Music Industry

BE: Insta followers

100 Million

BE: X Followers

6.4 million

BE: Monthly Spotify Listeners

67.4 Million

What movies was Billie Eillish featured in ?

Barbie

No Time To Die

Paragraph 1 : Billie Eillish

Lots of Synergy and Cross media convergence

Barbie, No time to die, a book, a fragrance, a documentary - all these merchandise items are priced very highly

Curran and Seaton - Maximising profit to maintain market share - important so the institutions have lots of power over the market, allowing them to charge even higher prices

Paragraph 2 - Billie Eillish

Lack of creativity and genuineness

Manufactured in a repeating cycle which is designed for success and profit - results in lack of actual skill

David Hesmondhalgh - Cultural industries theory, mainstream music is dull, in creative, doesn’t take risks, just repeats same formula process to maximise profits and maintain power

100ml Billie Eillish fragrance cost

£52.00

China Bears : Facebook followers

3400

China bears : monthly Spotify listeners

1600

China bears insta followers

3600

China bears YouTube subscribers

500

What market does China bears target ?

Niche

China bears lack of funding causes a lack of…

Marketing, synergy, and technological convergence

China bears has no…

Merchandise

China bears paragraph 1

They are more genuine and aren’t manufactured

More loyal fan base - fans feel closer and more connected to the group

Henry Jenkins

China bears paragraph 2

More about enjoyment than maximising profit

More creativity and true talent

Not just factory produced → audiences may be more inclined to listen

Blumler and Kats uses and gratifications

Model Introduction

The music industry is dominated by three big companies, Sony, Warner, and Universal. These conglomerates dominate the market and effectively form an oligopoly. They hold the largest market share of the marketplace at 68% compared to the independent sector of the marketplace which only accounts for 27.1%. The big 3 use both vertical integration and horizontal integration to maintain control over this valuable market. To determine how these companies and the independent sector use - INSERT QUESTION- , I will be using the mainstream artist Billie Eillish, and the independent artist Chine Bears.

The big 3 market share

68%

Independent sector market share

27.1%

Henry Jenkins - Fandom and participatory culture theory

Believes that fans are really important for an artists success

Fans are loyal, will attend concerts, partake in textual poaching, and purchase merchandise. All of these activities allow the artist to continue creating music. In the case of China bears…

Blumler and Katz - uses and gratifications theory

Audiences use media products to gratify their needs. Some of these needs include entertainment, information, diversion, escapism, and personal identification. China bears gratifies consumers needs by creating something genuine… etc

Curran and Seaton - power and media industries theory

Media industries are dominated by a small number of giant conglomerates - Sony, Warner, and universal

Media industries and companies are all about profit and market share

David Hesmondhalgh - Cultural industries theory

Believes that companies need to minimise risk and maximise audiences to be successful

He believes that media industries are dull, boring, and uncreative: don’t take risks, all the same,

Billie Eillish First Hit + Number of views on YouTube

Bad Guy - Over 1 billion views on YouTube

What is Billie eillish characterised by ?

The colour green. Specifically green hair. This is used so fans can copy her colour and also die their hair green to create a closer and more loyal fandom

China bears most popular song stats

Sunday

Released in 2019

280 thousand plays on Spotify

Name all theorists

Henry Jenkins fandom theory

Bulmer and Katz uses and gratifications theory

David Hesmondhalgh cultural industries theory

Curran and Seatons power and media industries theory

Conclusion

INSERT QUESTION TOPIC is vitally important for both mainstream and independent artists but it is used in different ways for different purposes

• independent is not interested in dominating market - more about fun and loyal fans

• Mainstream is more manufactured in never ending cycle for profits and market share

Which theories partner up to which case study

Henry Jenkins fandom theory - CB

Bulmer and Katz uses and gratifications theory - CB

David Hesmondhalgh cultural industries theory - BE

Curran and Seatons power and media industries theory - BE