Daft Punk and Spotify

http://musically.com/2013/05/23/anatomy-of-a-streaming-hit-daft-punks-first-month-spotify-plays-for-get-lucky/

Exam PowerPoint and Prep

PowerPoint - http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media/Files/Presentations/2010/Jun/2010%20-%20062410%20-%20syracuse%20newhouse%20MOB%20conf%20NYC%20pdf.pdf

Prep - http://media.edusites.co.uk/

Xbox One Case Study

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22623010 - Link Related to Xbox One pre-owned games and sharing games may require a fee payment

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/22625429 - Fan's Reaction

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22620039 - Web reacts to Microsoft's Multimedia console

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22613948 - Xbox One Revealed

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22620405 - Xbox One 'unrivalled device

Xbox One 'Changes Everything'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/may/21/xbox-one-microsoft-unveils-console

The new Xbox One allows users to be able to play video games, watch live TV, has a video on demand service and web chat for users in an 'all-in-one' system aimed at the whole family. Throwing the gauntlet down to its competitors it is the first games console which gives the user the opportunity to access all these features.

Xbox One has also agreed a deal with NFL to broadcast live games and as a 'second screen' feature allows the user to take part in fantasy football games whilst watching a live game on a split screen. Also Steven Spielberg will be producing a TV series,exclusively to Xbox One, based on the best selling games for Xbox, the Halo Series.

In the hour long launch of the Xbox One it took Microsoft and Xbox 35 minutes to even mention the word games for this supposed 'games console'. This uprise in Xbox and Microsoft is challenging TV it is though this games consoles main feature is based on live TV and on demand services rather than video games which is primarily the Xbox's main function. It will effect the TV industry because currently NFL, shown on the likes of the BBC and Sky Sports do not offer this second screen feature were users can take part in fantasy games whilst watching live games, this is a unique selling point of the new Xbox One as it interacts with the user whilst watching live sport. With the Xbox 360 being the best selling and number 1 console for the last 2 years without these features gives the product extra flair and I predict that sales of this console will be greater than any other console because of the services on offer on The Xbox One. The feature of watching live TV, on demand streaming and web chat allows the user to change between the three quickly and efficiently.

Second Screening

Second Screening is a form of interacting with television and games. A contemporary example of a game with second screening is the Nintendo Wii U and Xbox SmartGlass. The game Nintendo Land for the Nintendo Wii U is an example of second screening in the mini game, Luigi's Haunted Mansion, involves the users controlling characters on the screen and one individual user controlling a ghost in order to capture the other characters, but only that one controlling the ghost can see the ghost on their individual second screen.

Zach Braff // Kickstarter (Crowdsourcing // Crowdfunding)

• http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/apr/30/zach-braff-hits-back-kickstarter-critics
• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/10024772/Zach-Braff-raises-2m-for-Garden-State-follow-up.html
• http://www.contactmusic.com/news/zach-braff-defends-crowd-sourcing-to-fund-new-film_3637074

Homework

Question 1(a) you need to write about your work for the foundation portfolio and advanced portfolio units and you may refer to other media production work you have undertaken. (Trailer and Music Magazine)

1. (a). 

• Describe the ways in which your production work was informed by research into real media texts and how your ability to use such research for production developed over time.

Music Industry and the Online Age

Technologies

Technologies in the music industry and the online age has changed and has gone from analog to digital.

What are the advantages of each technology over its predecessor??

• Capacity (hours//tracks)
• Sound quality
• Portability
• Durability of the recorded format
• Ability to copy
• Ease of sharing
• Speed of copying & Sharing

Technological Advancement

• Technological Convergence
• Coming together of 2 or more technologies
• iPhone and iPod touch
• Comsume music anywhere, have entire music collection in your pocket
• Impacted on institutions and audiences

The Big Changes Concentrate on:

• Music going DIGITAL
• BROADBAND
• CONVERGENCE

 How has the indroduction of Web 2.0 affected the Music Industry?

Web 1.0:

Web 1.0 was about the info being pushed onto us - it was mostly a space for browsing and reading. As technology has advanced Web 2.0 allows us to read, post and publish content without the need for specialist software.

This has positives and negatives for the Music Industry:

Positives of Web 2.0

• Unsigned acts - producee and distribute their own music without a label using Myspace music, Youtube etc...
• Indie Labels - Can operate solely online (production and distribution) keeping costs low hence they can focus more on the actual music - taking more risk
• Majors - can source bands who already have an established fanbase
• Advertise online - using info on individuals profiles to target them with music theyre seemingly interested in
• Wider audience can be reached
• Synergetic links with other companies eg x factor and songs can be downloaded instantly from itunes

Negatives of Web 2.0

• P2P sites such as napster which emerged in 1999 hits major companies in their core markets (western world) as previous pirate music came from the midele east as black market CDs.
• Impact on revenue streams - Weakened the divide between producers and consumers and foced a transformation in the circulation of media products
• Around the world in 2006 an estimated 5 billion songs were swapped on p2p websites (38,000 years of music) while 509 million were purchased online.
• That's 10 illegal downloads for every 1 legal download.

Terms to know


A digital native:

• Someone who has grown up in with 21st centuary technology
• A person born during or after the general introduction of digital technologies

A digital immigrant

• An individual whgo was born before the existance of Digital Technology and has adopted it to some extent later in their life

So does the music industry need the Internet?

Some would argue this, absolutely!!

The Midnight Beast are a young London band who are a Youtube sensation, they have millions of fans and have performed in numorous gigs. However they are not signed to a label. How has Digital Technology flamed their success???

Stages of production

• production
• distribution
• marketing
• exchance
• consumption

A2 Media Theories

Genre:

Daniel Chandler

Ideology of Genre

 

Narrative:

Todorov’s theory of Equilibrium and Disequilibrium

Roland Barthes’ Narrative Codes

Vladamir Propp

Levi-Strauss

Representation:

Queer Theory: Judith Butler

Feminism: Laura Mulvey

Hegemony

Pluralism

Semiotics

Steve Neale: Masculinity in Crisis

Alvarado et al: Racial Representations

Richard Dyer: Star Theory

Audience:

Blumler and Katz’s Uses and Gratification Theory

Cohen’s Moral Panic

Hypodermic Needle Model

Katz and Lasarfeld Two Step Flow

Reception Theory

Marxism

   

Look also at www.uktribes.com

Media Language:

Semiotics: Barthes

Ideology

Foulcault’s Post Structuralism

Louis Althusser: Interpellation

Post-Colonialism

AS Portfolio: Prelim and Music Magazine Comparison

School Newsletter

This is my prelim task which I have created for my AS portfolio. It is a school newsletter and as you can see it is very basic and unappealing. The colour scheme I have used is all wrong as some of the puffs//pugs colour conflicts with the image and surrounding features of this cover. I created this using Microsoft Publisher which has very little in creating a proffessional newsletter. It uses basic text which only has the ability to change its colour and font size which makes the overall look very unattractive. Next the image, because i was only using a basic program i could only add lighting effects to the image. But once i done this the image also conflicts with the colour scheme which makes this newsletter dull, unattractive and unprofessional. Even though there are bad features to this there are still some good features about this. For instance the positioning of the newsletters features. I have used a masthead in the correct position, dateline, main headline, puff//pug and a support story reguarding information within the newsletter.

My music magazine front cover

This is my music magazine cover which i have also created for my AS portfolio. But as you can see this has a more appealing and professional look to it. In my AS portfolio i have developed my skills and learned how to use a more advanced programme in order to create a more professional magazine cover which is more eye catching to the audience. The programme i have used is Adobe Photoshop which has allowed me to manipulate text and images in order to make this a professional media piece. Comparing this with my newsletter you can see the difference at just a glance and that is to do with the program i used to create this. For my mag cover i researched existing music magazine covers which allowed me to follow stick to and apply the codes and conventions of a music magazine front cover. My aim was to make this as appealing as possible so that it would be noticed at a glance. Photoshop has allowed me to make a more proffessional magazine cover and used a variety of fonts to make it comply with the codes and conventions of a msuic magazine front cover.

Historical Research on Online Music

http://cliftonhatfield.com/why-napster-failed-in-2001/
http://www.forbes.com/2000/04/14/mu4.html

The role of Napster in 2001:
What was Napster? What was special about the program?

Napster is a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file sharing were users shared music illegally over the Internet in MP3 format with each other from their own computers. The feature that made Napster special was the fact that you could share your collection with others for free. The way in which Napster worked was 1 person would buy a CD from for example HMV. Say for instance in the present day it was the album "21" by Adele, it would only take 1 person to rip that album and upload it to Napster which would automatically allow other users to download it. By doing this users would download it from Napster and share it across the Internet. Napster spread like wildfire, attracting hundreds of users and dramatically rising to its peak of 26 million users. At the time that wasn't as many as now as Facebook as 500+ million users. But after the millennium this was a huge number. In short terms, by using Napster, you were stealing.

What was the response from consumers?

Napster at its peak had over 26 million users which now isn't alot but at the time after the millenium this was a lot. Napster was so popular because of its free service which it offered to consumers. Napster was easy to use and easy to find songs which you wanted. This proved to be a lot easier and cheaper than actually travelling to a brick and mortor store and purchasing a physical copy.

What was the response from the artists?

During the rise of Napster Metallica got word that one of their demos "I Disappear" got leaked onto Napster before it was even released. Metallica decided to sue Napster along with the University of Southern California, Yale University and Indiana University and Metallica claimed that the Universities encouraged the usage of Napster. And copy songs without permission.

Metallica's drummer Lars Ulrich said this on the band's website, "Its sickening to know that our art is being traded like a commodity than the art that it is."

Metallica also claimed that the Universities are hypocritical as they can block the "Insidious and ongoing theivery scheme." The bottom line is that Metallica want their music to be heard legally by purchasing their album when it is released, they don't want to feel as though theyve been cheated."

Dr. Dre

What happened to Napster?



2. The role of iTunes:

When did iTunes get introduced?



What services does it offer?



How has it changed the music industry?



How has the platform changed between its inception and present day?

The ant-piracy Copyright Alert System: Is the Napster era finally dead?

http://theweek.com/article/index/240718/the-anti-piracy-copyright-alert-system-is-the-napster-era-finally-dead

In America, the 5 biggest Internet providers have partnered with the music industry and Hollywood to stop illegal downloading. Will it work??

When Napster first arrived on the scene they was a legal peer-to-peer sharing website but consumers used it for illegal downloading of copyrighted software. Soon after Napster ran into copyright problems and ceased with operations.

With the Internet struggling to contain illegal downloading of songs and albums since Napster arrised in the 1990s. It really began to take off when broadband connection was established and illegal downloads went off the rails. In America Hollywood studios joined within the fight to stop illegal downloading. As early threats to the public the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) began to sue college kids and mums for illegally downloading over peer-to-peer websites such as Napster. By doing this they gained a villianus reputation.

Fresh in the news this week those groups and 5 major American Internet service providers (ISP) launched a new scheme which involved the Six-Strikes Copyright Alert System. And this is how this works:
Groups, MPAA and RIAA will carefully monitor peer-to-peer file sharing websites such as torrent websites. The system is designed to catch people uploading or downloading anything over these torrent sites and they will record the consumers I.P address and send it to their provider and eventually reaching their computer screens. This process will happen and a series of up to 6 warnings will be sent to the user of the computer using the peer-to-peer websites.

To what extent has the Internet changed the TV and film industry

In recent times where technologies have developed and the Internet has had a massive effect on everything. I mean everything... The Internet, as wonderful and inspiring as it is has also had a massive effect on the TV and Film industries. Some good // positive effects and some bad // negative effects to. Myself I am a digital native is were I live and was born in the digital age of Broadband connections in my home along with everyone elses leaving behind Dial - up Internet. Broadband is a quicker service which allowed unlimited browsing time over the Internet. With the advancement of the Internet it has changed how we view television programs and films. Pre-Broadband era films were viewed by consumers like myself going out to the cinema. Films would get released in the cinema and would later on be released on VHS as DVDs didn't exist until the late 1990s early 2000s so the consumers would have to buy a physical copy of the film // TV show. Consumers would travel to video stores such as HMV or Blockbuster to rent or buy a physical copy, take it home, watch it, and return the rented item before the predetermined date or they would be fined for not returning it, resulting in the consumer potentially being banned from using their service again for being and unreliable customer. Renting and buying VHS had negative effects which involved that they can only hold a limited amount of film, in my own experience of using VHS tapes if i was video taping Wrestlemania on the television and I used two blank VHS, I had to swap VHS tapes when the tape was full and replace it with a fresh tape. Their memory was limited and now with DVD disks they can store massives amounts of data on them, including entire television series' and films. With the advancement of technology of the internet I am now able to watch this on the Internet, in some other people's cases, torrent websites, and DVDs which can be transfered to digital copies to watch on my phone, laptop or iPod. This process is called analog to digital. But by consumers buying and renting from shops such as HMV, this was the normal thing to do when purchasing a VHS before the Internet changed the way we view differently. Allowing consumers to do what they do now in the present day.

When Broadband Internet kicked-off and becoming rapidly available to everyone in their homes, it opened up a new, wide gap in the market for the television ad film industries. Websites such as Amazon.co.uk and Play.com were distributing media online for the consumers to buy at just a click of a button on their mouse. With this sort of service becoming more and more popular to the consumer, the high street major players HMV and Blockbuster were falling behind as a result of this. With TV and film being able to be purchased online less and less consumers would comute to the likes of HMV, Blockbuster because of the speed and simplicity of ordering over the Internet. At one time these video stores seemed to be taking off becoming the best way to buy // rent TV and film and now they are almost obsolete due to the rise in the digital age. Chris Anderson's Long Tail Theory (2006) applies to HMV and Blockbuster. This theory simply states that these stores only have a limited amound of shelf and storage space available were as Play.com and Amazon.co.uk are aimed at more niche products and audiences. By this I mean a consumer may travel to HMV or Blockbuster to buy a physical copy of a DVD in person and the store may be sold out of that or not even sell the product. Whereas Play and Amazon would sell these items as they can store more of those title and sell them digitally to the consumer. This in the long run does not benefit the likes of HMV and Blockbuster as their sales fall down on niche products whereas a massive collection of titles are marketed to a niche makret they will make more money in the long run than Blockbuster and HMV only selling the current // up to date products. This is known as more of less.

Another way in which the Internet has changed the TV and Film industry is the introduction is the introduction of Internet streaming and Catch up on Demand. Catch up TV is a service on the Internet or TV which allows viewers to catch up on missed programmes. For instance last week I missed Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway on ITV because I was out. But thanks to catch up television I was able to watch this TV show on my Apple iPad the day after via an ITV App for iPad. This is the same with other Apps on my iPad with Apps such as BBC iPlayer, 4oD (Channel 4 on Demand) and Demand 5 (Channel 5). These services are available with no adverts or interuptions whilst watching your missed shows to. These services are availble on TV, Laptop // Computer, Smartphones and tablets. Other streaming TV and Film sites include Youtube, Netflix and Love Film. All of these providers give the consumers quick and easy access to all their favorite TV shows and films at the tips of their fingers. This is known as Digital Distribution.

Most recently a TV series called House of Cards became available for Netflix subscribers to watch. Netflix is a film and TV rental service run over the internet and accessed through games consoles such as PS3 and XBOX and the interent. It allows the consumer to borrow the films // tv shows for as long as they want because the service is digital. Subribers pays £5.99 a month to access such a wide range and wide variety of films and tv shows and being able to watch them instantly over high speed internet. This sort of service really attracts a niche market as their range of tv shows and films are of al natures and genres, no film // tv show can hide on Netflix. Anyway the TV series House of Cards is a TV series only available to the subscribers of Netflix. Netflix has put all of the episodes from that series on Netflix at once, the benefit of this is that viewers do not have to wait week by week for a new episode on the television like in some cases now, (me and top gear) they can watch all of the episodes in a row if they want. The service is instant. This has positives and negatives to it. The positive effect of giving the viewers access to all the episodes at once is that they can watch them any time any where at their own leisure. A negative effect is that viwers cannot discuss episodes via social network (facebook, twitter, texting, etc..) which leads to viewers being further ahead in the series thus if they slip up and tell someone something in an episode they might not have seen it, so this can create spoilers for some viewers.

On of the negative effects the Internet has had on the TV and film industry is the creation of torrent websites. This is were content of tv shows and films is illegally distributed for free meaning that the consumer will not pay for it. An example of this is that if you were to go see "Die Hard 6" in the cinema it might cost you £10 to go and watch it, and £10 to buy the DVD, consumers are downloading illegally over  the internet via torrent sites to get these films // tv shows for free. This is resulting in less and less people buying DVDs and going to the cinema to buy // watch these films and the cinema companies loss money and potentially risk going into administration. This user generated content is piracy over the interent via torrent websites. This has had an effect as people are getting more and more lazy because they can access torrent websites at the tip of their fingers on their laptops, they are not spending money.

How Netflix threatens to change the television industry

A recent example on how the streaming media network Netflix threatens to change the television industry is the recent release of the whole television series of House of Cards to Netflix subscribers. Netflix has funded the entire series in return  for it to be showed only on Netflix to their subscribers  Almost two weeks ago Netflix premiered all 13 episodes of the television series House of Cards online to it's Netflix subscribers. By Netflix offering this to the public for as cheap as £5.99 a month to watch anything anytime anywhere is a very small amount for such a large variety of fast and current television shows and movies.

House of Cards is new exclusive to Netflix US political drama series featuring Kevin Spacey. The entire series of House of Cards debuted on February 1st 2013 exclusively on Netflix for it's users. One of the advantages of this is that Netflix users can view all episodes one after an other anytime they want. Whereas on the other hand if House of Cards was to be broadcasted on the television channels such as ABC or HBO as two examples, the audience would have to wait each week for a new episode, this would last for 13 weeks, but with House of Cards broadcasting their television show this way it is of constant risk of 'leaking' via Torrent websites on the Internet and the audience seeing it in advance anyway for free.

Another good feature of Netflix is that before user's subscribe to the £5.99 a month subscription, Netflix offered the audience a 1 month free trial to experience Netflix. A problem of this in my opinion is from my own experience with a 1 month free trial is that Netflix only offer a limited amount of TV shows and movies, the TV shows and movies shown tend not to be major blockbusters and up to date content. I wanted to watch The Dark Knight Rises but I couldn't on my free trial, and that the up to date blockbusters and other content are included in the paid packages. This entices the audience to pay for their service.

Netflix was founded in 1997 and was not always an instant anytime anywhere service where the audiences got to watch a title instantly. Before the digital age of digital distribution in 1999 Netflix had started a subscription based distribution service, and as time past and technology began to develop, Netflix offered a collection of over 10,000 titles and had at least 10 million subscribers in the year 2009. DVDs where delivered by Netflix to subscribers via the postal service. Where subscribers would place an order to rent a DVD and it would be sent to them in person, not digitally today which is much easier. This ment that the subscribers of Netflix had to wait in order to rent their DVD, whereas now, it is instant.

Because House of Cards is shown exclusively to Netflix the audience has to sign up for Netflix's monthly subscription costing the audience £5.99. And at present House of Cards is the most viewed program on Netflix since debuting on the 1st of February. Proves that people are subscribing to Netflix to watch House of Cards. In an article on http://www.worldtvpc.com/blog/netflix-will-not-be-sharing-house-of-cards-viewing-figures/ Netflix have stated that they will not be revealing the show's figures for the benefit of the television companies or media because Netflix's Chief Creative Officer, Ted Sarandos has "... no motivation..." to release these figures.

 

Crowd Sourcing

Questions to answer on crowdsourcing:

1. What is Jeff Howe's Definition of Crowd Sourcing?
2. What does the video believe is the key to successful crowd-sourcing?
3. Why do "crowds" form on the internet? Are you part of an online crowd- if so which?
4. What are the crucial terms in Jeff Howes idea of crowd-sourcing? why is this crucial?
5. Name two reasons why this type of crowd-sourcing is now possible?
6. how effective do you believe it to be?
7. What do you think is the motivation behind it?
8. Name three advantages and disadvantages of a crowd sourcing?

Answers:

1. Jeff Howe's definition of Crowd Sourcing: Crowd Sourcing is when a company takes a job that was once performed by employees and outsources it in the form of an open call to a large, undefinied group of people, generally using the Internet. The Crucial Terms of Crowd Sourcing is Open Call and Undefined, and they both give the same idea that the person you think will be the most qualified for the job actually isn't always the best person for it. A current example of Crowd Sourcing is the Ford Focus advert for a new car where the public/crowd filmed themselves using Ford cars and then the film makers at Ford picked and edited the best footage to advertise Ford. It was an advert made by the people.

To bw finished...

Case Study Homework

• Using the internet, examine a current fim?
• Can it be downloaded? Where from?
• How many screens is it being shown on?
• Is it being shown in print or digitally?
• What impact have audiences produced films have?
• What types of film are shown on user generated sites?
• Are audiences remixing film trailers? Why?
• Conclusion: Review material and make a list of key issues and developments. What impact has the Internet had on the film industry?

Websites:
Odeon.co.uk Youtube.com google.com imdb.com movieweb.com

The film that I am going  to examine is the film, Flight, starring Denzel Washington, Nadine Velazquez and Carter Cabassa. (CAN IT BE DOWNLOADED? WHERE FROM? FIND OUT AT HOME OF WEBSITES THAT CAN BE USED!) Flight is currently being screened in Odeon Cinemas, sometimes 3 times a week in some cinemas and in London West End and Leicester Square Cinemas is not showing the film at all. The film is rated by the BBFC as a 15+ film because of strong language, nudity, sex references and drug and alcohol abuse. (IS THE FILM SHOWN DIGITALLY OR PRINT? FIND OUT) .... To be finished...

Research Task - Media in online age

1). Development of the internet:

1. The World Wide Web was first concieved in 1969 and then invented in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee
2. when the first website was launched amd what it featured - 1991 info.cern
3. The first banner ad - 1994
4. launch of youtube - 2005
5. when was google.com first registered - 1998
6. when broadband internet became available and how it changed our habits online - 2000
7. when amazon.com was first launched - 1994
8. when the term web 2.0 became frequently used -

web 2.0 slide share - http://www.slideshare.net/CharisCreber/david-gauntlett-and-media-20

ASA

BBFC

Ofcom and Press Complaints Commission // PCC

Ofcom - //( http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/tell-us/ )//

Help Links: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/broadcast-codes/broadcast-code/ // http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/tell-us/tv-and-radio/sponsorship-and-product-placement/

1. Which media does Ofcom handle complaints about?

Ofcom deals with complaints about Television // Radio // Phones // Internet // Pay TV // Postal service.

2. What aspects of a programme broadcast on commercial radio and TV can it consider?

Ofcom can consider all of the complaints received by who ever sent it in. They will access any complaint against the broadcasting code. The code contains rules UK broadcasters must comply with (even the BBC in certain areas).

3. What issues can it consider relating to programmes broadcast by the BBC?

 Stated on Ofcom's website, http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/tell-us/tv-and-radio/accuracy-or-bias-on-the-bbc/, Ofcom say that, "If your complaint relates to matters of due impartially, due accuracy, bias or commercial references in BBC Programming, please make a complaint directly to the BBC.

The BBC Trust regulates these areas rather than Ofcom. The website says that the Ofcom Broadcasting Code contains rules relating to such matters on commercial services, but under the terms of the Communications Act the BBC is not licenced by Ofcom in the same way as the commerical broadcasters, and to reflect this situation a Memorandum of Understanding exists between Ofcom and the BBC Trust. So the BBC is ultimately accountable to the BBC Trust with regard to these areas. The BBC has a formal complaints process and complaints should be escalated with them in the first instance, as outlined in the BBC's complaints handling procedures on its website.

4. What issues can it consider relating to sponsorship?



5. What sanctions can it impose on media institutions?



6. What is not within its remit?

Press Complaints Commission

1. In 2012, what proportion of complaints made to the PCC were about accuracy in reporting?




2. What proportion of complaints were related to intrusion into privacy?




3. Who is the code drawn up by?




4. How do the PCC justify their self-regulation of their industry?




5. How is the PCC funded?




6. List the 16 main headings of the Code of Practice of the PCC.

To be Finished....

Play.com Closing

Play.com Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-20953357

The following story is that in the news this week, Jersey retailer Play.com closes direct retail business from March. Play.com is to shut down its retail business to become a marketplace-only business. Items sold were sold at a price of £15 or less to the UK VAT-free, this is because the Jersey based firm blamed the move on the ending of Low Value Consignment Relief. This has resulted in all of the 147 staff from the Jersey offices and 67 of the staff from the Cambridge and Bristol offices being made redundant as a result of the closure. Play.com will now become more like a shopping mall, no longer selling directly to customers. The LVCR (Low Value Consignment Relief) loophole was closed by the UK government in April 2012.

In a statment made by Play.com they said, "Moving forward we are intending to focus exclusively on our successful marketplace, which is our main business area, and to phase out the direct - retail part of our business." The changes, confirmed by a spokesperson, said that the changes are meant completely pulling out of Jersey, but about 200 staff would be left in a restructured company based in Cambridge. In total about 600 people have lost their jobs in the island because of the end of the LVCR, said Jersey's economic development minister, Senator Alan Maclean. He also said, "I'm saddened, this is a Jersey business, set up in the island that did extraordinarily well, that became a global brand. We will work with other businesses and enterpreneurs to help them develop the next Play.com." He said the government would do all it could to help and support those who were out of work because of this. 'Another hammer blow' referred to the island's economy by David Warr, president of Jersey's chamber of commerce. David stated, "That's a significant increase in the number of people unemployed... and obviously that should be a concern to everyone. I think we are going to have to work very hard to find these people new places to work."

Play.com was taken over by Japanese e-commerce operator Rakuten in September of 2011. Rakuten paid £25M // $39.3M // 28.6M Euros for Play.com, and at the time of purchase it had 14M registered users and was one of the largest online retailers in the United Kingdom.

HMV and Blockbuster Going Into Administration

Thursday, 17/01/2013 - In the news this week is the news that both HMV stores and Blockbuster stores have both gone into administration. HMV have suspended purchases online forcing the administrators to close down their website hmv.com until further notice. Dispite Blockbusters also going into administration their website is up and running so therefore customers can still purchase items online for the time being.

Blockbuster:

With Blockbuster going into administration this week they have put almost 4000 jobs at risk because of recent events. The reason for Blockbuster going into administration is due to the rise in Digital Distribution Services such as Netflix. Netflix and Blockbuster are the same, attracting the same audiences. But Netflix appeals to the more niche market whereas Blockbuster only has a limited amount of shelf space, Netflix doesn't. This ties in with Chris Anderson's Long Tail Theory. Netflix's customers can get instant access to any film on the market instantly for a £5.99 a month subscription. Blockbuster members would have to commute to a Blockbuster store which takes longer on the other hand Netflix subsribers are attracting more people because of it's instant service which can be used from the comfort of your own home.

HMV:

HMV is the last major high street music chain left. And it has currently this week gone into administraion. This is bad and disappointing news which again threatens the jobs of thousands of people across and the last remaining major high street music chain is on the verge of exstintion. Although the fact that HMV has gone into admin doesn't come as much as a shock, as similar stores such as Zavvi and Virgin Megastores have had the same issues and now do not exist. These shops are where most people bought their very first albums from here. I bought my first album from Zavvi in 2007 and the album was Infinity on High by Fall Out Boy, and now it does not exist. Some people will have never heard of Zavvi and it was one of the major music chains on the high street at the time. All of this is due to the massive rise in digital media services such as iTunes, where music lovers can pay a very same amount for albums and individual songs instantly.

The Long Tail (2006)

The Long Tail is one of three main theories I will be using within Media In The Online Age prep. The Long Tail which was created in 2006 by Chris Anderson and his theory states that the Pre - Broadband Internet era highstreet stores would have to focus on selling the new/current/popular films of the time in order to fulfil their profit margin. But by doing this the store were it is being sold only has a limited amount of shelf space and warehouse space in order to stock these films. And by doing this and these stores stocking the new/current/popular films for consumers to buy the niche market of products would not be stocked in the same capacity as the new/current/popular films of the present day or even go as far to not be stocked at all, meaning that the consumers couldn't purchase/rent the films of their choosing. Chris Anderson's Long Tail Theory states that due to the Post/Present - Broadband Internet websites such as Play.com, Netflix and Amazon.com where able to stream the niche products digitally meaning that they are stocked to the online retailers and do not have any limitations on shelf space in a store like Blockbusters or HMV. The sales of the niche market products added together enabled will equal or overtake the profit of highstreet stores sales.

The Long Tail theory can be applied to the music industry to ,were highstreet stores like Zavvi and Virgin used to sell music as CDs and albums theses stores are now existinct and only had limited shelf space for the niche market products. All music is downloaded and streamed online through iTunes. The benefit of iTunes is that almost every artist can be found and their music purchased and downloaded. Benefiting the niche market and making a profit to.

Below shows a diagram of the Long Tail and the video created by Chris Anderson and his theory of the Long Tail.

The long Tail is the red line represents all products including the niche market which will continue and not run out and is used digitally wereas the blue line can be represented as the store Blockbuster which has just gone into administration and has limited shelf space so are not able to stock the niche products.

Amazon going digital

Write a case study on each story saying what you've found out and link it to media and the online age. In as much detail as possible.

BBC News Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20972027

Amazon Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57563243-93/amazon-lets-rip-with-autorip-music-service/

Amazon has introduced a new service to users known as AutoRip. But AutoRip is only available in the United States of America and it will automatically keep digital copies of eligable CDs in the customer's cloud storage account. To name a few artists who have digital copies available for AutoRip are Adele and Pink Floyd to name two artists, plus many more. These copies are free to the customers. With AutoRip, customers of Amazon will be able to gain access to their music through Amazon's Cloud Player on the Internet via Tablets, Android, iPhone and Smartphone Apps. So far there are 50,000 CDs in the Amazon catalogue available for AutoRip.  AutoRip is trying to steal some of the thunder of Apple in the music business. By having a similar software to them they are now competing with Apple in the Onine Age. When customers have bought a physical copy of a CD from Amazon they will also be able to listen to the digital copies of them which are automatically stored to their Amazon Cloud Account.

The catalogue has been formed with albums and artists which have proved to be the most popular over the last 15 years with Amazon customers. To name a few in the catalogue, "Thriller" by Michael Jackson, "21" by Adele and "Dark Side Of The Moon" by Pink Floyd. For any existing customer who has bought a CD from Amazon the last 15 years since 1998 they will be able to recieve a free MP3 Copy of that CD. Steve Boom, the Head of Digital Music at Amazon said in a statement that, "When we picked those 50,000 titles we focused on having substantial majority of our physical CD sales covered."

In the long run of things Amazon Cloud Player will allow the users of this potentially to build up a digital libary of their music and having a collection of songs and artists they enjoy listening to. And before this service users would have to 'RIP' their own CDs in order to get digital copies, now it is instant. This is to compete with rivals, Apple iTunes who offer the same service.

Internet Meme

An Internet Meme is a concept that spreads via the Internet. An Internet Meme can be found in the form of an image, video, hyperlink, hashtag or a website. An Internet Meme maybe just a word or phrase which occasionally intentionally misspell. For example words like, more will be mispelt to spell 'moar' or the will be mispelt like 'teh'. These words or phrases create small movements which spread virally from person to person through websites, blogs, emails and social media such as Twitter. Memes like these often relate to existing Internet cultures and Internet subcultures. These are often based on websites such as Tumblr, Instergram and including many others.

An Internet Meme may stay the same or they can evole over time, this can happen by chance or through commentary, parody, imitations or by incorporating news accounts about itself. Some Interent Memes can gain world-wide popularity within a few days of being released. They are usually formed by or through, social interaction, pop culture or some situations that people find themselves in. Here is an example of an Internet Meme:

This Internet Meme has been created by using an image of the character 'Sheldon Cooper' from the television series 'The Big Bang Theory'. The Internet Meme is simply asking a rhetorical question, 'Why so serious?' This has been asked because of the a massive smile on his face. The Meme has been created for a comedy effect and also so that it is memorable.