Another eight/nine weeks have pissed since my mid-semester review… It would be naïve of my to say that nothing has changed since then. In class, we’ve covered topics from the importance of daydreaming and storytelling to the state of the music industry. While outside of class, the world has seen the power of, not only traditional media, but online media in the Joe Paterno/Jerry Sandusky scandal, and how, with the help of Twitter, The Collegiate Times at Virginia Tech were able to provide timely updates on the shootings that occurred in early December. Before we delve into the serious topics, let’s begin with the importance of daydreaming, and how our interactions with media can stimulate our own personal daydreams, where we escape from reality.
I look at daydreaming as a unique ability that humans have – The ability to mentally remove ourselves from everyday activities which require our undivided mental/physical attention. Everyone can daydream, but in order to tap into our creative abilities, humans need to be aware during the “mind-wandering process” to recognize, hey, that’s a creative idea that popped into my mind. When it comes to a challenging task, allowing our minds to wander often serves as an outlet to create solutions for the aforementioned challenging tasks. In addition to aiding in the problem/solution process, when we allow ourselves to daydream, we get to be the center of our own universe. When our minds wander, as they drift towards no specific goal, is when our “default network” becomes more active, as we often try to relieve stress built up caused by reality.
But like any good thing, there is another side we normally don’t hear about. Those diagnosed with schizophrenia and depression
have been recorded as experiencing malfunctions in the default network. At the other end of the spectrum, we have those who are unable to remove themselves from the daydream (I can’t stop thinking about Inception as I compose this and I’m refraining from dropping quotes left and right). Thee people who rehash past events, constantly analyze their causes ad consequences have extreme difficulty turning these thoughts off, and it begins to resemble that of an addiction. The question now, is how can we create online content that not only incites a daydream and allows users to escape from reality, but also has a lasting impact with the individual that they will think about later on in the day/week/month/year. Facebook is a great example of how users can not only escape from the physical reality, but also go back in time as they are able to view photos and conversations from the past – Which will become even more simplified and accessible upon the release of Facebook Timeline, which allows users to “share and highlight your most memorable posts, photos, and life events on your timeline. Where you can tell your story from beginning to end.” When beginning to bring an idea to life, I think it’s essential to create a product that will allow users to escape from reality, create a lasting impact, and also ignite the same creative ideas that caused the creator to develop said content/service.
Moving from daydreaming and the importance of creating content with a lasting mental impact, we turn to the music industry, which is facing competition from online music streaming services and online music stores from Google, Amazon, and Apple, all of which are shaking up an industry which has resisted and battled change for the longest time. However, even Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group has an alternate take on the current situation… “I’m not part of the past, I’m part of the future. There’s a new philosophy, there is a new way of thinking.” Grainge is certainly correct about one thing… There IS a new way of thinking. This positive attitude and outlook on the future of the music industry has no doubt been spurred on by the numerous music streaming sites such as Spotify, Turntable.fm, Rdio, Pandora Online Radio, and MOG.
Sites like these are places where users can go to listen to music all they want, usually for a monthly fee, which depends on whether or not users are complacent with listening/seeing advertisements. The music industry has seen a decline of profits, with CDs on the downward spiral; the industry has decided that the prerecorded music path, while still viable, simply is not the way to make a profit. Even artists recognize that touring has become an integral, if not the foundation for their income as well as a profit for the record label they operate under. When musicians give away free music that leaves fans with extra cash in their pocket to spend on merchandise and concert tickets. While pre-recorded music may start to become more of a promotional tour, musicians must realize that in order to turn a profit, you must be touring constantly, until you reach a point in your career where you’re established as a reputable band/producer and have more leeway when it comes to releasing new material or announcing a multi-country tour. It’s become a massive investment to become a recognized musical act and may turn into a lifelong investment. I’m talking touring 300 some days out of the year, doing after-shows, writing, recording, and releasing new material from the road.
You now have to live and breathe the music – But it doesn’t have to be as difficult as I’m making it sound. Why, musicians can jump on Twitter, on Facebook to say, “I’m releasing a new track midnight, it will be free for the first 24 hours, then you can purchase it at iTunes.” Especially on the two previously states social media platforms, self-promotion has become even more simple, more personal, and more relevant. Fans don’t need to go to a musician’s website as much, nor do they need to access it directly. Fans can subscribe to updates from Twitter, Facebook, or SongKick (A service which maps out a musician’s tour schedule and can notify when said musician is touring in your local area). These services allow you to stay updated anywhere you are, regardless if you’re in front of your computer or not. Innovations in the online music streaming industry have contributed to the new methods musicians and the music industry employs.
With Spotify planning to offer Facebook style applications that incorporate additional features and functions to its service – it’s imperative that employees (musicians) of the music industry continue to have an active presence on social sites where they can unveil new music/tour dates/merchandise to an extensive audience. The next step, to match these online music streaming sites will be to create a mobile application that either offers the same content found on the individual’s website or a simplified version of that with a music streaming feature, a merchandise store, or links to other musicians on the individual’s record label. Sites like Turntable, Rdio, Pandora, MOG, and Spotify are beneficial to the music industry because they up the ante; they are responsible for spurring on competition, which causes the music industry to be more creative, adopt new outlooks, and employ new techniques in order to continually make money and provide customers with new, profitable, and lasting musical acts.
http://www.economist.com/node/9443082
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/10/ff_music/all/1
As mentioned earlier, it’s important for musicians to utilize a mobile application, for Smartphone usage is on the rise. Smartphones and mobile devices are going to be the next place advertisers must turn in order to accommodate the consumer’s desire for exposure to new products. By 2014 alone, it has been projected that that U.S. mobile market will expand from a one billion-dollar industry to a $2.5 billion-dollar industry. In 2011, 23% of the phone population was devoted to Smartphones and they will represent 43% by 2015. In addition to mobile, there has been a surge for tablets in 2011, with mobile manufacturers like HTC, Blackberry, and Samsung all releasing respective tablets to compete with iPad. So, the data clearly suggests that the tablet/mobile market will by THE platform to advertise on. Instead of placing advertisements on sites/apps and waiting for people to see them, advertisers need to take a more active method of delivering advertisements through text messages. More and more of the mobile population uses text messages. Advertisers have an untapped medium to work with here. Simple ads with 140 characters or less sent to our mobile devices can prove to be efficient, inexpensive, and integral for consumers who are looking to save money during this recession.
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/20034/8-Key-Mobile-Marketing-Trends.aspx
The month of November saw the Joe Paterno/Jerry Sandusky scandal, which rocked the nation. While Paterno and Sandusky remained focal points of the developing story, the media focused on Penn State’s response to the situation. Penn State’s Public Relations department was unprepared and seemed to give all the wrong answers. Penn State’s inability to address the situation, while instead, they focused on protecting the image and the Penn State brand, as the situation exploded around them. It’s partly due to news media that this situation became addressed as soon as it did (rightly so). The, literally up to the minute coverage on television news, social networking (including accounts from CNN Breaking News to The New York Times), and traditional word of mouth proved to escalate the story at a rate at which Penn State PR could not keep up.
However, there were more forces involved than just constant media coverage. As a news-consuming nation, there’s something to be said about our ability, and desire to build someone up in the public eye (to superhuman status), and then revel in and cling to the news coverage of their downfall. News media is a business, and a business is responsible for generating revenue. News media will cover, expose, and promote stories that will garner a massive amount of attention from the American and worldwide population. Despite this, news media plays a vital role in delivering relevant and appropriate information and it has become even easier for consumers to access it through Smartphones, applications, and updates from social networking sites. It was because of news media, through the form of Twitter, that The Collegiate times at Virginia Tech University was able to publish real-time updates, which they were not able to do in 2007, when a gunman killed 33 people. While The Collegiate Times tweeted from the Twitter account, their followers increased by about 2,000 users – Which exemplifies the magnitude of a single tweet (How far it can spread in such a short span of time). For students at Virginia Tech, and students around the nation, more often than not, checking Twitter is the quickest and most subtle way to receive and share information. When breaking news occurs, Twitter continually proves to be the single most consistent and effective way to disperse news.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/09/2494564/morality-takes-back-seat-to-sports.html
Other topics covered over the past 8 weeks of class included Interaction Design and Augmented Reality, two subjects with which I
had no preexisting knowledge. Interaction Design is integral to the functionality of a website. Users need to, first and foremost, feel comfortable with the initial design and layout of the page. Users need to know, that when they click on a link, they know where it will take them. Interaction Design has one goal main goal it has to meet – As the name would suggest, it must be interactive for the user! The user must be visually involved in the site. An impressive user interface that is attractive and easy to manipulate will drive users to the site and have them returning regularly. Augmented Reality turns your Smartphone into a massive collection of reference points based on your location. While Augmented Reality is still gaining momentum, it is certainly here to stay. As I mentioned earlier, Smartphone usage is only going to increase from here on out, and Augmented Reality users will increase as more and more users contribute to public reference points, ultimately resulting in an ever-increasing collection. Augmented Reality will prove to be beneficial as people use it for their individual reference needs.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/big-idea/14/augmented-reality
Finally, we discussed the future of television – Becoming more interactive and more intelligent. Televisions are on the verge of becoming more insightful as to what viewers want, based solely on voice commands, which Microsoft’s Xbox console unveiled mid-December, which allows users to talk to their televisions through the Xbox. With Apple’s voice command software, Siri, and plans to expand to an Apple-branded television, competition to create smarter television sets has increased. Microsoft has stimulated the competition with this Xbox update. Soon, every little motion we make will be digitally recognized as we give commands to our personal technologies Voice technology is paving a way for a new experience with our devices and can inspire a whole new level of productivity for businesses and individuals living day to day lives.
Microsoft also plans on adding social features to the Xbox… From voting on sporting events, to letting your friends know you’re playing a multiplayer game. The future of television will allow people to access content on a different platform and will change how we view content. For example, it will be more efficient to have two windows open on your TV screen as you watch live content and tweet your thoughts with your friends on Twitter in the second window. The future of television is heavily invested in the use of “social television”, where audiences take to social networking platforms to discuss what they’re viewing on television. This has a monumental impact on how television producers and programmers will create and distribute content based on how audiences respond to content via social networking sites, where they express feedback.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/disruptions-a-tv-that-can-read-me/
http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/05/tech/gaming-gadgets/xbox-upgrades-microsoft/index.html
In summation, it’s been a busy semester… And so much has happened on the digital media front in the past 16 weeks. In addition to other courses, staying up to date and informed on the topic of emerging media was a constant game of catch up. However, it’s imperative to be knowledgeable and well-versed in emerging medias in order to diversify one’s skill set, which makes one an invaluable asset to employers. Emerging digital media’s reach is extensive and regardless of what extent it affects your life, there is no doubt that it has, and will continue to redefine and set the standard for how digital content is created, distributed, and consumed.
We listen to the radio. It's better than the stereo. 