Technology, Technology, it’s what allows us to share information and all stay connected. Recently, both big name artists and lesser known artists have found an easier method for sharing their music with the world – by releasing their music digitally, which allows a closer connection between the artist and their fans. It is pretty rare now that someone will go out with the sole purpose of buying a CD of their favorite artist. The newer generation would prefer being able to just look up a song on their computer, smartphone, or tablet without having to commute to a store or order a CD and wait for it to ship. There is still a small market for physical copies of music, but the main market has been taken over by sites like Spotify, YouTube, and Vevo. These sites allow artists to distribute their music to their fans at the convenience of both parties, as releasing music digitally is cheaper than making tons of CDs and trying to sell them in mass quantities.

Independent artists, or Indie artists, have actually hit the top spot in the digital music world. With the popularity of streaming music services rising, the major label’s control is decreasing and growing weaker. Also, with the decline of the popularity of FM radio, major label’s area of influence has taken a hit since FM radio was a hotspot for the label’s area of control. This has really had a clear effect on the power of indie music and artists as it grows more and more popular each day. Songs that aren’t backed by a major label actually make up about 50 percent on Pandora, unlike radio broadcasts which only make up about 13 percent of the songs played. The digital world allows artists who might otherwise be invisible to big record labels that don’t want to take a chance on an up and comer to get their music out there. Take Pop-A -Lot for instance…

Pop-A-Lot is an up and coming Rapper who uses the digital world as a way to spread his music. Pop-A-Lot has at least 57 videos and audio clips up on his Vevo account, which can be found at: http://www.vevo.com/artist/pop-a-lot . He (Pop-A-Lot) is a part of the new age grouping of independent artists that have begun using the same distribution techniques the major entertainment labels are using. This Rapper is making a name for himself, with the most popular video on his Vevo channel having over 30,000 views alone. Indie artists are taking over the charts.