music industry

The megatrends shaping the future of the world affect the music industry in many ways, the most obvious of these being the pervasiveness of technology. Experts interviewed by FMQ view technological advancements basically as positive, but unless the industry proves itself capable of adapting to the ongoing changes, the greatest threat to the music industry may be the industry itself.

“The coronavirus support measures allocated to the arts and culture sector in Finland have been modest by Nordic comparison and were not based on compensation of losses as would have been appropriate but on the grants system that is in place under normal circumstances. Also, they only offer solutions for the immediate needs caused by the crisis. Further anxiety is added by the fact that there are substantial cuts to the arts looming in the central government budget in the near future, and what will happen beyond 2024 is anyone’s guess,” writes Kaisa Rönkkö, Executive Director of Music Finland.

In the Spring of 2020, Finland was dragged into a state of emergency by the coronavirus pandemic. While some struggled with the combination of working from home and supervising their children’s distance learning and home care, others carried on living and working like usual. All of a sudden, there were lots of people who had more time on their hands than before. How did the COVID-19 blight effect the consumption of music and what kind of music did Finns turn to in these trying times?

While music as a profession or hobby is not the worst imaginable environmental polluter, no-one in our time and age can afford to think they are above environmental responsibility. Musicians experience eco-anxiety especially for the amount of travel associated with their profession. What can an individual musician or music consumer do to help the environment, and is it possible to achieve change through music?

While climate change is a real concern for us all, there has not been a lot of noise about it on the music front so far. Committed climate action pioneers in Finland, however, include the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and the Flow Festival, both of which wish to set an example to other music organisations and provoke them to reflect on how to best participate in this endeavour that requires all humanity’s involvement.

"The slow rise in online sales has not been altogether a bad thing for the producers of art-music CDs, because the turnover in these exceeds that of digital services. The trend is clear, however, and the markets are becoming increasingly competitive. How, then, will the sound-carrier markets for art music survive in the digital future? There are two obvious answers..."