The Music Industry Crisis

For most of the 20th century, tangible products like 8-bit, cassette tapes, vinyls and CDs were the main ways to listen to music, however within the 21st century it is not the case.

With the introduction of the MP3 player in the 21st century, music in either forms of a single song or a whole album could be bought through the apple iTunes store. This resulted in the decreasing sales of tangible products in shops such as HMV. As internet music sales continue to rise to this very day, CD sales are constantly falling.

Piracy and illegally streaming songs became popular too. In 2009, 95% of music was downloaded illegally.Commodity (of CDs and products alike) depend on status and value. This may be why now vinyls have come back into fashion, as super fans of bands and artists can gain them to show of their status and their value (as a fan and the tangible product itself).