Over the past 30 years, the way we make and share music has changed a lot, mainly thanks to the rise of the internet. When the internet started growing in the late '90s, it flipped the music industry upside down and gave people new ways to discover and listen to music. Before that, everything was controlled by record labels, which made all the decisions for artists from marketing to tour dates. Artists did not have much freedom, and a lot of their creative choices were shaped by what the labels thought would sell. Some people argue that this stopped musicians from truly expressing themselves. Then, in the early 2000s, things started shifting. Mobile phones became more common, and music streaming services started to take off. Suddenly, people didn’t have to rely on record stores to find new music. With platforms like iTunes, Spotify, and Pandora, listeners could choose what they wanted to listen to, which gave them more control. But even though it was better for fans, artists still weren’t fully in charge of their own careers. Most interactions with fans were still happening at concerts or meet-and-greets, with the artist staying distant from the day-to-day. By the 2010s, everything changed with the rise of social media. Now artists could connect directly with their fans without needing a middleman. This brought a whole new level of exposure and promotion that was never possible before. More platforms popped up, each trying to grab attention, and artists could take advantage of that to promote their music like never before. Music is everywhere, and it's one of the most popular ways people relax and escape. It comes in so many different styles and reflects all sorts of personal opinions, not to mention being a big part of different cultures around the world.
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