Companies in the retail sector are under a massive amount of pressure. For example, Foot Locker and Macy lost a lot of their market value this year. Anyone walking through the shopping streets can not ignore the increasing number of vacant stores and it seems to be a structural trend (RTL, 2017). Most people would point to the rapid growth of e-commerce as the biggest disruptor, but even though it has, and will continue to have, a great impact on every aspect of retail, there is another more profound dynamic at play: ‘digital-first retail’ (Forbes, 2017).

Digital-first retail is the growing tendency of consumers’ shopping journeys to be influenced by digital channels, regardless of where the final transactions take place (Forbes, 2017). So, instead of shifting from physical stores to digital commerce, traditional retailers should reinvent themselves with this dynamic in mind.

Deloitte (2016) published a report in which they stated that, in 2016, 0.56$ of every dollar spent in a store was influenced by a digital interaction. Therefore, a lot of the sales that happen in physical stores start online. Of all the digital devices that we use, mobile devices like smartphones seem to become the front door to the retail store (Dennis, 2015). From a recent survey under American millenials showing which apps are most beloved and used, Amazon came out on top, even before the obvious choices like Facebook, Instagram and Youtube (Businessinsider, 2017). Mobile devices are also increasingly used for, what Google calls, ‘micro-moments’. These can consist of looking up an address, confirming opening hours of a store, looking for an item, etc (Forbes, 2017).

E-commerce now approximately accounts for 10% of all retail sales, but web-influenced physical store sales are 5 times as many as online sales. To fight off the growing competition from electronic markets and retailers, becoming great at enabling a digital-first brick & mortar shopping experience is the next step. Companies that spent most of their time solely focusing on building a compelling online business as a stand-alone silo are the ones in trouble now (Forbes, 2017).

Not all of the blame for the struggling traditional retail sector can be accounted to Amazon and e-commerce in general. Nowadays, closing down stores and starting an online business is not enough anymore. The traditional retail sector needs to understand the digital-first dynamic, because eventually, that will determine the lasting success of their brick & mortar activities. If they get this right, retail might reinvent itself once again in the age of digital disruption.

References:

https://dupress.deloitte.com/dup-us-en/industry/retail-distribution/digital-divide-changing-consumer-behavior.html#New-digital-divide_Fig1

https://stevenpdennis.com/2015/12/14/retails-new-front-door/

http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-tops-list-for-millennials-must-have-app-charts-2017-8?international=true&r=US&IR=T

https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevendennis/2017/06/12/retails-single-biggest-disruptor-spoiler-alert-its-not-e-commerce/#796d1174227b

https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/sponsored-special/zal-de-detailhandel-e-commerce-overleven

Today’s established big names in the music industry like Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran are often fighting it out for the top spot in the music charts, but a new player might have arrived and it is something they will not have encountered before: Artificial Intelligence (AI).

AI forces like Amper and Jukedeck enable artists and computers to collaborate and create new music. Taryn Southern, an internet personality and singer, released an album that was entirely created using Amper. Artists and producers like Southern can choose to change and manipulate parts of a track, but Amper is able to independently create a song without human interference too. Southern’s first song ‘Break Free’ is an evident example of that (Straight, 2017).

Music created by AI requires no copyright either. In 2011, photographer David Slater was following a troop of macaques, when one of them pressed the shutter button and made a selfie. This infamous photo resulted in a lawsuit due to copyright issues. The question arose: ‘can the monkey hold the rights to the photo?’. Last week, the case was finally settled with an agreement. Slater holds the rights, but he will donate 25% of future revenues to charities (NYPost, 2017). However, this lawsuit has significant consequences. The U.S. Copyright Office has now declared that ‘works produced by a machine or mere mechanical process that operates randomly or automatically without any creative input or intervention from a human author’ were ineligible (Hollywoodreporter, 2017).

This means that music created by AI is not protected by law. Therefore, new artists using AI when creating music need to ensure that there is some human input or contribution to secure the rights to a particular song or album and avoid a lawsuit (Hollywoodreporter, 2017).

The big question remains whether we will start to see AI-generated hit-songs top the charts in the near future. Current software suggests that there is potential, but people from the AI music industry try to temper the expectations. Jukedeck’s CEO Ed Newton-Rex says it doesn’t need to be better than Ed Sheeran or Adele. Instead of AI music being better than a certain artist, the question that should be asked is ‘will it be useful for people?’. AI startups hope that AI Music will inspire human artists rather than threaten them. (Guardian, 2017).

Nobody knows exactly how big the impact of AI-generated music will be. It can be considered as either an opportunity or a threat by producers and artists. What do you think the future holds for the music industry? Will AI start producing global hits or will we always value human artists more?

References:

https://www.straight.com/music/954856/artificial-intelligence-penned-entire-pop-music-album-and-its-not-actually-bad  http://nypost.com/2017/09/12/suit-settled-over-selfie-monkey-photo-copyright/                   http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/artificial-intelligence-ushers-era-music-moneyball-guest-column-1038175   https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/aug/06/artificial-intelligence-and-will-we-be-slaves-to-the-algorithm