Digital Media Convergence in relation to Advertising and New Media                                  

Nowadays, digital media convergence has become an outstanding phenomenon in contemporary mediascape.The convergence of commercial activity such as advertisement with new media forms are now highly accepted by both advertisers and consumers.Media convergence is more than simply a technological shift. Convergence alters the relationship between existing technologies, industries, markets, genres and audiences. According to Jenkins,the term digital convergence refers to the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries and the migratory behaviour of audiences(2006,2).This essay will discuss the phenomenon of digital media convergence related to the advertising and new media in positive and negative sides. This essay will focus on the advantages of posting advertisements online which are firstly the less cost and more effective.Moreover,Internet advertising is a easier way to get responses from the public.However, the disadvantages in the spreading of junk advertisement and inveracious information can not be ignored.

Firstly,compared with the traditional methods ,posting advertisements on newspaper or magazines,online advertising is a wise strategy which can reduce a large amount of budget and also obtain more effective feedback.This is because the circulation of different media forms such as newspaper,TV,Websites and social network(Facebook) allow audiences or consumers have the chance to access all kinds of advertisement forms without location and timing barriers.The rapid migration of advertising from print to online media has been powerfully driven by the increased control that online,search-based publication extends to end-users over many aspects of daily life.Many large national and transnational advertisers are now choosing a new media performance to increase the popularity of their products such as the convergence for the advertising and film industry. For example,according to Sporgeon, BMW company made one of the most dramatic recent forays into branded entertainment.The advertising agency came up with a idea to make and distribute a series of advertisements for BMW that took the form of short films with the placement in James Bond movies.With an estimated budget of 15 $US15 million,BMW Films successfully brought BMW into direct contact with a highly desirable demographic of affluent,young ,new media users which are not easily reached by conventional advertising means. Instead of spending 10% on production and 90% on distribution,BMW films reversed these budget rations(2008,p,53). Hence,the feature of cutting budget and having effective influence can be a benefit of advertising online combined with new media forms.

Secondly, Internet advertising now has been seen as a testing ground due to the advantage of easier to receive responses and feedback from the general public. This is because a large number of consumers can access to the skills and resources needed to be fully participants in.Consumers or audiences have the chance to make comments or give opinions to particular products. If the commodity is not that well-accepted or demanded by the public then the company can make related decisions, in this way it can help firm to reduce the risk in the large extent.For example,Coca-Cola in Australia has been developing a branded entertainment and community-building strategy that leverages teenagers' interest in live music.It has expanded quickly from a number of modest alcohol-free,live music events for under 18-year-old to a major effort to cohere a community of brand users through a shared love of music.It integrates a programme of live concerts with promotional activity at numerous targeted touchpoints,cinema advertising ,FM radio spots,the Coca-Cola website and other new media forms all involved in this commercial activities.Up to 49,000 people joined these events in 2003 and 2004 and more than millions of participants shared the link in Facebook and Twitter to show their support. The Coca-Cola company has received massive positive feedback of holding this event so they start to decide to conduct more activities in the rest of the world. Thus,once advertising has merged with new media,the comments and opinions from the public can lead a bright way for company to continue their next commercial strategy.

However,people who are bothered by junk advertisement and inveracious information hold a negative view.As a result of the high frequency of access to the Internet,audience has recognized that junk advertisements exist in everywhere and that really disturb the process of working or
reading.According to the research which conducted by Jing and Ling, due to the development of new meida,huge junk mails are created and the research also states that on average one person will receive 20 or 30 junk mails per day and most of them in the forms of e-mail and websit. Because of the advertisers have awareness of the the large base of audience and great effects about the online advertising,they begin to post advertisement in all kinds of media forms.what is worth,online fraud and inveracious message also become an issue in today's media environment. In this situation,a group of audience prefer to choose traditional media forms such as newspaper and printed book to avoid the junk information.Therefore,some harmful sides resulted by new media advertising can not be ignored.

In conclusion,this essay has discussed both positive and negative sides of the phenomenon of digital media convergence in relation to the advertising and new media.It is suggested that positive impacts which are cheaper and more effective is superior to the negative sides. Because the application of new media and branded entertainment of advertising make the media market become more interesting and attractive.

Reference:
Text:
Sporgeon.C.(2008) 'Advertising & New Media ' oxon routledfe,pp.24-45
Jenkins,M.(2006) 'Convergence Culture' p.54
Jing.W,Ling.W(2010) 'The advertisement spam image filtering method b
ased on image edge 'p.13.
Video:
http://youtu.be/rIHGT8vWleQ 
http://youtu.be/7pZ61JZMeiI
Picture:
http://www.google.com.au/images.new media.

DIGITAL CONVERGENCE 

AND THE 

MUSIC VIDEO INDUSTRY.

By Alec Dejanovic

The phenomenon of Digital Convergence is not a very old concept, and can be described as the  "flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behavior of audiences" (Jenkins, 2006). Digital convergence has made an extreme impact on various forms of media, especially the music video industry. 

The effect of convergence on the music video industry is phenomenal, as it has radically changed the way we watch and interact with music videos, and artists themselves. The difference between the way old media was, and new media is consumed in this day and age is quite staggering. Through the comparison of sitting at home as a family watching the weekly music video chart show 'Countdown' on a small Television, to interacting with your favourite artist over twitter about their brand new music video on YouTube - we can see how media convergence has radically changed the way media, and specifically music videos are consumed in the current day and age.

YouTube is undoubtedly the most popular example of the divergence from music video on television to music video online. It is the largest video sharing website, and in the context of music videos - gives any artist the chance to reach out and expose their music to an ever expanding global audience. 

There is a very interesting division amongst music artists on YouTube, and how closely they interact with users. Although both entities can release music videos, achieve great success and millions of views - the methods of which they gain a fan base are very diverse. Amongst the worldwide popular artists who release music videos on YouTube such as Justin Beiber, LMFAO, Avicci and Lady Gaga, (of which are signed to gigantic music labels and are played across all types of media outlets around the world) are the independent YouTube artists. These artists aren't backed by established record labels and media agencies, and usually do their own music video productions, and release all their own content themselves. Even though independent artists may not have the luxury of monetary backing and extensive connections, they can still amass millions of views and subscribers based on their creativity, talent, appeal and relationship with their viewers.

Kim Bartel Sheehan and Deborah K. Morrison write "Today, many online users are not content with accessing and viewing or listening to content from established sources. Instead, consumers want to interact with message content by adding to the content or re-purposing the content for new and different users." De Storm - a popular YouTube musician, directly relates to this statement - as he has gained a lot of success and millions of views by letting his viewers directly shape the type of content they watch on his channel. 

When De Storm started his channel, he was trying to establish himself as a rapper/producer using YouTube as his platform to share his production, singing and songwriting skills with a wide online audience. Once he had built up a substantial fanbase, Storm started to involve his audience a lot more with his channel by asking his subscribers to write down a random topic each week in the YouTube comments section, or over twitter. After picking a random users comment, Storm wrote a song based on the chosen topic, and self shot a music video for it. At the time, no one else on YouTube had this type of subscriber interaction, and because of this, DeStorm amassed a huge amount of views and subscribers, thus becoming 'part of the first generation of “YouTubers” who managed to monetize their videos.'(Zachary Sniderman, 2010).

In an interview, De storm states, “Everything has to funnel to one direction, you can’t be all over the place. When I’m on Facebook, I’m using that for YouTube. When I’m on Twitter, I’m using that for YouTube. That kind of focus can help consolidate your identity to just one platform and make sure your fans are thinking of you as a YouTuber first and foremost."(De Storm, HOW TO: Become a YouTube Sensation, 2010). This shows that part of Storm's success was utilising many social media avenues to direct multiple user groups to his YouTube channel, which is a good example of an artist using media convergence to their advantage.

Using the previous example as evidence, we see that the convergence of multiple social media services can greatly widen audience participation and awareness to an artists content. Before the uprise of the internet and social media services, music videos were only featured on specific television channels and shows such as 'MTV' and weekend Free-To-Air Programmes. This greatly minimised the amount of exposure many independent artists could achieve, as the only artists featured on these music channels were already established, popular artists with record deals and financial support. Nowadays, an artist can upload a self funded music video onto a video sharing site, spread awareness over many social network channels by linking or embedding the video, and potentially reach a gigantic audience for minimal cost, at any time. 

As easy as that may sound, there is only so much an artist can do before the spread of a music video is out of their hands. Once their video is out there, it is usually up to the viewer base to continue to share the media amongst peers. Hilderbrand explains that 'Youtube became popular by word of mouth - which in the Internet era means forwarded e-mail links, blogs, and Myspace profiles' (Hilderbrand, 2007 p.48.). Even though the previous statement is about YouTube, the idea is very much applicable to the success of an artists music video too, as sharing over various social media avenues is such a vital part of a video gaining views and popularity.

Conclusively, digital media convergence has cause a profound shift in the way artists can expose and share their music. The change from television channels being the only way music videos were distributed, to the modern avenue of uploading a file to various internet sites - most notably YouTube - has enabled artists who would previously not have had the opportunity to display their music to now reach out and expose their art to the world. Through examples such as De Storm, we see that close interactivity with a subscriber/viewer base is a very effective way an artist can share and expose a music video. Because of modern digital media convergence, and the multiple ways media can be shared over various social media avenues, we can conclude that the independent artists of today have just as much of an opportunity as already established 'popular' artists to achieve great success - unlike in the past, where the music video market was closed off, controlled, and based exclusively around television media.

References

• Sheehan, Kim and Morrison, Deborah (2009) Beyond convergence: Confluence culture and the role of the advertising agency in a changing world in  First Monday vol 14 no 3. Date of access: 29/08/12-http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2239/2121

• Dwyer, T. (2010) 'Media Convergence' McGraw Hall, Berkshire, pp1-23

• Hilderbrand, L. (2007), 'Film Quarterly, Vol 61, 'Youtube: Where Cultural Memory and Copyright Converge'' pp 48-57

• Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. Introduction. pp. 9. New York University Press. 
• Zachary Sniderman (2010) HOW TO: Become a YouTube Sensation, p.1. Date of access: 29/08/12
• DeStorm : "How To Solve A Rubik's Cube! (Rap)" (2011) http://youtu.be/aYv_oB_PXSg , Date accessed: 28/8/12

Additional Reading

• H.Jenkins (2006) Convergence and Divergence: Two Parts of the Same Process http://henryjenkins.org/2006/06/convergence_and_divergence_two.html Date Accessed: 29/8/12

• Alex Munt New Directions in Music Video: Vincent Moon and the ‘ascetic aesthetic’ (2011), http://www.textjournal.com.au/speciss/issue11/Munt.pdf Date accessed: 29/8/12 

• H.Jenkins (2001) 'Convergence? I diverge" http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/converge.pdf Date Accessed: 28/8/12

A revolutionary product of media convergence: Social Media and Advertising

 The whirlwind of media convergence can be seen to have played a vital role in the evolution of advertising. Originally consisting primarily of non-digitalised media platforms, advertising was an area which existed within the realms of television, radio and print. However as technology evolved, media convergence an area defined by Dwyer (2010) as

"the process whereby new technologies are accommodated by existing media and communication industries and culture",

(2010, p.2) 

presented various highly stylised and revolutionised communication channels. 

Establishing common ground between the past and the future

 

Today "97% of marketers believe that social media marketing benefits their businesses" (2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report). The top three categories for online advertising from a survey of small and mid sized businesses were new digitalised media platforms. However old media, a way of communicating from the broadcaster to the audience only, is still prevalent in a number of forms such as broadcast media and print. The dominance of new media however, an area defined by Manovich (2003) as

“one concerned with cultural objects and paradigms enabled by all forms of computing and not just by networking”

                                                                                                                          (2003, pp.10-11)

has redefined the way in which advertising is approached. 

                        

In a highly competitive and versatile market place, the process of digital media convergence has created various challenges for advertisers and marketers alike but at the same time has opened up a number of new routes to new markets. Companies that have been involved with old and new media have been required to adapt their business models with the prevalence of digital media convergence in order to remain competitive.

Working hand-in-hand

Facebook interactions

Digital media convergence has provided consumers with a better reach of brands and services which enables not only choice but also general market exposure. When considering the individual roles of old and new media it can be seen that both the forms work simultaneously to provide consumers with a comprehensive understanding of the brand as well as its products and services. Television advertising for instance, can lead consumers to other campaigns run by the same brand on the Internet and further to this consumers can socialise these campaigns and brands with their social networks.

This is an effective way for companies to reach their audiences as

 “Consumers are less brand loyal than ever before and pay more attn to the recommendations of friends and family than they do to marketing msgs, thus traditional advertising is failing in its purpose.”

                              (Sheehan and Morrison 2009)



In the real world

 

Two dominant new media platforms, search engine tycoon Google and social media cloud facebook, have over shadowed traditional media platforms as seen in the shift of marketing strategies by businesses. The convergence of digital media has challenged television, radio and print advertising as businesses invest in multimedia advertisements on relevant Google search pages as well as news feeds on facebook.

 

Dwyer (2010) reinforces the above;

"As digital distribution platforms have converged, the traditional packaging strategy for audiovisual content - the advertiser-funded television channel - has come under increasing pressure from the growing popularity of online advertising."

(2010, p.18)

Digital Media Convergence: A restoration in the world of Advertising?
 

 

Old and new media together can be seen to have extended the exposure of businesses and individuals on not just a local level, but more importantly an international level. Prior to the introduction of new media, businesses whose advertisements were produced in particular languages would have not been able to expose themselves outside their cultural boundaries or neighboring countries; new media today provides for global reach. 

 

In the case of popular German liqueur Jägermeister, the below advertisement was shown on television in Germany in the 1980's, a time when new media had not yet made its mark.

The commercial produced in Dutch, could be seen to restrict audiences to German viewership. Moreover at the time, it was found that there were no Jägermeister commercials made or dubbed in English.

 

Soon after however, as the 2012 Jägermeister advertisement below demonstrates, the world was swept into the phenomena of digital media convergence with a very universal approach to the way the brand was presented.

With a wide selection of digital special effects placed into the production of television advertisements, an abundance of focus on social media and target advertising also came into play.



Facebook Official logo

Dwyer (2010) further elaborates on the term 'convergence' stating that it is a transitioning process of adaptation and merging (2010, p. 2). When considering the terms adaptation and merging it could be seen that facebook is a platform which merges old media elements such as written and photo advertisements with new media elements such as the Internet, and more specifically social networking. Keeping to the example of Jägermeister, advertisements for the German liqueur were found on facebook whilst within the confines of a personal account.

The pictures below of Jägermeister AUSTRALIA advertised on a facebook account's news feed can be seen to prompt a radical change in the company's viewership of advertisements.

 

Personal Facebook account news feed

 Reaching audiences from all around the world, facebook collects the personal details of members. Consisting of age and location, the social media site correlates these details to determine which of their ads suit the particular member. Through advertising with facebook it could be said that Jägermeister is aiming to maximise the exposure of their products by branching their advertising to social media sites like facebook where global exposure is guaranteed.

 

Ultimately...

 

The revolutionary convergence of digital media has prompted stark transformations in the way communication as a whole is approached. When considering advertising, the driver of consumerism it can be said that businesses are increasingly persuaded that new media advertising would only provide new ways of engaging with consumers to suit their interests and convenience. As Spurgeon (2008) reiterates;

 

"Many large national and transnational advertisers are dissatisfied with the uncertain performance of 'old' media. They are looking for new ways to reach increasingly distracted, distrustful and disinterested consumers."





(2008, p.24)

Facebook, with over 500 million active users has proven to be an advertiser's delight. Personalising advertisements to consumers based on their details, the forum allows for a more targeted and direct form of advertising. Digital Media Convergence placed great emphasis on businesses to revise their marketing strategies and social media advertising has been a powerhouse contributor in reaching wider audiences.

  

 

 

REFERENCE LIST

MAS110 Readings:

• Dwyer. T (2010) Media Convergence, Mc Graw Hill, Berkshire. pp. 1-23

• Spurgeon. C (2008) Advertising and New Media, Ozon Routledge, pp. 24-45

Recommended Readings:

• Sheehan, Kim and Morrison, Deborah (2009) Beyond convergence: Confluence culture and the role of the advertising agency in a changing world, First Monday vol 14 no 3 - http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2239/2121

External Research:

 

• Manovich, Lev (2003) “New Media from Borges to HTML” from The New Media Reader, Montfort, The MIT Press, pp. 1-32
• Social Media Examiner (2011) Available from http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/5-social-media-marketing-trends-new-research-2/, viewed 23/08/12
   
 

Photos:

• Riverdaughter blogpost (2011) Available from http://riverdaughter.wordpress.com/2011/05/28/convergence-reckless-endangerment-and-can-you-afford-to-retire/, viewed 25/08/2012
• Social Media Examiner (2011) Available from http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/5-social-media-marketing-trends-new-research-2/, viewed 23/08/12
• The Latter Days blogpost (2012) Available from http://thelatterdays.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/facebook-christianity.html, viewed 29/08/12

Videos:

 

• Jagermeister Commercial (2012) Available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G5c5_Po-U4, viewed on 25/08/12
• Jägermeister Commercial from the 80s (2008) Available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flR5NopfIvY, viewed on 25/08/12

Digital Media Convergence - Music Video

Image One

Digital media convergence in terms of Music Videos and other content has become a phenomenon of the twenty-first century. This article will attempt to discuss issues of this particular topic with regards to how Music Video developed into a mainstream form of digital media and whether this phenomenon of convergence should be considered "positive" or "negative". Furthermore, we shall discuss the concept of YouTube and how this internet-based website has completely altered the media landscape, with particular use and reference to the Music Video.

To begin, first one must understand the concept of convergence. In a modern world, with the introduction of the internet, multimedia on numerous platforms can be brought into one particular media medium. An example of this would be YouTube. To reinforce this point, this essay will use particular YouTube videos throughout its process. Convergence of digital media, or in particular music video,  can be seen quite obviously in the format of a YouTube video, with the introduction of VEVO, a YouTube channel that brings music and music video to the forefront of mass exposure, often attracting millions of views in numerous music videos. This approach to music videos may very well be interpreted as a way by which media marketers have attempted to adapt to the changing consumer values  of this century (Chen & Granitz 2010, 1219).

 According to Chen and Granitz, the use of the internet (and in particular YouTube), has evolved from a utilization role to something far more complex and versatile (Chen & Granitz 2010, 1219). As we look at the history of music video we can see a rebirth of the music video industry through this new medium, and one can argue that although YouTube has "replaced" much of what is now considered "old technology", it still uses and recycles old media. We can see this is apparent in the video clip below, which allows us to view AC/DC in Melbourne in 1976 in an episode of "RAGE" that has been uploaded to the internet.

This example allows us to state that although new technology has made much "old technology" redundant, the tenacity of media has been apparent through convergence, which in turn has allowed us to retain "old media" that was previously viewed through an outdated medium (Chen & Granitz 2010, 1220).

Image Two

This now allows us to diverge into the next issue,  the concept of cultural memory as stated by Lucas Hilderbrand (Hilderbrand 2007, 50). This concept is a way of understanding the current media convergence situation, whereby one may simply type a song into YouTube they enjoyed as a child and the site would bring back fond memories and emotions that were from a previous era. This convergence has been stated a "portal" by which we can actively and quite easily retrieve information or media forms that have a positive use throughout the community and furthermore for the media and artists themselves (Hilderbrand 2007, 51). This greater exposure should very well be considered useful for any media form in the attempt to create more cultural awareness, simultaneously gaining more support as it grows in popularity.

On this note, we can now look into the issue of cultural awareness in relation to music videos. This huge phenomenon has allowed culture to leap across to another culture. Arjun Appadurai argues that the creation of media disjoints culture but with the creation of the internet and YouTube, it allows for this culture to be interpreted in new and creative ways (Appadurai 1990, 3). This can be seen quite apparently in the music video "Thriller", by Michael Jackson that has been re-created and reinterpreted in a Filipino context. This interesting take has become "viral" and shows us how old media can be re-interpreted in both a new social context and a new time period. Ironically enough, however, both music videos can now be found on YouTube.

Again, Appadurai makes an interesting point of these interpretations, by which they are quite "hyper-real", and his example of the Elvis impersonators that are more forcibly real than their American counterparts allows us to understand that although new technological advances allows us to put forwards our cultural values, they are still subject to the medium of interpretation, which in itself is defined by different societal values. Relating this back to music video, we can see in the video above how this is relevant. 

Image Three

In essence, convergence has severely impacted the modern media landscape, and with it music videos. Forcing these media mediums to adapt to this new landscape has allowed for many media industries to create new and creative ways for us to view their material. The most abundant and popular way of course, is YouTube. Through YouTube we have been able to see how media convergence has positively affected the way in which music video gains exposure to huge audiences on a global scale as well as how media has been interpreted through this exposure to new and different cultural diversities. This article has attempted to address the issues of convergence and YouTube's role in creating this new global media landscape, in an attempt to comprehend the enormous potential that modern media now represents.

Image Four

Bibliography (Chicago-author date)

Appadurai, Arjun. 1990. "Disjuncture and difference in the global cultural economy." Public Culture 2 (2): 1–24.

Chen, Steven and Niel Granitz. 2010. "Adoption, rejection, or convergence: Consumer attitudes toward book digitization." Journal of  Business Research 65 (2012): 1219-1225.

Hilderbrand, Lucas. 2007. "Youtube: Where Cultural Memory and Copyright Converge." Film Quarterly 61 (1): 48-57.

Images

Image One:

http://www.flinders.edu.au/science_engineering/fms/School-CSEM/csem_image_files/Courses/Computing/digital_media.jpg

Image Two:

http://images.library.uiuc.edu/projects/gcm/memories.jpg

Image Three:

http://theshannoncompany.com.au/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/youtube_logo.jpg

Image Four:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Amen_break_sample_image.png