I'm eighteen and this is my first year and second semester at uni. I'm doing a bachelor of arts in media and trying to end up in public relations after my degree. I used to go to Pymble Ladies College. I currently have a part time job at Coles but I'm in the process of trying to find a different job.
Discuss
the phenomenon of digital media convergence in relation to one of the
following: Advertising & New Media or Music Video Online
Music Video Online
Digital media
convergence is the integration of all forms of traditional, technological,
industrial, cultural practices and old media. It has changed the very
definition of media from tangible film negatives, vinyl records and tenth
generation videocassettes to intangible, perfectly duplicate-able, wireless air
sharing and downloadable music, text and video. Convergence is top-down and
bottom-up. People are no longer passive media spectators but participate at
three levels: production, selection, and distribution.( Jenkins’s 2006) Digital media has converged from different states of
specialised technology into single products with a combination of
inbuilt funtions. My phone is not only my phone but my video sharing
device my television, my ipod, my calender , my addressbook, my gps and
my gaming device.
Till the end of the 1970s
prior to the founding of Music television, the radio was still the primary
source of music. Most music was
now being produced by companies on side-to-side music cassettes. This method
was proving to be a much more profitable and efficient way to help distribute
and promote music making it more accessible to the public. With the
introduction of the personal computer in the early 1970s and the even more
significant invention of the Internet, music and music video has been most
readily available than ever before.
The new era of digital
music and mp3 came to first emerge from the introduction of Napster in 1991. It
brought about the emergence of a new peer-to-peer sharing of music over the
Internet an evolution from analogue to digital media. In 2001 at its peak more
that 1.5 million people were sharing and downloading music online via the
Internet embedding in the minds of consumers the idea of bypassing the purchase
of established distribution forums such as records, tapes and compact discs
(CD’s).
Naptser shut down later
that year after a successful 3-year run but left behind the quick catching
trend of music which could now be downloaded, shared and stored on personal
computers. Following this, the demands
for online music and music video downloads were left souring. The first and
most famous information technology company to grab advantage of this demand was
apple with its iTunes in 2003 to sell songs on the online store and later music
videos onto their iPod portable digital media music player. By 2006 apple had
sold over 100 million iPods’ and more that 2.5 billion songs with royalties
offered to artists and record companies. The
iPod's creation capitalized on the expression of privately
consumed music (Dwyer, 2010: p. 8). This
paradigm shift within the media industry is nothing new and that during the
1990s the prediction of a digital revolution was met with the assumption that
old media would be pushed aside and the Internet would replace traditional
broadcasting (Jenkins 2006).
In the 21st
century the idea of music video is no longer about money and money alone. Music
video television has been overtaken by online delivery platforms. The
music video industry once entirely run by MTV has now become the hub of
reality television and celebrity gossip. With lack of industry funds due to the
loss of huge audience base Mtv is no longer a commercial music-selling tool. In
relation to digital media convergence there has been a drastic shift “from the
industry made music video to hand made music videos” (sibilla, 2010:227). New
artists are being born on the Internet everyday, making song covers and
parodies over video sharing sites like YouTube. The Internet is now the driving
fuel behind music video generation through out social media platforms.But as stated by jenkins "Old media never truly dies as it is always evolving, rather it is the
delivery technologies that become obsolete and get replaced" (jenkins 2006). Mtv has taken advantage of the shift of primary source of entertainment and information from television to the internet and has created a collaberation youtube channel with vevo generating atleast 50 million views a month.
One real world example of
the emerging YouTube culture is the song “ here it goes again” by Ok Go, a home
made music video by a local band, with a video camera in a single continues
take of a synchronized sequence on hired treadmills that gained over 15 million views and
went on to chart on the billboard hot 100. Ray William Johnson another example of stardom through
views and likes, an average american who comically with a basic editing
software reviewed three viral vides every week and posted on youtube
gained popularity and now has his own line of music videos, regular vlog
updates, merchandise store and even hires guest celebrities.(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNKfYcRpCEI) One of the most significant and revolutionary
artist Michael Jackson’s phenomenal “thriller” music video was a perfect combination
of music and movie like video which reshaped the music industry to what it its
today. His music is more than three decades later not only the base for all pop
music but also demonstrates the power of visual music media. Till date 'thriller' is one of the most viewed videos with over 100 million viwes on youtube and countless home remakes and parodies.
The power to make
successful music videos has evolved from that of record company massive funding to these empowered consumers views, likes and
shares on social media platforms. The convergence of internet with music videos have developed a close
relation between the following fan base and artists and are continually opening
new spots for local bands and artists towards mainstream music success . Digital media has congverged to form a integrated, collaberated, more widely accessable and freely generated enabling mass audiences to become the hub of generating, selling and consuming its own media resources facilitating a progressive evolution of digital media technology.
References
Unit readings:
Jenkins, H. (2006) Convergence Culture, New York, New YorkUniversity Press, pp 1-24
Dwyer, T (2010), Media
Convergence, McGraw Hill, Berkshire, p. 8
Hilderbrand, L. (2007) 'Youtube: Where Cultural Memory and Copyright
Converge', Film Quarterly, Vol 61, pp 48-57
Guest Lecture Dr. Liz Giuffre August 15 Macquaire Univeristy North ryde X5b t1
Dr Sarah Keith Digital Convergence August 8 Macquaire Univeristy North ryde X5b t1
