a group of the most influental companies in the music industry, so much so that they own over 78% of the muisc industry, alot less than they used to but still powerful. The big three however used to be the big four; EMI was a previous major but was shut down as the technology age came about and more importantly the internet, this was as they tried to stop things like copyright infringement. This more importantly is digital distribution as the internet allows audiences to download for free. Then there is the matter of marketing, the usual typical way of advertisement was through billboard, radio, tv etc. However with the new Digital age they've had to adapt there marketing techniques this though is done in hidden ways. A huge successful way that Sony has used to advertise their music is through X-Factor a hit TV show all over the world, but mostly sticks to western cultures. Using there subsidiary label SyCo they have worked in the backgrounds hitting the charts as there mainstream audiences follow the trends of downloading the music from the favourite artist on the show. This is there main adaptation, also due to website allowing free access to music as well as downloads they have also had to change the way the audience consumes the music. With little to no money in buying music they instead make people pay for the experience. Tickets to attend these X-Factor live performances are greatly expensive so they get what they lose in music sales on ticket sales. Also, the idea that you can 'vote' in X-Faxtor is a fraud you vote for Sony statistics, they want to know what the audience thinks and the audience truly believe they keep the ones that they know the audience would like, not only for the music but for the looks. Visualisation is a huge part of the X-Factor, it has got the artists where they are now. An example of this would be one-direction a world famous group that is more famous for there looks and style then their actual music. In conclusion, you could say at first Sony were greatly affected by this new digital age but have learnt to adapt their marketing and consumption techniques to suit there large mainstream audiences by not directing their focus on the music and becoming even more vertically and horizontally integrated in the music business, this is only enhanced through visualisation.
Then there are Independent record label (Indies), not as large as majors, but they have thrived in this new digital age. The indie label I looked into was Domino. Indie labels typically have niche audiences, which are loyal to them a community almost. This means that they don't need to reach out to advertise their artists or their music. The audience would go to them and their website is full of promotions for each and every artist. With there more famous artists however, such as 'The Arctic Monkeys' they get there fans to advertise their music, they either follow the group or artist on a social networking site and will spread news fast of a new song, album or event happening. Furthermore as the artists have Niche audiences they get more money as their audience wants them to succeed, wants them to produce more as they are a loyal fan base, completely different to mainstream downloaders. But much like majors, Indies still use the same methods to sell the music to their audience which means that if there artists do become famous, such as The Arctic Monkeys, then mainstream audiences would illegally download the songs and the hard work that the niche audiences have put in to helping them succeed wouldn't have done much good for the group in the long run. Also they don't need to reach out to find new artists, the audience finds them for the label. So, overall, for Indie they depend on the internet in order to keep going like they are and even make themselves better. Some Indie labels like domino have started to reach to audiences at a national level which is only really possible due to digital advancement. So it greatly effects indie labels, but in a good way as it has helped them reach out and develop to next levels.
The audience has embraced the digital age with open arms. The part of the audience that is prosumers works hard in order to make their own music. However this isn't their own as they haven't produced the music in its original form only mash it up along with other song but the amount of songs can vary depending on the Prosumer. This however goes back to Sony as even though it is huge copyright infringement the audience, but this is free advertisement for them as eventually the prosumers become quite famous. Madeon, a french prosumer, has become quite famous due to his music 'music culture'. However all prosumers are online and there advertisement comes from a slow growing fan base that they hope would tell their friends about them. But prosumers do this for free however they can put there music on places like iTunes, but it is incredibly expensive so for the most part they keep there music on free sites as unless they are really successful like Madeon then there music won't really sell. So prosumers don't really gain anything from the new digital gain anything, they just help promote other artists as well as leave viewers wanting to listen or buy one of the song in the mash-up so they help both majors and indies. So in the case of prosumers digital distribution is affected to help the labels as prosumers mashup-ups not only apply to mainstream but also niche audiences.
The D.I.Y (Do it yourself) attitude has spread across niche audiences with the help of Beck. He is an independent artist that has posted his music sheets online that his niche audience, especially the part of the audience that performs music. Beck uses his audience to market his songs as he doesn't stick to a specific genre of people meaning that his niche audience is more widespread. This means that when his music is reproduced there is larger fan base. But Becks' D.IY attitude has really flipped the stereotypical ideals of music as by letting people use his music he is advertising himself and his music. Also as these are niche audiences the new artists would need to give credit to beck who would then be getting a larger fan base as everyone would want to hear the original version. This is his marketing, through digital media and more importantly free sights such as YouTube, he has largely promoted his audience. This then means a larger consumption rate. Furthermore if the artist become quite popular then beck could perform/tour with them as he owns the rights to the song. So all in all digital distribution has affected the D.I.Y attitude in the sense that it has given it the opportunity to expand.
In conclusion, you could say that digital distribution has effected marketing and consumption greatly. But this is both for the good and the bad as it has allowed everything to expand massively and fully allow it to reach its potential. Even majors who at first greatly opposed of this found that digital media has effected to the point where it has become better.