As time progresses, music trends (along with everything else in the world) changes, mostly to improve technology innovations created by developers. The music industry is trying to stabilize itself due to global changes including areas in music streaming, social media, and much more.

360 deals have become the normal type of record deal because they hone in on top, money making areas in an artist career. This includes publishing, record sales, the live sector, merchandise and more. This fuels major record labels like Sony, Universal, and Warner to stay afloat in this market.

Every artist wants to have the next platinum selling song, charting on Billboard that streams billions of times. Unfortunately, the amount of illegal downloads hurt the artist’s streams and sales, ultimately forcing the artist to go on tour in attempts to make up for the lack of customer interaction.

Ticket sales are very important for a touring artist because most of the ticket revenue goes to the artist. The scale of prices, Per Cap,  from General Admission (90% of the concert population) can be significant, as well as the “Golden Circle” (10% ) who are paying top dollar for their experience.

The momentum is changing and developers are utilizing technology like Virtual Reality with 360 drones that can capture moments never before seen at a concert. This content can be sold to individuals who can’t make it out to see the concert but still wanted to experience it firsthand. Live Nation, who are the power players in the live sector, are putting on 26,000 shows yearly and 80 shows a day, dominating live entertainment all over the country. 

With all of this being said, along with much more to come, I believe that the future of an artist’s revenue will stay traditional. Their biggest revenue streams will come from their ticket sales and merchandise that will be filtered through a 360 record deal from one of the major labels. The industry has to keep up with these changing tides and have a conservative approach to ensure that a dramatic shift doesn’t affect the music industry for the worst. 


Nicholas Rodriguez

Co-founder and CEO of Aktiveight Productions. Entrepreneur and Hip Hop Artist from Pittsburgh, PA. Twitter/ Instagram @Lethalrange