Nano Records

Nano Records is a fairly small record label whos audience is extreamly specific. The niche audience are those who listen to the 'psytrance' genre. The average target audience for this genre are teenagers and youth. Yet many people have not heard of Psytrance, probably as it has connotations linked with drug culture.

I have sent an email asking about the production, distribution and consumption of their music. Also what they think about filesharing and music downloads within the music industry. However i am still waiting for a reply.
Infomation i have gathered from www.nanorecords.co.uk includes:

Distribution:
When i went to their website i found that on their homepage, they were clearly advertising free downloads from nano records.
http://www.nanorecords.co.uk/media/
This is interesting as i would have thought that they wouldn't want their music given away for free. However it seems they feel that this promotes their music and leaves the audience wanting to buy the albums. It seems they put a lot of faith in the quality of their products and also that the audience will be loyal to both the artists and their record label.

Nano Records also runs its own music download store - http://www.nanorecords.co.uk/store/
This is a great way to reach their niche audience as the music is obscure and this makes the music readily available.
Memorabelia can be also purchased from the website which also creates a fan base and acts as an indirect advertising tool, while promoting addictional profits for the company.

Nano Records are completely different to the 'Big Four' as they target a much more specific and remote audience. Therefore less music is produced, for smaller consumption and therefore leaving the record label with less profits in comparison to companies such Sony for example. However by advertising through the internet and avoiding expensive outlay such as TV and radio coverage, reduces their overheads.

I also see that the niche audience is a very close knit community. For example there are many community based websites that have been posted on the nano records 'links' page.
http://www.nanorecords.co.uk/links/

"Profile:South African-born British producer (named after a Philip K. Dick story), and co-owner of Nano Records (together with brothers Gareth & Regan Tacon of Hydrophonic)."
Resorce - http://www.discogs.com/artist/Electric+Ant%2C+The

More infomation will be posted as soon as i have received a reply.

Sony BGM

Sony BMG organised music companies into RCA and Columbia label groups in 2006, then in March 2007 announced a third frontline label, Epic.These three release music from other music labels including;Jive, Zomba, J Records, 1965 Recordings, Syco Entertainment, Phonogenic.
In terms of media convergence, Sony profit from their built-in Blu Ray disc player in the PlayStation 3 consoles they sell. THey also get their name known through other companies, such as ITV's Formula 1, the UEFA football league, and also work with opposition, Vodafone, to support Sony's IPL telecast. This allows benefits for the cost to run, and allows a broader range of audience to receive hype and gain a larger sense of being known by more people who look for reliable companies to buy anduse from.
Sony are vertically integrated, as they are working with other companies to help distribute and sell their products to people, suc has using Play.com to sell their music, and seetickets.com to sell the tickets for the gigs their music artists will be leading.

Also - O2 and Sony BGM has just signed a new deal for the ‘My Play’ service. This shows synergy between the two companies


Useful links:
- http://www.sonybmgmusic.co.uk/
- http://www.sonymusic.com/
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_music_market

Vertical Intergration

Vertical Intergration -

This is where a company feels that it can control Prouction, Distribution, and Consumption at once.
For example: Apple Inc.

- Garageband - production
- iTunes - distribution
- iTunes media player - consumption
- Mac Computers - all 3.

This is an example of Vertical Intergration - as whatever the customer wants to do, Apple has accounted for and made a program for the job. Therefore keeping all sections providing a profit for the company. This seems to manopolise custom and makes things a lot harder for other companies.

The Big 4

Main 4 Record Companies

- Sony

- Warner bros

- Universal

- EMI

"However the use of smaller companies is just as important as they are the ones to keep the music industry moving at a certain pace"

Music Industry

Production:
- advance in technology
- user-based production
- not as much need for record companies
- musical skill is not needed - loop based software
- Cost is no longer much of an issue

Distribution:
- Internet / Web 2.0 as main distribution factor
- "free music" filesharing and legality issues
- Hard to track and monitor
- Forced to think of new ways of marketing so as to make a profit

Consumption:
- Follows trends of using new media
- Linked to image and is prefered to be consumed with the usla of a visual aid such as a music video
- "Saturated and Diluted" experiences of consuming music
- Devalued?

Music Industry Related Timeline

-------------------------------------------------------------
1980 - Compact disc
1982 - CDs available to use on PC
1988 - CD overtaken the Vinyl discs
1990 - Record CD
1997 - mp3
1999 - Napster - involved legal battles for copyright - Metalica
2000 - Broadband invented - Downloads available quickly
2001 - Apple - iPod/ iTunes2003 - CD sales dropped 1 third
2005 - iPod shuffle - downloading = cheaper
-------------------------------------------------------------

Section B - Institutions and Audiences

Candidates should be prepared to understand and discuss the processes of production, distrubution, marketing and exchange as they relate to contemporary media institutions, as well as, the nature of audience consumption and the relationship between audiences and institutions.

Terminology -

[Convergence] - Media that comes together, for example iPhone = phone, mp3 player, apps, games.. ect - aka - all in 1 products.

[Synergy] -Media companies that come together. This is normally for the profit of both companies. Such as O2 and Apple for the iPhone, as you can only be with O2 if you own an iPhone in the UK.