Discuss the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences by international or global institutions
The sad truth about the world of media is that large companies and conglomerates are taking over making it harder for independent artists to get the attention they deserve. While this issue plagues all types of media they kind I see most often in my daily life is through music and the music industry. Within the music industry we have seen an emergence of the big guys, or large companies that control the field, in the record companies that produce the music for artists. Some of the world's biggest record labels include, Atlantic Records, Interscope Records, and Warner Music. These companies are extremely large and have many, many famous artists signed to them because of the extensive resources they have and the money they make. Having all this power makes it easy for them to control their signed artists and in turn control the audience who listens to them. With all their money they can easily produce artists' music to be sold on all platforms from the radio to Spotify internationally and reach audiences everywhere. This is one of the biggest advantages of being with the big guys, they have the money and power to make you a global star and have your music be heard everywhere. But, here comes the biggest disadvantage, it is hard to really say that “your” music is completely yours. When you sign a contract the record companies own you and your music and can manipulate it to fit what they want and will lie or do whatever they need to to make more money. With a big guy you lose much of your freedom. One example is pop singer Taylor Swift who quickly rose to fame before joining a record label (Big Machine Records) to grow and have more guidance. It was recently revealed that her label was very controlling and did not give her the freedom she wanted to she left, but at the start it seemed like a good idea because of all the resources and money they had. It is important that artists can still keep their artistic freedom though. Now that we have seen the advantages, disadvantages and examples of the big guys, let’s take a look at the little guys. In this case of music the little guys are independent artists who create their own music at home. Some popular sites for artists to post their work is YouTube or Soundcloud. While these platforms are open for anyone in the world with access to the internet it is sometimes hard to grow an audience since there are so many independent artists out there all trying to grow. This brings us the disadvantage of being a little guy, you do not have access to all the necessary resources or sometimes money to produce your music and distribute it globally. But, one of the biggest and best advantages of being independent is you have complete freedom and control over your work and how it is produced. Also with being independent you are more driven and dedicated to your work and always strive to produce the best for your listeners while big companies just want money. Being independent means you have to compete for your audience with other little guys and the big guys, so most independent artists target local audiences. One example of a small independent artist I found on SoundCloud is heavn, they have a small, local following but their content is available for all people. While they have little followers they still keep grinding and working hard to keep making music they love for their audience. Other more famous artists such as Lizzo and Billie Eilish started on SoundCloud as a little guy but grew famous around the world and eventually signed to label to manage and produce them so they could focus more on being famous and growing. There are also many examples of artists including Chance the Rapper and Frank Ocean that started on SoundCloud and grew to be very famous and well known around the world but never signed a contract to a big record label because they did not want to lose any freedom and control over their music because they know big lakes don't care about individual artists. Big and Little guys all have their disadvantages on the artists and production so, it is important to consider the people you support.
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AuthorAbigail Hopper Archives
April 2021
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