Sound media

The Recording Industry

Sound mediarecords Music as a Mass MediaThe recording industry brings music to mass audiencesAbout $5 billion in sales in the U.S. market annuallyAbout $125 billion in sales in the global market annuallyRevenue StreamsSalesRecord StoresRetail Outlets (Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc.)Paid downloadsLicensingRadio StationsLive Music VenuesAny business that uses recorded music

The BIG FourThe recording industry is dominated by four major labels:SonyUniversalEMI WarnerThese labels occupy 84% of the US market and 75 % of the world market2009 World-Wide Digital song salesOf the top 10 digital songs sold worldwide, U.S. artists accounted for 100 percent. 1 Lady Gaga Poker Face 2 Black Eyed Peas Boom Boom Pow 3 Jason Mraz Im Yours 4 Lady Gaga Just Dance 5 Black Eyed Peas I Gotta Feeling 6 Taylor Swift Love Story 7 Beyonce Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) 8 Soulja Boy Tell Em Kiss Me Thru The Phone 9 Kanye West Heartless 10 Britney Spears Circus Source: IFPI Scope of the industryDue to the file-sharing crisis of the early 21st century, the scope of the music industry landscape changedSony merged with German-company BertelsmannTime Warner sold Warner MusicWarner Music and EMI have attempted to merge twice only to be stricken down by regulationIndie LabelsIndie labels claim 15% of US salesMotown is the most famous indie labelLater absorbed by Universal Music for a $61 million price tagIndie labels put out much more music than majorsMajors play it safeA&R: The FoundationArtists and RepertoireResponsible for finding talent and artist developmentArtist Development consisted of creating pop culture; A&R executives decided what would be recorded and marketedPower ShiftSometimes successful artists leave majors to start independent labelsMore control over their artCheaper, better recording equipmentSocial Networking Sites (SNS) becoming popular for self-promotion and building fan bases9File Sharing: The Case of NapsterTechnology developed by Shawn FanningAllowed for free file-sharing between usersWhy pay for a CD?Metallica v. Napster (2000)Victory or too little too late?10RIAAs Response to File SharingSue illegal downloadersPressure schools to crack downSeek help from ISPsUpload decoy filesCopy-restriction software11iTunes: A Viable Business ModelSteve Jobs (Apple)Sample & Download SongsPay to download singles or albumsExceptional Sound QualityCompressed FormatFast downloads, Less Disk SpaceClean SystemNot filled with viruses

Objectionable MusicParents Music Resource CenterExplicit Records v. Artistic FreedomRecord companies voluntarily add warnings

13Objectionable MusicRadio a different ball gameFCC fines licensees after the factMost stations prefer songs like thisSound mediaradioInfluence of radioUbiquity: Radio is everywhere520 million radio sets in the USRadios outnumber people 2:1Scope of the industry13,000 Radio Stations$16.1 Billion IndustryReached its growth?Declining profitsRadio contentEntertainmentNewsTalk RadioRadio FormatsProgramming tailored to specific audiencesDemographics, lifestyles, buying behavior, opinions, etcArbitron collects most of the dataOrigins of RadioVaudevilleSitcomsSoap operasVariety showsQuiz showsNewsNot much music until ASCAP accepted blanket licensing fees and the arrival of TV20entertainmentMusic dominates radioPopularity of genres and public interests always in fluxNewsWas much larger before the 1990sMany stations dropped News departmentsNo longer required to operate as public service for license renewalTalk radioLive listener telephone callsAdvice programsSportsMostly AM stations

Average listener is white, male Republican at above average income level23Trusteeship conceptBroadcast is regulated by the governmentPublic AirwavesJustified regulationEstablished Federal Radio CommissionAwarded licenses to broadcastersFCC1927Founded as the Federal Radio Commission to regulate the public airwaves1934Renamed Federal Communications Commission with expanded powers to TV, telegraph, telephone25FCC PowersAssign FrequenciesApprove, Deny, Revoke LicensesRegulate signal strength and hours of operation

CANNOT: control content, but can impose fines after the fact for obscenity, profanity, or indecencyWatch thisLocal rootsRadio began as a local formatFCC licensed stations to local service areas with local ownershipNational programming trendBrought about a transition from local programming

By the 1930s, CBS and NBC were piping programs to affiliate stations throughout the land

Mutual Broadcasting System (1924)Allowed any station to pick up any or all of its programming

Local Stations became conduits for a powerful, emerging national culture

Marketplace conceptTelecommunications Act of 1996Deregulated radioRemoved limits on how many radio stations a single company could own (previously 40)ConglomeratesClear Channel (over 1,200 stations in 2003)CBSCorporate radioChain OwnershipConsolidation of propertiesComputerized Scheduling and PlaylistsVoice TrackingProfit MotiveEfficiencyCorporate RadioTelecommunications Act of 1996Clear Channel Biggest radio chainRadio, while still profitable, is competing with:Satellite radioInternet radioMP3 playersPodcastingDemand programming31Public RadioNon-commercial broadcastingCorporation for Public BroadcastingChannel money into noncommercial radio and televisionNPRSatellite RadioSIRIUSXMMerged in 2009FCC does not regulate content; only technical parametersSubscription-based

33Bright spotsHD radioDigital Signals: Improved clarityBundled transmissionCan carry several signals on one frequencyCan store programs for playback34The FutureFuture of the Music Industry

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