Horizontal and Vertical Integration

Vertical Integration is the process by which a media companies acquires another in a different stage in the production and distribution process. Such as the methods and actions of apple, as the hardware is not typically manufactured by apple vertical integration occurred between Foxconn and Pegatron.. Horizontal integration is the acquisition of business activities in similar or different media industries, usually through partnership or such (merging). A basic example would be of a media company owning a radio station, newspaper, magazine company, book firm and television channel.

Hardware

The physical components contained within the piece of equipment in question such as a computer, these can be added or removed to upgrade various elements of the equipment. This is opposed to software contained on the Personal Computer or installed onto the equipment. This is the physical component used to create, market or produce media text.

Demographics and Physchographics

This is measurable characteristics of a subject audience such as age, gender, race, income, religion etc. As opposed to psycho-graphics which is a more sophisticated defined form of demographics relating to attitudes held by the audience, values and ideology views.

The Big 3

This is the term given to the three most prominent companies in any industry. In the music industry it is UMG, SONY and WMG.

Distribution and Marketing

The idea of initially marketing (the ways in which the media text is sold to the audience) the media (i.e posters, adverts, interviews, trailers etc.) and then making the media available for the consumers to view in a multitude of platforms (i.e cinema viewing, DVD release, digital release, samples etc.) Distributors (who go through the industrial process of creating the media) attempt to make the media as available to the audience as possible and tend to release the media at peak times (etc horror movies at Halloween). The marketers attempt to make the media known to the audience before hand. There is both viral (reproducing word of mouth via YouTube) and Guerilla marketing (low cost method aimed at creating a "buzz" around a film.

Subsidiary

A company owned by a parent company (essentially a secondary company, one that is controlled by another company).

Convergence

This occurs when when multiple items and products come together to form one product with the advantages of them all (e.g. no longer is multiple products required to play movies, it can all be done on a laptop). This is also the growing interactive use in film industry which enables people to share media easier. Basically any form of digital media can be accessed by one medium such as a phone.

Independent

When media is created, edited, produced, distributed and or marketed by a single individual or group without the use of big named labels or producers. These are Indie artists.

Download

The act of downloading (copying) a media file for ones own consumption whether legal or illegal through a computer and file service (utorrent or mediafire).

File Sharing

This is the public or private sharing of media often through peer to peer services, this is in respect to digital media and its consumption.

Copyright

This is basically an exclusive legal right given to an individual or organisation that allows only them to produce or distribute the product and if broken by another individual legal action can occur.

The Music Industry

Any company that produces, markets, exhibits or distributes music is part of this industry. Essentially the groups, companies and individuals that create and sell music to earn money. Composed of the various sectors of marketing and distribution.

Synergy

The interaction and co-operation between two agents to result in a greater effect than if they worked independently This is cost effective and beneficial for both agents.

Conventions

This is the traditions of society or how the social norm dictates how one should go about for example acquiring and consuming media (conventions show that purchasing of hard back physically media was eventually replaced with the less conventional digital media at the time).

Production

The methods and actions involved in manipulating the raw inputs (in this case, the song, movie or music video) and through edits and eventually making a media text based on the public demand for it (i.e producing a single for press release).

Soul Jazz Records Case Study

Soul Jazz Records is a British record label formed in 1990 produces and distributes a multitude of different precise genres of music, unlike modern labels SJR produces a lot of music deemed "underground" by social conventions, it distributes many genres that people would be unfamiliar with or maybe have never heard before. Horizontal Integration occured when SJR forged an association with Studio ones founder Clement Dodd in the 1990s. There is also many sub labels - Universal Sound and World Audio Foundation Also the label produces music globally unlike many big named labels such as WMG who typically only produce western artists (i.e. English speaking European, Cuban and American artists), SJR produces music from many years ago.

It also recognizes the Black rights movement especially in the music industry (there was a certain stigma about a black artist during certain periods- Freedom, Rhythm and Sound) in which the music itself wouldn't have sold very well, SJR has attempted to re-release this music into circulation.

Soul Jazz records produces the following genres of music:

- Electronic
- Reggae
- Dub-step
- Jazz
- House Music
- Funk & Soul
- African
- Deep Cult and Roots Music
- Punk
- Hip-Hop
- German Rock & Electronic
- Latina/ Salsa
- Brazil
- Funk and Soul 45's
- Soundtracks
- Compilations
- Ska
- Rock Steady

This is a diverse yet very focused variation of genres, its not typical nor is it what we would call mainstream music (Pop and certain Rock). The artists under the SJR label are primarily composed of black artists (this adheres to the social convention in that stereo-typically society tends to think of black artists when the genre is Soul or Jazz). The age of the music varies as well but is typically music from 1920-1990s that has been remastered and re-released to the music industry. This is music that may have been overlooked at the time and that may appeal to a desired audience. Other featured artists are from Jamaica Haiti and Brazil amongst others; these are not typical artists that mainstream society would tend to listen to, this is mainly due to ignorance and a lack of knowledge on the subject and genre. But not all the music is aged, many tracks and albums are brand new, some released in 2013 such as Hieroglyphic Being. it's also worth noting that there is a large biography on nearly every artist and album. This is unlike many big name producers today who only have (minimal) information on big named artists under their label such as iTunes.

The range of music is not the only thing not following the typical conventions society holds towards the music industry, the way the consumer interacts with the website in relation to purchasing content is also conflictive The consumer has the ability to purchase CD's, 7" or 12" vinyls, LP's and Mp3 versions. This appears to be very pre digital era, it appears to focus more on hard copy vinyls rather than digital downloads, but its till allows for the purchase of mp3 data. Music can also be pre ordered for release and can be left as a reminder to SJR if the content is currently out of stock. Merchandise is a key element on this website such as T-Shirts, clothing, bags, posters, tooth brushes, stickers, fliers, vouchers (the premise is to get the audience to spend money on their content). They also use promotion methods through the selling of the likes of books (Rare out of print books), signings, DVDs and videos.

There isn't a distinct audience for SJR, there is a range of underground genres that appeal to many audiences who enjoy electronic or Reggae for example. The name Soul Jazz may appear to many admires of that genre and might attract their attention as well those who enjoy aged music or classics that might not have had any play time or minimal circulation. The gigs and such also allow many new consumers (a new audience) to be exposed to the music. SJR focus more on remastering music and this might adhere more to the preferences of the older generation.

Soul Jazz Records is an independent labels with many sub labels and a partner company, it tends to deviate from the social conventions of the mainstream music industry. SJR attempts to re-release music into circulation which has almost been lost, aged music especially and of various countries and genres, this is opposed to mainstream music industry which tends tot to relaunch aged music. The prices of tracks and albums on SJR are significantly lower than that of the mainstream music industry as is the prices of concerts. In a sense SJR is a platform for the consumer to acquire underground music as well as fresh unique music artists in contrast to the fame attained by the various artists under more renowned labels.

Consumption of Music at Present.

Technology has allowed artists to engage on a more personal level through the development in technology and social media. Now we can follow and chat to our favourite artists on Twitter and Facebook, we can get an insight into their lives through their eyes on their Instagram and Keek accounts, all which add value to the relationship fans develop with their much-loved performers.

However, I feel that music consumption methods from the last are still a huge part of how the world consumes music today. A lot of people if they feel the CD or the artist means enough to them they will prefer to physically own a copy of the music rather than to pay for a download or even illegally download a copy for free. Having the CD makes the listener feel like the music is theirs. Having a CD may also benefit the artist as their fans may share their CD with friends and family, this could result in other copies of the music being purchased. A step on from this is that despite social networking allowing music fans more access to their favourite musicians, there is nothing quite like seeing their favourite artist live in concert and having a ticket to show they were there afterwards.

Transformation of Music Consumption.

Digital technologies have significantly changed the way musicians record music, the way record companies distribute music, and the way consumers consume music. From Peer-to-Peer (P2P) technologies to Mesh Networks, technology has also dramatically changed the way consumers consume music. The advent of the Internet and such technologies as those above has enabled music consumers to download MP3 music files. However, many P2P networks enabled consumers do download music files, both old and recently released music, for free. Websites like Napster offered access to thousands of computer users to swap music files for free. Such files included the latest music available, including many selections available even before being released for sale by the artist or record company.

Such developments have significantly impacted the way consumers consume music. By downloading music files for free, consumers forced the record industry and angry artists to completely retool the way music is priced, marketed, and offered for sale. The motivation for such retooling was decreased sales of CDs in record stores.

Over the years the music industry has had to cleverly adapt and change to keep up with advancing technology. Initially artists made money from record sales, album sales, and touring. Before ‘the digital age’ fans would have to walk into a music store, and buy the vinyl record or album to listen to the great quality sound in the comfort of their homes, as they lacks the ability of easy transportation. However micro-music developed throughout the 90’s and music became almost completely digital. This opened the doors for sits and software like LimeWire and Napster to enable people to stream and download music for free directly to their computers. With little to no barriers this meant the masses had incredibly quick easy access to music they wanted. Eventually many of these sites got shut down for copyright infringements and IP lawsuits and the industry was left wondering how to continue charging for goods still available for free online.

Music on the move has been available to us since the early 90’s, and artists were able to utilize CDs and smaller vehicles of music playback such as Walkman or CD Players. However Apple and its ‘i’ products took the music industry by storm with a world renowned status and arguable saved the music business by provided a legal music downloading system iTunes. This provided a new platform, keeping up with the industry advancements, for record labels and artists to sell their music completely digital.

Illegal downloading still happens and combined with streaming sites like YouTube, Vevo and SoundCloud and legal download site iTunes in-store record sales are suffering. Now, youngsters especially, are growing up in a world where you aren’t proud of your CD collection and owning that album, being able to flick through the album leaflet isn’t enough to want to OWN the physical copy.

Research in recent years has shown;
Only 53% of young people have purchased music or video in-store over the last 12 months. This is partly attributed to the popularity of downloading and streaming via the internet (Mintel, ‘Youth technology-UK-2010’).

The number of people buying CDs year on year fell for the third time in 2011, despite approximately half of consumers in Mintel’s exclusive consumer research preferring to own a physical copy of their content (Mintel, ‘Media Consumption-UK-July 2012’).

The BPI (British Phonographic Industry) estimates that online copyright infringement cost the UK music industry around £200 million in 2009. New legislation has now been passed (the Digital Economy Act) to discourage illegal file sharing, but it is not clear how successful this will be and the likelihood is that new tools for piracy will emerge (Mintel, Paid-For vs. Free – Consumer Attitudes to Pricing in Media and Music- UK – April 2010).

Digital Revolution.

The Digital Revolution refers to the advancement of technology from analog electronic and mechanical devices to the digital technology available today. The era started to during the 1980s and is ongoing. The Digital Revolution also marks the beginning of the Information Era. The Digital Revolution is sometimes also called the Third Industrial Revolution.

1947-1979 -The transistor, which was introduced in 1947, paved the way for the development of advanced digital computers. The government, military and other organizations made use of computer systems during the 1950s and 1960s. This research eventually led to the creation of the World Wide Web.

2010-Present/Future - By this decade, Internet makes up more than 25 percent of the world's population. Mobile communication has also become very important, as nearly 70 percent of the world's population owns a mobile phone. The connection between Internet websites and mobile gadgets has become a standard in communication. It is predicted that by 2015, the innovation of tablet computers will far surpass personal computers with the use of the Internet and the promise of cloud computing services. This will allow users to consume media and use business applications on their mobile devices, applications that would would otherwise be too much for such devices to handle.

Music consumption before the technological revolution.

The history begins with the phonograph which soon became the inspiration for the gramophone which was regarded by the United States Gramophone Company as "a machine for home entertainment and the mass-production of music discs". A switch in consumption took place, as previously consumers just wanted to buy the hardware (such as the gramophone itself) and the industry had to promote the software (music records) as being worth buying in themselves. This led to the first recording studio being opened and the creation of a mass audience. Following a slump in the industry in the1930's a small number of major recording companies survived which established the music industry as we know it today. Soon radios replaced record players in people's homes and were seen as a threat to the music industry so companies became obsessed with big sales. They became less concerned to service an existing public taste than to create new tastes, to manipulate demand. They managed to use the radio to their advantage, by using a star system and promoting these stars via the radio, to create popularity and consumption. Soon it became obvious that with new technology emerging, there was a need to improve recorded sound quality and to ease record storage and preservation. By 1950 tape recording had replaced disc recording entirely, and this eventually developed into digital recording and compact discs. From this history of the 20th century we move on to the 21st, and the development of digital files.

What is music consumption?

Music is consumed in a variety of ways, through the radio, television, and internet, as well as through concerts and performances. The impact of illegal music downloads and file sharing has again brought the issue of music purchases to the forefront.

Music Industry

The consumption of music in recent times, particularly in the 21^st century has changed and advanced more than ever before. With these changes have come many benefits for people, artists and their companies but also many disadvantages too. With legal boundaries and limits on the consumption of music affecting the entire industry, other factors affect the music industry because fans of music can choose to own their favourite artists’ music in many different ways.

With the global move from physically buying and owning a copy of your favourite artist’s music which can still be done, to downloading and having a copy on your iPod, iTunes or PC, many people are willing to pay more than they would for the physical copy simply because it will be theirs to listen to almost instantaneously. This benefits both those music fans willing to legally pay and download the music because it’s theirs so quickly but it also benefits the artists and their record labels because it means they’re earning the money they should be for spending the time making the music they hope fans will listen to. This more common way of downloading music also benefits the artists because online music purchasing makes it easier for fans to share music whether it’s on social networks like Facebook or Twitter or on online networks devoted solely to music like Spotify or YouTube which can also let fans get to know their favourite musicians a little more.

On the other end of the spectrum in terms of sharing music, the ability to go online and get your music has made it a lot easier for illegal streaming and downloading of music. This has a massive benefit for those who love music but prefer to take the risk and get it for free. In recent years this has been a focus of governments and record labels, making sure music isn’t leaked and trying to close down file sharing sites that make it easy for people to download music illegally. Jail sentences have decreased the number of people that take the risk of illegally downloading their music. This was a huge advantage lost when music was only physical – it was harder to steal the music from a shop than it is on the internet. Although this means artists lose money, many artists have said that they don’t mind as long as people are enjoying their music. However, this is usually the artists that don’t need any more money than they already have from their music. This is the reason that motivates me and millions of others to consider illegally downloading music, i.e. the artist doesn’t need any more money. However, this can have a huge negative effect on smaller artists because those who have already “made it” in the music industry are making it harder for those only starting out by tacitly encouraging illegal downloads of their music.

I think the way music is consumed will continue to change with almost all purchases/illegal downloads happening online already. Merchandise and concert tickets are mostly bought online now also, this has put pressure on music shops that would’ve traditionally sold physical copies of music to customers because there is not as big a market for physical music as there used to be.