Music Industry Revision

Ownership

Focus Question:What issues are raised by ownership in a contemporary media institution you have studied?

What do the following terms mean?Th

e bi

g 4

Vertical integration

Hor

izon

tal i

nteg

ratio

n

Oligopoly

Monopoly Synergy

Audience tastes

Merger

Subversive audience behaviourMusic hardware

Artist and Repertoire

Convergence

technology Convergence industry

Conglomerate

Oligopoly - When a market is shared by a few.

Is it fair that so much is owned by just a few companies?

Do these companies have too much power?Sandi Thom left RCA (Sony) because she didn’t like the way they were promoting her as a pop artist.

News Corp. settle row with Merlin

When MySpace Music was first set up last year it only sold music from the Big 4. At the time independent labels criticised the venture for leaving them out in the cold.

However recently News Corporation (who ownMySpace) and Merlin (an agency that represents independent artists) have signed a deal to allow independent labels to make money from having their music on the site.

See Guardian article from 21/11/09 for more details.

Mind-mapping Draw a mind-map to answer the focus question. Use terms looked at earlier in the lesson.

Issues raised by ownership

Moving on traditionalboundaries

Convergence technology / hardware

Sony Ericsson Phone,Sony Play Station

EMI owns Toshiba

Reaction to audience Consumption tastes

Music on digital format / social networking

We 7, MySpace Music, Stream music from www.sony.com

Horizontal integration

Control of market

Subsidiaries

Vertical integrationSynergy

To FinishWrite a paragraph on one of the issues raised by media ownership e.g. horizontal integration.

Success Criteria:- Use Sony as your case study.- Use Point, Example, Explanation.- Use key terminology- Where possible argue points for and against.