Music Industry and Public Relations
“Over the past couple of weeks, we have discussed the role of corporate communications and public relations and how those have evolved into parts of corporations and industries that are integral to how products and corporate image is sold. We are now looking at a case study on the music industry, in which their traditional public relations and communications did not work with the consumer and their business model of selling music to the masses was badly disrupted. First, from the material I have provided, what is counterhegemonic globalization? Why can it be incredibly disruptive to corporations and governments? And why might public relations and corporate communications not work when this occurs? Can you think of some current examples in the world where social movements are disrupting corporations and governments, even here in New Brunswick? Now, apply this term counterhegemonic globalization to the music industry and the changes we have seen since the use of the Internet to download music in the 1990s. Can the changes brought by civil society and how we obtain and listen to popular music today be examples of counterhegemonic globalization Demonstrate how changes brought by Napster, torrent sites, music streaming, and the use of iPod/iTunes,
can be considered or not considered counterhegemonic changes to globalization. Now think about the public relations of the music industry. What various things did they do wrong when Napster appeared in 1999 and through the ultimate collapse of their business model once iTunes became the way in which consumers paid for music? What were the problems they faced and why did they fail? Outline what you think they did wrong. Finally, what would you have done differently if you were in their position and were helping them with public relations and their image? Consider the Starbucks and oil spills crisis communications examples as well as the Campbell chapter on Public Relations from class. I encourage you to look at the PBS Frontline site “The Way the Music Died” (see below and on Moodle) for examples of how the music industry has shifted and been upended by civil society changes and watch the documentary ‘Downloaded’ to give you a larger sense of the problems the industry faced. You may also consult the PowerPoints from class and use my chapter on Moodle to defend your arguments. Click on the six different reasons on the PBS website below to find examples of the collapse of the music industry (the Related Links at the bottom of each section, particularly the Internet Piracy section, might be helpful as well). These sites are old and the pictures might not work any more but they are useful for
information and sources:
Your assignment should be 4-5 doubled spaced pages and you should spend most of that space focused on the third section on public relations (at least 2 pages). Remember to use sources from the texts or the website to defend your opinions. Much of this assignment is about showing me you know how to write and defend an argument. I do not want just your opinion but your thoughts backed up by sources. “
