LO: Develop understanding of the effect of Web 2 LO: Develop understanding of the effect of Web 2.0 on the music industry

Interactive vs passive – think of wikipedia User generated content What is Web 2.0? Interactive vs passive – think of wikipedia User generated content What have you ever created on the web? Blogs? Youtube clip?

A&R recap What does it stand for? Artist and Repertoire This department is responsible for finding and marketing new musical talent Simon Cowell is an example

Imagine you are a new unsigned music artist How would you market yourself? MySpace Twitter Music video – viral? Live gigs Facebook page Radio airplay

A & R continued Most of these are traditional ‘pre-digital’ ways of a promoting/marketing a new artist and most are still being used by the industry. However in recent years some artists have embraced the internet to promote themselves. Why? Exposure - Potential to be seen or heard by millions. Directness - Cuts out the record industry- no auditions demos, concert performances. Cheaper – you can make your own music and even your own video very cheaply without a record company's financial help. Freedom – allows you to express yourself in the way you want . As a result of falling record sales, many A&R staff have been made redundant. It is not clear whether A&R executives will still shape the future of musical tastes in the same way they have in the past.

Master Shortie http://kurbartistmanagement.info/ London rapper Master Shortie is among a new wave of artists to use digital technology to produce, market and distribute their music, almost completely cutting the music industry’s A&R department. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/5fabb404-3252-4655-8c01-5ba575033c86 http://www.mastershortie.com/ Have a look at this website for the modern musical age. http://kurbartistmanagement.info/ Is it possible to breakthrough as an artist without any input from the music industry? We have already discussed how important radio is in gaining ‘initial exposure’ for a song. But how would you get your song on the radio if a record company weren’t involved?

The consumer as producer. Task: Make a list of the worlds leading media producers. The Marxist approach - Karl Marx said that one reason the masses were being dominated by the dominant ideology was through the media. What is the dominant ideology? The government, big businesses, religion….. Antonio Gramsci; ‘If you can control the means of production then you can control the message’. In the 21st century ‘digital world ‘ the means of production has been increasingly handed over to new groups of society – us! The masses and not the dominant ideology are setting the agenda for making media. Dr Aleks Krotski - ‘ the democratising of the media through the internet’

The consumer as producer Why are the means of production being handed over to us? Because modern digital technology is? Smaller/compression multi-functional/convergence easier to use (‘idiot proof’) Accessible and compatible to produce and distribute and crucially cheaper in the long run! Recap: before digital photography cameras how would you have taken and produced photos. List the procedure?

Watch Virtual Revolution Episode 1 (5) from 3 mins 30 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vyD_wh_Ml0 Took control from middle man – allowed people to communicate directly (e.g. musicians or footballers on Twitter rather than through newspaper) Consumer as publisher (iphone) – access to potentially vast audience – User generated content Used as promotional tool – Master Shortie Old hierarchies still there – can market yourself on internet but will still probably sign for record label So creativity has not been revolutionised

Master Shortie http://kurbartistmanagement.info/ London rapper Master Shortie is among a new wave of artists to use digital technology to produce, market and distribute their music, almost completely cutting the music industry’s A&R department. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/5fabb404-3252-4655-8c01-5ba575033c86 http://www.mastershortie.com/ Have a look at this website for the modern musical age. http://kurbartistmanagement.info/ Is it possible to breakthrough as an artist without any input from the music industry? We have already discussed how important radio is in gaining ‘initial exposure’ for a song. But how would you get your song on the radio if a record company weren’t involved?

Write a PEE paragraph about either: Point Evidence Explanation Write a PEE paragraph about either: Koopa Lily Allen and MySpace Mike Skinner and Twitter Master Shortie

Lily Allen and MySpace It has been claimed that pop artist Lily Allen's fame is also due in part to her being promoted on MySpace. In response to an interview question "The way it's been portrayed in the media, is that you were almost like discovered by MySpace; how accurate is that?" Allen responded "Not accurate at all, I had a record deal before I set up my MySpace account so, erm, that ... couldn't really be further from the truth." Nevertheless, Allen's work was widely circulated and gained popularity due to her MySpace profile. Allen’s success reflects the ‘digital zeitgeist’ of her fans and is perhaps a benchmark for the future whereby artists can cut out the record industry A&R completely. Read article: ‘Mister Space Man’.

Koopa are an example of the increasing power the consumer has within the music industry. They were the first ever unsigned band to release a download only single to go into the top 40 of the music charts. They built a loyal fan base by playing lots of live gigs and encouraged them to buy the single by sending SMS messages and using an “e-team” to spread the word about them. An article on 16th January 2007 in The Guardian claims that it costs almost nothing to release a download only single but about £20k to release a CD. Improved technology will more and more allow bands not to use record labels to reach their target audience - this fits with the Marxist notion of “consumers as producers and distributors”.

Cultural Imperialism When one culture dominates other cultures, forcing its ideology and stifling indigenous culture. Americanization Closely linked to imperialism and the modern idea that American culture dominates ‘the cultural landscape’.

Plenary Define: Compression Proliferation Exchange

Proliferation of Formats The advent of digital media has led to the sudden creation of many new music formats available to the average consumer. In 2003 there were less than 10 formats available, but by 2007 there were over 100. Today a single artist release can be packaged in multiple formats. Can you name some formats: On line MP3 purchase CD single Vinyl records Music Video downloads Ringtones Mobile full tracks DVD Video games