The Story of PolyGram Records

The record label I chose was PolyGram Records. PolyGram Records was founded in 1929 as Hollandische Decca Distribute, and acted as the Netherlands distributor for Decca Records, a large record company. HDD became large enough that it was sold to Philips, a large multinational electronics firm, in 1942. During the 1940s, Philips, already a radio manufacturer, got into the gramophone record market. The various portions of Philips in the gramophone record business were consolidated as Philips Phonografische Industrie (PPI) in the late 1940s. Over the years, PolyGram acquired many record labels under their umbrella. These record labels included A&M, Decca, Island, Mercury, Def Jam, Polydor, and many others. They had nearly every musical genre under the sun. By 1988 they were considered one of the "Big Six" record companies. In 1998, Philips sold off the company, which was acquired by Seagram (the ginger ale company) and merged into Universal Music Group by 1999. 

Mmmmmm.... Browser Cookies

A chocolate chip cookie, loaded with sweet dough and delectable chunks of chocolate. You chew into it, and the chocolate and dough run down your tongue and tickle your taste buds. Yummy.

As it turns out, your most pleasant experience with cookies probably doesn't involve sugar at all. I'm not talking about sugar-free diet cookies - I'm talking about Internet cookies on the computer. Isn't it convenient to go home and be able to pull up Facebook without logging in? Cookies. If you want to close your browser window, you can without having to log back in when you open it back up. Cookies again. Every day I visit certain websites - Facebook, Wikipedia, YouTube, and City-Data - and I know that if I've been on the site in the last few days, it will maintain my log-in - with the exception of Wikipedia, in which I have to log back in every 30 days (currently, this is around the 11th of each month)

Cookies are also a big part of why I get the ads I do. I am bombarded with ads for Honda products - because I frequently visit Honda related websites because I am a Honda enthusiast. (Yes, I drive a Honda, it's a 2011 Accord V6 sedan)

Political Ads - Fact or Fear?

For as long as there have been political ads, ads have catered to the fears of the populace. The ads don't say "This is why you should vote for X candidate" as often as they imply "This is why you SHOULDN'T vote for Y candidate". It goes on today, with candidates using the disagreements they have with their opponents as fodder for ads. If a candidate is for an issue, often times they will emphasize that their opponents are against that issue and the downfalls of their opponent's opinion.

There's a reason for this: negative ads get attention. The best remembered political ads of the past have been those of a negative bias. For instance, the "Daisy" television advertisement was used by Lyndon B. Johnson for his 1964 election campaign, implying that his opponent, Barry Goldwater, was weak on military issues by using a simulated nuclear explosion and a two year old in a field. Pulling at both the fears and heartstrings of voters, the ads said "the stakes are too high to stay home". LBJ ended up winning the election. Today's ads usually aren't that blunt or shocking, but the negative bias is there all the same.

The Long Arm of Disney

Disney. Most people think of it as cartoons and animation; after all, who can forget Disney classics such as The Lion King, Mulan, Aladdin, and even older ones such as Pinocchio and Fantasia, all wearing the Disney badge. Not everything that Disney makes has a castle or a funny-looking "y" (I thought it was Disnep when I was a small child) on it.

Disney's reach spreads far and wide. The company, established exactly 92 years ago today, employs 180,000 people. They operate ABC, one of the "Big Four" TV networks (along with NBC, CBS, and Fox). They own half of A&E Networks (which operates A&E and the History Channel) and 80% of ESPN. They even control 32% of Hulu!

On the big screen, they own all the Disney stuff, and also own Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm.

They own a large amount of real estate, including several parks including Magic Kingdom and Epcot and even parks overseas. They operate a cruise line with five ships.

They have even developed a town which now has 8,000 people (Celebration, FL)

Popular Mechanics vs. National Geographic

I decided to compare Popular Mechanics, a magazine about science and technology, to National Geographic.

Popular Mechanics is a magazine that covers subjects such as science, technology, cars, and DIY, in a format intended to be readable by a general audience. Nearly 90 percent of readers are men, and are usually young to middle age adults. National Geographic primarily covers geography and world issues. The average reader is middle aged, and around 65 percent are men.

As for ads, Popular Mechanics was chock-full. The 138-page issue was more than one-third ads, with the first and last 20 pages being mostly ads and ads interspersed throughout; the longest gaps between ads were less than ten pages. Most of the ads were for various electronic items and car care products, with a significant number for household products, power tools, and men's clothing and watches. A smattering of ads covered a variety other products from cigars to lawyers. A common theme to the ads was that they were all targeted to a primarily male audience. The products advertised did show some tendency toward nearby articles, with a higher concentration of, for instance, car care products nearer to the car articles. But there were still a lot of ads that had little to do with the subjects of the nearby articles.

Nat Geo primarily puts their ads near the beginning and end of their magazine, with the middle space being primarily dedicated to articles. The percentage of ads is less - maybe 20 percent. Ads tend toward more "sophisticated" items - watches and books making up a large percentage. Since ads and articles are largely separate, ads tend to be more random.

Hollywood Nights

Hollywood is king. They put out around 800 films a year, which are then shown on around 40,000 movie screens across the United States. Billions of dollars are involved in film production every year, and the American film industry, largely based in Hollywood, CA, has been the dominant force in the world's cinema since the 1920s. 

The dominance of Hollywood is staggering. The 10 highest grossing movies ever (adjusted for inflation) are Gone With The Wind, Avatar, Star Wars, Titanic, The Sound of Music, E.T, The Ten Commandments, Dr. Zhivago, Jaws, and Snow White. All classic, timeless movies.

All American. 

The United States isn't even the country that produces the most films; that honor goes to India, which produces around twice as many films as the United States every year. India's films, however, are primarily viewed in, well... India.

But no matter where you go in the world, the Hollywood influence is apparent. In the past five years, every movie that made the top-20 box office for the year was backed by an American company or its partners (1). The Hollywood studios have a near monopoly in the United States, and their influence around the world is very strong as well. With blockbuster movies, the American box office may be the tip of the iceberg. Hollywood films now make over 60 percent of their money outside the US (2), and demand for Hollywood films is insatiable around the world. For instance, protests ensued when China tried to remove the Hollywood film Avatar from theaters. Around the world, Hollywood films pull in 63 percent of all box office revenue (3).

1 - http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/04/business/media/hollywood-works-to-maintain-its-world-dominance.html?_r=0

2 - http://foreignpolicy.com/2012/02/24/how-hollywood-conquered-the-world-all-over-again/

3 - http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/apr/02/hollywood-hold-global-box-office

The Nashville, TN Radio Market

I live in White House, TN, a small town around 20 miles north of Nashville, TN. While White House is not large enough to have a major radio station, our nearby major city of Nashville ensures that a large number of stations come in loud and clear to our radios.

This website provides a comprehensive profile of ratings of Nashville stations:

http://ratings.radio-online.com/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb073

Analyzing the list, several trends emerge. While over a dozen different companies own at least one radio station, the top 10 radio stations (which control around 65 percent of the market) are all owned by one of three companies: Midwest Communications, iHeartMedia, and Cumulus Media. In addition to the top 10, iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media each own one station outside the top 10. This means that these three companies, between them, control around 70 percent of the market. Pick ten random people listening to radio in the Nashville area, and seven are on a Midwest Communications, iHeartMedia, or Cumulus Media station. 

You can find a fairly diverse range on Nashville radio. The most popular songs are there, but you can also get talk radio, classical, gospel, news, and public radio. Not surprisingly, a few genres control most of the market. 3 of the top 10 stations are country music, not surprising given Nashville's status as a country music center. 2, including the number-one rated Mix 92.9, play adult contemporary music. One each play hip-hop/R&B, sports, classic rock, oldies, and contemporary hits. 

The diversity of broadcast radio is trounced by that of satellite radio, and I can tell you this from personal experience. Satellite radio is easily accessible; many cars come with it, and aftermarket receivers are easily available. I have found stations dedicated to music from just one decade (every decade from 1950s-2000s), stations dedicated to comedy, news from a specific view point, and even stations dedicated to music from just one artist. The downside is that it costs a monthly fee.

The Tennessean in 2015

I live in White House, TN, and we are served by the Tennessean, a newspaper produced by Gannett and published out of Nashville, TN. The Tennessean serves the Middle Tennessee area and has a circulation of about 101,000 during the week and 228,000 on Sunday as of March 2013. The circulation has declined over the past few years; in November 2005, circulation was approximately 178,000 on weekdays and 251,000 on Sunday. The decline is due to the general decline in newspapers.
The Tennessean's target audience tends to be more affluent and educated than average. 53 percent of readers have an annual income of over $50,000, and 78 percent own their own home. College graduates are 13 percent more likely to read the Tennessean than the general population.
The Tennessean launched its online presence in September 1998, a year after its now closed competitor, the Nashville Banner. The online Tennessean does well, but overall, the publication is declining. It is likely not going anywhere soon, though.

Books, Movies, and their Influences on One Another

Here are the top 20 grossing movies of 2015 (as of mid August)

1. Jurassic World - series is book-based

2. Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron - comic-based

3. Furious 7

4. Inside Out 

5.Minions 

6. Cinderella - fairytale-based

7. Pitch Perfect 2 - original movie adapted from a book

8. Home

9. Fifty Shades of Grey - book-based

10. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

11. San Andreas

12. Mad Max: Fury Road - comic book based on movie

13. Ant-Man - comic-based

14. Insurgent - book-based

15. Spy

16. Tomorrowland

17. Get Hard

18. Terminator Genisys

19. Trainwreck

20. Ted 2

Source: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls073655785/

The movie industry is a hit-driven business, so filmmakers are constantly looking for new ideas that they think will make the next blockbuster film. What works well under one form of media frequently translates well into another, so it's no surprise that popular books often make popular movies. 

That's the case with many of this year's popular movies. Jurassic World, for instance, is this year's highest grossing movie so far and is the fastest movie ever to break $1 billion box office, achieving this feat in only 13 days. Jurassic World is the fourth movie of the Jurassic Park series. This series began as the novel Jurassic Park, written by Michael Crichton and published in 1990. The movie adaptation was released three years later, beginning the series. Although the third and fourth Jurassic Park series movies are not directly based on a novel, they draw heavily from the novels and continue the movie series that began as a novel adaptation. 

Two movies, Fifty Shades of Gray and Insurgent, were directly based on books. Pitch Perfect 2 is the sequel to Pitch Perfect, a movie which was loosely based on a book. Two more movies owe their base to comic books, and one to a fairytale. In total, 7 of 20 movies - 35 percent - owe some of their pedigree to printed media. One additional movie inspired a comic book. 

Most book based movies that are made by major studios were already popular; for instance, Fifty Shades of Gray has been a best-seller, while Insurgent has also enjoyed strong sales. But the movie does help the book along greatly in many cases. The Jurassic Park novel enjoyed increased fame and sales following the release of the 1993 movie.

A movie adaptation can greatly increase awareness and sales of a book, but typically the studios stick to the tried-and-true. While it seems that movies are more popular than books, they don't "overshadow" them, as evidenced by the great number of popular novels today, most of which never see a movie adaptation. 

12 Hours Disconnected

Like most 22 year olds, I use media on a near-constant basis. I use the Internet for hours a day, spend time on my iPhone's internet before I go to sleep and as I wake up, and keep my TV tuned to a weather channel. Media surrounds me nearly 24/7.
Except from noon to midnight on Friday, August 28, 2015. For an assignment, I went 12 hours without the use of media. From the start, I knew this was going to be a very hard task. It was difficult, to say the least, and forced me to muster up every ounce of my self discipline. Until this exercise, I never realized how unconsciously I use media.
At noon, the twelve hours started. Soon thereafter, my last class of the day ended, and I drove the 44 miles from WKU to my home in White House, TN. Normally, I turn the satellite radio on during this long drive, but today I couldn't, and had to drive in total silence. I began to take stock of what I could do to pass these 12 hours.
I paid my mom's parents a visit, something I do about twice a week on average. While there, I talked to them, swung on their porch swing, and had dinner. I then headed home in the late afternoon.
By around 4 pm, the lack of media was getting very tiring. I was tempted to - and did - pull out my iPhone a lot, only to realize that it was only useful as a clock in this media blackout. The whole afternoon had become a constant battle not to use media, as I had to stop myself numerous times from using the Internet and force myself not to watch the evening news. I began to do a countdown every time I looked at a clock, and took stock of the percentage of the way done I was.
Once I got home, I did the dishes and began talking to my parents. We had an interesting chat for a while, as I recapped how my week went and talked to them about various subjects and current events. All the while I was looking at the clock frequently. My mood had become worse, but I wouldn't call it "bad". Still, after 9 or so hours without media, I had to force myself to stay in a good mood as well.
The last hour was the hardest. My parents went to bed, and I didn't have much to do. Finally midnight came, and despite having awakened at 6 am that morning, I couldn't sleep. I had to check my Facebook, watch YouTube videos, check all of my favorite sites. I was ravenous for the Internet. I don't think I've awaited a certain time that eagerly for a while.
For me, it was the lack of Internet that was the hardest. I found that I could stay away from television or radio easily for twelve hours, but the wealth of information and entertainment available on the Internet is unparalleled. I was born in 1992, at a time when the Internet was extremely limited and rare - basically a pre-Internet time. The thought that a medium that became big in my lifetime could be such a great part of it is sobering.