600 word - Comparison

Music is now either synthetic or organic. Mainstream music tends to be synthetic and un-original, typically a re-make of an older song from back-catalogue. Music evolves around new-technology and has effected music drastically. Music is now less tangible, available to download and stream on the internet. This has had a negative effect of major record labels. However, had a positive effect on independent labels, as they are able to market and distribute their artists and music through the internet cheaply, also able to reach a wider audience this way.

X-factor targets wide audience to make money by producing synthetic music. X-factor produces mainstream music, the artists they have on the show sing songs that are mainstream and well known by the audience. The songs the artists are required to sing are from back-catalogue, of which then has the potential of taking away the true meaning of the original track. This de-values the music making it blander and staler, the track has been heard before and now being released with a different artist singing it, as the audience then relate the tracks to a new artist, not always the original. The artists that are singing an already existing are given an individual image also. For example One Direction. They are all branded to look a certain way, young and good-looking boys, with certain hairstyles and freshly shaven to look a young as possible, then sing to young girls.

X-factor allows for the audience to interact with the music by voting for their favorite artist. This could be good for the music industry as the audience are directly saying which artist they would listen to and buy. Therefore get an idea of what the audience prefer. Also social networking sights are good for marketing x-factor. On the show there will be hashtags to suggest twitter and instagram. This then gains followers and likes by the audience. By using social networking sites and being a television show, the soundtracks and artists go worldwide and they are targeting a very wide audience. This is a perfect example of how music has been de-valued, as artists sing back-catalogue tracks and reach a worldwide audience. Synthetic music reaches worldwide more so than organic music.

In comparison to x-factor, Beck allows his audience, prosumers, to interact with his music in a different way. They can be a involved and feel like they are a part of the music. He targets a smaller niche audience of prosumers and is not doing it to make money. This creates meaning and adds value to the music as many people can appreciate the work. The audience can also build a relationship with the music and artists, as a result the audience will be more likely to value the music and buy it, instead of streaming and downloading it illegally. Beck is signed to an independent label XL Recordings, they have also promoted artists such as, Adele, and Giggs. He can distribute his music and market through the internet and social networking sites. New-technology has a positive effect on smaller authentic artists like Beck as they are able to cheaply and easily distribute their music worldwide using the internet. Un-like major labels, where new-technology has had a negative effect on the company. As synthetic music is re-used, de-valued and overplayed, therefore music becomes blander and staler and there is not such as close relationship between the artist and the audience, as a result streaming takes place.