Piracy study shows illegal downloaders more likely to pay for films than music

Comparison reveals film pirates as wealthy early adopters who will stop their behaviour if they feel it is damaging the industry

According to recent studies people who illegally download movies also love going to the cinema and do not mind paying to watch films, research has shown. Those who illegally download movies are more likely to be wealthier and less worried about being caught than their music counterparts, concluded the study, thought to be the first to examine the differences between movie and music pirates.

Movie pirates are also more likely to cut down their piracy if they feel they are harming the industry compared with people who illegally download music, according to Cox and fellow Portsmouth University economist Professor Alan Collins.

Dr Joe Cox, one of the University of Portsmouth economists involved in the study, said: "It is interesting to see that people who illegally download large quantities of movie files continue to pay for legal movie consumption to a far greater extent than music downloaders."

On average, each person involved in the survey had illegally downloaded about 2,900 music files and 90 movie files. However, interestingly Previous studies have found that people who pirate content are also much more likely to purchase content legally than those who do not illegally download music and movies. Illegal filesharers from the US and Germany were found to buy 30% more music than people who did not pirate music, for instance.

In my opinion, these findings are very interesting as they show the fact that people who illegally download content are more likely to purchase content legally due to them being more involved with new and digital media. This article also suggests how people who don't illegally download do not spend as much time using new and digital media services. 

Cuban blogger to launch island's first independent digital newspaper

Yoani Sánchez's online publication called 14ymedio will challenge communist-ruled country's state-controlled media

Yoani Sánchez, who is Cuba's prize winning blog, is launching the island's first independent digital newspaper next week to challenge the communist-ruled country's state-controlled media. She said that her prize winning publication will be online and will be named 14ymedio. The name is in honour of the year of its launch and the 14th-floor Havana apartment where she writes her popular Generation Y blog on daily life and politics in Cuba. 

Sánchez states how "It will be a difficult road. In recent weeks we have seen a preview of how official propaganda will demonize us for creating this medium," She also added that several of her online team have already received warning calls from Cuban state security officials prior to the official launch on 21 May. Public criticism of Cuba's communist system can be considered enemy propaganda, punishable by jail sentences.

Sánchez is 38 and has won several prestigious media awards in the United States and Europe and has been included on Time magazine's annual list of 100 most influential people.

Interaction between audiences is key and I think it is a great idea to allow this kind of interaction on news. She should be able to create as much content as she wants without the government saying otherwise as the internet is a non-regulated space or a democratic space which should allow her to post content she wants. 

One Direction coverage boosts Sun on Sunday sales by 2%

News Group title sees biggest increase on previous month of Sunday newspapers, but circulation still down 9.7% year-on-year

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The coverage of boyband One Direction's latest tour helped to boost The Sun on Sunday's sales last month by 2% to 1.7 million copies which was the largest increase of all the Sunday papers.The News Group title sold an average of 1,721,068 copies in April, up just over 2% on March but down 9.7% year-on-year, according to figures published by the Audit Bureau of Circulations figures published on Friday.

The paper also saw an increase in sales with scoops about boxer Amir Khan and actor Kym Marsh. Its rivals the Mail on Sunday and the Sunday Mirror were also up – the Mail on Sunday growing by 0.7% on the previous month to 1,566,728, while the Trinity Mirror title was marginally up by 0.1% to 928,697.

Year-on-year both titles went down

The Mail on Sunday at 7.7%

And the Sunday Mirror at 10.2%.

In a buoyant month for the mid-market and tabloid titles, only the Daily Star Sunday was down on the previous month, slipping 0.3% to 291,439, and down 11.7% year-on-year.

The evidence suggests how the demand for print and newspapers is in decline as people aren't as interested in gaining their news from newspapers due to online sources being easier to access, free and there is a much wider range of content. 

One-quarter of Spotify tracks are skipped in first five seconds, study reveals

Analysis of unique user habits shows that attention spans are short, with listeners skipping songs once every four minutes

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One-quarter of all songs played on Spotify are skipped within the first five seconds of listening, according to a new study carried out via music analysis company The Echo Nest.

Proving that our music listening habits are becoming increasingly more fractured, the study, which was published by director of developer platform Paul Lamere, looks primarily into the "skip" habits of users of the streaming service. A skip is registered each time a listener abandons a song before the song has completely finished, either because the listener explicitly presses the skip button, they clicked on a different song or they searched for and started another song before the current song ended.

The series of graphs were created by processing billions of plays from millions of unique listeners worldwide. The graphs show that nearly one-quarter of all songs played are skipped in the first five seconds, with the likelihood that a song will be skipped within the first 30 seconds rising to 35.05%. An average listener skips a song once every four minutes, and there is a 48.6% chance that a song will be skipped before it ends.

While there is very little difference between the male and female skipping rate (male listeners' rate is 44.75% and female listeners is 45.23%), the mobile skipping rate (51.1%) is greater than the desktop skipping rate (40.1%), meaning that those on their handheld devices interact and divert much more regularly than solitary desktop users.

Spotify says it's 'a matter of time' before it overtakes Apple's iTunes in Europe
Streaming music service says it has added 1m active users in the UK alone in the last four months



Streaming music service Spotify has added more than 1m active users in the UK in the last four months, as it tries to overtake Apple's iTunes as the biggest digital music service in Europe. "Some of our partners are saying Spotify is now generating more revenue each month across Continental Europe than iTunes," Spotify's head of label relations in Europe, Kevin Brown, told industry site Music Week. "Given that download sales are declining and Spotify is growing rapidly, particularly in the UK, it is only a matter of time before Spotify is bigger than iTunes across Europe as a whole."

Brown added that a "significant amount" of the million new British Spotify users are paying for a subscription, rather than listening to its free, advertising-supported version. The growth has been sparked by marketing partnerships with Vodafone and the Sunday Times.

• Spotify said in March 2013 that it had 24 million active users
• The UK is one of Spotifys biggest markets 
• In 2013, streaming music services generated £103m of revenues in the UK according to figures from industry body the BPI
• Streaming accounted for just 10% of overall UK recorded music revenues in 2013

For now, Spotify versus iTunes is a fairly clear streaming versus iTunes comparison. But with Apple already having a streaming radio service – iTunes Radio – in a few countries, and tipped to launch a full Spotify-style "on-demand" streaming service later this year, the two companies are likely to be even more direct competitors in the coming years.

In my opinion I think that Spotify and music streaming services are rising in terms of subscribers and will continue to gain more and more users due to the simple fact that it's free and much more convenient to use than downloading songs. You are able to listen to music anywhere for free through a device connected to a network.

Print is not the future, but it's not the past either

The latest US figures on newspaper decline may be sobering, but pundits and managers alike are starting to despair of digital

Once a year the Newspaper Association of America pulls together its overall performance figures, so once a year we can see more clearly than ever which way the US press industry (hugely influential in terms of expected British and European performance) is heading. Current answer, for 2013 as for every year since 2007: down.

• Print advertising is 10% off the previous pace. 
• However this is still 2.8% worse than 2012
• Both print and digital ads together creates an income of about  $21 billion
• In under a decade, it decreased from $49 billion to $21 billion

Talking of decline, what about print? "We in the print business have given it up. [But] advertising probably works better in print than in any other medium; it represents the ultimate engagement… It came about because ad agencies made more money on other kinds of advertising. Now, no one knows how to create print ads."

In my opinion I think that print is in decline due to the fact that younger generations find it easier to access news content through new technology such as devices like smartphones. It comes down to the accessibility and what's more convenient for audiences to access their content. Despite saying that, there is a still an audience for print and therefore it's not completely dying/or will dye out anytime soon.

Presentations

Nadeem:

Twitter 

• Gained 500 million users worldwide
• Youths socially connected
• Speed of information 

Information is able to be spread within a matter of seconds

Its at the speed of NOW

Twitters discover page -> News stories by news institutions

• Straight from the main source

Citizen journalism 

Navneet: 

"The internet is an empowering too" Al Gore

"Global village" McLuhan 

China's government blocked Facebook and western county sites in 2009.

Society became more fragmented due to this censorship policy.

Facebook was used as a means to kick start activist groups and set up secret meetings to plot against the government.

• Users can connect with each other online 
• Citizen journalism
•  (UGC)

Anita:

Netflix -> second popular provider of on demand internet streaming media and produces their own content now after gaining a mass audience of consumers.

• Provides films and TV shows 
• Created in 2008
• Available on all devices -> smartphones, tablets ect.
• The concept of convenience -> time shifting and scheduling 

Primary target audience is 18-36 year olds

• subscriptions at £6.50 -> attempting to increase this rate by a £1 more

Has the internet killed traditional video stores?

BBC Iplayer, ITV player -> provide catch up TV on programs on that specific network, that you may have missed

Gagan:

Music industries aren't making as much as they use to due to new and digital media

• CD revenues dropped by 11.7%
• Digital revenues grew by 4.3%

Audience -> engage with new technology and new devices which therefore means they are more likely to engage with streaming services

Institutions blaming Google -> Google is not interested in protecting content creators.

Moral panic for music industries 

Audience can get content for free online

• Digital Economy Act (DEA)

Jinan:

Smartphones

Iphone 5

• Released on 12th september 2012
• Simplistic yet multi-functional

Samsung Galaxy S3

• Android operating system
• Main competitor for iphone

Social networking, Facebook, Twitter..

Affects other institutions (more traditional industries)

• Disruptive
• Canon (cameras)
• Also can be used for gaming disturbing handheld gaming companies such as Nintendo.

Zulq:

BskyB

founded November 1990

Sky + -> launched in 2002

SkyGo -> launched 2006

• For film lovers

30th September 2009, BskyB got 9.4 million users

Prewatershed -> Pin 

Channel 4 and ITV

2012 -> 40% decrease

Samuel: 

"technology has changed everything"

• CD revenues dropped by 11.7%
• Digital revenues grew by 4.3%
• Artists lose out

Record and media institutions make the money 

The audience can be considered as gatekeepers

• They can control who becomes successful 

Justin Bieber -> Fame through Youtube covers 

Jackson 5 -> publicity on MTV (more traditional method)

Youtube helps artists promote and release their music for free

Its easy and only requires a Google email/account

Stefan:

Instagram

Creator was working for Google for 2 years

Launched October 2010

By 2012 -> 100,000 users 

Ownership vs. Facebook takeover

40 million images sent daily across the medium

• 10th April 2012 -> Facebook brought Instagram.

Harvey: 

There is a huge difference in quality.

It has now become much quicker to edit footage

Digital cameras now save money for high quality box office movies.

The speed has changed between traditional and digital films

Format change/switch over

Ordinary people have the means of production 

Exam mock

Media product 1 - An excerpt from Educating Yorkshire (Channel 4, 2013)

Media Product 2 - An excerpt from Waterloo Road (BBC1, 2013)


Question 1
How do the two texts use narrative techniques to draw the attention of an audience?
The two texts use narrative techniques to draw in an audience. Educating Yorkshire is an eight-episode series based on the BAFTA award-winning series known as Educating Essex. The other media clip shown is an extract from Waterloo Road; a trailer shown on BBC1; which is a nine series show and has attracted a large amount of viewers. Throughout the clips shown, there are various narrative techniques which are evident. One theory which can be applied to both texts is Todorov's narrative theory in regards to equilibriums. Educating Yorkshire's main focus; in the clip; is on Mushy who is a boy in the series who is attempting to overcome his speech impediment. The clip shows how this character is trying to overcome the problem in an attempt to read a speech out loud. Mr Burton; who is a teacher at the school; is helping him with his disequilibrium in order to help Mushy overcome his problem. This point also links to Propp's theory of character types as Mushy can be referred to as the hero (attempting to succeed in the situation) and Mr Burton as a helper to the hero.

In the extract from Waterloo Road, Todorov's theory is also present as we are shown how a single girl is creating friction in the school and this is the first sign off this. The disequilibrium is when this girl kisses another boy; who has a girlfriend. There is then a cutaway at the reaction of the guys girlfriend which could be seen as a action code as we see her as not happy - potentially foreshadowing a fight/disagreement breaking out in the future between them two. The disequilibrium is then left unsolved as this is typical code and convention of a trailer. By Todorov's theory of equilibrium not being solved, this creates an enigma code (Barthes) as we are left wondering what is to take place in the future. Furthermore, this technique draws in the attention of the audience and almost makes viewers want to watch and find out what series of events is to take place. 

The narrative shown in Educating Yorkshire portrays a school which is 

Paul Weller children win privacy damages over photos on Mail Online
Associated Newspapers pays £10,000 over seven pictures of teenage daughter and twins on Mail Online in 2012



Three of singer Paul Weller's children have won £10,000 privacy damages after their faces were "plastered" over Mail Onlines website. Weller (aged 55) sued Associated Newspapers for misuse of private information on behalf of daughter Dylan, who was 16 when the seven pictures of her appeared on Mail Online back in October 2012, and twin sons John Paul and Bowie, who were 10 months old.
The one-time frontman of The Jam and the Style Council was not at London's high court to hear the ruling by Mr Justice Dingemans.

The pictures were published after a paparazzo followed Weller and the children on a shopping trip through the streets of Santa Monica, California, taking photos without their consent despite being asked to stop. Associated Newspapers argued that they were entirely innocuous and inoffensive images taken in public places and that the Wellers had previously chosen to open up their private family life to public gaze to a significant degree.

Weller gave evidence that he did not volunteer information about his family when he spoke to the press to promote his records but was a candid person who would answer a question if asked. He said: "My preference would be just to talk about my music but I can also see that would be a very dull interview. It's just chit-chat. There's a big difference between that and someone following you around and taking photos of babies. That's a distinction that needs to be made."

In my opinion I think that the paparazzo were in the wrong to constantly keep taking photographs of them after Weller told them to stop. They need their privacy and they should respect that however we as individuals; in this day and age; no longer have the privacy which we were once able to have.



MusicQubed aims for ‘forgotten fans’ priced out by streaming music services
British startup thinks there is room for mid-priced music apps as an alternative to Spotify and iTunes




Digital music in 2014 tends to divide between three main strands: Apple’s iTunes and other download stores; streaming music services like Spotify, Deezer and Rdio; and YouTube or Vevo for music videos. It's basically a market split between people buying individual song or album downloads; people paying £10 a month to stream anything they like (well, apart from Atoms for Peace or the new Beyoncé album); and The Kids merrily streaming all their music on YouTube.

This isn’t quite the whole story, though. A growing number of companies are exploring what you might call “mid-price” subscription music services, hoping that there are lots of people out there willing to pay a few quid a month for a more limited selection of music.
Another company exploring this mid-priced space is British startup MusicQubed, which runs the O2 Tracks service for mobile operator O2.
Available for iPhone, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10, the app downloads the UK's Top 40 chart plus extra tracks and playlists to subscribers' phones every week, charging O2 customers £1 a week and everyone else £4.99 a month.

• O2 Tracks launched in March 2013, reached 60m track plays that July
• O2 ran a £7.3m ad campaign for O2 Tracks last year
• In March 2014 there were around 15m plays a month for its first four months for 02 Tracks

In my opinion I think that music streaming services are much more easier to use on a day to day basis instead of downloading music off iTunes or syncing music to my phone (which can take some time). Streaming music is quick and easy and also studies have also proved that streaming services have decreased the amount of piracy that takes places to a certain degree.

Beyoncé releases an album – within a week it's as if it had never happened

Why the revolution in digital distribution has made the delivery of news, music and entertainment more significant than the content

On 13 December last year Beyoncé, the biggest music star on the planet, released a new album called Beyoncé. They say it sold a million digital copies in six days. That in itself was not surprising. On the seventh day, it was as if she had never even released an album due to the fact that no one was even talking about it. It seemed like everyone just wasn't bothered. That's a reflection of how much the revolution in distribution has changed the game known as the music industry. The music business has come to terms with something that the rest of the entertainment and media world is dealing with in differing ways. Despite the repeated pieties about the magic of creativity and the special skills of writers, image makers and personalities, content is not king. 

Its now all about the delivery and the way artists are promoting their albums. Its not just a matter of the content, timing is now also a contributing factor.

YouTube and iTunes are just two of the brand names that were largely unknown 12 years ago but have now eclipsed all the record labels in all the world. It's similar elsewhere. The delivery mechanisms are the new stars. These are either free or they feel as if they're free, they touch us all in a way that individual products don't and they're designed by people so attuned to our inner child that they can make us hug ourselves from sheer delight. It's increasingly our expectation that there will be more revolutions in the means of delivery than there will be in the things delivered. We wait in a permanent state of arousal for the new, new thing.

New York Times launches data journalism site The Upshot

Publisher's 'conversational' replacement for Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight takes on Vox and Washington Post's Wonkblog

The New York Times has launched a new site featuring a combination of data-driven and explanatory reporting. It faces stiff competition from other high-profile rivals including the Washington Post's Wonkblog and Vox Media and Ezra Klein’s explanatory journalism site Vox. The paper first announced the project in March and has been working on it since Nate Silver left the paper and took his FiveThirtyEight blog to ESPN.The Upshot combines analysis of the news with data visualisations.

The Upshot's editor, David Leonhardt, a former Washington bureau chief and economics columnist at the New York Times, wrote on its Facebook page on Monday that "the site's main goal is to help people to better understand big, complex stories like Obamacare, inequality and the real-estate and stock markets".

"...by writing in a direct, plain-spoken way, the same voice we might use when writing an email to a friend. We’ll be conversational without being dumbed down.

"We will build on all of the excellent journalism the New York Times is already producing, by helping readers make connections among different stories and understand how those stories fit together."

In my opinion I think that this idea and website consists of a great foundation concept as it is helping people to understand thee news. The news can be quite boring and time consuming to sit down and watch therefore this site will make it less of a chore for the younger generation to find out what's going on. Furthermore, it's use of interactivity will help non computer literate users gain the information they need with ease.

New and digital media stores 30/03/2014

Mail Online ad revenue up 51%

Website close to £5m a month rate set by Daily Mail & General Trust to meet financial year goal of £60m

The Mail Online advertising revenue grew by 51% thus making around £23million. Mail Online made an average of £23million a month in a short period of 5 months. Once hitting £5 a month, on average they have the potential to make £million revenue in this financial year. In order for Mail Online to hit its target of £65million, they must begin to charge £5 a month for subscription and charge more for 3rd party advertising sites.

The performance of the site, which is on the brink of passing the 200 million monthly browser mark, more than covered the print advertising decline at the Mail titles over the five-month period.

In the last financial year, the Mail Online missed its £45million target by £4million, reaching £41million. Upping their target by £20million is a bit of a stretch considering they could not hit their previous target last financial year - plus is was a lower target.

Mail Online grew digital ad revenues by £8m, from £15m to £23m, while the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday saw print ad revenues fall £2m from £86m to £84m.

In my opinion, I think the target which Mail Online are attempting to reach might be a little too ambitious and thus this could end it two ways. This may motivate them more into developing the online platform in order to make a better experience for users. This would incur more of an audience and bring in a far higher viewing audience. However the other side to this is that it could blow up in their faces as they may attempt to send more of their income onto the online platform and figures and audiences do not increase which therefore means that they are worse off as they've spent the money to gain a larger audience and have not substantially gained this. 

Global music sales fell in 2013 despite strong growth for streaming services

Industry income from Spotify and rival services up 51% but Japanese drop pulls overall sales down

During 2013 the growth in music streaming services has been said to have increased rapidly due to the demand for streaming music digitally via new technological advancements such as tablets and smartphones. Furthermore, the downloading of new music has become obsolete as its not as quick as just instantly streaming music on the go.  despite income from subscription streaming services like Spotify and Deezer rising sharply, there has still been a fall by 3.9%.

• In terms of physical music sales, CD sales have fallen by 11.7% 
• In terms of digital revenues, digital sales increased by 4.3%
• Subscription streaming income rose by 51% 

In the UK, 22% of internet users have used a subscription-based digital music service – including those using them for free. “This is the way people are consuming music, so the debate about whether it’s a model to embrace has been put to rest over the last year,” said Spotify’s chief content officer Ken Parks in the report.

In my opinion I think that music streaming services such as Spotify is fighting an endless war on piracy and in some respects is winning. Most people who illegally download music only do this as its a free means of getting access to their favourite artists songs. Services like Spotify allows users to stream this music for free (with/without) a monthly fee which makes it a better option in comparison to illegally downloading the same music. Furthermore, these streaming services also help out the artists (even if it is hardly any help) as they are able to make a SMALL amount of money through this.

Daily Mail and Guardian digital 'minnows', says News UK chief

Mike Darcey says relying on online ads as main revenue stream is risky in market containing rivals such as Google and Facebook

The News UK chief thinks that by the Guardian and Daily Mail allowing users to access their news articles online for free, they are devaluing the value of the news industry as why would people pay paywalls when they can access content elsewhere for free. 

"The Guardian web proposition is so good I wonder why anyone continues to buy the Guardian edition in print at all. They must be very wealthy people."

"When print is switched off, all you have is online advertising [and] online ad prices are low and are falling,"

combined monthly online readership of almost 300 million

I think that they will have to rely on advertising revenue as competition is continuously increasing. This means more news companies are allowing content to be consumed freely on-line, forcing more companies to follow in order to survive. if contents available for free audiences will not pay to consume news. although Facebook and Google are large competitors with a vast amount of revenue generated through advertisement, the daily mail may have a chance considering the amount of on-line traffic they generate. 

Jasmine Gardner: News travels fast in cyberspace but can we trust it?

This article talks about how reliable social media really is. Although social media contains an incredible amount of information, consumers assume it is all correct.

Examples in the article include:

‘Morgan Freeman dying three times: once on Twitter, twice on Facebook.

During Hurricane Sandy, a shark swam up the streets of New Jersey.

In the London riots of 2011 a tiger was let loose from London Zoo.

And this week Manchester United boss David Moyes was sacked’.

In the US a third of all adults under 30 are said to get their news from social media

I think the number more and more people will continue to get their news from on-line sources. This is because it is easier to consume compressed amounts of information with  key points.

New and digital media stories

Daily Mail accused of insulting top female scientists

College condemns race and gender comments about experts who appeared on Newsnight to talk about origins of universe

University College London (Also known as UCL) recently wrote a letter of protest to Paul Dacre; editor of Daily Mail; in regards to the "profoundly insulting" article which was published questioning the credibility of two of there female scientists. The article was written and published after the two scientists; Dr Hiranya Peiris and Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock; appeared on newsround

"It is deeply disappointing that you thought it acceptable to print an article drawing attention to the gender and race of scientific experts, suggesting that non-white, non-male scientists are somehow incapable of speaking on the basis of their qualifications and expertise."They go on to say how people just look at gender and ethnicity as well as the colour of a persons skin and judge them and think that whatever they are saying isn't true. By them being female scientists of colour people should not associate them with having little to know knowledge and should treat all individuals regardless of race and gender equally. 

In my opinion what Daily Mail published was wrong due to the fact that they shouldn't shoot a persons thoughts or facts down due to the colour of their skin or their gender. We are in the 21st century and people should be treating one another equally

Beats Music reveals US launch plans, but can it drown out Spotify?

Dr Dre and Trent Reznor among launch team for new streaming music service, promising curation and family-friendly pricing

Dr Dre's headphones brand Beats will launch its Beats Music streaming music service on 21 January in the US, competing with Spotify, Rhapsody and Google Play Music All Access. The company has been working on the service for more than a year, having hired Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor as chief creative officer, and digital music industry veteran Ian Rogers as chief executive at the start of 2013. In December, Rogers had promised that Beats Music would launch in January, but over the weekend the company confirmed the date, price, initial distribution partners and more details on how the service will try to differentiate itself from the competition, although for now, it will only be available in the US.

Unlike Spotify, there will be no free element to Beats Music beyond an initial 30-day free trial. Subscribers will pay $9.99 a month for unlimited access to a catalogue of more than 20m songs through apps on iOS, Android and Windows Phone devices, as well as a website for desktop access.

"Beats Music combines the emotion only a human created playlist can give you with the best personalisation technology can deliver," said Rogers in a statement. "With this you get not just the music experience only a talented DJ or music expert can deliver, but also the right one for you right now."

In my opinion this competition can be a good way for artists to benefit from the new and digital media online platform due to them potentially receiving more money and profits as more streaming services and more music sharing websites become available.

Exam feedback

25/32     Grade: A-

WWW - Very clearly written; a range of theory incorporated

LR - Include a wide range of examples for Q2/3
Write an additional paragraph for each


Question 2 -

Audiences also enjoy these programs as they allow them to escape from their problems in the real world. Similar shows relating to them are shown on similar television channels such as E4 as they reach out to the demographic audience concerning such films like Twilight and Let the right one in. The interaction between people also relates to the theory concerning different demographic audiences as programs become a necessity for audiences as a means of social interaction.

Question 3 -

The development of new and digital media allows media institutions to promote media products indirectly without viewers/audiences knowing otherwise or being aware of it. It can be described as a form of false advertising however it is done subliminally as audiences become unaware that they are being marketed to at the point of time. New and digital media provides a method for upcoming developments and advantages as little amounts of money can be spent in promoting media products.

Case study

1. 1). Has new and digital media had an impact upon ownership and control of the media institution(s) involved in your case study area?  Explain in detail any impact and what exactly has changed.

New and digital media has had a large impact on the current music industry benefiting and disadvantaging people. According to Forbes Website ‘…it’s been widely noted that the digital download sales decline has been offset by the rise in streaming' therefore stating that new and digital media has destroyed the digital download industry in terms of online music. The industry is limited in the amount they can charge people as they are able to gain access to music online through music streaming services. 

Furthermore, artists now attempt to ignore the traditional music business model in an attempt to gain more publicity and a far greater profit margin as they do not make enough money from just music institutions alone.

• http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/dec/13/beyonce-new-album-revolution-pr
• ‘Roughly 13 to 14 cents per 100 plays’ - itunes according to Steve Knopper writer for Rolling Stones magazine. - http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/will-itunes-radio-benefit-musicians-20130920

Many people would consider the industry as hard to get into and to make a name for yourself, however due to new and digital media some artists are made famous. An example of this is Justin Bieber who made himself a name through posting covers of songs on YouTube. YouTube is considered to have ‘empowered videomakers’ (Stated by Jump Cut editor Chuck Kleinham)as it can help make stars. Online sites such as YouTube ‘potentially benefits artists by helping new artists to become known.’Warner Music is also producing behind the scenes footage and artist interviews available on the user-generated website and was the first established record label to distribute its content through YouTube.However the other side to this argument is that ‘YouTube have anything but their own profit-maximization goals in mind’and thus means that they don’t care much about what they share online as they just do whatever it is that is popular in order to receive money. 

2. 2). What impact has there been on the way in which the audience now consume the media products/ texts involved in your case study?  How does it differ from what went before?  Consider (SHEP).
3. 
   

Some artists speak out and tell others the fact that record labels do not treat artists fairly and that the business is not as profitable as some make it appear to be. Artists; such as Immortal Technique; really despise the industry and associates the business with ‘corruption’. He believes that music services such as Spotify and even itunes are ‘crooks’ and he says that he would ‘rather have fans download his music illegally on the internet than have record executives accusing the youth of stealing and breaking the law. Whoever is at the top of the hierarchy pyramid will stay on top whereas others cannot move up the pyramid easily. This believe also links in with the hypodermic needle as he believes that the media is feeding false or inaccurate information to consumers. 

People now consume the content differently through digital downloads and online streaming instead of hard copies of physical storage. This is a benefit to users as the 'virtual music file take up less physical space’ (Glen Creeber and Royston Martin, Digital cultures).

The development of Spotify and other services like it benefit audiences through the fact that it enables easy to access music. A ‘virtual music file take up less physical space’ and is easier for people to store. ‘Many composers have recognised the advantages of MP3 as an effective way of sending audio samples via email attachments’ because of its format taking up little to no space. People can access their favourite music and stream them for free legally or illegally with nothing stopping them from this. Furthermore the internet in general allows anyone to access anything they want within seconds which raises the issue of piracy. ‘A study in 2000 reported 14% of Internet users had downloaded music for free. This number has grown rapidly, and online music sharing has been estimated to result in annual sales losses of $3.1 billion by 2005 for the music industry’. People also acknowledge the fact that they are illegally downloading however as the vast population now does this; it has now become part of the norm. “The best way to perfect a service is to roll it out, then use customers’ feedback to evolve and refine it” quoted by Shawn Fanning creator of Napster in 1999.

Audiences have benefited from the accessibility aspect of the music industry as syncing their phone with all their favourite music has never been easier than ever. 

Audiences listen to music for entertainment purposes as it can be considered as a pathway to diversion or to escape from reality as some may believe it helps relax/calm them. This is a recognised theory known as Uses and Gratification theory created by Blumler & Katz, 1974. It is an analysis of why people use ‘particular media’. People listen to music for several different reasons however the way they chose to do this can impact on the music industry. Despite piracy being fast, easy and widely available to all, people should be willing to spend 99p on their favourite artists and help support them. They should go see them in concert and buy their merchandise otherwise they will be forced to sell out and make mainstream music in order to get loads of people to listen to it but will not be as good as their old content. This connotes that new and digital media is destroying the industry as the quality of music is in decline. With ‘up to 25% of all online TV piracy taking place in the UK’.we as a society should take a stand and be willing to pay a small price to sustain our favourite artists careers.

2. 
   

   
   

3. 3). What impact has there been on how the media institution now has to produce the texts and the way in which the texts/ products are distributed and exhibited?  This should involve a detailed textual analysis of at least 3 texts to demonstrate the point.
4. 
   

The development of Spotify and other services like it benefit audiences through the fact that it enables easy to access music.

A ‘virtual music file take up less physical space’ (Glen Creeber and Royston Martin, Digital cultures). Its format taking up little to no space. People can access their favourite music and stream them for free legally or illegally with nothing stopping them from this. Allows anyone to access anything they want within seconds which raises the issue of piracy.

• ‘A study in 2000 reported 14% of Internet users had downloaded music for free. This number has grown rapidly, and online music sharing has been estimated to result in annual sales losses of $3.1 billion by 2005 for the music industry’.
• People also acknowledge the fact that they are illegally downloading however as the vast population now does this; it has now become part of the norm.
• “The best way to perfect a service is to roll it out, then use customers’ feedback to evolve and refine it”quoted by Shawn Fanning creator of Napster in 1999.

Audiences listen to music for entertainment purposes as it can be considered as a pathway to diversion or to escape from reality as some may believe it helps relax/calm them. This is a recognised theory known as Uses and Gratification theory created by Blumler & Katz, 1974. It is an analysis of why people use ‘particular media’.People listen to music for several different reasons however the way they chose to do this can impact on the music industry. Despite piracy being fast, easy and widely available to all, people should be willing to spend 99p on their favourite artists and help support them. They should go see them in concert and buy their merchandise otherwise they will be forced to sell out and make mainstream music in order to get loads of people to listen to it but will not be as good as their old content. This connotes that new and digital media is destroying the industry as the quality of music is in decline. With ‘up to 25% of all online TV piracy taking place in the UK’we as a society should take a stand and be willing to pay a small price to sustain our favourite artists careers.

4. 4). Is the size of the audience any different now than before the impact of new and digital media (or has the pattern of usage changed)? E.G. consider for the impact of new and digital media on TV broadcasting the change in audience ratings for programmes as a consequence of the deregulation of TV.  (Prior to deregulation audience figures could be 20m+ for Eastenders etc to a situation today where, due to the massive number of channels now available, audiences are vastly reduced and fragmented).
5. 
   

In some respects, Spotify is helping with the whole piracy issue due to the fact that they provide a service which allows users to listen to music for free without users downloading illegally from websites. The business model Spotify is part of therefore eliminates a vast amount of piracy as people want a free and convenient service which is what they offer hence the reason why they are becoming more and more popular. This is not considered as a good thing because some believe that Spotify does not care much about the music, but they care more about their revenues and profit margins. The size of the audience has now changed due to the development of new and digital media and the way it has impacted on the way audiences now consume music. Audiences now consume music through the use of the internet and audiences take this platform for granted and use it to their advantage thus benefiting them from the various free (illegal) content available online. 

http://www.coris.uniroma1.it/materiali/18.30.01_audience%20evolution.pdf

"Media audiences are changing. The dynamics of how audiences consume (and now, even 

produce) media are changing, as are the ways that media industries make sense of, and define, their audiences. New technologies are at the heart of all of these changes. New media technologies that give audiences increased control and increased choice over when, where, and how they consume media are transforming the relationship between audiences and the media." -> page 2 

"The changing nature of audience information systems provides important new inputs into how media organizations can conceptualize (and monetize) their audience" -> page 3 

The statements above concern new and digital media and how audiences are changing due to the way media products are adapting to new technological advancements. 

Transformation of Media Consumption 

"One key driver of contemporary audience evolution is the technological changes that are 

transforming how audiences consume media. The media environment is changing in ways that are dramatically reconfiguring how, when, and where audiences consume media, and, consequently, forcing media industries to reconceptualize their audiences." ->page 19

phenomenon wherein individual content options are 

disaggregated into smaller, discrete components (think, for instance, of the ability to watch television 

clips, rather than entire episodes, on YouTube, or the return of the singles model to the recorded music  21

industry as a result of the advent of music downloads). This too is a form of intra-media fragmentation, 

as the content unit itself becomes fragmented. ->page 20 - 21

4. 5). Who are the primary target audience now and has this changed?  Who was it before and how do you know?  

My chosen text which I am exploring is Spotify and the way that new and digital media services that allow users to stream their favourite music and their impact on the music industry. Music streaming services provide music to Mainstreamers, Explorers, aspires as well as the rest of the psychographic groups due to them targeting a wide audience range. Streaming services just like Spotify attempts to provide a service for a wide range of audiences so that they can allow anyone to access their favourite songs - whatever the genre.

Artists are able to reach out to a large demographic audience; when on streaming services; without costing them much at all as they can gain publicity and a fan based just through the sheer amount of viewers and subscribers Spotify has to offer. This would be considered as the current day business model for music artists as they are purely using the E-media platform to promote themselves. ‘Low-budget video novices’ were hired to create ‘bold and wild montage videos. However ‘unless you had powerful backing or a name director, your chances of making the MTV playlist were next to nonexistent.’

Spotify has 24 million monthly users and growing with another 6 million subscribers. Furthermore Spotify offers the idea of convenience to people as you are now able to just start listening to the latest songs straight away without having to spend time looking for it online and downloading it.

Obviously it will take some time for the effect of the ruling to trickle down, so we might not see much change in the short term. The long term effect can be ominous though, as online music, and all streaming media, will ultimately take a hit that very well may completely change our consumption patterns. 

Spotify has added 1.5 million users since the end of April, representing a growth rate of 8%.  That compares to 0.5 million new users and 4% growth for the entire month of May in 2011.  Facebook integration, coupled with launching in the US has turbo charged Spotify’s growth trajectory.

And yet, as impressive as Spotify’s total user growth is, it is only par when compared with other streaming music services.  Looking at the growth in total users by month since launch date of service Spotify is close to the average for streaming music services.

User generated content based on article: That’s a brilliant article Mark! Staggering numbers going on there, and it really does highlight just how radically the music industry has changed in the past few years alone in terms of how consumers access music. I remember being really excited about getting a physical album from a shop and having all the artwork in front of me. Now it seems like that same passion for a physical product has been overtaken by the passion for discovering new music – which really seems to be going at a rate of knots, thereby making instant ‘viral stars’ out of artists who upload their music to the public access platforms of YouTube and Spotify: Case in point: Rebecca Black with her song ‘Friday’.

What is your take on the music streaming business as opposed to having an album in your hands? I’m not claiming to be a purist, but having an album is a nice thing, and gives a richer overall experience, however the convenience of being able to instantly find an artist that you love listening to, and then getting recommendations for associated artists/tracks in the same minute is quite remarkable.

Very interesting times we live in, and I hope that the bands who produce this exceptional music – (OK not Rebecca Black) – get their fair % of the subscription costs. (Mainly because I want to be able to make some money out of the music I write in my band).

Sources:

• Rob Tannenbaum and Craig Marks, I Want My MTV - The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution, 2011, page 8
• Bobby Owsinski, Forbes, 2014, http://www.forbes.com/sites/bobbyowsinski/2014/01/15/is-verizons-victory-a-streaming-music-killer/
• Dorian Lynskey, the guardian, 2013, http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/10/daniel-ek-spotify-streaming-music
• http://musicindustryblog.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/spotify-hits-20-million-monthly-users-and-could-be-on-track-for-8-million-paid-users-1-year-from-now/

6. 6). How have the audience responded to the changes?  Is there more customer choice?  Is there evidence of a more pluralistic model?  What evidence do you have to support this?

The development of Spotify and other services like it benefit audiences through the fact that it enables easy to access music. A ‘virtual music file take up less physical space’ and is easier for people to store. ‘Many composers have recognised the advantages of MP3 as an effective way of sending audio samples via email attachments’ because of its format taking up little to no space. People can access their favourite music and stream them for free legally or illegally with nothing stopping them from this. Furthermore the internet in general allows anyone to access anything they want within seconds which raises the issue of piracy. ‘A study in 2000 reported 14% of Internet users had downloaded music for free. This number has grown rapidly, and online music sharing has been estimated to result in annual sales losses of $3.1 billion by 2005 for the music industry’. People also acknowledge the fact that they are illegally downloading however as the vast population now does this; it has now become part of the norm. “The best way to perfect a service is to roll it out, then use customers’ feedback to evolve and refine it” quoted by Shawn Fanning creator of Napster in 1999.

Audiences have benefited from the accessibility aspect of the music industry as syncing their phone with all their favourite music has never been easier than ever. 

Audiences listen to music for entertainment purposes as it can be considered as a pathway to diversion or to escape from reality as some may believe it helps relax/calm them. This is a recognised theory known as Uses and Gratification theory created by Blumler & Katz, 1974. It is an analysis of why people use ‘particular media’. People listen to music for several different reasons however the way they chose to do this can impact on the music industry. Despite piracy being fast, easy and widely available to all, people should be willing to spend 99p on their favourite artists and help support them. They should go see them in concert and buy their merchandise otherwise they will be forced to sell out and make mainstream music in order to get loads of people to listen to it but will not be as good as their old content.

Digital and social tools have already transformed the artist-fan relationship, but even greater change is coming.  In the anaologue-era music was mass produced, releases cycles were static and music product formats were a creative dead-end.  Mash-ups, engaged online fans and user generated content brought these barriers tumbling down.  The scene is set for the Mass Customization of music, heralding in the era of Agile Music.

Sources:

• Glen Creeber and Royston Martin, Digital cultures - Understanding New Media, 2009, Page 99
• Ian White, Tales from the real world, 2000
• Sudip Bhattacharjee, Ram D. Gopal and G. Lawrence Sanders, DIGITAL MUSIC AND ONLINE SHARING: SOFTWARE PIRACY 2.0?, 2003, Page 107
• Jane Hoskyn, Making music pay, 2007, Page 17
• Daniel Chandler, aber, 1995
• Nick James, Editorial: cheap as silicon, 2009 
• http://musicindustryblog.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/agile-music-music-formats-and-artist-creativity-in-the-age-of-media-mass-customization/

7. 7). What concerns/ considerations are there (if any) for the media institutions involved in your case study as a result of the impact of new and digital media? (e.g. deskilling or multi-skilling of the workforce/ decline in workforce etc)

It is safe to say that the future of the music industry does not look too bright due to developments in technology occurring all the time. It could be argued that Spotify is a great concept and the idea of streaming instead of downloading does minimise piracy although there are still a few problems with it such as the fact that the average musician does not get paid anywhere near enough. In time, the industry will be different than it is today and therefore anyone seeking a career in music must learn to adapt and exploit the trends that are shaping the music of music. Many question software services such as itunes along with if it can last and if the giants will be toppled. If people start using more music streaming services they will not want to pay for what they can access easily and for free therefore could this suggest that Apple would have to change their whole software concept to guarantee people still buy their products? It all relies on one question: is music streaming the next big thing? 

Most evidence does suggest that new and digital media and technology impacts on the music industry by utterly tearing it apart as the average artist cannot produce the work they want and are almost forced to produce mainstream music to gain profits. Nonetheless, it is difficult to dispute that the development of new and digital media has been nothing but evil as if it was not present, the access to content would not be as convenient as it is currently. Furthermore, it is safe to conclude that the industry has been ruined in some aspects; such as how artists do not make what they deserve; yet has been improved for audiences as music can be widely access through a number of sources. 

Sources:

• Neder Hedfi, Ted, 2013, http://www.ted.com/conversations/19050/what_is_the_future_of_the_musi.html
• Glen Creeber and Royston Martin, Digital cultures - Understanding New Media, 2009, Page 99

8. 8). What are the political and social implications of the new technologies and the methods of their consumption?  E.g. moral panics etc?

Audiences listen to music for entertainment purposes as it can be considered as a pathway to diversion or to escape from reality as some may believe it helps relax/calm them. This is a recognised theory known as Uses and Gratification theory created by Blumler & Katz, 1974. It is an analysis of why people use ‘particular media’. People listen to music for several different reasons however the way they chose to do this can impact on the music industry. Despite piracy being fast, easy and widely available to all, people should be willing to spend 99p on their favourite artists and help support them. They should go see them in concert and buy their merchandise otherwise they will be forced to sell out and make mainstream music in order to get loads of people to listen to it but will not be as good as their old content. This connotes that new and digital media is destroying the industry as the quality of music is in decline. With ‘up to 25% of all online TV piracy taking place in the UK’ we as a society should take a stand and be willing to pay a small price to sustain our favourite artists careers.

Due to new and digital media, consumption and accessibility to music through the online platform, music has become easier and easier to retrieve. The consumption of music has now changed through the music business model created by MTV. 
MTV is considered to be the medium that did 'define pop culture, change generations and shape an industry'. This business model would allow artists to record live music and air them to a large demographic audience without costing them much at all as they can gain publicity and a fan base just through the sheer amount of viewers MTV has to offer.This would be considered as the traditional business model for music artists as they are purely using broadcast media to promote themselves. 


As the mainstream segments engage with on-demand music less, they have less propensity to upgrade to paid music subscriptions. If peoples experience is reduced after a period of time (e.g. usage/play restrictions) they will simply go elsewhere.

Sources:

• Daniel Chandler, aber, 1995, http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/usegrat.html
• Nick James, Editorial: cheap as silicon, 2009 

9. 
   

9. 9). Consider the effects so far, and possible effects in the future, on media institutions involved in your case study (media production).

A ‘virtual music file take up less physical space’ and is easier for people to store. ‘Many composers have recognised the advantages of MP3 as an effective way of sending audio samples via email attachments’ because of its format taking up little to no space. 
The file sizes concerning virtual music will continue to decrease in terms of its format size which will therefore make it more easily accessible and easier to store on hardware.

People also acknowledge the fact that they are illegally downloading however as the vast population now does this; it has now become part of the norm. “The best way to perfect a service is to roll it out, then use customers’ feedback to evolve and refine it” quoted by Shawn Fanning creator of Napster in 1999.

Audiences have benefited from the accessibility aspect of the music industry as syncing their phone with all their favourite music has never been easier than ever. 

10. 10).What issues may there be regarding media effects and /or regulation/ censorship as a result of changes due to new and digital media?