How does the history of popular music help us understand where music is going as a business? As Artistic statement and Politics?

Popular music obviously sells. We hear the same song on one radio station and hear it at the same time, on a different station, then we hear it again twenty minutes later. What we can learn from the history is what people like. By making a song and putting it on MySpace or YouTube, we generate business for that company because we are listening to it constantly. When we are watching television and that song comes on the show as a background song, we want to keep watching it to see what happens. And with new shows like American Idol we hear the popular songs being sung by new people then go and buy their songs. It seems by simply promoting a song that we see and hear constantly, we make it popular. Now many artists like the Beatles have made their first few albums all about love and a good record but then they realize that they have become popular and sing about what is important to them. Young girls everywhere, listening to them, believe what they are saying. It is easy for us to believe a popular artist because we love them and fortunately artist like Jay-Z or Radiohead actually sing about things that matters to them. By doing this they are able to have their own statement without singing about trying to ask a girl to dance with them. They actually sing about things that matter. When it comes to Politics I think people will believe what their favorite artist will sing about or discuss. We need to make up our own minds.

What copyright challenges are raised by Internet music technologies?

The challenges with copyrights have really been affecting the way we listen to music. Record companies probably hate the fact that we can share and download music off the Internet. Even radio stations have had to pay a fee in order to use songs. With the new age of digital music plenty of new artists are recording their music of their computers. It is simple for a new artist to make a new sound or beat on their computer, completely crossing out using a producer. But people who sample the music and then get a new song by using multiple songs together are really suffering. A great young and new artist named Dangermouse or now GirlTalk mixed the Beatles “White Album” with Jay-Z’s “Black Album” and called it the “Gray Album.” Because of copyrights he cannot distribute it, which would have been a major hit if people like you and me would have been able to buy it.

The Internet and all of its resources have many problems stopping artists to come up with a new beat. iTunes has stepped up with this challenge. They protect the label and copyright by making sure that when you purchase a song it only plays on their specific network. However companies have pulled out of iTunes because they thin they’re getting ripped off. The main challenge to all of this is how do record companies protect their song and artist without losing to much money? There will be plenty of new challenges as new technology comes out.

What has led the segmentation of rock into sub-genres since the 1960s?

I think the idea of sub-genres in rock comes from the person who sang it and then messed with the beat to form a new song. The different genres such as Gospel, Blues and Bluegrass all come from other musical backgrounds. Gospel comes from white and black church hymns, Blues comes from old slave from the South that have specific chords and Bluegrass has a background from the South and Irish and Scottish instruments. The hybrids of the songs, which take traditional music and change it into something new is how many different genres got started. Take Elvis’s “Hound Dog” as an example, which was originally by Big Mama Thornton, he used more Rock instruments rather then Blues.

Then R&B came around with people like Ray Charles introducing a new sound made up from Blues and Gospel songs. Even the Rolling Stones began playing music, which was considered the Blues. Then even Rock began to have different genres like Top 40, heavy metal, and punk rock. People who were once classified as Rock like Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan and the Beatles wanted to expand their music, making it matter of what they were singing about therefore making their own set of music. These different artists along with Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson and Chuck Berry expanded the different Rock genres we have today. Because of those people and groups we now have music like alternative, techno and rap. Many of the new genres we have now are from people rebelling and telling the world how it is, which thankfully has paved the wave for plenty of new and amazing artists.

Would new regulations be justified to break up larger radio groups and make radio more local?

I think new regulations would be a way to help local radio stations stay in business. Many radio groups such as Clear Channel, Cumulus Broadcasting and Citadel Communications own a very large portion of radio ownership. With the 1996 Telecommunications Act which deregulated the ownership of radio stations. Now these big companies, who want national coverage, take over smaller radio stations.
I think these companies only really care about the money and adverting side of things. They do not think about the community at large. When they broadcast for example starting out in New York, where there is more diversity and culture versus Nashville, where all people may want to listen to is country, they lose revenue in their own business while taking business away from local advertisers. But they seem not to care, as long as the stations are being played national and so are their commercials. Radio stations that are O & O’s, people who own and operate their station, know their audience better then a big company. Because those stations are local, they would know what their community wants. I think it would completely fine for radio to be owned locally. There would be less monopolies in the radio industry and would give back to communities. By having companies like Clear Channel, radio stations who are owned by them lose the culture and diversity from a local radio station.

How does the History of Radio help us to understand audio media in different forms?

The history of radio suggests that Internet radio, and other audio media are likely to develop as commercial forms by having advertisements that would be targeted at their market. A podcast with country music may advertise something to do with where it is coming from, but someone else in the country or abroad may hear that. As a result, the advertisements would be going to a target market that may not have heard from their local radio stations. The commercials get a world market using the Internet radio versus a radio station where only people in, for example, New York can hear.

When it comes to political forms companies such as BBC have probably gotten greater use out of podcasts or Internet radios because people are able to listen to different opinions. BBC has had trouble competing with other United Kingdom stations so this may be a way for them to get more coverage around the world. And when it comes to artistic forms, the history of the radio can defiantly teach people about the present form of audio media. When it comes to the radio, the DJs and producers make up the playlists but people online can send out their podcasts and have it be reached wherever.

The Web is Dead? Long Live the Internet?

Both sides to this article are very compelling. Chris Anderson and Michael Wolff do the job of saying their direct opinions. Anderson says that we are the ones to blame. We spend all day on the Internet but not the World Wide Web. The web has become in some cases overwhelming, an overload of information thrown at your face. However with new technology such as the iPod and iPad you are able to control what you view therefore making things less complicated and getting what you want. As Anderson put it, “Fast beats flexible.”(pg 5) He explains it as capitalism, people wanting control, someone creating an idea and then others coming up to a similar plan. However we want things to actually work. So in examples like Google, Facebook and Apple, they have become monopolies because no one can really compete with them. We could get music free but it would take too long so we buy songs for $1.29 on iTunes. It is more convenient this way. Anderson writes that when it comes to affecting the way new media is today we see it clearly. For example, with our iPod Apps to Twitter APIs they have a connection that is fast and easily controlled, which is just what we want. Anderson puts his argument clearly in his past paragraph, “It moved from your desktop to your pocket, the nature of the Net changed.”

Reading Michael Wolff’s article he clearly did not feel the same way. Instead of putting the blame on us, he pushes it towards to companies controlling the Web. Wolff says that the Web is dead because traditional media has the sense that people using the Web can use whatever they like but with newer concepts it is an all or nothing motto. He does not like the last idea. With some changes and support, the Web does not have to fade out. He blames these ideas on the people and websites that are started new media, Google, Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs. Google has stopped people from looking at different websites such as Amazon or Yahoo. Each of these websites offer different things, Google however offers all of it, at the same time. Wolff compares Google to Rome for the overall power it has. Facebook was once a small website that only people with email addresses could be accepted into. Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook so it was a closed system, and that is what people have been drawn into. However by the time most people were finding out about it, anyone could join. Wolff states, “Facebook became a parallel world to the Web.” Facebook has allowed not only games and applications but also advertisements so people did not have to leave Facebook when they were online. Then there was Steve Jobs. Wolff brings up the fact that Jobs not only has two successful media businesses, iTunes and Pixar but also is known for his traditional media as well. The Apple Company “controls the look and feel and experience” (pg. 11) but also has the power from delivery of the product onto specific devises. As a result they control everything that goes on with other parties and always gets their cut from profits. Basically Wolff states that these companies have specifically designed and produced the experiences that last on customers. He says that before new media, people in the technology world did not understand media and traditional media did not concern itself with technology. We see a very different outcome now. Instead of these opposing sides, they have come together and produced a new relationship.

Examples of Convergence in Media Industries

Technology keeps changing so and as a result so do jobs. People going into the work force will be forced to move with the changing technologies. In almost any industry of media, convergence has been heard of.

For Films, in the past, they were edited by using analog now all editing is done digitally via a computer. In addition we have seen industries come from tapes to DVD to Blue-Ray in a few years. For video games there were arcades but now you cannot only play them at home. Gaming has come along way with their interactive movies too along with having improved sound and images. Game industries have allowed them on your phone so companies can by sync together.

Cable industries have come a long way. Cable and Satellite providers now offer not only channels but direct service to the internet. What is interesting to see is how media industries have come together in different ways so the customer has the most technology that the possibly can get. When is comes to print media, Kindles and iPads have taken over books. We can read our textbooks for school online. Newspapers and magazines have had to put articles on their websites, which is how most people read the “paper” these days.

Broadcasting video or audio has changed quite a lot as well. HD television has helped changed television and film into clearer pictures. Satellite radio is a new concept from 2004 that people have used. And when it comes to broadcasting television we have the new technology of TiVo and DVR systems. Along with online television like Hulu and Fancast which offer viewing from TV with limited commercials. Convergence of our technology has only started within these industries, it is just a matter of time when other industries are affected as well.

Convergence And What It Means To Me

The technology we use was not around five or ten years ago and it is crazy to think of life without a cell phone or an iPod. What did people used to do before these new technologies? In my daily life, technology has intertwined with me. Text messaging was new to me, I only got the service in the past two years, and people would look at me funny if I did not have it. Now I cannot imagine life without it. My cell phone has many different tools on it, the calendar, alarm clock and calculator I use daily. Recently I have gotten the iPod touch. Steve Jobs is a smart guy along with all the geniuses at Apple. Not only does my iPod play music but also I have a new calendar, Wireless Internet when I can pick up a signal and applications that I am obsessed with.

With all of this I am sure in a matter of years many written calendars will go out of date and maybe alarm clocks will have a loss. We have already seen the convergence in the iPod touch with now the iPad. I never liked the idea of all of that, until I owned one. I just want to mention something about career convergence too. Because, like I have said before, certain technology has not existed in the past, the job market is moving too. Younger generations are able to do things faster and more effective because they have now been growing up with having a cell phone, using different computer technologies, Facebook and of course the Internet at their fingertips.

Because of all this new technology and behavior, careers are changing. Jobs that I want and hope to get were not around when I first started college, which will most defiantly give me nice advantage. But all of us soon searching for a job better watch out, a job we want and may get might be changing as the technology changes.