Magazines/ Academic papers ~
MM34- Christopher Budd surveys the democratising effects of technological change on the music industry, and “concludes that there’s never been a better time to launch a career as an unsigned artist”
- “it became obvious that the internet offers a perfect way for artists to distribute music”
- “artists could use the same technology to promote and distribute their own music”
- Gangnam style;
- Darren Zook of University of California, Berkeley, has a unique outlook and perspective on Gangnam Fever.
- “This is not a revolution” he says. He isn’t talking about Gangnam Style‘s massive viral explosion, Psy’s current presence across US and other international media landscapes, or about the rising awareness of Korea as a producer of quality cultural goods.
- This is about social critique in Korean pop music, and how Psy is sadly not sufficient to furthering its presence in the Korean pop culture media landscape.
- Costume changes are frequent, showing the stars in the latest styles and sexy clothing.
- its sense of humour but also its recognisable conventions and iconography. As discussed, it uses many of the conventions of the traditional pop video from choreographed dance scenes to the cutting to the beat editing before the chorus kicks in.
- Aided by social media, Psy has become an international superstar. Like the Harlem Shake videos that have followed it, expect more silly dances to take the world by storm in the future
• FILE SHARING
K-pop and the role of race in the Western music industry
http://beyondhallyu.com/k-pop/k-pop-and-the-role-of-race-in-the-western-music-industry/
- largely one of music made by black musicians being appropriated by white musicians for a mainstream audience.
- Meanwhile music made by black artists was often side-lined into subcultures and specialist genres.
- particularly as hip hop has come to play an increasingly prominent role in the mainstream industry, more and more black artists have had massive success and become icons of popular culture through their music.
- With the obvious exception of PSY, Asian and Asian American artists have been almost completely absent from the charts.
- Even when they are successful they tend to take a backseat to the music in order to get ahead.
- Take for example, Far East Movement, probably the most successful Asian American act of the past few years
- For K-pop idols trying to break into America, the problem is double fold. Not only do they have to successfully portray this image despite the huge negative stereotypes they face, they also run risk that this new image could jeopardise their existing fanbase.
- Being put in the spotlight and expected to communicate in a language in which you are not fluent …. Girls’ Generation have 2 fluent English speakers when discussing their ability to make it in the States. But the other side of that are the 7 non-English speaking members.
Korea, Westernisation & Globalisation: The Future of Music?
http://www.academia.edu/10937579/Korea_Westernisation_and_Globalisation_The_Future_of_Music
- Similar sounding music but different language
- Same conventions of music,
- a western outlook on the how the artist dress and look (chains and half naked girls)
- America’s Heartland in the Age of Globalism, “[Globalization] has the power to remake societies” (2008).
The Evolution of the Music Industry in the Post Internet Era http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1501&context=cmc_theses
- The Internet, among other technological advances, led to a full-scale restructuring of the landscape.
- In what follows, I will briefly review “the original blueprint of the recording industry and live music business, primary technologies involved in bringing about the transformation”
- some legal background before delving deeper into the events during the first dozen years of the millennium and the implications of post-Internet music business.
- “Starting with the introduction of digital, as opposed to analog, formats in the 1980s, technological advances began to break down the previously rigid infrastructure of the recording industry”.
- “By the end of the 20th century, broadband capacity had also entered a period of unbelievable growth contributing to lower prices from Internet providers, and thus more users.”
- Members of the entertainment industry were interested in this technology, but feared that people would easily be able to get around their security to illegally download video and audio files.
- As a result, they hoped to pass legislation that would prohibit the circumvention of the security technology.
- The Apple Music, or iTunes, Store was launched in April 2003 allowing Mac users to purchase songs for 99¢ each and albums for $9.99 without any subscription fee. At its opening, the store featured an extensive library of 200,000 tracks that would only rapidly expand as it continued to thrive.
- Social media giants Facebook and Twitter not only serve as a useful tool for hopeful musicians to connect with fans, but their enormous network also creates the opportunity to develop “buzz” around a new artist or, even more effective, have a song or video spread virally.
DE-NATIONALIZATION
AND RE-NATIONALIZATION OF CULTURE: Globalisation of kpop
·
"K-Pop is definitely Korean pop music, but
it is also a kind of transnational hybrid music that refers to other global
popular music in various ways."
·
"K-pop is very popular in the
Philippines,"
·
"This is a paradox of K-Pop: in order to
succeed in the global market, it needs to be de-nationalized; however, de-nationalization
often makes domestic audiences feel uneasy about potentially losing the
national identity"
o
(changing their traditions and cultures to those
of a western culture)
·
(Herman and McChesney, 1997, p. 18-21;
McMichael, 2008, p. 61-63). Schiller (1992, p. 151) notes “many developing
states are able to afford the new communications complexes only by accepting
commercial packages which ‘tie’ their broadcasting systems to foreign
programming and foreign financial sponsorship.”
o
The development of new and digital media has
allowed nations to become interdependent and develop similar norms and values
(hegemony)
·
Moreover, global audiences are composing hip hop
music and producing commercial films and TV dramas, based on formats and genres
are from the West rather than their own traditional cultural forms.
o
The effect of globalisations (we are all
becoming very similar in what we consume allowing the elute to control us by
creating a hegemony)
§
We are easily accepting of us culture and film
and music but there is a slight reluctance for American individual consuming non
america/western products
§
It’s a norm all over the world to watch western
products (the international language being English)
~Media Factsheets~
Globalisation
·
What is globalisation?
o
Countries becoming interconnected and
interdependent economically
o
“global village” McLuhan (this is because we can
view events at its happening all over the world)
·
Major reason for globilasations
o
Along with freedom of trade and improvements in
transport
o
Improvments in communications
o
NDM has allowed greater communication between
people in different countries
·
Globalisation causing convergence
o
Due to mcdonalidisation of the globe
o
Our cultural perception are primarily conducted
by the media
o
We receive the views and ideologies they
establish creating this cultural hegemony
·
Negatives of globilisation
o
Lack of innovation (everything is the same as it
is made by one major producer) or influenced by one major culture
§
This means that the Korean culture losses its
uniqueness and due to globalisation their traditions norms and values reflect
that of the western culture
o
Pressure on less established businesses
§
this means that there is a fear to be different
as consumers like things that are familiar
§
making it easy to create a hegemony, and one of
the same reason for every nation looking the same
§
furthermore this means that it is harder for
less established business to compete
·
Positives of globalisation
o
Well known products so consumers just consume
§
positive from a producers perspective, as this
means that audiences will just buy their products due to a lack of competitors
§
products may be of high quality as each industry
has a focus in producing one product so they can produce the product well
enough to satisfy their consumers
o
less likely of wars breaking out
§
there will be this mutual depends, which can to
some extent create a friendship and interdependence making them reluctant to
have wars
Music video
·
The Purpose of Music Video in the Digital Age
o
The purpose of a music video is to sell
products, the most obvious of which is the song featured in the video.
o
However, other connected products are also
marketed by a music video. For example, the album the song is featured on, the
film the song is part of thesoundtrack for, an upcoming tour by the artist and
merchandise like t-shirts.
o
When other products are advertised, such as a
brand of coffee or an item of clothing, (beats headphones are the one mostly
advertised in modern day music video)
o
However, the development of new media technologies
meant that music videos, and the songs along with them, were more widely
available at any time.
The changing face of the music industry
·
Developments in technology and the emergence of
the Internet mean that artists have the potential to reach audiences without
the need for a major company and where once recording equipment was expensive
it was out of reach for the average person;
o
The development of social media allows them to
communicate with audiences all over the world, also the distribution is equally
accessible and easy (YouTube)
§
This also allows inexperienced musicians to
arise without the need of a professional studio time.
o
“recording equipment was expensive and out of
reach for average people”- the development in technology (camera phones) means
that there are recording software available so everybody has an equal chance
§
You can purchase sophisticated music production
software for a few pounds on your mobile device or tablet
o
~Damon Albarn, for example, recently produced a
Gorillaz album in its entirety using software on the iPad~ (able to produce
music without the help of a record lable)
·
How audiences are purchasing and consuming music
has changed dramatically with the emergence of digital technology and the music
industry has struggled to keep up at times
o
One of the most problematic issues that the
industry is facing is the ‘culture of free’.
§
The development of new and digital media means
that audiences have many ways of accessing information and consuming media
illegally, making it difficult for musicians to make a profit out of their
music
o
as a consequence piracy and file-sharing have
seen the industry lose billions over the last decade
§
“Innovation global music piracy causes $12.5
billion of economic losses every year”
o
In order to combat this music streaming services
such as Spotify have worked in conjunction with the industry to try offer
audiences the opportunity to listen to music but not actually download it,
o
which means it is not being shared YouTube has
also placed ID content censorship on videos to stop music being downloaded.
§
Some musicians however refuse for their music to
be distributed on spotify as a result spotify may not have all the musicians
audiences would like to listen to eg Taylor Swift
§
Therefore not meeting the needs of their
consumers as they don’t have every song available
o
The Internet was meant to weaken the dominance
of superstar artists in the music industry and enrich the smaller, niche music
creators.
§
Suggesting that the development of new and
digital media is supposed to have a positive effect on the music industry as it
creates opportunities for talented people
§
As a result there is more competition making
better quality music
§
However mulligans ‘superstar economy’ theory
(opportunity creating) can be flawed as superstars are capturing the vast
majority of music revenues and their share is increasing – not decreasing –
because of the rise of digital services like iTunes and Spotify.
§
*~the top 1 per cent of artists the likes of
Rihanna and Adele accounted for 77 per cent of recorded music income in 2013~*
o
In this illusion of choice consumers are
overwhelmingly listening to the ‘hits’.
§
The design/ layout of apps such as spotify and
iTunes goes against mulligan theory
§
as they make the top ‘superstar’ music more visible
making audiences more likely to listen to that then the ‘niche creators’
mulligan referred to
§
*~more than 20m tracks are not listened
to~*
·
Challenging the Traditional Model – Amanda
Palmer and Kickstarter
o
he decided that she could no longer work in an
industry that didn’t allow the artist total control.
o
Palmer already had an establish fan base which
she appealed to fund the production and distribution of her album through the
crowd sourcing site Kickstarter
§
In return she also pledged to break down the
barriers between artist and audience by doing impromptu performances such as
having fans come up to her balloon-covered body and pop one.
~Web Research/ News Articles ~
·
K-POP SUPERSTAR
CL IS READY TO TAKE ON AMERICA WITH HELP FROM SCOOTER BRAUN
o
Back in April 2013, supermanager Scooter Braun
was in South Korea to see Psy, the viral K-pop artist he reps in North America,
and caught opening act 2NE1, one of K-pop's most obsessed-over girl groups.
o
For
an idea of exactly how cultish a following she already has in the United
States, one need only go to YouTube for the reaction videos posted after
"Hello Bitches" dropped. Celebratory Jell-O shots are taken. Shouts
of "Slay, queen!" are heard. Vloggers, like, literally die.
§
(showing the importance of opinionated people on
the social media, hypodermic needle modal, leading people on social media need
to like it in order for the rest of the population to enjoy it)
o
"I always wanted to do my solo album in
English, because I grew up listening to a lot of pop artists and English-based
songs," says CL, "but you can't really do that in Korea, so…"
So, in other words, she's ready to take on America.
§
(Suggesting that the development in new and
digital media has allowed people of different nations to work internationally,
and develop their careers in different countries)
§
(furthermore the globalisation due to the
development in technologies has allowed people to share CL’s videos world-wide
and create things like ‘reaction videos’ to make it even more popular.)
Similarly
like CL scooter Braun also notices a Korean pop idol Psy, mostly known for his
his catchy song ‘Gangnam style’
·
JUSTIN BIEBER’S MANAGER
SIGNED PSY “TO BE PART OF HISTORY”
o
korean pop singer Psy is already an
international Internet sensation thanks to his viral video for “Gangnam Style.”
o
“We’ve
been hanging out in California for four days,” Braun says in the low-fi video.
“And we’ve come to an agreement to make some history together and be the first
Korean artist to break a big record in the United States.”
·
KOREAN ARTISTS SUCH AS
GIRLS' GENERATION AND BIG BANG ARE MAKING INTERNATIONAL MUSIC WAVES
o
While South Korea is a vital part of the growing
economic boom in Asia, the country of nearly 50 million people is exporting
more than just consumer electronics and cars these days.
o
Its
native popular music, universally known as K-pop, is also finding a growing
international audience in places such as the United States, Europe, the Middle
East, and South America.
o
In major U.S. cities such as Chicago, Atlanta
and Houston, K-pop concerts have sold out venues seating 1,700 to 2,500 music
fans:
§
In 2011 the nine-member dance-pop group Girls' Generation performed to a sold-out audience, along with other
K-pop acts,
§
And at New York's hallowed Madison Square Garden.
§
in Los Angeles, the Korean Music Festival has
been a part of the concert season at the 17,000-plus capacity Hollywood Bowl
for the past 10 years
o
The sizable Korean-American population in cities
such as Los Angeles,
o
K-pop audience stretches beyond Asian-American
demographics
·
ANNUAL
KOREAN MUSIC FESTIVAL (GROWING IN NON-KOREAN) AUDIENCES OVER THE YEARS…
GLOBILISATION ANS INCREASED TECHNOLOGY CAN BE THE REASON FORTHIS
o Korean
music festival is held April 28 each year
o IT
and telecommunication companies have been able to exert a significant impact
over the circulation and dissemination of music,
o influencing the shift from a recorded music
business premised upon sales of individual ‘products’ (CDs and tracks) to a
‘model’ of revenue derived from subscription packages of streamed musical
‘content’.
o Hence,
more attention should be devoted to understanding music and cultural production
in relation to other industries with an interest in using music (particularly
IT and phone manufacturers).
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