#MCST3090JenningsFall2017

[nilyaj-blog]

Brockhampton A Critical Case Study

Brockhampton originally a Texas boy band, now based out of LA is one of if the not the most progressive group. 

Where there are many examples that subvert many expected perspectives found within the genre I’m just going to focus on one verse. In one of the groups single for the second album in their Saturation Trilogy called junky where the group does as the often do contributing verse that come off as lyrical diary entries of the group most personal thoughts over wonky beats that sound off a trippy Willy Wonka. For me the song ends after the 4th verse where the bands pretty boy Matt Champion goes off on misogynistic men whose intentions only progress the ideology of rape culture. 

Rape culture is defined as the sociological concept that describes rape as pervasive and normalizes due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality. If you look through the lens of Halls-Collins you can see how Matt is trying to challenge societies hegemonic view in this verse. He accomplishes this in the way in which he flips raps male power fantasy on its head. Matt antagonizes men who mistreat women though have the expectation of ownership of them trying to coerce them with phrases like “Just the tip”. He continues this by questioning their moral and demanding respect where he still illustrates a high level of what may be considered toxic masculinity he does it for positive reasons. Refusing to present women such as his mother and sister rather than just those two individuals as just their booty. Given that he could have easily written a verse that takes the opposite angle labeling his women partners as “B*tches” and presenting them objectively as tools for sex the verse would be overlooked and the song only pushing forward a narrative as old as the genre itself. 

Themes of rape culture are littered throughout mainstream hip-hop take for example A$ap Rocky’s contribution to the G-Eazy song No Limit where he ends the chorus with

This alludes to the idea of Rocky having supreme control over these sexual encounters and the admission of these women being in danger. I often find that rape culture has become so prolific in our culture at large many of those who express it in the media do so unconsciously. Where Rocky does show progressive views concerning women and the deconstruction of misogyny so this isn’t to say these words are ill intentioned the point is more on the idea on we as a society have internalized the ideas of the media we consume so it is necessary to be conscious and be  willing to call it when we see it and in turn it is beneficial to show support and attention highlighting content that challenges the patriarchy because it is not in the benefit of the patriarchy to promote subversive ideals.

[rachelhowieewrites]

Social Media Ruining Social Connection

For this blog post the technological issue I chose to identify is how social media can ruin social connection. I read an article by Michael O. Schroeder titled, “For Some Troubled Kids and Teens, Social Media Can Be a ‘Vicious Circle’” which, much to my surprise, was not about teens being cyber bullied. But in fact this article went into great detail on how the way different children think, can affect the way they consume social media. The article explains how for certain people growing up, who are shy or not as outspoken, the social media circle can be a great way for them to open up and get to know their peers: “Kids feel that they are connected, they feel that they are communicating, and yet they are not face-to-face, so they don’t worry as much about being not liked or being rejected” (Schroeder). Though on the other hand, for other children who have psychological issues social media can be a way to isolate them. Experts argue that being on social media while a child is struggling with a psychological problem, they can lose the connectivity they feel when interacting with someone face-to-face. The internet and various websites give the child a feeling of split realities, one reality is online where they can show people what they want them to see, and the other being real-life, which can create isolate feelings so the child feels no one knows who they really are (Schroeder). In fact, who’s to say that social media isn’t amplifying these feelings of negative mental health? Research shows that children who spent 2 hours or more on social media were more likely to show signs of depression, anxiety, or other mental illness (Schroeder). This article continues on to give several pieces of advice, one of them being to only let a child use social media sites for one hour a day. However, what I really took away from this article is how much social media has overrun and plagued our society. And even if we wanted to escape the grip these different media sites had on us we couldn’t, currently I’m ranting about social media on a social media platform, so that proves how much we as a society depend on our internet connection. I find it aggravating that we continue to use social media as a way for living our lives, and a separate life from the one we actually live. The fact that there have been studies to prove that simply being on social media can lead to feelings of isolation which can in turn lead to depressive-like symptoms should be enough to limit our usage. But unfortunately this is the world we live in, the technological age, where we are always in touch with one another yet we find the need to be constantly involved and updated with other people’s affairs instead of living out our own life.

https://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-wellness/articles/2015/09/17/for-some-troubled-kids-and-teens-social-media-can-be-a-vicious-circle

[ayymartinez]

Technology

So I found a very very short little article, I’m not even sure it is an article it is more like a blog post. However, I found it very interesting because it is listing the problems with social media nowadays and new technology itself. The article is called 5 Problems with Social Media and Technology, by Elena Schleusner written in December 2015. I think this relates a lot to our class because this is literally all that we talk about is technology and how its changing and running our lives, and how we are adapting to it. “We are forgetting to live in the moment” is number five on the list and I think that this is the most important one, and the one that all of the other issues come back to. Culturally we are addicted to our phones, we snap pictures of EVERYTHING. We text and we shorten our word so that they’re not even words anymore they are just letters put together to sound the same or shorten real words; OMG, LOL, LUV. I think the way that technology is growing, has all of us wanting bigger and better. We thrive on the excitement that a phone with a face scanner is coming out, and a car that can park itself has been made. However, technology isn’t always the bad guy in every situation, technology also yields new innovations for the world in many different fields of work and media. Food, Art, Business, there are new innovations being made every day from the use of technology that doesn’t deal with writing 140 characters or less, or posting a pic on IG.

[tmonay101]

Distribution and Aggregation of Popular Albums

The process in which films, novels, video games, and music is disperse3d throughout the media industry follow the general rule of Producer- Distributer- Aggregator- to Consumer. In the music industry the production and distribution of the latest albums was controlled by large production companies with deep pockets who had the power to control not only the content that was being produced, but also how and where the content was distributed. This practice has its way of stifling creativity and floods the industry with repetitive content. Years ago, the main aggregator in the distribution of music was iTunes because consumers were purchasing more music online than buying physical albums in stores. Now that purchasing music online is the norm, many can argue that streaming services such as Pandora & are becoming the main aggregators. The interesting thing about distribution in the music industry is that the trend of artist becoming their own aggregators is becoming more and more popular. For example Chance the Rapper wanted to take back the power from large production companies artist by being his own producer, distributer, and aggregator by creating and releasing his music independently as mix tapes on online streaming outlets like soundcloud. An artist that did this well with this practice is Beyoncé with her lemonade Album. Because Beyoncé produced this album under her own production company Parkwood Entertainment she had complete control over the content that she created and the way it was distributed. Rather than taking the traditional route and printing multiple albums she did an exclusive release of the album on her husband’s subscription based streaming service, Tidal. For almost a month her Tidal was the only place that you could watch and listen to her visual album even finding copies on music sharing web site’s was nearly impossible. When she finally did decide to release it to other outlets, it was strictly on her own terms and in the time frame that she determined. This created more buzz around her album and generated more sales because people were anticipating her music. Even now, the original album is not streamed on sights like Pandora, Spotify, and Soundcloud.

[toriend]

Regulated Content

One thing I was aware of, but not fully knowledgeable about was the Federal Communications Commission, also known as the FCC, is a governmental agency that enforces the “regulatory provisions that govern many media industries, particularly broadcast and cable television, telephony, and some aspects of the internet” (Havens and Lotz, 2017, pg. 251). The FCC holds a strong role in regulation of content for various shows that air on television especially talk shows, or any show that’s live for that matter. Another lesson I learned was that the FCC regulates content through two types of speech held through what’s called prior restraint and they include obscene and indecent. Obscene is “a type of speech that is not protected by the First Amendment” (Havens and Lotz, 2017, pg. 80). Indecency is “’language or material that depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory activities or organs’” which is legally allowed to air during the hours of 10pm and 6pm (Havens and Lotz, 2017, pg. 80). 

An example of obscene content is a talk show such as The Ellen Degeneres Show who is a comedian that has potential to be edgy, but self-regulates her limits to where she’s not labelled as indecency. The clip you’ll find above displays her comedic monologue that seems it could be edgy with the title “Does Ellen Smoke Weed?”, but Ellen plays it safe as usual. This daytime show is a source of family friendly entertainment where explicit content is practically never seen and also airs between 2 and 4pm depending on location. Yet, shows such as Modern Family or Scandal, tend to air around 8pm or 9pm which is pushing the limit towards the indecent content. However, they are still labelled as obscene since their shows have content regulations to meet and being a series where editing and cutting is present makes it more realistic to place them as obscene. Then there’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon or Saturday Night Live who tend to show very sensitive content that may be offensive and unreal in daytime television. Since these shows air after 10pm, the FCC realizes that most families, especially with children, are asleep. Thus, the audience they tend to target are adults who are looking to enjoy adult content. SNL came out with a recent skit called “Close Encounter” with Kate McKinnon, Ryan Gosling, and Cecily Strong. They act out a fictional story about being kidnapped by aliens and the sensitive content tends to derive Kate McKinnon’s language describing how her clothes fell off and the aliens were touching her in certain places and so on. Other skits from SNL as well as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon tend to get political especially with relative current events and depending on whether one is liberal or conservative, this content will most likely be offensive. Yet, FCC regulates it through the indent speech and is legal to air. As long as live shows self-regulate their content and stay within their guidelines, these entertainers continue to be successful and produce some very laughable content.

Reference

Havens, T., Lotz, A.D. (2017). Understanding Media Industries. Oxford University Press: New York.  

[thefroggyfiles-blog]

The U.S. Adopting T.V. Programs From The U.K.

The media industry is defined by the people that consume it. Well aware of this feat, producers and executives of major media distribution companies will use ratings and polls to take advantage of trends in society to produce content that caters to this trend. These trends often become apart of the industries and will become mandate to an extent and are known as a lore. One example of a lore is the adoption of television programs from the United Kingdom among American producers.

The list of programs that have been rendered American from the U.K. is astronomical. It includes all types of shows from Sci-Fi to game show. Some of the more successful American series include Shameless, The Office, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Cash Cab, Hell’s Kitchen and more. These series went on to have great success because they were able to forge an identity and a following independently from their U.K. counterpart.

On the contrary series’ like Viva Laughlin were monumental failures. This series was a comedy-drama musical popularly know on BBC network as Blackpool. One of the major critique of this film is that the plot and the acting. The major problem was being able to cast all of these very talented singers/actors/actresses and having them perform. I think that the producers of the show overlooked the American public lack of taste for finer arts and that also played a role in it’s demise after only two airings. 

[kelsietree-blog]

Industry lore is supposedly based on common sense, though it is usually based more on perceptions than on actual evidence and research. Social and cultural ideas of race, religion, and life in general, shape and mold what eventually comes to the consumers in a final product. There is usually a common theme that is stuck to and used over and over, and when something challenges this and fails, its often hard to decide whether it failed because it went against the lore or for other numerous reasons. In recent news, professional football player Cam Newton is in some hot water over some choice words to a reporter. During the interview, Newton was asked about receiver routes from a female reporter, his response, “It’s funny to hear a female talk about routes like- it’s funny”. While his comment is extremely displaced, and rather distasteful, Newton to some extent is right, women in sports writing or sports in general is usual considered light hearted and not as serious as it is with men. Female reporters are often overlooked and when they are considered, their physical appearance plays a major role in their job. The reporter, Jordan Rodrigue, hit back saying, “I don’t think it’s funny, I think it’s my job”. Though the lore is that men dominate this industry, and men basically are the industry in whole. “Those with more agency pass information and often do what they know, from their gut, Those with more perceptions pass these perceptions on to those below them and those they mentor, and the industry lore remains in place”(Havens and Lotz,2016, pg.163). Somewhere along the line, Newton had this perception placed in his head from the media and those who work with him and above him, that’s why he found it “funny”. Though it is reporters like Rodrigue, which break the lore and show that they are just as capable of doing the job as any man. The impact of industry lore is significant, “consequences for enabling certain kinds of content and viewers while disabling others”(Lotz and Havens, 2016, pg.163) exists. Cam Newton’s consequences, national ridicule and loss of sponsorship. The consequences for the media outlets who continue to foster environments where women are believed to be less superior to men in broadcasting has not prevailed yet, though it is a growing revolution that continues to be brought to light in good ways, and bad such as this incident with Newton. 

References: Lotz, Amanda and Timothy Havens.(19 January 2016). Understanding Media Industries. London: Oxford University Press.

[esaigonzalez]

Non Advertiser Media vs Advertiser Media

A well known example of a media advertiser is the radio stations by the fact that these radio shows are sponsored by different ads and have different sponsors to gain revenue for their stations network. Radio stations content is formed by topics that are trending in the news and are given a straight to line to follow. They also play music based on the listeners they gained which is big way advertisers work with radio stations. For example if you listen to a Hip-Hop radio stations the advertisers will be more current for young adults like clothing stores, popular TV shows, etc. 

A well known non advertiser is Spotify, Spotify is a subscription based app for music streams to gain their revenue. Spotify has different subscriptions they have premium, premium family, student discount, and premium with other companies. Spotify content is to bring music to their listeners and other audio type content such as podcast and stand up comedy short clips. Also Spotify will recommend you artist depending on the type of genre or artist you listen to. 

Radio stations income is heavily affected through their content because depending on the advertisers or sponsors that help you out you have make your content work for the sponsors so that they will continue to work with you. 

Spotify income is heavily affected through the type of artists who content is on the app. Their income has to work with their listeners so that music that is on their app works for us as the consumer. If Spotify doesn’t have the artistes that we may like, we as the consumer may not use the app and go to a different music streaming app.  

[savethewooks-blog]

Media Regulations

Our societal concepts of media ethics are incredibly arbitrary and are governed more so by the status-quo and fear of lawsuits than any grounded moral boundaries. If it’s going to get viewers than it’s going on T.V., and if there is a female nipple in there you can find the full, uncensored version on the internet.  

I’m flipping through the channels trying to set up some ISIS recruitment videos and chill for my girlfriend and I, and all I can find are grown ass men smacking their heads together. It just seems a little open-ended as to what is appropriate to show children. Showing them dead US soldiers may make them rethink their 5 second Call of Duty spawn time and dismiss the military industrial complex. Instead we have them trapped into these meat-eating, head-bricking, hyper-masculine product of the times, and anyone who falls short has a life time of hot-dogs, beer and spectating to look forward to. Sportsball!

[nilyaj-blog]

Saturation and why it popped

In having a deeper understanding for the Media landscape, you get a better since of what virality means for a particular piece of content or content creator(s). This bring me to the popular of America’s next hit boy-band Brockhampton this large hip-hop/pop collective has amassed a cult like filling of young fans that do as the track Follows “Anywhere I go boys wanna follow”.

In analyzing their rise to fame many draw close parallels to the rise of Odd Future another alt hip-hop/jazz collective who broke out around late 2010. Where Odd Future had the talented and strange Tyler the Creator, Brockhampton has the charmingly awkward Kevin Abstract who had a solid buzz around his debut album American Boyfriend who fell on deaf ears among critics but was beloved by fans. Kevin’s story of being openly bisexual man growing up in an area where many people didn’t except him especially his family he pushed away from that starting a group with friend he made on the Kanyetothe fan forum would be picked up by Viceland as a mini doc. This would later evolve into in Brockhampton the group with Kevin as the ring leader. On Kevin’s first tour which was featured in the documentary you see Kevin traveling in a van with all of his friends placing shows around the country with his bros beside him. Now not to discredit the group for their immense of talent

but their approach to creating and distribute their work has as much to do with their rise to fame and the means then in producing it. First I’ll start with how Kevin suffered from his predecessor Tyler, where Odd Future would be defined by the collective rating of their artists solo material, Brockhampton’s strength are shown when they are together showing immense levels of chemistry rarely found in newer acts of their size.

Outside of Kevin no other member of the group has any solo material in the sense of a full project. This is intentional where every rapper or singer in the group isn’t the most versatile in their deliver or content that all add and strengthen each other. There songs often consist of catchy hooks with person verses of their lives both before and after garnering fame.

This formula resonates with their young high school age audience who have begun to sell out their shows nationwide. Next after the music has been produced, mixed and mastered they don’t just drop single with cover art, they make music fun diy music video that could probably have replicated by any number of competent amateur filmmakers out there but carries so much of the members personality in them and as a result their content stands out among the many VEVO music videos releasing every other week. Weird wiggling bodies, the tire screech of a golf cart, and their jackass esque introduction leads into the sounds of a chopped-up tuba rising and falling, you begin to want to bob your head to the rhythm as three blue men ride around delivering Hollywood inspired bars about themselves with visceral amounts of braggadocio; this acid trip of a music video has wonderful shot composition that maintains the viewers interest throughout along with weird props like a giant pencil or baby mask.

This content can be cut up for different social media platforms so that it can be shared among both old and new fans. They have reached a point their discography that fans anticipate release even archiving out forgotten material for those interested in versions of the songs or music videos that failed to make the cut. Finally, once the full album is released fans and critics eat it up because the group builds expectations and has delivered on two consecutive attempts within the span of a year.

[rachelhowieewrites]

The Culture Framework

In chapter two of “Understanding Media Industries,” the authors speak about how the media industry can be a very unstable environment. Media producers are almost never aware of how well a product or text will do once it hits the public eye. The authors go on to explain what media producers do to limit the chances of complete failure, and how they can semi predict what may happen when their audience gets a hold of the final project.

The media text I will be examining in this post will be the movie “Avatar.” The reason I chose this particular film is because it was something unlike what the media had produced before. In the chapter the authors went into great detail about how much of the time different media industries end up producing the same general products. This is because media industries take data after their product is released so they know how the public reacts, so if the public likes the last superhero movie that was released, why not make another superhero movie? It’s all about making the consumer as happy as possible because that’s the way the industry will make its money. That’s why I chose “Avatar,” now the industry responsible for this movie probably went through a great deal of controversy when creating this film, they had to respond to the risks of the movie possibly failing before it hit theaters. They knew it was something different then what the public had seen before, even though it had some elements of films that had worked in the past. For example, “Avatar” included the thrill of most action movies, because it required the Na’vi people to fight for what they believed in. This almost always appeals to the public, we can take a look at the entire Marvel industry for evidence. Because this industry is a commercial mandate, or an industry that needs to make money in order to survive, they also had to somehow find a way to get their movie out to the public eye before it went out in theaters. Advertising was a way for the industry to get the name and premise of the movie out there before it was fully released. The other way advertising works is that the producers are now able to respond to the risk by collecting data and seeing how many people that viewed the trailer were now interested in seeing the movie. This allows for companies to get a taste of how many people in the public would be interested in paying money for your film, which can help a lot in reducing the risks of creating a film. Another way the industry responded to the risks of the film was by conglomeration. If you pay attention to the opening credits before the movie start you will see that the movie was primarily made by Twentieth Century Fox. However, that was also in association with Dune Entertainment, Ingenious Film Partners, and Lightstorm Entertainment. Now conglomeration of media production companies can be a great thing, it gets more heads and ideas on the project which can, in turn, create a better film.

There are a lot of ways to minimize the risks of creating a media texts. Others include bundling, intentional overproduction, and ars longa. So even though the media industries still hold this idea that “nobody knows” what can happen to a text prior to release, there are things media companies can do to avoid complete and utter failure.

[ayymartinez]

I would like to talk about the music industry, in particular the way we distribute music nowadays. I don’t think that I have been able to soak up as much information from this class like many of my peers have but, from what I have gathered I have enjoyed learning new things about media. I have read over the definition of digitization a few times and I have tried to really understand what it means and what the significance of the “digital codes” are, is this like making songs from a CD into a mp3 version? If this is right, then digitization plays a big role in the way we consume music today. Although not everyone like to pay for their songs, everyone today one way or another knows how to download music whether it is free or not. Hardly anyone that I know today, besides my mother, uses CD’s as a way to consume music. Almost everyone either downloads music off the internet, uses Pandora, or uses YouTube to play free music. With the amount of technology in the world today you would think that people would stop being so cheap, and just pay to download a song or pay nine dollars to listen to music without ads for a month. I think that the time that I’ve spent in this class has given me a new perspective on how to view media, and what goes on behind the scenes of the media/text before it is consumed. I don’t think I ever would have thought that there could be media out there that is not supported by advertisers. Or that television shows could be paid by sponsors, and ads were made by a special team and not the actual company.

[tmonay101]

The “Unladylike” Women of the Music Industry.

           Regardless of the section of the media industry, the media produced will always be influenced by the social/ political/ and economic climate of the time period. The ideas, images, themes, and storylines that are put out will always have a way of holding a mirror up to what is happening in society. The example that I will use to discuss this topic is my favorite album at the moment, Ctrl by the artist SZA. In this album SZA is unapologetically herself as she discusses many feminist topics such as rejecting societies beauty standards, ignoring what society defines as “ladylike”, and owning her sex life by establishing herself as an openly sexual being in her life and music. Up until recent years, the female artist followed the lore that women in the music industry had to uphold a certain standard of beauty, behavior, and fashion. Women in the music industry were expected to up hold these standards or their career would suffer. Today we are seeing more and more “unladylike” behavior in female artist and they are not afraid own and show off the good and the bad. This revolt against misogynistic ideals in the music industry is at its peak in the Hip Hop and R&B genre and some artist that are embracing it, besides SZA, are Rihanna, Cardi B, Nicki Minaj, Jhene Aiko, and even Beyoncé. Rather that audiences rejecting this new stance that female artists are taking, they are embracing them more than ever because of the current political and social stat of women’s rights. With our current president’s obvious misogynist stance on issues affected the treatment of women, congress’ control of women’s healthcare despite being predominately male run, and issues such as the glass ceiling and rape culture still not being addressed at an executive level, women are simply fed up. We are seeing the rise of the “unladylike” or “nasty” woman in all parts of society standing for what they believe in and the media industry is taking note. This idea is beginning to be shown in all sectors from media to film, television, and even social media. As a consumer I feel like when media creators take a look at the current social climate and infuse certain issues with their art, it allows me to become more invested.

[thefeloniousdunk-blog]

Walking the Tightrope with NPR

For as long as I can remember, my parents have always listened to NPR in the car. I was homeschooled for most of my school career, but we were rarely home; we’d be riding around in the van, going from activity to activity. Our school day might take us up and down 95 several times, sometimes even into neighboring states. This meant we listened to at least an hour of NPR a day. I got to know all the programs, from Sunday Baroque to Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, from Fresh Air to Car Talk. Since we didn’t have cable, and I had limited internet access, I would keep abreast of world news whether I wanted to or not..

I’ve always been a tad cynical, since I was a kid. My parents raised me to think for myself, and to trust my gut. They were never jaded, just cautious. I never really drank the bipartisan kool-aid; I always had this sense that politics was an act. I realized pretty early on that both sides were playing the same game, and that for the most part news media exists to sell ad time to either side of the political spectrum. I didn’t really know where I fell on that spectrum, exactly. I just knew I didn’t want to be bought and sold like everyone else. Watching partisan news always just brought up a question in my mind; what does the other side of this story look like?

Channels like FOX and MSNBC may purport to bring us fair, balanced news. But that doesn’t reflect the reality of the situation. If they came out and said that they had a bias, that would be excusing shoddy journalism. If they just don’t talk about it, however, it lets their particular audience go on believing that their opinions are rational, and that the “other side” are the crazy ones.

I always liked NPR best, because I never got the sense that there was an ulterior motive to their reporting. Their mandate, to paraphrase the NPR site, is to provide the most accurate and fairly represented information and important cultural expressions, for the “benefit and service of our democracy.” This echoes the idea that our government and society function only when citizens are informed, so what NPR does is essentially a public service. The variety of programming allows for better transference, giving the news directly, but also making it more memorable by incorporating entertainment programming that is fun but still educational.

In terms of the actual content, NPR is often accused of having a Liberal slant. They present news that is critical of both sides of the spectrum, but there tends to be more criticism of Republicans than democrats. In a way, this reflects the political reality that surrounds the medium; Republicans generally vote to defund things that use government funding to benefit the public directly, like social programs, education and even public radio. It is difficult, then, to be balanced when one side thinks you’re a waste of resources. Even though the news may seem like it unfairly focuses on Republican blunders, NPR isn’t inventing this stuff. They are just doing their job, letting the public know what is going on so that their interests can be protected.

[thefroggyfiles-blog]

NPR and FOX News

Escaping advertising today is an impossible task. Just about anything people look at can be hypothetically made into a billboard. Today’s news corporations face a unique period in time where viewers is everything. The more viewers a network gets, the higher they can sell their advertising time slots. Fox News is a company that has seen a lot of changes over the past two decades and it’s for this very reason. They are consumed by the notion that ratings are supreme, and more often than not the content suffers. As the time has passed Fox News has become more of an entertainment news source rather than and educational one.

There is hope however. National Public Radio is a non-profit organization tied directly to the American Public Broadcasting Station and British Broadcasting Corporation. The radio station doesn’t technically have ads, it has solicited donations and sponsorship. Depending on the amount donated, the party funding receives airtime on the station in exchange. This dynamic excludes the network ratings, allowing the network to focus on it’s content. However, as we see proposed budget cuts from the government in public broadcasting, money may begin to run tight.

[kelsietree-blog]

The Slow Stifle of Creativity or Evolution of Creativity

After reading Lessig’s  “REMIX”, it really does appear that his arguments can hold true in today’s world to some sense.  Lessig speaks of how “the internet has produced both commercial and sharing economies”(Lessig, pg.167).  Something where one can exchange content or view content for money, or just for the sake of sharing. Social media sites such as YouTube and Twitter are sites where you can find both sharing and commercial, with their ads, or user generated content, it can be either or. Yet with sites like this, so often the question of copyright infringement, plagiarism and piracy comes into play. YouTubers, often find themselves skirting the lines when they add music to their videos, needing to be sure they don’t surpass the thirty-second limit. Lessig notes that, “the existing system of copyright simply could never work in the digital age. Either we will force our kids to stop creating, or they will force on us a revolution around copyright law”(Lessig, pg.167). Which I’m not sure is necessarily true in this case for Lessig. Just like previously stated, YouTubers stick to thirty second cuts of songs in order to on the right side of the law, though they mash songs together, slow them down, speed them up. They have found a way to still create and not break the rules. Lessig early in the chapeter himself said it perfectly; “Anyone can take images, sounds, video from the culture around us and remix them in ways that speak to a generation more powerfully than the raw text ever could”(Lessig, pg.160). So much of the content in today’s culture is mashed together leaving a lasting impression unlike the original.

Reference Lessig, Lawrence. (2009). Remix: How Creativity is Being Strangled by the Law. New York University Press: New York.