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.
No comments:
Post a Comment