Wednesday 29 September 2010

What we did in lesson on the 28th of September.

Today in lesson we got our songs and we organised ourselves into groups, in my group I am working with Lauren, Jade and Kathryn :). And our superstar is Lucy Star who is singing the song Girls just wanna have fun by Cyndi Lauper.

Rough Trade in the 1980's


How did contracts effect the development of Rough Trade?
- Although having contract want to work with Rough Trade it also was helping Rough Trade create a name for themselves with these big acts, behind the scenes money became tight, as they weren't taking enough credit for their work.
What issues occurred between the record label and distribution?

Rough Trade in the 1970's


How did Rough Trade start?
-Geoff Travis started Rough Trade by opening up one shop that sold records in west London 30 years ago.
Which music trends were popular?
-In the summer of 1976 punk become very popular.
What was the ethos of Rough Trade?
-By now punks were revolting against all mainstream music, and they wanted to support this by selling a different genre of music to mainstream.
How was rough trades different to large corporations?
-Rough trade didnt follow the genre of music that was being released by mainstream companies for example Rough trade released punk music and soon after that they released reggie music.
What techniques were used to expand the Independent music scene?
- Rough Trade created an alliance between punk and reggae music, which was seen as a "unique/alternative spirit".
How did this lead to Rough Trade's expansion?
- This created a new type of music and showed independent artists that you don't have to be part of mainstream music culture, to become popular. it also led to artist sending in their music for Rough trade to sell.
What type of business structure existed in the 1970's?
- Their business structure was 'do it yourself' they didnt want to build an empire they just wanted to release music to the public that mainstream werent releasing.
Explain the successes of the distribution department and record label..
- In the 70's record distribution was controlled mainly by big companies, so Rough Trade started mail orders to other companies to sell independent records, giving independent artists a chance to get the music across. Where the profit was cut exactly by half more artists began to contact Rough Trade, this is when Independent labels started to affect the big companies as the artists began to abandon mainstream labels. In 1978 Daniel Miller set up 'Mute Records' and used Rough Trade as a distribution service, allowing Rough Trade to start using new records to sell.

Questions on Sony BMG

1. Which subsidiary labels do Sony BMG own?
The labels that Sony BMG own are Arista Records, Columbia Records, Epic Records, J Records, Jive Records, RCA Victor Records, RCA Records, Legacy Recordings, Sonic Wave America.

2.How are Sony vertically integrated (how do they profit from the different stages of music production, distribution and consumption)?
Sony wanted to stimulate the sales of hardware by controlling the production and distribution of software. Sony, on the other hand, doesn't need to make a cent selling music. It makes its money manufacturing consumer electronics, producing films, and licensing its formats (e.g. Blu-ray, Playstation), and even owns some retail. While the company wouldn't turn its nose up at profits from recorded music, its music division can be an asset for the company overall without any black ink of its own. This is because the music can be licensed on friendly terms to Sony's movies, games, and distribution portals, and can be used to support new technology formats.

3.How do Sony profit from the media convergence at the level of the media product ( for example a film soundtrack or music in a video game)?
Sony profit from media convergence as if a film is using a soundtrack by a artist signed to their label

Monday 27 September 2010

Song BMG

Sony BMG Music Entertainment began as the result of a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Music Entertainment (part of Sony) and Bertelsmann Music Group (part of Bertelsmann) completed on March 4, 2004. It is one of the Big Four music companies, and includes ownership and distribution of recording labels such as Arista Records, Columbia Records, Epic Records, J Records, Jive Records, RCA Victor Records, RCA Records, Legacy Recordings, Sonic Wave America, and others. The merger affected all Sony Music and Bertelsmann Music Group companies worldwide except for Japan, where it was felt that it would reduce competition in that country’s music industry significantly.
Financial analysts covering the merger anticipated that up to 2,000 jobs would be cut as a result, saving Sony BMG approximately $350 million annually.
The company's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, who succeeded Andrew Lack on February 10, 2006. In the first half of 2005, the company's share of new releases in the United States (US) declined from 33% to 26% according to Nielsen SoundScan. This, and Lack's negotiation of what some called an "ill-conceived" deal with Bruce Springsteen led to Bertelsmann informing Sony that it would not renew Lack's contract.
The company signed a content deal with the popular video sharing community YouTube.
On August 5, 2008 Sony Corp. agreed to buy Bertelsmann AG's 50 percent stake in the music company for $1.2 billion to get full control. The music company will be renamed Sony Music Entertainment Inc. and will become a unit of Sony Corporation of America. This will allow Sony the rights to artists on the current and historic BMG roster and would allow Sony Corporation to better integrate its functions with its Playstation 3 and upcoming new media initiatives.
The Merger
On March 27, 2006, the New York Times reported that Bertelsmann was in talks with Sony to possibly alter the current venture. Two executives close to Sony BMG said that Bertelsmann may offer Sony its half of the company in order to raise money by leveraging some of its media assets. Executives close to the label have stressed that any such agreement will likely take months to conclude.
On July 13, 2006, however, the European Court of First Instance annulled the European Commission's clearance decision as IMPALA (a trade association for independent labels in Europe) had applied for. This judgment was appealed by the merging parties. On October 3, 2007, after a new investigation, the European Commission upheld its prior approval of the merger.
It was also announced in 2006 that Sony BMG would dismantle the Sony Urban Music label. All of the artists will now be assigned to Epic or Columbia.
It was announced in March 2007 that Sony Music Entertainment Japan, which is not part of Sony BMG, would dismantle the Tofu Records label. All of the SMEJ artists will be now signed to Epic or Columbia.
The international media and entertainment companies Sony Corporation and Bertelsmann AG announced on August 5, 2008, that Sony has agreed to acquire Bertelsmann's 50% stake in Sony BMG. The music company, to be called Sony Music Entertainment Inc. (SME), will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America.
On October 1, 2008, Sony Corporation completed the acquisition of Bertelsmann's 50% stake in the companies' joint venture.[3] The music company is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America and operates music labels such as Arista Records, Upstate Records, Columbia Records, Epic Records, J Records, Jive Records, RCA Records and Zomba Records. The sale price was not disclosed when the deal was announced in August, but news reports valued it at $1.5 billion.

Thursday 23 September 2010

Rough Trade.



A definition of Independent music - Independent music is different from the typical lyrics and notes that appear in a mainstream music record, it is also an artist that is not attached to a major company and it is on its own.
Punk rock era was seen as the birth of independent labels as it allowed any one any where to record music and release it to the rest of the public, punk music was also not been heard on mainstream labels this gave independent labels an advantage over mainstream records.
Web 2.0 is also having the same effect on the music industry as independent labels did during the punk era as web 2.0 is allowing any one to release music on social sites such as myspace and facebook this allows anyone to listen freely to music, sites such as youtube are allowing the public to listen to the music over the internet with out paying for it which means that singles and albums arent doing as well as they use to. The main site that is having the most effect is itunes as it allows people to download music without buy the singles or the album.
Some bands would rather stay with an independent label rather than signing to a major company as independent labels allow them to have a say in what happens to the music they have recorded it also gives them a 50-50 pay as like major record companies. It also allows them to record their own music rather than following codes and conventions which most major record companies do.
Definition of hegemony-Domination, influence, or authority over another, especially by one political group over a society or by one nation over others (e.g.: internationally among nation-states, and regionally over social classes, between languages or even culture). Or Dominance of one social group over another, such that the ruling group or hegemon acquires some degree of consent from the subordinate, as opposed to dominance purely by force.

Music Videos

Music Video's have been around in the 1920's.
Artists (Jazz musicians) such as Bessie Smith made short films to accompany popular songs (1929).
In 1965 Bob Dylan filmed Subterranean Homesick Blues as a segment for D.A.Pennebaker's film, 'Don't Look Back' - Widely credited as one of the first modern music video's.
In 1970 the record industry discovers TV shows are a great opportunity to promote their artists, on shows such as Top Of The Pop's.
In 1975 Bohemian Rhapsody is seen as a 'groundbreaking' video released by queen.

Wednesday 22 September 2010

Robbie Williams

Later this year it was announced that Robbie Williams had returned to Take That to make the popular boyband complete again, Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow released their own single this settled there conflit between each other the lyrics were written by Gary Barlow a few years ago.



I choosed to do a case study about Robbie Williams as he is a well known artist that has been in a boyband and reached number one and also been a artist that has made it own his own, his personalibilty allows him to connect with the audience, I have been to one concert where Robbie has performed and it was amazing although it could be argued that his singing its perfect his stage presents is outstanding.

Robbie Williams

Angels became one of Robbie Williams most famous song that is known though different age groups.


Robbie Williams soon dissappeared to enter rehab to recover from drugs, he was out the public eye for 3 years before returning with a new record Bodies

Robbie Williams


Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams(born 13 February 1974) is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams left the group in 1995 to launch his solo career. On 15 July 2010, it was announced he had rejoined Take That and that the group intended to release a new album in November 2010.

His debut album, Life thru a Lens, was released on 29 September 1997, on EMI Records. The album produced a string of successful singles, including "Angels", which has become one of his best known songs to date. Other successful singles from the album include "Old Before I Die" and "South of the Border". Williams followed up the success of his first album with his second album I've Been Expecting You, released on EMI Records on 26 October 1998. Like his debut, the album charted at number one on the UK Album Charts and was successful on other worldwide album charts. The album produced Williams's first UK number one single to that point, "Millennium". His third and fourth albums, Sing When You're Winning released on 28 August 2000 and Swing When You're Winning released on 19 November 2001 were well received by music critics, and like his previous albums, debuted at number one in the United Kingdom. Sing When You're Winning is more of a pop album, while Swing When You're Winning is more a jazz/big-band led album, in which Williams claimed that "he always wanted to do a jazz album". From both albums, successful singles were released, including "Rock DJ", which was released from Sing When You're Winning and "Somethin' Stupid" (featuring Nicole Kidman) which was released from Swing When You're Winning.

The follow-up album to Sing and Swing When You're Winning was Escapology, released on 28 November 2002. Escapology debuted at number one on the UK Album Charts, making this Williams's fifth UK #1 album. Singles released included "Feel", "Come Undone", "Something Beautiful" and "Sexed Up", all of which were top 10 hits in the UK. In 2004, Williams released a Greatest Hits album. His 2005 Intensive Care album was one of the best selling albums of 2005, and was the 53rd best selling album of the decade in the United Kingdom. His follow-up album, Rudebox, was however less successful in chart sales. After the release of Rudebox, Williams took a musical hiatus, and returned in 2009 with his long-awaited Trevor Horn-produced album Reality Killed the Video Star, which became his first album throughout his career not to chart at #1 on the UK Album Charts.

Williams has sold more than 55 million records worldwide. He is the best-selling British solo artist in the United Kingdom and the best selling non-Latino artist in Latin America. Six of his albums are among the top 100 biggest-selling albums in the United Kingdom. He has also been honoured with fifteen BRIT Awards—more than any other artist—and seven ECHO Awards. In 2004, he was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame after being voted as the "Greatest Artist of the 1990s."

Tuesday 21 September 2010

What we did in lesson

Today in lesson we went thought our teachers case study of Madonna I wrote down some notes on how the teacher presented her case study and what information we found out about Madonna and her changes though the years, from this I am doing to do another case study on Robbie Williams.

Monday 13 September 2010