AU17 The Ethical Implications of Music

In my assignment, I will examine the contributions of American Pop singer Michael Jackson. Analysing his personal life, death and his workings towards the globalization of music is done. The assignment will address his impact on the local and global stage, whether it is politically, socio-cultural, environmentally and other external influences. And the last part will focus on the research-based findings of his creative work.

Michael Jackson born in August 1958 and died on 25 June 2009, was a singer, musician, and dancer (Vogel, 2015, p.90). A musician from America was known as King of Pop all over the world and the most popular entertainer of all time. During the year of his death, he also became the bestselling music artist. Over four decades, Michael contribution to music, dance and fashion along with his personal life, he became a popular public figure. Due to on and off going controversies during 1980’s, Michael was named as a figure full of controversies. Changing physical appearance and behavior, due to the 1993 child sexual abuse scandal the controversy was intensified.

In 2005 he was again accused of the sexual abuse allegations, but the court didn’t find him guilty on any accounts. He was preparing for a comeback, by the concert name, “This Is It”, Michael died on 25th of June 2009 of acute protocol and due to benzodiazepine intoxication, which led towards a cardiac arrest. A homicide, Los Angeles County Coroner ruled his death. His memorial was publicly broadcast live and it was view all around the globe. Michael Jackson resulted in an outpouring of grief that triggered globally. His death was globalized in such a level that for the fifth consecutive year. The highest yearly amount ever recorded in by any publication was $825 million dollars.

Music in Context

The cultural demands placed on Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was seen as a representation a real pop music. His following had high expectation regarding music character as well as his impact in the whole music entertainment industry. This is because they believed in his art of music and performance and most went further to emulate his music character. For this reason, there are cultural demands which he had to exhibit being the pop music icon.

First, the moral and ethical implications of his music had to conform to the generally accepted standards in both local and international. By referring to moral and ethical, it means the wording used in his music lyrics and the videos associated with the music. This is because his music was cutting across all age groups and they were thrilled by them in both audio and visual format.

Besides the moral and ethical part of conformity, MJ was a role model to many, especially to the pop music lovers and his fans ranging from children to elders. Therefore, he had a social obligation to portray as a role model from whom good characters can be emulated. MJ was loved by many and this shows the number of people who could have wished to be like him especially young people. Young people were copying his dancing moves and sound for the love of his work. Clearly, assuming MJ fail to observe the moral standards, by the virtue of young people wanting to be identified with him, they will stray.

And lastly, MJ advocated for equal rights and love of children. In fact, it is through this love that he dedicated “Neverland” a place for children. The society had appreciated his work because he took it upon him to campaign for a better life in humanity. This became an obligation by the implication of his music culture and messages.

The social environment and its influence on the production of music

Music consumers are no longer considered passive in the modern music industry. During music production, the consumers indirectly take the active role in the sound design, choice of words, video graphics, instrumentations, and others. The social environment constitutes the society age groups, culture, beliefs, and values etc.

The music production of MJ was considering all the social factors with impact on his music production and hence consumption. His music was produced to fit different age groups and gender. The conveyed messages did not explicitly exclude a certain group of people, and thus widely accepted. They were produced to appeal to the interest of all people demographically by not being chauvinist, masculine and feminine.

Another social factor that influenced his music production was the culture. MJ considered his music as universal, and therefore he produced music that fitted the global culture. In other words, he did not seem to favor one side of the culture a factor that made him popular around the world. In this way, his music was produced in consideration that they are consumed by different people from the different cultural background.

Political legislation and their influence on the production of music

Artists like MJ produce their music within the precinct of the law. Much also are political events that influence the music composition and production. In some cases, music can be banned from the public because of inappropriate content. The government legislations limit the artist’s choice of words and pictures use to those that conform to the social beliefs, values, and behavior. These legislations seek to protect the accepted general principles applicable under the law. Other legal acts seek to protect the music from piracy by use of copyright laws.

Technology impact on this issue

Probably this case wouldn’t make that big international resonance without the power of the Internet and modern technologies. In a few minutes, the death of Michael Jackson become an Internet revolution, a Twitter and Google search phenomena and made a huge resonance of opinions in the whole world (Cleveland, 2016, p.1090). There has been much talk of the internet buckling under the strain of web users searching for the latest information. Networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook were pouring with the reactions of peoples the details started becoming in the public knowledge. The death of Michael goes from local to global through the circulation of information through different media platforms.

Not only the Western countries but also the Eastern parts were morning his death (Erni, 998, p.158). Especially active were Western countries for supporting. Live streaming of were going online on the internet, of people singing and dancing on his songs on the streets. Moreover, without such an international support and publicity and especially the reflection of the law to raises question against the physician Conrad Murray and to find the reason behind his death. His death was so globalized that questions that everyone wanted the trial against his physician to know the real reasons, without media this wasn’t possible? However, international media followed and examined the death and his memorial from its beginning until the end, and reflected the Michael, his life, and music on a wider global stage.

The argument on Current business directions

These are royalties paid to artists by streaming sites, contracts, and how artists work to boost their interests. The streaming sites have resulted in the globalization of music for most international artists. Artists are able to market their music around the world through Youtube and other streaming sites. These sites have also increased their revenue from music by selling advertisements through the music. As more and more fans stream a song online, the artist gets paid for the number of views an advert embedded in their gets.

Artist contracts with labels and businesses are also helping them to earn more money from music. An artist gets paid for identifying with a certain product on billboards, audio, and visual media adverts or stickers. They are also to perform in various countries where their music is recognized. In the case of MJ, being a globally recognized artist, he used to do performance shows in various parts of the world which earned him significantly enough wealth. However, the current business directions have downfalls. Online music stores and streaming sites have increased music piracy and copying. This reduces the revenue earning by the artists.

Pop Genre at Global Stage

The emergence of Pop Genre happened in the 1950s. In its modern form in the United States and the United Kingdom, pop music became a popular genre that originated in modern form during mid-1950’s. Pop music is also termed as “popular music”. It is described by the formers that many different styles are included which are termed as popular. Until the 1960’s pop and rock were the synonyms of each other, but with time they were increasingly differentiated from one another (Schlotterbeck, 2017, p. 67).

Much of the music on the charts appear to be pop music, from chart music the genre is distinguished. Pop music is often inspired by the jazz, urban, dance and rock and even country but mainly it is electric. All of them are the core elements that define pop music. American and British music industry always dominated this genre, from them, it was made an international monoculture. Pop music is also differentiated in different forms too, as different regions and country have their own form of pop music. For example, Europop, in the development of this genre, it has a significant impact.

As Stated by Grove Music Online, “Western-derived pop styles, whether coexisting with or marginalizing distinctively local genres, have spread throughout the world and have come to constitute stylistic common denominators in global commercial music cultures”. It is a process of representation general process of globalization to spread western style of pop music. The birth of boy and girl bands were influenced by the pop music in Korea. Both their music and aesthetics gained popularity all over the world.

Creative Arts Research Demonstrated

Research Question

Research Questions: Music Industry been affected by the globalization of music industry through the internet and download? Based on Research on finding

Explanations of Terminologies

1. Internet: Internet is the interconnection of the computers through the web of interconnected servers. The Internet allows end-to-end information sharing and communication (Mansell, 2013). Currently, the internet is also used for cloud computing and storage of mass information for easy retrieval.
2. Music download: Using internet storage and retrieval services from computer servers, music is uploaded into the cloud and later accessed through downloads. A music download is made possible by the ease at which it is distributed to the consumer via the internet in the websites.

This research question targets to answer the question of the effect of internet and music download to the music industry especially the music producers and artists. The solution to this question gives the answer to the major breach of copyright protection of the music art facilitated by the emergence of the internet and online music distribution through downloads. It will also explain the customer behavior due to the influence of the internet and the availability of music online. This information can be used to solve the rampant illegal online music distribution which has adversely affected the music industry in terms of the profit-making through lowered sales revenues.

The recent empirical studies in the recent have not adequately answered the question of the effect of the internet through music download to the music industry. Thus the gap has existed that need to be addressed to determine the extent of impact to the music industry specifically the results of online piracy and distribution of illegal music files.

Research Methodology

The holistic approach to the research will be addressed in this section, that is, how the research intends to answer the research question. Research methodology will give a step-by-step explanation on finding the answers the research question. In this regard, a chronology of the steps followed is given through sectioning starting with the research design, delimitation of the study, the population of the study, the sample of the population, the sampling techniques, instruments used for data collection, methods of data collection, and finally, methods of data analysis.

Research Design

This refers to a general strategy that this research paper chooses to achieve the methodology of the study by addressing the research question. This subsection constitutes the activities of data collection, measurement, and analysis.

The most effective and efficient approach in carrying out this research was through research survey. The suitability of the approach was measured in regard to the type of the population and the question of this research. Therefore, it is the intention of this research to use a research survey in answering the research question so as to achieve the intended research objective.

In this research, a sample of a population is used in the research survey, as a representative of the London internet users population as a whole. In line with this research, a sample was a part of the population which was selected to represent the whole population. The findings from the sample in this research expressly generalize the response of the whole population of internet users. In conducting this research survey, the answers from internet users in London was sought using questionnaires in both online and offline.

Delimitation of the study

This paper use internet users in London as the target population for carrying out the research. This is the population within the reach of the researcher and the most economical area of the research. Therefore this research investigated the internet and music download and the effects they have on the music industry. To analyze this, the opinion and the perception of the internet users of all ages were sought.

The researchers expected the answers depending on the user experience in the internet and music download through websites and other file sharing media. To achieve these users were expected to answer simple questions related to the internet and music download. The scope of the questions covered; the sources of the music downloads; the rate of downloads; whether the respondent has ever bought legal music; the format of the music they bought; and answer to the open question.

The population of the study

The number of internet users in the world is ever increasing with time. The scope of this research is limited at London where it will sample the internet users both men and women. An internet user means that the responder has to be active in browsing through the internet and also listen to music regularly.

The internet population is the most suitable as it constitutes the dramatis-personae in the internet use and music downloads. It was expected that the majority of the internet users are the young adults and youths because they are the tech-savvy. Therefore, the research is expected to get most needed and relevant information from the selected group that will lead to the formulation of convincing and credible answers to the research problem and evaluate the results.

The study targeted to reach 1000 internet users both men and women, across London. To reach the whole population sample, both online and hardcopy questionnaire were used. Internet targeting was used according to the intended usage and search history. It was also expected that the research will take four weeks involving 5 researchers to do the survey.

A sample of the population

The internet population is large and diverse, meaning that it is almost impossible to use the whole population to get answers to the research problem. On the contrary, a small population may warrant the research to use the whole population of the research. A large population is time-consuming and expensive to carry out. Therefore, the researcher gets a part of the group as the representative. For the purpose of this study, a small group of the whole population of internet users is used and the results thereof expressly adopted as the finding from the whole population. In this regard, a sample is the representative of the internet users in Brisbane. In this case, the study used a sample of 1000 internet users.

Although the research is interesting, responded needed encouragement for filling out the questionnaire. First, the researcher has created convenience for the respondents to access the questionnaire online. Second, the researcher will use media targeting to direct the questionnaire to the most appropriate people for providing the required and relevant information. Third, the research will also particularly target the young generation which has the highest number of internet users. And finally, the research questionnaire will be available at the major internet cafes. The questionnaire will be given to the buyers when paying for the services, which offer a chance to attract the attention of the people. All these objectives increase the chances of reaching the respondents.

Sampling techniques

Due to the large number and diversity of the suitable respondents, the researchers used a random sampling method in selecting the respondents. This is because the distribution of the questionnaire will be done randomly thus giving a random sample. The survey will be voluntary and the respondents are not expected to provide personal information except the age and sex. For the purpose of the sampling, the instruments will be made available at all major cyber cafes and online through internet targeting in the social media and web browsing. At the end of the research period, 1000 internet users had filled out the questionnaires and were ready for analysis.

Instruments of data collection

The research used questionnaires as the tools for data collection in the research survey of the target population. The instrument contained simple and straightforward questions which the internet user was expected to answer without providing personal information. The information gathered was treated with the highest privacy possible to avoid people feeling insecure about their information. The researcher guaranteed the protection of privacy of the responds information, which at some levels encouraged the users to voluntarily participate in the survey.

Methods of data collection

The researchers distributed the questionnaires in the major internet cafes around London and made sure they were administered to the intended population. The work of the researcher was to be at the exit of the internet’s café and after the clients make the payment, give them the questionnaire which they fill and drop in a sealed box at the exit. Then the researchers will be collecting them every evening and deliver them to the collection office. At the end of the four weeks, we had managed to complete the research. The questionnaire included the following questions:

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Methods of data analysis

After the questionnaires were collected, their findings were entered, analyzed, and statistically weighed using SPSS data analysis software. From the analysis, the graphical representation of the data was drawn and used to assess the findings.

This research has brought the attention to the effects of globalization through the internet to the music industry. The research has shown how the internet has facilitated the distribution of illegal online music which has hurt the music industry in terms of music sales and revenue. The research is important to the music industry players as they will be able to establish better mechanisms to protect their music and also reach their consumers. Moreover, this study will be used by the government to measure the consumers buying behavior and the part most affected by the illegal downloads, to come up with legal intervention. Further research will be required to measure the impact of the interventions in promoting the music industry.

Conclusion

This research has explicitly, explored the effects of the internet and music download to the music industry. From the findings, it is clear that most people prefer online and illegal because it is cheaper with few conditions. And especially young people use internet technologies to access music online rather than buying the legal CD, they see it better to download. The growth of music will depend on the appropriate measure that will be taken to curb the menace of online piracy. If proper solutions to the problem are adopted, music producers and artists will enjoy their work while earning better revenue from it (PricewaterhouseCoopers. 2015).

References

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Cleveland, M., Rojas-Méndez, J.I., Laroche, M., and Papadopoulos, N., 2016. Identity, culture, dispositions, and behavior: A cross-national examination of globalization and culture change. Journal of Business Research, 69(3), pp.1090-1102.

Vogel, J., 2015. “I Ain't Scared of No Sheets”: Re?Screening Black Masculinity in Michael Jackson's Black or White. Journal of Popular Music Studies, 27(1), pp.90-123.

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Grant, A., 2009. Michael Jackson: The Visual Documentary. Music Sales Group.

Erni, J.N., 1998. Queer figurations in the media: Critical reflections on the Michael Jackson sex scandal. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 15(2), pp.158-180.