As the Pandemic Lingers, The Music Industry Evolves

As the pandemic lingers and mask mandates, social distancing protocols, and social gathering restrictions prevent musicians and artists from performing live in front of their audiences, the music industry continues seeking new ways to reach their fans and innovative ways to generate revenue.   

With concerts postponed, music festivals cancelled, and live gigs limited to smaller audiences, artists, record labels, event staff, and all other associated parties have lost millions in revenue.  Luckily, desperation often breeds innovation and the music industry is successfully pivoting to find new channels to engage their fans, new opportunities to stay relevant, and new strategies to generate income.

The recent acquisition of the music streaming service Tidal by financial services company Square (NYSE:SQ) is indicative of the changing landscape of music.  On March 4, Square acquired a majority stake in Tidal, the music and entertainment platform owned by rapper Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and other artists, for $297 million in cash and stocks.  While on paper, the correlation between Square, the white card financial reader, and a music streaming service may not be obvious, Square has successfully created a financial ecosystem for retailers, small-business owners, and shoppers.  By acquiring Tidal, it can now integrate merchandise sales and hosting collaboration tools for artists.

According to a tweet from Square Chief Executive, Jack Dorsey, “New ideas are found at the intersections, and we believe there’s a compelling one between music and the economy.  Making the economy work for artists is similar to what Square has done for sellers.”

While this acquisition is undoubtedly huge for Tidal artists, it’s not the only online platform that allows artists, bands, and record labels to engage with and sell directly to their fans.  StickersAndPosters.com offers licensing and branding firms and individual artists the opportunity to sell custom stickers, posters, and short-run gift wrapping paper direct.  Our agile system seamlessly integrates with e-Commerce websites to enable your customers to order directly from your site. Once their order is placed, we handle the rest!  Imagine selling fully customizable, one-off stickers, posters, and rolls of gift wrapping paper direct to your fans!  With our on-demand printing and no order minimums, you can launch your online store and begin selling your products direct to your customers, no upfront costs, no inventory, no hassles.  Contact us to learn more!