Local Musicians Adapt to Internet-based Music Industry

 

In a music industry that has largely become Internet based over the last decade, artists have learned how to adapt to make their music known. Music lovers can purchase single songs versus whole albums through iTunes – or not at all through websites like Pandora and Grooveshark, where listeners can pick and choose what artists and albums they want to hear for free. The CD shop has become somewhat of a novelty due to the fact that people choose to store their music on iPods and even their cell phones.

With the accessibility of music, people are not just listening at home or in their cars anymore. “I listen to music all the time when I’m at work,” said Tim Wickstrom, owner and operator of the Wildcat Market on Columbia Avenue, “and I always listen to Pandora.” This new way of connecting with your favorite music has led up and coming artists and down to the bone music fans to join in with the revolution instead of fighting against it.

While many have speculated that the turn towards the Internet, as the main source of streaming music, would leave a negative mark on the music industry, in some ways it has done the opposite. Artists are realizing that getting your name out there isn’t always as easy as it seems, which creates communities between local musicians rather than competitions. “If I like a band a lot, I’ll help them out and buy their CD,” said Jared Loucks, guitarist for Lexington-based band Beyond the Shore.

The change to the web has also led up and coming artists to do a lot of their own promotions. Whether through Facebook or Twitter, if bands want to keep people interested, they have to always be available for their fans. “It’s all about how you market yourself,” Loucks said. “If you have good music and a good image, people will be more likely to buy music from the band.”

While the days of posting flyers around local bars and campuses aren’t dead, the web provides a source of fans to take advantage of. The approach of many artists is to work with the Internet, but remain true to the “musician’s lifestyle”. “It has changed my approach a lot,” said local musician Sherwin Farhoudi. “When I go to get gigs, I always say ‘visit my Myspace page’.  Recently though I’ve been…trying to do it old school and credit locally and from hear say.”

- Marissa Elko