Music Industry - mock exam

To what extent does digital distribution affect the marketing and consumption of media products in the media area you have studied?

Digital distribution affects both the artists and audience. For major labels and independent labels it means audience can access their music for free and are also able to give their feedback on the music. Prosumers also use digital distribution to get their music and produce their music. Digital distribution has also meant that beck can use music produced by his audience and distribute it online. Digital distribution has meant that production, distribution and exchange have all blurred together in some way. 

Major labels have been affected by the introduction of digital distribution as their music is now not only in shops but online on sites such as Spotify, Soundcloud and on iTunes. The marketing of major labels now being online means that they are less likely to get an income from selling their music, meaning the only way they can make money is through live performances. However, the major labels have had to adjust to this as if they do not 'connect' with the audience then they will 'die'. EMI are an example of a major label who did not adjust to the new ways of selling music and were shut down because they did not connect with the audience. Major labels distributing their music digitally is also an advantage for the audience as they can now access their music for free. They can also leave their feedback on the music meaning the record labels will be able to see what the audiences like and develop their music to their taste. Major labels also use TV to distribute their music. For example Sony uses the TV show X factor to promote their music and to find a new artist for their record label. Using X factor is a way of digitally distributing their music as they will only select the songs to be sung from their record label; this is called synergy. The audiences will then be interested in buying/listening to that old song again or the song sung by the contestant on X factor. Major labels can also use digital distribution to their advantage because mainstream audiences now care more about the appearance of the music rather than the music itself. Digital distribution will support this as with distribution such as YouTube or X factor it is all about the image. Therefore people will watch it even more as they care more for the visualisation than the music. This means these songs will then become more popular, may be bought and therefore making more money for Sony. Major labels are therefore affected by digital distribution in positive and negative ways. They can connect to their audience better and get feedback from them, however they are conclusively losing money as the audience rarely pay for their music. 

 Indie labels have effectively become more popular due to digital distribution. Using digital distribution the record label can now get their music more global, consequently gaining a bigger audience. Indie labels will then become more successful as their previous niche audience will become international. Audiences becoming more aware of indie labels also gives them more a varied choice of music rather than just mainstream. They can then give their feedback to the indie labels, shaping the future of the production of music from the indie label, similarly with the major label. The effect of digital distribution on indie labels is very similar to major record labels as their music is now less likely to get bought, however they can now get reviews and a more global market. Conclusively, indie label music has now become more worldwide thanks to digital distribution and therefore more popular. Audiences also now have a more varied choice of music and can also access indie label's music for free.

Prosumers have had a huge advantage thanks to digital distribution. Prosumers can now access major labels and indie label's music for free and recycle their music to create their own. Being able to access this music is also thanks to digital distribution as most music is now online on sites such as YouTube or Soundcloud. Prosumers can then create their own music using recycled music and distribute it on the sites where they found the music. Using digital distribution they can then get their music noticed and eventually gain a bigger audience. Madeon is an example of a prosumer which has been successful in his work and his created music from lots of other songs. When prosumers then upload their music online they can then get feedback from the audience and find out what they like, again shaping their future production. Prosumers are an example of how PDE have all been blended together, and this is all due to digital distribution. 

DIY music has also had an advantage due to digital distribution. Beck is an example of a DIY music creator as he has written the music and then gives out the written music to his audience. With digital distribution Beck has been able to get the different creations of his music heard and therefore sell his music. People are then also more likely to hear of him and what he does and be interested in trying it for themselves, getting Beck more popular and obtaining a global audience. Beck's music shows how his audience produce his music, he then distributes it and gets feedback (Exchange) from the audience. Again, digital distribution is shown to have an effect on PDE as it has been blurred together.

In conclusion, digital distribution has affected marketing and consumption as the audience are now more involved. It has affected consumption because the audience can now access music for free, meaning prosumers can create more of their own music with little cost, and majors and indies have to connect more with their audience to allow them to take their music for free. Digital distribution also helps with the new idea of visualisation because music videos are now shown online and through TV, meaning those that are more interested in image will be satisfied with watching their music online. Audiences also become more involved as through digital distribution they can now give their feedback online, therefore shaping the future of production. 

Independent label & artist

Domino recording company

Domino recording company are an independent record label which are based in London and was founded in 1993. The record label have the genre of Indie rock and Indie pop. One of the artists they have signed are Arctic Monkeys which are a very well known band, however many of the other artists which they have signed are not very well known such as ducktails, junior boys and pavement. 

Marketing
The record label will benefit from new media technology in marketing because of ads which can often be found on websites and music sites such as Spotify and YouTube. They can now advertise their music on websites such as these and people will often look at new music  through these ads. 

Distribution
The record label will benefit from new media technology in distribution because they can now distribute their music online rather than just in shops. This will save the customer time as they do not have to leave their home to find music. People are more likely to buy music or use music websites such as spotify to listen to the artists music as they can listen to one or two specific songs rather than having to go into the shop and buying the whole album. This means artist singles are more likely to get to number one and more people will hear of it.

Exchange
The record label will benefit from new media technology in exchange as they can advertise their music through the internet. The artist can advertise things such as concerts through their websites and through youtube over adverts. You can also purchase their music through their website. The customer is likely to enjoy this way of purchasing music because they are certified that it is their music and they can find all the music they are looking for from Domino record label. Customers can also buy their music over itunes which is a quick and easy way of finding music for cheaper prices and in the comfort of their own home. This is also a good thing because they customer can instantly get the music and will not have to wait to buy the music, meaning the artist and label will also benefit.

Domino record label does not feature on the Radio One playlist. This is likely to be because the artists which have been signed to Domino record label are not majorly famous and are not well know. The radio will therefore not play the label as they only play well known songs which their audience will know and enjoy.
However, Domino record label is played on other stations such as Absolute, Kerrang and Cool FM. These radios are less known and most likely have a different style of music to well known radio stations.
There are multiple TV stations which support Domino but not many. For example, BBC, VEVO, Domino publishing and Domino All-in all support Domino. These are not very well known stations (apart from BBC) which is the same as the radio stations. These TV stations are likely to be the only ones to use Domino record label music because the music is not very well known and most audiences will not be interested in hearing it because it is different from all chart music.
Domino has its own website which streams its music. This is so that the label can advertise themselves and audiences which are interested in the artists can find music. Domino also has artists music on youtube. This is a good way of getting their music across to audiences for free. Having music on Youtube could also advertise their music as it could come up as recommendations when on other music videos.

The arctic monkeys are an artist which are on Domino record label and have been played on Last Fm. They are one of the more well known artists from Domino and therefore have a lot of listeners on Last FM radio. From this screenshot you can see that there have been nearly 3million listeners, showing that they are quite popular. The website shows that the similar artists are The Last Shadow Puppets, Alex Turner, Miles Kane, The Strokes, Jake Bugg and The Vaccines. These artists produce the same style of music as the arctic monkeys but are also not majorly well known. 

The junior boys are also an artist which have been played on Last FM. However, as a less well known artist they have not been listened to as much as other artists such as the arctic monkeys and have only have almost 416,000 listeners. The similar artists which are recommended on Last FM Kelley Polar, The Juan Maclean, Hot Chip, Erland OYE, Hercules and Love affair and Matthew Dear. These artists are not very well know, like the Junior boys but those that listen to this genre of music are likely to enjoy these other artists music.

The arctic monkeys have had over 6,000,000 downloads from iTunes. This shows that although the music genre is not in the charts and they are not as well known as other artists they still do well with selling their music. 

On Youtube, one of the arctic monkeys more recent videos has been shown to have nearly 54 million views. This shows that Youtube is the best way to get artists music to the audience and Domino can benefit from using Youtube to get their artists music out into the public and get it well know. 

Domino have also set up their own youtube account to promote less popular artists music such as Junior boys. Although they are not very well know this example has still had nearly 2 million views, showing again that Youtube is a good way of getting artists music to the audience. 

Domino do supply some music festivals with artists. An example of an artist which has been supplied to music festivals is Arctic Monkeys. The arctic monkeys have are performing at the Firefly music festival and Reading and Leeds festivals which are quite big festivals. This shows that independant labels can get their artists to large festivals meaning the artist is well known. 

Domino was founded by Laurence Bell and Jacqui Rice and is based in London. Domino record label has around 35 artists working for them.
As a large independant label, Domino have marketing, legal, creative and production departments. However, despite it being a large independent label it does not have any connections with a famous club. 
It is likely that Domino will accept demos by post or electronic demos, however if you were considering it you would have to check with them first. 

Production:
Domino produces CDs to sell to the customers as it is the latest technology where the customer can physically own the music. Domino is a record label which sells their CDs on its website as it is easy and people will find the music they are looking for from the label. 
Although Domino is a big independent label they do not own their own recording studio. This is likely to be because they are independent so not as financially capable as major labels and they can find other arrangements to get their artists to record in a studio. 
The company itself does not produce merchandise for the artists. This means if the artist wanted to have merchandise produced they would have to create it themselves without the help of the label. 

Marketing:
Domino uses social networking and media to promote their artist. This would include facebook, twitter, radio and the television. Domino also have a Youtube and a myspace account. The Myspace account is not limited in the UK. There are also links which connect the artists to the record label. The Youtube account includes music videos from artists in working for the record label, album trailers, links to artists, audio videos and remixes. 
The press talk positively about the artists on the record label and promote the artist. However I could not find many articles about the record label or artists on them. This is most likely due to the fact it is an independent label and many of the artists have not been heard of before. This would mean that the press are not as interested in them because it will not suit the public's needs. 

Distribution and Exchange:
Domino records sell some of their music in HMV. The average price for these are £10-15 in stores. Shops such as ASDA and TESCO  are also likely to sell some artists music from domino record label. However, the artists music is most often sold online on shopping websites such as amazon, artist websites or the domino records website. iTunes also stocks songs produced by artists on Domino. By having songs sold online and on iTunes gives the independent label an advantage as people may become more aware of their music and they are also more likely to buy certain songs and music produced. Domino has embraced new media technology because of this reason by selling music online and on iTunes. 
To get more of a web presence Domino could advertise more through sites such as twitter, youtube and facebook. They could create more teaser videos to get people interested and put these out onto the internet on social media pages. 

Looking at past papers

I looked into past papers to see what is expected from examiners. 

For Tv drama I got this from the  'January 2012' past paper;

Then I looked at the music industry area;

Case Study - Sony and their reaction to online media

Sony - SyCo - X Factor

Case Study - Would I lie to you? Link this to one direction

Linking the would I lie to you case study to one direction it is easy to see that XFactor helps older songs hit the charts both the new and old versions.
One direction is also the new hit group with a contract to SyCo, who is own by sony.
SyCo runs XFactor, a programs that is almost like free advertisement for music.
This showing how majors uses their Subsidiary Labels to help promote their old music, that they get royalities for.
This showing how majors, specifically sony, has adapted to the new technological world of music.

Easter Case Study Homewok - Domino Recording Co.

Independent Labels vs Major Labels

The Independent Label that I have chosen is the label Domino.

Research into Domino

Ownership Research

Production Research

Marketing Research

Distribution and Exchange Research

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Song

Music Video

The Music Industry

Starter - Sex Pistols and their song E.M.I

 - At there time was the biggest punk band in the world
 - Did there own version of god save the queen
    - Anti-establishment
    - Anarchy
 - Had a problem with record companies as they represented things like;
    - Order
    - Control etc
 - EMI
     - Money grabbing
     - Selfish
     - Sealing their money

Find examples and define

Distribution
 - This is the next stage after production.
 - Distribution is in charge of marketing, production and pricing.
 - They can be independent or apart of a label, depending on if they work for a major or a
    indie label
- Kudos Distribution Company 
   - Independent Company
Copyright
 - In terms of music it either belong to the artist or the major record label
 - There are many laws in order to protects those that own stuff under copyright
 - In itself it is a law
Royalties
 - Is what the artist or company gets paid after a song gets played on the TV, or when the song is
   bought on Itunes
 - Commission
 - You don't get lot in Royalties unless it is used in something really massive
A & R (Artist & Repertoire)
 - They are apart of a company that looks for new music talent
 - They also act as the 'middle man' between the artists and companies (Record Labels)
Sampling
 - This is where you take a part of a song already recorded and use it for an instrument in your song
 - Hip hop Genre uses this
Peer to peer
 - People share music with one another
 - People of similar ages and music sharing music.
    - Sharing files over the internet
    - CD's
    - Put itunes music on CD and share
Major record label
 - There are 3 major companies
 - They run most of the music industry
 - Sony
Subsidiary label
 - Labels within a major
 - Start out as independents then gets bought by major
 - They aren't associated with the major
 - Sycho is a subsidiary of Sony
Independent label
 - An indie label that gives artists more freedom over their music than majors
 - Without funding
 - Set up by artists or their friends
 - Domino