Laura Mulvey - The Male Gaze

The Male Gaze

Mulvey is best known for her essay, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema", written in 1973 and published in 1975 in the influential British film theory journal Screen. It later appeared in a collection of her essays entitled Visual and Other Pleasures, and numerous other anthologies. Her article was one of the first major essays that helped shift the orientation of film theory towards a psychoanalytic framework, influenced by the theories of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan. Prior to Mulvey, film theorists such as Jean-Louis Baudry and Christian Metz had attempted to use psychoanalytic ideas in their theoretical accounts of the cinema, but Mulvey's contribution was to inaugurate the intersection of film theory, psychoanalysis, and feminism.

Mulvey's article engaged in no empirical research on film audiences. She instead stated that she intended to make a "political use" of Freud and Lacan, and then used some of their concepts to argue that the cinematic apparatus of classical Hollywood cinema inevitably put the spectator in a masculine subject position, with the figure of the woman on screen as the object of desire. In the era of classical Hollywood cinema, viewers were encouraged to identify with the protagonist of the film, who tended to be a man. Meanwhile, Hollywood female characters of the 1950s and 60s were, according to Mulvey, coded with "to-be-looked-at-ness." Mulvey suggests that there were two distinct modes of the male gaze of this era: "voyeuristic" (i.e. seeing women as 'whores') and "fetishistic" (i.e. seeing women as 'Madonnas').
Mulvey argued that the only way to annihilate the "patriarchal" Hollywood system was to radically challenge and re-shape the filmic strategies of classical Hollywood with alternative feminist methods. She called for a new feminist avant-garde filmmaking that would rupture the magic and pleasure of classical Hollywood filmmaking. She wrote, "It is said that analysing pleasure or beauty annihilates it. That is the intention of this article." Some feminists criticized "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema," claiming that, while Mulvey believed that classical Hollywood cinema reflected and shaped the "patriarchal order," the perspective of her writing actually remained within that very heterosexual order. The article was thus said to have contradicted its "radical" claims, by actually being a covert perpetuation of heterosexual patriarchal order. This was because, in her article, Mulvey presupposes the spectator to be a heterosexual man. She was thus felt to be denying the existence of lesbian women, gay men, heterosexual women, and those outside of these identities.

"Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" was the subject of much interdisciplinary discussion among film theorists that continued into the mid 1980s. Critics of the article objected to the fact that her argument implied the impossibility of genuine 'feminine' enjoyment of the classical Hollywood cinema, and to the fact that her argument did not seem to take into account spectatorships that were not organised along the normative lines of gender. For example, a metaphoric 'transvestism' might be possible when viewing a film – a male viewer might enjoy a 'feminine' point-of-view provided by a film, or vice versa; gay, lesbian and bisexual spectatorships might also be different. Her article also did not take into account the findings of the later wave of media audience studies on the complex nature of fan cultures and their interaction with stars. Gay male film theorists such as Richard Dyer have used Mulvey's work as a starting point to explore the complex projections that many gay men fix onto certain female stars (e.g. Liza Minnelli, Greta Garbo, and Judy Garland).

Feminist critic Gaylyn Studlar wrote extensively to contradict Mulvey's central thesis that the spectator is male and derives visual pleasure from a dominant, sadistic perspective. Studlar suggested rather that visual pleasure for all audiences is derived from a passive, masochistic perspective, where the audience seeks to be powerless and overwhelmed by the cinematic image. Mulvey later wrote that her article was meant to be a provocation or a manifesto, rather than a reasoned academic article that took all objections into account. She addressed many of her critics, and changed some of her opinions, in a follow-up article, "Afterthoughts on 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema'" (which also appears in the Visual and Other Pleasures collection).

Phallocentrism and patriarchy

Mulvey incorporates the Freudian idea of phallocentrism into "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema". Specifically relating the phallocentric theory to film, Mulvey insists on the idea that film and cinematography are inadvertently structured upon the ideas and values of a patriarchy.

Within her essay, Mulvey discusses several different types of spectatorship that occur while viewing a film. Viewing a film involves subconsciously engaging in the understanding of male and female roles. The "three different looks", as they are referred to, explain just exactly how films are viewed in relation to phallocentrism. The first "look" refers to the camera as it records the actual events of the film. The second "look" describes the nearly voyeuristic act of the audience as one engages in watching the film itself. Lastly, the third "look" refers to the characters that interact with one another throughout the film.
The main idea that seems to bring these actions together is that "looking" is generally seen as an active male role while the passive role of being looked at is immediately adopted as a female characteristic. It is under the construction of patriarchy that Mulvey argues that women in film are tied to desire and that female characters hold an "appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact". The female actor is never meant to represent a character that directly affects the outcome of a plot or keep the story line going, but is inserted into the film as a way of supporting the male role and "bearing the burden of sexual objectification" that he cannot.

How are contemporary media changing the 'music video'?

This is the powerpoint that Emily and I did on guidance day a while back. :)

Rough Cut Music Video

This is the rough cut of our music video If You Only Knew by Chris Cohen. We have yet to put in the transitions between the shots. Also, to point out, there is a white canvas shot that lasts for about 4 or 5 seconds which will be a flashback. We have decided to use the white canvas background so that the flashback looks dreamy as if the female character is recalling it. Please watch and make comments on what we could change, what you think is bad and what you think is absolutely amazing! :) Thank you!

Shooting maps

These are the seven main shots within the music video. We have put them into shooting maps to illustrate the layout of the location and camera location when we come to shoot. There is a key on the first shooting map.

Shot 1: Argument at the beginning (establishing shot).

Shot 10: Medium shot of male strumming guitar.

Shot 17: Long shot from behind the female as she stares out of the window.

Shot 29: Close ups of the face of the female smiling. (can apply to all CU of a face).

Shot 27: Long shot of the two characters walking up to the house from over the road.

Shot 38: Tracking shot following the male character towards the window.

Shot 42. Final shot of the two characters in an embrace. Medium parallel shot.

Props

We will need 3 main props for our production. These are...

A pen for the male character to write with when he is composing the song.

A notepad, not as cheesy as this one, for the male character to write the lyrics of his song onto.

A guitar for the male character to play throughout the music video.

And also photographs of the couple and family. The family photos we may use as extras. The photo of the couple together on the bedroom wall, and also the photo that is ripped at the beginning. We have a photographer to do these photographs for us.

Music Video Treatment

Chris Cohen presents “If you only knew” in an alternative rock genre of music, comparing himself to such bands as Coldplay and The Fray. Therefore we intend to plan our music video around themes and ideas used within music videos of this genre and to challenge them also. One way we will seek to be successful in our intentions for example is how the majority of alternative rock music videos do feature the musicians/artists involved, either in a storyline manner or collectively within the band image of singing and playing their instruments in a chosen setting. So the way we will be challenging this theme is enlisting alternative personnel to perform as the chosen characters in the video, yet still including the theme of a musical instrument being played and lyrics being sung with the mouth synchronisation. We do realise that this does decrease exposure of our chosen artist within the video itself; however this can be counteracted later on in the promotional package for our artist, by displaying him in the digipak cover and producing a biography of him.

The narrative presents a couple (male and female) that have had an argument (which the end of the argument is shown as the intro of the song) which shows a photo of both characters together torn in half (dividing the characters in the photo and in the later narrative), this is where the equilibrium is disrupted, fall to the ground leading to the female characters exit from the scene. This will cover the intro consisting on instrumentation lasting 8 seconds. A long shot will be the first shot that is scene establishing the two characters engaged in argument before the female character rips up the photo in her hand. A tracking CU shot will track the pieces fall onto the floor (ideally both halves of the photo facing upwards to shot the audience that the two characters are “torn apart”). A medium shot of the male character bending down to the floor to pick up the half of the photo that displays the female character, before walking out of the room in a different direction, which will be shot with the male character walking towards then past the camera which will also show the female character exiting in a different direction in the background behind him. The first two verses and the first chorus of the song are perceived from the male characters perspective. Verse 1 lasts 15 seconds, which will see both characters retreating to their own homes upset and in regret of what has happened (the argument). Both characters are from here on (until the final chorus and outro) alone in their respective houses and begin to reminisce past times how they have spent their time together in their relationship. Verse 1 will begin with a long shot of the male character entering his house through the front door, followed by a CU shot of the banister on the stairs that the male character will place his keys (camera will remain static as he walks towards the banister, place the keys and walk on. The camera will be focused on the keys yet movement of the male character will still be seen. The possibility of a long shot at low angle would track the male character as he puts his jacket on the back of a chair (medium shot) and then as he walks across the lounge area to a leather seat where he will sit. A medium shot will follow to see the male character sit down in the chair and pause for a moment (possible idea of him putting his head in his hands or pausing to look at the half of the photo he took with him). A bird’s eye shot would show the half of the photo being placed on a small table to the side of him for later referral as he will continue to use this photo as inspiration for words he will write on a notepad and lyrics he will sing. A shot of the guitar as the male character grabs it and places it on his lap ready to play (I will later reference this idea from City and Colour – Comin’ Home).Verse 2 will last 16 seconds, and will begin with the male character singing the line “You feel like home”, where the camera will be focused on him picking up a notepad and pen using a high angle shot. This is followed by an over the shoulder shot of him writing on this notepad. “I feel a burning fire for you, I feel it in my bones” follows with the reference to City and Colour – Comin’ Home as we will shoot the male character playing his guitar in the same style, a medium shot of him playing the guitar and the CU of him strumming.

Instrumental will last 15 seconds A panning shot of him writing words on a notepad placed on his lap (lyrics in the way that match the track and as if the male character is composing a song to explain how he feels about the other character). We will use an over the shoulder high angle shot of him writing the word “Understand” on the notepad.Chorus 1 will last 30 seconds and will feature an ECU of the male character’s mouth singing “If you only knew”, cut away to the female character standing at a window in her house during the line “You might understand” followed by a zoom towards her. To follow on just like the first line in this chorus, the female character will lip sync “You might understand” to the music as a response to the male character in the first line of the chorus. Then we will cut away to the male character sitting in the black leather chair at his house looking at the photo (without guitar and notepad). This will be followed by a low angle shot of the female character walking into her bedroom (as if she is walking into the shot), then back to the male character again still looking at the photo (medium shot).Instrumental will last 16 seconds before preceding to verses 3 and 4 and the second chorus, which are all perceived from the female characters point of view. Verse 3 will last 16 seconds. This will see her lonely in her house without the male character, finding a jacket or jumper of some sort at the end of her bed (this is set in her bedroom) he gave her when she was cold when they were together one night (this will cue a cut to reminisce the event in question), a scene will be re-acted from the past as the female character is thinking about it, which will show both characters together, and the male character wrapping a jacket/top around the female character as she is cold (either sitting together or walking down a road, leading to second reminisce of male character taking her home?). This will be shot with a tracking shot, following the female character as she finds the item of clothing, a medium shot as she glances upwards towards a photo above her bed, the same shot will zoom into the photo and a scene will be played out whereby both characters are walking together (the female shivering as she is cold, and the male character will put his item of clothing around her to keep her warm (this done over the line “On a cold dark winters night”).

An instrumental will last 5 seconds moving to a long shot as the characters approach the female characters house, and an over the shoulder shot as the male character places a hand on the female’s shoulder.Verse 4 will last 15 seconds. This will start by showing the same over the shoulder shot of the male character putting his hand on her shoulder, but proceed to kiss her on the cheek, the camera then moving to a close up shot of the female character smiling. This will cue the end of this reminisce and the camera will zoom out of the photo on the wall and pan around to show her smile slightly then looking sad and moving out of the shot. We will from here cut to her finding the remaining half of the photo displaying the male character, this will be shot by a low angle shot of her feet as she approaches the half of the picture (also within the camera shot), bend down to pick it up, cut to an over shoulder shot as she looks at it, provoking her to write a message on the reverse of the photo (which will be shown via superimposition as we will show the male and female characters writing on the back of their halves of the photo in sync in the same shot) before leaving her house to visit the male character as his house. This will also cover the instrumental that follows verse 4, that will last 7 seconds.

Chorus 2 will last 29 seconds to find the female character arrive at the male characters house. We will show a CU of the male character singing “You might understand”, which will be followed by a medium to long shot of the male character sitting in the black leather chair and the female character appearing in view at the door behind him. She will knock on the window/door and push her half of the photo up against the door (CU from inside the house) leading to the male character turning around to see her in the door (long shot); he will proceed to stand up, place his guitar up against the black leather chair (his half of the photo in his hand) and walk towards her at the door (tracking shot) leading to the camera cutting back to the door as he walks into the shot to approach the female character (parallel medium shot). Here we will open the door slightly to allow ourselves to pan around the characters standing at the door for our next shot. We will go from here to an over the shoulder shot from the female’s point of view to see the male pressing his half of the photo up against the door.It is here that the message that she wrote on the back of the photo comes apparent; it will read similarly to the lyrics being sung at that point “You might understand”, the message she wrote on the photo will read “Do you understand?”Outro will last 15 seconds. In response to the female character’s writing on the back of her photo “Do you understand?” It will become apparent that the responding message from the male character will read “I understand”.

At this point, the camera will show the two halves of the photo being pressed against the wall from two angles, starting from an over the shoulder shot from the female character panning back round to an over the shoulder shot from the male’s point of view where the camera will stay still. This allows us to show the audience the messages together and picture of both characters being rejoined. These shots will be shown as the lyrics “My puzzles been complete”. The male character will let the female character into his house (opening the door) and into his arms as the song sings “If you only knew” medium parallel shot.The mise en scene provides a sense of loneliness, regret and happiness. Loneliness and regret is prescribed in the way that both characters are broken up at the beginning of the video and are from that point in the present narrative shown as apart, with the storyline sees the characters both engaging in thinking about the other character and happier times when they are together. This reminiscing and the ending to the video, which sees the two characters resolve their differences and “get back together”, provoking happiness. Regret is presented through the actions that each characters carry out when they are alone in their houses which leads to change in opinion and resolution in the end. Most importantly, these actions are, for the female character, photos and items of clothing that she encounters, reminding her of the male character. These reminders will importantly inspire her to track down the male character and resolve their issues at the end of the video. In regards to the male character, he will express regret through writing key words that will match the lyrics of the song, and singing key lyrics in the same fashion.In terms of colour in the video, from when the characters in the present narrative are shown to be apart (after the photo was ripped in half), the video will be edited to black and white, to impose the feeling of loneliness in their lives without the other character, and to link in with the theme of the lyrics of how much the characters mean to each other and “add colour” to each others lives. For this reason, when the narrative cuts to times when they are together, including the reminiscing and the ending as the female character enters the male characters house, will be shot in colour.Lighting in our music video will be dark to follow our theme of lack of enthusiasm between the characters following their argument. The theme would be seen as negative by the audience and the dark lighting would help to reflect this. In contrast, when the video is shot in colour, the lighting will be brighter to change the theme to a more positive and happier mood when the characters were together in their relationship (happier times).

Track structure
Intro 8 seconds
Verse 1 15 seconds
Instrumental 6 seconds
Verse 2 16 seconds
Instrumental 15 seconds
Chorus 1 30 seconds
Instrumental 16 seconds
Verse 3 16 seconds
Instrumental 5 seconds
Verse 4 15 seconds
Instrumental 7 seconds
Chorus 2 29 seconds
Instrumental 21 seconds
Outro 15 seconds
Total duration 3:38

AmendmentsThe original track of this song lasted over 4 minutes, which is too long to match our set brief for the project for the track to last between 2-4 minutes. Therefore we had to cut two of the verses out, meaning the total duration of the track is now 3:38, which does comply with the set brief.

Storyboards for production

These are our first four storyboards, and the others will be along soon.

Location 2 (Amy's house)

We will be using my house predominantly for three points of the music video. Here are the photos of these places.

Picture 1:

This is the picture of the shot we will use for the flashback which starts in the instrumental before the 4th verse and after the 3rd. The characters will emerge from behind the car. (I will get my mum to move the car out of shot!)

Picture 2:

This is the view from the guy's OTS shot when he touches his girlfriend's face. We might also use this as a long shot from behind of the two character's approaching the house.

Picture 3:

This is the shot where the female character walks out of the house on her way to the male's house to see him and press the photos together. For this shot, the camera man/woman will be perching on the staircase as the femal character goes from the kitchen (left) out of the front door.

Picture 4:

This is where the female character stands and looks out of the window. This shot is from the wrong angle, but the camera will be facing the window and next to the chairs in the picture.

Picture 5:

This is where the female character walks in to find the half of the photo with the male's face on it. She picks this up and walks out of the room.

Picture 6:

This is a shot from the door into the living room/lounge. Here, the argument at the beginning of the video will take place. The guy will storm off through the door behind where this photo was taken (see previous picture).

Picture 7:

This is my bedroom. Here is where the photo will be placed on the wall in the top left of this photo. We will zoom into the photo which will lead onto the flashback (see photo 1).

Shot list

Location 1 (Ian's house)

This is our first location for our music video, at Ian's house near Norwich. We will use this location to film the male character as he composes the song, and the male and female characters together in the outro at the end of the song. The majority of the song will be black and white, apart from the end when the two characters are together again.

Picture 1:

This is our first shot, as the male character walks in after he has left the location of the argument, which is Location 2 (Amy's house). At the beginning of the first verse, the male character will walk in, with the female half of the photo that was ripped in two during the introduction. He will place his set of keys on the top banister before walking through to the lounge area which is behind where this photo was taken.

Picture 2:

This is the same as picture one, just from a different angle. Therefore, this gives us a view from a different perspective and also helps us establish the mise-en-scene of the shot.

Picture 3:

This is a picture of the lounge area, to which the male character will go after placing his keys down. He will put his jacket on the sofa, bottom left. Then he will proceed to the black leather chair in the far corner of the room. He will place the half of the photo he retrieved on the coffee table, and seemingly use the notepad and pen on the coffee table already. The guitar will be next to the chair for him to use.

Picture 4:

This picture is similar to the shot we will use in the second chorus. The male character is playing his guitar and still composing the song, which he will have finished by the end of the chorus. The female character will appear in the window/doors at the back of the picture, and the male character will have no knowledge of her presence.

Picture 5:

This is a lead on from the previous picture, entailing the same props. This time, however, is the shot we will use when the male and female characters press their halves of the photos together up against the window. This will be the final shot, and will be in colour.

Annotated lyrics

Chosen song for music video!

http://www.unsignedbandweb.com/music/bands/12083/

This is a link to our artist, Chris Cohen. We chose his song 'If You Only Knew' because the lyrics are based around the original ideas we have for Problem, Power and Purity. We changed from the Christian genre to Acoustic but Chris Cohen is also an Enlightening singer. We will soon upload the lyrics sheet but here are the lyrics unannotated.

When its you and me
And there’s no one else around
I know that you’ve been there for me
The feelings so profound

You feel like home
A place where I can go
I feel a burning fire for you
I feel it in my bones

If you only knew then you
might understand
oh, oh, oh
you might understand
oh, oh, oh
you might understand
oh, oh, oh

When I look in your eyes
Our first night comes to mind
And the way I held you close to me
On a cold dark winter night

Then you kissed me on the cheek
Just to say goodnight
When I first saw you baby
I had stars in my eyes

If you only knew then you
might understand
oh, oh, oh
you might understand
oh, oh, oh
you might understand
oh, oh, oh

Now I feel at home
My puzzles been complete
Its all because of you
If you only knew

URLs for research so far...

For my research project for the music industry, I have been looking into the ways in which women are represented and stereotyped. I have been looking on some websites to try and find more information, and my next step will be to relate it to genre.

Key articles I have found so far:
http://www.thefword.org.uk/search?search=the+music+industry

This gives me 68 articles related to feminism and the music industry from the website 'The F Word' which is a feminist website that posts articles related to the representation and stereotyping of women.

One of the articles has really caught my eye. Entitled "What's up, baby?” the article is written by a woman who is deeply disheartened by the way in which women, particularly black women, are represented. She explains that she has worked as a model and a sex worker, and believes that her race and culture are represented as women in bikinis and sexy outfits for people like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.

http://www.thefword.org.uk/features/2002/10/whats_up_baby

This aids the answer to my question, ‘To what extent is the way women are represented in the music industry genre specific?’, by referencing the work of RnB artists.

Christian Music Videos

Here are some examples of Christain music videos; either all performance, part performance part narrative or all narrative.

Audio Adrenaline - Get Down
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnnbbmRDwVk

Unfortunately this one wouldn't let me have an embedding code. This is a part performace, part story video. Mostly dominated by story, it tells of a guy who is having a normal day at work and out and about, but things aren't going well for him. "I get down, and He lifts me up" is the prominent line in the song, meaning that although he is having a bad day, he knows God is there to get him through. Thre aren't many symbollic things in the video such as a Cross or a Bible or something, yet there is a strong reference to Christianity in the lyrics throughout the whole song.

Carrie Underwood - Jesus Take The Wheel


This video, to some extent, is like our video ideas. It has characters that start off with problems - one with a baby crying and another is a couple arguing - and they turn out ok in the end with the help of Christ. Again, like previously and like our video, it is part performance, part story. The narrative works well because there are three seperate situations that are happening. I think that the purpose of this video is to target all non-Christians by using normal situations that quite possibly will happen in that person's future. That way they can relate to it more easily.

Our God He Reigns - Simon Brading and 29th Chapter


This is purely a performance. When I went to the Newday festival in August, they performed this song, however this video is performed at Newday 2008. It shows that as long as you have something happening in the performance that's interesting, in this case the crowd and the hilariously weird rappers, then a full performance video can work. Although, it can become a bit of a monotony having to watch it all the way through!

Song and ideas for Music Video

We have chosen a song which is, for the moment, called Problem, Power and Purity. It is a Christ-focused song with a lot of reference to the power God can have in people. In the song, there are two characters; one male and one female. They both have problems at the beginning and, through Christ and the Cross, overcome their problems and end up in a better situation. They start off separately and then come together at the end.

What enigmas does your video create?

Our video, and song to some extent, asks the audience questions, as well as the audiences wanting to know things too.

• Why are the characters upset/down?
• Where do they fit into the story?
• Are they two seperate people, or do they link in some way?
• How are they becoming stronger?

What will keep the audience hooked and watching?

The audience will, no doubt, want to know whether the characters can overcome their problems, and therefore how they do. Why is the Cross a dominant symbol in a lot of the scenes? And also there is the question of whether the characters are related or not.

What conventions are you using/challenging?

We are using the convention of part narrative, part performance for our video because we believe that the music video should represent the artist's views of the song. We challenge the audience's perception of Christianity, religion and Faith by being quite controversial. Symbolism is also used with the Church and the Cross necklace.

Proposal Sheet for Music Industry Investigation

Analyse and review the importance of dance and movement in music video...

YMCA - The Village People


YMCA – The Village People is a very conventional video in that it involves dance moves that correspond to the song. The dance moves help make the song more memorable and then we, as the audience, can automatically associate the dance to the song when we hear it. The dancing and the costume in this video make it very appealing to a wide audience, the colours and the variation for the younger audiences that may get restless if something is too long, and also the humour and the hidden meaning of the Village People’s song for the older and more mature audience. This video also appeals to different sexualities. As not many videos or songs appeal to gay or lesbian couples/people, this video expresses pride in all five of The Village People as they sing, dress and dance in the way they want to.

Take That - Shine



A-Ha - Take On Me

My Research Project

To what extent is the way women are represented genre-specific?


RnB (the male gaze)
Ballads


Secondary Research, Video Analysis

• I will look at approximately two videos from each genre and analyse the use of camerawork, editing and mise-en-scene (among other factors) to determine the way women are represented.

Investigation Ideas

Representation of women in music. Videos, songs, also lyrics of their songs and other songs.

Maybe also love as a contrast with music. Is all music about love?

Other ideas include cultures, gender, age, and also conventional and unconventional representations.

Music Videos

THE MUSIC VIDEO I LIKE



The Jackson Five - I Want You Back
This video is definitely one of my favourites becuase it is almost like a cartoon series. It has a storyline and also the typical 'good guys' 'bad guys' background. There isn't really much to say about this video, except for the fact it is both conventional and unconventional. It is conventional in that there is an underlying storyline to the video, making the narrative sturcture of the video quite typical. However, this video is also unconventional because there is no shots of the artist singing or lip-synchronising to the song, and neither is the actual band featured in the video apart from the start briefly.

A CONVENTIONAL MUSIC VIDEO



Alesha Dixon - Let's Get Excited
This is very conventional because it has a storyline of her meeting a boy in the nightclub and planning what she wants to do. Or something along those lines! There is lip-sync, dance, the artist is featured and also it is very genre-specific. This video is fast paced to reflect the song, and maybe the storyline?

The Online Age is ____ the Music Industry.

The Music Industry is either destroyed or enhanced by the Online Age. By Amy, Emily, Ryan, Ian and Jeni. You'll have to excuse the mistakes!

Music Investigation

SPOTIFY


Spotify is a peer-to-peer music program that allows the instant play of a song, or a number of songs with little or no delay for buffering. Music can be browsed by artists, albums or created playlists as well as by direct searches. Although the music isn't available for use outside Spotify, the user can purchase the music for a small charge, much like downloading. It is available in most European countries for free, but most users will have to supply a subscription to the program. It helps music sales as well as publicity. If a certain band is unknown compared to another band, then they can utilise the program to enhance their popularity and promote their songs. Technological convergence happens too, with the availability to download the songs, or complete albums legally. This is one of the programs that you can legally download high quality music. This still affects music charts such as UK Top 40, and also still raises money for the program, band, and also Spotify itself. Using figures, we can compare how many people use the site, or other sites to people that buy music from shops like HMV or Zavvi stores (although a lot of these units have closed down).


LAST.FM


Last.fm is an UK-based Internet radio and music community website, founded in 2002. Using a music recommender system called "Audioscrobbler", Last.fm builds a detailed profile of each user's musical taste by recording details of all the songs the user listens to, either on the streamed radio stations, the user's computer or many portable music devices. This information is transferred to Last.fm's database ("scrobbled") through a plug in installed into the user's music player. The profile data is then displayed on the user's profile page. The site offers numerous social networking features and can recommend and play artists similar to the user's favourites. Users can create custom radio stations and playlists from any of the audio tracks in Last.fm's music library, and are able to listen to some individual tracks on demand, or download tracks if the rights holder has previously authorised it. Last.fm claims over 30 million active users based in more than 200 countries. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for £140m ($280m US). This boosts the popularity of bands that put their music on this site, increases the revenue of both the site and the music industry and also enhances all popularity. gain, similarly to Spotify, it is a site where it is legal to download tracks. This is another way of boosting revenue and also shows that there are other ways and more modern and easier ways to consume music.


SUBCULTURE

Subculture is a group of people that have formed under another culture. A subculture can be recognised and defined by the following:

1. through their often negative relations to work

2. through their negative or undecided relation to class

3. through their association with territory (the 'street', the 'hood, the club, etc), rather than property

4. through their movement out of the home and into non-domestic forms of belonging

5. through the exaggerated ways they choose to dress

6. through their refusal of the conformities of ordinary life.

Genres of music are closely related to social groups and also cultures. The types of music people listen to and enjoy often heavily relates to this. If there is a large amount of one group, the music industry needs to make sure it sufficiently targets this specific group. Audience is again based on cultures and social groups. This aids and also categorises audience making research less generalised and more in-depth.


DRM

The DRM is the Digital Rights Management. They control the legalising of music downloads and also control rights to different websites/applications such as Spotify. It prevents copyright infringements and the reproduction or disallowed use of music pieces. This helps the music industry gain control of abusers, and also helps artists and music companies maintain their status and also their original pieces. Without the use of copyright and other preventing software, there would be little or no control and it would cost millions of pounds to repair. This helps audience research because of the constant use of illegal downloading sites such as LimeWire, and helps other companies to stop the illegal downloading and once again gain control.

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New media blog! Here it is!


Here is a video of my favourite song at the minute.