Music distribution has taken a new shape in recent years, with our music moving away form tangible music like CDs and LPs to mostly digital formats. The advance of the internet has made it easier for people to access music, but it has also given rise to piracy and many problems in distribution. With many people accustomed to the convenience of accessing digital music whenever they please, the value of music has decreased as people expect to get their music easily and quickly.
In response to these changes, streaming services such as Pandora and Spotify have introduced new options for music discovery and listening, opening a whole new distribution network that has quickly become the norm. However, fed up with a system that doesn’t support artists and their music, Jay-Z is starting a new ad-free music streaming service that cuts the middleman so that musicians can directly distribute their music to their audiences. With support from his friends and colleagues, the megastar shows off what the service is about and how historic such an event is.
With a monthly cost of $20, we can’t shake off the feeling that the artists are focused too much on what they are losing and not thinking about what matters to the people listening to their music. Maybe they should leave distribution to the people that are good at what they do, but we will have to see how Jay-Z and Co. come out in the end.