Music vs. Music?

Will music from the 00's be any different from the music from 2011-2020?

How will it change? 

How will technology advance, stay the same, or regress?

Some of these questions have different answers, others have very deep ideas behind them.

Music has already drastically changed from the 00's to now, from the way it is made to the way it is consumed. In the 00's, music production was just beginning to switch to digital from analog while the consumer was switching to a different medium.

In this video, Trina Shoemaker gives a short description of analog vs. digital. She suggest that they are technically the same. Analog is the type of wave and digital tries to copy that into the computer. Analogous waves are a continuous wave that the ear hears, where the digital copy are a series of snapshots pieced together to make a wave.

Why is this relevant to music today? Do you remember the days of walkmen and vinyl?  In those days, there was no digital interface. You had the studio and your board and everything was recorded on tape. The process was from the microphone to your tape into the board for you to mix the channels accordingly then to a machine that would write the vinyl tracks.

Now-a-days, the process is slightly different. In digital recording, the process is from the studio through the preamps, into the recording software where you mix and edit the sound using an interface similar to the old analog boards and after you are pleased with a mix you export to a CD, .mp3, .mp4, or other various forms of audio.

On a personal note, I enjoy recording via both mediums. On one hand there is analog where you have the true sound of the instruments and only have five options to alter the sound; four EQ adjustments and an overall volume fader. On the other hand we have digital where there is essentially an endless amount of possibilities of what you can do with the sound such as auto-tune, adjust the faders, EQ, compressors & limiters, the list goes on and on.

How might this change? I am firm believer that both methods will persist. If you forget where you come from, you don't know where you are going. If the industry forgets about analog recording and completely relies on digital recording what happens to the local studios that have not switched over? What happens to the true fans of analog, they aren't going to stop listening to music.

There is a distinct difference between something recorded on tape vs. completely digital. It's the moment of joy when you drop the needle and here that famous "record player scratch" versus the feeling you have when you click  >>|  on your iPod. Something feels different emotionally and without both mediums of recording available, we will lose one.

A Semester In Review

Already?

That's it?

Yes, the semester has come and gone in it's entirety. Here is a recap of all of the wonderful things we have learned since the midterm. Things from art and animation to the music industry, a personal favorite, and things as deep as augmented reality and the future of television and technology. The question is how is all of this media and technology impacting our world and changing our lives?

Shortly after the midterm we moved onto a section about art and animation. Included in this section was an article on a Wiki page. This assignment was to read about common sources of stress. In the middle of finals week as I write this, I cannot help but laugh at the irony of this article. Stress is something everyone deals with in one way or another. The article claimed that social issues, life experiences or even adverse experiences during a key development phase can all be factors of stress. You may be wondering how does stress factor into media and stress? Well, have you ever been checking your tweets and then all of sudden you see a shocking headline from the local news station? Yesterday I was just flipping through some tweets and the title "A 17-year-old-girl is recovering after she was shot in the back by people she met on Facebook." I couldn't help but blurt out, "What?!" Instinctively I clicked on the link to the article to see what happened and to re assure myself this was not a cruel joke the news organization was playing. Sometimes.. it's the little things, like worrying about other people that stress us out the most.

As the semester progressed we moved onto what possibly was my favorite part of ICOM 101, our discussions about the Music Industry. I wish we could have spent more time on this section but the articles we read were really interesting. The article "A Change of Tune" proves and shows that the music industry is struggling. By providing some facts to back up their words The Economist quoted that "The record industry is not growing." Granted, this article is from 2007 and quite a bit has changed in this industry such as improvements in digital recording and production cost have changed, the music industry is still struggling. Music is such an integral part of media and how we live our day to day lives. I'm not suggesting that the music industry will die, but time has certainly shown that we (as a people) have called for things to change. The switch to digital certainly has a huge impact on the music industry. At the same time that digital recoding programs started becoming popular, the .mp3 became popular. It was very difficult for them to get ahead of this demand. Just as the same rate that the studios were learning this skill it was being demanded in the market.

An additional article we read discussed the future of music and it's integration into social media. The article questions that "Even if Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg hadn't been introduced to Spotify... it was probably inevitable that the two companies would hook up." I'm not sure it would have been Spotify by I definitely support the idea that social media would have connected with music. As stated earlier, music is such an integral part of life. At the F8 Conference in 2011, Zuckerburg said something along the lines of music is something we want to share with friends, it is a social experience. Whether we make it or not, every aspect of music is social. People singing to other people, or for them, usually about emotions and feelings or events shared with other people. Now that the two have joined forces, can you imagine it any other way?

After music, the class moved onto a section about mobile marketing. Mobile marketing is something fairly recent. With the introduction of smartphones more and more people have a platform where advertisements can pop-up. From this article, there are certain trends that advertisers have been watching. As you scroll down the list, some of these topics may seem very obvious. Because smartphones are on the rise so is the amount companies spend on mobile advertising. Also, social media has gone mobile. While staying on the mobility track, tablets are becoming increasingly more popular. While tings may seem awesome on your smart phone there is still some debate on what is best: Mobile apps vs. Mobile websites as well as accessibility vs. time.

In a separate article, there is great concern for talent pool of people going into advertising. The amount of skill is narrowing down the amount of people who are qualified to do the jobs. There are simply more skills necessary than many of the people have. It is tragic that you can have 15 years of experience and be out of a job because you have failed to learn one software.

As an ICOM class we took some time to dive into augment reality, or AR, and decipher what it is all about. AR is an application of an extra "sense" to your existing senses. Currently AR is available wide spread for smart phones but there is development that one day everyone will have glasses of some sort of projectory device.  The guest speaker had a very relevant point, that one day everyone will use AR. After the technology is developed, the cost will reduce and it will be a common household integration. It has been said that one day, your fridge will show you what you need or your car will project the map onto the window.

I think the original impact of media into our lives was when the TV became a household staple.  From the black and white boxes we have now advanced so much that we can fit the same technology into a three inch thick panel. Technology is incredible. But what might the future hold for TV? Some would like to think that one day, TV will have a similar set up to Pandora where the user will get specific content that only pertains to them rather than viewing a network show along with several thousand other viewers.

Along with personalized TV we will soon have something called interactive TV. There are already basic examples of this. Comcast is currently running an commercial about interactive TV and how you can become involved. The technology is here and is being developed but how does that change from regular commercials? Well, iTV is different because in a normal 30 second commercial the viewer would only see that content, with iTV, the viewer can learn more about the product as well as interact with other aspects of the commercial. There is additional content needed for an iTV ad.

I've still got a few things to say about TV. With recent advances in game systems and voice integration, it is now easier than ever to be able to have an interactive experience with your technology at home. Because of the Xbox Kinect, users can now control their TV's verbally. Simply say a command as simple as "Xbox, change the channel to (insert channel)." Also, with the introduction of Siri from Apple, the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV will also have voice recognition software. With all of these updates and upgrades, Xbox hopes to become a staple in many people's home, similar to Apple TV, as a platform to transform TV viewing. Xbox was the first gaming console to offer extras like Netflix.

If the technology didn't speak for itself in the different ways that it has changed the world then I'm not sure any amount of words will do it justice. From the development of TV to Augmented Reality back to the changes of the Music Industry, technology is always changing and advancing.

Follow up on the Industry

This has been a very interesting experience. To recap, I followed 10 of the Music Industry's leading labels to see how they use social media and incorporate their users and customers. Some of the labels use social media as a means to communicate upcoming concerts or ways to support the artist. Other labels didn't do a whole lot with it, which is a tragedy.

Just out of curiosity, I followed some British labels and they seem to be the most popular out of all of them. I guess the Brits have figured out how to use social media to their benefit.

One of the major things I did notice was that several of the major labels follow and retweet info from the smaller, independent labels. I'm not sure if it is out of the goodness of their hearts or because there is money being exchanged but it's nifty regardless.

As the smaller labels branch out and try to grow, many of them are using Twitter as a means to spread word about new signed bands, concerts or a means to get to know fans. The interaction of the smaller labels with the consumer are much more "first name basis" then the relationship between major labels and the consumer.

As we browse between the various labels we find that they promote sales, merchandise, concerts, other bands and even other labels via social media.

Presenting....

I would like to proudly present...

Pirating Prevention Initiative

A site dedicated to educate the difference between piracy and stealing, who piracy hurts and why piracy is bad. Piracy is more than just taking a few songs here or there.

Enjoy!

feed back

what is the best feedback that we are getting:

add links to free streaming music
good layout

flash/action script
animation
transitions between pages
link/ newsletter to free music
creativecommens.org?

graphics/videos
link to other agencies

links to research
talk about free artist links: its a good thing.
link pirate to what page

tag posts..
statistics

PPI

I have decided to change my project title from Pirating Process Initiative, which sounds suggestive and supportive to Pirating Prevention Initiative which is much more what I am going for, a stand against piracy.

Here is a link to the site.

Thoughts

Moby on the Future of the Music Industry
bigthink.com

Moby had several thoughts on the music industry. Some of which I agreed with and others I did not. Some of his comments were: 
    
     - most musicians have day jobs
     - many musicians are becoming DIY, starting own companies, producing own albums
     - music is benefiting this because people who love music are making music (Indie is rising)
     - ...10,000 records here or 50,000 records here...
     - blame is at the record companies (price they take out-musicians don't make enough royalties)

By him saying most musicians have day jobs, I believe he was referring to many Indie musicians. The big artists don't have second jobs. When I heard Moby say many more people are becoming their own producers, as much as that kills the producer inside of me, I do agree with that statement. Equipment is relatively affordable and it can be reasonable to try to produce your own music. At the same price, as the musician, you have enough to worry about with the band or yourself do you really have time to be worrying about how it sounds too? There will always be a need to have studios, I believe, because there comes a point that the studio sound just sounds better. Yes, Moby said music is benefiting because people who love music are making it now but there are plenty of lower budget Indie labels on the rise to make the studio sound more accessible. People are 'making it" now a days because they can sell 10,000 records here or 50,000 records this time. "No one is selling a million records anymore" Moby said. I would go as far to say no one is making the right amount of royalties. That's where a band can make the money and unfortunately they just don't make enough. I do like that Moby made a comment about going after the record labels. An artist makes less than a dollar from a $9.99 CD. Leaving $8.99 or more for overhead and the labels cut? I don't think so. If we want new artists to last longer we simply need better contracts.

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How to Fix the Music Industry
vimeo.com MUSEXPO

Before I discuss How to Fix the Music Industry I really have a problem with the way this was produced. I feel like they just traveled the world for no answers while wasting a half an hour of my time. I really struggled to find points in this other than peoples opinions of what's wrong with the music industry and how they think they would fix it. To the producer, why? What did going around the world asking people what they thought achieve? This seems like a very half-done Michel Moore documentary.

The only thing I really understood from this video was that no two answers are the same and I don't agree with any of them. Hoping to go into the industry myself, I have a better understanding of the process and the industry than the average person. I'm not defending it and saying there is nothing wrong with it but some of the suggestions people had would not be effective at all.

What would making all music free do? How would that help anyone. Say we tried that for a year. I am fairly sure that would be the death of the music industry. The labels would not make money and the bands would get tour sales (many contracts give artists a majority of the road sales). So now the labels have to charge more to record and while the bands made money on the road it would not cover the cost of a studio for 6-10 months or more.

More restrictions was another thought. Well, I hate to say this but there are plenty of restriction on the artist and the people, the issue is the recording label. Many labels are just stealing from the artist and its a catch 22 for the artist. Sign the contract (aka - your life away), record, sell albums (for the label to profit on, tour, do it all again... and oh wait.. you're still broke!

I wish there was an easy fix for this broken industry. Music is such a vital part of life. I was once told "if it isn't music it is silence" and I really like that. Everything is music. Casual conversation is a dance with words set to sounds. I guess I'm trying to say if there was an easy fix, it would be fixed. There is no easy way for everyone to be happy and this is why there are "starving artists" who would do it all again because they truly love it and wouldn't trade it for the world.

Pirating Process Initiative

more about PPI

The Pirating Process Initiative is a movement to spread the word and explain the damaging effects of piracy on large and small labels. The effects of piracy can be felt by all artists in all markets.

Through this project I hope to enlighten all who use it on the effects of piracy. By definition, piracy is "the unauthorized reproductions or use of a copyrighted book, recording, television program, patented invention, trademarked product, ect."

Now when we see that, many of us often think of this as plagiarism not piracy. In all reality, the two terms are equal and equally bad. Both terms essentially mean stealing from the original creator(s) and use the product for personal gain.

Over the course of this creative project, Pirating Process Initiative will create an interactive website to inform participants of statistics and effects of piracy. Some of the sources for this design will be the FCC for facts as well as labels (both large and small) for their take on piracy.

more about piracy

Piracy is something that skyrocketed with the creation of Napster, Limewire and other file sharing sites. In the early 00's with the creation of the iPod and a new need for digital music, rather than having the media in your hand, file sharing sites became huge. In part because of the generation that took hold of this concept, many people felt the music should be free once you have a device.

When a company produces an album they run off a 95% piracy rate. This means they claim that 95% of the total quantity produced will be pirated or copied and not purchased. Leaving only 5% we may begin to wonder how do the labels survive off of that and that is the task we will explore with PPI.

more about the website

This website will be an adventurous site using user friendly activities and exploration to piracy rates, who it effects, and how it effects users. Through interactivity, the user can explore graphics and images that help explain piracy and its effects. Also, I will somehow creatively incorporate an activity into the site. Graphics and pictures will heavily drive the feeling of the site.

Exploring piracy. 
Minimizing piracy. 
Pirating Process Initiative.

iWhat? iWeb!

iWeb is a software used for creating websites. Some would argue that it is not the most professional website generator but if used thoroughly, a highly developed, user-friendly site can be produced. Other programs that can do this are DreamWeaver and CSS.

Some of the topics covered in the iWeb tutorial are basic text & images, photo & movie pages and blogging and publishing to the internet. Because of all of my knowledge of basic graphic design and layout from TCOM, setting up my iWeb was a no brainer but the Lynda.com tutorial because it explains how layouts should fall.

Publishing may be the hardest thing about using iWeb. With iWeb, we use an FTP server which is basically the host of your site and information. The domain name is the website title. This is a link to my personal resume site produced with iWeb, hosted at Ball State. iWeb is incredibly user friendly and very easy to edit.

Certainly, after this tutorial I will tweak my web page to improve it and utilize my skills for this Creative Project. I love iWeb for its user friendly interface as well as its ease of publication and simplicity.

Lets be creative!

For my creative project utilizing the music industry, I will be dealing with piracy and informing the general public on statistics.
At this point in time, I think I will be doing a website that is very user interactive and similar to a game.
I will use credible sources like record labels and the FCC for the information.

Best of...

Entertainment advertising:
It was simply an advertisement for a new show coming on but it successfully did its job. The show is called Project Accessory. It will take a similar format as Project Runway, however it will focus on accessories rather than outfits. I am looking forward to this show.

Education advertising:
One advertisement I kept seeing over and over again has been for a tablet, geared for children under 10. Similar to the iPad, this tablet plays learning games and only allows what you put on it. It is a brilliant alternative to letting your child use your iPad. The children have thier own tablet and can't ruin or delete anything.

Marketing advertising:
Ball State markets themselves in the Indianapolis area. I went home and was watching WTHR CH 13 and it truly seemed that every other commercial break was about Mormons or Ball State University "Education Redefined" and "The ____ Chronicles" I left Muncie to get a break and school still followed me! But I suppose that Ball State is a brand and just like any other brand you have to get the name out there.

A Midterm not on InQsit?

That's what we have right here. Over the course of this post, I will touch on how media is impacting and changing our lives. The overall theme I will be touching on will be how social media have virtually changed the way we interact.

As I review the articles we have covered in this class, a good chuck of them relay a similar message, and a good chunk of that message is about Facebook and it's impact on the world. From the very first week we read an article titled "Keep calm and carry on 'Liking'...".  Not too long after I read it, I began to realize that we "like" a lot of things. I started to notice when people would comment on something and say they were going to "like" that, and actually I think the word was a fad for awhile. I know I have said like in response to someone stating an idea or phrase.

The article affectionately asking do we "Feel like a wallflower?..." commented on how because of technology we can hardly sit still. We are actually addicted to our Facebook walls. When someone check in someplace or if there are new pictures posted we have the need to check. As humans, we actually fear missing out on something. Now, on that same page knowing that Aunt Velma checked into her bathroom is a little much but maybe she want everyone to know!

I'm going to switch gears for a bit and talk about Twitter. One of the most revolutionary tools the internet has to freely offer. As many of us know, earlier this year there was an Egyptian Revolution. The people were done with the government and basically stuck it to the man. What the people want, the people get, and they will surely find a way to get it. From this article we can gather some specifics on how social media played into this. I really like that "Facebook and Twitter may be the Gutenberg press of the Middle East." During the revolution Egypt tried to shut down the internet and we all know that didn't work out too well for them. The overwhelming use of Twitter to plan events and rallies and share mass information with a mass audience was something we had not seen from social media. In 2010 when Biz Stone was at Ball State University he said something along the lines of, "the people will use the technology however they need it, we just have to provide it." This has been prove in his own company. Twitter has been provided to the people and the people are utilizing it in many different ways.

Because there is such use on Twitter, there have been several studies that track our nations mood. It has been found that Twitter users congregate based upon mood. If you are a generally unhappy person, it has been found that you will not re-tweet and reply to posts on you feed but if your day has been excellent you are more likely to tweet a positive statement and re-tweet/reply to others. Also, you can track the mood of our nation throughout the day. It has been found that generally, people are happier before and after work. Do you remember mood rings from the 90's? Some researchers are calling it a "hedonimeter, a device that measures happiness." And I would like to agree with this statement. Next time you are watching a large event or something as small as a TV shows, check your trending topics and I would like to think that at least one of them will be relevant to a major TV event.

Switching to the topic of small business' and media. I have said this in an earlier blog and I would like to reiterate it. Social media is a small business' best friend. Advertising with an account or even paying for sidebar advertising is still cheaper than huge TV campaigns or sometimes print ads. Small business' should utilize Twitter because "the beauty of digital word-of-mouth marketing" is priceless. Friend telling other friends to buy this product or go to this restaurant. With that being said though, small business owners need to consider the pros and cons of using social media. A small business can use it properly, put out just enough advertizing and coupons or mess everything up by offering too much and collapsing upon itself.

As we navigate back to a Middle East, this article proves that social media is used to support people. Ms. Sharif was jailed for 9 days because she drove he vehicle. She was sticking it to the man (quite literally) and they tried to do something about it. While she was jailed for 9 days, there were hundreds of women who rallied and protested this. Social media is becoming a staple in the Middle East for open lines of communication as well as distributing information.

On a much lighter note, we have all gotten the inevitable FarmVille request and clicked no. I'm not saying FarmVille is good or evil, but who says social games are shallow? Have you ever felt like you had to play in secrete? I know I have and it may be because, "Popular wisdom holds that because they're more intuitive, approachable and inviting than traditional video games, social games are shallow." Facebook has been used as a platform for social games. In corelation with uping season of TV, many shows have created games for Facebook so you can get you fill of the show when it's not on air. Social games do not have to be something to be ashamed of anymore.

There are so many uses for social media. We must never forget the almost infinite uses for these social media tools and utilize them to our best advantage. After all the technology is here, what are we going to do with it?

A Legend 1955-2011

If you have not heard yet, Steve Jobs a man known for many things but possibly known most for co-founding Apple, has passed away. In regards to Steve's passing Apple posted his image on their homepage with this statement: 

 Let's take a moment to think how he transformed technology. Clearly he has done a lot.

Apple feats:
     co-founding the company
     creating easily accessibly & easy to use personal computers
     providing a means for average people to carry more than a CD's worth of music
     creating a vison for the future
     iPhone - 1st smart phone

Did you know that after founding the company, only a few years later Jobs was fired! Not too long after his firing, he was asked to return and this time, revolutionized technology.
    
Pixar feats:
     Toy Story
     A Bug's Life
     Toy Story 2
     Monster's Inc.
     Finding Nemo
     The Incredibles

During his time at Pixar (1986-2006) Jobs not only held the company but drove its creative vision. Without his management and skills, we would not have some of the best animated movies of all time.

Jobs was an amazing man who will be missed by many. I know next time I pick up my iPod and browse though my 4500 songs I hope that I will pause and realize that this is a feat because of Steve Jobs. Some will say that even without Jobs we would have gotten to the point we are today, and I suppose we could all say that but looking back at history Jobs may not have been the first, but he was dang good at what he did.

Do you remember 2000? The year of Y2K when we thought everything was going to crash and burn? What was Steve Jobs dreaming up? The very first iPod. When everyone else was doubting, he was planning something that would literally change history. Do you remember a day before computers had flat monitors and there was a big box attached to the screen? He even came up with a was to make that fun, just slap some colored plastic over it and call it iCandy. As we progressed into the later half of the decade technology kept becoming cheaper to create thus becoming a more user friendly price tag. 2007 was the birthyear of the iPod Touch with the iPhone just prior. Touchscreen was a new feature for almost any personal device to have. In 2010 he blew that idea into the iPad, a larger screen with the same idea, used for note taking, games, office work or even e-reading. With all of his projects, he continued to revolution user-freindly capabilities. Now a days, with one touch of a button you can open iTunes, see all of the open windows you have or even quit a program.

Jobs created Macs to not just be machines but to be something people wanted to use. 

Sure some of his ideas weren't the best, Motorola ROKR was dubbed the iTunes phone in 2005 but could only hold 100 songs.  Hockey puck mouse, the original mouse that came with iMacs was not enjoyed by consumers. Power Mac G4 Cube, very expense, very small, short lifespan.

As we transition to think of the softwares Macs have had for years that have impacted the recording industry, almost all of them have been produced by Apple or for Mac products.
     Final Cut Pro Suite - an industry standard produced by Apple for film editing
     QuickTime - movie player for Mac/Windows
     iTunes - revolutionized music and how we obtain it
     Avid products (Protools, Avid, ect.) - Industry standards for film & audio editing
     Garageband - without this homegrown artists may not have gotten their start... Owl City anyone?
     Adobe Creative Suite - for Mac; graphics, websites, photo editing
     Logic - music editing software

To all who said we can't, he said we can. 

In 1993 in an interview with the Wall Street Journal Jobs proclaimed this, "Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me… Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful… that's what matters to me."

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they 

can change the world, are the ones who do.

Here's to teaching us to think differently. Thank You.

What in the world is LiveType?

LiveType is graphic and title creation software that come with the Final Cut Pro Suite. It is not just for amateurs, professional artists use it and it is great for TV broadcast.

The main topics covered in my lynda.com training were the basic interface, starting the project, adding backgrounds, moving items throughout the tracks, editing the effects, and finally exporting to Final Cut Pro (FCP).

One of my professors has told me, that once you learn one software, all other softwares have the same basic functions. This is very true about LiveType. I would say that I am very fluent in FCP, which made learning the interface of LiveType very easy, because it has a very similar layout to FCP.

The initial discussion began by opening the program, learning the windows and their functions and finally learning how to star a blank project. After that I learned how to add a background to the blank presentation. One of the most important features of LiveType is possibly utilizing the tracks. Tracks are one of the basic functions in the FCP Suite. Using a combination of the tracks and the inspector you can creat words, twist them, angle them and almost any other effect you could image.

As I continue in my digital audio classes, knowing how to use LiveType will come in handy. Currently, I am doing a 30 second promo that I can use LiveType to create graphics for the video.

I'll raise you one Twitter to your Facebook...

If you guessed I'm talking about social media, you're right. How has social media not impacted our culture? It is used for so many things now days, advertising, friendship, business, feedback. You name it social media is probably be utilized for that reason.

If we were to follow the social media timeline it may look something like this:

Probably the main ones we have heard of are Friendster which was bought out by MySpace. Many of us have heard of SecondLife but it's lifespan is quickly dying. While Facebook was created in 2003 it didn't become huge until about 2006. Flickr is a very narrow audience who either takes or enjoys photos. We cannot forget about YouTube now, where anyone can be a star. And finally, Twitter was launched with a 140 character limit in 2006. Not listed on this map we must not forget about Google+ and wonder where it's success lies.

After the birth and death of several of these social media sites there are a few still standing. MySpace used to be the place to be, now it is mainly a place for bands. Surprisingly, I never even knew what SecondLife was until I came to Ball State University and by then, what was the purpose of it? As I stated above, Flickr was all based on photos and a photo audience. In 2004 it was not as easy to snap a picture and upload it to the web. Not as many things were photo compatible. Flickr still remains and is prominent in some areas of the country more than the other.

With YouTube, you can be the star. Literally, you can do something that your friends laugh at and become a worldwide viral video. Or maybe dance down the isle at your wedding? Yup, that's on YouTube too. If you can think it, it's probably there. Twitter is brilliant. It can be used for so many different things. It has been used for revolution, news broadcasting, interacting with friends, sports, non-profit work, advertising, the list really is infinite.

Moving on to Facebook. Many of us have seen The Social Network and we know about the Winklevoss's, not only should we not base our perception of how Facebook was started from that movie but we should not base our thoughts of the Winklevoss's from it. There are several inaccuracies in that film about the situation. More importantly Facebook has been growing ever since its launch in 2003 and it truly was hard to get to 1 million friends without loosing a few. With recent changes and the introduction of Google+ it will be interesting to the where the future of the two is going.

After discovering the history of social media, how do you look at the evidence and not believe it impacts our world. Daily, there is impact from social media and because of it we are different than the generations before us. Not only because of our proficiency with technology but as a generation, we communicate better. Without social media, where do you think we would be?

Past... Present... Future

The average person probably doesn't think about the music industry on a daily basis but they probably use an iPod that they cherish.  Without recent developments, the technology that created our "iPod world" or even the technology that makes the songs sound so good would not be around.

There are several things that have contributed to what we now call the music industry. As we narrow the lens towards the recording industry, the list does not get much smaller. So much has changed in the last twenty years. One of these major switches was going from analog to digital. That's a lot more than just how the sound is recorded. Boards, mics, equipment, software as well as relearning how to do everything again. But with these hardships have come great success and great advances. From the switch, we have gained the ability to record a wider range of sounds as well as more complex sounds.

The fact that technology has been advancing at the rate it has been and will be is a huge feat in-and-of-itself. Could you imagine if for some reason this technology ceased advancing? Or maybe it regressed and we lose what we have come to love? Also, the threat that technology will advance too quickly is another potential devastation. Because we are so fortunate, the recording industry has its science pretty well figured out. It has changed from the "90's boyband" days but in a good way. The 90's were a learning curve. During that time, the industry played around with the new digital sound and tried to figure out what the people wanted. Some labels flopped while others rose to the top. This learning curve ended right around 2000 when digital was cool and the future of recording.

As the industry was finally caught back up and re-educated, social media started to begin its role in the recording industry. Labels could get almost instant feedback via the Internet, as it was becoming more readily accessible and affordable, something that was not available ten years prior. Over the next ten years, social media would play a bigger role than anyone anticipated. Now, labels use Facebook to their advantage to see what you "like" and also what pages you go towards. Unsigned artists try to get discovered via YouTube and MySpace, despite being a predecessor of Facebook is now primarily used for bands. You never know where you will find the next big thing.

The recording industry is constantly changing and changing at an unpredictable rate. One week dub-step is where its at, the next week its over to the latest Lady Gaga song, then raw rock music. This industry is not predictable but rather we roll with the punches. There is no road map or schedule. Using social media to their advantage and trying to keep up with the fans is the best way to anticipate the future. As far as technology goes, digital is here to stay. Analog is making a comeback with digital components and its unique sound is being channeled back in.

You can change the music but you can never kill it.

Changes

My generation has lived through some pretty terrific technological breakthroughs. The rise of personal cell phones, affordable laptops, iPods, and now into tablets.  I consider my generation one of the luckiest, because we got to grow up exploring these new technologies as they were happening. Having said that, my generation has also experienced and grown up with the introduction of digital music. From casset to cd now to instant downloads.

Growing up with a music industry that was always shifting was really awesome. For those just a few years older than myself, you remember your first album. The first real music that you owned. I also, remember these milestones for each type of media.
          1st Cassette: Now! That's What I Call Music 5
          1st CD: Backstreet Boys (self titled)
          1st Digital Download: Newsboys Shine: The Hits

Many of us know that the change from records, to cassette, to CD, to digital has been an interesting road to say the least. The following article describes how Apple has changed our lives with the iPod and iTunes. This article describes the iPod/iTunes rise and what it used to be like before them. My favorite thing from this was this, "The evolution of the iPod and iTunes is a microcosm of many of the sweeping changes – in entertainment, business, and culture – of the last decade." And because of these wonderful changes, iTunes sold its 10 billionth song in February of this year.
     http://ipod.about.com/od/glossary/a/how-apple-changed-music.htm

On the other hand, iTunes does present some problems to the digital age. Earlier this year in an interview, Bon Jovi slammed Steve Jobs for taking away he experience of purchasing a record (or CD) in this day. He said, "The beauty of taking your allowance money and making a decision based on the jacket, not knowing what the record sounded like, and looking at a couple of still pictures and imagining it," is gone.
Along with not being able to run up the the record store and have the tangible object, iTunes has created some struggles with the major labels. Earlier this year, Universal created a lawsuit and asked Sony & Warner to get in on it. The issue was about how much the labels can market their products within iTunes. Out of a $0.99 download Apple automatically takes $0.29 off the top and the labels thought that was too much. Universal ultimately dropped their contract with Apple and resigned a month-to-month basis.
     http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_43/b4055048.htm

iTunes has done a lot for the digital age, but it has also burned a lot of bridges along the way.

What makes up the big industry?

During the duration of the semester, I will use this blog as a tool to create a better understanding of some of the things that cause problems. The major topic that I will be covering is the affect that big industry, such as the major labels like Universal, Sony, Columbia, RCA and Warner Music Group; have on independent labels & even unsigned artists in the race to sign or be "the next big thing." Also, how does e-music help or hurt, things like iTunes, LimeWire, file sharing software, Amazon and others. 

In the time of this class, I will also follow a few of the industry leaders. After looking around, I have decided rather than to follow individual people of big industry, I will follow a number of independent and major label companies via twitter. On a weekly basis, I will post interesting reactions to articles from the field.

The companies I will follow are:
     Fearless Records
     OneSideDummy Records
     Atlantic Records
     Hopeless Records
     Epic Records
     RCA Music Group
     Jive Music
     Sony Music USA
     Universal Music Group
     Columbia Records
     Warner Music Group
    
As state earlier, this is a combination or major and independent labels.  You may be wondering what a music label actually does? By definition, "record labels are companies that manufacture and distribute recorded music and promote that music, or at least hire people to handle the promotion." Having said this it may be easier to understand that there are several labels, far more than I am following and almost a label for every genre of music.

I am excited to learn about the industry I hope to one day be a apart of.