Why research the future of record companies and signed artists?

Since the advent of digital music in the late 1990’s, record companies have been experiencing serious declines in revenue. This has been due to increased access to free digital downloads, as well as file sharing. Such declines have inevitably affected signed artists, who have also seen a drop in income due to online music access.

As Media students as RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, we are interested in pursuing careers in the music industry. Thus, this research is directly relevant to our future endeavours as media professionals.