Influence of technologies on the music industry in terms of music distribution

Diploma thesis deals with the influence of technologies on the music industry in terms of music distribution. In the first part the two major issues are discussed for deeper understanding of the topic. The change of perception and creation of music over certain period of time and the development of technologies related to music in historical context. Following chapters are mainly focused on current technologies, digitalization and the internet, and global turnovers which have had impact on distribution of music as a consequence of technological spread. In addition to this, the issue of legal aspects related to sharing and downloading music via internet is described. The strategies have been created and adopted by the music industry representatives as a response to the situation of increasing intensity of infringing copyright law by unauthorized sharing and decreasing number of physical media sales. The goal of these strategies has been aimed at support expansion of online music services and raising of public copyright awareness. The work analyses and assesses above mentioned strategies and estimates the possible future development of music industry. Assumptions are created on the basis of historical background and current situation. The partial objective is to evaluate whether the sales of physical media have future as a main source of income for music industry or not