Artifacts in the Digital Age

Merriam Webster defines artifact as:

artifact  a : something created by humans usually for a practical purpose; especially : an object    remaining from a particular period <caves containing prehistoric artifacts>

According to a 2010 CNN article, “Total revenue from U.S. music sales and licensing plunged to $6.3 billion in 2009, according to Forrester Research. In 1999, that revenue figure topped $14.6 billion.” This dramatic decrease in revenue has created pain for the record labels, forcing them to adapt to a new model.

In his 2012 book How Music Works, David Byrne makes a strong argument that labels were in the business to sell vinyl, cassettes and compact discs, but not really music. The drop in music sales since 1999 is evidence that supports Byrne’s case.  Digital media, such as the mp3, offered consumers a new choice in how to acquire music, so people stopped buying compact discs.  In the digital medium, the music itself is what the consumer is purchasing, or downloading for free, for the first time since recorded music has been made available for purchase.  Without a physical product to own, music fans have revised their beliefs about ownership of recorded music.  The artifact is no longer a necessity for consuming music, leaving the record labels lacking wares to sell.

As the technology transformed from physical to digital, publishers were slow to accept this change.  And why would they cooperate?  The digital download would not match the revenue they previously earned from physical sales.  Their resistance to adapt cost them billions of dollars in earnings. There was demand for the new digital medium, but little supply, at least legally, until Apple worked out a deal with some of the major labels to begin selling digital media on their online music store, iTunes.  Record labels and publishers are finally working with digital distributors and online streaming services, but they may have been too late to adapt.

The record labels’ hostility to the digital medium is not the first instance of opposition to change in the music industry.  Going back to the Byrne book, recorded music made it possible to listen to music away from the concert hall. At that time, there was resistance from musicians believing that recorded music would wreck the music business. The reality is the artifacts, from wax cylinders to compact discs, were merely “something created by humans…for a practical purpose” of delivering music. These artifacts did not destroy the industry but expanded it. Labels were the intermediary that could facilitate the recording and distribution of music.

Technology has continually improved from wax cylinders to today’s high-quality streaming services. Technology has removed the need for artifacts, at least in the sense that we have understood them over the century. Record labels and publishers will need to continue to adapt to the new technologies if they are to survive.