CIU111: Overview of Industry - Bachelor of Audio - Portfolio Writing Assessment Answers

Introduction:The aim of the assignment is to analyze and describe specific needs of the Audio industry in NSW. The analyzation will take place in order to achieve the competition raised by the increased level of production of creative services. A detailed report of strategies and analyzation will be presented in this assignment to critically examine the solutions. It will involve all the circumstances related to production, marketing, distribution and consumption of the produced material. The problems associated with it will be outlined and proper strategy will be discussed to implement in the current situation. The audio industry is facing a huge challenge mainly due to digitization. The technological advances have affected the audio industry in NSW as the introduction of new types of equipment and upgradation of software has caused a rise in competition. It can serve as an opportunity instead of a threat if proper adaption can take place according to the latest technology. The issue faced by the audio industry recently is going to be outlined and the solutions will be discussed.

Description:

Outline of the issues

From the recent statistics, it has been observed that in NSW, audio industry has performed well in selling certain music instruments but not in whole. For instance, the electronic keyboard showed a rise in sales percentage with 7.9% contributing $20 million to the profit. However, the sale of guitar fell by 10% and electric guitars showed a fall of 7%. The guitar is continuing to fall on its production unit by 23% every year (Sethu et al. 2015). Band and orchestra had sold unexpectedly in the brass product but failed in AUV. The acoustic guitar showed a whopping sale over two years however the value dropped by 8%. The amplifiers for the guitar also lost its hold in the market after the introduction of many alternatives. Synths slowed down the growth of e-drums in NSW as well. There was a peak of wireless mic replacement which also eventually lost its market as it became volatile and no such upgradation were provided.

There is another issue which can be outlined is the financial structure of the audio industry. The systems for distributing revenue or income are messy and are often complex to understand. The majority of the audio industry is facing a crisis in processing finances. This is because the system is not updated and the data are not arranged correctly where all the official can navigate through it. The transparent system will allow the singer or writer to check the data of financial sources of their own income.

Due to digitization, there is a decline in the percentage of sales in the audio products (Ellis, 2015). The technological advancement has made the population of NSW be more demanding about the digital content and delivery. There is a preference for the customers towards the online music content because of high-speed internet. Platforms of social media and internet have enabled the music industry to develop new strategies for the customers and thus declining the sales in the traditional audio industry. There is a rise in the online subscription of music replacing the traditional method of buying audio music cassettes or discs. The more rise in digital platform means the more the audio industry is getting affected. Further, the worst reason for declining in the audio industry is due to increase in piracy. Piracy is the stealing or theft of original data and then providing that data free of cost. Increase in the use of the illegal method for acquiring the audio files has an adverse effect on the value of the art is not justified. Cybercrime thus can be stated as another issue, which is disrupting the audio market (McIlgorm et al. 2016). Audio industry until 1990 was in its peak form. Introduction of digitization made an alternative for the audio sources hence affecting the stronghold of the industry.

Business innovations and technological advancements have very less importance for the traditional audio system of the industry. Streaming online is creating revenue for the internet giants like Google, cutting the share of audio industry in general. This revenue sharing process is an issue that has affected the audio industry in whole. Previously, the income was stable depending upon the standard of music were composed. The whole profit used to be made by audio industry where they controlled the financial issues and used to reach an agreement with the songwriter, singer, composer and all. However, online streaming has put an end to the agreement and there is no such control of audio industry over the splitting of the income. In addition, development of new and unique service by the digital platform is also affecting the traditional audio industry. Three main unique services or models that are disrupting the audio industry economy are 1) The Pandora model; 2) The Spotify model; 3) The iTunes model; all three almost have same purpose and operations, that is, friendly interface and discovering music tool (Mitkus et al. 2016). These are creating fewer demands for the traditional original CD, cassettes, and music players. Often after the release of new albums, the marketing for the older albums drops at a huge margin and disrupts the sustainable listening. The particular song is lost and there is very less possibility for the song to create a source of income afterward. Music labels take care of the marketing of the music (Watters et al. 2016). Hence, the music label gets immense benefits from the first week of release but afterwards, it looks for an alternative by introducing new albums on the market for making a profit.

However, this was not the case previously as the Audio industry had an immense control over the marketing of any audio or song. There was a system of agreement between various members irrespective of the range of success for a particular album. Today, a song composer can be the song producer, hence cutting a lot of cost for involving a third party (Cassidy et al. 2016). Unlike the last time, the song artist does not depend on the sole income from the audio industry. Opportunities like a live performance, recordings, royalties from performance and others have opened a lot of alternative source of income. This had a huge impact on the audio industry as the majority of revenues are distributed. However, it had a negative impact on the audio industry globally and individually which created a positive impact. For instance, sources of income through music and audio have increased and created several opportunities for individuals globally.

Discussion:

The main factors affecting the audio industry have been outlined. Here, the causes and effects of such factors are going to be discussed. First, it is observed there is a decline in revenues from musical instrument around the NSW area. It might be possible the youth are less likely to exchange their old models or there is a possibility of less interest among the youth to play instruments. There was a rise in the sale of synths but a decline of guitar and drums. Audio industry previously was the primary source for any music. A single unit solely controlled the music revenues but now the scenario is completely different (Brandman, 2016). The introduction of the social platform with the internet has totally disrupted the market of the audio industry. The music industry took a turning point, where it was possible to reach the majority of the population in the world. Various sources for the audios or songs from internet platform have decreased the sale of all the legal copy of the music. Cybercrime has increased with the increasing digitization. Piracy of the original music and audios are increasing due to increased demands of NSW. If people would have been aware of the importance of restricting piracy then the impact on the audio industry could have been reduced. The economy of audio industry is also disrupted by the services provided by the internet platforms (Marcus et al. 2015). Mainly Spotify, iTunes and Pandora model are applied which are easily accessible and more user-friendly hence curbing the need for conventional and traditional audio models. Not only audio industry in NSW, but also many other industries are similarly affected by digitization and automation in technology. For instance, work environment around everyone is getting more digitized and automated and it impacts the daily life. The airline industry, for example, today it helps passengers to travel internationally without the need of assistance for tagging and lodging bags, and even minimizing the needs of border protection officers by the introduction of passport. Artificial intelligence with digitalization has created an excellent combination to make life simpler and faster.

The technologies have the evidence of replacing 42% of the human labor time by introducing automation in NSW. According to the viewpoint of Cooper (2016), newly invented products and the machine have the capability to excel the efficiency of any industry. It can save the cost of human labor as well as a lot of time is saved. However, the impact of such is going to vary as per the industry. For example, the CEO of a certain company may spend a certain amount of time doing tasks, which can be handled by the machines. Thus, CEO can look up to other important issues to solve that are going to increase the efficiency of the organization (Jobs for NSW, 2016). The critical point of this technological advancement is that it is going to affect every industry positively or negatively. On the other hand, Marcus et al. (2015) stated that, Automation and digitalization have created an opportunity for many other music industries to excel independently affecting the audio industry in whole. The other states of Australia are also experiencing the same crisis due to the automation and digitization. To reduce the effects of such, an industry must go through the analyzation of the market and then evaluate a strategy to perform in order to escape the impacts.

Conclusion and Recommendation:

The audio industry is experiencing a huge transformation in the current situation. It can be concluded, the main factors affecting the industries are digitization and automation. The traditional or conventional method of marketing music and audios are getting obsolete day by day. Internet and social platform have made ways for an alternative source of music and audios. The market is not under the full grip of a certain company but the revenues are distributed among many sources. The drop in the sale of instruments is also making an impact on the audio industry. To overcome this situation the population needs to be aware and encourage youth to learn to play an instrument rather than just engulf oneself into this tech-fi world. The importance of playing an instrument should be conveyed clearly, as it really helps in personality development of a person. Again, from the perspective of the audio industry, they must introduce their products in the online platform to increase their probability of making profits. Then to minimise the piracy of the music and audio, the government should be strict in filtering websites before they reach to the population of NSW. If the illegal source of audio and music can be curbed, the rise in the sale of authentic music is bound to happen hence reducing the impact of internet platform. The major step that can be taken by the audio industry is making a way to the internet and social platform. This can serve as an opportunity for the audio industry to expand their revenues by applying correct strategies and methods to make an impact in digitization. It is quite natural an industry needs to adapt with its surrounding to excel and make an impact in the society. Online streaming is trending in today's world and it is possible for the audio industry to collaborate itself with the internet websites even if they do not have control over the financial distribution. The recommendations for the problem which have been outlined, if followed, the negative impact can be minimized and will boost the economy of the audio industry.