Mock grade

Mock Exam

Digital advertisement has drastically effected the way that music is being sold, and the way audiences buy the music. This is due to the visualisation of music which i believe devalues the music, however this initially due to piracy.

Sony has evolved as a major record label, that distributes their music digitally. Sony uses their subsidiary Syco, to market their future music, in a new visualised way. For example Syco market One Direction on X factor, by using synergy they were able to show the audience One Directions Music on Tv which became very successful to then create a film about them. The way Sony visualised One Direction, gave a way to the audiences to Consume One Directions music differently, an hour after Xfactor One Direction song was put on itunes ready to buy, also audiences can interact with Xfactor, which also decides the fate the band, which leads on to creating a relationship with the audience. Digital Distribution has drastically affected the way Sony markets their music in a new interactive manor, and is totally consume digitally via itunes or Youtube. This new type of way of marketing their music, because of piracy and how Major Record labels have to make money any way they can. I believe this devalues the Music Industry because its totally visualised and its all about image and what the public want certain artists like One Direction to be, which has cause marketing overall to be visualised and interactive due to the era of piracy. 

However Indie record labels have also benefited a massive amount by Digital Distribution as it allows indie records labels and unsigned artists to get their work out, for free! Which has seen Indie's as a whole grow and develop due to digital distribution. It has affected the way they market there work as Youtube and itunes will sell all types of music, which allows Indie Record label to constantly grown. Also has seen Indie Artists create a relationship with normally a very niche audience, this audience has their own image which they relate to their Artists. This allows Indie Artist to by pass piracy, due to the fact that they fact such a strong relationship with the audience, otherwise Indie Artist would be an even smaller minority in the music industry. This is different from Major labels because they don't have the money to produce all of these tv shows and interactive games that get there money, Indies have to rely on creating a relationship the audience. Digital Distribution has drastically affected the way Indie labels market their work, so that they can create a strong relationship with the audience on social networks so that their niche audience consumes their work legally via itunes and Independent stores. 

Digital Distribution has also effected audience as due to piracy and consumer have turn into prosumers.

An example of prosumer is Madeon, which use the back catalogue, to re-use the songs and upload to Youtube to market his work. By using literally no money, Madeon was able to market his work on Youtube and get millions of video views which would create money. Prosumers are new minority to the music industry and heavily dependent on Digital Distribution as it is the only way that they can successfully market their work freely online and audiences are able to consumer their work. I believe that digital distribution has drastically affected the prosumers can market their, as the would be non-existent because they steal other songs to then mash up and re-use to create something different.  

Digital distribution has drastically affected across the whole of the music industry. They need to consider in marketing the new and attractive way of visualising the music, like SyCo and Xfactor. Also how Indie labels market their work on social networking sites to create a strong relationship the audience. Overall this de-values music in the new post modern era.

Mock exam - Ellie

Digital distribution has had a huge effect on marketing and consumption of the music industry. This is because music is now more accessible online, major companies have had to adapt to this, and others have easier and cheaper access to production, distribution and marketing.

Independent labels have used digital distribution to their advantage, by using sites such as Youtube and Spotify they are able to distribute their artists very easily, worldwide and gain views from this. For example, XL records is a independent label that has signed artists such as Adele and Giggs, both currently two successful artists. Indie labels can market their artists on social networking sites of which then can gain followers, likes and feedback. By doing this the audience is also building a relationship with the artists. Consumption of the music is much easier too, streaming is easily accessible, promoting and getting their music out their straight away. Indie labels target a smaller niche audience by marketing on social netwrking sites which helps gain a relationship, and fan base of a certain genre.

In contrast to Indie labels, major labels, such as the conglomerate Sony has had to adapt to the change within digital distribution. HMV went bust as a result of digital distribution therefore the effects are costing them money. An example of this is X-Factor a TV show from the record label SYCO, from the conglomerate Sony, uses visualisation of the artists to gain an audience. One direction, a good looking boy band that attracts attention of young insecure girls. By creating them, the conglomerates can have a festival the fans will attend to to see the band, not for their bland and stale music, but for the image they have, and that is where conglomerates can make money. Therefore this is showing how conglomerates have had to adapt to digital distribution as comsumers are no longer purchasing the music, as it can be illegally downloaded. Major labels can also use synergy to market their music and distribute through itunes by releasing the films tracks.

Consumers can now be prosumers from the effects of tecnology. They are able to distribute their music for free by using digital tecnology, and gain views and subscibers. An example of this is Madeon, who createcd a mash up of well known songs and put them together to make his own. He then used Youtube to distribute his music, and he gained millions of views. Also social netwroking sites were able to share and market his track to other people. Therefore digital distribution is so easy to do now that it can be done for free and if good enough gain a huge fan base. Another example of how digital distribution has had an effect on the industry is that there are a lot more prosumers. My band FYVE has managed to produce a track by using garageband, then distribute it online. We mangaged to gain over 400 views by doing this. We then marketed our band by using social networking sites, such as, twitter and Instagram, FYVE gained 1500 likes and 300 followers. Therefore a perfect example of why digital distribution has had a huge effect on marketing and the consumption of music.

In contrast Prosumers, some artists use DIY to consume their music. Beck is a great example of this, he created a music piece, however did not play the music and make a soundtrack from it, only releasing the paper copy to a niche audience of prosumers. They then can create their own version and interact with the music. The prosumers ca then send the music back to him by using social networking sites and digital distribution. The audience can then feel involved. The difference however is that by using the distribution Beck did not intend to make money, but to put value to the piece.

Therefore overall, digital distributing has had a huge impact on distribution and marketing as indie labels and prosumers are able to distribute their music for free and very easily due to digital media. Conglomerates are having to market their music by using visualisation and synergy because the music they are producing is bland and stale.

Mock Exam 2

“Cross-media convergence and synergy are vital processes in the successful marketing of media products to audiences.” To what extent to you agree with this statement in relation to your chosen media area?

Re-phrasing the question: To what extent do you agree that synergy is a vital key for music   & marketing to be successful (does music need synergy to be successful?)

I disagree with this statement, the music industry does not need synergy as a vital process of marketing their music to audiences, even though in some areas it can help success, for example, X-factor, synergy is useful. 

Independent labels do not need synergy to be successful. Indie labels use new-media technology such as the internet to distribute and market their artists. This is because it is cheaper and still covers a global audience. They are able to distribute their music for free, using websites such as YouTube and Spotify. Indie labels tend to target a niche audience, therefore there is less need in having to use synergy to promote their artists to a wide audience. The audience for the film may not be the right ‘type’ of people that would be interested in the particular genre of music from the independent label, by using the internet they can directly target the niche audience they desire. 

However, in contrast to this, X-Factor, owned by the record label SYCO, of the conglomerate Sony, need synergy to enable the success of the show. Sony uses synergy on a regular basis, this is because it is a successful way for major labels to market their products to the audience, as music has become very visualized due to new-media technology. 

Prosumers and mash-ups can be successful without the use of synergy. For example, Madeon made a mash-up of mainstream music. He used YouTube and social networking sites to distribute his mash-up. By doing so he managed to gain millions of views and his mash-up became a success. Also mash-ups cannot necessarily be used in synergy because of music ownership issues. If songs in the mash-up are from a conglomerates back-catalogue this may exploit a copyright policy if the mash-up is then used in a film without permission. Similarly, prosumers can also be successful with out the use of synergy, new-media technology has enabled easy access to music from websites like youtube, and using software such as garageband has enabled the consumers to be prosumers. For example, my band ‘FVVE’, have produced a mash up on garageband from already existing music. We then distributed it on YouTube and marketed on social networking sites. We managed to gain over 1,500 likes for our mash-up and over 300 views on Youtube. Therefore being able produce, distribute and market our own track on the internet using YouTube and social networking sites can be successful without the process of synergy.

In conclusion to this, I disagree with the statement that cross-media convergence and synergy is a vital process in the music industry. Synergy can be useful to some areas in the industry, such as the conglomerate Sony. However, there are other areas that do not need it as a vital process to be successful. Indie labels do not use synergy and have control over 24% of the music industry, therefore have managed to have success without it. Prosumers and mash-ups use the internet to distribute and market their products, some have become successful and gained many views, a perfect example being Madeon.


(I timed myself 45 minutes for the essay, and ran out of time to write about the fourth case study D.I.Y - Beck.)