Remember that in your case study answer you MUST refer to all three platforms. You don't have to refer to them equally, but each one must be explored at some level with examples.
We've looked at how the internet is fast becoming the preferred way for audiences to listen to music, watch music videos and find out about artists. It has many advantages for audiences, including the option of listening to music for free whenever you want, and also the advantage of allowing for interaction and UGC. However, some fans claim it has caused a decline in quality music, with anyone able to gain fame. For producers the internet provides a range of ways to promote music, often at a very low cost. However issues to do with piracy and copyright have lead to many record companies blaming the internet for destroying the industry. You have notes on this from class which you should learn.
The print platform is in decline and the music press has been one of the biggest casualties. The internet offers unlimited, free information on bands and solo artists so fewer people are willing to pay for it in printed form. The print platform offers little opportunity to interact or create UGC, so young, internet-savvy music fans may find it boring and object to being a passive audience member. However, print brands like NME have expanded into the digital platform, with a website which is densely packed full of information and more exciting content like videos. Some magazines are making use of increased opportunities for UGC, with readers contributing to output rather than just journalists. Augmented reality is another way print can be more exciting.
Finally, the broadcast platform offers opportunities to promote music. However these are becoming increasingly limited with the demise of Top of the Pops, T4 and Saturday morning music shows. Live performances are limited to festival coverage or at the end of chat shows. TV and radio exposure will reach a mass audience but the exposure can be hard to get - acts need to have a proven following and success record to be invited on a show. TV adverts are expensive to broadcast. The radio 1 playlist is difficult to get onto. The new 'Vevo TV' was therefore met with a positive response by artists looking for ways to promote themselves.
However, there is one genre of show which claims to give unsigned 'nobodies' a chance to perform on TV and become recording artists. It is the TV talent show. The X Factor and The Voice claim to provide a platform for new talent to reach mass audiences. You should consider how far this is true.
Make sure you can write about The Voice or the X Factor in detail.
Notes from class on The Voice
Audience - get to contribute to the show by appearing on it. However, only features contestants who can sing, the BBC scouted for talent so not truly open to 'anyone'. Some contestants had previous record contracts or celebrity family members - the content of the show is restricted and shaped by producers.
The contestants, if selected, have 'power' to choose a coach and the home audience get to vote later in live shows and play along online, they can compare their decisions to those made by the coaches and therefore experience personal identity. Sob stories also make up the show's narrative structure to get the audience to identify. The prime time Saturday slot suggests that the BBC are targeting families and young people.
Ideology - image is not important, only judged on 'voice' due to blind audition format. A serious search for talent, no novelty acts, no laughing at bad singers, though still humiliating if nobody turns round. There are 'Coaches' not 'judges' to emphasise the fact that nobody is being judged or laughed at. More positive ideology than X Factor.
Representation - wide range of groups - age, ethnicity, gender - blind contestant in episode 1. Coaches represent different genres and ages.
Genre - TV singing contest - same genre as X Factor - different format. Contestants sing range of genres from rock to pop, but generally mainstream for target audience. Older songs covered compared to X Factor.
Institutions - BBC changed scheduling next week so it won't clash with BGT. It'a their flagship Saturday night show, rumoured to cost £22 million, heavily advertised. Suffered poor viewing figures for series 1. Voting lines can't be too expensive and BBC will have to justify where money goes unlike ITV. BBC expected to take moral high ground - known as 'Auntie' - so no risqué acts or cruel comments from coaches.
Narrative - no advert breaks so 1.5 hours is all 'content.' Longer spent on each act whereas on X Factor tends to be more fragmented. Holly Willoughby/ Reggie Yates serve to fill in 'gaps' between performances so we see contestants' stories - their backgrounds, the reactions of the friends and family backstage, and reactions after auditions.
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