week 8 music

   Music, being its naturally free flowing form of artistic expression, has long been a format of emotion, rebellion, devotion, discussion, and so much more. Historically the process of making music has been a painstaking one, where artists can poor their efforts and passions out and openly for the world to relate and take notice. Music that moves us comes from the soul, it comes from a place beyond calculable data and technical perfection. As it is such a human experience, it in itself feels the need to push social structure and boundaries to achieve something beyond its current state. Artists for years have used obscenities to bring emphasis to their point, "socially inappropriate" or harsh/vulgar imagery to show the subjects what they need them to see. However years of generational difference and apposing mind sets have created conflict over music and lead to extreme censorships.
   In my own personal life music has been a major influence. My mother brought me up listening to the most classic of classics; Simon and Garfunkel, the Mamas and the Papas, Billy Joel, and of course Sir Elton John. I loved the oldies as a kid, and do today, because today I can recognize not only how vocally and instrumentally talented these songs are, but they are so well written and crafted. Now as I have grown up my tastes have modernized ( However I wouldn't say mainstreamed by any means)into more current and in my opinion edgier. Granted that being said, its considered "edgy" for a reason. Groups and artists who are able to play original music motivated by passion and emotion, though it may not be broadcast be the Clearchannels of the world, has substantially more worth than some bubble gum pop production that sounds like it was just spit out of a hit single generator.
    I can never officially decide on a favorite band because I am always finding new groups and at artists. However some of my top bands at the moment would be The Black Keyes, Arctic Monkeys, Cage the Elephant, Portugal. The Man, Flume, Alt-J, and many more that I'm sure I am forgetting. Overall I would say its very Alt rock meets indie, if I had to try and define it. I wont lie, there have been certain times when I have been in the car with my parents and I have changed a song or turned it down because I knew either the language, content, or even the style of rhythm/ instruments would offend them somehow. I personally have no shame in the music I listen to, but I cant say that the boldness of it wouldn't bother and older generation or even someone of my age with more conservative tastes. Personally I cant stand mainstream Hip Hop and how it objectifies women, especially in such a vulgar manor. My friends know it, but I don't ask them to change it (Unless its just unbearable poppy nonsense ).


    To start off, I do not think a campus radio would be a good decision. If it had gotten off the ground 15-20 years ago it could probably be successful. However in this day and age there is no way a starting out campus station with the broad basis of LBCC could last. New stations ( Much like magazines) need to establish a niche audience to gain any kind of support, and you need the high population to support that ( Portland could work).
    IF the radio station were to happen I think we would have no choice but going strictly mainstream and covering "soft rock"(which is the vaguest genre that exists) genres from the 80's to current day. Because the Albany/ LBCC area doesn't really have a specific demographic to appeal to, we would have to be broad. There are some ways to make the station more unique to the area: local sporting event coverage, local band showcases, really anything that can be brought into public view that is happening close to home. The issue with that is that I would chose to draw funding from a major media conglomerate like clearchannel. Though I cringe at the thought, with how generic and mainstream this station already is, I don't really see a way around it.

Newspapers and Modern Journalism

   "I would read Newspapers if..." this isn't a difficult sentence to finish. As much as we would all like to preserve Printed Newspapers, its becoming less and less practical. The arrival of the internet was no small occurrence and has literally changed the world forever. It has given us the ability to access information and people and things at a previously unfathomable speed. People from all over the world can update on an event as its happening, share articles, post visuals, from all sorts of everyday devices. This new found source of speed is one of the hugely contributing factors to the death of printed News. So my first reason I WOULD read the newspaper; if it had the ability to update as frequently as the internet. the old style of waiting until the next morning to publish "Breaking" news just isn't practical when I can hear about it on twitter or an online publication 12 hours earlier.
    The second major reason for me would be that I WOULD read the newspaper If it could support an open forum for a multitude of people to input on a story. Some people talk down on the internet claiming people use it to complain about everything and that there is nothing but mindless junk. But as in any form of media, you have to wade through the nonsense to find what your looking for. There are thousands of blogs and forums out there overflowing with intellectual people discussing matters and news-like topics, being able to read those opinions allows mw to form more educated stances of my own. I personally think its very dangerous to take your information from one source. Its very hard sometimes to see the differences between factual statements and bias opinions.
     Its hard to say with any type of certainty what a business should do to survive, let alone and entire industry. However there are some ways specific News publications have been able to succeed in these difficult times. The first being a heavy online presence. Its not enough to just have a website anymore, the online version of your newspaper needs to receive (at the bare minimum) equal attention to your print edition. As well as having some sort of free mobile app, one that sets you apart from your competitors. The key to balancing accessibility through technology, and making enough money to be successful is including enough advertising through these new formats so you can give away your products for free or close to free. The more successful companies and publications let you have access with advertisements then offer some sort of extended access (archives, exclusive interviews, etc.) free of advertising if you pay a small subscription fee.
    Another good move that many publications have taken is to try and appeal more to a niche market. Not saying one should go so far as to become a magazine, but a little of that format can go along way. So much as picking a demographic to appeal to instead of being a jack-of-all-trades would be a huge step in the right direction. You don't have to go all out and say " We are here to appeal to men between ages 18-35 who like red sports cars and craft beer"  but something along the lines of an age and possible socio-economic group: young republicans, retired people, etc. More or less taking your publication in a general direction instead of trying to appeal to everyone, because in all fairness, technology gives us the ability to be individuals and we expect our media sources to respect that.

Banned Books and My Bookshelf

    Something interesting that I have noticed with the Banned Book list, is that through the past 5 to 10 years, at least one of the top 10 books that have been banned for inappropriate content have been turned into movies ( generally rated PG 13). Now in book form, The Hunger Games or Twilight for example, were banned or challenged because they were sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, and unsuitable for their age group. What bothers me about this is that same age group who are being banned from reading these books ( youth and teens) are one of the highest viewing demographics that made those movies so successful. The double standard of allowing students to be exposed to the same content through a different format really doesn't make a lot of logical sense. In fact, exposing them to the Hollywood version in a less educationally stimulating setting is arguably more harmful than in a structured classroom environment where they are tasked with , analyzing themes, structure, concepts, and other literary elements as to expand their own thought process.
    The one book on that list that really stood out to me was " The Perks of Being a Wall Flower". I wont lie, their are some concepts and parts of this story that are a tad on the edge of risqué. But that desperation Charlie feels to fit in, that lingering ominous undertone that follows him up until the end of the book when he reaches his tipping point and the story arrives at its climax, that couldn't have been accomplished without the very real struggles he dealt with. Stephen Chbosky turned Charlie, Sam, really every character in that book into real relatable teenagers facing real relatable problems. Sex, drugs, fitting in, depression, all sorts of issues that we have culturally either watered down or deemed to inappropriate to discuss in an open forum. We assume kids cant handle it. We assume that they are either fragile, immature, or just simply not competent enough to try to understand these types of concepts and issues as very real world things. Honestly I wish I had read this book in high school, not because I have lived everything Charlie has. But because being able to see different types of people in different lights helps us to look at what separates us and move past it. In my opinion books like this should not be banned, for that's telling students something is wrong with it and allowing them to remain closed minded to foreign ideas. I think if a book like this one offers educational benefit, we should revaluate the way the book is taught and find ways to expose kids to all walks of life.

    My personal bookshelf (outside of my text books) is a bit random. Some of my favorites would be The Ultimate Hitchhikers Series by Douglas Adams, Pop which is a biography on the life and work of Andy Warhol, and The Heretics Daughter by Kathleen Kent. I think these books are a small sample of who I am as a person and what my interests are. I have a strong passion for modern art which has inspired my pursuit of a potential advertising career and emphasis in graphic design. The Hitchhikers series shows my love for satire and humor of that same sarcastic theme. The Kent novel is a great story, and I think it symbolizes not only my love for history and well written stories, but also my respect for strong female characters. Most of these books came from used book stores, I rarely buy books new unless it is online because they are simply overpriced. I could see myself easily making the transition to Ebooks. Its so much cheaper and more efficient, the only big reason I have to hang onto physical hard copies of book would be my summer job. Working as a wild land fire fighter, I have a lot of down time in the wilderness where it isn't practical to have modern technology or capable of any kind of internet. I read more books this past summer than I think any given year of my life, simply because I didn't have the technology I was accustomed too. It actually felt really good.

Forum Post 1: About me and the Medias I consume

   This is not my first time in Media and Society. I have taken the class once before, and I was not a sucesful student durring that timer period. However, I have returned to my accademic career with a newly found motivation and passion for learning. The ideas and aspects of the Media that we discuss in this class are of great interest to me. Understanding how newly develop technology, along with social norms and interactions, is changing the way we share and obtain information. Developing a solid grasp on this notion is essential to any career or field that we may intend to pursue as students. 

   I have not yet declared my major. I have every intention of going into mass comunications of some sort, but I am currently torn between Journalism and Marketing. Working in advertising has such a creative apeal to me; being able to design a selling concept or persuasive idea in not only words but visually as well really draws me in. However the power of speach and the written word really pulls me towards more of a journalistic career. Someday I would love to have a part in an unbiased news source that people can turn to to escape the liberal or conservative undertones of so many publications. 

   I am interested in many aspects of the media, but I think if I had to chose one it would be the music industry. I want to learn more about how the internet has revolutionized the way artists make money off of their work, as well as how conglomerate radio companies have mainstreamed what we listen to. 

   Something I am passionate about would definatly be music. I am really drawn to wel-written, lyrically strong artists. Right now (like everyone else in the world) i am really into the Black Keys. Not only do they write extremly well, they are very talented musicians with creative and original instrumental work that could easily stand on its own without lyrics. On an odder note I really like alt-j and the Arctic Monkeys, as well as older artists like Sir Elton John (always classic) and the Rolling Stones. 

   I dont partake much in online games. I think the closest I have become to a gamer in recent years would either be the very few times I have broken down and played a few rounds of candy crush, or when we kick it old school and play some Super Smash Bros on my Nintendo 64. 

   That being said, I found Janes outlook on Gaming to be really refreshing. She was able to take one of the most negative stereotypes asociated with our generation, and in a logical way, show the value that we have so blindly been over looking. People before her have made arguments in the defense of serious gamers, mostly in the cookie cutter articles about gaming being good for your eye sight, reflexes, mental response time, etc. But Jane actually made a solid case for Gaming developing a "Human recourse" as she called with all of these highly desired traits that we could be using in society. The issue with the style of argument that she made is USUALLY that the upsides or beneficial traits in the subject of discussion quickly become far fetched or easily disproven. I didnt feel that way about any of the super powers that Jane used as the meat and Patatoes of her argument, in fact I was impressed with her original yet logical insight. I think in moderation Jane could definatly be onto something big. Gaming through her perspective is creating a culture of people eager to work for the bettering of society and the word around us. The reason I say in moderation is because like any substance or easily overdone activity, i think the wrong personality type could and easily will become removed from reality to a dangerous extent that could comprimise their mental, physical, social, or emotional health. 

   Second Skin does a fantastic job of showing some of the common drastic effects of being a "gamer". I dont believe its our placeto judge as a society whether or not Gaming at excessive levels in unhealthy or wrong, becuase there are far to many variables for us to make such a black and white statement. On the one hand, you have The man who lost his job when he became overly involved in WOW. He gained an unhealthy amount of weight and became depressed, with no intention to stop or try and change for the better. On the other hand, is the man who has been severly handicapped his entire life and deciedes he would rather live in a world where he can be in a new fully functioning body, and have high self esteem, to be happy. I mean can we really tell him he is wrong or acting in an unhealthy manner? I cant bring myself to make a definitive judgment on MMO gaming overall, its far to broad and there are to many moving pieces.