MySpace has become one of the most popular websites among the younger generation. So, why not utilize this social networking site and get this generation more involved with the politics of today? Yes, that’s right. MySpace is getting involved in the 2008 presidential elections.
MySpace has launched its new channel, Impact, where a member of MySpace’s network can go and read up on the all the presidential candidates and their views on the growing issues in the country. The site provides links to official candidate pages along with election related media, and banners and links to put on your own MySpace page.
So, will this be the answer to getting the younger generation to vote? Well, in an article from the New York Times, it was written that “Some observers believe that such efforts by MySpace and other social networking sites might make [campaigns] influential among voters in 2008”. Last election, there were websites that attempted to raise interest among the younger voters, but the websites’ impact was not as great as many hoped it would be. However, MySpace, an already very popularly established social networking tool, has a big shot at finally getting politics out to those voters.
For example, take a look at Barack Obama’s official MySpace page. You can read his biography, about his ideas of how to improve the country, and even my Obama merchandise. Currently, he has 86,188 “friends” on his page (not quite as many as Fall Out Boy’s 1648319, but the impact channel still has well over a year to build up a following).
People are finally starting to figure out how to reach generation Y. Whether MySpace will get the younger generation to vote, or not, the candidates are certainly looking in the right place.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Free Media? Really?!
Yet, another story on YouTube, and video hosting sites:
The News Corporation and NBC Universal is planning on making a website that will house most of their content, available for free to the public, with advertisements. The president of the News Corporation, Peter A. Chernin says that the website will “[have] absolutely no resemblance to YouTube”. You can read the article here.
This is all being done in light of the recent copyright troubles that YouTube has been having: Viacom is suing YouTube for copyright infringement reasons.
The question is whether a website like this will satisfy the consumers. There are still advertisements, and it was not specified how long the advertisements would be, and where they will be placed in the distributed media.
However, a website like this could be a step in the right direction. Even though there will still be advertisements, maybe media companies are catching on: this generation wants things for free. A site like this could be what the consumers are looking for: it’s easy, and it’s legal. It might even be faster (depending on advertisements) and better quality than uploaded videos on YouTube.
Maybe record labels should take a hint, and develop something like MySpace for the bands that are signed to the label. With companies’ unwillingness to change, only small steps will eventually lead to a big change.
The News Corporation and NBC Universal is planning on making a website that will house most of their content, available for free to the public, with advertisements. The president of the News Corporation, Peter A. Chernin says that the website will “[have] absolutely no resemblance to YouTube”. You can read the article here.
This is all being done in light of the recent copyright troubles that YouTube has been having: Viacom is suing YouTube for copyright infringement reasons.
The question is whether a website like this will satisfy the consumers. There are still advertisements, and it was not specified how long the advertisements would be, and where they will be placed in the distributed media.
However, a website like this could be a step in the right direction. Even though there will still be advertisements, maybe media companies are catching on: this generation wants things for free. A site like this could be what the consumers are looking for: it’s easy, and it’s legal. It might even be faster (depending on advertisements) and better quality than uploaded videos on YouTube.
Maybe record labels should take a hint, and develop something like MySpace for the bands that are signed to the label. With companies’ unwillingness to change, only small steps will eventually lead to a big change.
If Spam Could Kill...
An article, “Spam Hits Video Sites, Misleading Web Viewers”, that appeared in the Wall Street Journal last week (March 15th) addressed the issue of video spamming. Ever since the rise of YouTube, video spamming has started to spread.
What video spammers will do, is they will upload an almost blank file of footage with an advertisement at the end, and label the video with tags and descriptions that don’t match the video, but rather match what people might search for. Keith Richman, chief executive of the video site break.com, says, “Like advertisers, the spammers recognize there are a lot of people congregating and it’s a great way to reach them”.
Looking back through media, it seems that everything eventually gets spammed. The most commonly hear of spam is email spam. When downloading music, mislabeled mp3s could contain unwanted advertisements. One could even go as far to say that radio is “spammed” with an excess of commercials, and repetitive content.
Is YouTube and other video hosting websites taking the same path as radio? Though not quite the same thing as traditional advertisements, this spam could eventually lead to the deterioration of video websites. Maybe Google’s buying YouTube wasn’t the greatest idea after all. This generation moves quickly, and if YouTube becomes a hassle to use, it will drop it, and quickly pick up on another media trend.
What video spammers will do, is they will upload an almost blank file of footage with an advertisement at the end, and label the video with tags and descriptions that don’t match the video, but rather match what people might search for. Keith Richman, chief executive of the video site break.com, says, “Like advertisers, the spammers recognize there are a lot of people congregating and it’s a great way to reach them”.
Looking back through media, it seems that everything eventually gets spammed. The most commonly hear of spam is email spam. When downloading music, mislabeled mp3s could contain unwanted advertisements. One could even go as far to say that radio is “spammed” with an excess of commercials, and repetitive content.
Is YouTube and other video hosting websites taking the same path as radio? Though not quite the same thing as traditional advertisements, this spam could eventually lead to the deterioration of video websites. Maybe Google’s buying YouTube wasn’t the greatest idea after all. This generation moves quickly, and if YouTube becomes a hassle to use, it will drop it, and quickly pick up on another media trend.
Friday, March 9, 2007
No Mystery Here...At least in the Music Industry
Some bands these days are taking the idea of the concept album one step further. With the vast expanse of the internet, they are creating “online mysteries” of sorts for their fans.
Recently, Nine Inch Nails released one of these mysteries to the public by placing flash drives in bathrooms at their shows. These drives had unreleased tracks on them, and pictures which lead to lead to clues on websites. Rolling Stone, as well as Wikipedia explains the mystery in detail.
This is a good way to get fans involved and give people another reason to buy a new CD. Releasing tracks from a CD that isn’t out yet is also good promotion. Only time will tell if Nine Inch Nails’s mystery hype will give them extra success.
Nine Inch Nails might be getting a lot of attention, but they are certainly not the only band out there to have one of these mysteries. Another band, AFI, created another elaborate online mystery, utilizing a number of social networking sites. You can read a summary of the mystery here, written by the editor of Buzznet (another up and coming social networking website). Like Nine Inch Nails, AFI used website clues, MySpace, and even Craig’s List to ultimately lead up to information about a few “secret” shows that the band would play, putting them in higher demand from their fans
These mysteries highlight the impact that the internet and social networking websites have had on the music business. Bands realize that this (the internet) is where their fans are coming from, and this is where they should try and create success.
Recently, Nine Inch Nails released one of these mysteries to the public by placing flash drives in bathrooms at their shows. These drives had unreleased tracks on them, and pictures which lead to lead to clues on websites. Rolling Stone, as well as Wikipedia explains the mystery in detail.
This is a good way to get fans involved and give people another reason to buy a new CD. Releasing tracks from a CD that isn’t out yet is also good promotion. Only time will tell if Nine Inch Nails’s mystery hype will give them extra success.
Nine Inch Nails might be getting a lot of attention, but they are certainly not the only band out there to have one of these mysteries. Another band, AFI, created another elaborate online mystery, utilizing a number of social networking sites. You can read a summary of the mystery here, written by the editor of Buzznet (another up and coming social networking website). Like Nine Inch Nails, AFI used website clues, MySpace, and even Craig’s List to ultimately lead up to information about a few “secret” shows that the band would play, putting them in higher demand from their fans
These mysteries highlight the impact that the internet and social networking websites have had on the music business. Bands realize that this (the internet) is where their fans are coming from, and this is where they should try and create success.
Can't catch the Consumer?
Every since YouTube and other video hosting websites were introduced, they’ve always had the problem of copyrighted material being uploaded to the site from numerous users. It makes sense that companies should worry about their content being put out for free for everyone, but should they be worrying about ways to catch the people who upload the content?
Recently, companies such as Audible Magic, have been developing programs that can identify copyrighted material, even if the picture is blurred or if the sound is dubbed. In an article from The New York Times, these programs are described as “new technological weapon[s]”. It seems like they’re taking quite a “violent” approach to trying to weed out illegal material.
MySpace and YouTube are said to be investing in programs such as these “technological weapons”. Paul Kocher, chief executive of Cryptography Research, was quoted saying, “As technology companies mature, they are realizing that the rule of law is better than the anarchy in which they were formed”. Of course it’s always good to follow the law, but he’s only talking about companies. What about the consumers? The constant visitors to YouTube and MySpace?
If seems that digital fingerprinting programs are just another excuse to sue customers, and get even more people in trouble more easily. If it is more likely that you will get caught uploading copyrighted material on YouTube, people will go elsewhere. Alos people will always find ways to get around these digital fingerprinting programs. It is not quite a lost cause yet, but when these programs allow more people to get in trouble, the consumers will revolt.
Recently, companies such as Audible Magic, have been developing programs that can identify copyrighted material, even if the picture is blurred or if the sound is dubbed. In an article from The New York Times, these programs are described as “new technological weapon[s]”. It seems like they’re taking quite a “violent” approach to trying to weed out illegal material.
MySpace and YouTube are said to be investing in programs such as these “technological weapons”. Paul Kocher, chief executive of Cryptography Research, was quoted saying, “As technology companies mature, they are realizing that the rule of law is better than the anarchy in which they were formed”. Of course it’s always good to follow the law, but he’s only talking about companies. What about the consumers? The constant visitors to YouTube and MySpace?
If seems that digital fingerprinting programs are just another excuse to sue customers, and get even more people in trouble more easily. If it is more likely that you will get caught uploading copyrighted material on YouTube, people will go elsewhere. Alos people will always find ways to get around these digital fingerprinting programs. It is not quite a lost cause yet, but when these programs allow more people to get in trouble, the consumers will revolt.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Is Myspace is the new “Record Label”?
When you visit the list of top artists on MySpace.com, there are three categories: Unsigned, Indie, and Major.
The irony of it all is that most of the top artists listed under the “Unsigned” category have the greatest number of friends. A New York Times article asked, “There will soon be an answer to a question making the music industry very nervous: is having a lot of friends on MySpace better than having a record deal?”. The article went to talk about the recognition that Tila Tequila has recieved on MySpace. She currently has 1,701,463 friends.
Instead of accepting a record deal, Tila Tequila, who’s real name is Tila Nguyen, is trying to succeed in her own business. The outcome of her endeavors will really show the world what the effect that social networking has had on the music business.
Eric Garland, the chief executive of BigChampagne, an online market research firm, does not have such high hopes for miss Nguyen. He thinks that she is more of an “internet personality” than an actual recording artist. The same could possibly be said for Jeffree Star (another “unsigned” MySpace artist), who plans on releasing an E.P. on iTunes this month.
If both of these artists succeed, the music industry business will possibly be forced to see what the consumers want, and that the industry must take on a drastic change in order to get customers back.
The irony of it all is that most of the top artists listed under the “Unsigned” category have the greatest number of friends. A New York Times article asked, “There will soon be an answer to a question making the music industry very nervous: is having a lot of friends on MySpace better than having a record deal?”. The article went to talk about the recognition that Tila Tequila has recieved on MySpace. She currently has 1,701,463 friends.
Instead of accepting a record deal, Tila Tequila, who’s real name is Tila Nguyen, is trying to succeed in her own business. The outcome of her endeavors will really show the world what the effect that social networking has had on the music business.
Eric Garland, the chief executive of BigChampagne, an online market research firm, does not have such high hopes for miss Nguyen. He thinks that she is more of an “internet personality” than an actual recording artist. The same could possibly be said for Jeffree Star (another “unsigned” MySpace artist), who plans on releasing an E.P. on iTunes this month.
If both of these artists succeed, the music industry business will possibly be forced to see what the consumers want, and that the industry must take on a drastic change in order to get customers back.
YouTube is growing behind our backs
Recently, I was disappointed to find that most of the episodes from season four of The O.C. were taken down on YouTube. After some clicking around I did end up finding the episode I wanted to watch, but it only gives another example of licensing issue that YouTube has been having with content from major media companies like NBC, and FOX.
But will YouTube stay a site of personal videos and “hidden” illegal content for long? In a recent New York Times article, YouTube is reported to have been signing smaller partnerships in order to deliver free content to YouTube viewers. It is recorded that about 200 small media companies have been added.
For example YouTube made a deal with the NBA, so that the NBA could put out authorized videos, and fans could add their own clips. Wind-up records also made a deal with YouTube so the record company could stream their music for people who wanted to make their own videos with the music.
According to YouTube, though, most of these deals are being made privately. There have been over 1000 dealings that YouTube and Google has made with media companies. A quote from the article linked above reads, “[T]he deals are a sign that a growing number of companies are becoming comfortable with displaying their content on the site”.
So, will big media companies eventually realize that their viewers want the free content for the taking? Only time will tell. Consumers will always get their way in the end, and these small dealings that YouTube has been initiating is just the beginning of a possible revolution in the music and media world.
But will YouTube stay a site of personal videos and “hidden” illegal content for long? In a recent New York Times article, YouTube is reported to have been signing smaller partnerships in order to deliver free content to YouTube viewers. It is recorded that about 200 small media companies have been added.
For example YouTube made a deal with the NBA, so that the NBA could put out authorized videos, and fans could add their own clips. Wind-up records also made a deal with YouTube so the record company could stream their music for people who wanted to make their own videos with the music.
According to YouTube, though, most of these deals are being made privately. There have been over 1000 dealings that YouTube and Google has made with media companies. A quote from the article linked above reads, “[T]he deals are a sign that a growing number of companies are becoming comfortable with displaying their content on the site”.
So, will big media companies eventually realize that their viewers want the free content for the taking? Only time will tell. Consumers will always get their way in the end, and these small dealings that YouTube has been initiating is just the beginning of a possible revolution in the music and media world.
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