Deadlines/Brief

Music videos are so 80s/90s, right? They belong with the era when MTV screened wall-to-wall vids instead of 'reality' TV? Try telling that to the millions who bought Gangnam Style; were they really simply loving the music? 1.6bn (and still climbing) have viewed the video on YT, not to mention the many re-makes (school eg, eg2), viral ads + celeb link-ups (even political protest in Seoul) - and it doesn't matter how legit it is, this nightmare for daydream Beliebers is making a lot of money, even from the parodies + dislikes. All this for a simple dance track that wouldn't have sounded out of place in 1990 ... but had a fun vid. This meme itself was soon displaced by the Harlem Shake. Music vids even cause diseases it seems!
This blog explores every aspect of this most postmodern of media formats, including other print-based promo tools used by the industry, its fast-changing nature, + how fans/audiences create/interact. Posts are primarily written with Media students/educators in mind. Please acknowledge the blog author if using any resources from this blog - Mr Dave Burrowes

Thursday 29 December 2016

INDUSTRY Big 3 revenues streaming surge

Music streaming hailed as industry's saviour as labels enjoy profit surge https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/29/music-streaming-industry-saviour-labels-spotify-apple-music?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

Will Spotify kill the music download?

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/dec/26/spotify-music-download-apple-itunes-streaming-vinyl?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

Record sales: vinyl hits 25-year high

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jan/03/record-sales-vinyl-hits-25-year-high-and-outstrips-streaming?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

Friday 16 December 2016

Xmas campaigns and social media engagement

Metallica fan's festive treat.

This is a key time of year for acts to engage with their audiences, and you'll see all sorts of examples of this. Social media is primarily used by acts to create the sense of enagement and interaction with fans - even though, for bigger artists at least, most of this 'personal' interaction is actually produced by hired help.
Iron Maiden's mascot Eddie is given an annual Xmas makeover

Saturday 10 December 2016

WEB 2.0 Musical.ly makes fans stars

'It's crazy, for sure': meet the stars of Musical.ly https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/dec/10/crazy-for-sure-stars-musically-max-harvey-mills?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

Tuesday 6 December 2016

VINYL plays the long game overtakes digital

Tables turned as vinyl sales overtake digital sales for first time in UK https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/dec/06/tables-turned-as-vinyl-records-outsell-digital-in-uk-for-first-time?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

Vinyl indignity: record sales are up, but small labels don't see the benefit

https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2016/dec/09/vinyl-record-sales-up-but-indie-labels-dont-see-benefit?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

Record sales: vinyl hits 25-year high

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jan/03/record-sales-vinyl-hits-25-year-high-and-outstrips-streaming?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard