Sample Communication Essay on Media Convergence

Media Convergence

Introduction

The internet has brought new ways through which media houses and business organizations can reach a larger audience. Content in the media, different platforms of communication and technology have resulted in media convergence. This research paper will delve into areas in which the internet and the different media platforms have interacted, and the effects they have had on businesses and on the people.

1. 138 – Effects on Other Electronic Media, “How has the Internet continued to impact the music and film industries?

The internet has had negative effects on film and music industries especially with the introduction of technology based applications such as napster, which allows users to share music with their friends illegally. The internet has led to easy access of previously unavailable music to the members of the public, as they feel they do not have to buy it if they can get it free. The film industry loses an estimated 5.1 billion dollars annually due to pirated movies. The people that sell the pirated movies usually put the cost at half price of the movie tickets for the films being showcased at different motion picture theaters. Most customers especially from low-income household areas prefer to buy the pirated movies and films because they spend less and watch what they want. Police officers have been assigned to special departments that investigate the distribution of pirated movies and music. The increased availability of such items has been detrimental to not only the musicians, producers and actors, but also to governments because it has reduced the amount of taxes they earn from the industry.

Are CD sales still in decline? How about iTunes purchases? Since the 2010 statistics, how have services such as Netflix impacted film viewing? Update the numbers for 2014.

CD sales are still in decline while iTunes purchases have continued to grow. Those that love music find it more convenient to purchase music from iTunes which they can play on their smart phones and tablets rather than a CD, which requires one to carry a CD player all the time. Availability of Netflix has also contributed to a reduction in the value of sales gained from the film industry. Television programmes are aired on certain networks at specific times only. Netflix offers viewers flexibility because they can access television programmes they want at any time. By 2011, the revenues that had been raked in from digital sales of music were over $ 5 billion. Currently, the revenue that is gained from digital sales of music and films is estimated to be over 50 % of total revenue from sales. This is a testament that consumers in the market prefer content that is digitized in comparison to older versions of media content.

1. 139 – Effects on Entertainment. “In a recent survey, about 60% of respondents considered social networking sties to be a form of entertainment.” “YouTube has more than 120 million videos, and about 80% of them were produced by amateurs.”

More people choose to access media through the internet because they consider it to be a more interactive source of entertainment when compared to cable television. The entertainment channels on the television such as You Tube can also be accessed at any time. Television channels only air the news and other items at specific times. Social media pages such as facebook, MySpace and Twitter have also experienced a dramatic increase in numbers over time. Facebook has the highest number of users followed by Twitter and MySpace. People cite Facebook as being easier to use and allows a greater number of sharing of photos, location and businesses related information in comparison to Twitter and MySpace. Businesses are able to establish an online presence that they can use to reach more people and therefore earn more money (Mathew 1).  Currently, facebook has over 1.2 million users, while MySpace has 13 million users. Twitter has two hundred million users, which is a dramatic increase especially when compared to the decline in MySpace users. An increase in the number of people that are working odd hours since it might be the only time the work is available, has contributed to higher numbers of YouTube “watchers” in comparison to normal cable television. The variety of video games has also increased which has also contributed to the decrease in the number of people that view television as the only source of entertainment (International Federation of Phonographic Industry 1).

2009. 140 – Effects on News. “The audience for the networks’ evening news programs declined by 30% from 2000 to 2009.” “

The advent of technology has contributed to higher numbers of individuals owning smart phones, which they use to share information. Some people “update” their social media accounts about current events such as terror attacks, which spark further investigations by the media houses in the area. The technology used in media sharing has contributed to Citizens being news contributors for many news outlets around the world. The media correspondents cannot manage to be everywhere that news arise. The availability of smart phones with good video and camera features  has assisted in airing more issues that affect citizens, which would have been unavailable had it been left to media outlets coverage only (Dominick, Fritz & Sherman 45). Bloggers have also contributed to the availability of more news items in the media; especially when the public considers them to be trustworthy; they give information to the bloggers who can decide to investigate its content.

1. 183, 191 – Are People Turning the Radio Off?

There are radio stations that are available online; a platform through which they are able to reach a higher number of users. The level of usage of internet radio has also gone up over the years, which could signal a change that consumers want. Most consumers now have a laptop which they can carry everywhere such as restaurants and access local wifi or other available networks and access content on the internet. The increase in podcasting and MP3 players shows that consumers still want to listen to music, they would just like it available through the various more convenient platforms that have been brought to consumers through technology. More radio stations should increase their media presence and seek opinions from their listeners on their preference in terms of delivery (Dominick, Fritz & Sherman 47). Such information could be used by the radio stations to come up with better programmes for their listeners to maintain a market share and increase their capital. More mainstream radio stations should launch internet based radio stations so that they can take advantage of the available niche in the market that has not been attended to.  New musicians, and even those that have been in the industry for some time should ensure that their music is available on radio stations so that they can reach the increasing number of internet based users (Mathew 3).

 

 

Works Cited

Dominick, Joseph., Messere, Fritz & Barry Sherman. Broadcasting, Cable, the Internet, and

Beyond, 7th edition. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2011.

International Federation of Phonographic Industry. Digital Music Report. Expanding

Choice. Going Global, 2012. Web. Accessed December 7, 2014 from http://www.ifpi.org/content/library/DMR2012.pdf

Mathew, Prabha. Case Study: Impact of Digitization on Music Industry in the Recent times.

International Journal of Management and Social Sciences research. 2(9). 2013.

 

 

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