revolution of the ipod

Evolution of technology>portability and experience
Change in listening music format- CD> mp3> storage

-Music players, fashion accessories
-Mp3- what offered> file sharing> vertical integration> cassettes (1960’s) >>Sony>> synergy CD Phillips+Sony

Gramophone: Private listening
The cassette: Portability-boom boxes
CD- more data storage, better quality, smaller devices


History of the Ipod:
-Steve Jobs- director of Ipod
-”Music was the perfect synthesis for apple”
-Apple focused on key brand lines
-Apple became fashionable to youth culture
-Development of Mp3- Sean Fanning, college
-60 million users world wide, student “napster” > file sharing

-Napster public enemy number one to the record industry
-Trying to shut it down
-January 2007, launch of Itunes
-Music is part of DNA says Steve Jobs
-As the designs went on he wanted less buttons on the ipod
-Problems that the battery wasn’t good enough>lasting 3 hours
-October 23rd 2001> latest creating> IPOD
-Napster got sued, 9/11 happened 1 month before the release of the ipod> bad timing> no one wanted one
-Mac’s at this point cost $400
-Vertical integration with Itunes
-Cult of ipod, loyal users-grasped with enthusiasm,
-White headphones matched the white player, so they stood out as the only player with white headphones
-Those with them were seen as cool, everyone wanted it
-This itself was advertising the ipod as everyone knew what it was via the headphones
-$10,000,000 mark
-Apple media company> 1 year=$1,000,000
-Selling digital music> online music store
-Recording industry> selling songs
-1 song=$1
April 28th 2003, LAUNCH OF THE ITUNES STORE
-Over 200,000 songs> 5 major record labels
-First 5 days over 1 million songs sold> reinforcing vertical integration
-First 18 months 700,00 Ipod’s sold> niche audiences only> only worked if owned a Mac
-April 28th 2003> 3rd generation of the Ipod
-Full PC compatibility
-December 2004 > 200 million songs sold
-6 million Ipod’s sold
-October 2005> 5th generation of Ipod> video playback> CONVERGENCE
-2005> 4 new Ipod’s

-2005> 32 million Ipod’s> 1 sold every second
-Quadrupled over 3 years
-Ipod owned 75% of the market ownership of Mp3 in the USA
-September 2006 Itunes sold its 1.5 billionth song>3 million songs everyday
-5th biggest music retailer over taking some huge record labels such as tower records
- 5 years over the 70 millionth sale> 40% of the total revenue
- However not overtaking CD’s
-125,000 selling movies
-80% of Microsoft own Ipod’s
-On the website people were taking there time out to make home movies
-People coming up with the next generation of ipod> such love for this one device
-Used in some universities> educational tool> given free to freshman so everyone knew which were the freshman
-Over 3000 accessories for this one device> cases, docking stations etc

-worth over $1,000,000,000

XL recordings

Place in the industry:
XL recordings although being independent they are also a well known record label, so there is none of this stay at home job, everything will be done professionally with the likes of radiohead and the white stripes behind them they have high expectations. A lot of money is spent to sell these records and it’s the numbers that pay off. There are so many different genres within XL recordings that they cannot be pin pointed to one specific, for example from bigger bands like radiohead to emerging solo artists like M.I.A to smaller bands like the cool kids. So their place in the industry covers such a wide audience that it cannot be said exactly.

Marketing:
With such huge bands behind them, marketing for XL recordings will be much easier, although they advertise each artist separately they don’t advertise as a whole, because with such a variety of artists it can’t be guaranteed that it will reach to each audience. With the likes of radiohead, gigs and with the mysterious way of selling their latest album in rainbows is advertising in itself, they let the buyer choose what price they would pay for the album, they can obviously financially afford this, it also caused a lot of talk in magazines and newspapers as it was the first to ever be done, so that was advertisement in itself. The average price was £4 and alot of people paid nothing, however this album on download alone topped all their previous albums, the fact that people actually paid shows that there are still loyal fans that want to see radiohead carry on and also that 67 people paid over £10 shows they are true dedicated fans and want to see them sell With some of the bands receiving nominations at the brits and other awards ceremonies, and doing collaborations with bigger artists is pushing themselves out there, and friendly fires on the NME tour is getting themselves out there making them more known around the country, this is self-advertising yet making XL recordings more known as well. it’s the little things like this that get that little bit more publicity and popular which in the end all comes back to XL recordings. Another huge boost would have been the jack white and Alicia keys collaboration, as this was the song for the James Bond movie and also the coca cola advert it really would have increased their popularity and is advertising in itself. So marketing isn't really a problem for Xl recordings it's just getting the smaller bands out there.



http://www.nme.com/news/radiohead/40444

Distribution:
The majority of the artists in XL recordings can be found in music shops such as HMV. However for the smaller bands that are hoping to make it bigger are more likely to be on social networking sites to get there music out there for free so people can listen to them, this is then hoping more will go to there gigs and the more likely they will have success when it comes to releasing CD’s and DVD’s. Also on XL recordings website people are able to see when bands have released this or that and are able to go and buy it. Also all artists can be bought on the website itself so its saving the audience time to go out there looking for the CD when it might not actually be sold in the larger music stores. So promoting them on their website is helping get their CD’s sold. Also there has obviously been a del between XL recordings and itunes as some of the bands can be downloaded on itunes, which again is getting more people to listen to them, especially on itunes which is the bggest online store at the minute.

Production:
A lot of thought and effort will be put into each stage of production from the amount of CD’s produced to the artwork, each needs a lot of time spent on it to make it the best of each member of staff’s ability. The amount of CD’s produced will vary as if the artists aren’t as big they may not make as many or however many have been ordered from the music stores however for the bigger artists as many as possible are more likely to be made as more people are aware of them and know of them therefore more likely to buy there CD’s. With downloading taking over they are more likely not to make as many CD’s which will save them more money rather than making loads and only selling half this would just be a waste. So downloading will be more of an advantage to the production of there music as its much easier to create a song to be downloaded rather than physically bought. with the smaller emerging bands downloading is heaven as they may not have the sufficient funds to produce loads of CD's so downloading is beneficial to them.



The online age:
I think that the physical releases is what XL recordings advertise more, however still benefit the downloading side of the market as it is still making them a lot of money and means that all of the artists are accessible even if they haven’t released an album. But due to them only selling physical copies on there website means they are trying to keep that side of the market level with the downloading side. But I don’t think that they heavily rely on either and use both to there advantage. With such opposite bands behind them, with larger and smaller bands they can't specifically rely on one side of the market and are better covering both but in some cases downloading is what they heavily rely on, such as the smaller bands as they may not even have enough songs for a whole album so randomly releasing tracks on social networking sites, lets the company know which ones the audience prefer and gets the out there.




i rang up the company and spoke to a man who said he has no information but he did give me the email to a man who i could get the information from and he would answer all my questions. So i emailed the man but i have not yet recieved a reply.

shaikh sorry

mr.shaikh im sorry but the work i have done i saved it onto my memory stick but dont have it with me, if you check my blog about 4.15 it will be on there, as i can go home collect my memory stick and run to my aunties quickly to stick it on. Im soo sorry but I HAVE DONE IT!!!

Case study-XL recordings

I will be investigating XL recordings to find out extra information about the distribution, marketing, production, consumption and the online age of the record label.

A little bit about XL recordings:

Artists:
Adele, Basement Jaxx, Be Your Own Pet, Beck, Cajun Dance Party, Devendra Banhart, Dizzee Rascal, Elvis Perkins, Friendly Fires, Golden Silvers, Gotan Project, Jack Peñate, M.I.A., Magistrates, Monkey, Peaches, RJD2, Radiohead, Ratatat, Sigur Rós, Tapes 'n Tapes, The Cool Kids, The Raconteurs, The White Stripes, Thom Yorke, Titus Andronicus, Vampire Weekend

NOT FINISHED YET!

Finders keepers records notes

Place in the industry:
-smaller independent labels
-everything done in their house between themselves and with friends help
-each bring specific strength
-small budgets
-able to focus and work on titles hat major labels would not consider to be cost effective by their own standards
-no need to sell their numbers to make a profit> do not need to justify massive marketing budgets and production costs

Marketing:
-Can't really afford marketing budget in the conventional sense e.g merchandise
-more hands on approach> word of mouth is important> mailing lists> message boards> gigs
-press and radio coverage are also important, helps boost exposure for the label and our artists
-internet great leveller

Distribution:
-distributed through a company
-record stores in decline>rise in downloads and a power shift away from independent record shops and smaller chains to the likes of HMV> selling records in these outlets becoming more difficult> vie for shelf space
-dealing directly with independent stores

Production:
-monitored very carefully> don't tie up too much money in manufacturing
-produce minimal runs of CD's and records>keep costs low and so not left with abundance of stock
-receive master from licensor>may/may not be production ready> cleaning up.
-artwork predominantly from original sources or designed and put together in a house > all sent to manufacturer

The online age:
-multifaceted issue
-cheapest way to get their releases on people's stereo's > but cater for a more discerning market
-physical releases more important> CD's and vinyl's
-feel there are still a thriving number of record collectors and DJ's
-

Case study- soul jazz records

GENRE:
Artist and genre focused > specialisms in sub-genre
-Brit pop
-reggae
-punk
-dance
-latin
-japanese noise
-mix house
-future dub
ALL ELECTRIC AND DIVERSE
-often deal with non-mainstream and non-commercial artists> several niche audiences
Underground tag association

Strategies:
Merchandising -clothing, accessories> tapping into fashion to create brand/label IMAGE

Advertising
-gigs (free!)> active audience> that want to go to gigs
-physical products> LP' s (vinyls)> CD's are given priority over Mp3
Turning obsolete format into collectable items "retro branding" > e.g home pages use album cover art

Form of radio> internet based> potential wider audience> wide broadcasting (global!)
News letter subscription> free> mailing list (electronic)> cost effective> no cost implication for subscribers


AUDIENCE:
1970's generation retro
-Depends on each sub-genre, separate
-audience for each sub-genre
-exclusive and niche
-presented as "cool" with a specific identity

RELATIONSHIP WITH MAINSTREAM:
-very independent of mainstream
-several, smaller niche audiences
-own brand identity
-use strategies that appear to:
-personalize
-use communication as a key form of marketing, but not always> communication

NOT in competition with the mainstream
- more about the EXPERIENCE in MUSIC rather than adering to an image

statistics

Legally
Downloads
- iTunes

Purchases
- CDs
- Concert Tickets
- Other.
- Radio 67%
- Magazines 21%
- Newspapers 17%
- Blogs 14%

Online
- 75% watched a music video online in the last 3 months
- 38% use "youtube" to find new songs/artist.

Radio
- 67% use this as main source of finding new artists/songs.

Illegally
File sharing
- 63% download illegally and 70% of these don't feel guilty.

83% - Play via MP3 players..
62% - Play via mobile phones.
42% - Play via a games console.
50% - Play via download.

production,distribution and consumption

Production :
advances in technology
user based production, produce there own music
no more reliance on record company, means they can do everything themselves
musical expertise is not needed e.g Garageband and logic > a loop based software which is evident in manufactured pop artists, they decide what stays and what goes, more in control
cost no longer an issue, everything can be done cheaply
internet is the main helper

Distribution :
internet as a primary medium, e.g youtube
no longer expensive can be free ; largely accessed as 'free' music, free downloads
not legal in most cases- filesharing through limewire
now making physical formats obsolete e.g tapes, CD's > which impacts on retail outlets, less people buying physical form, more illegal downloading and/or legal downloading
difficult to track and monitor. the internet cannot be observed
industry forced to enter new ways of marketing, in keeping with interactive nature of distribution

Consumption :
Follows trend of using new media technology e.g. "Youtube", itunes
Linked to image more explicitly through visual media
Saturated/ diluted experiences of accessing music - devalued?


The 'big' 4 record companies: Sony, Warner Bros, Universal and EMI.
The big four are very powerful, in the music industry smaller record companies take only 20% of the indstury.
The development of the music industry is linked to the development of techonology.


1980 - The compact disk emerged.
1982 - CDs able to be played on computers.
1988 - Sales of CDs over took the sales of Vinyl.
1990 - Recordable CDs became available.
1997 - MP3 players emerged.
1999 - "Napster" service was launched- revolution that led to legal battles over copyright
2000 - Broadband was introduced to the UK.
2001 - Apple launchediPod and iTunes
2003- CD sales has fallen by one third.
2005 - iPod shuffle made downloading cheaper and more access able.