Loren Kitchen Media and Communications Student

[loren3010]

My Professional Media Practise Poster

This poster was showcased the the Into The Future event at Birmingham City University on May 9th 2014. This was a media and networking event for students and media professionals. This poster demonstrates my knowledge and abilities within radio and my dissertation idea for my third year on my BA in Media and Communications (Radio). 

[loren3010]

Into The Future

On Friday 9th May Birmingham City University media students hosted a networking and careers event at Millennium point. The event was to network ourselves as media professionals to media professionals, The morning started with guest speakers with Beverley Nielsen, Director of employer engagement at Birmingham City University and the lady behind Idea Birmingham and Birmingham Made Me. Beverley admitted to taking a selfie and sending it to her children at the start of her speech, which was to everyone's amusement. She explained about Birmingham Made Me, and the ideas behind it and her involvement with these events and how they benefit others before introducing the first guest speaker for the day, Phil Riley: CEO of Orion Media, this for me was a special guest speaker as I work for Phil at Free radio as a street star. Phil expresses his knowledge of many years in the radio industry from his university years, up to the industry today and the 3 key factors he believes affect radio.

1. Platforms

2. Regulations

3. Talent and content

Phil also played a promotional video for Free radio showcasing some of the skills that the presenters have and explained how you have to be a multimedia professional to be successful in radio now, you can just sit behind the mic. 

I took this opportunity to introduce myself to Phil Riley at the end of his speech, As a Free radio street star and expressed my love for my job and how I wanted to further career within Free.

The next guest speaker was Selena Brown, the founder of Little Miss Creative, a former Birmingham City University student. Selena went through her career progress and explained how she came from nothing, which was a truly inspiring story for everyone in the room. She demonstrated how her company benefits young woman in Birmingham with creative workshops.

After the speakers students were then allocated times to showcase their posters and professional skills to media professionals. This part of the day was aimed for the student to sell themselves as media professionals and as the future of media, through their posters which were created to show their applied knowledge within the media industry. Most of the student have a specialism and a chosen area that have chosen to research as their dissertation idea, which was presented on the posters along with work experience and modules which support their chosen dissertation question. 

The day was not as busy with media guests as we had hoped but it was a day enjoyed by all, we got to network with our fellow students and get to know people's specialisms and bond as a Media and Communications course as a whole. 

[loren3010]

Free Radio Street Star - Busker Challenge

As a Free radio street star I have the fun privilege of working next to some of the presenters, I headed out on the New Street with drive time presenters Jo and Sparky to set up and photograph the Busker Challenge. Sparky was going head to head with Birmingham Busker Sean, who is out busking on New Street every day of week. The aim was to generate an audience and to see whether Sparky could earn as much money as Sean… which was never going to happen with his voice! They each played 3 songs each, which was all being recorded and filmed for a promotional video by one of the filming crew from Free radio. My role for the day was to set up all the audio equipment and Free radio flyers and then photograph the event as it happened. This shift was a great one for me, I got to interact with the members of the public watching, take some actions shots and even laugh at Sparky's terrible voice and guitar skills. The audio was used later that day on Jo and Sparky's show, this is to endorse Sean and try gain him a biggest audience than the passers by on New Street. This event happened during game time of the Free radio Phantom, which was great along New Street as so many people kept asking if I or others around me were the Free radio Phantom which added to the excitement of the event. This was the first time I had ever had the photograph an event but I really enjoyed it, here are a few of the photos from the day and the full album is available on the Free radio website.

http://www.freeradio.co.uk/photos/72157643697806973/13737266345/

[loren3010]

Working for Free radio - Street Star

As part of my professional media practice I am required to complete 120 hours of work experience within my specialist subject, which is radio. I thought it is always best to use the saying, its not what you know, its who you know. So I contacted a few people that I know that work in the radio industry, I was given an email address from a manager at Free Radio, I constructed an email based on gaining work experience within a commercial station. I was invited for an interview and within 10 minutes I was signing a contract to be a Free radio Street Star, this meant I was on the promotional team. So far this has been the most enjoyable job I have ever had, working on the marketing and promotions of big events. I am currently working on one of Free’s biggest events of the year, The Free radio Phantom, a 30,000 prize give away, played over 4 weeks. The Phantom is based on a hunt to find the Phantom to win the cash, the event was promoted in secret over the Midlands. Street Stars were sent out, in normal clothes to put the Phantom logo all around the surround areas of Free’s broadcast reach. We were advised not to get caught and that we did not work for Free! This was very important, in order to maintain the surprise and for Free to take responsibility for all these clues and logos that were showing on shelves in your local supermarket and any surface the Street Stars could stick a transfer on our leave a calling card. These happened for 2 weeks constantly and #FindThePhantom was being tweeted by hundreds of Midlanders discovering these clues and intrigued to know more. The Phantom is sent out in game time, releasing two clues to his location and game player have to find him, and ask him if he is “The Free Phantom” there is 4 weeks of game time and we are currently on day 3, so far he has been found once, a player won £8,000 just for asking him the question “Are you the Free radio Phantom” so far I my Phantom shifts have been the most enjoyable at Free, as they are full of mystery and the risk of being caught, I was sent to hang a logo’s bed sheet from the Sabrina Bridge in Worcester last week and a passerby spotted me and other Street Star and took a picture and tweeted it to the Free radio Phantom, which was hilarious when we got back to the office at the end of our shift. Working for Free radio is an accomplishment I am very happy about, I plan on attempting to work my way up and stay within the company and network to maybe one day be a producer or presenter, we will see….but for now I am happy being a Street Star and gaining work experience within a commercial station and completing my hours for my university course and the bonus is, i get paid for it,

[loren3010]

Loren Kitchen

Loren Kitchen is on Mixcloud. Join to listen to great radio shows, DJ mix sets and Podcasts

My professional online profile, showcasing my documentaries, demos, adverts and mixes. A mixture of my talents showcased through editing, production and presenting skills, more mixes to follow…

Stay tuned :)

[loren3010]

Bloc Beats Ibiza Representative

[loren3010]

Ibiza Representative for Bloc Beatz

Last April I started doing work experience with a local house music label in Birmingham, called Bloc Beatz. I was appointed as their A&R, to find new up and coming artists to sign to the label and release songs. As a team we all were involved with the promotion of their first event which took place on the 29th June 2013. I had booked to go out working in Ibiza for the summer so I was given the role as Ibiza representative for Bloc Beatz, I was working in Ibiza as a ticket seller so I had access to clubs, bars and lots of contacts. Also the guys at Bloc Beatz had contacts in Ibiza too, different DJs and producers they had worked with previously. I was given a Bloc Beatz t shirt to officially represent them when I was going to interview DJs, I was went to a trendy house bar in San Antonio bay, located just opposite the egg. Plastik is the bar to visit and the best way to start your night before heading onto the West End, it is well known for its cutting edge music and cool atmosphere. Specialising in house music I was sent there to speak to some of their resident DJs, I went to a few nights and decided that Luke Jeffery was Bloc Beatz material. We arranged to meet and discuss his style and taste in house music, we chatted for hours about DJ’ing, music, clubs and Ibiza. Luke showed me his mixes and the songs that he had produced and expressed his massive interest in signing for the Bloc Beatz label, we exchanged detailed and arranged to discuss meeting again when Luke returned to England to sign for us, sadly after coming back to England Luke decided he didn’t have the time to be a part of Bloc Beatz as he wanted to focus on the production of his songs. Bloc Beatz continue now as a record label and continue to look for me artists, they currently have 4 DJs signed and releases tracks, including Marc Spence who has performed in Ibiza and at Global Gathering.

[loren3010]

Working in Ibiza, Ticket Selling 

[loren3010]

Working in Ibiza part 2

 We continued using the benefits of being Ibiza workers even though we we’re working to gain use free workers wristbands in to small parties such as Nervo Nation at Ushuaia, their first performance on the Ibiza. I went to so many nights that were incredible, seeing some of the biggest DJs in the world such as Sander Van Doorn, Axwell, Bondax and Eats Everything. (posts on these nights to come soon). I lived on a tight budget throughout my month with my last two weeks living off a baguette a day, I would buy a 39cent baguette everyday, eat half for lunch and half for dinner as I had no cooking facilities in my hotel room to keep anything fresh and cold, no fridge, nothing. So I was drinking warm water and living on baguettes, this was difficult as me and Eve made friends with holiday makers who would go out for meals every night and we didn’t have the money to go, during our last week we met three Irish men around the pool, we decided we would chat to them and try to sell them tickets as we needed the money and still had our ticket books, we managed to sell them each a ticket to Amnesia to see Calvin Harris. Making us 30 euros each, which doesn’t sound like much but we were grateful for. Throughout the whole money I only managed to make 40 euros in total, I had been told I could be making over 200 euros a week, I had been told so many lies by the company I had booked to go out there with. I would advise anyone that if they want to go to a country working, do it yourself. Don’t book through a company as they just screw you over, I could of had better accommodation and saved money if I had just done it alone but then it would of been harder to meet people and find a job. There are pros and cons to it but you live and learn, I wouldn’t advice anyone to go and work in Ibiza but I am glad I gave it a go. My month ended with me being told by my hotel that I was due to depart the hotel, two days before I thought and before my flight. I haven’t never been so stressed and had to change my flight and pack my case in 30 minutes and get out of my hotel, not a fun expression to say the least but it was an experience, one I will never forget.

[loren3010]

Working in Ibiza

I had always wanted to work out in Ibiza, it was one of those cool things on my to do list, so last summer I decided I was going to do it. I found a company through Twitter that gave you a job and accommodation, I thought booking with a company would be my faster opinion as I was going alone. For £256 I got 1 months ‘workers accommodation’ and a guaranteed job. I could not wait to get out there and start earning some money in my favourite place in the world. I had my outbound flight booked but had decided not to book my return flight as I was unsure when I would want to fly home. I arrived June 18th, I was greeted by other works when I arrived at my hotel, which was not ‘workers accommodation’ as promised, this was just the beginning of the problems. I was then advised by all the workers that the only way to make money was ‘to sell drugs’ this was something that scared me instantly, I had put a lot of money on the line for the summer of my dreams and within hours of being there it seemed to be crumbling. I woke up the next morning with the feeling of regret ‘what was I doing in Ibiza on my own?’ I thought. I tried to stay positive and took a few days to settle in and make friends before deciding to start working. I had a job as a ticker seller, selling tickets for some of the biggest clubs in ibiza such as Amnesia, DC10 and Space. I have never been afraid to speak to people and approach strangers before so it wasn’t something I thought would faze me but this was harder than I thought. It wasn’t just selling club tickets, it was selling packages which included drinking deals in a small bar and transportation. So not only did I have the task of getting people to trust me and hand over their cash but to persuade them into drinking at this bar in the middle of San Antonio, 30 minute walk from the main strip. After a few days of constant no’s and realising how hard these tickets were to sell I looked for other jobs, I used the local english pub for my source of information and found and opening with Ushuaia Beach Hotel, one of the most prestigious hotels on the island. After having my interview with no C.V I managed to bag myself a job, telling tickets for the Avicii Boat parties. Within days of walking round tirelessly and being rejected by people I decided that ticket selling wasn’t for me. It has the perks of free workers wristbands and guest list opportunities into the biggest clubs but the pain of walking around all day in the heat and being rejected and not making any money was crushing my Ibiza dream. I decided I would live off the money I had left and just enjoy my time there, I still managed to get workers entry into some of the clubs and then I bought tickets to the clubs I had planned on going to when I booked it. Working in Ibiza is one of the hardest things I have ever tried to do, the typical ticket seller sells drugs on the side to make money and uses the tickets as a cover up. Getting them free entry into the clubs they would sell pills for 10 euros each to holiday makers, this was not for me. It was not a scene I could be a part of and so I distanced myself from the other workers, who would sit sniffing drugs around the hotel pool, I found another pool full of holiday makers and decided I would spend the rest of my month sunbathing and having a good time and hopefully making friends with holiday makers. I was lucky to of been placed in a room with a lovely lady called Eve, within hours we felt comfortable around each other and spent our month together chasing our favourite DJs around the island…

[loren3010]

Radio and Popular Music - Week 8

Week 8 

Audiences, Technology & Consumption 

During this weeks reading three ideas were discussed, these were the topics of audiences, technology and consumption. All three of these topics are linked when it comes to radio and popular music. This reading investigates the audience and consumption patterns of students and how new technologies such as net-radio changes the way in which they access, consume and contribute to the media and radio. Net-radio has two different ways to consume, either live streams or on demands streams. Net-radio is said to be powered by five distinct characteristics, these are that it is a multimedia digital platform; it is interactive; it is a global medium; it provides on-demand access to a 24-hour database and it is a network of networks. In contrast to traditional radio, net-radio’s characteristics mean that its ‘user-defined personal involvement’ and interaction define its consumption practices and audience profile (Freire 2008: 97). During the reading I found that consumers of traditional radio were consuming for purposes such as news, information and entertainment. ( Free, 2005,1) These are all part of audience cultural practices, Adorno (1991) studied audiences as a manipulated market in relation to popular music. This reading and the studies carried out have demonstrated that the consumption of internet related facilities reflects the changing role of new media technologies. According to Hartley (2002:180) the users of net-radio are critical members of the new economy which is linked to post modernity and globalisation. The main methodologies used for these three topics was audience surveys, as this is the most effective way to gain data on consumption, technology use and audience engagement. Within radio different organisational structures affect their audience and their engagement differently, through either top down media or bottom up media. A mixture of formatted, non formatted, long play, live music on net only radio ( Priestman 2002; Wall 2004) has significantly effected the departure of traditional radio, where the listeners are restricted by station managers rigid formats and mainstream music selection, this is an example of a top down media. Through new media technologies cultural practices are changing and audiences are becoming more interactive within the media, such as using Twitter to request a song, this is all part of audience engagement. If I was to investigate further into these subject I would use the term globalisation and look up the concepts involved with radio.

Word Count - 402

References:

Baker, A. J, (2010). College Student net-radio audiences: A Transnational Perspective. Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media. 8 (2), pp.121-137

Key Concepts in Popular Music, Shuker, R. (1998) . Audiences, Consumers. London: Routledge

[loren3010]

Radio and Popular Music - Week 7

Week 7 

Conceptualising the Audience

This weeks reading covered the topic of conceptualising the audience, looking into the different methods of production, distribution and consumption. The reading discusses different types of audiences, whether they are active or passive. I found that one of the main theorist on audiences is Adorno, he argued that audiences react to deliberate messages in direct, largely predictable, and sometime dramatic ways, these views are based on consumption and interaction with radio. (Adorno, 1930, 135). Adorno also made a specific point about music, he proposed that music is a set of three interconnected assumptions, identified by Abercrombie (1996) which was that it is trivial, passive and narcotising. When studying audiences and consumption of popular music you need to explore the sociology of leisure and cultural consumption to explore the role of music in the lives of the listeners. Surveys have been carried out to investigate all aspects of conceptualising the audience, the main methodologies used are, empirical surveys  of consumption patterns, related to gender and class, and qualitative studies especially on music studies and youth subcultures. (Adorno, 1991,16). I found that through out both of the readings for this weeks topic and studying the key concepts of popular music, that there is an overlap and movement between different audiences and consumers, two factors that underpin the consumption of popular music is the cultural capital, this theory dictates that records have been shaped and displayed as a source of audience pleasure. Radio is seen as a medium that can be either a domination source or just something on in the background, the audience has the choice of being passive or active. Whether they want to become involved through their consumption and actions or whether radio is just on during the car journey. Radio has the ability to ‘stimulate the imagination’ and as a fully active listener enables them to dominate the text and make it whatever the listener pleases, (Crisell, 1994,143).  When media is consumed people interact with it in different ways, this is one of the main points of the reading and in audience analysis, if I was to research further in to conceptualising the audience I would investigate the different methods listeners and consumers engage with to get a better understanding of audiences, I would also look further in the theory of Hall, of encoding and decoding, how the listener enacts an idiosyncratic decoding of what radio programs are about. 

Word Count - 405

References:

Hendy, D, (2000). 'Audiences'. In: (ed), Radio in the Global Age. 1st ed. UK: Polity Press. pp.(134-147).

Key Concepts in Popular Music, Shuker, R. (1998) . Audiences, Consumers. London: Routledge

[loren3010]

Radio and Popular Music - Week 5

eek 5 

Discourse and Power

This week we have explored the concept of discourse and power, in the assigned reading this week discourse is described as the way that we can look at the relationship between language and power (Long, 2012: 363) Discourse is associated with representations and how meaning is created through cultural expectations, understanding and conventions (Long, 2012: 100). During this weeks reading I found that key concept of discourse to be based on the complex mode of expression that is popular music such as rock and pop, songs and artists, and how it is a combination of sound, rhythm, lyrics, performance and image. This is all part of the representation, rock’s ideological content is derived from its commodity form; rock is explained as a product of the mass entertainment industry. ( Frith, 1978,372) The main example discussed for discourse concentrates on sexuality, in artists, lyrics and performances and how it connotes representations of masculinity and femininity through music as culture and as entertainment. Sexuality is used in terms of romance, with the intention of creating feelings, love and commitment, mainly aimed at females. Music is said to be the important medium for the communication of this ideological message and its influences. The BBC uses levels of discourse during its daytime shows and focuses on mainstream popular music. The main body of the reading talks in a lot of detail on ‘cock rock’ and ‘teenybop’ in the context on consumption and the production for its intended audience. In radio and popular music discourse and power is created through stereotypes to produce a clear identification for the audience. In relation to this topic I found another reading on discourse of popular music, and found that according to (Frith,1996 22) ‘to understand cultural value judgements we must look at the social contexts in which they are made, at the social reasons why some aspects of a sound or spectacle are valued over others’. Through these readings I understand that discourse has four main points, it is the language and lyrics, the audience, and the politics, these are all elements included to create representations. If I was to research into this concept further I would like to investigate more into use of power and discourse within the BBC at look at their ideologies and language used in their programs by producers and presenters.

Word count: 394

References:

Frith, S & McRobbie, A, (1990). 'Rock & Sexuality'. In: Simon Frith & Andrew Goodwin (ed), On Record: Rock, Pop & the Written Word. 1st ed. UK: Pantheon Books. pp.(371-389).

Analysing Popular Music, Machin, D. (2010) Discourse of Popular Music. London: SAGE 

Popular Music, Shuker, R. (1998) Discourse analysis. London: Routledge

[loren3010]

Radio and Popular Music - Week 4

Week 4 

Genre and Narrative

 In this weeks reading Roy Shuker explored the topic of Genre, Shuker discusses how genre is the method of categorisation of popular music into distinct categories and how it creates meaning through the use of analytical techniques. Genre is a code which gives two senses to the cultural role, firstly it is categorised or codified and then secondly the process of categorisation sets the rule by which the music is produced, distributed and consumed. From this reading I took three key points on codes, conventions and contexts, genre is made up of all three of these to create meaning. As well as genre I also found a reading and explored the topic of sub genres, on how fans will associate themselves with a particular genre of music and how they demonstrate their knowledge and the complexities in their chosen sub genre. (Shuker, 1998,149). According to Simon Frith ‘popular music genres are constructed and must be understood with a commercial/cultural process; they are not the result of detached academic analysis or formal musicological histories (Frith,1996b,88) I believe this is a key concept as without the genres being understood they would not be a successful genre, consumers must understand the meaning of the genre to accept it. However Walser voiced his concept that genres are not clear cut and that it is not a technical process to allocate music to one category rather than another. According to Moore some accounts tend to use style and genre as overlapping terms, or prefer style to genre but genre is the mainstream term when it comes to music. It is used for high street shop layouts and iTunes categories. Genre is normally defined by the approach of following the distinctions of the of music industry which reflect the history and marketing categories, (Frith,1987) Frith also used the approach of distinction of categories to ‘classify them according to their ideological effects’. Popular music is said to have high fluidity, it is a concept used by musicians, fans and critics but no style is totally independent. The majority of theories focus on rock as it is said to have a lot of sub genres, if I was to investigate and find an ideology to better describe genres I would research further into the conventions of consumption in different categories of genre to find out more about Coherence and sustainability of each genre.

Word count - 404

References:

Wall, T, (2003). 'Genre'. In: (ed), Studying Popular Music Culture. 1st ed. UK: Hodder & Stoughton Educational. pp.(179-188).

Understanding Popular Music Culture: Shuker R. (2001) Genre: London : Routledge.

Understanding Popular Music: Shuker, R.(1998) Genre: London and New York: Routledge.

[loren3010]

Radio and Popular Music - Week 3

Week 3

Political Economy

This weeks reading focuses on political economy of the internet music radio by Tim Wall,  the key concepts go into depth on the development of the sound broadcasting on the internet and its diversity. Vincent Mosco’s general characterisation of political economy states that it is “the study of social relations, particularly the power relations that mutually constitute the production,distribution, and consumption of resources’ (Mosco 1996,25). There are three main factors that make up the concept of political economy within media, they are funding, regulation and organisation, the three of these factors all affect each other and work in synergy to form a power relationship. The reading looks into the public good and how it is promoted and controlled by the cultural, political contexts of broadcasting. According to Hendy discussions of ideas of the public good focus on the political debate and access rather than the music. (Hendy, 2000: 28) I think that this is a topic that can be researched into further as the topic of the reading is ‘of the internet music radio’ and music is a main element. Diversity of new technologies of the internet introduced a different style of listening, the most striking development was the development of FM transmission (Keith, 1997, 31). Radio is seen as a secondary medium and is classed as background consumption, a discussion has been formed that the public good of over the air radio is primarily due to the relationship between the record and the radio industry. My secondary reading takes the approach that political economy within the popular/mass media is driven by the logic of capitalism: the pursuit of maximum profit. Shuker, 1998,20). Due to new technologies the radio industry has had a stronger political economy within internet radio. One of the main points I took from this reading was the  progression that has happened over time with the invention of new media devices which have changed the economy of radio. Products like Spotify which all use adverts to make money the same as radio stations do but has controlled broadcasting through ownership structures, these public corporations are placed upon by the private companies. These new streaming forms can be initiated by the listener to produce an on-demand stream or a live stream. To research further into this ideology I’d look at Media institutions to determine the terms of production practices, financial bases, technology and their construction of audiences.

Word Count - 408

  References:

  Wall, T. (2004) The political economy of Internet music radio. Radio Journal - International Studies in Broadcast and Audio Media, Volume 2, 27-37.

Understanding Popular Music: Shuker, R.(1998) Political Economy: London and New York: Routledge.

[loren3010]

Radio and Popular Music - Week Two

Week 2 

Regulation and Moral Panics

This weeks reading discussed the use of regulations and moral panics in radio and popular music. In the key reading this week Sarah Thornton explored subcultural capitals of the underground to understand the relations between youth subcultures and the media. She also explored how the media plays a part in the congregation and formation of subcultures and how these are defined and are represented. (Thompson,1994: 176). The reading discusses the underground ideologies, how subcultural discourses position the media.  The term underground is the expression by which clubbers refer to things subcultural. The people who class them selves as underground define themselves by what they are not, which is the term ‘mainstream’. The Mainstream is decried as passive, indiscriminate and uncommitted to dance culture. (Thornton,1994,178). She uses the theorist, Pierre Bourdieu’s distinction model of ‘subcultural capital’ which describes a system which focuses on the tastes of the middle-ages. Using the factors of not just age but gender, race and ethnicity and age differences to show the effects of the working class-based distinctions. (Bourdieu, 1984, 178). She explores the relationship between the youth culture and the media, Top of the Pops is seen as the gateway to mass culture (Thornton 1994,180). Television programs put songs into the mainstream and in affect caused moral panics. According to Cohen “A condition, episode ,person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests; its nature is presented in a stylised and stereotypical fashion by the mass media”. (Cohen 1980,218) I think that this theory is the explanation to songs and different music genres affect in the media, how it is forced upon media consumers and influences their behaviours, style and attitudes. Studies into the reaction of popular music such as rock and roll in the 1950’s were carried out, how anti-social behaviour was linked to concerts and rock movies and the associations with juvenile delinquency. Thornton discusses the acid house genre during the 1980’s, and how a genre associated with drugs can cause moral panics, in relation to this Roy Shuker explores an earlier approach from the rock ‘n’ roll era of the 1950’s. I think that both theories show strong opinions for discussion, if I was to research further into regulation and popular music I would find a study with similar ideologies of moral panics.

Word count - 402

References: 

Thornton, (1994). 'Moral Panic, The Media & British Rave Culture'. In: Andrew Ross & Tricia Rose (ed), Microphone Fiends, Youth Music & Youth Culture. 1st ed. London: Routledge. pp.(176-192).

Understanding Popular Music: Shuker, R.(1998) Moral Panic and Regulation: London and New York: Routledge.

[loren3010]

Radio and Popular Music - Week One

Week One 

Radio History and The Industrialisation of Music

This week we covered the topic of Radio History and The Industrialisation of Music. The Radio History is built up of a timeline, starting in the 1830's and running through each event which occurred or changed the world of radio, up until 1997. Radio has been considered to be the "poor relation" (Shingler, M et al, 1998: 1) of societies choice when it comes to devices of media. As it has to compete with so many other devices like the television, internet and games. Radio histories are built on facts of different events occurring through time. I have picked six dates in which I felt affected the industry of music and the development of radio through out the years. Such as, in 1906 inventor Lee De Forest developed the Audion which became the basis for radio signal amplification of voice transmissions. (Shingler, M et al, 1998: 3) Radio progressed through out the years with new technologies being invented and improved resulting in Radio stations being build and set up. In 1913 the USA its first music-licensing organisation called the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, (Shingler, M et al, 1998: 4) who aimed to protect music publishers broadcast on the new experimental radio station.  In 1919 the largest radio station company in the USA was ran by Americans rather than Britons. (Shingler, M et al, 1998: 4) In 1922 The Radio Society of Great Britain was formed. (Shingler, M et al, 1998: 4) In 1923 The BBC became the sole broadcasting company in Britain with 2LO in London. (Shingler, M et al, 1998: 4) I feel that these events were a huge contribution to the radio industries development and success, theses are the events that caught my eye and stood out to me as they have a link to the second reading on The Industrialisation of music. According to Simon Frith  without the invention of certain broadcasting devices and different technologies the music industry could not of progressed. “A certain moment in the development of a new electronic medium, though, the logic changes.” (Frith,1988:14) Records began to sell and people brought them just to have something to play on their new equipment, “Software was seen at first only as a means of advertising hardware.” but records still cease to be a novelty to society. This reading discusses Decca, “Decca was the first company to realise that an investment in advertisement and promotion was more than justified by consequent increase in sales”. (Frith,1988:18). From both readings I found that technology doesn’t enable culture, culture enables technology. 

Word count: 432

References:

Shingler, M & Wieringa, C, (1998). 'Radio time-line: History at a glance'. In: Martin Shingler & Cindy Wieringa (ed), On Air: Methods & Meanings of Radio. 1st ed. London: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. pp.(1-29).

Frith, S, (1988). 'The industrialisation of Music'. In: (ed), Music for Pleasure: Essays in the Sociology of Pop. 1st ed. e.g. England: Routledge, Chapman & Hall, Incorporated. pp.(11-23).