The Benefit Of Digital Media In The Music Industry

Digital media has greatly changed the music industry for better or worse in many different ways, some might argue that digital media has greatly changed the music for the worse due to monetization challenges causing artists to receive fractions of a penny per stream on platforms like Spotify where these type of monetization challenges is leaving independent artist struggling to make ends meet (staff, W. 2024, -12-06) However, I believe that digital media has greatly changed the music industry for the better and has provided many great benefits to the scene some benefits include an increase in global reach and accessibility, an increase of ease of distribution and better fan engagement and community building.   

image Source :https://www.thenation.com/article/society/music-industry-ipod/

image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starboy_%28album%29

The Weeknd

One of my favorite songs from my playlist is “Starboy” by The Weeknd, The Weeknd is a part of XO (record label) a Canadian record label where he produces and makes music. The Weeknd owns the record label being the founder of it in 2011 (XO (record label) (2025)). I mainly listen to his music through Spotify so it doesn't cost me anything to listen to his music, it is estimated that the artist makes $0.00318 per stream on Spotify and it is also estimated that 30% of that $0.00318 goes to Spotify making to 70/30 split between the artist and Spotify (DittoMusic(2025)), I feel like this is a fair way to distribute the wealth between the artist and distributer because the artist still gets the majority of the money while the distributor also gets it fair share for allowing the artist to use their platform to share their music. Also, digital media allowed artists to increase their global reach and accessibility.   

Kendrick Lamar

Another one of my favorite songs is “All the Stars” by Kendrick Lamar. Kendrick Lamar is a part of multiple American record labels such as pgLang,  Top Dawg Entertainment, and Aftermath. I mainly listen to his music through Spotify so it doesn't cost me anything to listen to his music, it is estimated that the artist makes $0.00318 cents per stream on Spotify and it is also estimated that 30% of that $0.00318 goes to Spotify making to 70/30 split between the artist and Spotify (DittoMusic(2025)), I feel like this is a fair way to distribute the wealth between the artist and distributer because the artist still gets the majority of the money from streams while the distributor also gets it fair share for allowing the artist to use their platform to share their music to the masses. Also, it was digital media that helped the artist distribute their work to a bigger fan base.  .

image source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/kendrick-lamar-surprise-album-gnx-1236069510/

Sabrina Carpenter

Lastly, one of my favorite songs is “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter. Sabrina Carpenter is currently signed to the American record label Island Records where she currently makes and produces music. I mainly listen to her music through Spotify so it doesn't cost me anything to listen to his music, it is estimated that the artist makes $0.00318 cents per stream on Spotify and it is also estimated that 30% of that $0.00318 goes to Spotify making to 70/30 split between the artist and Spotify (DittoMusic(2025)), I feel like this is a fair way to distribute the wealth between the artist and distributer because the artist still gets the majority of the money while the distributor also gets it fair share for allowing the artist to use their platform to share their music. Also, it was digital media that helped the artist create better fan engagement and helped her build a community of dedicated fans. 

                                        image source: https://brignews.com/2024/09/23/album-review-shes-working-lateshort-n-sweet/

Conclusion

In conclusion, digital media has greatly changed the music industry for the better and has provided many great benefits to the scene some benefits include an increase in global reach and accessibility, an increase in ease of distribution, and better fan engagement and community building. One way digital media has created an increase in global reach and accessibility is the creation of streaming platforms services like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube have given artists a global stage to showcase their music, and these sites as grown more popular by the year as seen in Spotify having an increase of millions of users throughout the years (Kakar, K. 2025). One way digital media has been beneficial to the music industry is by increasing the ease of distribution, Artists can release music instantly via platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube making it easier to access because they are all free. Lastly, one way digital media has been beneficial to the music industry is better fan engagement and community building, social media platforms and other digital tools enable artists to engage with their fans directly. This can create a deeper connection and loyalty, while also providing alternative revenue streams like merchandise sales, exclusive content, and crowdfunded projects. 

Image Source: https://royaltyexchange.com/blog/the-music-industry-in-2024-a-snapshot

References

How much does spotify pay per stream in 2025. Retrieved Mar 2, 2025, from https://dittomusic.com/en/blog/how-much-does-spotify-pay-per-stream 

 

Kakar, K. How spotify works: Business model and revenue streams. Retrieved Mar 2, 2025, from https://insights.daffodilsw.com/blog/how-spotify-works-business-model-and-revenue-streams 

 

staff, W. (2024, -12-06). Playing for pennies: How streaming royalties leave independent artists struggling - the wash. Message posted to https://thewash.org/2024/12/06/playing-for-pennies-how-streaming-royalties-leave-independent-artists-struggling/ 

 

XO (record label)(2025). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=XO_(record_label)&oldid=1276264569