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.

Define what a popular music artist is.

A popular artist isn’t necessarily some one that is looking for popularity but looking success which can then lead to fame, doing something elaborate can help ether or the speed of the process and the size of celebrity states, a good example of this would be Lady GaGa’s approach.

Those who what to establish themselves and who crave fame may have a short lived career as they try that little bit too hard to be noticed that there first impression isn’t the one they where looking for, whereas an artist that uses the music in any genre as a release will make it there own and become part of it to the point that you know that artist best for that style or here that style and you will think of them and begin to compare thoughts with others within that area.

The fame, which is craved by the popular music artist, is a sign of successes, which is witnessed by others as their achievement. This is what we can call the dream the artist having successes that a brand would like to endorse and give them free things that they would usually buy and replace the label band to brand. Thoughts that cave successes but not the fame chose the alternative of fame to credibility, sometimes both can be achieved at the same time, but is rare an example I will use here in my own opinion not others is JLS, here is a boy band that became known from a reality TV show, they have become famous from this as the exposure was already there and available which has taken away some of the credibility as there perceived to have been given the exposure and the fame but did not earn it, on the other hand they are popular as they are young men targeting young and mature women that think they are cutie and will back flip for you fitting into the market where young boy bands of each era has (we will give you what you want when we get what we want and play the game. Sex sells). Credibility requires integrity and for ambition to be shown in the product, lady gaga would oze this as her weird elaborate dress sense shows that there is a business mind behind the shock tactic clothing where as JLS fit a working formula.

The more successful artist’s are those who have an understanding of the business and adapt to the changes that are being made within the music industry. The developments of technology innovated they way musicians communicate with there audience aiding their popularity within PMA.

Communication technology will be at the forefront of the future of the music industry the more successful of these will be those who use these to there advantage. This can lead on to the more successful of the popular musicians that become so popular that there consumers want any thing and every thing they do such as Jay-Z with is endless empire including the roca wear clothing line to Britney Speers and her perfume which simply sells out even when she isn’t in the write mind, popularity follows those that know how to use there mind at the right time in the place which is open to exploitation. From scratching the surface on what a PMA is I will look for the input of the communication theory and new mediums of technology play apart in their career.