The American Disc Jockey
The American Disc Jockey is one of the most important aspects in the development of music, especially rock-n-roll. Many radio personalities became widely recognized on the notion of them having a specialized voice or that they are able to provide a wealth of knowledge about the artists that they play (Eliot, 92). Whatever the situation, the fact remains that disk jockeys have helped to build an excitement for radio, yesterday, today, and hopefully tomorrow. A day in the life of a disk jockey is not just about spinning records and announcing the latest contest. What really makes a good disk jockey is craftsmanship (Sklar, 13). The DJ has to maneuver tangible and intangible objects, as well as cue up
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In my opinion, entertainment in rock radio centers around the word music. I feel that any Top 40 disk jockey who is or wants to be successful should keep an eye on his priorities. As far as I’m concerned, music is first; but I feel just as strongly that the jock is second. A very strong second (Hall, 122)” This illustrates the point of the DJ personality being the main focus of the listener’s attentions. As movers and shakers of early rock and roll, disk jockeys choose which records they played, and how many times they played them. The law states that it is a federal crime for any radio or television station to accept or agree to accept money, services, or anything of value for broadcasting any material without disclosing acceptance or agreement to accept (Smith, 54). Over the years, various payola scandals actually helped many artists recording careers; at the same time helped to end the careers of many disk jockeys. Unfortunately, in radio, the guilt of a few reflects on the mass. Throughout the years, even in spite of many Grand Jury investigations, payola has not been abolished. Playlists are extremely tight, and the need to get a record on the playlist is huge (Passman, 87). As long as this keeps going on, record companies are forced to use whatever means possible to break through those barriers. I guess in some ways, this leads to payola. In others, it could lead to psychological warfare between to program directors and
The profiting dimension of music influenced the beginning of payola; it was because of the rise of rock and roll, middle class prosperity, teenagers as a target market, radio stations, and record profits that Payola came to exist. Although frowned upon, Payola’s effects and even the practice of it are persistent today. In fact, Payola infamously resurfaced in 2005 when BMG was charged with and convicted of engaging in Payola activities. BMG was found guilty and fined by the city of New York to pay $10 million (McDonald,
Rock ‘n’ roll has played a major role in some known historical developments post World War 2. Music plays a significant part in America 's Cold War culture. Music gave us a sense of new technologies and helped the world to prosper. It also is linked with African Americans living in the South. Music was known for shaping the lives of the people during the 1950s and 1960s. Music was geared towards the youth, race, ethnicity, gender and class. “All Shook Up: How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America” by Altschuler, Glenn C, tells us the story of the birth of rock and roll during the concrete years of 1955 to 1965. Altschuler gives us a overview of how rock ‘n’ roll has an historical context. “ For two years the Times printed dozens of
I hear people complain all the time [I’m guilty as charged] about mainstream radio – who can blame us when you hear only music from 20-25 artists for the most part, and good songs played to over and over till you turn it when you hear it come on. To top it off we have comments from radio executives coming out like Gary Overton’s comment [don’t even get me started on that one right now, that’s deserves special attention] “if you’re not on the radio you don’t exist” and things like women are the tomatoes.
The term payola came around early in the years that would change the music industry very dramatically. Payola was created in order for the illegal practice of payment by a recording company, so it allowed a radio station to broadcast a certain song. This even
The Congress passed the Telecommunications act of 1996 to promote competition and media crossing; but it also resulted in many company mergers from across different media spectrums which altered the structure of radio and music industry connection because (1) there are less radio stations owned by many individuals instead big companies, (2) the companies that own Radio Stations and Music Industries that promote music and generate sales which is favorable on both ends. Based off of Killmeier’s article, he explained a number of things that represents radio, the music industry and corporations: (1) how popular music coincides with political views in a way to reach listeners because it is
How might one explain Howard Stern? Yes, he is a refreshing change from the typical, politically correct figure, and he provides humor and sex for late night audiences who are growing weary of Leno and Letterman. And while Howard Stern, shock jock turned television host, is more on the same wavelength as a Jerry Springer than a late night comic, Stern has always claimed--like Jerry--that his show is just an act.
In 1935, American commentator Walter Winchell coined the term "disc jockey" (the combination of "disc", referring to the disc records, and "jockey", which is an operator of a machine) as a description of radio announcer Martin Block, the first announcer to become a star. While his audience was awaiting developments in the Lindbergh kidnapping, Block played records and created the illusion that he was broadcasting from a ballroom, with the nation's top dance bands performing live. The show, which he called Make Believe Ballroom, was an instant hit. The term "disc jockey" appeared in print in Variety in 1941.[5]
Music has become a center piece of life; however it comes with a vigorous price unknown to most of the public. The music industry is littered with corruption. My proposed research problem focuses on the manipulation and control the music industry has upon its artists through an unescapable 360 deal, which in and of itself is not only reducing an artist to almost indentured servitude, but also cripples record labels themselves. The 360 deal is a common mandatory contract record labels utilize to financially support an artist. This includes advances and funds for promotion, touring, and marketing, all which the artist has to pay back to the label. I believe this problem is significant and warrants further research because the record labels are unconstitutionally taking away artists rights in favor of their own greed, in turn, leaving the artist without ownership of their own songs, money, and rights to royalties.
The notion of music consumption brought forth by Homer therefore builds upon Scale's comments upon the power relations dictating professional studios . This source, however, could have benefited from more qualitative data, such as the aforementioned pricings. In a similar manner, Richard Burgess' critical analysis of the music market entitled, Producer Compensation: Challenges And Options In The New Music Business reveals worrying decline through a multitude of statistical data . Burgess reveals the degradation of supply and demand within the music industry and the subsequent impacts this decline has upon the various fields within music. The focal points of interest will consequently be the impacts upon professional studios, however the effects within other areas will be considered as this is potentially due to a domino effect. This source is excellent due to the inclusion of ample qualitative data in the forms of statistical values. The saturation of data does disrupt the flow of the arguments, however this is the only point of
After thoroughly reading Chapter 8, “Exclusive Recording Artist Contract” in the textbook, Take Care of your Music Business, I have learned that there are a multitude of rules and regulations that musical acts and artists must adhere to and, in some circumstances, sadly abide by in order to make the most out of their profession. Although signing to a major label record contract appears to be the best way for musicians to get their music out there to larger audiences, more problems by agreeing to “unfair” terms seem more prevalent in this particular contract then there are favorable ones. Artists royalty rates, warranties, representations, restrictions, and indemnities, along with an All-rights 360 agreement contract proves that musical artists today must be well represented and well educated with the fine print of any recording contract.
What do you think about whenever you hear a song on the radio? Do you think about the artist singing it or the dozen of people who made it possible for you to hear the song? There are many roles in the music industry that goes unnoticed. Such as the songwriter, manager, marketing executive, music publisher, and producer. These are the people who make it possible for us to connect with others through music.
I learned a great deal this week about the music industry and the various events and innovations that over time contributed toward the shaping of American music into the “business” that it is today. The chapter “The Six Life Stages of the Music Industry” allowed me to gain a broader understanding of how and why such events occurred, and what underlying factors precipitated them. In particular, I found the impact of MTV on the music industry enlightening, as while I was aware of the profound effect it had on dance, I had never really considered the impact that it had on music in that it essentially ushered in today's trend of “making” stars based on looks and appearance as opposed to genuine talent. The experiment performed in the documentary
Hello, my name is Muireann McDaid and today I will be talking about DJ culture.
To start with we have to talk about R.I.A.A. R.I.A.A stands for “Recording Industry Association of America”. It is a trade organization in the United States that represents the recording industry. 85% of all legally sold recorded music in the U.S. is manufacture, created, and distributed by members of this group. It was originally formed in 1952 with the original mission of administering recording copy right fees as well as researching government regulations and the overall recording industry. The RIAA current missions include “1. To protect intellectual property rights and the first amendment rights of artists. 2. To perform research about the music
For over a decade now music piracy has threatened the music industry by costing it money, and stealing from it. Peer-to-peer file sharing has been somewhat of a red flag for the music industry ever since Napster, a once highly used file swapping network, came into the picture. Napster and the websites similar to it made it possible for people to trade files downloaded onto their computer through the internet for free. What that means is that someone who had downloaded the new NSYNC album could give it away to however many people could access it and no one had to pay a penny. The big deal about that is the fact that the artists who worked for months to make that album did not get paid. The only money they saw was from the people who actually went out and physically paid for the CD.