Media Regulation Case Study
Activity 7.13 - following the instructions provided, research one of the media areas we study [newspaper, magazine, television, film, video games, music] and create a case study blog that includes visuals for the chosen area [ex: photos of movie posters] along with written discussions of the focus points provided in the activity.
Your case study should:
- identify media companies that dominate media production in that area
- discuss the ownership model of the industry
- apply or challenge the ideas of Curran and Seaton
- outline the regulatory body for the media form and provide examples of how media texts in the industry have been regulate
- provide evidence of how the regulation of media products in the industry has changed and developed over time
- discuss the impact of online and global media culture on the media form
- apply the ideas of Livingstone and Lunt
- provide examples of user--generated content and apply the ideas of Dan Gillmor
- discuss the disadvantages of user-generated content
- make a judgement on the effectiveness of regulation in this media area
The three major music companies in the industry are Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group.
According to the AICE textbook, Curran and Seaton argue "that media conglomeration as a pattern of media ownership results in a reduction and arguably a restriction in the ideas and opinions represented to audiences." From the looks of the ownership chart, this study may mostly challenge their ideas. These music conglomerates bring together multiple companies with various ideas that are unlikely to restrict what is represented to their audiences, especially since music is up to interpretation for everyone.
In the music industry, there are multiple regulatory bodies that "ensure that record companies and other media organisations pay the band or artist royalties for use of their intellectual property," including the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society, the Performing Rights Society, the Phonographic Performance Limited, and Video Performance Limited.
Regulation of the intellectual property produced by the music industry has always circulated around copyright. Sound recordings were first entered into copyright law in the 1970s. Before that, sound recordings were protected by individual state laws. Today, we have the Music Modernization Act which include 3 titles: the Musical Works Modernization Act, the Classics Protection and Access Act, and the Allocation for Music Producers Act.
Online and global media culture, at large, has always possessed the ability to significantly impact the music industry. The influence and accessibility of online and social media has allowed people to broaden their perspectives about the world, this also leads people to discover music that did not come from local radio play. Online media has also allowed artists and music producers to build loyal fan bases by interacting with them.
Livingstone and Lunt acknowledge that "the media needs to be regulated in order to protect the public, but that this should be balanced with the ability to offer freedom of expression and choice for audiences." These ideas are applicable to the music industry because in order to protect the intellectual property of the original creators, regulation must be put in place so that the sound recordings are not stolen and so that other people do not receive the credit or royalties that belong to the original creator.
Dan Gillmor's discussion about grassroots journalism acknowledges that anyone in the internet "can create and publish news in real time to a global audience, without regulation." This concept can also be applied to the music media form. Active members of music audience communities have increasing access to music that may or may not be under copyright.
Some disadvantages of user-generated content include the lack of control over the creator of the content, so it is more prone to negative content. UGC is also considered to be low-quality because most of the time, they do not have the professional equipment to produce anything up to the standards of the general audience.
I believe the regulation for the music industry is effective. If there is anyone that ever uses the intellectual property of a musical artist without giving credit, then they could be sued.
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