How Social Media Has Revolutionized The Music Industry

"Social networks put the power of discovery into the hands of fans," says Dave Haynes of Soundcloud, a social network where artists can share music. "In the past, there were just a few gatekeepers to music, and you had a powerful network of labels, A&R men, radio and TV executives and magazines who decided what you should be listening to. Now, it's so much easier to find out what your friends are listening to or what other people who like the same music on the other side of the world are recommending."


(Via http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/sep/05/twitter-power-social-networking-music)

Today, you can discover music from across the world through Youtube, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, OfficialFM etc and buy music directly from the artists, thereby bypassing record labels, firmly transferring control back into the bands of the artists.

The internet has revolutionized music sales, as can be observed from this really cool .gif image. From vinyl records to CDs to mp3 downloads with a recent small but significant resurgence of more physical music forms like LPs.

Additional reading:
http://www.indieandunsigned.com/what-is-the-future-of-the-music-industry-part-1/
http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2012/05/28/why-social-networks-need-musicians/
http://socialmediatoday.com/vashon-60/200287/social-media-success-music-industry