The Magic of Music

These days there are so many ways to discover, buy, and listen to music; you can download it, buy CDs, listen to music on your phone, or on the old-fashioned radio.

Many British teenagers prefer to watch their music online. Using video streaming sites on the internet to watch music videos is now much more popular than listening to the radio. Popular videos can quickly become extremely popular internationally. Justin Bieber’s song ‘Baby’ was the most watched music video on YouTube until recently. In 2012 PSY’s ‘Gangnam Style’ became the most watched video on YouTube with over 1 billion views. Things can change quickly on YouTube.

The BPI (an organisation which promotes British music) says that young people in the UK prefer to download singles rather than albums. In Britain, it costs about one pound to download a single and around 10 pounds for an album. It is often illegal to use file-sharing websites to download music, but many people continue to get their music this way. Many musicians and recording companies are very unhappy that people can listen to their music for free.

The second largest live music arena in Europe is the O2 in London. This massive stadium has space for up to 20,000 people. There are also 548 toilets! Tickets are not cheap but there are, of course, free music festivals across Britain every year.