Live Music Lives

As the story from the Age newspaper on the 22/09/2011 reports, live music is a significant and growing contributor to the economy. This growth is a direct consequence of the Internet and the availability of free digital file sharing.

The Death of the recording Industry
The Internet has significantly built the live music Industry but there has been no corresponding increase for the recording industry. As live music flourishes, the recording Industry faces a decline. As Ben Shepard points out, in 2010, album sales dropped 13%, single sales were up 5.9% and overall sales dropped 2.5%. They sold fewer albums but more singles, but as they make 10 times the revenue on an album than on a single, so for every $10 lost only $1 was found.

The Rebirth of Live Music

Live music, on the other hand prospers, in Australia (and globally) it is significantly larger than the recording industry. $1.21 billion of revenue was generated during the 2009-10 financial year, with 41.97 million people attending 328,000 gigs in 3904 venues. The music festival market is worth $150-230m in annual revenue alone, and a large tour can gross around $12-15m. However, an album that goes double platinum in this country is lucky to generate $2.8m in total revenue.

The Internet’s role in promoting Live Music

Digital file sharing via the Internet has allowed music to be freely exchanged. Discretionary spending is finite; this means that if less money is spent on recorded music then more money is available to see a live concert. Also the internet delivers a wider range of music to a larger audience then before, thereby increasing the demand for live performances.

Increased Player participation

Seeing music performed live is better than listening to a recording. This is reflected in the cost, live performances being more expensive than a recording, more so now that most recordings can be obtained free of charge. A live performance is more inspirational so

·        More people see live concerts

·        More people get inspired

Is it any wonder that musical Instrument sales have doubled since 2001?

The Internet and learning a Musical Instrument

Not only has the Internet contributed to the popularity of playing an Instrument, it also makes it very easy to learn. There are many sites on the Web dedicated to teaching music. A good place to start if you want to learn Guitar is fingerpickingguitarsolos though there are many others.