Chris Beck vs Xfactor and New Technology

Digital media technology continues to develop. How is this significant for media institution and
audiences?

Prosumers are people that are consumers but also produce their own music, with the internet and technology continuing to grow, there are more prosumers than there have ever been before.
This is because normal people, that do not play any instruments can download music online, and with the use of new technology, such as Garage band, or Logic pro cut up the songs and re make them into something intirely new.

Prosumers can then distribute their new music with the help of social networking sites, such as MySpace, Twitter, Spotify, iTunes, Facebook etc. the benefit of using social networking sites to distribute music is that it is easy and anyone can do it, and that each social networking site has a global, worldwide audience, so therefore any music on it is reaching a large and diverse audience already.

Some record labels, such as EMI decided to not allow prosumers, such as Danger Mouse to make mashups of songs that they own, as they would not be making all of the profit on any sales that this mashup has, as a result of denying new song and mashups, made by prosumers, the record label EMI has now gone bust.

Newer record labels such as Sony, Universal and Warner bros have adapted and allowed the new online music and mashups, they have created an exchange with prosumers by selling the music to be advertised by prosumer mashups, this way their consumers are distributing and marketing the record labels music for free.

Overall the new technology such as Garage band and Logic pro is a necessity for the music industry, as it allows prosumers to create new music, which the record label can then make money off of, and allows new music to be constantly made.
Social networking sites are also a necessity, as they allow the new music that is being made to be distributed and sold to a worldwide audience quickly and easily, it also allows different companies to make money off of the new music with things such as advertisements.
Social networking sites also allow record labels to easily find new, up and coming artists, as they can easily see which new artists are popular and unsigned.

Sony is an example of a major record company that has adapted to the new technology as they own a smaller record label called Syco, which is also owned by Simon Cowell, this record label runs Xfactor, which is a massive TV show, appealing to a very wide audience, as they play widely liked and mainstream music, they also create a relationship with their audience, as they allow them to phone in and vote for their favorite artist, making them feel like they have some control over the music.
Xfactor also use old music, but have re-written it with a more modern, up-bet tempo, to appeal the the audience of today, this is called music soundscaping. By doing this, it allows Syco and Sony to re-release old music with a newer up-beat tempo, and re sell it, meaning they are making money off of old songs, by simply changing it a little. Once they new version of the song is released, people may also want to purchese the original version of the song, meaning they have advertised old songs by selling a new one, making them even more money, an example of this is the re-release of the song 'would I lie to you' by Charles and Eddie, it was re-relased by Misha B on Xfactor. Some may argue that this is de-valuing music, but I feel that is not, as it is releasing new music to a new audience and also advertising old music, which has the original meaning.

Beck is an artist that has released an album, but instead of releasing recorded songs, he released his album as sheet music, meaning that to listen to it, his audience would have to learn to play it and record it themselves, by doing this they are becoming prosumers, as they can release their recorded versions of the sheet music on social networking websites, allowing them to get their name out there and also maybe to make money off of their recordings, by doing this i feel that beck is not de-valuing music as he is allowing new artists to make a name for themselves and to make money off of something that he has sold to them, it also allows his music to reach a wider audience, as the music can be interpreted into any genre, allowing all types of audiences to record and release his music and also to purchase it.

Both Xfactor and Beck allow their audience's to become more involved in their music, as Xfactor needs audience votes and beck allows his audience to interpret his songs into any style or genre they want, however beck's audience is much more of a niche audience, as his music needs to be interpreted his audience is more musicians, Xfactor appeals to a wider audience as it plays more mainstram andwidely liked music.

Finn Arnold - Digital media technology continues to develop. How is this significant for media institution and audiences?

Digital media technology continues to develop. How is this significant for media institution and audiences?

The internet has had a huge impact on the music industry. The result of this has now led to anyone being able to produce music. Therefore, anyone can be a prosumer by using software such as garageband and YouTube.

Artist's audience, also known as consumers are now able to produce their own music becoming consumers and producers of music making them prosumers. Using new media technology, garageband they can create mashups of many different songs and then distribute it to YouTube, Spotify, iTunes or Soundcloud to be heard. All of this can be done for free.

Prosumers can then distribute and market their mashups using social networks such as Myspace, Twitter and Facebook to gain an audience. This has had a massive impact on record labels as artists no longer need a record label to gain a mass audience, for example EMI, went bust after trying to sue these prosumers such as Danger Mouse who use their music to create mashups, for copyright instead of adapting to his new idea of using prosumers and new media technology to distribute and market their own music for free.

Big record labels such as Sony, Warner Bros and Universal have adapted to the new way of online music. They have created an exchange with prosumers by selling the music to be advertised by prosumer mashups; this way their consumers are distributing and marketing the record labels music for free.

Overall new media technology such as garageband and logic prop is significant for prosumers and mashups as they allow them to produce their own music and create their own mashups creating many different layers of different songs.

YouTube and iTunes has allowed prosumers to distribute their music to a worldwide audience for free and without the help of a record label.

Social networks are also significant as they allow prosumers to share their music links and create a relationship with their audience.

An example of a major institution that has adapted to the new developing technology is Sony. Simon Cowell owns Syco, which is a record label own by the conglomerate Sony, of which Syco runs Xfactor of which appeals to a mass audience. An adaption to the developing technology in music, using the live television programme to create a relationship with their mass audience allowing them to interact by having the choice to vote for their favourite contestants, this is known as an exchange with their audience.

Xfactor was originally set up to use songs from Sony’s back catalogue to market and reintroduce their records, however they also used songs from Capital and Warner Bros back catalogue with their famous One Direction boy band.

This also creates an exchange between Syco (Xfactor) and Sony by recycling their old songs, once the contestants have performed their version of the song, it is then recorded and put onto iTunes of which Sony make money. Using these possible old hits on Xfactor attracts a wide audience, as the older generations are willing to listen and watch if their type of music is playing of which appeals to more than one audience, this is known as localisation.

However, Sony appeal to the mainstream audience by using Xfactor as a market research TV programme to ask the audience what is considered as “normal or conventional” music and what image is most popular.

Syco have also used different kinds of media through Xfactor, such as One Direction now making a film appealing to a wider audience and marketing Syco’s music without them even spending any money.

One Direction is a good example for how Syco visualise their music, these boy bands are the age of 18-20 but their mainstream audience are teenage girls and therefore their image is classed as teenage therefore visualising the young and pure look. Massive v-neck t-shirts to shows of their chest with no chest hair, crazy haircuts, tight skinny clothing etc…

Overall Sony, has used new media technologies to visualise their music and put an image out their for the audience to appeal to, style over music. Using Xfactor and back catalogues of major institutions to recycle old classics, attracting a wide mainstream audience.

Beck Score with his DIY “Song Reader” album has taken a similar but opposite route of adapting to new media technology to appeal to his audience.

Beck’s album is written sheet music and hasn’t actually recorded it himself, instead he has released his album for his fans to interpret it themselves and upload it online.

Beck has targeted a specific; Nish audience as they must interpret his songs themselves to listen to his music, therefore Beck has targeted musicians as his audience who put a value in music rather than style/image.

He has allowed his audience to make money from his album and their own interpretations of his songs. His audience have become prosumers from buying his music and distributing their interpretations online or onto iTunes to be bought.

Beck’s album intentions are similar to Sony with Xfactor, as marketing research, as his fans perform interpretations of his music online and market his album for free, Beck can see which interpretations are best from followers, views or subscribers etc… This way he can perform the best songs when on tour at concerts and therefore his fans have made his music for him.

The best songs interpreted that are performed would appeal to a wide audience due to using new media technology such as YouTube and social networks.

Rather than appealing the many audiences like Xfactor, Co-option applies to Beck where his music “practises from the traditional” where he has again allowed his specific prosumer audience to interpret his own music.

Overall, Beck Score’s music is hugely different to Xfactor’s One Direction, where 1D have recorded their music and put it out their to a specific wide mainstream audience where as Beck applies to many genres of music appealing to more than one audience.

He has used his audience for research, similar to Xfactor (Sony), however appeals more to the value of music rather than style and image.

Task 3

Task 3

Case Study Research & Presentation: Beck 'Score' & Song Reader

Collect as much information as possible on our comparative Case Study

Research and find out as much as you can about this project & the artist.

Like the Alkaline Trio and Deerhoof in 2008, Beck’s Song Reader “album” has created a book of sheet music instead of their own recording, no CD or mP3. They have done this to create a relationship with their customers and allow their fans to play the music themselves or listen to other fans interpretations to be able to listen to Beck’s album. These fans have exchange their own interpretations on Songreader.net and many other prosumer website.

Beck’s has turned many of his fans into prosumers, meaning they have bought the sheet music (consumer) and produced their own interpretations of the songs (producer). This has encouraged many new musicians to produce their own visualisations of the songs and produce them onto many different music websites, here they are distributing Beck’s album by sharing and exchanging his music out among many people.

Beck has used his own fans and customers to overall distribute and market his own album without Beck doing anything financial.

On YouTube we found more than 300 different interpretations made by Beck’s fans of the song Old Shanghai.

On Spotify we found over 100 different interpretations of Old Shanghai as well.

Different fans have created the song using all kinds of instruments such as acoustic, piano, violin, cello and ukulele and many different pitches of vocals from high to low.

Evidence

Review by Slate Magazine

 

His fan base consists of the elder generation due to the interest and a motive of Beck’s has appealed to them more so then the younger generation. He is against mp3 downloading as it states in the quotation to the left. He also has a worldwide fanbase as demonstrated on his twitter fan base. 

Exchange happens when the audience become more involved and collaberate. They provide Beck with free advertising. It also helps to build a relationship between himself and his fan base by allowing them to feel more involved and part of something.

How is this compare to One Direction & Syco?

This multi-platform campaign for One Direction was the first band  for Simon Cowell's music label, Syco. The brand identity and guidelines have been developed around the fans. This compares to Beck, due to his image has been built and based on his fans due to they created fan videos and interpretations of his written music. Both One direction and Beck are all about giving them constant interaction with and access to their idols - but with a consistency that cements their presence worldwide.

Is this devaluing music or is it increasing its worth?

This is increasing music’s worth due to Becks initial idea has resulted in no mp3 downloads can be stolen from him, due to there is no original available except the fan videos which he gains no financial profit from. It has also resulted in him having a better relationship with his fans.