History of technology within Music industry

Evolution of music

1870 - Gramaphone
Birth of vinyls (LPs), by Thomas Eddison. It was the beginning of a culture of private music experience.
It is still used today by DJs, over a 100 years on, and is considered a retro, collectible item, with a cult status.

1954 - Transistor radio
It was first sold for $49.95, and was available in a range of colours.
It allowed music to not be confined in one place, and allowed the companies to market their artists on the radio.

1963 - Cassette
It was created by Philips, but after pressure by Sony, free formate license was made.
It became the advent of portable music, followed by the walkman and boombox, it allowed transferrence by users, which led to be frowned upon my the music industry.
It introduced pop, and underground scenes, and also was used for allowing sermons to be sent to overthrow the government in the Cold War.

1982 - Compact Disc
It was origionally designed to store audio files, by Philips and Sony, with the use of synergy, but later realised it could store data also.
The first music album to be released onto a CD was '52nd Street' by Billy Joel, October 1st 1982 in Japan (vertical integration).
It was known to have better quality than a cassette, and represents the physical aspect of sales within music now, 26 years later.

The change in industry had begun, as music was noweasily portable, but technology went one step further from this.

1980s+ - Boombox
Became a fascination to the hip hop culture, and seemed to encourage breakdancing, as it was a portable stero to play their music.

1986 - Discman
Wasn't all too popular due to the hype of other products, but modernly is considered to be retro

1998 - Mp3 player
Contained 32mb storage, almost 10 songs!
GIven the name 'Saehan's MPMan F10'
from the introduction of the Mp3 player, within just three years a huge upgrade in development had occurred.
2001 - Apple iPod
Contained several audio formats, colour choice, and was a very user-friendly interface

It shows how the music industry still relies on old concepts, syergy, vertical integration, and marketing within their own products.

Research into record label - Boy Better Know

» Record Label

★ Boy Better Know ★

Originated from UK rap/grime artists JME and Skepta, from the famous band Roll Deep. They decided to make this independant record label as it would ensure that they, and only they would receive the money from their work, The current artists involved in Boy Better Know are;

· JME

· Skepta

· Wiley

· Tinchy Stryder

· Frisco

· Murkle Man

· DJ Maximum

· Jay Sean

They have become very influential, and sold over 20,000 of their products, and played shows all around the world. Over 250,000 records have been sold by the artists in Boy Better Know(From statistics in Sep23, 2008), and have been able to work with people such as “Snitch Man”, who has made a production which made number 1 in UK charts in 2006. They have had support from artists such as 50 Cent and Chamillionaire.

Place in Industry

This record label is quite small in comparison to those of the big four, but in the UK, in the type of music it is based in, being Grime/UK hip hop, it is very well known, as it features many of the popular artists in this music genre.

Audience

Only a small group of the population will listen to, and be appealed to this record label. As there are many different music genres, and that this label only covers two, means that there will be a smaller audience compared to the big four, which cover most of the genres which people commonly listen to. But the fact there are less genres in Boy Better Know, means that they can concentrate on two main genres, and adapt to make their music better for that area, and find ways to advertise to the public which listen to this style of music.

Distribution

Their music is sold in many popular music stores, e.g. HMV, and also is sold online where alot of people nowadays get their hands on music, from iTunes. They also sell clothing products, which are shown in their music videos, and also sold in stores, and an exclusive website, www.ukrecordshop.com, and emphasis that it is the only other place to buy it from.

Production

Although their albums are made and distributed through well known stores and websites/online applications, when their is a shortage of stock, sometimes they do realise the needs of their fans, and re-distribute a limited stock of albums for them so that they don’t lost interest in their music, and appreciate them more as they are making the extra effort to send out the music they desire to them.

Online age

As technology has advanced, Boy Better Know has realised that they need to be ‘one with’ their audience. By ensuring this, they have their homepage automatically redirected to Myspace, which is one of the mostly used online communication websites, and regularly uploading videos of themselves, keeping the fans up to date on what is going on, and what to look out for. By doing this, which to me seems quite a unique way of working, and advertising, it allows to reach a bigger audience, and increase their fan numbers and be able to be more popular in the Grime/hip hop genre of music.

Lesson 11/3/03

Re-cap onto record label: Soul Jazz Records

Music Genre's;

Soul Jazz
.................Punk
..........................Reggae
.......................................Hip Hop
..................Future Dub
......................................Mix house
.............................Latin
Japanese noise


Strategies to promote;
Merchandise
Clothing: T-shirts & bags, therefore tapping into the fashion area to creat the label image
Distribution through MP3, LP & CD, bought on their website
Radio show - displaying their artists (Renonance FM), weekly list of songs displayed on website for this, more accessible and wide broadcast range (Worldwide)
Subscribe to their newsletter, free electronic mailing list - cost effective, no cost implication for subscribers
"free shipping over £50 in UK" - Convincing the public to buy
Introduce new music from their artists on the home page
Posters - promotion of bands
Show reviews of albums, and able to play certain songs before you decide to buy - more freedom and accessibility for public
Gigs - active audience

Examples of different genre artists;
The Gladiators - Reggae
The Pop Group - Punk
Camilo Azuquita - funk & salsa

Audience;
Artists link back to 1970-90+, therefore young adult generation. The website is very simple, but includes bright colours to relate to the genres, and also attract a younger, more modern audience. In terms of the genres, it is widespread, therefore attracting other listeners which the 'big four' labels would not, making it exclusive, niche and diverse.

Difference to Mainstream;
Very independant
serveral smaller niche audiences
Own brand identity
use of strategies to;
personalise
use communication as key form of marketing, not always e-communication
not in competition with main stream
more focused on experiencing music, rather than adhering in an image

Lesson notes - 4th March 09

Website to not forget!
StcmAsMi.blogspot.com



Recap of our research into Sony BMG, which made me realise mistakes i had made upon my own work, and others i had not included;

Labels;
- Jive Records ('indie' lable, with large finalcial backing)
- Columbia Records (large distributor)
- Epic (metal & rock)
- Almost Gold (classic)
- Dancing Cat Records (dance)

Sony products as part of vertical integration;
- Walkman
- Mp3 players > Mp3 in Sony format
- Laptops & computers e.g. Sonly Viao > exclusive software linked to big film releases
- Phones > using synergy with ericsson
- Sony commercialised the CD format

Sony in terms of media convergence;
- Soundtrack in videogames
- iPod applications
- Create podcast / advertise for festivals for their bands
- Sponsorship Tv Programmes e.g. MTV, E4


Reading through article on page 167 of Media textbooks, concerning record label 'Finders Keepers'
Short notes taken;

Place in Industry
- Indicative to smaller independant labels in UK
- Do everything themselves
- Different strategy to large labels, to ensure less cost

Marketing
- Small sales compared to large labels
- More 'hands on'
- Prefer 'word of mouth', as its quicker and cheaper
- Establishes 'Loyal fanbase'
- Convergence of technology to help promote & boost exposure
- "The internet is a great leveller"

Distribution
- Is getting more difficult to sell into shops such as HMV and Virgin, as larger companies are competing
- Internet is easier to go, along with independant record shops, creating the relationships, and allowing to stay in competition with larger labels

Production
- Careful not to spend lots of money whe nmanufacturing
- Keep rationed stock, so that they only create what they need
- Put together in house, made on their own
- Careful on who they choose on the manufacturor, for quality and age

The online age
- More important on physical releases
- Cater for more discening market

Research - Sony BMG

Sony BMG organised music companies into RCA and Columbia label groups in 2006, then in March 2007 announced a third frontline label, Epic.

These three release music from other music labels including;
Jive, Zomba, J Records, 1965 Recordings, Syco Entertainment, Phonogenic


Sony are vertically integrated, as they are working with other companies to help distribute and sell their products to people, suc has using Play.com to sell their music, and seetickets.com to sell the tickets for the gigs their music artists will be leading.

In terms of media convergence, Sony profit from their built-in Blu Ray disc player in the PlayStation 3 consoles they sell. THey also get their name known through other companies, such as ITV's Formula 1, the UEFA football league, and also work with opposition, Vodafone, to support Sony's IPL telecast. This allows benefits for the cost to run, and allows a broader range of audience to receive hype and gain a larger sense of being known by more people who look for reliable companies to buy/use from.

Music Industry overview

Production
- Advance in technology
- User-based production
- No reliance on record company
- Musical expertise not needed e.g. Garageband, loop based, evident in manufactured pop artists.
- Cost no longer an issue - prosumer software

Distribution
- Internet primary medium, use of web2.0
- Can be free, largely accessed as 'free' music
- Not legal in most cases, filesharing through limewire, torrents
- Making physicals formats obselete, (tapes, CDs) > impacts on retail outlets
- Difficult to track/monitor
- Industry forced to think of new ways of marketing, in keeping with interactive nature of distribution e.g. iTunes store

Consumption
- Follows trend of using new media technologies e.g. Youtube, iPods
- Link to image more explicitly, through visual media
- Saturated and diluted experiences of accessing music > devoured?

The Big Four
Sony
WarnerBrothers
Universal
EMI

Stafford quote - Page 160 of media textbook

Music industry & Technology

Portability & hardware proves to be a main factor
Rapid movement in technology and production

Short timeline of events relating to the Music industry and technology;

1980 - Compact disc
1982 - CDs available to use on PC
1988 - CD overtaken the Vinyl discs
1990 - Record CD
1997 - mp3
1999 - Napster - involved legal battles for copyright, consumption ..........and production
2000 - Broadband invented
2001 - Apple - iPod/ iTunes
2003 - CD sales dropped a third
2005 - iPod shuffle - downloading became cheaper, more ..........accessible


Key term;
Vertical integration : When a company is able to control how the consumption, and distribution is undergone, e.g. iTunes - only able to buy from the iTunes store, only accessible - IF you own an iPod, cheaper than buying albums in shops - convincing, more accessible, easy to use

Research into Consumption

Notes on the area of music industry: Consumption


Music consumption remains ubiquitious within the age group
Statistics;
Watched music videos online................. 75%
Paid for a CD........................................... 70%
Listened to music on mobile phone ....... 62%
Made their own CD................................. 52%
Paid for music ........................................52%
Play music off a console .........................45%

From seeing this, I realised how much technology had changed the music industry, in the way that they are losing money, because there are so many other ways to access the artist's music rather than having to buy their album/record disc, you can now access music anywhere.

Listen to music;
Ipod/mp3 player ....................................81%
Computer ...............................................80%
Radio ..................................................... 71%
TV ..........................................................68%
CD player................................................ 59%

14-17 year olds : 98% listen to an mp3 player
18-24 year olds: 84% listen to an mp3 player

This shows how different music is listened to, in comparison to that of possibly thirty years ago. Computers weren't advanced enough to listen to music from, mp3's weren't invented, TV's didn't include music channels, and CD's weren't even created. Technology is changing the music industry rapidly, especially to the younger teenage audience.

Illegally downloaded their music........... 63%
Not illegally downloaded their music..... 37%
Interest in filesharing............................ 74%
Youtube most used website................... 38%
Feel it's acceptable to download music ..66%

From these statistics, it is easy to see that due to the technology advance, the hype seems to be tending towards illegal downloading and watching music videos on the internet, because the teenage era in the 21st century feel that they shouldn't be having to pay £10+ for a music album.



Learnt two terms;
- Convergence: Two or more media companies come together e.g. Computer games (Left 4 Dead: Steam,Valve, Source, EA)
- Synergy: Two or more media types come together into one unit e.g iPhone, Orange wednesdays

Music artist research - Kwasi Danquah a.k.a Tinchy Stryder

Tinchy stryder, born 10th June 1987, begun displaying his vocal talents on the radio as a young teenager, then becoming prominent in the underground scene, after going to live shows and meeting up with the likes of Wiley and Dizzee Rascal, who were the more famous music artists in the grime era of music at the time. He achieved an award for "best newcomer" in 2003, and since then has been working hard to product quality music to entertain the public and improve on his vocal talent. He has released several albums, such as ;

• Star in the hood
• Cloud 9

He has also released mixtapes and solo songs. The songs he has created, have been used in films, and played on grime radio channels, which signifies his achievements already from being just a small artist and now becoming well known all over the world.

Synergy has occured with this artist. His independant record label, "Takeover Entertainment" had worked with "Ice Cream records", which enabled him to be featured in a single of Craig David's, who is a very famous music artist. After that, he was also able to be featured in 'Princes' from the album Saint Dymphna by Gang Gang Dance. This is a big achievement for Tinchy Stryder.

His recent song "Take me back", had 'Taio Cruz' featured with it, who is also a well known music artist recently. This song achieved the 39 spot in the UK charts on the first day. By the following week it jumped into third place, this is an amazing achievement. This song was liked so much by the public that it was played on a regular basis by not only one radio station, but atleast 4, including BBC Radio 1 and Kiss FM, which are possibly the main stations for listening to the best music.

Tinchy Stryder's recent activity has included supporting music artist "N-Dubz" on his music tour, aswell as some other new artists such as "Fe-Nix" who will also be supporting N-Dubz on his tour.

The target audience for him, is teenagers. Reason for this is due to his attire, and lyrics, relating to their social life, and the clothing they believe to be the 'fashion', that they are wanting to buy. The genre is normally one which is easily listened to wherever, and is easily hooked on by teenagers, relating to an ideal lifestyle, which is why it suits this audience.

His music can be found from iTunes, local shops which sell albumns such as HMV, websites which well albumns like 'UKRecordShop.com', MySpace, last.fm, and videos from youtube.com.