The Chemical Brothers - Let Forever Be
The Rolling Stones - Like a Rolling Stone
Tuesday, 2 July 2013
Some interesting music videos
Coldplay - Viva La Vida
Delta Heavy - Get By
One Republic - Good Life
Michael Jackson - Leave Me Alone
http://youtu.be/_lK4cX5xGiQTenacious D - Tribute
Lady GaGa - Bad Romance
Monday, 17 June 2013
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Monday, 22 April 2013
BGT - Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell: 'BGT Alice Fredenham is not fake, she was terrified'
Monday, April 22, 2013
Simon Cowell has insisted that Alice Fredenham is not "fake".
Fredenham highly impressed the Britain's Got Talent judges, including Cowell, on last week's episode, while she was not put through on rival show The Voice UK last night (April 20).
Tweeting about the singer's appearance on the BBC talent show, Cowell said: "Alice fredenham on the voice tonight. Confident and hopeful. Nobody turned round."Fredenham highly impressed the Britain's Got Talent judges, including Cowell, on last week's episode, while she was not put through on rival show The Voice UK last night (April 20).
Responding to people's comments that the hopeful may have faked her stage nerves, Cowell said: "Alice on bgt. She simply lost her confidence after that reaction and she did sound better on bgt (sic).
"But to call her a fake is unfair. I was there. She was terrified. And now I understand why."
Meanwhile, X Factor host Dermot O'Leary also tweeted about Fredenham's appearance on The Voice UK, before starting a back-and-forth with the BBC show's official Twitter account.
"She doesn't want a hug. She wants them to push the button," he tweeted.
After The Voice tweeters thanked O'Leary for watching, he replied: "No sweat. You should come to one of our live shows sometime..."
The BBC show added: "We'd love to but, erm, we're washing our chairs.
Read more: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s107/britains-got-talent/news/a474950/simon-cowell-bgt-alice-fredenham-is-not-fake-she-was-terrified.html#ixzz2RCybpBiR
Follow us: @digitalspy on Twitter | digitalspyuk on Facebook
Digital Spy
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/
Great site that gives up-to-date reports and news on music issues, stories and debates.
HAVE A LOOK!
Spotify edges out iTunes to top Twitter #music shares
Spotify edges out iTunes to top Twitter #music shares
Published Monday, Apr 22 2013, 10:05 BST
Spotify is the most popular means of sharing tracks on Twitter's newly-launched #music service, research suggests.
Figures from social media analyst Simply Measured appear to suggest that the Swedish streaming service was used to tweet tracks in-app more times than iTunes and Rdio at launch.
Available for iOS devices and via the web, Twitter #music is split into four sections - popular, emerging, suggested and #nowplaying.
Simply Measured complied its stats during the first 24 hours of the app's release by monitoring the #nowplaying category. It found that Spotify was used 11,984 times to tweet tracks, with iTunes claiming 11,612 and Rdio 3,456.
A total of 256,226 #nowplaying tweets were posted during the first 24 hours of the app's launch, four times the number of Vine videos that were posted at launch, according to The Next Web.
Twitter #music is available for free through the Apple App Store and via the web.
Read more: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tech/news/a475024/spotify-edges-out-itunes-to-top-twitter-music-shares.html#ixzz2RCwUkiAE
Follow us: @digitalspy on Twitter | digitalspyuk on Facebook
Figures from social media analyst Simply Measured appear to suggest that the Swedish streaming service was used to tweet tracks in-app more times than iTunes and Rdio at launch.
Available for iOS devices and via the web, Twitter #music is split into four sections - popular, emerging, suggested and #nowplaying.
Simply Measured complied its stats during the first 24 hours of the app's release by monitoring the #nowplaying category. It found that Spotify was used 11,984 times to tweet tracks, with iTunes claiming 11,612 and Rdio 3,456.
A total of 256,226 #nowplaying tweets were posted during the first 24 hours of the app's launch, four times the number of Vine videos that were posted at launch, according to The Next Web.
Twitter #music is available for free through the Apple App Store and via the web.
Read more: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tech/news/a475024/spotify-edges-out-itunes-to-top-twitter-music-shares.html#ixzz2RCwUkiAE
Follow us: @digitalspy on Twitter | digitalspyuk on Facebook
Daft Punk break Spotify record
Daft Punk break Spotify record
Get Lucky is most-streamed new single in Spotify history
In the UK and US, Get Lucky was streamed more times than any other track had managed on a single day, out-streaming the previous record holders Macklemore for his song Thrift shop (for the US) and Bastille's Pompeii (for the UK). However, the exact figures of what the record-breaking stream total is are still unknown.
The disco track, which features Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers, comes after an intense promotion campaign for their forthcoming album Random Access Memories, which included teaser riffs and even an advertisement slot at Coachella festival. It will be Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo's first studio album since 2005's Human After All, although they did score the Tron: Legacy soundtrack in 2010.
Will Hope, director of label relations at Spotify, said: "The robots have once again shown themselves to be true innovators, not only with their new musical direction and the stellar cast of collaborators they're working with, but also by undertaking one of the best album campaigns we've seen for some time. We expect the album to become one of the biggest, if not the biggest, on Spotify this year."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/apr/22/daft-punk-breaks-spotify-record
Twitter #Music
 |
Twitter #Music app helps fans discover new tracks
Social network links up with iTunes, Spotify and Rdio for service that recommends tracks based on the artists they follow
|
Adele: fans will be able to discover new tracks using Twitter's #Music app. Photograph: John Shearer/WireImage
Twitter has launched what it described as a 21st century version of the mixtape, with a new app that recommends tracks to music fans based on the artists they follow.
Fans of artists such as One Direction or Adele will be able to listen to their latest hits from within the social nework using the #Music app.
A #NowPlaying screen will show Twitter users all the songs being tweeted by the people they follow, famous or not, and let them listen along.
The service, available on the #Music site and as an app for the Apple iPhone or iPad, launched on Thursday in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.
"Twitter and music go great together. People share and discover new songs and albums every day," said Twitter's Stephen Philips in a blog post on the company's official website.
"Many of the most-followed accounts on Twitter are musicians, and half of all users follow at least one musician. This is why artists turn to Twitter first to connect with their fans — and why we wanted to find a way to surface songs people are tweeting about."
Twitter has linked up with three music companies for the launch: the downloads store Apple iTunes and streaming services Spotify and Rdio.
The app works by detecting the most popular tracks from the people you follow, while also highlighting emerging artists. Apple iTunes will only play previews of songs as default, but premium subscribers of Spotify and Rdio can listen to full tracks.
The move is part of an attempt to reposition Twitter as an entertainment hub online, bringing it closer to the multimedia social network that Facebook has become over the past two years.
The app had a lukewarm reception from some music analysts, who questioned whether it was enough to keep users returning to the site instead of Facebook.
"My question is where is the money for Twitter? For the recorded music industry, the recommendations thing is old hat because that's the function of charts and airplay, so there's not really any incremental value there," said Alice Enders, the music expert at Enders Analysis.
"And then, do I care about what Sally Bercow is listening to? If I follow an opinion maker, not an artist, I might really prefer to stick to their opinions than their dodgy musical tastes."
• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email media@guardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".
• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook
Tuesday, 5 March 2013
Institutions and Audiences Exam Question Feedback
Past exam questions –
MUSIC INDUSTRY
Jan 2009: Discuss the ways in which
media products are produced and distributed to audiences within a media area
you have studied.
June 2009: How important is
technological convergence for institutions and audiences within a media area
you have studied?
Examiners’ comments: The
candidates displayed good contemporary knowledge and understanding of the music
industry. There was a focus on how the major and independent record companies
relied on media technology, the use of the internet and how music download
sites operated. There were also some very good discussions of ‘independent’ or
subsidiary companies, such as Finders Keepers and Domino records. The
candidates showed some excellent knowledge and understanding of technological
convergence, synergistic practices and cross media ownership that record
companies use in targeting British audiences.
More able candidates attempted
to evaluate the importance of technological convergence in relation to record
companies and how audiences consumed the music through the use of iPods, iTunes
and My Space. There were a range of arguments which included an evaluation of
the benefits for music institutions of convergent technology, in relation to
the distribution of music via a website: for example AOL Time Warner as a wall
garden and how a music artist/product could be marketed at global and niche
audiences. More able candidates could also offer detail to specific case
studies, the most popular included EMI and Sony as conglomerates and Domino and
Ghost records as independent record companies and wider music debates/issues
such as Pirate Bay, in relation to illegal music digital downloads. Lesser able
candidates would offer a profile of the institution and the types of artist
that they had signed. Often a discussion of technological convergence would be
slightly misconstrued in terms of distribution and marketing only. Frequently,
a sense of audience would be omitted from any discussion and at times some
quite simplistic versions of downloading music as an illegal act and that this
would have an enormous impact on the music industry itself. However on the
whole candidates with a wide range of responses answered this area of study of
institution and audience.
Jan 2010: “Media production is
dominated by global institutions which sell their products and services to
national audiences.” To what extent do you agree with this statement?
This was another area that was
handled well by candidates where most were able to engage with the issues in
the question. Sony and Universal were popular case studies of major labels that
have dominance of the music market and the best answers were well supported
with contemporary evidence. Again discussions of synergy, horizontal
integration and vertical integration were popular and the cross platform nature
of music promotion was well referred to. Independent labels and the rise in
choice and diversity was also well explored with labels such as Ghost Box,
Domino Records and Aardvark popular choices. The role of audiences and web 2.0
as breaking the dominant hold of the majors was also explored by more able
candidates as well as the rise in production software and distribution methods
via My Space and YouTube. Good use of contemporary evidence in stronger candidate
responses considered the recent Rage Against the Machine/ Facebook campaign to
break the dominance of the X Factor Christmas number one. Some considered this
as an example of active/ empowered audiences whilst more able candidates
acknowledged that this was an illusion of power and shrewd marketing to support
a band signed to a subsidiary of the Sony Label.
Weaker candidate responses were
unable to respond to the question set and merely recited pre prepared case
studies. Many candidates made reference to Apple as an institution that is
dominant in the industry, but failed to explore a record label that targets a
British/global audience which is required for the question. One centre had
provided a case study of the rise on N'Dubz from the underground grime scene to
mainstream recording artists, although many candidates failed to link the
material closely enough to institutional contexts to answer the question,
despite a good understanding of the music style/youth culture. Candidate
responses to the music industry were well done overall, with the obvious
advantages of the Majors being contrasted with the success of ‘indie’ acts like
the Arctic Monkeys.
June 2010: What significance does the
continuing development of digital media technology have for media institutions
and audiences?
This was the most popular
subject area and generally the most successful. Most Candidates concentrated on
the role of technology in the distribution, marketing and consumption of music,
looking at issues of audience behaviour and record companies' attempts to
renegotiate the relationship with consumers. Many answers looked at major
corporations and compared their approaches with examples of independent
companies (EMI, Sony, Warner as examples of majors, Domino, Rough Trade, Hungry
Audio, Finders Keepers as examples of independents worked well).
The Candidates examined a good
contrast of case studies with the majority analysing a major label, like
Universal, and comparing this to a more niche independent company to highlight
the differences and challenges that exist for musicians and the record
companies themselves. Questions of synergy, and vertical and horizontal
integration were examined in detail and the differences between a major and
minor company offered a very clear hinge upon which Candidates could hang their
answers.
There was a sound understanding
of the effect of Web 2.0 on the majors and the rise in the use of YouTube and
My Space as both promotional outlets for established artists and also stages
for new talent. Candidates were able to discuss the advantages/disadvantages of
pirating music and many had a clear understanding of the repercussions on
artistes etc. There were some very interesting case studies of how particular
bands and artists had used the web to their advantage and the arguments that
exist on the whole issue of ‘free’ music, for example Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows’
web release.
Candidates
do need to clarify their knowledge of third party companies such as Apple and
their relationship with music institutions. Less able Candidates often
detracted from the question by focusing on the features of a record company or
even at times focusing on the X-Factor as a sole case study, which is
inadvisable.
Jan 2011: Discuss the issues raised
by media ownership in the production and exchange of media texts in your chosen
media area.
This was another area that was
handled well by candidates where most were able to engage with the issues in
the question. Sony and Universal were popular case studies of major labels that
have dominance of the music market and the best answers were well supported
with contemporary evidence. Again discussions of synergy, horizontal
integration and vertical integration were popular and the cross platform nature
of music promotion was well referred to. Independent labels and the rise in
choice and diversity were also well explored with labels such as Ghost Box and
Domino Records being popular choices. The role of audiences and web 2.0 in
breaking the dominant hold of the majors was also explored by more able
candidates; as was the rise in production software and distribution methods via
MySpace and YouTube. These were important areas of discussion given the context
of the set question. A case study of EMI worked well where candidates had a clear
focus on ownership and were able to write more broadly on exchange in the music
industry, for example, with the rise of peer-to peer file sharing. Candidates then argued that that they were the hardest
hit of the four major record labels as the company was not part of a larger
conglomerate and lacked the benefits of diversified interests which in larger
conglomerates can help to absorb any losses made by record labels by using
their other arms as support, for example, through synergy and cross media interest.
It was also noted that the issue of piracy emerged in plenty of candidate
answers, discussing a new 360-degree business model with record companies
identifying alternative revenue streams such as tours and merchandising.
Weaker
candidate responses were unable to respond to the question set and merely
recited pre prepared case studies. But on the whole, responses on the music
industry were done well.
May 2011: “Successful media products depend as
much upon marketing and distribution to a specific audience as they do on good
production practices.” To what extent do you agree with this statement?
This area
was handled well by candidates as most were able to engage with the issues in
the question. The question was designed to provide opportunities for candidates
to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of music institutions and
audiences. Most candidates approached the area by contrasting one of the 'big
4' labels – (Sony, EMI and Universal were popular) with a smaller, independent
label, such as Ghostbox, Domino or Finders Keepers records. This was good
practice as candidates could contrast production and distribution practices of
major and indie labels. Candidates also explored the use of synergy by the
majors (especially Sony and UMG), distribution methods transformed by
convergence and digital initiatives and the labels’ attempts to combat piracy.
Indie labels included XL, Rough Trade, Domino – all of which were used to
contrast the approach of the majors well by picking up on the part of the
question related to the targeting of specific audiences by identifying the
niche audience targeted and then the ways in which they were marketed to.
Candidates also discussed the role of technology in enabling artists to attain
relatively high production values relatively cheaply and then distribute the
music digitally via My Space and iTunes. It was encouraging to see some
candidates also discussed contemporary developments such as ‘VEVO’ and the
recent changes to the business model of the streaming site Spotify. The
candidates’ responses that needed developing the most were applying key
concepts to examples and case studies. An absence of exemplification and a
reliance on generalised examples held back candidates understanding of the task
demanded. Likewise, where candidates discussed YouTube, Spotify, iTunes they
would benefit more from discussing specific examples and the features of these
online technologies, such as interactivity, the ability for audience responses
etc.
Thursday, 17 January 2013
Link to The Guardian
The Guardian - Media
This a really useful link and gives really up-to-date reports and articles about current music industry and media issues and debates.
YOU MUST LOOK AT THIS
Tuesday, 8 January 2013
Getting Music to the Audience - Facebook
| Date | 5/12 |
| Raised | $16B |
| Post IPO Valuation | $2.74B |
General Information
| Website | facebook.com |
| Blog | blog.facebook.com |
| Category | Consumer Web |
| Employees | 1,000 |
| Founded | 2/04 |
| Description | Social network |
Offices
Headquarters
Europe HQ
New York
People
Facebook is the world’s largest social network, with over 1 billion monthly active users.
Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in February 2004, initially as an exclusive network for Harvard students. It was a huge hit: in 2 weeks, half of the schools in the Boston area began demanding a Facebook network. Zuckerberg immediately recruited his friends Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes, and Eduardo Saverin to help build Facebook, and within four months, Facebook added 30 more college networks.
Facebook’s growth has been staggering. Facebook announced astonishing numbers in February 2012 upon filing for its IPO. Over 845 million users log into Facebook every month, and 483 million users log in daily. Mobile users now make up half of Facebook’s user base, with 425 million monthly actives. Facebook also announced that by the end of 2011 there had been 100 billion friend connections, and in recent months users had been registering 2.7 billion Likes and Comments per day. Facebook is one of the most trafficked sites in the US, and its international growth has been impressive. Additionally, Facebook is the top photo sharing site with 250 million photos uploaded per day.
Facebook users’ passion—or addiction—to the site is unparalleled: more than half use the product every single day and users spend an average of 19 minutes a day on Facebook. The site’s popularity has garnered it pop culture fame, so much so that in 2010 a feature film entitled The Social Network was released which chronicled Facebook’s inception.
In its 2012 IPO filing, Facebook announced that it intends to grow in the near future by expanding its global user base, increasing engagement by developing new social tools, improving the mobile experience, and creating more value for advertisers and users.
Read more: http://www.crunchbase.com/company/facebook#ixzz2RCiAEMYj
Follow us: @crunchbase on Twitter | crunchbase on Facebook
Thursday, 3 January 2013
Music Industry - KEY CONCEPTS AND EXAMPLES
|
AUDIENCE
|
BRITNEY SPEARS
|
ARCTIC MONKEYS
|
50 CENT
|
|
TARGET AUDIENCE
|
Initially a young
female audience of ‘teenyboppers’. Audience has matured with her and she has
attracted a more male audience through provocative videos and magazine
shoots. Gay following.
|
15-25 ‘music buff’
demographic. Reformer/Aspirer according to Rubicam & Youngs. The
Pre-Kings of Leon audience.
|
Mainly male audience,
who perhaps seek a similar success who are from similar backgrounds
People who seek
adrenaline from his triumph
Possibly female who
find him attractive
Hype Music – used in
gyms for physical activity motivation.
People that aspire to
be like 50 cent, usually from a deprived area who want the money, cars, sex,
fame and party lifestyle of Curtis Jackson.
|
|
POSITIONING OF AUDIENCE
|
Immense press coverage. The audience
becomes passive by consuming mass media photos and information about her.
|
Women may find them attractive, men
will want to be their friends. Songs are about the reality of relationships.
The audience are ACTIVE in helping the
Arctic monkeys to achieve success. The band themselves keep a low profile and
rely on the audience.
|
Women may find 50 Cent attractive and
men may find him inspirational and want to be like him.
Little press courage – especially in
the UK.
Songs are about his previous life
experiences or opinions
50 Cent likes to be in the media
promoting himself or his G Unit members through TV advertisements and
interviews.
|
|
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AUDIENCE AND TEXT
|
Britney communicates
with her fans through her website, facebook and Twitter. She writes in a
colloquial style which connects her with her fans and makes them feel closer
to her. She wants to be a role model to young people. Fans feel as if they
can communicate with her online although it is very difficult to actually
meet her.
|
Interview style is
informal (e.g. NME interview). They are on the same level as their fans.
|
50 Cent communicates
to his fans through the use of his website, This is 50 and through his
Twitter account. He likes to tell his fans what he is doing and where he is
doing in the world at the moment like tours etc. But fans cannot really
communicate with him back.
|
|
AUDIENCE RESPONSE
|
‘Loyal and Forgiving fans’ (Sunday
Times article). Positive reaction to Circus Tour in 2009 after troublesome
few years. 13 million viewers watched her UK comeback on the Xfactor in 2008
- she was criticised for miming.
Her fans expect a spectacle at
concerts, and may not care that she mimes. Concert revenue is extremely
important in the music industry now.
‘Crossroads’ 2002 (dir. Tamra Davis)
got negative reviews in the US as it was predictable and not suitable for
Britney’s younger fans. It ranked at no.9 on the box office charts in its
first week of release but then quickly dropped out of the top 10.
|
Known for audience participation in
concerts
|
Huge fan base which is illustrated
through the charting success of his singles and albums.
Got new fan base through use of mix
tapes on YouTube and publicity through his
“beef” with other big rappers such as Jay Z
|
Friday, 14 December 2012
Music Industry Revision - Glossary of Terms
Archetype: an
often- repeated character type or representation which is instantly
recognisable to an audience
Attitudes, beliefs
and values: terms commonly used when
discussing the audience for media products and the factors influencing the
reception of media messages.
·
Attitudes are the positions people adopt in
relation to a particular issue, e.g.
Being for or against foxhunting.
·
Beliefs are deeply held views, e.g. A belief in the principle of human equality
or a belief in God.
·
Values represent the moral or ideological
structure within which beliefs and attitudes are formed, e.g. Belief in Christianity or Islam.
·
All these factors affect the reception of media
texts. Research also focuses on the ways
in which media content influences the formation, representation and
reproduction of attitudes, beliefs and values.
Audience: key
concept the groups or individuals targeted by producers as the
intended consumers of media texts. Owing
to the wide availability of media texts, the actual viewers, readers or
listeners may not be those originally targeted.
·
Audience studies are usually structured in terms
of gender, age and social and cultural background, and are concerned with the circumstances
in which media texts, are consumed and the nature and the consequences of this
consumption.
·
The identification of an audience is a vital
ingredient for the successful production and marketing of and media text.
·
Considerations of audience motivation and
behaviour are at key focus of attention in both active and passive audience theories.
Composition: the
arrangement fee of visual elements within the frame, for clarity, balance or
aesthetic judgement.
Connotation: a
meaning attributable to an image beyond the obvious denotational level.
·
Such meanings may be metaphorical, symbolic or
culturally generated and will vary line with the cultural background and attitudes, beliefs and values of the
individual viewing the material.
·
e.g. An
image of a red rose has connotations of New Labour, or England, or on a
Valentine card can represent hot-blooded passion.
Conventions: the expected ingredients
in a particular type of media text.
Convergence: the
coming together of new media Technologies.
·
e.g.
Television is now digital and interactive, with the potential for 1000
channels and with technology available to download and store programmes;
television can also be used for banking and shopping; Internet web cams allow
for visual interaction between users; music can be downloaded and burnt onto
CDs and mobile phones can take and send pictures and access the Internet.
Demographics:
information concerning the social status, class, gender and age of the
population.
·
Audience
profiles use demographic information, the best-known system being the ABC1
scale.
Gender:
psychological and cultural aspects of behaviour associated with masculinity and
femininity, acquired through social socialization, in accordance with the
expectations of a particular society.
·
Representations
of gender increasingly challenged traditional concepts of masculinity and
femininity.
·
Girl power, launched as a marketing device for
the Spice Girls in the early 1990s,
created new role models have a certain young women, rejecting the traditional
passive female role.
·
Traditional masculine trades of violent
aggression, sexual promiscuity and high levels of alcohol consumption are
increasingly represented without gender distinction, and female representations
in film made challenge or subverted traditional femininity and female roles
e.g.Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2 (Quentin Tarantino
2003, 2004) and Tomb Raider (Simon
West, 2001)
·
Masculinity is represented increasingly as soft
or ambivalent. Men can outcry, show
affection for babies and talk about their feelings openly, or characteristics
traditionally associated with femininity.
Males are also shown as uncertain about their gender identity, e.g. Fight
Club (David Fincher, 1999)
Gendered Consumption: the way that gender affects our consumption
of media texts.
·
Ann Gray suggested (1992) that women prefer
open-ended narratives, such as soap operas, whereas men preferred closed
narratives with a clear resolution, for example, police dramas. The concept of (women’s fiction) (Christine
Geraghty, 1991) involves identifying characteristics and media texts that
appeal to women.
·
e.g. Soap
operas attracting large female audiences have strong female leads, deal with
personal relationships in the domestic sphere and contain an element of
escapism.
Genre: key concept a category of
media products classed as being similar in form and type.
·
Film, magazine, newspaper and television are all
media genres. Types of film, magazine,
newspaper and television programme are also genres. Westerns and musicals are filmed genres,
lifestyle magazines are a magazine genre, tabloids and broadsheets a newspaper
genres, situation comedies, crime dramas and soap operas a television genres.
·
Genres operate alongside narrative constructions
in line with the audience expectations, for example, magazines of a particular
genre are expected to contain a specific kind of narrative discourse.
·
Genres can be further divided into subgenres.
Genre Theory: an
explanation of the role played by genre in differentiating media texts and
aligning audiences.
·
Genre theorists consider the relationship
between audiences, media texts and media producers and the ways in which
genres, particularly in film, can be used by producers to target specific
audience groups, with predictable expectations of audience numbers and
responses.
·
e.g. In
explaining their appeal to audiences, Richard Dyer (1973) argues that the genres
a pleasurable because they offer escapist fantasies into fictional worlds which
remove the boredom and pressures of reality.
He sees these worlds as utopian, offering the audience abundance,
energy, excitement, spontaneity and community-none of which are present in
their everyday lives.
Hybrid: a cross
between one film genre and another.
·
E.g. From
Dusk till Dawn (Robert Rodriguez, 1996) starts as a crime drama and becomes
a vampire movie.
Icon: a sign
resembling the thing in represents.
·
An icon can also be an image representative of
an ideology or religion. Icons were
originally religious paintings of Christ and the Virgin Mary and treated as
sacred objects.
·
E.g. A
photograph.
·
TIP
of a public figure who, having achieved the ultimate in a particular field, has
become the focus of mass adoration is also called on icon, e.g. Pop icons such as Kylie Minogue or Madonna.
Ideology: key
concept of a set of attitudes,
beliefs and values held in common by a group of people and culturally
reproduced within that community to sustain its particular way of life.
·
Ideologies can be described as dominant,
subservience, or opposition all depending on their status within a society.
·
E.g.
Capitalism, Communism, Christianity and Islam.
·
TIP Ideology
is present in all media texts. You can
explore it by assessing the attitudes, beliefs and values within the text and
the assumptions made about what the viewer or reader thinks and feels.
Incidental music: the use of music to
punctuate for a specific events or action, or to provide a sound background.
Independent: a media organisation or
activity that is not connected to a major company.
Institution: key
concept any of the organisations responsible for the production,
marketing, distribution or regulation of media texts.
·
Institutions are business and social structures
that produce media texts and regulates and structure media activities. If they are collectives within which
individuals are encouraged to work toward a common goal and to develop working
practices based on assumptions about the aims and ethos of the
institution. Institutions assumed shared
values of all employees and have a status and power relationships with other
institutions and the wider public.
·
E.g. BBC,
Sky, CNN, British Board of Film Classification.
Interactive: media texts which of
audiences the opportunity to choose, respond or shape the text in some way.
Intertextuality:
the practice of deliberately including references to one text in the narrative
of another, either as homage to the text referred to or as a device intended to
engage the interest of the audience by appealing to their prior knowledge and
experience of media texts.
·
Intertextuality can generate levels of meaning
for the viewer and anchors a current text within texts of similar or related
genre.
·
For example, Kill
Bill Vol. 1 (Quentin Tarantino, 2003) makes many references to Westerns,
gangster and Japanese Samurai films.
Key Concept: any
of the core concepts on which a media studies programme focuses, specifically audience, genre, ideology, institutions,
language, narrative and
representation.
·
These key concepts provide a systematic
structure for the study of the media and media products and provide terms of
reference in any media assignment or project.
Any analysis of the media topic should be related to the key concepts
where appropriate.
Language key concepts: the particular
codes used within different media to convey messages to audiences.
·
This includes the content, theme and purpose of
a print-based text, its layout and design, the use of written language and of
photography and illustration.
·
With the moving image, language involves
iconography, mise en scene, use of
lighting, colour, editing and montage techniques.
·
Visual language involves selection and
construction from paradigms to produce syntagm’s e.g. a poster, photograph or film.
Media access:
describes the degree of ease with which citizens can be seen and/or heard in
the media, respond to the media and be provided with a dialogue with
institutions, and the opportunities evident for people to produce media texts
themselves and for them to be distributed.
Media language:
an umbrella term that describes the ways in which audiences read media texts
through understanding formal and conventional structures (for example, the
grammar of film editing). Media literacy
describes our ability to read and write in this extended sense of language.
Media Studies 2.0:
a response to web 2.0, proposed by Gauntlet (2007) , in which the role of
online user-generated content and sharing is seen as fundamental to how we
understand media audiences.
Mediation: the
means by which, through the use of representation, a media organisation and its
employees stand between an event and the public’s perception of that event.
·
Mediation involves the process of constructing,
interpreting and editing material in accordance with the requirements of the
chosen medium of communication.
·
TIP
It is useful to remember the term indicates other media change events by
reporting and representing them.
Mode of Address: in narrative studies,
the way in which media texts talk to an audience.
·
In audiovisual texts, this can be in the form of
a voiceover where an unseen narrator
addresses the audience. The narrator
could be one of the texts characters and provide insight into what occurs on
screen us.
·
In film noir, the private detective’s voice
often provides a running commentary on the action, from his perspective.
·
TIP
fans of the cult movie Blade Runner
(Ridley Scott, 1982) dispute which of the two versions of the film, one with
lead character Deckard’s (Harrison Ford) off-screen narration and one without,
is the most successful.
MP 3: Computer Software package which
allows a user to convert a music CD track into a computer file and post it on
the Internet for downloading by others.
·
The implication of MP3 and other similar
software, for example, Windows Media Audio (WMA), is that music can be
downloaded free of charge.
·
Websites such as Napster were created solely for
the purpose of allowing free music downloads that came up against copyright
law. Legal action by music publishing
companies against Napster, which created the file sharing system in 1999,
forced the company to close in 2001. It re-launched in 2003 as a legal service
charging for music.
·
The development poses a problem for the artist
and the music industry as copyright law is being broken Anthony them makes any
money from the practice.
MTV (Music Television): worldwide music
television channel founded in the USA in 1981 and owned by Viacom.
·
MTV operates in 136 territories, reaching over
300 million households, and has various versions such as MTV Europe, MTV
Mandarin, MTV India, MTV Nordic and MTV Australia. The company claims that it is sensitive to worldwide
cultural and musical diversity. In spite
of this claim, critics argue that its prime concern is to deliver use the
audiences to advertisers and that it promotes essentially Western consumer
values.
Multi media: the text created in a
variety of media.
Narrative: key concept the storyline and structure of a media text.
·
Narratives all stories helped to shape and
explain all aspects of our lives from earliest infancy. They are part of the ways in which we make
sense of the world and provide reassurance in the face of the dangers and
contradictions of everyday experience.
·
Narratives are structured within genres, which provide frameworks of
expectation, predictability and outcome.
Niche Marketing:
the targeting of a small but significant group of consumers with a media
product directed specifically at their interests.
- E.g. Living France magazine is directed at people who have a specific interest in the French way of life, in holidaying in France and who may have a second home there.
Ofcom: the public
body responsible for regulating the television, radio and telecommunications
media in Britain.
- Ofcom replaced the Independent Television Commission, the Broadcasting Standards Council, the Radio Authority and the Radio Communications Agency under the terms of the 2003 Communications Act.
- Ofcom’s remit does not currently include the BBC.
- Complaints to Ofcom about media content tend to be about offence caused by language, sexual portrayal and violence, where the regulator is particularly concerned to monitor the 9.00 PM watershed, and also religious offence, accuracy and impartiality. The regulator publishers regular Ofcom Broadcast Bulletins with details of complaints, the responses of broadcasters and conclusions.
Parody: the
imitation of one media text by another for comic effect.
·
E.g. Blazing Saddles (Mel Brooks, 1974)
parodies all the iconographic, narrative and character features of the Western
genre; scary movie (Keenan Ivory Wayans, 2000) parodies the horror genre.
Pleasure: a
motivating factor in the consumption of media texts.
- Pleasure has often been ignored by researchers seeking to explain the motivation of audiences that is reflected in the uses and gratification theory and is an increasing feature of the appeal media products have in a hedonistic, self-gratifying and consumption-orientated Pop Culture: text which are consumed by a wide range of people, as opposed to a smaller group that is seen as an elite; they tend to be described as ‘popular’ and this implies a lesser cultural status or value.
Pop Music:
technically, any music that reflects popular culture but usually applied to the
development of rock and roll from the 1950s to its present widely diverse
variations.
Primary Research:
research undertaken through direct interview with a source or by direct access
to original, unmediated documents or images.
Reception Theory:
an active audience theory which sees the audience as being actively engaged in
the interpretation of media texts rather than as passive consumers.
- Audiences decodes media texts in ways that relate to the social and cultural circumstances and individual experience. Reception theory uses qualitative and ethnographic methods such as group interviews and participant observation.
- In Morley’s 1980 Nationwide study (Nationwide was an evening news programme) he found that an audience’s response to media texts was influenced by family, class and educational factors. He showed the different groups interpreted the same texts in different ways depending on their background and level of involvement with the subject matter. For example, a group of management trainees saw the programmes items on trade unions as being biased towards the unions, whereas a group of workers saw the same items as being anti-union.
- Morley’s approach is important because it combines semiological and sociological approaches. Semiological study involves the idea of directed preferred readings of media texts, while sociological study is concerned with how age, sex, race, class, gender, sexuality and disability may determine the reading of a text.
- The approach is also known as audience studies or new audience research and in the 1990s was associated with the work of David Buckingham. His research concludes that even by the age of seven children have become skilled readers of media texts and a able to interpret, challenge and reject media messages, including advertising.
- TIP this research can be used to challenge effects theory models which argued
that audiences, particularly children, are affected negatively by media
content.
Representation: key concept of the process whereby
the media construct versions of people, places and events in images, words or
sound for transmission through media texts to an audience.
- Representations provide models of how we see gender, social groups, individuals and aspects of the world we all inhabit. They are ideological in that they are constructed within a framework of values and beliefs. Representations are therefore mediated for and reflect the value systems of their sources. No representation is ever real, only a version of the real.
- The representations are part of cultural mythology and reflect deep-seated values and beliefs e.g. Of such places as the north of England, Scotland and America.
- TIP representation is the key to many media debates and
is usually described as being positive or negative, depending on the view
of the group being represented.
Achieving positive representations (versions of themselves that
they agree with and approve of) has been a goal of minority groups who
have criticised the perceived negativity of media stereotypes, e.g. homosexuals, ethnic minorities,
religious minorities, disability groups and women.
Scheduling: the
strategic positioning of media texts within broadcasting time. Digital television is increasingly disrupting
this approach, since viewers can choose more easily than before when to
watch.
Stereotype: the
social classification of a group of people by identifying common
characteristics and universally applying them in an often oversimplified and
generalised way, such that the classification represents value judgements and
assumptions about the group concerned.
- E.g. The ‘dumb’ blonde, the ‘mean’ Scotsman.
Target Audience:
the intended audience for a media product.
- When producing a media text for mass consumption, identification of the target audience is essential so the media institutions can assess the likely response to the product and the investment risks involved.
- The BlockBuster movie titanic (James Cameron, 1997) was carefully crafted to appeal to a range of audiences, with its generic mixture of disaster movie, historical reconstruction, action movie and romance. To this was added a hit single theme song by Celine Dion. In spite of costing $200 million to produce, it grossed$1 billion at the box office, a record at the time.
- TIP the target audience is not always the actual
audience for a text, e.g. children under the age of 15 watching a 15 or 18
rated film when their parents are at.
Terrestrial:
analogue broadcasts from land-based transmitters as opposed to cable or
satellite digital transmissions.
Upload: for
transferring information or material from a computer to an online network.
Vertical Integration:
the merger or takeover of companies operating at different stages of the
production/distribution process.
- Total vertical integration gives a company control of a product from raw materials to distribution.
- E.g. In media Industries, the takeover by newspaper owner of the distribution service and retail outlets such as newsagents would be vertical integration.
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