Clear Channel: Music Entertainment
After scanning over the frequencies offered on the FM dial, radio listeners today quickly become bored, annoyed, and frustrated at what they hear.As they flip from station to station, listeners usually hear the same songs, often songs they do not especially like, repeated on multiple stations despite a change in frequency.Few of these songs are not that month's best-selling singles, unless they are listening to older music, which often only reflects the several dozen most popular tunes of previous generations.Amidst the repetitious music, listeners must also hear advertisements on many of the stations they turn to, waiting through several minutes of annoying sales plugs at each station before hearing more low-quality music.
Perhaps these irritations are the reasons that fewer people have been tuning in to radio in the last several years.Over the last decade, the amount of radio listening in the U.S. has declined by 13%.Between 1998 and 2001, the amount of listening among teenagers dropped by 10% (Kot, "What's Wrong" sc.2).Excessive commercials was the reason one-third of listeners between the ages 12-24 gave for listening to radio less, amidst other complaints about the lack of variety in the songs and programs they were hearing (Boehlert, "Radio's Big" 5).Many music fans and critics from within the music industry blame the decrease in radio's popularity on the large corporate conglomerates that now own and control much of the music entertainment industry.Driven by the desire for profits, Clear Channel, the largest of these conglomerates, deserves most of the blame for mass-producing low quality, inaccessible radio and concerts across the U.S.
After the Telecommunications Act of 1996 deregulated the radio industry, radio-owning corporations began rapidly consolidating.The National Association of Broadcasters lobbied Congress to pass this bill (Boehlert, "One Big Happy" 4), which would effectively eliminate all governmental restrictions on how many national radio stations one company could own and would loosen the limits on how many local radio stations companies could own.When the act was passed, the Federal Communications Commission allowed large radio companies to own up to eight local stations in any market, a large increase from the previous limit of two stations (Compaine 297).
This government deregulation revolutionized radio by allowing larger radio companies to begin a spree of radio station buyouts.The more powerful companies that emerged further consolidated over the next few years through mergers that created radio giants with "vast empires" of media control.
During this era, businesses supplied large amounts of employment for citizens which created power for these businesses. They had the power to provide bad working conditions, lower wages, and fire their employees without any justification (Doc 1). George E. McNeill, a labor leader, states how “whim is law” and one can not object to it. The government took a laissez-faire approach and refused to regulate economic factors. This allowed robber barons and business tycoons to gain more authority of each industry through the means of horizontal and vertical integration. It wasn’t until later in the time period that the government passed a few acts to regulate these companies, such as the ICC and the Sherman Antitrust Act. One of the main successful industries was
-The American people were hungry for new music, so they accepted the independent stations of the majors.
Clear Channel Communications, owner of 1,200 stations across the United States, has been undermining the values of diversity, localism, and market completion within the music industry since the media policy wars in the early 2000s. Since then, the radio industry arguably has lost a significant amount of the authenticity it once had. The only exception is college radio: the last safe haven for musical integrity. The only facet of radio not owned and controlled by a major monopoly. Recently, however, Clear Channel has gone to bed with college radio stations across the country. Although the corporate monopoly has shut out authenticity and artistic integrity from the mainstream, they still want more in order to completely wipe out independent music.
Spencer, Robert F. Methods and Perspective in Anthropology. Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press, 1954.
Wireless communication across the country was something no one ever imagined. The creating of the commercial radio in 1920, created a feeling of belonging to many citizens of the United States. Starting off as a hobby for amateurs, radio quickly expanded. With the creation of NBC, and emerging radio stars like Ernie Hare and Billy Jones radio, families tuned in on a daily basis. Music was brought to lower income families who couldn’t afford to buy a piano. As well as streaming music, radio provided advertising outlets. Promotions regarding cigarettes, automobiles, and soap
Back in the day, music is not readily available online at the tip of your fingertips. Fifty years ago, you would listen to the radio and that’s how you knew what records to buy. Radio stations in large music cities such as Los Angeles, New York or Nashville normally set the standard for the most popular music. New music emerges in their city, than gets released on their local radio stations, and the music becomes a smash hit. This is not the case for the small town radio station of CKLW in Windsor, Ontario. As television was drastically changing the radio industry, CKLW had to change to keep up. This change is what resulted into CKLW- The Big 8, a radio station that created new standards of radio hosting as well as rock and roll music. CKLW influenced not only music throughout North America but the entire music industry such as Bill Drake's "Boss Radio” technique, and how this station influenced its home city of Windsor, Ontario. CKLW evolved from a small city radio station to become “The Big 8” a huge nationwide music icon that was responsible for not only changing the music industry but changing the face of radio forever.
The article that appeared in Fortune entitled “Radio’s Stern Challenge” by John Helyar discusses Sirius’ marketing strategy to not only take market share from the entrenched and free terrestrial radio industry but also to beat its only competitor, XM. The Fortune article presents how a fat and lazy radio industry has failed to react to an eroding listening base and an increasing number of competing technologies. Issues like lack of attention to programming, no on-air talent, and an increase of 166% in the time devoted to commercials have driven listeners away from radio. Teens aged 12-17 spend 11% less time listening to radio compared to five years ago and adults 18-24 spend 13% less time compared to five years ago (Helyar, 2004). The article further discusses that terrestrial radio has much to fear from competing technologies like satellite radio, streaming digital radio on the Internet, and Apple’s iPod. What terrestrial radio does have in its favor is that it’s free compared to any of the current competing technologies like satellite radio.
Schultz, Emily A. & Lavenda, Robert H. 2005, Cultural Anthropology, 6th edn, Oxford University Press, New York, Chapter 3: Fieldwork.
Throughout history music has drastically changed from style to sound. As the years go on, many people would claim that the music industry in today’s society is nothing what is was like decades ago. By turning on the radio it clear that many artist have their own style. Years ago, artists like like the Beatles or the Eagles would be on the radio. As the generation grows, so does the music. Now a days, if one turns on the radio, they are most likely to hear pop or rap music. Some stations still do play alternative and rock music but very few. The biggest radio stations play what the youth want to hear which is rap music.
In “Shooting an Elephant” writer George Orwell illustrates the terrible episode that explains more than just the action of “shooting an elephant.” Orwell describes the scene of the killing of an elephant in Burma and reveals a number of emotions he experienced during the short, but traumatic event. Effectively, the writer uses many literary techniques to plant emotions and create tension in this scene, leading to an ironic presentation of imperialism. With each of the realistic descriptions of the observing multitude and the concrete appeal of the narrator’s pathos, Orwell thrives in persuading the audience that imperialism not only has a destructive impact on those being governed under the imperialists’ oppressive power, but also corrupts
In the year 1952 in Memphis, Tennessee, Sam Phillips opened Sun Recording Company. Their slogan was “We Record Anything, Anywhere, Anytime." They were the first recording studio to record African American musicians. African American musicians played black jazz and blues that inspired Ike Turner to write and record “Rocket ’88.” (A&E Biography Channel UK “SAM PHILLIPS The man who Invented Rock & Roll”. 1 Feb. 2013. Web. 9 Dec. 2013)
In George Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant, Orwell suggests just that; one can form his own ideals, but they will either be changed by the media (symbolized in his essay by the Burmese natives) or constructed from...
Following the sinking of the Titanic, the Radio Act of 1912 was instated, requiring all radio stations to be licensed by the United States federal government, and mandating that all seagoing vessels must continuously monitor distress frequencies. The implementation and enforcement of the Act was deleg...
...a much easier and more accurate approach to studying humans. By using quantifiable measures you can put a number on whatever you are studying rather than a vague guess, people want exact numbers and details. Anthropology is and will always be seen as a hard science.
Steve Jones in the article "Music and the Internet" suggests that popular music as well as academic articles relating to popular music were created and distributed by people who didn’t completely understand the idea of the "music industry." He ultimately suggests that today compared to the introduction of popular music, a growing number of consumers are using the Internet to attain music. The internet has drastically changed the distribution systems also creating many ethical problems that weren't found in the music industry before the internet. Because the internet started making a presence in almost every single business, it was almost no question that the internet is bringing about some changes in the music industry; a billion dollar industry. Steve Jones ultimately knew the inversion of the internet would create dominant change in the music industry; one that many popular music artists during the early years didn't think was possible. The article was written in a lot information paragraphs that gave insight to the extreme lack of strong distribution during the early times of popular music compared to modern day. Strong and insightful syntax showed the way many musicians felt that about the way their music was performed and distributed during these times, but had nothing to do about it.