Net 102 READING # 4
Week 2 Topic 1.1 Music: I want my MP3’s
Frank, J. (2009). Impact the listener in the first seven seconds. In Futurehitdna: how the digital revolution is changing top 10 songs (pp. 30-51).
This is the first chapter from a book aimed at musicians that provides advice to musicians in the light of current music listening and discovery practices. Rather than assuming that people will encounter a song midway, as it is played on the radio, this chapter advises that, with the advent of MP3s and online music discovery and sharing services, the beginning of a song is critical to its success. What are some of the ways in which people encounter, discover and listen to music that are different from the past? (Curtin topic information)
My review
Frank, Jay (2009) discusses the impact that computerisation has had on influencing the listening choices of people. “How the digital revolution is changing Top 10 songs” (cover page title). He considers that the response and habits of the radio listener has in regard to an unfamiliar tune and the input that the Disc jockey has with the first 17 seconds of a song, has over a period of time “cause you to become familiar with songs that were heretofore unknown” (p31) and that the listener has already been exposed to around 15% of the song, “the listener will develop familiarity without even realising it.” (p31). The digital age was “supposed to” make the finding and listening to songs easier. What happened? According to Frank, the digital age of media defiantly made it easier for people to “find, obtain and experience music with which they are already familiar”. (p33) But the listener already has preconceived ideas about an existing song, which is after all, why they downloaded/ streamed or traded the song.
“As radio listener ship decreases, the reliance of radio for new music exposure also decreases significantly. As the active music listener gets immersed in the digital age, his primary exposure to new music comes in a variety of ways:
• iPod or other portable digital music player.
• On-demand airplay online.
• Online music video outlets.
• Online radio.
• Mobile music applications.”(p 33)
In the “timeline of music history” (p 35) delivery was by completely different mediums. Frank discusses that non –zero (when the song first starts) consideration was “barely in its infancy before it began to go away with the rise of the digital age” (p35) and that historically songs that are close to what we consider a modern pop song were “mostly played in campfire, choral, or minstrel settings when the lack of technology prevented music from being widely disseminated and songs were handed down or taught”. He considers (on page 36) that technology in the beginning of portability and mass production was cumbersome and even though through the decades to actually commence a song in the middle was extremely difficult, hence non zero effectiveness. Single song cylinders or Piano rolls, 78’s and 45 records.
Frank turns his discussion to the radio, the Dj’s influence on how a record would be played and how often (1950’s) and how there were very few choices for the music listener mainly because there was only AM band and limited radio stations. With the advent of FM band (1960’s), greater choices and wider variety of radio stations and music allowed for a greater choice of programmed songs. That same decade also brought the mass distribution and production of the LP (long playing record) vinyl record that contained, with bridges, a complete album of songs from a particular artist or group of artists. With such diversity of technological changes in the mid 1960’s “the transition then began from listeners becoming familiar with music” (p 37) to listeners listening to music that they had not previously encountered. To the 1980’s where MTV was a huge influence within the music genre but also influenced the youth culture with embedded advertising that swayed their purchasing. 1990’s brought competition to music television with other programs such as BET, The Box and Friday Night Videos, which just gave the consumer greater likely hood to channel surf and “tune in” to a song somewhere in the middle creating unpredictability . Do I stay or do I go.
My thoughts
I found the chapter quite interesting, it delved into not only the influence of Djs and Vjs on how songs are played and listened to but also how often. I did learn that the majority of the population will initially “tune” out if the singer doesn’t start the lyrics at the very start and how when on the radio, if this is the case, a DJ will cover that first 13 to 17 seconds and bridge the song. That being the case it seems that that significant input (for the first 15 percent of the song is whether that particular song will be a “hit” or a “miss”. Interesting.
What are some of the ways in which people encounter, discover and listen to music that are different from the past?
As I now listen to my iPod (mp3s), stream music via the World Wide Web or put a disc in a music system, it is in complete contrast to sitting round a camp fire singing songs from the beginning, or playing an old single record. What do I prefer, well both really, the comrade of a camp fire and the inclusion and exclusion of the world while I listen to my iPod.
Does familiarity breed contempt? Especially within a song, am I going to contribute to its financial success or it's delegation to the vaults of some record store on line?. Probably, if you like a song, no matter how long the intro is into the actual encounter of the lyrics you will listen to it again. I found that if I liked the introduction/ instrumental 17+ seconds, I will listen to the whole song, or not. Emotion plays a great part.
Frank, J. (2009). Impact the listener in the first seven seconds. In Futurehitdna: how the digital revolution is changing top 10 songs (pp. 30-51).
Futurehit: Nashville, Tennessee. http://www.futurehitdna.com/
Curtin University unit notes.
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