Music Investigation

Spotify

Is a free music streaming application, also available with a monthly subscription payment for advert free streaming. The user can access over 6 million records through searching artists, track or album or from the charts or through genre based radio. An application is currently under production for the ipod touch and iphone. The application could affect the music industry in the future in many ways. It could be very good for the industry as it can advertise music to a potential audience with an inclusive link to the artists for download etc. Also allows the user to listen free of charge to there choice in music with the adverts, which only last between 15 to 30 secounds usually, paying for the music. So may be a way to punch out illegal downloads. But on the other hand may overly abused by people much like illegal downloads have to gain access to free music sources so making CD's etc obsolete.

Subculture

Is a culture within a culture of which the group of people within the subculture in someway differentiate from the larger main culture. Subcultures are a useful way in seeing why and how people consume music as you may be able to see correlation within genres and their subcultures and events or activities in which music is consumed by the culture. An example could be raves for rave, techno or dance music etc or opposed to a heavy rock gig. The subcultures are associated with a type of music as well as a way in which to live or behave which may be appealing to people for both the music and the activities that surround them.

last.fm

Is a UK based internet radio station. The users taste in music is built up and reflected by the radio by the radio choosing playlists that may suit your taste. This is called 'audioscrobbler' and is a music recommender system of which last.fm and audioscrobbler websites merged in 2005. Contains over 3.5 million tracks for the user to have audioscrobbled for them. Last.fm is an important area for debate in media studies due to its potential audience with an almost effortless contribution from the audience new and different music that they could potential like can be played to the user free of charge, with few adverts, and potentialy having a large enough impact on the user so they will buy the music. also last.fm in 2007 warner bros with all of warner bros music becoming available.

Urban Tribes

Are micro groups within society that share a common interest in metropolitan areas. Within the groups they usual have similar views, dress sense and behavior patterns. Urban tribes can be linked to how audiences consume music due to groupings of these small groups may often identify with and listen to similar music. Also it may be an important area of debate in media studies due to the representation of these micro groups and the stereotypes that may surround them and how it may be possible to identify someones music taste from their fashion sense and behavior.

'Subcultures [ can be seen to be] symbolic or ritualistic attempts to resist the power of the bourgois hegemony by consciously adopting behavior that appears threatening to the establishment. [on the other hand] youth culutre is inherently consumerist and integral to the divide and rule strategy of capitalism. They argue that [youth culture/ subculture] creates generation gaps and pits groups of youth against each other [mods/rockers], especially as youth culture is the dominant culture in the west.

The above quote shows two distinctive theories on how and why subcultures develop, especially in youth culture. The first argues that the youth or subculture seek out a different or disruptive path against the normal system and main culture to try and break away from or break apart the system. This points out a conscience decision to try and go against the system unlike the second theory. The second theory argues that due to the main system, a mainly capitalist society within the west, sub cultures are create from it without a conscience decision to do so. It argues that due to the nature of capitalism and competition within the social behavior of capitalism this is spread amongst the youth and is inbeded within them creating opposition and subcultures in youth culture. Both theories shows how subcultures can be seen as an inevitable byproduct of the main culture either by a need to show opposition to the system and conscientiously do so or showing characteristics of the main culture that are reflected in an opposing or mirroring subculture.