RE: Tidal, strip-club inspiration and Tesla cars: Akon interviewed
In a recent interview with the Charlatan, Akon stated his theory that physical music (such as albums and vinyl records) would be obsolete within two years’ time, thanks to services like iTunes, Spotify, and SoundCloud. The creator of Konvicted said the concept of purchasing vinyl records and albums has already been overtaken by digital libraries, and the only market left to sell to will be collectors.
Although Akon’s thoughts on iTunes and Spotify overtaking physical music are on the right track, he seems to have forgotten how the music industry has evolved along with technology. We’ve simply found a new medium in which we can consume music, and if anything it makes it much more accessible to places all around the world. For example, when was the last time you saw K-Pop albums being sold at your local HMV?
Physical music is certainly not an outdated concept, and it does have its pros. Yes, it’s more troublesome to pay for an album in a store, but owning a hard copy of your favourite album automatically makes it a collector’s item. Without hard copy sales, we wouldn’t have platinum records, nor the accolades to award artists who have made their respective marks in the industry.
Yet the concept of purchasing songs over iTunes and having them download instantly onto my computer, phone, or any other device which supports the program is convenient. It gets even easier with Spotify, an app which allows you to create playlists with songs uploaded to a cloud by other people. If you’re connected to the Internet, you can listen to it whenever you want, and the same concept is present in SoundCloud. To boot, it’s an incredibly organized way to own 2,000+ songs. Could you imagine trying to find a spot in your house for that many records?
But determining whether or not physical music has run its course lies in the consumers and what they want.
Not everyone owns a computer or phone, and not everybody has a means of accessing music databases. The thing is, a lot of people love music, and a lot of people love to enjoy it in their own way—whether that’s mass-downloading the Beyoncé discography to your laptop or playing a Lenny Kravitz record with wine and cheese in your room, people will depend on both sides regardless.
Physical music will eventually be obsolete, but not any time soon. I agree with the concept of moving to digital personally, but there’s no way records and albums will be nothing but fiberglass within the next two years. Akon’s theory was way off, but it was travelling in the direction I believe the music industry should head down. Maybe he should try an iTunes promo if he’s so certain.
