Half Term Essay Task: due in Tuesday 1st March

Using the case studies given to you, your own research and the notes you have made in lessons, answer the following essay question (approx 1000 - 1500 words). This will be marked and graded after half term.

“Some fear that the media is out of control, others that it is too controlled.”
Who do you think has the most control over the music industry? The record labels who make the music or the audiences that buy the music?

You must cover the following points in your essay:
(a) Introduction: How might the roles of institutions and audiences be changing? Use the wording of the question to summarise what you will be writing about in this essay.
(b) Your knowledge of how an independent and conglomerate record label works and who the target audiences are for these labels. Use case study material to support your points.
(c) What the key issues are in terms of illegal file sharing and online piracy? Use case studies to demonstrate your points.
(d) What is Universal doing to combat illegal file sharing. What are they doing to move with the times? Include your case studies on Pledge Music and Tunited.
(e) What is Domino doing to embrace the changes in how people are listening to music?
(f) Conclusion: Who do you think has the greatest level of control – audiences or institutions. Summarise your argument and refer back to the wording of the question in your answer.

Essay Question

How has the internet or ‘online revolution’ affected the relationship between audiences and institutions?

What to include:
1. Battle of control between audiences and institutions
2. Birth of new software apps and websites (Hardware and software) eg. Spotify. Vevo, We7, Sunscription services etc.
3. The use of online marketing to replace the need for record labels ef. Viral marketing, social network sites, online piracy

800 - 100 words for next Tuesday 8th March