AOB 6 Music Press Regulation

PCC Stands for the ''Press Complaints Commission, and the company is self regulated, the newspapers pay for the commission, meaning that the PCC 'dont want to bite the hand that feeds'. 

The Press Complaints Commission is funded by the annual levy which it charges magazines and also newspapers. When a publication  breaches the code, the PCC's first attempt to right the wrong is too take adjudication with due prominence. 

The publish and be damned policy is that they write whatever they feel like and worry about the consequences later on. The most common complaint to the Press Complaints Commission is the accuracy of what they do. 

The code covers lots of different areas, including Discrimination, Harassment, Victims of sexual assault,  and also children and children in sex cases. The editors attempt to try and worm their way out of accusations by stating that what they write 'is in the interest of the general public'. The Press Complaints Commission have no legal powers whatsoever. 

AOB 6 Regulation (Music Video)

Discussing the case of the outcome reached on the Rihanna S&M music video by Ofcom.

WTF TV broadcast a music video by Rihanna for the song “S&M”, at 11:25 on 10 March, the video received various complaints stating that the music video was complete unsuitable for daytime television. Ofcom had to study many rules, such as rule 1.3, which states children must be protected by the appropriate scheduling of material that is completely unnecessary for younger viewers. Ofcom hopes that all music channels consider younger viewers, and also hope they carry a responsibility toward younger audiences, especially during the daytime.

After studying the points and arguments created by ofcom on the decision as to wether the rihanna s&m video i agree to a certain extent that the decision reached by Ofcom, was the correct decision. There are many factors, for and against their decision, many of which are against the video been shown during the daytime. The Rihanna S&M video contains included themes of bondage, sexual dominance, and sadomasochism. Throughout the music video, there is constant reference to sexual nature, during one part of the scence there is images of Rihanna's face and also her body being restrained by cellophane, also a man is featured in the video, whilst shes walking him on a leash, and also whipping him from behind, also she is seen whipping a man whos dressed as a journalist, with his feet and also his hands tied with tape, adopting many sexual references and also the use of blow up dolls, none of this may contain nudity or such graphic content, however it is completely inappropriate for viewing during the normal hours of the day. I believe that should younger viewers have come across this music video, it would be extremely inappropriate for them, they may not know what most of the content is about however, it does not set a good example for the younger generation, and also parents would not be happy should they come home and find their children watching such sexual nature on television. In the end Ofcom reached the decision that the video wasn't appropriate to be shown and any time during the day, and also that the video contained too much sexualized nature of the content and theme, and the at times inappropriate and potentially dangerous and imitable behaviour shown in this video, this material exceeded the likely expectations of the audience for this channel during daytime.

So overall, i completely agree to the decision made by ofcom, i feel the video is completely unsuitable for a younger audience during daytime television, the sexual nature of the video pointed me to reach this decision, and i feel that the video should only be shown to viewers past the watershed time, which is around 9pm and before around am, therefore younger viewers will be less likely to be watch the video, and it would also make parents aware that during 9-5am that content like this shall be displayed, therefore they can ensure that their children do not watch videos past the watershed time.

AOB 5 (Music Video) DIstribution and Ownership Slide 3

AOB 5 (Music Video) DIstribution and Ownership Slide 2

AOB 5 (Music Video) Distribution and Ownership Slides

AOB 5 Distribution and Ownership (Music Press) Task 1 & 2

AOB 4 Music Press Presentation

The Stephen Gately article, isn't a great one, the article questions the singers death, lifestyle, and many other factors of the stars life. The article was wrote by Jan Moir, a writer for the Daily Mail, an article which sparked huge complaints. The article explains how Stephen Gately's lifestyle, and his sexuality played a part in his death, which upto this point, the cause wasnt known. The article uses such depressive, quite rather, lazy, woeful wording, and rather outrages hateful comments aimed at the 33 year old. The article caused a lot of hatred towards to the writer, a lot of companys who advertised in the Daily Mail had pulled out, such as Marks and Spencers, the comment 'There was nothing natural about his death' was the main reason which provoked thousands to express their anger at the writer. Charlie Brooker, a writer for the guardian wrote an article not long after Jan Moir had released hers, he explained the pure disgust of what she had written, he wrote 'It has been 20 minutes since I've read her now-notorious column, and I'm still struggling to absorb the sheer scope of its hateful idiocy. It's like gazing through a horrid little window into an awesome universe of pure blockheaded spite.'' Not only did Charlie feel this way, as did thousands who read her ridiculous article. The guardian newspaper is the complete oposite to that of the daily mails, their article a rather gentle, and very 'anti Jan Moir one'. I think you can tell the way the audience is shaped for both newspapers, the Daily Mail's article being rather informal, using repulsive words to try and draw new readers in and a rather disrespectful tone to accompany that. The guardian on the other hand, writes much more formal, more respectful in its manner, you can tell the difference in class between the two newspapers. The fact that the daily mail newspaper is cheaper than the guardian, shows the divide in class, the daily mail writes more 'cheap, and ludicrous' articles, rather than the 'intelligent, more understanding' articles from the Guardian. I think this effects the way articles are written in both, as shown in the Jan Moir article for the daily mail, and then the Charlie Brooker article for the guardian.

AOB 4 Music Video (Representation)

Music Video Representation Essay

Beyonce is a modern day superstar, she is loved by thousands her music is extremely unique. In this essay i will be analyzing her throughout her videos, in which Beyonce is represented in completely different ways in each. 

In 'Halo' Beyonce is represented as this innocent women who is in love. The video is fairly slow and it the music video is much less paced than her other videos, such as 'Single Ladies'. The messages we get in the Halo video, of how Beyonce is represented are through her appearance, she's shown as elegant, pure, and a very well cultured women, who seems rather sad/depressed.
In 'Single Ladies' Beyonce is portrayed as a very happy, classy individual, her performance is very seductive and this s shown in the clothes she is wearing, and the dance moves she is doing. The 'Single Ladies' video is very fast pace and rather happy which differs completely to the 'Halo' video, which seems quite upsetting. In Beyonce's 'Crazy In Love' video, she is again very energetic just like 'Single Ladies' her clothing is very revealing and the video seems upbeat and happy, her dance routines are also very similar to the ones in 'Single Ladies'. Beyonce also features in Lady Gaga's music video 'Telephone' where she is shown as a different character to the normal Beyonce we are used to, this is due to the fact Lady Gaga is extremely different to your normal audience, we wouldn't expect Beyonce to feature in this video, yet she does, and performs very well.

The characters she plays are chosen for many different reasons throughout her different videos. In Single Ladies Beyonce is this extremely confident character, the video supports the the messages it gives, and Beyonce seems in control the whole time. This representation is appropriate for the video, and it fits Beyonce's song too. In Halo the characters Beyonce is portrayed as this mellow and rather gentle character, this is so she appeals to a wider audience and she fits the role perfectly. In the music video 'Crazy In Love' she plays a very different character to the one in Halo, shes very wild, more seductive, this character is more appealing to a male audience, rather a wider audience like in Halo. In Telephone with Lady Gaga, Beyonces personal and character changes completely, shes portrayed as this rather over the top, exited, kind of weird, similar in a way to Lady Gaga herself, this not only will appeal to Beyonce fans, it will appeal to lady Gaga fans, and also people who didn't quite know what Beyonce is all about. Beyonce has been portrayed differently in all four music videos, the reasoning behind this is that it helps to appeal to a range of different people, the wider range of performance, the more people she is most likely to attract, and more records she is likely to sell.

Sasha Fierce is a Beyonce represented as a new alter-ego. The reasoning behind this is so that its more fun, and more sexual, and aggressive towards to her audience, mainly towards a more male audience, as male audiences have different needs to that of females, so appealing more seductive would entice more males to watch her videos. Beyonce named her album 'I am Sasha Fierce' and its based on the good Beyonce, and the bad Sasha Fierce, this is represented in the songs and also in her videos. Having a alter-ego helps represent Beyonce as this thrilling, imaginative artist, with having two types of personnel, people will not know what to expect in her oncoming songs an videos, and therefore they will enjoy her performances and music much more.

Young people are influenced by many different artists during the modern day, different people have different needs, and I believe many younger females would be influenced by Beyonce rather than males, if the 'effects theory' is true, then it would be the clothing, the make up, and the personality of Beyonce that would influence the younger females. Also the gratifications theory, Beyonce's videos appeal to a wide audience, so her music can help form personal relationships, and also  personal identity can be formed if people were to attempt to copy her dancing, her routines and the personnel's she portrays throughout her different videos. Diversion is also a gratification, Beyonce is a very attractive and appealing women, she appears to men sexually, and to women as this role model, people may watch her videos in the concept of means of diversion.

Treatment Part 6

Treatment Part 5

Treatment Part 4

Treatment Part 3

Treatment Part 2

AOB 3 (Music Video) Creating Meaning

AOB 3 (Music Press) Creating meaning

The new modern, NME magazine, differs completely to that of 50 or 60 years ago. It has completely changed, due to a number of factors. The modern NME magazine are aimed at a vast range of audience, certain artists are used to draw in a younger age group, however, there are still certain artists who feature in the magazines to draw in the older readers. The way we can tell what age range the magazine's are intended for are the vocabulary used and also the image(s) used, if the artist on the front is say 21 years old, then you know that the magazine is going to be intended for people around that age.  The mode of address of the magazine these days is intended for all sorts of readers, the NME magazine on 23rd april 2011, includes a contrast of manner, on the front it includes swearing, and much more sharp, and more informal wording. However, on the old NME magazine, which was on the June 16th 1965, its completely different, much more polite and this resembles how audiences have changed over the years. The NME magazine on 23rd april 2011, is very appealing to a wide range of audience, the front cover includes a large rather 'explicit' image of pop star Lady Gaga, this appeals to the younger audience, because it includes a large photo of her, and a very bold standout title of her name and 'Unzipped' underneath it. The magazine also draws in readers by the colour scheme which is used, the two colours contrast well together, and also reinforce the picture of Lady Gaga, which influences younger readers to buy the magazine. The use of the image of Lady Gaga will engage readers and they may look at her and aspire to be like her, which can increase sales of the magazine, but it all depends on the persons reputation. Also the large size font used for 'Lady Gaga' helps emphasize what the magazine is about and this therefore helps to sell the magazine.

The old NME magazine, is aimed at people from around the ages 20-50, the audience for the old NME magazine was much broader than the modern day NME magazine, which is mainly focused on people from late teens. Also the old NME magazine, doesn't have the magazine title abbreviated, it actually says New Musical Express whereas today, the magazine just says NME at the top of the page. A similarity of the two magazines it that they mainly want you to focus on the star artist on the front page,  the new NME magazine wanting you to focus on Lady Gaga and the old NME magazine wanting you too focus on the Beatles, who were a huge hit during those times. Also both magazines are similar in the way that they both include cover lines, and certain words to draw readers in and get people to purchase the magazine. However, with all the similarities between the two, come the differences, on the old NME magazine, there is a use of different pictures, so that meant they wanted to use a range of artists to draw different kinds of readers in, however on the modern day magazine, they just use and image of Lady Gaga, as they want you to solely concentrate on her. Also the old NME magazine only includes males, however a sign that times have changed is that the modern day NME magazine includes a women, quite explicit on the front.

AOB2 Music Video Analysis

AOB 2 (Music Press) Structure

AOB 2 Music Video Analysis 2

AOB 1 (Music Press) Changing genre, History

Magazines have become a major part of our lives for the last few hundred years, now you can pick up magazines which are about literally anything. The first ever magazine produced was the Gentlemen's Magazine, in 1731, however, it was nothing like the magazines of today. The Gentlemen's Magazine consisted of drawn images, no cameras were used, or anything like we have today, such as photoshop, etc. In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States, the magazine is mainly about fashion and lifestyle, and the magazine continues to be published now. A big change is mazagine's was Nova, a female magazine produced in 1965, the magazine reflected the change in female roles. Men's magazine's remain the same today, they have always had a specific topic, be it fishing, football, cars etc. Arena was a British monthly men's magazine, created in 1986, it always consisted of females on the front, which were never ugly, fat, had spots, etc, and also normaly all women were white. The magazine featured articles on food, movies, fitness, sex, music, toys, and books.

The NME magazine has been one of the most prolific magazines over the past 50 or so years. NME started as a sort of newspaper however, over the years it gradually turned into magazine during the 1980's. The NME journalists would mainly write about pop, and would be very friendly and positive towards the artists, Morris Kinn, the NME's first editor, created the first ever music singles chart, which featured in the magazine. During the 1960's the NME's sales rocketed, the company was on a real high, and NME had a great reputation with artists and bands, and a great relationship with them too, however, this completely changed during 1969, when the NME's audience had become self aware teenagers, the soft drugs of the early 60's had now become the hard drugs of the early 1970's, the peaceful love days of the 60's had completely changed into violence. The NME knew it would need to change the way they write about artists to ensure that they satisfied there customers, they began to write really harsh write ups about singers, and started to turn unpleasant. The NME went through a rough stage, so they made Alan Smith as an editor, this gave the company a 300,000 circulation by 1973. In 1976 the NME advertised for two new, young hip journalists, Julie Burchill and Tony Parsons joined the NME and completely changed the direction and way the magazine was going, when they reviewed artists they were harsh, and at your throat. Punk wasn't really accepted by many people during the 1970's, you couldn't really find out lots about it, or see it on tv, however, the NME was the only real source which allowed people to find out about punk. Neil Spencer took over as an editor, he redesigned the NME, A lot of the current Journalists were cleared out, as new talent was needed to be brought in. After a certain amount of years the NME magazine became very political and intellectual, they started being very daring and wrote an article on youth suicide, it only appealed to a small audience, but that small audience were very impressed by it. After being there for seven years, Neil Spencer left his position. Morrisey was very popular with the NME's audience, so he appeared on the front cover of the magazine quite frequently, However, after a bad concert, the NME gave him bad publicity and he didn't feature on the magazine until 12 years later, when a new editor persuaded him to return. Overall, NME's survival and the fact it still sells today is all because it has changed over the years with the tastes of audiences.

AOB 1 History of the Music Video

Music videos have developed and become extremely different over the years, this is due to advances in modern day technology allowing them to change different aspects, and also YouTube has played a huge part in the music industry of late. 1923 was when music was first introduced onto the television scene , however, they were only really made when an artists were unable to do live performances. Strawberry fields by the beatles was the first real music video, it was not part of a film, like others, and was the average length of music videos, around 2-4 minutes of length. The differences of music video years back now completely differs to that of today, there is a huge change in performance and also the change of the amount of time and money spent into producing such high intense, jaw dropping music videos. Although music videos are hugely popular during modern day, years back there was a division in attitude towards music videos, people would criticize videos as they deemed that they overshadowed the music and that it took away the enjoyment of different songs. People thought music videos were a phase, and that eventually they would die down, however, little would they know how big the music video industry would become. Lot's of music videos aren't just random pointless videos to go with the song, they have many different relations and meanings, lot's of music videos are actually based on films, Robbie Williams song millennium, cast him as the famous James Bond. A big development of music videos and a turning point was the introduction of television program MTV. The first ever track that MTV aired was the song 'Video Killed the Radio Star'' which was very ironic as it was in relation to the tv show airing their first ever music video on television. The fact that MTV had been created was a opening chapter to many artists, it influenced many artists to produce music videos, as they saw it a great opportunity to gain new fans, and also make money. Duran Duran made their music videos before songs, to them it wasn't all about the music, and it was mainly about their image and appealing to a wide audience.

A well known star who was able to do this was Michael Jackson, as you will know, he was named the king of pop, and he used music videos to enable him to become the star that he was, one of his most famous music videos, 'Thriller' kick started the home video business, it was affordable and a massive hit during those times, the fact that it sold three times as many other pop songs during that time proved it was one of the best music videos to date. The thriller video used monsters throughout the video, this therefore gave other artists inspiration to include these into their own music videos, which then kick started the most bizarre and extreme music videos to occur. Another more recent star to become very popular due to her fantastic music videos, is madonna. Madonna realized that the quickest way of enabling that you had a good music career was to be successful via music video, not to tour around the world. Although MTV is still very popular today, MTV had to prove themselves, and prove that they would make money from the show, otherwise, it wouldn't have been allowed to continue.

Music Video Notes:

1923- Music on tv

Music stars in films, the beatles, a hard days night.

Blackboard jungle, music movie aimed at teenagers.

Originally music videos were made when artists were unavailable.

Strawberry fields by the beatles, was the first real, proper music video, wasn't part of a film, and was the average sort out length, 2-4 minutes long.

Change between the amount of time and money spent, compared to modern music videos.

Change in attitude, people would criticize videos as they shadowed the music, people thought music videos would die out.


Music videos looking for film inspiration:

Robbie Williams - James Bond
Paula Abdul- Rebel without a cause
2 Pac & Dr Dre- Mad Max movies
Michael Jackson Beat it- Westside story.

MTV launched in 1981, first song was video killed the radio star. Ironic.

New technology (Cable & Satellite) influenced music videos.

Britain was the only country producing music videos, america didn't have any.

Some artists didn't even release singles, or songs on their own, they just produced the music videos, extreme, anything goes music videos, crazy things went on during music videos.

After it had started, they had to prove themselves and make money from it or the MTV show wouldn't continue.

Some artists such as duran duran, their music videos were made before the song, as it was mainly about the image, not the music.

Madonna justify my love was banned, as it used to much sexual reference.
Rabbit in the headlights was banned as it was too disturbing due to car accidents etc.

Michael Jackson used video to transform himself into the king of pop.

Michael Jackson's thriller kick started the home video business, as it was affordable and a massive hit, selling as much as three times the amount of other pop tracks at that moment in time.

MJ's thriller video included monsters, from then on, people copied and attempted to create music videos with this monsterness.

Madonna noticed that the quickest way of making you music career successful was to get noticed via her music videos, not to go on tour.

Music videos are adverts for lifestyles- Laurie Anderson




Note* Legal & Ethical Constraints A06*