The music industry is an ever-evolving beast and has never gone through more change and a faster succession of technological developments than in the last fifteen years. When recordable cassettes, CDs and then mini-discs came into circulation – allowing consumers to copy and share music free-of-charge – many thought commercial music sales were doomed. Not so. And when the first illegal music downloading and file-sharing websites sprouted up, the music industry was again sent into a spin; sites like Napster were sued and shut down and individual file-sharers were targeted and sued for copyright infringements.
In 2003, however, many new sites emerged offering legal music downloads for a fee. Apple, for example, introduced iTunes where song downloads became available at US$0.99 a piece, and Napster re-emerged with the legal rights to sell music. But the internet did more for music and music buyers than offering legal downloads: it gave new artists a platform for launching their musical careers, without requiring the assistance of a record label, manager, publicist or distribution outlet, and also introduced a way for new artists to share their music with the world, to promote their personal brand at no cost.
In 2010, The Maghreb Socialite™ decided to take this one step further and to reach out to its younger market at the same time by establishing a free legal music download site called The Maghreb Socialite™ - Tape Mix, which promotes and offers the songs of up-and-coming artists. Since its launch, Thousands of people have used the site and thousands of songs have been downloaded, making it an extremely successful legal download site. An anonymous TMS member, poet, internet guru and lyricist, is in full support of such initiatives. He believes that “these days, free downloads are the best way to promote any talent that isn’t a completely manufactured phenomenon aimed at pre-teen girls (which is, as far as I can tell, the only market the music business still understands). Of course, much depends on placement,” he cautions. “Just sticking some songs on a MySpace page isn’t likely to get one very far. But the The Maghreb Socialite™ site already confers a special quality that would elevate interest in a certain market.”
Another musician and TMS member, is also a great fan of the opportunity. He says, “The days of people walking into a record store and buying a CD are fading, so artists need to embrace the digital world. Particularly for emerging artists, free downloads are a great way to get heard by a new audience and hopefully turn some of these people into fans of the band who will later buy tickets to a show or merchandise. The truth is that people are going to listen to music for free, so it’s better to join in than try to fight it.”
The Maghreb Socialite™ Tape Mixes are themed and thoroughly entertaining. The first edition aired on January 1st and looked at the musical trend of ‘Jazzy Hop’.
Check out The Maghreb Socialite™ Magazine at www.ramiel-ashi.com and start downloading new tunes from emerging artists.
