Comm chapter 5

Recording industries - Universal, Sony, and Warner: 80% of sales on 34% of titles 

Distinctive Functions of the Recording Industry - Primarily entertainment and cultural transmission. Children listen to recorded music, often repetitively, and learn vocabulary, musical, rhythms, and dancing 

Controversies of the recording industry -  Autotune. People Don’t realize the messages the songs have 

History of Recorded Music -Developed in 1870’s; first mass medium not based on print 

Early recording devices  -Phonograph, Graphophone, Gramophone 

Phonograph - Edison, tinfoil cylinder 

Graphophone- Tainter, wax cylinder 

Gramophone - Berliner, flat disc 

History of how people listened to music - 1950s: Vinyl LP records. 1960s: Electromagnetic tape. 1980s: CDs 

Popular/commercial Music - Rock becomes leading genre in second half of 1950’s, continues to dominate sales through today. Hip-hop/rap competes for most streamed and dominates the charts. Other prominent genres in the US include country, Latin, R&B, and dance 

How many recording labels were there in 1998 - Six major recording labels

3 major recording labels in 2024 - Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group 

Recording-Industry Business Model - Creation (Artists, Producers, Writers), Promotion(Social Media, Concerts, Commercials) Distribution(Streaming services) Pricing 

Concerns for the recording industry - Digital rights management and illegal file sharing 

Subscriptions 

Broadcasting - Technology essentially the same in both radio and television. Transmitter sends messages over electromagnetic spectrum to receiver. Receiving device then decodes audio or visual electromagnetic waves so they can be heard or seen 

Radio - Most widely available mass medium around the world. Second-most heavily used medium in US, after TV. More portable and less expensive to produce, transmit, and receive than a TV. 

AM - (amplitude modulation

FM (Frequency modulation) 

Distinctive Functions of Radio - Medium of news and entertainment around the world. Broadcasts important information in remote rural areas. Used Globally for emergency broadcasts. Recorded music mainstay of commercial radio. Advancing technology and commerical “experiments” through 1917. When all activity abruptly ceased 

History of Radio - Widespread public adoption in 1920’s 

Creations of viable business model - Privately owned stations with on-air advertising 

What led to the Rise of radio networks - Radio Act of 1927 and creation of Federal Radio Commission 

When and who created FM Radio - 1934: Edwin Howard Armstrong invents FM radio, then stereo FM with John Bose 

• Increasing ownership consolidation in 1990’s 

The Radio Industry Today- Increasing revenues: $10 billion in 2020. Online revenues also growing: $940 millions in 2020. Public radio station revenues: $970 million in 2020 

Outlook for the Radio Industry - Cautious optimism for growth due to digital revenue. Growth of personal radio stations such as Slacker, Pandora, and Spotify 

Podcasting - Episodic or series of related content such as news program or investigative report; easy to access and download; easy and inexpensive to produce 

Satellite Radio - Digital signals broadcast from a satellite beam same programming across wider territory