Welcome to the blog of Dr. Lisa Burns' Media Studies senior capstone class (Section B) at Quinnipiac University. If you're looking for the latest on media industry trends and insightful media analysis, you've come to the right place.
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Media Trends, Question 1 (April 18th)
What do
you think is the most important trend that is cutting across all media industries
and having the biggest impact on both professionals and consumers? Limit:
11 responses
Danial Donnelly There are currently a lot of changes happening regarding the way consumers get their media. One of the most important trends that is happening now is streaming, whether it be for shows, sports, movies, or music. The importance of on-the-go media is also an important issue for media producing companies. Another important trend is being able to have easy access to these media outlets. Media companies must try to tend to these trends if they want to remain popular, which causes a shift in the way media is produced. The biggest trend from the past year is the popularity and demand of streaming. Streaming has become the norm for many people in the ways they listen to music and watch TV. The most prominent example of this is the success that Netflix has had recently. Netflix reported 86 million subscribers from the 3rd quarter of this year and is expected to reach 130 million subscribers globally by 2020. Amazon is also expected to double in subscribers, going from 30.5 million subscribers to 64 million by 2020 (Roxborough). With all of the recent success Netflix has had, it is no wonder why they are expected to keep growing at a tremendous rate. Their growth has also allowed them to create more Netflix original series, which have also been successful with shows like Stranger Things and House of Cards. They are even producing their own movies too with lead roles starring Adam Sandler, who has a contract with Netflix to continue to do movies for them. Steaming success has also been linked with the decline of regular TV shows by making viewing more pleasurable by the lack of commercials. Streaming also makes viewing easy because you can literally watch whenever you want, and you can binge as hard as you want. The music industry is also familiar with the recent trends for streaming services. Services such as Spotify and Apple Music are completely changing the way to listen and download music. With Apple music and Spotify, you can essentially download any track or album you could ask for, as well as listen to playlists made by other people and radio stations. On demand streams were even up almost 40 percent form 2015 while CD album sales went down over 16 percent and digital sales dropping by 20 percent (Christman).
Streaming services for music have completely changed the music industry from a consumer standpoint, and it has affected the artist just as much. With multiple streaming services and outlets for artists to release their music, artists can control their own growth and use these services to gain popularity. This makes the need for a record label less important than it has in the past. Artists such as Lil Uzi Vert and Chance the Rapper have used these services to boost their careers and while Lil Uzi has since signed with a major label, Chance the Rapper remains unsigned and is one of the biggest commodities in music today. This could lead to the question down the road of whether or not having the backing of a major label is necessary for a successful music career. While there are many changes happening in the media industry, streaming is the most prevalent change that is happening across all services. Streaming is having different effects on the multiple industries, but each must adapt to the new trend. I expect media industries to continue to follow the new trends and adapt to these streaming services more, especially in the TV and movie industry. Works Cited Austen, Ben. "The New Pioneers: Chance the Rapper Is One of the Hottest Acts in Music, Has a Top 10 Album and His Own Festival -- All Without a Label or Physical Release." Billboard. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2017. Bond, Paul. "Firings, Power Struggles and Studio Exits: Hollywood's Year of Executive Turmoil." The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., 22 Dec. 2016. Web. 17 Apr. 2017. Christman. "Nielsen 2016 Report: Streaming Smashes From Adele, Drake & More Offset Sinking Music Sales." Billboard. N.p., 09 Jan. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017. Jarvey, Natalie. "Netflix Reports Its Strongest Subscriber Growth in History." The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., 18 Jan. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017. Roxborough, Scott. "Why 2017 Will Be Crunch Year for the Global Ambitions of Netflix and Amazon." The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., 28 Dec. 2016. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
Streaming is the most important trend cutting across all media industries right now, whether it’s directly or indirectly affecting them. Streaming has the biggest impact on both professionals and consumers. This media trend has influenced the television and music industry most directly, but it will indirectly affect the businesses of film, social media, celebrity, sports media etc. The television industry is experiencing incredible change in the wake of the streaming era. Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon are becoming more popular and creating their own content. Netflix reported their strongest subscriber growth during the fourth quarter last year, as “the company grew its subscriber base by 7.05 million members during the period, bringing its total membership to 93.8 million” (Jarvey). Not only did the company gain membership, but they also expanded globally. They expanded into 170 new territories. Netflix’s CEO Reed Hastings noted that the growth was consistent, and “the big picture is remarkably steady” (Jarvey). One of the ways that Netflix establishes their dominance is through their original content. They continue to “spend big on original and exclusive programming – content chief Ted Sarandos said its budget would be around $6 billion this year, up from $5 billion in 2016” (Jarvey). This investment is one of the main reasons broadcast networks are falling behind. “With spending estimated at $6 billion on originals, it should come as little surprise that Netflix topped all five broadcast networks with a total of 43 originals” (Goldberg). The globalization and the new content are key factors for Netflix’s continued success. And streaming will not just affect television programming either, but sports media as well. Social media outlets are looking to get in on the streaming fad too. Last summer Twitter made a deal for “rights to live-stream one baseball game per week, which will be exclusive among free over-the-top distributors” (Spangler). And this season, Facebook wants in. They are “in discussions with Major League Baseball to secure rights to stream one game per week free on the social platform” (Spangler). Sports media will inherently be affected if this trend continues. Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and now Facebook and Twitter, dominate in providing their members with video content.
Streaming is not just dominating video services, but the music industry as well. Last year “became the first time streaming overtook sales as the music industry’s dominant model, accounting for 51.3 percent of album consumption and besting physical and downloads combined, according to Nielsen Music” (Rys). Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio and Amazon, all trying to succeed in the streaming wars have joined Apple Music and Google Play. However, the top two competitors are clearly Spotify and Apple Music. Spotify has a leg up on Apple Music, in that it has over 20 million more subscribers. 2017 will be a telling year for the streaming services considering Spotify is rumored to go public. MiDia Research founder Mark Mulligan noted “Spotify’s IPO will have a bigger impact at the industry level than any other company in any other major industry… If successful, you’ll see an influx of capital, new services and revenue for labels, publishers, artists and songwriters” (Rys). Apple Music shows no signs of slowing down either. Zane Lowe, from Beats 1, noted, “We can’t forget that, as an industry, we still have very few music subscribers. There are billions of people listening to music and we haven’t even hit 100 million subscribers. There’s a lot of growth opportunity” (Apple Music). There is more room for more growth, more services and more subscribers. Streaming will dominate the music industry.
Works Cited Goldberg, Lesley. “500 Scripted Shows?! How Netflix, Amazon Are Sending Originals to All-Time Highs.” The Hollywood Reporter. 05 January 2017. Web. 17 April 2017. Jarvey, Natalie. “Netflix Reports Its Strongest Subscriber Growth in History.” The Hollywood Reporter. 18 January 2017. Web. 17 April 2017. Rys, Dan. “2017 Streaming Wars: Will Spotify, Apple music or Amazon Dominate?” Billboard. 06 January 2017. Web. 17 April 2017. Spangler, Todd. “Facebook Wants MLB Live-Streaming Rights, Which Twitter Already Has for 2017 Season.” Variety. 22 February 2017. Web. 17 April 2017.
The entire entertainment industry is going to have to change the way they distribute content. Streaming is dominating the way people view their shows, music, movies, sports and more. The trends are tailoring more to the consumer needs and experiences. With streaming it is making it more convenient for consumers to view the content they want to view when they want to view it. We can see that many networks are trying to acquire stacking rights for their shows. This will allow them to have more control over how the show is distributed other than on their network. This will also due to the increase in streaming and binge-watching seasons. When they have the full season available to the consumer it “…allows viewers to catch up on shows and discover new ones, thus boosting TV viewership” (Andreeva). This benefit the big networks so if they are smart they will continue to provide streaming for entire seasons. That being said just because streaming is on the rise doesn’t mean the networks will be in trouble. 282 million people still engage with media through their television screen (Nielsen). If anything right now streaming is a great compliment to regular television. As long as the networks adapt to the streaming trend they will be able to keep afloat. Music is also having a huge moment in streaming with many platforms launching in the past few years. This is where we are seeing he biggest changes. Unlike show and film streaming where Netflix dominates, there are many platforms to stream music from. Although Spotify and Apple Music are the top contenders they still see major competition from new platforms like Pandora and others. Eventually they’re will be a consolidation of companies. Until then, due to the impending competition, we will see more new things coming from streaming services. Especially from big contenders like Spotify, Apple Music and the new Amazon. Again the competition is tough and “…in order to survive, streamers will need to offer more, or different, value than the market leaders already have” (Rys). What does all of this mean for the people involved? Well the consumers will actually be benefiting from all these the services tailoring to their needs. However, for professionals it is up to what industry and what company they are working with. Many musicians will benefit from selling exclusives but, unfortunately their record labels will not. As for TV studios who create these show will end up being short-sided by their networks because of stacking-rights. In conclusion, it is a changing industry and not everyone is going to make it with these future trends.
Andreeva, Nellie. "Network Ownership & In-Season Stacking Rights Rule 2016 Upfronts" Deadline. 19 May 2016. Web. 17 April 2017 Neilsen. "Insights. Forces of Nature: The Media Universe Moves at the Pace of Technological Change." N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2017. Rys, Dan. “2017 Streaming Wars: Will Spotify, Apple music or Amazon Dominate?” Billboard. 06 January 2017. Web. 17 April 2017.
There is one overall theme cutting through all media platforms, and that theme is “faster.” Companies are now trying to make their services faster and easier than the competitors. The news seems to be oversaturated with the speed at which information travels in the modern world. Even sports coverage is now shifting to social media, where you can hear about a potential trade or breaking news way before ESPN can report on it. This is a trend that shows that technology is progressing, but is this necessarily good for society. For example NBA ratings are down and the league commissioner Adam Silver is partially blaming it on millennials. Silver said that “obviously people, particularly millennials, have increasingly short attention spans, so it's something as a business we need to pay attention to” (Hadley 1). I believe that the lack of an attention span comes from the amount of information that is thrown at us online. We are not taking the time to watch 3-hour games or long movies, because we have to keep up with the speed of the outside world at all times. Comedian Dave Chappelle voiced this in his new Netflix stand up saying that “how can the younger generations care about anything, when there is a new tragedy ever day.” It makes sense, as we may not have enough time to focus on an important issue, since new issues appear online all the time. This speed is not just effecting how we think; it is also effecting what we are told to think about. With increased pressure on companies to find the right consumer demographics, online advertising has become more intrusive. When we log onto social media platforms and we see ads that relate to us in some way or another. This is because “targeted ads are worth roughly twice as much as non-targeted ones. Much of that complicated ad ecosystem is built around matching relevant ads to the right people in real time” (Tynan 1). The key phrase here is “real time” as it is all about getting the message to the consumer as fast as possible. Thus the speed of advertising has created a huge privacy debate in America. This is all derived from the overall increasing speed of the media world.
Thus with all this increasing speed, what does the future hold? The answer lies with Generation Z since they are “the first generation born into a digital world… They live online, sharing details of their lives across dozens of platforms and dictating what they like and dislike with a tweet, post or status” (Bernstein 1). They will be the ones that decide what direction the human race goes with this new speed. Now hopefully the future does not get as Orwellian as many seem to believe. However it is important to understand the power of this newfound speed and maybe take the time to step back and take a deep breath before picking up your smartphone again.
Work Cited
Bernstein., Ruth, and Ruth Bernstein Ruth Bernstein Is Co-founder and Chief Strategic Officer at Yard, a Strategic Image Making Agency Based in New York. View All Articles by This Author. "Move Over Millennials -- Here Comes Gen Z." Ad Age. N.p., 21 Jan. 2015. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
Dave Chappelle: The Age of Spin. Perf. Dave Chappelle. Netflix, 2017. Film.
Hadley, Greg. "Millennials and Their Short Attention Spans Have the NBA considering Rule Changes." The Sacramento Bee | Sacbee.com. N.p., 16 Jan. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
Tynan, Dan. "Explained: Here's How Advertising Tracks You Across the Web." Yahoo!Yahoo!, 17 Nov. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
The biggest trend right now cutting across the media industries is streaming services. Whether it be music streaming services such as Spotify, Amazon Music, or Apple Music or movie and television streaming such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu, the streaming services are having a huge effect on the media industry professionals and consumers. Streaming allows for a more convenient, easier, and more fluid way for consumers to enjoy their favorite music, shows, and movies. Streaming services are typically met with great reviews from consumers as it makes it so you can enjoy your favorite music, movies, and shows on the go and with greater simplicity. Consumers typically love streaming services, whereas it's a mixed batch for professionals in the media industry. Streaming is great for professionals working at companies like Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Spotify, and Hulu as these companies are all hugely benefitting from this huge market trend right now. But streaming services can pose greater problems for cable companies as well as, particularly in music, the people starring in the media themselves. A Lot of artists aren’t making the same revenue from streaming services such as Spotify that they used to make from former ways of music consumption and sales.
For music streaming specifically, it seems to be a market dominated by Spotify and Apple, with companies like Amazon, Tidal, and Soundcloud trying to catch up. A testament to the growing importance of musical streaming in the media industry is that in the year 2016, streaming sales took over for the first time as the music industry's dominant model. According to Nielsen Music streaming accounted for 51.3 percent of album consumption and bested physical and downloads combined. Furthermore, streaming was main cause of of the U.S music industrys first back to back years of growth this millennium, and brought in $1.61 billion in just the first half of 2016. Sony, Universal and Warner which compose the three major labels have all posted double digit percent boosts in earnings which were all significantly driven by streaming (Rys). The growth of streaming over the last two years has been huge, and the numbers are a representation that most consumers love streaming music. In a seemingly tech driven world, streaming is an easy way to consume music through our phones, laptops, and tablets. One major problem I see in musical streaming is that the competition in the market seems to be slowly diminishing. It seems as though Apple and Spotify are growing stronger and stronger, whereas other services like Soundcloud could struggle to keep up in the coming years.
Within the movie and television streaming industry, a huge example of the success that streaming is experiencing in this media industry is evidenced by the success of Netflix. Netflix’s total membership is up to 93.8 million after experiencing more added subscribers last fourth quarter than any other previous quarter in the company's history as a streaming provider. Furthermore, the service has expanded into 170 new territories and their CEO, Rob Hastings, sees this huge recent growth as consistent along with their remarkably steady big picture” (Jarvey). Streaming services like Netflix, and Amazon Prime are trending and are having a big influence on the media industry. Netflix’s numbers are continuing to go up, as their services fit what consumers want. Netflix allows people to watch both new and old TV shows at their convenience, and offers a easier way for consumers to consume certain shows they're interested in. Streaming services continue to innovate, and are causing reasons for concern for major cable companies and other competitors that don’t utilize streaming in the same manner.
Works Cited
Jarvey, Natalie. "Netflix Reports Its Strongest Subscriber Growth in History." The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., 18 Jan. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
Rys 1, Dan. "2017 Streaming Wars: Will Spotify, Apple Music or Amazon Dominate?" Billboard. N.p., 6 Jan. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
User generated content, specifically those who create YouTube videos, has created many career opportunities for professionals and for everyday consumers. YouTube allows people to create and upload content for consumers to watch, like, comment, and subscribe. The content on YouTube ranges from commercials seen on television, tutorials and just about anything one could think of. Millennials have picked up on this trend and have figured out how to make a career just by making and uploading videos to YouTube. These people have figured out how to make money doing what they love and more and more people are trying to make it big on YouTube. Millennials grew up in a time where this entire new media was coming to the surface. Because of their environment, “they are hyper-connected, tech savvy and know the exact science of how social media works,” (Schawbel 2012). Millennials pick up on new media very quickly, and it is clear that growing up in this generation has been an advantage for them. YouTube has countless categories of videos and anyone who goes on YouTube is sure to find exactly what they want to watch or learn how to use. YouTube is also coming into the streaming game along with Spotify and Apple Music. YouTube always had a variety of music available to consumers with just a few keywords to find the song. Because YouTube is becoming increasingly popular, they have created YouTube Red, which is a streaming service, similar to Amazon, where it offers music and video. According to Billboard, “music’s popularity has significantly fueled YouTube,” (Goodman 2017). When a specific song becomes popular, the consumers’ first stop is YouTube so they can hear the dong, watch the music video, and look up the lyrics. The Super Bowl brings YouTube a lot of visitors who want to watch and re-watch their favorite ads. YouTube Adblitz even has the best Super Bowl ads sorted into categories for consumers to easily find the ads they want to watch. The number one advertisement from the Super Bowl 2017 was the Kia Nitro Ad featuring Melissa McCartney. YouTube allowed consumers to visit and vote for their favorite Super Bowl ads. YouTube has given many careers to people who just took a chance at uploading a silly video they made. YouTubers like Jenna Marbles, Hannah Heart, and Tyler Oakley are prime examples of what happens when YouTube becomes a career. They each have been given countless opportunities they would have never gotten if they did not make YouTube videos. Because of the success of many people, more and more people are trying to make it big through YouTube, making it the most important trend to have the biggest impact on professionals and consumers.
The most important trend that is cutting across all media industries while also having the most impact on both professionals and consumers would be the streaming trend. Nowadays in order to watch anything important or listen to the newest music, people are turning to streaming. Television is one of the areas that is seeing a huge change with streaming. Now, instead of having to watch your favourite show as it comes out, you are able to wait and watch an entire season at once, and more importantly, without any commercials. Some examples of these streaming companies include Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. The leader thus far is Netflix which saw “it’s largest year of growth in history, setting a new benchmark during a year in which it expanded into 170 new territories” (Jarvey). This shows how many people, not just in the United States, are turning to streaming their shows rather than watching them on the networks as they premier. Netflix also “topped all five broadcast networks with a total of 43 originals” (Goldberg) which just adds to how attractive these streaming networks are to the consumer. Consumers are about wanting their entertainment on demand, they no longer want to wait through commercials or have the anticipation of an entire week for the next episode, it has become the norm to have everything on their fingertips. This means a change for the professionals in the sense that they must be willing to provide this for their consumers. Before, it was about Nielsen ratings and how they could make money through advertisements as well as keeping up with the ratings of other television shows. Now with streaming, many of those attributes don’t matter. With the top streaming platform, Netflix, refusing the give out their numbers, it changes the game for many of these shows. As Adalin mentions in his article, “A series that demonstrates an ability to play well on those platforms may not even need to worry about Nielsen numbers to survive, since that long-tail revenue will make up for lower ad rates on live TV” (Adalin). Now professionals must look at the way to market different television programs in a new way and builds a path for new shows to be built up and eventually become successful. With that being said, how do these online streamers now compete? If there are limited about a numbers out there and all platforms are still trying to turn a revenue, how are they supposed to know what to do in order to come out on top of their competitor? Rys touches upon this in his article about music streaming where he mentions, “in order to survive, streamers will need to offer more, or different, value than the market leaders already have” (Rys). Being different makes all the difference. Consumers want the most convenient thing for them, and professionals have to be willing to give that to them.
Works Cited
Rys, Dan. “2017 Streaming Wars: Will Spotify, Apple Music or Amazon Dominate?” Billboard. 06 January 2017. Web. 27 March 2017.
Jarvey, Natalie. “NBC vs. Netflix: Why a Ratings ‘Reveal’ Matters.” 20, Jan. 2016. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.
Goldberg, Lesley. "500 Scripted Shows?! How Netflix, Amazon Are Sending Originals to All-Time Highs." The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., 5 Jan. 2017. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.
Adalian, Josef. "Why the New Era of TV Ratings Means More of Your Favorite Shows Might Survive." Vulture. New York Media, 30 Nov. 2015. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.
In my opinion, I think the most important trend that is cutting across all media industries and is having the biggest impact on both professionals and consumers is streaming. According to FX Networks executive vice president Julie Piepenkotter, “Growth will continue to be overwhelmingly fueled by the streaming services” (Goldberg, 1). Within the past year, streaming has been very successful for a variety of streaming services. “The biggest gains came from such streaming services such as Netflix, YouTube Red, and Seeso, all of which have promised even more scripted output in 2017” (Goldberg, “500 Scripted Shows?!”). Last year, in 2016, the number of scripted originals hit an all-time record. “A study found that the number of scripted originals hit a record 455 in 2016, up from 421 in 2015” (Goldberg, “Scripted Originals Hit Record 455 in 2016, FX Study Finds”). The number of scripted series shows no signs of slowing down and may reach its all-time peak by sometime this year, 2017, or sometime next year. According to president of FX, John Landgraf, “It now seems clear that, at a minimum, the peak will be in calendar 2017—and there is enough inertial momentum here that we could well see the growth trend carrying over into the 2018 calendar year” (Goldberg, “Scripted Originals Hit Record 455 in 2016, FX Study Finds”). As streaming services continue to make original shows, many cable television and broadcast television companies will struggle. If streaming services post more (and even a cornucopia amount) of shows, viewers may believe that they will no longer need to watch and pay for cable television subscriptions. As a result, cable companies may not do so well with making new original content. “Of the 2016 findings, the number of basic cable originals dipped (down seven), as did premium cable (off one) as well as broadcast (off five), while streaming exploded (from 46 to 93)” (Goldberg, “Scripted Originals Hit Record 455 in 2016, FX Study Finds”). Another reason why streaming is taking off and cable companies are not doing so well is because many television viewers prefer delayed viewing rather than sitting down and watching a show as a company airs it. Alan Wurtzel, NBCUniversal’s president of research and media development said, “Delayed viewing is now ‘the new normal’” (Lynch, 1). Instead of watching shows live, many television viewers would rather “time shift” their content so they can pause a show, carry on with their lives, and continue to watch it at a later time. The problem with cable television is that a certain show only comes on at a specific time and day. Therefore, if one misses an episode of the show, it will be hard to watch future episodes without knowing what’s going on. The majority of television viewers don’t want to watch TV if they do not have access to previous shows. “Seventy-five percent of those surveyed by Wurtzel’s team said they’d watch more TV if full-season stacking, or the ability to watch all previous episodes from a show’s current season, were available” (Lynch, 2). Thus, streaming services such as Netflix are taking the lead because it’s giving the mass audience what they want—hundreds of shows that can be accessed anywhere and at any time. When one can stream shows anywhere and any time, it can be hard for a consumer to say “no” to streaming services. As of today, streaming rates continue to go up. With mass audience and a variety of shows, it doesn’t look like streaming will be slowing down any time soon.
10 years ago, life was undoubtedly different. Looking back on it, the advances made in the media have been extremely progressive and fast forward another 10 years in the future from now and I predict industries will experience major changes in positive directions. I believe the television and the music industries will undergo the most changes because they are already moving towards a specific direction. Since 10 years is actually a very long time up the road, I feel that those two industries will go through my predicted changes and then some.
Television right now is shifting to more online methods of consuming shows. I feel that many people in today’s society would rather stream their shows online, on their own time than have to follow a strict television-viewing schedule. We have also become very fed up with commercials and will attempt to avoid them at any cost. Paying for online streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon video gives subscribers the opportunity to avoid commercials and watch their shows whenever they please, which caters to majority of the population.
I feel that millenials are changing the other generation’s viewing habits as well in that more generations to come will ultimately follow in their footsteps. Lynch notes that, “Delayed viewing is also bringing a younger audience to older-skewing shows like Law & Order: SVU” (Lynch 2016). Millenials are paving the way for a digital streaming future for the television industry.
The music industry is on the verge of major changes as well due to successful streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music. Jeff Ihaza expands in this idea in an article saying, “Today, digital downloads and streaming make up the majority of the music industry’s revenue, and many artists are full-service media properties, collaborating with brands, developing merch, and making short films” (Ihaza 2017). The radio is becoming outdated, and people nowadays woud rather pay for a streaming service than for individual songs. These services, in my predictions are likely to expand greatly in the future.
One of the biggest names in music right now, Chance the Rapper, is setting up the music industry for big changes as well, “Chance has earned money not from 99-cent downloads but from tours, merchandise, meet-and-greets and his deals with Apple and other companies — like Bud Light and Citibank, sponsors of his upcoming Magnificent Coloring Day festival — eager to reach his many young, savvy fans” (Austen 2016). Because Chance has made it possible to start a great career in the music industry without being signed to a record label, he proves that it is possible for other artists to continue this trend.
Austen, Ben. "The New Pioneers: Chance the Rapper Is One of the Hottest Acts in Music, Has a Top 10 Album and His Own Festival -- All Without a Label or Physical Release." Billboard. Billboard, 11 Aug. 2016. Web.
Ihaza, Jeff. "The Playlist Is the New Album." The Outline. The Outline, 13 Mar. 2017. Web.
As time goes on and the world progresses we see different industries are rising and others are falling. With this happening I think the most important industries that is rising and does not look like it will fall any time soon is the streaming industries. Whether it is to watch movies, TV shows, sports games, or even listen to music over the past couple of years streaming services have been the most important of all the industries out there. First let’s look at TV streaming services, at the top of that list you have Netflix. Over the past couple of years’ popularity for Netflix has been growing, last year the company reported growing its total subscriber membership to 93.8 million people, as well, the company also saw its largest year of growth in its history with an addition of 7.05 million people subscribing. (Jarvey, 2017) If you look at some of the things that Netflix has produced in the past couple of years you can see why they have hit shows such as House of Cards, Stranger Things, and The Crown to name a few of their very popular Netflix originals. They also signed a bunch of celebrities (Adam Sandler, and Jerry Seinfeld) to exclusive movie deals. (Jarvey, 2017) Netflix is only one streaming service and it looks to grow and only get bigger as the years go on.
The next streaming service you should take a look at is the music streaming service, specifically the top 2 in the world right now Spotify and Apple Music. This past year Spotify hit 50 million paid subscribers which is the most by any streaming service, (Gensler, 2017) and Apple Music which hit 20 million subscribers this past year with the growth rate projected to get higher for Apple Music which has only been around for about 2 or 3 years. (Halperin, 2016) seeing just this much growth and these numbers for people paying for subscriptions is huge and just shows how popular streaming services are in even the music industry. This just shows even more how streaming services are growing big and becoming even more popular as the years go on, as well as how streaming services have grown bigger and expanded to further then just TV streaming services such as Netflix.
The Final streaming service that we will look at is through the use of social media. Sports outlets are now reaching out to social media platforms such as Facebook live and periscope to stream games online, not to mention the fact that TV stations have the games now streamed online for you to watch if you are out of market. Facebook is currently for getting the rights to Facebook live broadcast MLB games, Twitter already has those rights. (Spangler, 2017) However, what this shows is that there is a strong want and strong popularity for streaming services to show sporting events. With these three examples it really shows how the streaming industry is really the most important to the type of culture we are raised and brought up into, and it does not seem like it will be slowing down or leaving us anytime soon.
Work Cited:
Jarvey, N. (2017, January 18). Netflix Reports Its Strongest Subscriber Growth in History. Retrieved April 18, 2017, from http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/netflix-blows-past-subscriber-growth-forecasts-4th-quarter-965629?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%27s Today in Entertainment_now_2017-01-19 07%3A01%3A37_ehayden&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_tie Gensler, A. (2017, March 02). Spotify Officially Hits 50 Million Paid Subscribers. Retrieved April 18, 2017, from http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/7710015/spotify-officially-hits-50-million-paid-subscribers Halperin, S. (2016, December 6). Apple Music Hits 20 Million Subscribers; Execs Want 'More, Faster -- We're Hungry!' Retrieved April 18, 2017, from http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7604098/apple-music-20-million-subscribers-eddy-cue-zane-lowe-interview Spangler, T. (2017, February 22). Facebook Wants MLB Live-Streaming Rights, Which Twitter Already Has for 2017 Season. Retrieved April 18, 2017, from http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/facebook-mlb-live-streaming-games-twitter-1201993761/
The biggest trend that has been sweeping the nation in regards to the media would be streaming. Streaming is so incredibly popular right now. With services that allow streaming in music, TV, and movies, traditional media starts to slowly get the boot in terms of usage and popularity. We have talked about streaming music on services such as Apple Music, Spotify, and Pandora. There is no argument that this is the new age of listening to music. Then you have services such as Netflix that are seriously trending in 2017. Netflix has been a pretty popular service for around twenty years now. They started with just the DVD mail service to build their name, but they really changed the game once they started streaming our favorite television series and movies. I think that the popularity of online streaming has a lot to do with the people that watch it. We talked about millennials in the beginning of the semester and basically the one word that most people correlate with the term millennial is “impatient”. The term stands true in most studies done about millennials. However, without these headstrong, impatient individuals taking over the work force, what would our future in the media look like? In an article written by Jason Lynch, the topic of Netflix's faults comes up. Wurtzel says, "I don't believe there's enough stuff on Netflix that is broad enough and consistent enough to affect us in a meaningful way on a consistent basis." This article was written a little over a year ago and I think in the past year alone, Netflix has increased their ratings and overall potential. As of December, Netflix had 30 different original series and are expected to double that number in 2017. This will be a huge turnaround for the streaming trend. The most recent and extremely popular Netflix original is 13 Reasons Why. Based off of the best selling novel by Jay Asher, 13 Reasons Why is arguably “Netflix’s best show in years”. The decision to create a series out of this novel opposed to a big summer blockbuster was an extraordinary idea that I think will start a new trend for the SVOD service. There are clearly arguments that can be made on both accounts, streaming vs. cable, however when you take a look 10 years down the road it is pretty clear that we will have one winner. In an article showcasing scripted originals’ ratings up til 2016, Piepenkotter says "The technological transformation of the past decade in media alone is arguably more dramatic than that of the half-century prior." This proves the popularity of streaming will only escalate in the next half-century coming.
Works Cited Goldberg, Lesley. “500 Scripted Shows?! How Netflix, Amazon Are Sending Originals to All-Time Highs.” The Hollywood Reporter. 05 January 2017. Web. 17 April 2017. Lynch, Jason. "NBC Says Netflix Doesn’t Yet Pose a ‘Consistent’ Threat to Broadcasters. Here’s Why," Ad Age 13 Jan. 2017. Web. Spangler, Todd. "Netflix Has 30 Original Series Today, Will Double That in 2017, Content Chief Ted Sarandos Says." Variety. N.p., 05 Dec. 2016. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.
I believe that the most important trend, across all media platforms, with the biggest impact on professionals and consumers alike that we have been seeing and will keep seeing, is the transition from traditional media platforms, to electronic mobile devices like smart phones, laptops and tablets. In the past few years, with the arrival of new technologies, we have entered into a new era of media consumption. A new era in which we have the opportunity to be sending and receiving messages all day long. 24/7/365. Smartphones have become ubiquitous. According to Nielson in 2016 176 million people use their smartphones to surf the web, while 169 million use them for social media. Our very lifestyles have changed so much that we basically revolve them around technology. When thinking about your own lifestyle, how long do you spend on your phone? I think the better question is, how much time do you spend away from your phone, completely separated? The fact that anywhere we go around the world, whatever we will do, we will most likely be within a few feet of our phones or tablets for the rest of our lives is astonishing to me. What is even more astonishing is the opportunity that has opened up for media companies around the globe. Since we are all on our phones constantly, it frees up limitations on when and where different media companies can capture our attention. We don’t even just sit down and watch TV or sit down and listen to music, we can be on our phones at the same time. And ad companies have taken note of that. For example, during the super bowl and in yesterday’s case Boston’s Marathon Monday, ad companies create their own campaigns specifically for mobile users. For example, throughout the day during the Boston Marathon, beer company Sam Adams launched a mini campaign showcasing their product accompanying each of the three major sporting events during the day. First the marathon, then the Red Sox game, then the Bruins playoff game. I personally only watched one of the three events but because I saw the ad on Instagram, I was able to make a connection between the brand and the other two events. Furthermore, even kids these days are growing up with smart phones. They are used as a pacifier for many children. That means that their generation is starting at a younger age. It also means that the market is expanding for many media companies.
The whole point of having ads on Instagram is to reach you despite the fact that you are not tuning into traditional media, because they know you are always on your phone “We recognize that advertisers have a variety of creative resources and want to bring more choice to help them reach their business goals.” (O’Malley) In the case of Sam Adams, they could have been using the Instagram post as a reminder that they are connected to the teams of Boston and the city of Boston just like you, even if you were not watching the games/marathon. However, advertising on social media is not all this media convergence is effecting. Almost every aspect of the media world will be effected if it has not already. Newspapers, books, magazines and other traditional print media have now switched their subscription methods online. Just as videos killed the radio store, Mp3 killed CD’s, which are now both being killed by subscription based streaming sources such as Spotify, and Tidal. And of course the game changer itself, Netflix, who began the internet TV subscription streaming service that changed the way we watched television and started a movement across multiple media industries. All in all, this seems to be leaning in favor of consumers, giving us more direct and instant access to all forms of media wherever there is internet. However, will this systemic change over saturate the industry and effect the quality of content being produced?
Works Cited O'Malley, Gavin. "Instagram Ups Ad Time For Brands." 02/05/2016. N.p., 04 Feb. 2016. Web. 18 Apr. 2017. . Unknown. "Insights ." Forces of Nature: The Media Universe Moves at the Pace of Technological Change. N.p., 05 Jan. 2016. Web. 18 Apr. 2017. .
Danial Donnelly
ReplyDeleteThere are currently a lot of changes happening regarding the way consumers get their media. One of the most important trends that is happening now is streaming, whether it be for shows, sports, movies, or music. The importance of on-the-go media is also an important issue for media producing companies. Another important trend is being able to have easy access to these media outlets. Media companies must try to tend to these trends if they want to remain popular, which causes a shift in the way media is produced.
The biggest trend from the past year is the popularity and demand of streaming. Streaming has become the norm for many people in the ways they listen to music and watch TV. The most prominent example of this is the success that Netflix has had recently. Netflix reported 86 million subscribers from the 3rd quarter of this year and is expected to reach 130 million subscribers globally by 2020. Amazon is also expected to double in subscribers, going from 30.5 million subscribers to 64 million by 2020 (Roxborough). With all of the recent success Netflix has had, it is no wonder why they are expected to keep growing at a tremendous rate. Their growth has also allowed them to create more Netflix original series, which have also been successful with shows like Stranger Things and House of Cards. They are even producing their own movies too with lead roles starring Adam Sandler, who has a contract with Netflix to continue to do movies for them. Steaming success has also been linked with the decline of regular TV shows by making viewing more pleasurable by the lack of commercials. Streaming also makes viewing easy because you can literally watch whenever you want, and you can binge as hard as you want.
The music industry is also familiar with the recent trends for streaming services. Services such as Spotify and Apple Music are completely changing the way to listen and download music. With Apple music and Spotify, you can essentially download any track or album you could ask for, as well as listen to playlists made by other people and radio stations. On demand streams were even up almost 40 percent form 2015 while CD album sales went down over 16 percent and digital sales dropping by 20 percent (Christman).
Streaming services for music have completely changed the music industry from a consumer standpoint, and it has affected the artist just as much. With multiple streaming services and outlets for artists to release their music, artists can control their own growth and use these services to gain popularity. This makes the need for a record label less important than it has in the past. Artists such as Lil Uzi Vert and Chance the Rapper have used these services to boost their careers and while Lil Uzi has since signed with a major label, Chance the Rapper remains unsigned and is one of the biggest commodities in music today. This could lead to the question down the road of whether or not having the backing of a major label is necessary for a successful music career.
DeleteWhile there are many changes happening in the media industry, streaming is the most prevalent change that is happening across all services. Streaming is having different effects on the multiple industries, but each must adapt to the new trend. I expect media industries to continue to follow the new trends and adapt to these streaming services more, especially in the TV and movie industry.
Works Cited
Austen, Ben. "The New Pioneers: Chance the Rapper Is One of the Hottest Acts in Music, Has a Top 10 Album and His Own Festival -- All Without a Label or Physical Release." Billboard. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
Bond, Paul. "Firings, Power Struggles and Studio Exits: Hollywood's Year of Executive Turmoil." The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., 22 Dec. 2016. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
Christman. "Nielsen 2016 Report: Streaming Smashes From Adele, Drake & More Offset Sinking Music Sales." Billboard. N.p., 09 Jan. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
Jarvey, Natalie. "Netflix Reports Its Strongest Subscriber Growth in History." The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., 18 Jan. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
Roxborough, Scott. "Why 2017 Will Be Crunch Year for the Global Ambitions of Netflix and Amazon." The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., 28 Dec. 2016. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
Angie King
ReplyDeleteStreaming is the most important trend cutting across all media industries right now, whether it’s directly or indirectly affecting them. Streaming has the biggest impact on both professionals and consumers. This media trend has influenced the television and music industry most directly, but it will indirectly affect the businesses of film, social media, celebrity, sports media etc. The television industry is experiencing incredible change in the wake of the streaming era. Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon are becoming more popular and creating their own content. Netflix reported their strongest subscriber growth during the fourth quarter last year, as “the company grew its subscriber base by 7.05 million members during the period, bringing its total membership to 93.8 million” (Jarvey). Not only did the company gain membership, but they also expanded globally. They expanded into 170 new territories. Netflix’s CEO Reed Hastings noted that the growth was consistent, and “the big picture is remarkably steady” (Jarvey). One of the ways that Netflix establishes their dominance is through their original content. They continue to “spend big on original and exclusive programming – content chief Ted Sarandos said its budget would be around $6 billion this year, up from $5 billion in 2016” (Jarvey). This investment is one of the main reasons broadcast networks are falling behind. “With spending estimated at $6 billion on originals, it should come as little surprise that Netflix topped all five broadcast networks with a total of 43 originals” (Goldberg). The globalization and the new content are key factors for Netflix’s continued success. And streaming will not just affect television programming either, but sports media as well. Social media outlets are looking to get in on the streaming fad too. Last summer Twitter made a deal for “rights to live-stream one baseball game per week, which will be exclusive among free over-the-top distributors” (Spangler). And this season, Facebook wants in. They are “in discussions with Major League Baseball to secure rights to stream one game per week free on the social platform” (Spangler). Sports media will inherently be affected if this trend continues. Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and now Facebook and Twitter, dominate in providing their members with video content.
Streaming is not just dominating video services, but the music industry as well. Last year “became the first time streaming overtook sales as the music industry’s dominant model, accounting for 51.3 percent of album consumption and besting physical and downloads combined, according to Nielsen Music” (Rys). Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio and Amazon, all trying to succeed in the streaming wars have joined Apple Music and Google Play. However, the top two competitors are clearly Spotify and Apple Music. Spotify has a leg up on Apple Music, in that it has over 20 million more subscribers. 2017 will be a telling year for the streaming services considering Spotify is rumored to go public. MiDia Research founder Mark Mulligan noted “Spotify’s IPO will have a bigger impact at the industry level than any other company in any other major industry… If successful, you’ll see an influx of capital, new services and revenue for labels, publishers, artists and songwriters” (Rys). Apple Music shows no signs of slowing down either. Zane Lowe, from Beats 1, noted, “We can’t forget that, as an industry, we still have very few music subscribers. There are billions of people listening to music and we haven’t even hit 100 million subscribers. There’s a lot of growth opportunity” (Apple Music). There is more room for more growth, more services and more subscribers. Streaming will dominate the music industry.
DeleteWorks Cited
Goldberg, Lesley. “500 Scripted Shows?! How Netflix, Amazon Are Sending Originals to All-Time Highs.” The Hollywood Reporter. 05 January 2017. Web. 17 April 2017.
Jarvey, Natalie. “Netflix Reports Its Strongest Subscriber Growth in History.” The Hollywood Reporter. 18 January 2017. Web. 17 April 2017.
Rys, Dan. “2017 Streaming Wars: Will Spotify, Apple music or Amazon Dominate?” Billboard. 06 January 2017. Web. 17 April 2017.
Spangler, Todd. “Facebook Wants MLB Live-Streaming Rights, Which Twitter Already Has for 2017 Season.” Variety. 22 February 2017. Web. 17 April 2017.
The entire entertainment industry is going to have to change the way they distribute content. Streaming is dominating the way people view their shows, music, movies, sports and more. The trends are tailoring more to the consumer needs and experiences. With streaming it is making it more convenient for consumers to view the content they want to view when they want to view it. We can see that many networks are trying to acquire stacking rights for their shows. This will allow them to have more control over how the show is distributed other than on their network. This will also due to the increase in streaming and binge-watching seasons. When they have the full season available to the consumer it “…allows viewers to catch up on shows and discover new ones, thus boosting TV viewership” (Andreeva). This benefit the big networks so if they are smart they will continue to provide streaming for entire seasons. That being said just because streaming is on the rise doesn’t mean the networks will be in trouble. 282 million people still engage with media through their television screen (Nielsen). If anything right now streaming is a great compliment to regular television. As long as the networks adapt to the streaming trend they will be able to keep afloat.
ReplyDeleteMusic is also having a huge moment in streaming with many platforms launching in the past few years. This is where we are seeing he biggest changes. Unlike show and film streaming where Netflix dominates, there are many platforms to stream music from. Although Spotify and Apple Music are the top contenders they still see major competition from new platforms like Pandora and others. Eventually they’re will be a consolidation of companies. Until then, due to the impending competition, we will see more new things coming from streaming services. Especially from big contenders like Spotify, Apple Music and the new Amazon. Again the competition is tough and “…in order to survive, streamers will need to offer more, or different, value than the market leaders already have” (Rys). What does all of this mean for the people involved? Well the consumers will actually be benefiting from all these the services tailoring to their needs. However, for professionals it is up to what industry and what company they are working with. Many musicians will benefit from selling exclusives but, unfortunately their record labels will not. As for TV studios who create these show will end up being short-sided by their networks because of stacking-rights. In conclusion, it is a changing industry and not everyone is going to make it with these future trends.
Andreeva, Nellie. "Network Ownership & In-Season Stacking Rights Rule 2016 Upfronts" Deadline. 19 May 2016. Web. 17 April 2017
DeleteNeilsen. "Insights. Forces of Nature: The Media Universe Moves at the Pace of Technological Change." N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
Rys, Dan. “2017 Streaming Wars: Will Spotify, Apple music or Amazon Dominate?” Billboard. 06 January 2017. Web. 17 April 2017.
There is one overall theme cutting through all media platforms, and that theme is “faster.” Companies are now trying to make their services faster and easier than the competitors. The news seems to be oversaturated with the speed at which information travels in the modern world. Even sports coverage is now shifting to social media, where you can hear about a potential trade or breaking news way before ESPN can report on it. This is a trend that shows that technology is progressing, but is this necessarily good for society. For example NBA ratings are down and the league commissioner Adam Silver is partially blaming it on millennials. Silver said that “obviously people, particularly millennials, have increasingly short attention spans, so it's something as a business we need to pay attention to” (Hadley 1). I believe that the lack of an attention span comes from the amount of information that is thrown at us online. We are not taking the time to watch 3-hour games or long movies, because we have to keep up with the speed of the outside world at all times. Comedian Dave Chappelle voiced this in his new Netflix stand up saying that “how can the younger generations care about anything, when there is a new tragedy ever day.” It makes sense, as we may not have enough time to focus on an important issue, since new issues appear online all the time.
ReplyDeleteThis speed is not just effecting how we think; it is also effecting what we are told to think about. With increased pressure on companies to find the right consumer demographics, online advertising has become more intrusive. When we log onto social media platforms and we see ads that relate to us in some way or another. This is because “targeted ads are worth roughly twice as much as non-targeted ones. Much of that complicated ad ecosystem is built around matching relevant ads to the right people in real time” (Tynan 1). The key phrase here is “real time” as it is all about getting the message to the consumer as fast as possible. Thus the speed of advertising has created a huge privacy debate in America. This is all derived from the overall increasing speed of the media world.
Thus with all this increasing speed, what does the future hold? The answer lies with Generation Z since they are “the first generation born into a digital world… They live online, sharing details of their lives across dozens of platforms and dictating what they like and dislike with a tweet, post or status” (Bernstein 1). They will be the ones that decide what direction the human race goes with this new speed. Now hopefully the future does not get as Orwellian as many seem to believe. However it is important to understand the power of this newfound speed and maybe take the time to step back and take a deep breath before picking up your smartphone again.
ReplyDeleteWork Cited
Bernstein., Ruth, and Ruth Bernstein Ruth Bernstein Is Co-founder and Chief Strategic Officer at Yard, a Strategic Image Making Agency Based in New York. View All Articles by This Author. "Move Over Millennials -- Here Comes Gen Z." Ad Age. N.p., 21 Jan. 2015. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
Dave Chappelle: The Age of Spin. Perf. Dave Chappelle. Netflix, 2017. Film.
Hadley, Greg. "Millennials and Their Short Attention Spans Have the NBA considering Rule Changes." The Sacramento Bee | Sacbee.com. N.p., 16 Jan. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
Tynan, Dan. "Explained: Here's How Advertising Tracks You Across the Web." Yahoo!Yahoo!, 17 Nov. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
The biggest trend right now cutting across the media industries is streaming services. Whether it be music streaming services such as Spotify, Amazon Music, or Apple Music or movie and television streaming such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu, the streaming services are having a huge effect on the media industry professionals and consumers. Streaming allows for a more convenient, easier, and more fluid way for consumers to enjoy their favorite music, shows, and movies. Streaming services are typically met with great reviews from consumers as it makes it so you can enjoy your favorite music, movies, and shows on the go and with greater simplicity. Consumers typically love streaming services, whereas it's a mixed batch for professionals in the media industry. Streaming is great for professionals working at companies like Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Spotify, and Hulu as these companies are all hugely benefitting from this huge market trend right now. But streaming services can pose greater problems for cable companies as well as, particularly in music, the people starring in the media themselves. A Lot of artists aren’t making the same revenue from streaming services such as Spotify that they used to make from former ways of music consumption and sales.
ReplyDeleteFor music streaming specifically, it seems to be a market dominated by Spotify and Apple, with companies like Amazon, Tidal, and Soundcloud trying to catch up. A testament to the growing importance of musical streaming in the media industry is that in the year 2016, streaming sales took over for the first time as the music industry's dominant model. According to Nielsen Music streaming accounted for 51.3 percent of album consumption and bested physical and downloads combined. Furthermore, streaming was main cause of of the U.S music industrys first back to back years of growth this millennium, and brought in $1.61 billion in just the first half of 2016. Sony, Universal and Warner which compose the three major labels have all posted double digit percent boosts in earnings which were all significantly driven by streaming (Rys). The growth of streaming over the last two years has been huge, and the numbers are a representation that most consumers love streaming music. In a seemingly tech driven world, streaming is an easy way to consume music through our phones, laptops, and tablets. One major problem I see in musical streaming is that the competition in the market seems to be slowly diminishing. It seems as though Apple and Spotify are growing stronger and stronger, whereas other services like Soundcloud could struggle to keep up in the coming years.
Within the movie and television streaming industry, a huge example of the success that streaming is experiencing in this media industry is evidenced by the success of Netflix. Netflix’s total membership is up to 93.8 million after experiencing more added subscribers last fourth quarter than any other previous quarter in the company's history as a streaming provider. Furthermore, the service has expanded into 170 new territories and their CEO, Rob Hastings, sees this huge recent growth as consistent along with their remarkably steady big picture” (Jarvey). Streaming services like Netflix, and Amazon Prime are trending and are having a big influence on the media industry. Netflix’s numbers are continuing to go up, as their services fit what consumers want. Netflix allows people to watch both new and old TV shows at their convenience, and offers a easier way for consumers to consume certain shows they're interested in. Streaming services continue to innovate, and are causing reasons for concern for major cable companies and other competitors that don’t utilize streaming in the same manner.
DeleteWorks Cited
Jarvey, Natalie. "Netflix Reports Its Strongest Subscriber Growth in History." The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., 18 Jan. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
Rys 1, Dan. "2017 Streaming Wars: Will Spotify, Apple Music or Amazon Dominate?" Billboard. N.p., 6 Jan. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
User generated content, specifically those who create YouTube videos, has created many career opportunities for professionals and for everyday consumers. YouTube allows people to create and upload content for consumers to watch, like, comment, and subscribe. The content on YouTube ranges from commercials seen on television, tutorials and just about anything one could think of. Millennials have picked up on this trend and have figured out how to make a career just by making and uploading videos to YouTube. These people have figured out how to make money doing what they love and more and more people are trying to make it big on YouTube. Millennials grew up in a time where this entire new media was coming to the surface. Because of their environment, “they are hyper-connected, tech savvy and know the exact science of how social media works,” (Schawbel 2012). Millennials pick up on new media very quickly, and it is clear that growing up in this generation has been an advantage for them.
ReplyDeleteYouTube has countless categories of videos and anyone who goes on YouTube is sure to find exactly what they want to watch or learn how to use. YouTube is also coming into the streaming game along with Spotify and Apple Music. YouTube always had a variety of music available to consumers with just a few keywords to find the song. Because YouTube is becoming increasingly popular, they have created YouTube Red, which is a streaming service, similar to Amazon, where it offers music and video. According to Billboard, “music’s popularity has significantly fueled YouTube,” (Goodman 2017). When a specific song becomes popular, the consumers’ first stop is YouTube so they can hear the dong, watch the music video, and look up the lyrics.
The Super Bowl brings YouTube a lot of visitors who want to watch and re-watch their favorite ads. YouTube Adblitz even has the best Super Bowl ads sorted into categories for consumers to easily find the ads they want to watch. The number one advertisement from the Super Bowl 2017 was the Kia Nitro Ad featuring Melissa McCartney. YouTube allowed consumers to visit and vote for their favorite Super Bowl ads. YouTube has given many careers to people who just took a chance at uploading a silly video they made. YouTubers like Jenna Marbles, Hannah Heart, and Tyler Oakley are prime examples of what happens when YouTube becomes a career. They each have been given countless opportunities they would have never gotten if they did not make YouTube videos. Because of the success of many people, more and more people are trying to make it big through YouTube, making it the most important trend to have the biggest impact on professionals and consumers.
Works Cited
Delete@danschawbel, Dan Schawbel. "Millennials vs. Baby Boomers: Who Would You Rather Hire?" Time. Time, 29 Mar. 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
"Can Music Exec Lyor Cohen Bridge the Divide Between YouTube and the Music Industry?" Billboard. N.p., 2 Mar. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
Adblitz. "YouTube AdBlitz." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
The most important trend that is cutting across all media industries while also having the most impact on both professionals and consumers would be the streaming trend. Nowadays in order to watch anything important or listen to the newest music, people are turning to streaming. Television is one of the areas that is seeing a huge change with streaming. Now, instead of having to watch your favourite show as it comes out, you are able to wait and watch an entire season at once, and more importantly, without any commercials. Some examples of these streaming companies include Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. The leader thus far is Netflix which saw “it’s largest year of growth in history, setting a new benchmark during a year in which it expanded into 170 new territories” (Jarvey). This shows how many people, not just in the United States, are turning to streaming their shows rather than watching them on the networks as they premier. Netflix also “topped all five broadcast networks with a total of 43 originals” (Goldberg) which just adds to how attractive these streaming networks are to the consumer. Consumers are about wanting their entertainment on demand, they no longer want to wait through commercials or have the anticipation of an entire week for the next episode, it has become the norm to have everything on their fingertips. This means a change for the professionals in the sense that they must be willing to provide this for their consumers. Before, it was about Nielsen ratings and how they could make money through advertisements as well as keeping up with the ratings of other television shows. Now with streaming, many of those attributes don’t matter. With the top streaming platform, Netflix, refusing the give out their numbers, it changes the game for many of these shows. As Adalin mentions in his article, “A series that demonstrates an ability to play well on those platforms may not even need to worry about Nielsen numbers to survive, since that long-tail revenue will make up for lower ad rates on live TV” (Adalin). Now professionals must look at the way to market different television programs in a new way and builds a path for new shows to be built up and eventually become successful. With that being said, how do these online streamers now compete? If there are limited about a numbers out there and all platforms are still trying to turn a revenue, how are they supposed to know what to do in order to come out on top of their competitor? Rys touches upon this in his article about music streaming where he mentions, “in order to survive, streamers will need to offer more, or different, value than the market leaders already have” (Rys). Being different makes all the difference. Consumers want the most convenient thing for them, and professionals have to be willing to give that to them.
ReplyDeleteWorks Cited
Rys, Dan. “2017 Streaming Wars: Will Spotify, Apple Music or Amazon Dominate?” Billboard. 06 January 2017. Web. 27 March 2017.
Jarvey, Natalie. “NBC vs. Netflix: Why a Ratings ‘Reveal’ Matters.” 20, Jan. 2016. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.
Goldberg, Lesley. "500 Scripted Shows?! How Netflix, Amazon Are Sending Originals to All-Time Highs." The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., 5 Jan. 2017. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.
Adalian, Josef. "Why the New Era of TV Ratings Means More of Your Favorite Shows Might Survive." Vulture. New York Media, 30 Nov. 2015. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.
In my opinion, I think the most important trend that is cutting across all media industries and is having the biggest impact on both professionals and consumers is streaming.
ReplyDeleteAccording to FX Networks executive vice president Julie Piepenkotter, “Growth will continue to be overwhelmingly fueled by the streaming services” (Goldberg, 1). Within the past year, streaming has been very successful for a variety of streaming services.
“The biggest gains came from such streaming services such as Netflix, YouTube Red, and Seeso, all of which have promised even more scripted output in 2017” (Goldberg, “500 Scripted Shows?!”). Last year, in 2016, the number of scripted originals hit an all-time record.
“A study found that the number of scripted originals hit a record 455 in 2016, up from 421 in 2015” (Goldberg, “Scripted Originals Hit Record 455 in 2016, FX Study Finds”). The number of scripted series shows no signs of slowing down and may reach its all-time peak by sometime this year, 2017, or sometime next year.
According to president of FX, John Landgraf, “It now seems clear that, at a minimum, the peak will be in calendar 2017—and there is enough inertial momentum here that we could well see the growth trend carrying over into the 2018 calendar year” (Goldberg, “Scripted Originals Hit Record 455 in 2016, FX Study Finds”).
As streaming services continue to make original shows, many cable television and broadcast television companies will struggle. If streaming services post more (and even a cornucopia amount) of shows, viewers may believe that they will no longer need to watch and pay for cable television subscriptions. As a result, cable companies may not do so well with making new original content.
“Of the 2016 findings, the number of basic cable originals dipped (down seven), as did premium cable (off one) as well as broadcast (off five), while streaming exploded (from 46 to 93)” (Goldberg, “Scripted Originals Hit Record 455 in 2016, FX Study Finds”).
Another reason why streaming is taking off and cable companies are not doing so well is because many television viewers prefer delayed viewing rather than sitting down and watching a show as a company airs it.
Alan Wurtzel, NBCUniversal’s president of research and media development said, “Delayed viewing is now ‘the new normal’” (Lynch, 1). Instead of watching shows live, many television viewers would rather “time shift” their content so they can pause a show, carry on with their lives, and continue to watch it at a later time.
The problem with cable television is that a certain show only comes on at a specific time and day. Therefore, if one misses an episode of the show, it will be hard to watch future episodes without knowing what’s going on. The majority of television viewers don’t want to watch TV if they do not have access to previous shows.
“Seventy-five percent of those surveyed by Wurtzel’s team said they’d watch more TV if full-season stacking, or the ability to watch all previous episodes from a show’s current season, were available” (Lynch, 2). Thus, streaming services such as Netflix are taking the lead because it’s giving the mass audience what they want—hundreds of shows that can be accessed anywhere and at any time.
When one can stream shows anywhere and any time, it can be hard for a consumer to say “no” to streaming services. As of today, streaming rates continue to go up. With mass audience and a variety of shows, it doesn’t look like streaming will be slowing down any time soon.
References:
DeleteGoldberg, Lesley. "500 Scripted Shows?! How Netflix, Amazon Are Sending Originals to All-Time Highs" The Hollywood Reporter 21 Dec. 2016. Web.
Goldberg, Lesley. "Scripted Originals Hit Record 455 in 2016, FX Study Finds," The Hollywood Reporter 21 Dec. 2016. Web.
Lynch, Jason. “Advertisers Beware—Audiences Are Taking Longer Than Ever to Watch TV Shows,” Ad Age 2 Aug. 2016. Web.
10 years ago, life was undoubtedly different. Looking back on it, the advances made in the media have been extremely progressive and fast forward another 10 years in the future from now and I predict industries will experience major changes in positive directions. I believe the television and the music industries will undergo the most changes because they are already moving towards a specific direction. Since 10 years is actually a very long time up the road, I feel that those two industries will go through my predicted changes and then some.
ReplyDeleteTelevision right now is shifting to more online methods of consuming shows. I feel that many people in today’s society would rather stream their shows online, on their own time than have to follow a strict television-viewing schedule. We have also become very fed up with commercials and will attempt to avoid them at any cost. Paying for online streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon video gives subscribers the opportunity to avoid commercials and watch their shows whenever they please, which caters to majority of the population.
I feel that millenials are changing the other generation’s viewing habits as well in that more generations to come will ultimately follow in their footsteps. Lynch notes that, “Delayed viewing is also bringing a younger audience to older-skewing shows like Law & Order: SVU” (Lynch 2016). Millenials are paving the way for a digital streaming future for the television industry.
The music industry is on the verge of major changes as well due to successful streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music. Jeff Ihaza expands in this idea in an article saying, “Today, digital downloads and streaming make up the majority of the music industry’s revenue, and many artists are full-service media properties, collaborating with brands, developing merch, and making short films” (Ihaza 2017). The radio is becoming outdated, and people nowadays woud rather pay for a streaming service than for individual songs. These services, in my predictions are likely to expand greatly in the future.
DeleteOne of the biggest names in music right now, Chance the Rapper, is setting up the music industry for big changes as well, “Chance has earned money not from 99-cent downloads but from tours, merchandise, meet-and-greets and his deals with Apple and other companies — like Bud Light and Citibank, sponsors of his upcoming Magnificent Coloring Day festival — eager to reach his many young, savvy fans” (Austen 2016). Because Chance has made it possible to start a great career in the music industry without being signed to a record label, he proves that it is possible for other artists to continue this trend.
Austen, Ben. "The New Pioneers: Chance the Rapper Is One of the Hottest Acts in Music, Has a Top 10 Album and His Own Festival -- All Without a Label or Physical Release." Billboard. Billboard, 11 Aug. 2016. Web.
Ihaza, Jeff. "The Playlist Is the New Album." The Outline. The Outline, 13 Mar. 2017. Web.
Lynch, Jason. "NBC Says Netflix Doesn't Yet Pose a 'Consistent' Threat to Broadcasters. Here's Why." Adweek. Adweek, 13 Jan. 2016. Web.
As time goes on and the world progresses we see different industries are rising and others are falling. With this happening I think the most important industries that is rising and does not look like it will fall any time soon is the streaming industries. Whether it is to watch movies, TV shows, sports games, or even listen to music over the past couple of years streaming services have been the most important of all the industries out there. First let’s look at TV streaming services, at the top of that list you have Netflix. Over the past couple of years’ popularity for Netflix has been growing, last year the company reported growing its total subscriber membership to 93.8 million people, as well, the company also saw its largest year of growth in its history with an addition of 7.05 million people subscribing. (Jarvey, 2017) If you look at some of the things that Netflix has produced in the past couple of years you can see why they have hit shows such as House of Cards, Stranger Things, and The Crown to name a few of their very popular Netflix originals. They also signed a bunch of celebrities (Adam Sandler, and Jerry Seinfeld) to exclusive movie deals. (Jarvey, 2017) Netflix is only one streaming service and it looks to grow and only get bigger as the years go on.
ReplyDeleteThe next streaming service you should take a look at is the music streaming service, specifically the top 2 in the world right now Spotify and Apple Music. This past year Spotify hit 50 million paid subscribers which is the most by any streaming service, (Gensler, 2017) and Apple Music which hit 20 million subscribers this past year with the growth rate projected to get higher for Apple Music which has only been around for about 2 or 3 years. (Halperin, 2016) seeing just this much growth and these numbers for people paying for subscriptions is huge and just shows how popular streaming services are in even the music industry. This just shows even more how streaming services are growing big and becoming even more popular as the years go on, as well as how streaming services have grown bigger and expanded to further then just TV streaming services such as Netflix.
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DeleteThe Final streaming service that we will look at is through the use of social media. Sports outlets are now reaching out to social media platforms such as Facebook live and periscope to stream games online, not to mention the fact that TV stations have the games now streamed online for you to watch if you are out of market. Facebook is currently for getting the rights to Facebook live broadcast MLB games, Twitter already has those rights. (Spangler, 2017) However, what this shows is that there is a strong want and strong popularity for streaming services to show sporting events. With these three examples it really shows how the streaming industry is really the most important to the type of culture we are raised and brought up into, and it does not seem like it will be slowing down or leaving us anytime soon.
DeleteWork Cited:
Jarvey, N. (2017, January 18). Netflix Reports Its Strongest Subscriber Growth in History. Retrieved April 18, 2017, from http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/netflix-blows-past-subscriber-growth-forecasts-4th-quarter-965629?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%27s Today in Entertainment_now_2017-01-19 07%3A01%3A37_ehayden&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_tie
Gensler, A. (2017, March 02). Spotify Officially Hits 50 Million Paid Subscribers. Retrieved April 18, 2017, from http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/7710015/spotify-officially-hits-50-million-paid-subscribers
Halperin, S. (2016, December 6). Apple Music Hits 20 Million Subscribers; Execs Want 'More, Faster -- We're Hungry!' Retrieved April 18, 2017, from http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7604098/apple-music-20-million-subscribers-eddy-cue-zane-lowe-interview
Spangler, T. (2017, February 22). Facebook Wants MLB Live-Streaming Rights, Which Twitter Already Has for 2017 Season. Retrieved April 18, 2017, from http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/facebook-mlb-live-streaming-games-twitter-1201993761/
Meghan Kane
ReplyDeleteThe biggest trend that has been sweeping the nation in regards to the media would be streaming. Streaming is so incredibly popular right now. With services that allow streaming in music, TV, and movies, traditional media starts to slowly get the boot in terms of usage and popularity. We have talked about streaming music on services such as Apple Music, Spotify, and Pandora. There is no argument that this is the new age of listening to music. Then you have services such as Netflix that are seriously trending in 2017. Netflix has been a pretty popular service for around twenty years now. They started with just the DVD mail service to build their name, but they really changed the game once they started streaming our favorite television series and movies. I think that the popularity of online streaming has a lot to do with the people that watch it. We talked about millennials in the beginning of the semester and basically the one word that most people correlate with the term millennial is “impatient”. The term stands true in most studies done about millennials. However, without these headstrong, impatient individuals taking over the work force, what would our future in the media look like? In an article written by Jason Lynch, the topic of Netflix's faults comes up. Wurtzel says, "I don't believe there's enough stuff on Netflix that is broad enough and consistent enough to affect us in a meaningful way on a consistent basis." This article was written a little over a year ago and I think in the past year alone, Netflix has increased their ratings and overall potential. As of December, Netflix had 30 different original series and are expected to double that number in 2017. This will be a huge turnaround for the streaming trend. The most recent and extremely popular Netflix original is 13 Reasons Why. Based off of the best selling novel by Jay Asher, 13 Reasons Why is arguably “Netflix’s best show in years”. The decision to create a series out of this novel opposed to a big summer blockbuster was an extraordinary idea that I think will start a new trend for the SVOD service. There are clearly arguments that can be made on both accounts, streaming vs. cable, however when you take a look 10 years down the road it is pretty clear that we will have one winner. In an article showcasing scripted originals’ ratings up til 2016, Piepenkotter says "The technological transformation of the past decade in media alone is arguably more dramatic than that of the half-century prior." This proves the popularity of streaming will only escalate in the next half-century coming.
Works Cited
Goldberg, Lesley. “500 Scripted Shows?! How Netflix, Amazon Are Sending Originals to All-Time Highs.” The Hollywood Reporter. 05 January 2017. Web. 17 April 2017.
Lynch, Jason. "NBC Says Netflix Doesn’t Yet Pose a ‘Consistent’ Threat to Broadcasters. Here’s Why," Ad Age 13 Jan. 2017. Web.
Spangler, Todd. "Netflix Has 30 Original Series Today, Will Double That in 2017, Content Chief Ted Sarandos Says." Variety. N.p., 05 Dec. 2016. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.
I believe that the most important trend, across all media platforms, with the biggest impact on professionals and consumers alike that we have been seeing and will keep seeing, is the transition from traditional media platforms, to electronic mobile devices like smart phones, laptops and tablets. In the past few years, with the arrival of new technologies, we have entered into a new era of media consumption. A new era in which we have the opportunity to be sending and receiving messages all day long. 24/7/365.
ReplyDeleteSmartphones have become ubiquitous. According to Nielson in 2016 176 million people use their smartphones to surf the web, while 169 million use them for social media. Our very lifestyles have changed so much that we basically revolve them around technology. When thinking about your own lifestyle, how long do you spend on your phone? I think the better question is, how much time do you spend away from your phone, completely separated?
The fact that anywhere we go around the world, whatever we will do, we will most likely be within a few feet of our phones or tablets for the rest of our lives is astonishing to me. What is even more astonishing is the opportunity that has opened up for media companies around the globe. Since we are all on our phones constantly, it frees up limitations on when and where different media companies can capture our attention.
We don’t even just sit down and watch TV or sit down and listen to music, we can be on our phones at the same time. And ad companies have taken note of that. For example, during the super bowl and in yesterday’s case Boston’s Marathon Monday, ad companies create their own campaigns specifically for mobile users. For example, throughout the day during the Boston Marathon, beer company Sam Adams launched a mini campaign showcasing their product accompanying each of the three major sporting events during the day. First the marathon, then the Red Sox game, then the Bruins playoff game. I personally only watched one of the three events but because I saw the ad on Instagram, I was able to make a connection between the brand and the other two events. Furthermore, even kids these days are growing up with smart phones. They are used as a pacifier for many children. That means that their generation is starting at a younger age. It also means that the market is expanding for many media companies.
The whole point of having ads on Instagram is to reach you despite the fact that you are not tuning into traditional media, because they know you are always on your phone “We recognize that advertisers have a variety of creative resources and want to bring more choice to help them reach their business goals.” (O’Malley) In the case of Sam Adams, they could have been using the Instagram post as a reminder that they are connected to the teams of Boston and the city of Boston just like you, even if you were not watching the games/marathon.
DeleteHowever, advertising on social media is not all this media convergence is effecting. Almost every aspect of the media world will be effected if it has not already. Newspapers, books, magazines and other traditional print media have now switched their subscription methods online. Just as videos killed the radio store, Mp3 killed CD’s, which are now both being killed by subscription based streaming sources such as Spotify, and Tidal. And of course the game changer itself, Netflix, who began the internet TV subscription streaming service that changed the way we watched television and started a movement across multiple media industries. All in all, this seems to be leaning in favor of consumers, giving us more direct and instant access to all forms of media wherever there is internet. However, will this systemic change over saturate the industry and effect the quality of content being produced?
Works Cited
O'Malley, Gavin. "Instagram Ups Ad Time For Brands." 02/05/2016. N.p., 04 Feb. 2016. Web. 18 Apr. 2017. .
Unknown. "Insights ." Forces of Nature: The Media Universe Moves at the Pace of Technological Change. N.p., 05 Jan. 2016. Web. 18 Apr. 2017. .