David Gauntlett - Task One

1. According to Gauntlett, what was "the media" like in the past and what changes have now occurred?
People sitting around a radio set reading the Radio times wondering what's going to be on and when or people queuing for a movie showing. People relied on time heavily where the media was usually scheduled by the Media Institutions. These days we ourselves produce the media ourselves using small and cheap devices like laptops and mobiles where we share it via YouTube where the work of many thousand directors is seen by huge amounts of people. Before the 'Media Gods' who were the newspapers and record companies handed down from on high to us 'the little people'. Now websites like YouTube, Wikipedia and Myspace where the information is provided by us and is then distributed by us to the rest of the world. This is helped by Web 2.0 where people share things via social media.


2. How far do you agree with Gauntlett?
I agree with David Gauntlett to an extent as he claims that the media is now provided by everyone, not only the 'Media Gods' through the internet. This is evident as we have sites such as YouTube and Twitter that allow us to produce information and footage through devices such as mobile phones and laptops and upload it to the internet for the benefit of other people. 


3. How might Gauntlett's ideas be applied to the music industry?
David Gauntlett's ideas may be applied to the music industry by saying that any one can now distribute their music as we now provide the media. It is now easier for upcoming artists to now produce and promote music from the comfort of their own room. Nowadays, it is much easier to film and record music than before. Artists only need an adequate camera with a microphone and an internet connection. These artists can upload their music through social media such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Although this may not be the widespread promotion that an artist would need to go big, this is still an example of us providing the information to the 'Media Gods'. Some artists may get lucky and get their song or music to go viral which could attract major record labels. However, it can be argued that even with such little equipment, it may not be enough to promote or produce music to wider scales. Some small artists may not have a clear microphone or camera which wouldn't attract viewers/listeners, while artists with state of the art equipment with eye catching editing may attract more fans.