Page 31 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report

A recent study by Nielsen shows that willingness to pay increases signi cantly when a numberof products and services that complement the music experience are available. Fans want more; they no longer settle for just pressing the play button and this is a need that is not being met. There is an underlying wish to connect at a higher level than is currently available.New music consumers are calling for a new form of consumption because they value consumption di erently. And the facts prove this. A revealing case is that of Sweden, a country where stream- ing is a larger source of music industry revenue than downloads and CD sales – that is, a country where music has become a service instead ofa product. What is more, in Sweden streaming accounts for 91% of digital revenue, whereas in the rest of the world the gure stands at only 13%. Indeed, in 2012, the rst year the music industry recorded an upturn since 1999, growth in Sweden amounted to 13.8%, compared to 0.2% in the rest of the world.Whatever the case, ghting against people’s changing music consumption habits should under no circumstances entail accusing customers of piracy; rather, it should involve strategically building their perceived value of the music they consume. In this respect technology is light years ahead of the music industry, which has a lot to learn from it about working for and on behalf of the people who consume its music and about generating unique experiences that make them a fundamental part of our new way of discovering, accessing, consuming and sharing the music we like.From music as a product to music as a serviceMusic is evidently ceasing to be a product and turning into a service. It used to be impossible to buy a song you liked without having to purchase the whole album or to listen to a little-known local musician unless you lived in the samecountry or belonged to his circle. Thanks to technology, especially the internet, we listen to more music than ever and artists have an easier time getting their content to audiences keen for new experiences, without middlemen.Thanks to technology, especially the internet, we listen to more music than ever and artists have an easier time getting their content to audiences keen for new experiences, without middlemen.Enjoying access to music is increasingly taking over from owning it: consumers can access their music anytime, anywhere, and above all from any device. Music that is distributed in physical format only is set to become a handicap or a product aimed more at collectors.Some time ago I discovered George Yúdice and his book Nuevas tecnologías, música y experiencia, unmistakeably one of the best I have read for understanding the impact of technology on people’s music consumption habits:One of the consequences of technological innova- tion is the growing ubiquity of music: there are few spaces where it is not present. Today, more than ever, music accompanies us at all times and is part of our experiences.MP3s, iPods, mobile phones... are prosthetic devices that project and shape someone’s personal space, allowing him to take along his own “soundtrack” and making the person who carries them a new type of âneur who not only gazesat wares in the city’s shop windows but carries around his own playlist (services like Spotify).The fact that iPod users inhabit a sort ofuniverse of their own with themselves and their “soundtrack” does not mean to say that they are not part of socialisation networks linked to music.In Yúdice’s view, the same technologies that make this type of private experience possible also make possible new forms of interactivity, of strengthening bonds of belonging and sociability, resulting in a new type of collective experience.AC/E DIGITAL CULTURE ANNUAL REPORT 201731Smart culture. Analysis of digital trends