Hooray! Buying Music is Awesome Again!

From the past few years and from the past blogs of mine, I have talked about how music sales have dropped due to free downloading markets.  There is finally some good news in the music industry.  According to the Kings of A&R webpage, consumers are starting to buy music again.  On the Market Watch page from the Wall Street Journal, CD buyers have increased by 2% compared to the 78 million from last year.  I believe that this is great news because it felt like I was the only one who still bought CDs.  This is also great because CDs have a better listening quality than MP3s.  Some people predicted that CDs would be obsolete but people still like the CD format familiarity.

Paid downloads have also increased in sales.  Market Watch states that internet download music sales have increased 45% in 2011.  And on the other hand, P2P file sharing has decreased 13% from last year.  The music industry is offering more music outlets like Spotify and Pandora so consumers will not have to steal music or share hard drives.  On Mashable’s webpage, it states that after Limewire was shut down, file sharing has decreased in the past year.  The Market Watch also states that in the UK, they have made music file sharing illegal and people will be fined as if it was fraud or human trafficking.

The music industry is still in the rough end, but it is shedding light on sale increases.  This gives me hope for my business in the music business.  Like Adele or Katy Perry or Kanye West, I want to give the consumer what they paid for, which is good quality music.  With that being said, I want to set goals and check statistics on how much money I’m making from CDs and artists coming to record at my studio.

Views on Music Finances

As I seek more information on entrepreneurship and music, one question always comes back to mind: where will the money come from?  Since I am not a wealthy billionaire with a mansion on the mountainside and 25 nice cars, I will need to find other ways of increasing my budget.  As I prepare the numbers for my overdub studio, I realize that I need to sell my worth to other businesses and the people who are interested in music.

One way I could find money for investing into my studio is to try out a bank loan.  Banks these days are having rough times and they will not invest their money to a business that could possibly not succeed, especially if it is music related.  I read an article on theguardian.com that in the U.K., most banks will not fund independent studios or music groups due to being too risky.  This article was startling because even though this was in the U.K., it is still the same type of problem in the U.S.  I need a niche to get over the fact that it is a studio.  It would also help if I can improve my credit score.  Although I don’t have any outrageous account charges, I still have plenty of college loans to pay back.

My other options to funding my studio are to go to a finance company, use kickstarter.com, or ask other people.  With a great business plan, a music finance company would understand my case.  However, I have a few partners who would be interested in starting this business with me.  Kickstarter is a great way to express my idea for building my business to the world.  It could possibly help me with raising money and communicating with potential clients.  Once I know my market niche and options, it should be easier to find studio funding.