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.