MAS110 essay. Digital convergence and online music video

The online music video radically redefined the way in which the 21^st century audience receive and post their music. The birth of the online music video has allowed artists to produce and promote their work with ease, whilst access from an audience’s point of view has never been easier. The revolution of music online has also acted as a contributing factor towards the decline of the hard copy music format and the decrease of music television. However, Australia acts as a unique example of a country that continues to produce music television. This essay shall discuss the convergence of digital media and the online music video with reference to the popular video community YouTube, record company Universal Music Group and music service Vevo. Vevo acts a perfect example and case study of such digital convergence. The essay will also examine the influence of the Internet on music television programs such as MTV.  

The late 1990’s was a turning point in terms of the methods mainstream society used to receive their music. The conventional methods of music collection, on analogue (LP’s, EP’s) declined with the invention of internet sensations MP3.com and Napster. The internet ironically allowed for the resurrection of music video; however was the main component in its demise on TV. (Vidyarthi 2010)

Australia however was a unique exception, in that music video on Australian T.V. continued to flourish. The ABC’s GTK (1969) and Countdown (1974) both predate MTV (1981) and thus demonstrate a strong musical presence within Australia independent of American influence. With the creation of Video Hits and Rage, both in 1987 along with numerous other music television programs, Australians were and continue to be fortunate in having options in deciding where they received their music.

The convergence of digital media resulted in the birth of a new form of music entertainment, this being the online music video. The progression of the online music video took off with internet phenomenon, YouTube.  Begun in December of 2005, the site became extremely popular in the space of two years. In terms of music, a 2009 UK based study found that a majority of 15-24 year olds watched their music videos online as opposed to dedicated music channels. (BBC, 2009). So popular and widely accessed is YouTube, that artists have publicly stated that their music videos are directed for the target audience of the Google owned website. Lady Gaga is a prominent example of an artist who utilises music video to the full extent. Her success can be considered derivative in part to her image, thus her film clips are especially important to creating her persona and ‘brand’. Troy Carter, manager of Lady Gaga stated publicly that they “create music videos for YouTube” (Rao, 2010). Similarly, a number of other artists have produced music videos with the intent that they be viewed online. OK GO’s ‘Here it goes again’ along with a number of their other video’s are directed toward a computer based audience. However some major record labels demand that all their videos be removed from YouTube for copyright reasons. In 2008, Warner Music Group demanded the removal of all their music from YouTube, including user generated videos that used any of the labels songs (Kim, 2012).  

In 2009, YouTube signed with Universal Music Group and their online music service Vevo. Vevo provides the music videos of the big four record labels, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and EMI all of which can be streamed via YouTube. This essentially means that whilst the labels provide the content, YouTube provides the technology for its operation. Doug Morris, founder of Vevo and former CEO for UMG stated, “Vevo enables us to provide consumers with about 80 percent of all the music videos in the world. So, this is really like MTV on steroids” (Sandoval, 2009).The music hub’s creation was the first successful capitalisation on the success of music video on YouTube.

Currently major record companies boast a combined total of 15 billion views, whilst 7 out of the 10 most popular YouTube video’s of all time are music videos (McManus, 2012). To take advantage of such large audiences, Vevo advertises pre and post roll, which gains revenue for record companies and further promotes other artists under the Universal music label. The average price for an advertisement on Vevo is only $3-8 for every CPM (Cost per thousand views) according to Vevo CEO Rio Caraeff. However Vevo intends to bump these advertisement rates up to $25-30. (Sandoval, 2009) Recently however, there has been speculation of Vevo leaving Google (who owns YouTube) due to high fees for the right to stream their content. According Doug Morris, Facebook, apple, Amazon.com and Microsoft have expressed interest in picking up the music service if Vevo abandons Google, thus its survival seems probable (Jaworski, 2012).

Digital convergence has brought about a new era of music that older mediums have been forced to accept. This is exemplified in MTV’s changing market and strategies for reaching its audience.
MTV’s Vice President of music strategy, Shannon Connolly spoke of new technology and its influence on MTV’s role, “at a macro level, new technology has fundamentally changed how people experience music,”… “We’re stoked about this in a way because it’s forced us to evolve and figure out what is the new role MTV wants to play in the music landscape”. (Warren 2011) Ironically, whilst many of the up and coming artists were first heard on MTV, they now are discovered on video sharing websites such as YouTube. Well known examples include Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber. The influence of online culture has been too great to ignore, especially considering that an audience may access music videos from their IPad or smart-phone (Orgad, 2009). T.V. programs such as MTV and Rage have responded accordingly, creating their own websites in order to benefit from the modern day audience that perceives instant access a priority. (Hilderbrand, 2007). In 2010, MTV was actually ranked above Vevo in popularity, earning 53million viewers whilst Vevo earned 49million (O’Dell, 2010).

The music video in itself is still used as a promotional piece however its delivery has been redefined to suit a technology driven, high demand audience. The music industry has been forced to adapt to the digital revolution. The big four record companies now in partnership with YouTube along with MTV’s changing market and internet incorporated approach, demonstrate such changes within the music industry. The future of the music video seems hopeful, with a continued high demand for music video websites. Further digital convergence, in terms of new smart technology, provide ample opportunity for music video’s continued existence  

 

 

                               The Beastie Boys: You better fight For Your Right to Party.
                                                         Second ever video on Rage

 

 

 

 

                                                            OK GO: Here It goes again

 

 



 

References

 

·         BBC 2009, MTV and YouTube go head to head, BBC News, viewed 20^th August 2012 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7967908.stm

·         Reader reference:
Hilderbrand, L. (2007) ‘Youtube: Where Cultural Memory and Copyright Convergence’, Film Quarterly, Vol 61, pp48-57        

 

·         Jaworski M., 2012, Vevo threatens to leave Google, The Daily Dot, viewed 27^th August 2012-08-29 http://www.dailydot.com/business/Vevo-google-youtube-trouble/

 

·         Kim, J. (2012) ‘The institutionalization of YouTube: From user-generated content to professionally generated content’ Media, Culture and Society, Vol 34 no 1, pp-53-67

 

·         McManus R., 2012, Top Ten YouTube Videos of all time, Read, write, web, viewed 27^th August 2012. http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/top_10_youtube_videos_of_all_time.php

 

·         O’Dell, J. 2010, MTV Displaces Vevo as Top Music Site Online, Mashable social media, viewed 25^th August 2012 http://mashable.com/2010/09/11/mtv-Vevo/

 

·         Recommended reading reference:
Orgad, S. (2009) 'Mobile TV : Old and new in the construction of an emergent technology' Convergence, vol 15 no 2 pp 197 - 214 http://con.sagepub.com.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au/content/15/2/197.full.pdf+html

·         Rao, L. 2010, We Make Music Videos for YouTube¸ Tech Crunch, viewed 24^th August 24^th August http://techcrunch.com/2010/05/26/lady-gagas-manager-we-make-music-videos-for-youtube/  

 

 

·         Sandoval G., 2009, I want my Vevo: Will video site be next-gen MTV? Cnet News, viewed 20^th August 2012
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10410217-93.html

 

 

·         Vidyarthi, N. 2010, A brief history of MTV, Vevo, YouTube and the Online Music Video, Social Times, viewed 27^th August 2012
http://socialtimes.com/mtv-Vevo-youtube-online-music-video-history_b23698

 

·         Warren, C. 2011, MTV’s 30^th Anniversary, Has YouTube Killed the Video Star? Mashable Social Media viewed 21^st August 2012
 http://mashable.com/2011/08/01/mtv-30th-anniversary/