...Farringer, Co-VP of Services Marketing Taylor Saffo, Co-VP of Services Marketing Jennifer Willoughby, Co-VP of Service Marketing Date: December 5, 2014 Subject: Spotify Services Report 2014 Mr. Daniel Ek, The music streaming industry is extremely competitive; however, Spotify has managed to carry on as one of the top providers for music streaming, as well as increase their number of users exponentially over the past few years. Spotify stands out against their competition based on: * Well-known brand * Size of music library available * All of the music is stored in the cloud, allowing instant access * Website is easily navigated when searching for artists, albums, and tracks * Ability to customize and share playlists * Spotify’s high ethical standards and everything we do is legal * Free option with advertisements or pay $9.99 per month to avoid the interruptions. * Premium subscription allows users to use Spotify offline * Variety of applications that users can download to their home page leading to more possibilities and uses. * Can be used on a variety of different devices * User traffic has increased by 118% over the past 12 months (Sasson) Spotify is in a great position in the music streaming industry; however, there is always room for improvement. At Spotify, we want to be the best in the industry, while staying legal and ethical. After doing extensive research and evaluating Spotify, we have found the following...
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...ties to political ideologies. The 1960’s were a turbulent time in society; between the Cold War, Vietnam War, and overall political unease, the band used their music as a microphone. Beatlemania grew from screaming teens at the front row to a new way to channel their opposition of the status quo. John Lennon in particular became very vocal and, “decided to use his media fame on an even bigger scale: to become an advocate for peace" (Syverson, 2014). Like most in the United Kingdom, The Beatles were affected by political decisions, such as high taxes. As celebrities, not only did they utilize their position in society to voice their opinions, they also spoke on behalf of their fan base. The fans followed the example of their idols to voice their own opinions and question political and societal authority. While One Direction do not possess the same political drive that The Beatles had, they too have used their status to raise their voices. For example, they teamed up with Global Citizen to promote social activism as a means to end extreme poverty. Given the political climate when The Beatles gained popularity, their public sphere, a concept from the 18th century was incredibly different than our modern sphere. In contrast to the limiting nature of technology in the 1960’s, modern media is oversaturated with platforms for discussion. The chief difference in the ‘public sphere’ in regards to The Beatles and One Direction is how fans gather and the meaning behind their discussions....
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...Walt Disney’s Potential Struggles Walt Disney Corporation is the largest entertainment provider in the world. It has operations in more than 200 countries, and has been seeing record breaking Revenues in recent quarters. This is due primarily from their broad diversification, their new technology embracive approach of business, and their aggressive emergence into markets outside of the United States. All of this being said, there are still several potential challenges and struggles that Disney faces as they continue forward towards their future prospects of doing business. Disney has been taking an aggressive approach with their excess reserve money in recent years. In the last 5 years, they have invested nearly $15 billion in capital in its businesses. Much of this has been due to the significant acquisitions of Pixar and Marvel, along with Playdom Inc., and UTV. The corporation also put 4.5 billion into their new theme park in Shanghai, as well as two new 340-meter ships for their Disney Cruise Line. The company has also been assertively buying back shares of the company, which has placed demands on their cash reserves. With all of these investments happening at once, CEO Bob Iger is putting a great deal of faith that these procurements will pan out to be profitable in the near future. $15 billion dollars is a lot of cash to drop when there is no certainty in when full cost recovery will be in sight. Another potential issue would be the health of the world economy in the...
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...software program allowing millions of users to illegally download and share music files; sparking the beginning of the hundreds of entertainment sharing websites around the world today. Although shut down due to the Recording Industry Association Of America filing a lawsuit because of copyright infringement and suppressed record sales, this did not stop the development of more sophisticated file sharing softwares able to manipulate copyright laws around the world. Downloading films became possible due to increased storage and memory space available on computers, enabling users to download multiple movies in a matter of hours, even before released in cinemas. Currently, Mass media storage devices are available that hold thousands of music and film files on a small box, transferred from the users computer. So what effect is all this having? Has the popularity of illegal downloading affected the profits and jobs of the entertainment industry? Is there a correlation between entertainment stores losing revenue or even going out of business because of suppressed sales and illegal downloads? Does this have a negative effect on the economy through job loss, reduced income tax, fewer artists growing and is there a solution, should there need to be, to this problem? There have been many acts introduced to attempt to curb illegal downloading, from HADOPI law, the Digital Millennium Copyright act and most recent Digital Economy Act 2010; however none have appeared to be successful in preventing...
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...Throughout the times music has advanced in many different forms, evolved into unique styles and altered societal behaviors for both the good and the bad. Developments from the phonograph to the radio and now the IPod have made it extremely easy for listeners to become more engaged in their music. Each new development has led society to listen to music in a different way, thus changing the way we perceive music and the role that it plays in our lives. The advent of the technological era in the 1990’s has created a global marketplace where individuals have access to all different kinds of audio files at any time. With the world becoming more and more commercialized, countless numbers of corporations are now involved in the music and recording industries. The largest of them all is Apple. Known as an innovative corporation, Apple has been controlling the way most people listen and interact with the audio world since its creation of the iPod. After the release date of the IPod, November 10, 2001, listening to your favorite music became easier than ever before. The main goal Apple was shooting for when creating the personal digital device was to create an extremely simple user interface and sleek design many users would appreciate. Many people who were walking around with a Walkman, or seemed uninterested in owning a digital MP3 device now own an IPod. The product line has grown so large that businesses and educational institutions accept it as a useful tool. For example, a college...
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...Social Media & Music PR A public relations approach to the music industry: raising brand awareness through two-way communication and transparency Social Media & Music PR A public relations approach to the music industry: raising brand awareness through two-way communication and transparency Elyse C. Tan Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA Abstract This textual analysis of social media and its role in music public relations investigates North America’s largest outdoor music festival, Bonnaroo, and explores online coverage of the festival’s public relations tactics. I uncover some of the elements employed in its Internet-based social media and online journalism that facilitate interaction between the publics and Bonnaroo to help increase brand awareness and cope with crisis. A key question I aim to address is whether social media, Twitter and Facebook in particular, can give greater utility to influence the processes that create, reflect and transmit awareness via the Internet. Key Words: social media, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, crowdsourcing, blog, interactive journalism, participatory journalism Introduction The progressive migration of information to the Internet has created a trend of public relations practitioners using social media to further promote brand awareness of their clients. It has made it possible for one person to communicate with hundreds or even thousands of other people about products and the companies that provide them (Faulds &...
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...Running Head: BUSINESS MANAGEMENT Business Management PESTEL Analysis PESTEL analysis evaluates the political, economical, social, technological, environmental and legal factors impacts on the consumer buying behavior and their impacts on YouTube business or performance. Political * 1. Political instability in many countries * 2. Changes in current legislation 3. Policies for foreign investors4. Proper security of local and foreign firms5. Relationship between nations6. Wars and conflicts | Economical1. Home economy 2. Economy trends in overseas economies3.GDP and purchasing power of customers4. Interest/ exchange and inflation rates5. International trade and monetary issues6. Investment opportunities and trade balance | * Social1. Demographic changes including sex ratio, population density, and majority people age, etc.2. Cultural and traditional changes3. Educational and language differences4. Social safety and benefits5. Consumer attitudes and opinions on online sites6. Ethnic/religious factors | Technological1. Technological development and innovation growth2. Skilled resources3. Licensing, patentsintellectual property issues4. Adaptation of new technology5.Research & Development | Environmental1. Environmental industrial growth2. Consumer attitudes, opinions and support3. Climate and natural support 4. Business environment and media support | * Legal * 1. Improper law and legal framework related online sites. * 2. Customer protection...
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...Music Society and its Impact Music and society have always been intimately related. Music reflects and creates social conditions – including the factors that either help or delay social change. The development of recording techniques in the last half of the 20th century has developed the amount to which most people have access to music. All kinds of music are available to most people, 24 hours a day, at the touch of a switch. The down side of this easy availability of music in the Western world is that there is a tendency for it to be taken for granted. Music is a very powerful medium and in some societies there have been attempts to control its use. It is powerful at the level of the social group because it facilitates communication which goes beyond words, enables meanings to be shared, and promotes the development and maintenance of individual, group, cultural and national identities. It is powerful at the individual level because it can induce multiple responses – physiological, movement, mood, emotional, cognitive and behavioral. Few other stimuli have effects on such a wide range of human functions. The brain’s multiple processing of music can make it difficult to predict the particular effects of any piece of music on any individual. The power of music to act intensely has long been recognized. Therapy can involve listening to or actively making music. Increasingly it may involve both. Music can be effective in coincidence with other interferences in promoting...
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...its access to communication and media? Do all countries have access to television? Media imperialism will be discussed, media imperialism is loosely defined as a theory that suggests that smaller countries are losing their identity and culture due to the dominance of media from larger nations. Today we're not only receiving the word almost immediately, but there are also possibilities for live pictures and sound giving a feeling of presence almost virtually wherever it happens on the planet. The earlier seemingly logical relationship between space and time is moving apart, and distance is no longer an obstacle resulting in the world seeming smaller. In this article, media imperialism will be looked at in the television industry. We look at the world’s largest media giant Time Warner that recently announced its merger with Comcast making it a force to be reckon with a value of over $45 billion dollars. Then we look nationally at our very own media giant, MultiChoice, and its CEO of the holding company Naspers, Mr Koos Bekker. This media mogul has pathed the way for media in South Africa and we look at what made him so successful and how he manages such a powerful organisation such as Naspers. How does media imperialism effect the television industry? This question is discussed, and looked at in depth. The world is divided into first world countries, who produce media, and developing countries who pay a high price for being behind the times. A content analysis is done for...
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...2013 The Effects of Social Networking Sites on the Academic Performance of Students in College of Applied Sciences, Nizwa, Oman. Saba Mehmood Faculty, Department of Communication Studies, Nizwa College of Applied Sciences, Ministry of Higher Education, P.O.Box: 699 --Nizwa PC: 611, Sultanate of Oman. Tarang Taswir Faculty, Depsartment of Communication Studies, Nizwa College of Applied Sciences, Ministry of Higher Education, P.O.Box: 699 --Nizwa PC: 611, Sultanate of Oman. Abstract The research investigates pedagogical impacts of social networking sites on undergraduate students at the College of Applied Sciences (CAS), Nizwa, Oman. Blogs, wikis, tweets, RSS feeds, discussion boards, podcasts are educational nodes in a huge network. The study tabulates the usage of these web2.0 applications and their impact on linguistic and social behaviors of young learners. The demographic segmentation constructs a framework to evaluate social tools and e-learning technologies popular amongst learners. The results of empirical evidence explore classroom and social software as paradigms that build young knowledgeable societies. It studies variables that examine the effectiveness of these social tools in knowledge sharing and general awareness of student communities. Keywords: Social networking, E-learning, Communication, Academic performance, Oman. 1. Introduction: The Oman government's decision to increase Information and Communication technology has resulted in initiatives...
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...the Music Industry As Albert Moran puts it, “film is an economic commodity as well as a cultural good” (Albert Moran, 1996) and therefore, the struggle to dominate the market for films and music has continued for such a long time. These cultural products because of the industrial processes they follow of production, distribution and consumption fall into the category of an industry and are immensely affected by the forces of the market. Distribution is the key factor in determining who would rule the industry as it forms the link between the production of the media goods and their exposure to the target audience. Over the years the cultural industry has evolved imbibing newer technologies and making space for newer companies to make their mark. This process of evolution has been intercepted with changes in its economic and sociological structure owing to the external economic, social and political factors and also technological advancements. Ownership of the media forces to a great extent amounts to a huge control over the global economy and also means greater political and cultural power. Hesmondhalgh, in his book, The Cultural Industries, points out that there has been an "interweaving of change and continuity" in the cultural industry since the 1970s (Hesmondhalgh, 2007). However, this hasn’t ever been a smooth process for the older and established companies who had to face challenges from the new market players. The music industry had to grow from the sheet music days...
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...CONCLUSION * BIBLOGRAPHY SYNOPSIS * TOPIC- HAVE SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES INCREASED OR DECREASED PERSONAL INTERACTION? * HYPOTHESIS- SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES HAVE CHANGED THE WAY PEOPLE INTERACT * JUSTIFICATION- THE CONTINIOUS USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES IS HAMPERING PERSONAL INTERACTION BETWEEN PEOPLE. * METHODOLOGY-THE RESEARCH IS CONDUCTED THROUGH PRIMARY AND SECONDARY DATA COLLECTION. IT IS A QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH. * OBJECTIVE-THIS RESEARCH IS CONDUCTED TO NOTE THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES ON PERSONAL INTERACTION. REVIEW OF LITERATURE INTRODUCTION What is a social networking website? A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on facilitating the building of social networks or social relations among people who, for example, share interests, activities, backgrounds, or real-life connections. A social network service consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most social network services are web-based and provide means for users to interact over the Internet, such as e-mail and instant messaging. Online community services are sometimes considered as a social network service, though in a broader sense, social network service usually means an individual-centered service whereas online community services are group-centered. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests...
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...and technological factors. It is also known as environmental scanning. PEST is useful tool to monitor and evaluate forces and factors affecting the company in long term” J Morrison (2002). Political/legal environmental: It is roles and regulation, which has been imposed by a stable government on the business. On the other hand, these changes may expected from the government in the future by business. Political factors of Sony can be changed at any time, which could affect business of the Sony at time of change. As well as instability in political situation of country will affect the business Reduction in recession and credit crunch could cause Sony to speed up its trade; meanwhile same situation could happen for the competitors of Sony, which may affect Sony negatively. Therefore, Sony needs to be very careful to its innovation and idea generation. Sony is globalized company so that changing in international law or trade restriction could affect the way in which Sony works, and Sony needs to follow the rules and regulations, that are imposed by the government. The terms legal always cannot come with term political because most of the time, by change in the politics of a country the legal terms and condition for business environment may remain the same. So that it could be named exceptionally, separate from political environments. Economical factors: The essencial factor by which growth of the economy could be assessed is economical factor. It could cover around the major...
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...Social Media Effects on Business Contemporary Business – Dr. Professor March 10, 2010 Social media is a popularity tool for individuals and business. As an experiment in the infancy of globalization it has outgrown its original hypothesis’. If sites such as Facebook were their own countries, they would be placed in the podium of power internationally. (Divol, R., Edelman, D., & Sarrazin, H. 2012) So, it would be safe to assume that star power is worth its time spent creating. By publishing high quality work and building a massive amount of followers; your audience will share your information with their audience. (Gunelius, Susan. 2013) However, from a marketing stand point business can’t rely on social media alone. “If you spend all your time on the social Web directly promoting your products and services, people will stop listening. You must add value to the conversation. Focus less on conversions and more on creating amazing content and developing relationships with online influencers. In time, those people will become a powerful catalyst for word-of-mouth marketing for your business.” (Gunelius, Susan. 2013) Gaining popularity in the business landscape of the twenty first century is quite different than that of the past century, and adversely more evolved than the nineteenth century. Prior to the industrial revolution consumers learned of new products and services by word of mouth, the occasional publication, and pounding the ground beneath their soles. The...
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... * Levels of taxes. b) PESTEL analysis Political factors: According to Datamonitor (2012), 38.6% of the total revenues of Apple Inc. were from U.S. during 2011. Therefore, 61.4% of sales of Apple Inc. were from outside America. Bad global relations, wars, and terrorism can affect the business of Apple Inc. Furthermore, Apple Inc. manufactures many of its products and parts outside the U.S., like in Czech Republic, Korea, Ireland, Cork, and China. Economical factors: The global recession might have influence on Apple Inc. The inflation rate is high, while consumer’s earning did not have significant changes. Moreover, the unemployment rate has amplified, affecting consumers to spend less, especially on ‘Luxury products’. However, Apple’s revenue is not affected by this economic recession although most of the products of this company are luxury. Apple made it possible by designing different unique products from its competitors, which has increased the demand of Apple’s products (Apple website, 2012). Social factors: Nowadays, our social life is influenced by technology, and Apple Inc. is considered as the king of technology. The recent trend of using social networks has also influenced the...
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