Sunday 5 December 2010

Exemplar Student Essay - Institutions and Audiences (June 2010)

This students response achieved a very high grade due to the following points:

The student answered the question. This might seem obvious but when a response is unsuccessful the student usually doesn't relate to their answer to the question and so fails to pick up points.

The question in this case related to digital media technology but future questions might relate to any of the following:






  •  Marketing






  • Audiences

  • Technology (examples of convergence)
  • Synergy





  • Production 





  • Distribution





  •        
The student gave detailed examples from the case study always ensuring that the examples were relevant to the question.
The student used examples from the study ensuring that the response focussed on 'Syco' productions and sony and NOT exclusively the X Factor show.
Finally, they gave examples of terminology, quotes and statistics to support their argument. 


Section B: Institutions and Audiences

Answer the question below, making detailed reference to examples from your case study material to support the points made in your answer.

1.     What significance does the continuing development of digital media technology have for media institutions and audiences?

Candidates must choose to focus on one of the following media areas. You may make reference to other media in your answer.

·      Film
·      Music
·      Newspapers
·      Radio
·      Magazines
·      Video games
·       
(50marks)

Simon Cowell created and runs Syco industries this ranges from TV, film and music, the specific brands I am looking upon Syco music, which is in Synergy with Sony. Cowell claims to have given Sony music industries a large percentage of sales, but how has the evolution of digital technology halted or helped his business?

With the steady and unfaltering rises of both music and film, industries have struggled the hardest hit was the music industry. Over 5 terabytes of data is downloaded from the Internet everyday! This has had a major effect on the music industry. Radiohead’s guitarist claims that music piracy isn’t killing music but the industry itself is, if music companies do not catch up with the times and deal with the problem soon then it will get inevitably worse (music weekly).

Despite this piracy issue digital media technology has also been an advantage for many companies and Syco is one of them, most of Cowell’s Sales from Joe McElderry’s (X Factor winner) CD for the Christmas number one spot was from places live iTunes. Then again the rise of democratisation and the combination of digital media like the Internet helped knock Syco’s record off the top spot for Christmas number one. Many people within the music industry dislikes “Cowell’s so-called music”. The editor of NME says that “we are fed up of being spoon-fed drivel year after year “ and claims that “it is just posh Karaoke” (music weekly source). So he to outlook and the power of not only democratisation, which has made Cowell so popular, but also the power of a digital media line the internet a campaign was launched firstly from Facebook, its aims were to stop Joe McElderry’s album from reading number 1 and for a Heavy Metal band called “Rage against the Machine” win. With thousands buying both songs online from places like iTunes, a race began and eventually democratisation prevailed and “Rage Against the Machine” with “Killing in the name of” emerged as the Christmas number 1 (all sourced from Music Weekly).
Through this Cowell learned of the power of digital media and began to promote new artists from Syco music on there regularly, on social networking sites and also iTunes. When Syco synergised with many other artists to create a charity song for the incident in Haiti most Syco’s sales came from the internet (wiki). Call me cynical but did Cowell do this to raise money for a noble cause or was it shameless self-promotion? Despite this point the digital media helped promote this “cause”!

The song “You got the Dirtee Love” by Dizzee Rascal and Florence and the Machine”. Was performed at The Brits, when it was put on iTunes to buy from midnight that evening, throughout the night it made an astounding number of sales and by 10.00 am it was number one in the charts (sourced from music weekly). Does this not show the true power of digital media? This type of media allows more of a say and also a choice to what people want to listen to, even though it has its downfalls like piracy.

Thus with a number of advantages and disadvantages that are rife throughout the form of digital Media technology, some do out weigh others, but a very many more sales have been accomplished due to it.

(Paper Total 100 marks)

   


Level 4

Explanation/analysis/argument
20
16
Use of examples
20
16
Use of terminology
10
8
Total
50
40



 

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