Times are changing in the music industry

In class, though I was partly able to convey my knowledge on new media and its effects on the music industry, I would like to dive deeper into this subject, being that it has had a direct impact on my life. In order to fully comprehend the drastic changes that have resulted in the music industry as a result of new media, I will focus on its effects on the artistic side of being an artist, supporting this with my personal experiences in the music industry.
For about fifteen years my brother and I have been writing songs. Though we began taking piano lessons at the age of four, we had not considered creating music until the age of six when my mom suggested that we write a song for Santa Clause. When “Santa” (Our next door neighbor Steve) belted a jolly “ho ho ho” after hearing our first masterpiece, “Santa’s Speeding Slay,” we were hooked, and haven’t stopped writing since.

Hundreds of songs later, we have recently signed a publishing deal with CherryLane, a company renowned for its abilities to place songs in various media fields. In exchange for 25% of each song we have written, they gave us the money to convert our basement into a studio, thus allowing us to record high quality songs, which they would pitch to TV. programs, movies, commercials, etc. After sending them dozens of song ideas, we discovered a trend in the songs they selected to pitch for film and TV. They seemed to be only interested in the most upbeat, catchy songs in the bunch. When we asked what we should do to increase their odds of placing our songs, their response caught me be surprise. Apparently our songs needed to have an
even more poppy, upbeat feel. On top of this, they suggested that our lyrics should in most cases contain a message of “change for the better,” and “being able to accomplish anything if you put your mind to it.” As a result we began only writing songs that fit these guidelines, and within days landed our first big placement with the song we entitled “Brighter days await you.” We also placed a song called "Hello Kitty" in the new Hello Kitty album (I know you're jelous...haha) As an artist, it became more and more difficult to find the time to write songs about things I cared about that weren't necessarily mainstream, knowing that these songs would almost certainly put no money in my pocket. Many artist, also seeing the benefits of writing songs for various forms of entertainment have decided to write more upbeat, generic pop songs hoping to land a publishing deal as well.

I hope this has given you some insight as to how new media has altered the artistic side of creating music. Stay tuned, for I will be posting another blog explaining how new media has forced artists and labels to reassess the most effective ways to promote ones music to potential fans.