Re:Evaluated!

Re:Evaluated

Through the research I have done into the use of the Communication Theory, the two-step flow, media and compromise I have found what I had once thought is not so much wrong but in the wrong direction of what it is I need to accomplish.

I have found my new route to the same destination as a PMA. The destination of course is still successes, I want to be a successful music producer and sound engineer as a Popular Music Artist, but I have revaluated the way I will achieve this.

Let me explain.

I am going to successful if I am able to be notice within a mass of people within a network, not a culture and not a race I need to attract a flowing which will lead to more interest, I first thought that the way I could promote my self to a world wide market was social networking. Millions of people can be browsing the Internet and communicate through social net working but, by doing this I found I opened my self to a world of unclear paths leading to no were but spam. But from reading more on understanding the way two step flow works I have found If I compromise and change mass of followers to a few key taste makers (Opinion Leaders) they will then communicate with there network of informing or possibly changing there minds.

I will still have to use the mediums such as MySpace and FaceBook as I want to establish an online following but it is now time to narrow down the people I add (the opinion leaders I chose to add not others adding me), It was what Steve Lawson had to say from my previous blogs social media is a practitioners space, it’s for people to try it out and experiment with, I doesn’t work as a theorist space, its like try to learn a language within 24 hours you just cant do it, and I agree, that made me think, find those that are interesting. I thought I would have more success if I had thousands of people to send my link to but its not quite like that, after adding a few people that where involved in music I found that I have been bombarded with junk that I don't want to know, Hear This Here That, Shut It your making me a process not a contact, this is my first compromise I can not do this I need to find the people that will help me along with music but advertise my music to those that have nothing to do with it. What's the point of trying to sell music to thoughts that want to sell their own,

SO! Work with me here,

The parentage of people that buy music in the UK is roughly 6%, within this percentage its divided across all the genres including the niche markets, now if I put my focus on the other 94% whilst others are chasing a 0.2% of 6.0% and only achieve 10% of the remaining percentage of that figure I will obtain more interests targeting people who have different interests. Think about it my niche is not being a niche and I could communicate with a world of people whilst others forget them but what do I have to do to gain interests from them.

[1]NPD's annual Digital Music Study found that there were 17 million fewer CD customers in 2008 than in past years. CD sales have been dropping for quite some time, and while 1.5 billion songs were sold digitally last year, the number of Internet users paying for digital music only increased by 8 million in 2008.

[2]And according to the IFPI report, which represents the music industry worldwide, 95 percent of all music downloaded online is illegal -- that is, obtained without rights from the holders of the property.

“My semiotics will be clear through my branding”

I have built up my identity through the clothes I wear and this is a area I cant compromise as my style is apparent from all my manner of dress, I where baggy jeans from the UK company King with every thing else ADIDAS as I explained before, where as when I dress more appropriate from lower/middle class to middle/upper class as it were I will always oze with urban my accent my words my sounds my walk my self is my image and what you see is what you get, I am hoping that my approach to people will inspire others to take a step back from the world of this is what I must look like to be successful to if I want it as here is a kid that could to a man that did.

The branding I am associated with will follow me as through being a Practical Music Artist I have craved the brand that supply my music and asked simply “can I use your logo please” and presented my self in the same way giving a background and a goal and being honest on what I want to do and where I’m at. Now the majority have said yes and I’m still waiting on others but when people look at my pages be it MySpace, FaceBook or an Official page they will see these sign’s decode them in there own way associate me with that product and with out even reading my bio have an understanding as they know that brand, for toughs that don’t know may in time see these logos and then think of me Cleaver hay.

BRAKE DOWN

STILL THE SAME

Using FaceBook, MySpace, MSN / HOTMAIL

Dressing in a brand

Associate myself with brands

Promote myself and companies’ as BRANDS GRAB THA LIFE LIVE THA DREAM & WE ALL WANA BE STARS

CHANGE

Who I add online (meaning that I will now only add people that are not to do with music letting thoughts in music add me)

COMPRAMISES

My language: to make it more understandable for those who don’t understand in full what I want to do,

Emotions

The time I have on each particular site (meaning that what is on FaceBook should not be the same as what is on MySpace.

Bibliography

David Chartier . (2009). Report: 17 million people stopped buying CDs in 2008. Available: http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/03/report-yep-cd-sales-keep-falling-but-new-trends-may-help.ars. Last accessed 8th March 2010.

Marcus Yam. (2009). Shocking: 95 Percent Music Downloads Still Illegal. Available: http://www.tomsguide.com/us/mp3-downloads-music-piracy-ifpi,news-3315.html. Last accessed 8th March 2010.

---

[1] http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/03/report-yep-cd-sales-keep-falling-but-new-trends-may-help.ars

[2] http://www.tomsguide.com/us/mp3-downloads-music-piracy-ifpi,news-3315.html

WELL PUT GOOD EXAMPLE

I was going through the internet looking for a good example of how communication is best expressed in are current age, how dose the world get there news how do they chose to consume information wheeeeeeeeen bingo I found this young chap. In my mind a great way to how emotion has played apart in the way people are informed in there news of the day, This young man has created a stream of daily news reviews of the day and as I watched the first and laughed and clicked the next and the next and the next I was trapped I found I was staying because on a emotional level (humor) I was entertained and felt he connected to me in a way i wanted to. Its self explanatory he clearly high lights the point I am trying to make with this BLOG and dose alot of the work for me watch and enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/user/sxephil#p/u/3/EUGlgZNjUgs

Research into the Communication Theory

I meant to post this before the last Apologies for any Confusion

There are currently many definitions of communication out there at the moment, and there are many communication models, all of which attempt to identify how messages are sent and received. The differences which distinguish these models from each other can be seen the way various theorists have attempted to track how messages travel from sender to receiver, Harold Lasswell’s model for instance known as Lasswells model identifies a five stage process;

Who-says-what-in-what channel-to whom- with what effect?

Whereas the Shannon and Weaver model identifies eight stages;

Sender-message-transmission-noise source-channel-reception-receiver

There are many theories used to understand the processes of how people encode and decode, signals (in many forms) to find a meaning. Communication is one of the ways emotions that is expressed second nature in human and behaviors and societies. Emotion is a process by which emotions are revealed to others As life evolves language (any system of signs that explain an action or message) adapts for instance if communication had not evolved we would still be grunting like the cave man unlike this day and age youth culture find here words to establish them self’s within society “init blood”, Imagine life without the evolution of communication. [1]Communication is also understood as the exchanging of understanding. [2]Additionally the miscommunication theory investigates communicative processes within and among non-humans such as bacteria, animals, fungi and plants.

From looking at this site they describe communication as consists of transmitting information from one person to another.

[3]There is an additional working definition of communication to consider that authors like Robert A. Lanham (2003) and as far back as Erving Goffman (1959) have highlighted. This is a progression from Lassell’s attempt to define human communication through to this century and revolutionized into the constructionist model. Constructionists believe that the process of communication is in itself the only messages that exist. The packaging can not be separated from the social and historical context from which it arose, therefore the substance to look at in communication theory is style for Robert Lanham and the performance of self for Erving Goffman.

What is lasswell’s maxim?

As a means of defining the field of communication theory, lasswell’s said, " who says what to whom in what channel with what effect." Lasswell’s maxim, "who says what to whom in what channel with what effect," as a means of circumscribing the field of communication theory.

New Communication Theory by Brian Solis

[4]In the era of new social web, communications is evolving back to its origins of communicating with people, not at them. It seems implied but communications does not, for the most part, embody, two-way discussions.

Over the years, communications has evolved into a one-way distribution channel that broadcasts messages at target audiences. In the process, communications stopped being about communication, focusing instead on the marketing aspects of top-down message push and control, what we now commonly refer to as marketing communications aka Marcom. Marcom embodies traditional and new marketing branches that includes advertising, PR, Web/interactive, event, among many other disciplines (depending on the organization.)

The definitions and results will radically vary depending on how you mix and match those variables and which marketing or media discipline you represent. I have found the best quote to briefly understand the theory of communication so far is this. Communication stands so deeply rooted in human behaviors and the structures of society that scholars have difficulty thinking of it while excluding social or behavioral events. Because communication theory remains a relatively young field of inquiry and integrates itself with other disciplines such as philosophy, psychology, and sociology, one probably cannot yet expect a consensus conceptualization of communication across disciplines.

Biography

http://bbgcommunication.blogspot.com/2008/11/what-is-lasswells-maxim.html 19:51 12th January 2010

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_theoryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_theory 19:4512th January 2010

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_theory 20:41 12th January 2010

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Communication_Theory/Introduction 21:30 12th January 2100

---

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_theory 19:45 12th January 2010

[2] Witzany, G. (2007) The Logos of the Bios 2. Bio-communication. Helsinki, Umweb

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_theory 20:41 12th January 2010

[4] http://www.scribd.com/doc/4020861/New-Communication-Theory-by-Brian-Solis 20:06 12th January 2010

The Two Step Flow Theory by Elihu Katz & Paul F. Lazarsfeld

TWO STEP FLOW THEORY

The two-step flow is a theory within communication which was touched by Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet which is available in the book “The People's Choice”, it was written in 1944 a study which looked on the process of decision-making during a Presidential election campaign. They looked at empirical support for the direct influence of media messages on voting. What they were to discover, was that informal and personal contacts were mentioned far more frequently than the exposure to radio or newspaper as sources of influence on voting behavior. With this, Katz and Lazarsfeld developed the two-step flow theory of mass communication.

[1]To Investigate this problem, Particular attention was paid to those people who changed their vote intention during the course of the campaign. When these people were asked what had contributed to their decision, their answer was: other people.

There theory found that information from the media moves in two distinct stages. First being the individuals also known as the opinion leaders who give their close attention to the mass media and its messages received from the information. These opinion leaders passed on their own interpretations in as well as the actual media content its self.

[2]The term ‘personal influence’ was coined to refer to the process intervening between the media’s direct message and the audience’s ultimate reaction to that message. Opinion leaders are influential that they get people to change their attitudes and behaviors they are quite similar to those they influence.

The two-step flow theory has improved the understanding of how mass media can influence the decision-making. The theory has given the ability to predict the influence of media messages on an audience’s behavior. It has helped explain why certain media campaigns may have failed to change an audience attitudes as well as their behavior.

These “opinion leaders” as they were dubbed were not at all identical with those who are thought of traditionally as the wielder of influence.

---

[1] Elihu Katz & Paul F. Lazarsfeld (1955). Personal Influence . 3rd ed. U.S.A: Transaction Publishers. 32-34.

[2] ?. (?). TWO STEP FLOW THEORY. Available: http://www.cw.utwente.nl/theorieenoverzicht/Levels%20of%20theories/macro/Two-Step%20Flow%20Theory.doc/. Last accessed 27 February 2010.

The Thinkers of The Communication Theory

When we look at the theorist within communication it is key to remember that theorist’s are simply thinkers within the area. The term communication has been around from the beginning of time (even before the cave man like I used in the previous post). Ideas of what it is and how its used as been deeply researched by many. The reason we call them thinkers is many have the same idea and those ideas we have, already been thought of before, a so on, this is common in many subjects and life,

Example:

There is a south park episode I believe is in session 10, where butters aka professor chaos, was trying to reek havoc on the town and every Idea he had his right hand man doctor doom says the Simpson’s did the Simpson’s did it, he had hundreds written down In his pad and as the doctor flicked through it there was a constant chant of the Simpsons did it the Simpsons did it you get the idea any way, at the end of the show the town gather and look over the defeated butters they explain that it was only natural to have the same idea

s he was only young there was time for him to gather his ideas together but the Simpson’s had been running for 10 years with over 200 episodes and even they have created episodes which are based on others ideas, what I am trying to get at is similarities happen and you can not say that you had the idea as really you never had that idea at all you was simply some one that had an idea and looked more into it

There are similarities in all models of communication and here are some of thoughts that where thinkers of the communication theory the same as us as musician there is only so many keys on the keyboard only so many strings on a guitar, there is only so many combinations we can make on them which will most defiantly mean that we will almost mo] make music which sounds the same as some one else even though we thought it was.

The Thinkers.

Karl Wolfgang Deutsch (1912 – 1992) was a Czech of German ancestry social and political scientist. His work focused on the study of war and peace, nationalism, co-operation and communication. He is also well known for his interest in introducing quantitative methods and formal system analysis and model-thinking into the field of political and social sciences, and is one of the most well known social scientists of the 20th century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Deutsch 20:48 12th January 2010

Harold Dwight Lasswell (February 13, 1902 — December 18, 1978) was a leading American Political Scientist and Communication theorist.. He was a member of the Chicago school of sociology and was a student at Yale University in Political Science.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Lasswell 20:50 12th January 2010

Erving Goffman. Goffman's greatest contribution to social theory is his formulation of symbolic interaction as dramaturgical perspective in his 1956 book The Presentation of Self in Everyday life, which begins with an epigraph by George Santayana about masks. Largely working within the tradition of symbolic interactionism, he greatly elaborated on its central concepts and application. Erving Goffman sees the performance of self as the most important frame to understand communication. Goffman wrote, “What does seem to be required of the individual is that he learn enough pieces of expression to be able to ‘fill in’ and manage, more or less, any part that he is likely to be given” (Goffman 73) Goffman is highlighting the significance of expression.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erving_Goffman 20:55 12th January 2010

What Makes Me A Popular Music Artist!

What it is that makes me PMA is my tendencies,

I’m not what you call your average musician my aim is to have a successful career within the studio, and that is the first of many things that I have in common with the PMA success, a musician is stereotypically some one that plays an instrument such as a guitar, drums, bass, piano ect but my first instrument was the turn tables then moved on to computer biased programming. I want to be successful enough to open a established commercial recording studio which will house my recording company Grab Tha Mic Records where as a musician wants to be part of a band or a session musician by the means that they still get to do what they want but more free lance. Success plays apart when you want o be the best within that area there is a lot of computation and you need to stick out so you use your competitive nature to do what you have to – to be the best if you have lesson from a piano teacher or find an establishment that covers the areas which suit you best. The success its self is what is made up from every thing else I the same as other PMA’s look for an image that hey use with the music some leave it till last and wait until they gain a deal where they let the A&R and manager work along side a stylist to create it for them, thoughts that are going it the independent route have there image first as the music can be adapted around what they are doing at the time as its not set in stone when you release music through the DIY method, I have an image I have always warn baggy jeans and T’s since I could buy my own clothing with money ernt from my own jobs as I feel restricted when I wear fitted clothing, I want lye to you I’m from the UK and love it but American designers such as Fubu, Sean John, Phat Farm and Roca Wear was always my first choice in clothing but as I grow and it becomes harder to get hold of in retailers within my area I have looked towards UK brands such as King, I also found that ADIDAS could supply me with the look I wanted, PMA’s do this they look at there clothes and see the message that it gives to the public, for example the next time your out and about or on public transport look at the suits that think they can own space or expect baggy clothed, indi looking and rockers to move when its equal space and when your dressed up to go out for what ever reason get that little more respect from others. But image is our choice and if we get fed up we can change it but moving on, PMA’s as do I look towards branding, every thing has to be able to be sold the music needs to be sold, the image needs to be sold and the artist needs to be sold, signing a deal is branding as labels work with similar artist (with exception’s) so you become familiar with what that artist may sound like, we look for help from other sources my self would be ADIDAS as its to do with my image others may look to Top Man or Billabong there’s endless clothing lines that are desired by artistes. And its not just the clothing its cars, its radio station’s, its drinks it can be any thing that will get you involved, set up and ready as a desired buyable product that can sit on a shelf and earn you money.

My branding is this, I am dyslexic so I intentionally spelt MR as MISTA many may think I’m trying to be street but it’s the concept of putting out there this filters into my label is Grab Tha Mic Records with correct spelling it should be the right well iv done it like this to link it with the saga a mix tapes I have created SOUNDS OF A DAY IN THA STUDIO: THA INSTRUMENTALS, THA MIX’S, THA FREE STYLES all with tha in it all tha time its continues its branding, I have a logo which is also on all the cd’s you find it all over my sites on the web, it coincides with ALL STAR PRODUCTIONS, the non musical part to it but along with the label has a slogan Grab Tha Life Live Tha Dream GRAB THA MIC RECORDS, We All Wana Be Star’s ALL STAR PRODUCTIONS making things simple makes it easy to understand when people understand it they relate to it if many relate it becomes desirable. I have even created a Slogan for the sale of merchandise which was inspired but my first T-shirt design, you see artist such as tichy styrders STAR IN THE HOOD and JME’s BOY BETTER KNOW T’s they went where we all can go to get these so i had slapped across the front ANY ONE CAN HAVE A T-SHIRT PRINTED which created A.O.C clothing standing for ANY ONE CAN, branding is the product you want to sell understanding commercialism will make it sell.

My last point of what makes me a PMA is the web PMA’s love to make an impact they will have the flashy glitzy designs all over there MySpace with YouTube videos giving them that sense of achievement, FaceBook filled with photos that you get to look at and Twitter where they tell the world about every little thing they are doing in a day. I do this I have HotMail, MySpace, FaceBook and Twitter for both GRAB THA MIC RECORDS and ALL STAR PRODUCTIONS all linking together click here and it will take you there and so on I even have bebo which isn’t used but its there and this lets me communicate with the world without setting up a website but all PMA’s will.

We compromise on what we do when we need to but we always know what we want when it comes to sound, clothing, web sits and over all designs. We are what we are but are hunger divides us from the rest. My ideas and wants with regards to these things are what make me a Popular Music Artist.

Aspects of communication theory in the context of this definition of PMA.

The communication theory is one of a PMA’s most valuable tools that is needed for there success within wide spread acknowledgment within there career if they acknowledge it or not. A popular musician in this day and age almost thinks about how they are going to let the world know about their music before it may even be finished. They look towards social networking sites such as myspace and facebook as one of the mediums they will use as its free and attracts millions of users which can be pin pointed within a moment of an advanced search. It’s a area in cyber space which can be personalized to the artist tastes make it there’s and they fell they own something that they can direct others to.

From the book TECHNOLOGY, CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION by A.MATTELART & Y. STOURDZE, I found a quote [1]“the extension of new networks or communication services would, in principle, no longer follow the dictates of technological supply. Instead, the new government would attempt to leave telemetric choices to users and guarantee employees and workers that the introduction of new technologies in their work would be carried out only with their agreement” in short, “a technology in order to develop, must benefit from a favourable social environment”. This is the same for online networking as PMA are the consumers and chose the tool to communicate with their followers and if it was not excepted it would not be part of there plan to target there market, face book may revile my space and fretted there roll of each but each has become important within there own right and reaches a wider rage of people if used correctly together than if a Practical Music Artist used only one.

Complimenting the quote from A. Mattelart & Y. Stourdze would be a video interview from musician Steve Lawson. (http://vimeo.com/3700054) where he says that [2]“social media is a practitioners space, it’s for people to try it out and experiment with, I doesn’t work as a theorist space, its like try to learn a language within 24 hours you just cant do it, you need to spend time in it emerge yourself in it and find what’s good. This is a musician that has had encounters with these mediums and agrees (if he has read the book him self or not) that the people will decide if it will be accepted. He then goes on to explain that a social network site such as twitter has improved his life he has been able to improve his networking by communicating with those that can help within his area of work, he says that it has also helped him gain work and expose his work, what I did find interesting about this interview is the way he describes twitter after he was asked if he would describe twitter as a marketing tool (starting at 2.30mins into the interview) where he says “ I think if you did but its limiting it massively yes that is one of the affects in the same way that conversation is a marketing tool…… but the beauty of twitter is it is a communication model, this was the perfect quote I was looking for as it applies for other networking sites as they are a way of communicating but it’s the way you use them as respect to them as a tool. It becomes a window to the rest of the information on the Internet.

In the book by John Hartley, Communication, Cultural and media Studies The Key Concepts describes interaction by means of mutually recognised signals. [3]Communication enjoyed great vogue in the mid to late twentieth century as a ‘master discipline’. Since it was an aspect of virtually all human and quite a bit of non-human activity, it seemed appropriate for an academic discipline founded in its name to harbour similar ambitions.

· From European Structural Linguistics and Russian formalism came the idea that there were fundamental structures underlying all human language. Attempts were made an theories how signifying elements were combined in general, not just a given language.

[4]Where as they describe Mass Communication as the practice and product of providing leisure entertainment and information to an unknown audience by means of corporately financed, industrially produced, state regulated, high tech, privately consumed commodities in the modern print, screen, audio and broadcast media, usually understood as newspapers, magazines, cinema, television, radio and advertising; sometimes including book publishing and music (the pop industry). The word ‘mass’ may encourage the unthinking replication of mass society theory, while the word ‘communication’ in this context masks the social and industrial nature of the media, promoting a tendency to think of them as interpersonal communication.

Putting all these aspects together to make a point is: The internet is where a place where information is stored and it is used by those who like to look for it and follow it as a model once found and those that want to advertise and assist those looking for information to the page that you feel best fits your personality be your own page or some one that is similar. Steve Lawson says that it is not relevant to advertise a finished product let the people know what is happening when it is happing and direct people to links that are similar to your self to help them formularise them self with what to aspect when completed, MySpace is filled with this as you can regally see that bands will have there status set as NEW SONG COMING SOON WORKING HARD IN THE STUDIO FOLLOW US ON TWITTER they have jus informed me that they are working on something new but have let me know where to spent my time whilst I wait for them to finish.

---

[1] Jean-Pierre Chevenement, Minister of Research and Technology, in Le Monde, 23 September 1981, p. 1.

[2] Steve Lawson. (2009). In defense of Twitter. Available: http://vimeo.com/3700054. Last accessed 22 Feb 2010.

[3] John Hartley (2002). Communicatin, Cultural and Media Studies.. 3rd ed. USA: Routledge. 32.

[4] John Hartley (2002). Communicatin, Cultural and Media Studies.. 3rd ed. USA: Routledge.138.