Looking upon the industry there are two structured ways in which an artist makes their big break.
One, being where an artist is scouted via YouTube or general gigging by a label and two being where an artist gradually rises to the surface through the use of social media as fans build their existence. As the current market grows, it is majorly based through the support the music is getting encircling the internet.
Each of these involve society dictating. Society is key, without consistent backing from individuals, there would be no establishment of what is ‘cool’ or a ‘popular’ act. Even with the use of labels and radio companies promoting an act, society is still what equates the industry and to what status music has. In order for an act to become so successful, it comes from joint forces of both society and labels.
Music streaming is transforming the music industry in more ways than just turning sales to rentals. In the modern day we live in, social media is involved in the day to day routine. As society becomes more capable in regards of technology, the use of getting your hands on the latest tracks becomes swifter and cheaper through the use of specific sites. “The rise of streaming music services, where the major labels’ control is weaker, and the decline of FM radio, where the labels’ control is powerful, has had a clear effect on the power of indie”. People are just not willing to pay for music anymore and the streaming services are often looked at as the enemy, but they are the ones delivering the music to the consumers. Without such sites, some unknown artists will have never made their big break. It takes such force to highlight and catch the attention of these big labels to capture what is becoming popular to the public’s interest.
However less artists are getting record deals, labels don’t have as many resources to promote artists, and most artists don’t earn nearly what they used to. This is where it is important to reflect what society believes is ‘cool’. If artists are being purely promoted through what a label believes will be successful will not drive enough forces as the backing of music lovers. In the opposite corner, it is also important to take into consideration what big card labels and radio stations do have over building up an artist’s status. Such artists as Justin Bieber mirrors this. Justin Bieber is one of the biggest artists in the music industry to date, raking in 1,132,407,968 views alone on ‘Baby’. Even though he is now signed to a huge label, he only captured their attention through the success he was gaining on his YouTube page and the mania his fans were creating. Indicating that it is okay for society to dictate what is ‘cool’.