Technology vs. the Music Industry

Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist, speaks about the choices that people make. The example he uses that stands out most to me is the portion of the video about organ donation. After showing a chart of individual countries and their percentages of drivers donating their organs, Ariely shows the DMV forms that countries with a high percentage use against the countries with lower percentages. Countries with low percentages use a box that contains a check mark if you want to participate in organ donation, meaning that most people do not wish to check the box. Countries with a higher organ donation percentage have a box at the DMV that states “Check if you don’t want to participate in organ donation program”. Since these countries had a higher percentage it means that drivers, much like countries with a low percentage, did not check the box on the form. This may mean that drivers either have very different viewpoints, even on culturally similar countries. This can also mean that drivers did not want to put forth any more effort into checking boxes on the DMV forms.

In Neil Postman’s article “Judgment of Thamus”, he quotes Freud by saying “Our inventions are but improved means to an unimproved end.” I must agree with this. This quote sums up the basic direction of the music industry. Our technology is rapidly improving, especially with audio devices. The new 80G iPods with video, radio, pedometer, and photo capabilities are much more advanced than the Sony Walkman or the Rio. While these technologies make our lives simpler and more convenient, these devices are also slowly tearing apart the music industry. The dawning of the mp3 has caused steady decreases in physical album sales, and in turn the amount of illegal downloads has been constantly rising.

Time Healy’s article, “ The Unanticipated Consequences of Technology” discusses that certain “fear” we have of technological advances. Healy introduces this concept of uncertainty with the example of Dolly, a lamb which was cloned by Scottish researchers. Since we don’t know what will happen, or what the consequences of our actions will be, we can only anticipate change. Dietrich Dorner is quoted in the article to say there are four reasons why consequences can be so difficult to anticipate: complexity, dynamics, intransparence, and ignorance and mistaken hypothesis. Many fear what is next in the Music Industry. After working at RCA Records this past summer, it was clear that the constant additions to the digital marketing department was the label’s reaction to the uncertainty of where technology will be taking us. More and more record label’s have been turning to internet sites such as Vevo, Twitter, and Facebook to help keep fans interested. What I find is even more interesting is the new trend of releasing a new album on vinyl when most do not have record players anymore. Will avoiding new technology be the music industry's answer to retaining their sales? We will just have to wait to see.