Industry and audience power essay

Introduction:

In this essay I would like to explain why the internet has given audience more power this is by how the audience have achieved that power that the producer has given out. 

I think that the internet has given the audience more power as the producers of the internet have given the power for consumers to be the producer as it now allows them to make content of their own and people can watch what they make and produce and thank to the internet you can see it pretty much anywhere if it is in the correct platform. Examples are YouTube, twitter, Instagram etc. these allow audiences to become the producer and it allows them to control what they produce and how they produce it.

Music industry:

The music industry can make audiences producers as well, this is by the producer being able to play a certain instrument or a wide variety of instruments people can also sing which can also be classified as being in the music industry. The internet gives them much more power as they can publish their song on social media or on YouTube while on other platforms like Spotify are for well-known artists as Spotify has a paid subscription. Companies like apple music and Spotify already wield the power of the internet as they sell the song on their platforms and they are easy to access for example apple music being already installed onto you iPhone and Spotify being free to download and having a 30-day free trial and later making their customers pay a monthly fee.

People who are in “bedroom-bands” can also have lots of power due to the internet as they can start a music carrier by posting things on social media YouTube etc. as this can make the a record label artists if they qualify to be one.

Disadvantages of this would be that if the consumers are unwilling to pay the producer could ultimately collapse in their carrier or business causes of unwilling paying customers are: expensive prices, quality of music is not good, or simply because the consumer does not want to pay. If they have too much content then the consumer won’t be able to choose as there are too many choices.

Advantages of this are “re-tweets” or people sharing what they like to others, if the consumers share their favourite things to their other friends then the friends could also be interested in the music in which their friends like. This can be shared throughout the whole internet as this can boost the producer’s reputation by being seen by the whole world and it shows them what kind of content the producer produce to their consumers and customers.

Film and industry:

Back when media was accessible only to television people couldn’t go back an episode and re watch it they would have to wait for the show to come on the television when the show was aired but now day we can just go online or go to BBC i Player etc. And we can just watch the shows or things that we missed while away.

Newspaper Industry:

The news is now something we can now access from the television and the internet also via our phones etc. This makes it so that we no longer have to go out and get a newspaper from where ever they are sold or given out to this gives us the opportunity to access the news from pretty much everywhere and any time as well. This also gives power to the audience this is by being a citizen journalist, this is when you are a citizen and you record a series of events that happen outside you can even record a certain video in order to share on the internet, this makes the person a citizen journalist as they have made some kind of news and they have shared it with everyone this can make the person well known. The disadvantage to this is that this can also lead to some fake news as some recordings can be faked by the people in the video, they might have been a paid actor or someone who wants to make a story which will make them well known and when that person is well known then they will be a reliable to the people who follow that person (And not in the good way!).

So that’s why you need to go onto reliable news sources in order to get the real news this way the audience can’t be fooled, another thing is that citizen journalism can also lead to internet fights as the content that the journalist has posted is something that has been shared worldwide and it is something that the person who is in the video or starring in the video may not want the whole internet to see.

Film and TV Industry:
The thing with films and TV shows is that they can now be watched on the internet instead of going to the cinema to watch a newly released movie or a TV show instead of waiting for it on the TV you can watch on your phone or some smart device, this allow the consumer to watch it pretty much every where and if they miss a show they can just use the catch-up service or just watch a version showed on the internet or the official website like BBC i player. The disadvantages for the producers are that people may watch the TV less and use their phones to access most thing that would be shown on the TV as they can use apps like Netflix to watch movies and another thing is that any movie can now be pirated even before release or shortly after release this is a threat towards producers as they produce a movie and may not gain the maximum amount of money as these people can just go and watch a pirated version. A disadvantage for the consumers is that they can get arrested for watching pirated movies and shows as they show or movie may require paid access, consumers watching on a smaller device may experience a viewing disadvantage as the screen may be small and the movie may be intended for a larger screen this is usually affected for the people who have the pirated version.

Conclusion:

My conclusion is that yes, the internet can make the audience powerful just by posting music, news, etc. This is due to the applications or platforms that have been created by others like YouTube, twitter, Instagram, etc. The producer or the person making the content is in power of what they want to make and what they don’t want to make to be shared around the whole internet.

Ownership and control: blog task

Read this article from Recode about Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram and complete the tasks below:

1) Why did Facebook buy Instagram for $1bn in 2012?

This is because Instagram had 30 million users and later when Facebook bought The company, thanks to Facebook Instagram now has 600 million users and it will late progress to become a multi-millionaire company.

2) What are the benefits for media companies of vertical integration?

when the company then makes a chain link it then the company that buys it then starts to have complete ownership of the company which then results in the producer making more money

3) What are the benefits for media companies of horizontal integration?

When there is another company that buys the other company the producers may sometimes have things that they didn't have for example if the company didn't have any CGI producers then the company that they now have bought they can now have those kind of specialists, this can also make it so that it grows and builds in size and power this can make the company they bought they make their selves more able to get more money 

4) What is a subsidiary?

A subsidiary is a small company that can be owned by bigger companies called conglomerate 

5) Give three examples of media companies that have used synergy to maximize the profit from a brand (there is one above to help you).

Disney, Facebook and Warner bothers

6) Read this BBC article on Disney buying 21st Century Fox. List 10 companies that are part of the Disney media empire. This graphic may help you: Marvel, 21st century, ABC, hulu, sky, lucasfilm, go pro, pixar ESPN,Hollywood records, vice media

7) Why did Disney buy Fox - what are the benefits?
The benefit for this was that Fox had already owned different types of things that include Television, Filmed entertainment, Cable network etc. so this makes it so that they can own more money and make more faster this is by how Fox have already co-operated with a different things and so that they now have gained a massive amount of money so if you add the amount of money that Disney have made then you add the amount of money that Fox have already gained you can see that they have combined to make one big company, this makes it so that Disney can now show their content on television worldwide as Fox is a television company so this makes things more convenient for Disney to display their content to others around the world.

Audience profile

Audience: Effects theory

create a new blog post called ‘Audience Effects Theory’ and complete the following tasks:
1) Write a definition of a passive audience: The view of audiences that passively take information in which it has the same effect on everyone and it sends a clear message towards them

2) Write a definition of an active audience: This is the more modern and generally accepted view that audiences interact with and make conscious choices regarding the media that they consume and how the analyse the content that is shown to them or which is seen by them.

3) Write a definition of the hypodermic needle theory: This is the suggestion that the audience is more passive and therefore take the intended message from the producers, they all rely on the producers and the content that they produce and the how it almost seems that the producers have injected the message int he consumers mind, this will assume that no individual difference in audience members.

4) Write down a media product for each category of Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory and WHY it fits that particular audience use/gratification: 

INFORMATION/SURVEILLANCE: Documentaries 
 > Why: They educate the consumers on thing that they might not know of and they show how the subject they are focusing on how they live, eat, etc. interact with others and how their life style affects them.

IDENTITY: The thing that links to the audience in which the audience can relate towards

 > Why: The thing tries to relate with the consumer by showing a different varieties that may make the consumer think about how it relates towards them.

DIVERSION/ENTERTAINMENT: Video games
 > Why: Video games can be time consuming and fun to play, this can distract the consumer form their actual life and can even get addicted.

RELATIONSHIPS: Reality shows that show the lives of the people being recorded
 > Why: This is when the audience has a social interaction and care about the celebrities that appear on the show which then results in a forming relationship with the e.g watching soap opera for long periods of time as you care about the long standing characters in the show  

5) Re-watch the clip from Blue Planet above and write a paragraph analyzing how elements of the clip offer the audience pleasures or gratifications (use media terminology from Uses and Gratifications theory and the 3 Vs - notes outlined above). 

Task 5)

This clip uses the voyeuristic pleasure as it shows the reality of the animals in the sea and how they live their daily lives, it shows the different way of them harvesting their food or the process in which they have to go through just to get some food and to survive as some take extreme measures in order to get food and other vital things. This clip can also include information/surveillance as the crew have recorded the the animals lives and how they live, a reason why it falls under information is that so that anyone from the audience who is less educated can learn form the documentary



Extension: To take this further, select a media text of your own choice, embed it in your blog and write another detailed paragraph analyzing the audience pleasures in that product.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlFRPkT-hVc


 The clip used here is information/surveillance as it is a documentary and how it educates the consumer by showing them different shots of the animals so that the audience can see the lives of the animals  and how they live and survive in the wild and it shows how they gather food , this can also count as a diversion/entertainment This is because the videos being taken can be pleasing towards the audience's eye as it shows very mesmerizing shots and cinematic shots to show the environment around in which the animals live in and have to survive in those different conditions, harsh easy etc. for the animals.

Audience: Reception theory

1) What is the preferred reading of a media text?

The ideology that the producers want to show is what teenagers in London is like and how they are very dangerous and violent with everyone around them and the environment in which they live in. It shows that poorly educated student turn into this kind of violent aggressive people who always start fights or always try to do something dangerous or anything that is bad for them or the environment around them.

2) What is the oppositional reading of a media text?

The consumers may think that these teenagers or people are just misunderstood and that no one can change them after what has happened to them, they think that they are just vulnerable to the environment around them just changes them overtime and they become bad people and that people that raised them is their fault.

3) How does the Harry Brown trailer position the audience to respond to the teenage characters in the film?

Harry responds to the teenage characters as a bunch of people into one gang who start gang wars kill steal and do illegal activities. Later on he starts to hate them even more as they have killed his friend brother or somewhat of a relative of friend which is strongly close to him as he starts to cry later on. He seeks vengeance of him and he goes to kill them and find out who killed him.

4) Why might young people reject this reading and construct an oppositional reading of the trailer?

Young people may reject this idea because it is aimed at them as being the antagonist and they may disapprove of it as it may offend them in a way and they see themselves in a different way as  a person who want to get along with their life and thinks they don't cause any trouble but really they are causing a lot of trouble, they may think of it as joking around but they are not aware of the damage they are causing.

5) Write a 150+ word analysis of the McDonald's advert using preferred, negotiated and oppositional readings.

Preferred reading

The message that the producers is trying to convey is that tier new burger is so big and contains many different ingredients  that can be found from many different meals says that the burger is so good that its a sandwich is actually a disguised meal. It also shows the things the burger contains like the sauces and cheese that are in the burger and that bread type that has the sesame seeds buns. Since the burger contains lots of things and how its a meal disguised as a sandwich it says to bring their biggest appetite as this is for the people who want a bigger meal.

Negotiated reading

The Negotiated point would be that this would be a sandwich which could actually cure people's giant appetite but some may think that its just a sandwich in which people will enjoy with it's indulgence mouth-watering flavor which is sold at a decent price which almost everyone can afford. Another thing would be that the people may think that its disgusting as other people may dislike it but it also contains many calories but the thing is that this can be purchased as a treat and something which someone would really crave.

Oppositional reading

The oppositional point would be that that this is just a plain sandwich that is just made up of different ingredients which that the company is trying to just sell and this whole advertising thing is just so people can just buy their things and all this was a plot for a quick cash-grab as the company might be greedy and want stacks of money. Another thing would be that this burger is disgusting and is unhealthy as for all of the grease that can be produced by the burger and the how all the calories the burger contains

6) Now find your own advertisement and write a 150+ word analysis using preferred, negotiated and oppositional readings.

Preferred reading

The message that the producers are trying to convey are that this juice is made out of 100% naturally sourced ingredients from real fruits and that they have been made without any artificial products. Judging from the picture the producers want us to make an impression that this drink is made up of fresh fruit and water which has all been mixed together to make this drink, they even talk about the drink being "school compliant drinks throughout the UK ".

Negotiated reading

The negotiated point would be that this drink may or may not be made from 100% naturally sourced ingredients but the point would be that this drink may appeal to many different consumers and the taste of the drink would show if they like it or not, another thing would be that this juice may not be just for kids and can be enjoyed by many other. Others may think that its just for kids and that the drink may contains artificial ingredients and many other contents that the drink may contain.




Oppositional reading


The oppositional point for this would be that this drink is for all ages as the ad looks like it made only for kids, another thing they may think is that this is actually made of different artificial contents and the producer say that the product is made of 100% naturally sourced ingredients when they actually might not which make the drink more unhealthy as its some chemicals which is bad for the human body that this whole thing is just a scam which everyone will fall for as they think the consumers are completely oblivious to what the product actually is.



Extension:

Preferred reading:

The producer want to show the audience the audience what teenager or young adults act like in the street, they try to send a message of them being violent and carrying contraband and doing many illegal acts in which could send them to many years of jail,they show this via the clip which gets presented by the presenter of how kids can be violent. However the presenter is trying to show that all of these kids have been influenced by their parents by them not caring about them and them doing bad habits and that they are just misunderstood by the people.

Negotiated Reading: 

The negotiated point for this would be that yes kids can be violent and use foul language do bad tings etc. but the thing is that they are just "joking around" with some things apart from the illegal things and carrying contraband but they have either not been parented well or well-disciplined by their parents so then which causes them to act like this towards others as they think that as its not causing them harm then they think that they are not affecting the people being affected by them.

Oppositional Reading:

The oppositional reading for this would be that the presenter is actually one of these kids that act like this and is trying to defend them so that they can trick the audience by saying that they have been misunderstood and that their parents have not treated them well as a result they end up like this all violent and vulgar people but really they aren't as they might still cause trouble even if they get away with their point of "joking around"

GCSE Autumn Media Assessment: Learner Response

3) Did you get any media terminology wrong in the assessment? Make a note of it here for future revision:
In Q9 i just needed to include it and in Q6 then the part where I said "a little quote" where it was actually supposed to be"slogan".


4) Identify one of your stronger questions. Why did you do better on this question?
Question 4: This is because I identified  of what shot was used and how I explain my explanation is linked to the picture that is provided in the test. I talk about the background and how it is related to what the advert.


5) Identify one of your weaker questions. Why did you score lower on this particular question?
Question 9: This is because that i had a few flaws in my grammar and punctuation, the main flaw was when I didn't include more media terminology Which I need to add for my LR.


6) Re-draft your answer to Q9 and type it out in full. Use the mark scheme to identify

Re-draft of Question 9:

The producers use children in their adverts in order is make the consumer think about the child in need, this may appeal to the consumer to help the child as the consumer may have a child at home and can feel how this child is suffering and has no luxuries that the consumer may have which the child may not. The use the child to build a sense of innocence and vulnerability which may appeal towards the consumers generosity.
The image is easily recognisable as the child lives in a poor area.

The image is quickly recognisable because it is associated with the third world countries as in the background it shows a village which seems to be in poverty as the houses are a sand colour so it means that it may have been made using mud as the country cannot afford cement or any type of building materials which may be expensive to the country, as this might be a third world country then the people or the country may not be able to afford clean water or the accessibility to toilets this can also be seen in the slogan of "dig toilets not graves" so in this case it talks about how people don't have to die towards germs and bacteria when they can prevent it by getting toilets.

Children are normally used in these kind of adverts to show the sympathy of what their condition is and how they are suffering because of that condition, if adults were used then the consumer would't normally feel sympathy for the adult as they can work, get jobs, earn money etc. and they can actually take care of them selves and they can manage what they do with their money so that they can afford clean water or many other products.