Marshall McLuhan saw past the facts and sought to find a deeper message through the media itself and it’s effects on society. If Marshall were here today to describe iTunes as a whole (including Ping) he would look passed the obvious services it provides like it being a digital platform for music purchasing.
For my image explanation I will describe some of the effects iTunes has had on society.
Effect 1: Death to the album, and rise of the single.
The CD symbolized the honeymoon era for the recording industry, which reveled in selling complete albums to consumers at a handsome price. The artist who benefited by this arrangement was the one who saw the full-length album as an opportunity to experiment and create a cohesive musical program. The artist who lagged behind was a one-hit wonder whose album was mainly filler and didn’t carry that energy throughout the whole album.
Apple's pricing model once again lets consumers to peck around for specific songs, not albums. For record companies, iTunes' debut meant the demise of “album” artists, such as Pink Floyd and Wilco, and the rise of manufactured pop stars such as Katy Perry and Kesha. These surefire moneymakers are not built for album sales; the model in which they work best is the instant gratification of iTunes, which requires no other commitment from buyers than 99 cents and a few clicks of a mouse.
Effect 2: The rise of portable music
Portability, as opposed to the home stereo, is now an essential component of music consumption. The success of iTunes broke open the market for handheld devices, from the smart phone to Amazon’s Kindle which are all hardware featuring MP3 playback, wherever and whenever the consumer wants. This new consumer expectation gives iTunes more power than ever. With so many portable devices involved in everyone’s daily life, the Apple store is the primary place to access content.
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