youth and music survery 2009 analysis

The label that created the survey the Human Capital for Marrakesh Records are famous independent label that once owned The Killers.


The eye grabbing question that probably made young people want to answer the survey when it was handed out was 2Which would you rather live without for a week sex or music?" The results showed all genders would rather live without sex! This result shows how much people value music in today's age.

For all of the rest of the questions our media class compared them to our votes although their were only 17 people in our class. Question 2 still supports that in the last three months most people watch a music video then for example buy a CD which was the second most popular. This has now decreased from 70% to 50%. Also burning a CD has decreased a lot. This is probably due to the easy access of getting music like on social networking sites.

Question 3, the devices you have used to listen to music in the last week still came out as ipod/mp3 but increased by more then ten percent. I believe this is because ipods for example have been transformed in the last couple of years from generation 1 to the iphone 3g today. The computer and radio are also still very popular although using record players(vinyl) and tape-cassettes have decreased a lot due to the new ways to listen to music.

Question 4, Where would you say that you usually find out about new music /bands/artists you like? The top three answers from 2009 are still the same but have all increased. The radio, as it's now easier to listen to the radio as you can now listen to it on TV and on the computer which reaches a wider audience. Friends, which is always common as people share interests and watching music channels, as now more music channels have been created from Sky and Digital. One we added was Facebook/Twitter as we felt a lot of people today do see music re posted on social networking sites.  Reading music magazines is less common today, this maybe because we can access it from the Internet easily and quicker.

Question 5, Which website would you usually visit first to check out a new band/artists?. The top one youtube is still the most common today as artists can make them self known on a global scale as many different kinds of people from different countries log on to watch all kinds of videos such as music videos.  The second most popular choice in 2009 was Myspace which has now been over run by Facebook... no one in our class said they went first to Myspace as everyone is now on more easier assessable sites. Surprisingly visiting the band's own website increased from 15% to 40% due to the amount of information and detail on the sites.

Question 6, Do you feel it is morally acceptable to download music for free from the Internet?
In 2009 66% of people said yes. In our vote only 55% said they felt it was right. This could be due to people sympathising for the band/artist, if they are a big fan and feel they should give something back. Also this makes the label loose money which could result in no more new music being produced. On the other hand the 55% of people who said they thought it was acceptable said things such as.." they are already wealthy enough"   "they make it to simple to get it" and "everyone is doing it". This is a big problem to labels as it is piracy and cannot be stopped as it can be easily transferred to many computers from peer-to-peer. Although some people believe that free tracks could make you buy the album if you liked them enough and that and most people download music because they can not because if they couldn't they'd go but the CD so therefore it isn't a loss to the label or artist. Question 7 is similar as it shows an increase in downloading music as in 2009 it was 63% and not it is 95%.


Question 8, Do you feel guilty if you download music for free? This question became a match as still 30% of people do. This is still a problem for labels as most people don't feel guilty as everybody is doing it. Question 9, 61% of people in 2009 thought we shouldn't have to pay for music we listen to e.g on the radio. Today 100% of the class agreed we shouldn't.

Question 9, shows that now we are still happy to pay around £6.58-£6.85 for a band/artist if you like them. Although buying CD's has fallen we do still feel it's a fair price to pay in shops.. espically if it's new out.

Question 10, a price for a downloadable album by a band/artist you like has fallen from £3.91 to £3.85. Some people said it depends on who the artist is and if they were well known they'd pay a little more.

Question 11, A fair price to but a single track still stands at 39p, although like in the previous question it depends who it is. Although everyone in the class would pay this they said they could usually get it free by recieving it from a friend.

Question 12, the percentage of tracks you own that you paid for feell from 57% paid for to 40%. Their was extreme differences in the class as it was hardly none or all. This shows that piracy is becoming more popular and will continue to increase. This is a big problem for the music industry as they are loosing a lot of money due to this.

marketing music

What technologies and marketing strategies do institutions use to target ad distribute products audiences?

Mainly the Internet as social networking sites have become very popular in recent years such as facebook which is a multi platform social media, this is good as the target audience are active on this, other social networking sites include twitter, myspace and tumbrl, all of  these sites are easy for Artists and labels the chance to post up new albums and links to other sites. As this is done a lot it becomes easily to get hold of as the audience become the marketing tool as they pass it on to their peers. Another great Internet tool is Youtube as the audience are able to view the music free and have the chance to get a link to the main website which persuades you to sign up, which usually has something free such as a song. The record labels aim is to get your email so they can send you information about a specific band which could make you buy things such as tour tickets and merchandise. This is called a loss leader as labels do loose money when they give out free music but they usually gain more when customers start buying more, this is also a use of direct marketing. Another strategy is viral marketing; this means you again become the marketing tool by  passing on a link to another person which spreads rapidly like a virus. A use of this is on the Lilly Alen website which uses a game with a song of hers in the background. The independent label rough trade uses many of these strategies to gain customers for the new indie rock band Howler. With also the use of magazine inputs by the Guardian and itunes it shows a use of loss leader direct marketing by putting on there main page "sign up to get 'the back of your neck" free. Also as i analysed the main page it gave me an option of different things to purchase such as live tour tickets allowing me to see the dates and merchandies. Music videos from Youtube are also inserted. Along with this indorsment is used by the NME allowing fans to see the album a week before it comes out, this is good for marketing as NME are a famous company which loves new music of the Howlers genre and are very successful with their radio station,tv channel and magazine.


- advertisment of other bands of rough trade also on the website.

past questions

Jan 2009: production and distribution methods.
June 2009: importance of technological convergence to audience and institutions.
Jan 2010: domination of global institutions selling to national audiences- agree/disagree.
June 2010: significance of continuing development of digital technology for audience and institutions.
Jan 2011: Issues raised by media ownership in production and exchange of texts.

chosen record labels

My chosen independant label is Rough Trade.

http://www.roughtraderecords.com/

http://www.roughtrade.com/

My chosen majour label is Warner.

http://www.wmg.com/

record labels

3 major record labels

• Warner - make up 11.3%
• Sony - make up 21.5%
• Universal - make up 25.5% (and 13.4% of EMI)

There are 1000's of independent record labels. - make up 28.4%

music industry terminology

Convergence of Technology-Previously separate technologies that now share resources and interact with each other synergistically. A more basic way of putting it would be the coming together of new media technologies. For example, the recent rise of digital communication has made it possible for media organizations (or individuals) to deliver text, audio, and video material over the same wired, wireless, or fiber-optic connections. When in the past, the functions of a telephone were very basic (voice only)


Coverage of Industrial Activity-


Synergy-The interaction or cooperation of two or more organisations, substances or other agents to produce a greater combined effect. (M&S advert promoting X-Factor)


Conglomerate- A media conglomerate, media group or media institution is a company that owns large numbers of companies in various mass media such as television, radio, publishing, movies, and the Internet. Media conglomerates strive for policies that facilitate their control of the markets across the globe.


Globalisation- Growth to global or worldwide scale. 


Analogue Music- The music industry (or music business) sells compositions, recordings and performances of music. Among the many individuals and organisations that operate within the industry are the musicians who compose and perform the music; the companies and professionals who create and sell recorded music.


Digitisation- Conversion of analog information into digital information.


Vertical Integration- When a company expands its business into different areas. ( Emi records = HMV)

 Horizontal Integration-  A record label that owns other record labels that used to be independent ( this reaches a wider audience ).


Major Record Label- Warner, Sony and Universal but 1000's of independent record labels ( higher marks for case studies )


Subsidiary Label- This is a label owned by a major record label.


Independent Label-


Niche Audience- Specific audience, music created for that audience ( Marylin Manson ) but at a global level a lot of profit


Mainstream Audience-the uncontroversial generally accepted attitudes, beliefs and values of the majority of the population.


Fans-


Active Audiences- Active participants by influencing other people. ( posting music videos on facebook )


Audiophiles-An audiophile is a person who has a great interest in high-fidelity sound reproduction


Early Adopters- A person who starts using a product or technology as soon as it becomes available


Consumption-The purchase and use of goods and services by the public


Web 2.0-social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessable and scalable publishing techniques


Meta tags/Personalisation- Information within a music file ( music genre, album and rating )


Download- The act or process of copying data in such a way.


Streaming– A method of relaying data (esp. video and audio material) over a computer network as a steady continuous stream, allowing playback to proceed while subsequent data is being received


Peer to Peer-(P2P) is a term that originated from the popular concept of peer-to-peer computer application design, popularized by the large distributed file sharing systems, such as Napster.


Piracy- Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright owner's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.

Portability/Miniaturisation-


Multi-Track-An audio tape which holds more than one track of audio information.


Sampling-The technique of digitally encoding music or sound and reusing it as part of a composition or recording.


Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)- Originated in the early 1980s, the term digital audio workstation (DAW) originally referred to a tape-less, computer-based system such as New England Digital's Synclavier and Fairlight that used hard drives for media storage


A&R- Artists and Repertoire-this is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.


Recored Deal-Contract-A recording contract (commonly called a record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote.

 Royalties-Sums of money paid to a patentee for the use of a patent or to an author or composer for each copy of a book sold or for each public performance of a work or in the music business, songs played.
Distribution-the company or organisation responsible for buying a film from the producers and distributing it.


Plugging/Marketing-The transmission of information about a media text to a target audience in such a way as to maximise the appeal to that audience.