July 1, 1979. On this day the Sony Walkman had been released and yet again, music as we knew it, changed. The idea to have a device that is able to play music anytime and anywhere was revolutionary. Today, we just press a button or touch a screen and music gets played, either from a memory card or streamed online.
A world so free was unthinkable for previous generations. Money is not always bad! Money. This is what is needed to operate such a well oiled industry. From the creative spark, through the record company and marketing departments, it reaches the audience fast and in perfect quality. Those lucky ones with some talent, but even better if connections and management, can make a fortune that will provide luxury for generations to come. It was not always that easy!
In the beginning (and for the sake of simplicity let’s not start from the caveman, but rather the antiquity) music was not considered intellectual property, but a gift from the gods. As such, it was to be distributed freely to audiences across Greek and Roman cities. Then, the Church came along and confiscated music for sacred goals. Even the musician as a profession did not exist for many centuries to come.
In the Renaissance era money challenged the Church privileges and secular music appeared again. Surly, only for the rich, living in castles! The technology to print was still a novelty, and a capital intensive industry, but there was demand as new social classes appeared. Culture, and with it music, became more accessible for many. Slowly, but surly music reached even the lower classes, making music a universally liked and demanded art form.
Along the change in thinking and taste, the status of the composer (or the musician), had changed, too. First, as a channel for a gift from above, then a mere profession just as any other, until we reach the Artist. No other composer did so much to elevate music making to match other arts, as Beethoven. In fact, he was the first really free composer in Vienna, he was not employed nor told how and what to compose. He was a truly freelancer artist.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, even for big names like Mozart or Beethoven, it was difficult to live only by free market sources. They were still dependent on royals or aristocrats to commission music. As decades passed and the consumer base for music widened, more and more institutions were available to stage concerts. Music publishing with copyrights provided royalties for musicians. The business of music became more professional with actors focusing on promotion, organization and finances, taking a significant burned off from the shoulders of the musicians.
Today music appetite is still a big and growing business. Musicians have access to markets globally, streaming made music even more free (but not free of charge). On the downside, music became a digital product, where professionals are measuring, segmenting, branding, running them at focus groups and the ones serving the trend of the coming summer’s hit expectations, are the ones to survive. The gift from the Muse is not necessary, as long as the new song matches the taste of the next fifteen minutes…
(On how a composer like Beethoven made money, what were the main sources of his income, read our article: The music business of the 19th century )
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The music business of the 19th century
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