Moving on up
By M.S.L.J.
THE festive season is one of good food, warm drinks and, often, fantastic television and jolly tunes. The coming year will not be one which lacks mirth for the entertainment and music industries either, according to Alexandra Suich, The Economist’s media editor, as seen in our video above.
The internet, for example, long the foe of music executives for its role in file sharing and track swapping, will instead give them something to sing about:
“Subscription services such as Spotify and Deezer, which allow users to stream music for a monthly fee or in exchange for listening to advertisements, will add listeners. So will online-radio services like Pandora and iTunes Radio. And more digital-music firms will be launched. They will strike deals with new artists, or buy exclusive rights to star singers’ songs, to differentiate their music libraries from those of competitors.”
Exciting changes are afoot for live music too. Fans themselves will help determine when and where artists go on tour:
“In 2014 record labels and bands will use new tools to sell and share their tunes. It will become more common for bands and managers to use data about where fans are listening to them in order to decide where to tour. More start-ups will get going in 2014 and disrupt the normal way of doing things. SongKick, a London firm, lets fans enter credit-card details and pledge to buy a concert ticket for their favourite band if they will perform in their town. These guaranteed ticket sales mean smaller artists can do shows that would otherwise be too risky.”
Television habits are also being changed by the internet. Online videos and series will compete more strongly with established networks. Several factors are encouraging television’s migration to the internet:
Faster broadband will make it easier to watch videos delivered online without having to wait ages for them to load. People will buy more internet-enabled “smart” television sets, bringing websites once accessible mainly from laptops and tablets to bigger screens. In 2014 firms such as Sony and Intel will launch “over the top” services, which deliver television programmes over the internet. Apple’s long-awaited television offering may come to fruition.Meanwhile, online video is getting slicker and less short-form. Video-subscription services like Netflix and Amazon, which stream films and television shows online, are investing in their own high-quality “TV” shows.YouTube is trying to refashion itself into a direct competitor to television.
The entertainment industry can expect a more democratic 2014, as viewers, listeners and fans decide what they want to see and hear, and, crucially, where they want to enjoy it. Online or on DVD? On the radio or on Spotify? Cassandra predicts that great shows will soon no longer air just at Christmas.
