emember the days that if you wanted to see the next big music video from your favourite artist, you would have to stay up late watching rage on television, hoping that the next song was yours? Or did you get up early as a kid to watch video hits, eagerly awaiting the next video, seeing what your favourite pop star was up to? Until recently, TV was the only place you could see music videos. Due to the radical digital media convergence that this generation is seeing, we can now access music videos via our mobile phones, gaming consoles or even online via online video streaming sites like YouTube. In fact, if you have a computer and internet access, you could access your favourite music videos right now.
The traditional medium for transmitting music videos has been the television. This device is able to relay sound with pictures and took over from radio as the dominant medium for media consumption for the masses. But as new platforms open up and new services are being offered by different companies across a broad range of devices, the way we engage with media is changing rapidly.
This phenomenon is called digital media convergence it explains the transition of old to new media and the ever changing platforms we access them from. Using Dwyer's definition of media convergence as “the process whereby new technologies are accommodated by existing media and communication industries and culture” (Dwyer 2010), we can ascertain that this is a constantly evolving process whereby the media element will remain the same but the way we absorb it is perpetually evolving.
So what of the traditional forms of content delivery for music videos, does this spell the death of the music video themed shows like Video Hits? More importantly, why are consumers choosing YouTube over programs like Video Hits? I believe this has to do with technology, time constraints and evolving attitudes to online video sites like YouTube.
Technologically, the increase in bandwidth capacities, the on demand nature of digital media consumption and the increasing access and availability of the internet all combine to allow online video streaming to “at long last become viable on a massive scale (Hildebrand 2007). These leaps in technology have allowed anyone with a computer and internet access to search for or upload a video of their choosing on YouTube. This can create controversy, as not everything that is uploaded is in good taste or in line with social expectation of what can be posted to a virtual pin board for everyone to see. In this sense, it’s like a video exclusive Wikipedia, anyone can add their two cents, post a video of just about anything. To illustrate this point, did you know that the first video on YouTube was co-founder Jawed Karim talking about the trunk length of the elephants at the San Diego zoo?
Whilst the bulk of YouTube music clips are user generated, we are starting to see a shift in the types of users posting to YouTube. Big, multinational record labels like Universal and Sony are now joining the throngs of people who access music video content online. It has been well established that YouTube has a participatory culture and is (Chau 2010) and relies heavily on the constant uploading of content by the virtual community. In fact, nearly 8 years’ worth of content is uploaded every day. That alone says that there will be more content on YouTube than traditional television broadcasts any day of the week. The content isn’t chosen by TV executives, it is chosen by you, the user. Virtually anyone can upload content on YouTube, meaning that the music video selection available would be varied. There are the big budget videos from the powerhouse record labels sitting alongside very lo-fi produced videos of aspiring song writers. A real world example would be pop star Justin Bieber, he uploaded a very lo fi video of him busking, this video came to the attention of the record industry and through some very well executed marketing has become one of the biggest pop stars in the world. Notice that he still uses YouTube as a successful vehicle to promote his singles, one of which “Baby” has been viewed in excess of 773 million times
As a local case study of digital media convergence in relation to music videos, we have Video Hits. It started broadcasting in 1987 and provided the Australian television viewer with music videos from the current top 40 chart and other videos that were newly released for promotional purposes. As television was the only platform to see music videos, Video hits thrived from its inception.. As the advent of technological increases and the rise of on demand platforms like YouTube, there was a direct competition for users to access music video. This cultural shift away from the TV music video show is linked in the technological advances of “on demand” broadcasting. On Demand simply means that a user can access content whenever they please, or when they “demand” it. With users having more choice as to what they watch, where they watch it and how they watch it, traditional media outlets are coming to terms that the user now has a much greater say as to the content they view. Couple this with the 24/7 nature of the internet and you have a service that provides music videos, for free, whenever you are internet capable. When you compare this to a typical music video show which is heavily structured into a set format, where the user must wait for a certain time, on a certain channel and then when the shows actually starts, they must sit there until the content they have been looking for is delivered. The big advantage that YouTube has over Video Hits is that the user is able to skip, rewind and search for any video they choose at whatever time. No staying up late or getting up early for a chance to see your favourite artist.
What on demand video streaming creates is essentially a personalised channel for the user. They can watch whatever music video that has been uploaded anytime and, if they have an internet ready and capable device, anywhere. The old way of accessing music videos was through a structured channel that the user had no input into. By giving the power of content choice to the consumer, YouTube has converged with traditional media outlet of television to create a new outlet for an existing medium.
In turn, Video Hits has joined the long line of old media formats that have been converged with new media due to improved access, on demand programming and mainstream acceptance of YouTube as the go to site for online streaming videos.
References
Texts
- Dwyer, T, 2010 (pg 4) . Media Convergence. 1st ed. McGraw-Hill Education: Open University Press
- Hilderbrand, L, 2007. (pg 48) YouTube: Where cultural memory and copyright converge. Film Quarterly, 61,
- Chau, C, 2010. YouTube as a participatory culture. New directions for youth development, 2010/128, pg 65
Video
- "Me at the zoo" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw
- Justin Bieber, "Baby" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kffacxfA7G4
Images
- Video Hits logo http://primomag.com.au/2011/07/05/video-hits-gets-the-cut/
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