The iPod is celebrating its Sweet 16 birthday. (Relax, that shiny white box in your pocket isn't going to ask you for a set of car keys.)
Remember this guy?
He’s all grown up!
Today, millions of us walk around with our entire music catalogues at our fingertips. It's tough to remember a time before MP3 players now that these palm-sized devices and their little white earbuds are in so many pockets and purses and backpacks.
Ok, this helps us remember.
But the introduction of MP3 players was not a universal cause for celebration. Like all truly disruptive inventions, they upset business models and drew strong pushback from established stakeholders. Some in the music industry even sued (unsuccessfully) in 1998 to have MP3 players declared illegal.
Today we see how the MP3 player has created new industries, empowered artists and delighted music lovers.
Because of the MP3 player:
1. More people are listening to more music in more places than ever before.
2. As more people listen to more music, concert revenues and ticket sales are rising.
In 2012, concert ticket sales were up five percent, generating more than $2.5 billion. Why are more people flocking to live shows? Because the more you love to listen to music, the more you want to experience it – recorded and live.
3. More money is flowing into the overall music ecosystem than ever before, and artists are finally getting a bigger piece of the pie.
The global music industry was worth $168 billion in 2010, and the percentage of revenue going directly to artists is up 16 percent from 2002 to 2010, thanks in large part to live shows and access to new music.
4. Entirely new industries have been created thanks to portable music players.
Ringtones still pull in more than $2 billion a year. And smartphones increasingly double as streaming portable music players – creating new opportunities for music services like Pandora and Spotify. Pandora now accounts for eight percent of all radio listening. Spotify has more than five million paying subscribers worldwide.
5. Consumers made more individual music purchasing decisions last year than ever before.
On iTunes alone, more than 21 million songs are purchased each day – that's more than the number of people who visit Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in a whole year.
6. Remember mix tapes?
View this video on YouTube
iTunes made them a lot easier to make. No more huddling over that double tape deck while you cobble together the perfect set list. Now you can create and share music mixes wirelessly, serving up your favorite new music, classic hits and hidden B-sides in less time than it takes this lady to sing “I will Always Love You.”
The lesson?
Innovation and its benefits are unpredictable. When the VCR was introduced, the movie industry was concerned about the "record" button, but customers were interested in the "play" button, and a vast new prerecord end video industry was born.
Similarly, while the MP3 player initially caused trepidation, it has benefited listeners, artists and the traditional music industry immensely. Innovation is something to be embraced, not feared – even (actually, especially) when it makes you a little uncomfortable.
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