Industry and audience power essay

Essay question: “The internet has given audiences much more power than ever before.” To what extent do you agree with this statement? 

Introduction:    

The internet has given audiences much more power than ever before because nearly everyone in 2020 has access to the internet and technology for information, entertainment or work purposes. I agree with this statement because the audience can now engage more with the media products they enjoy because of the internet,e.g commenting, writing blog reviews,using social media platforms to share their opinions.

Music Industry: 

The Internet has changed the music industry drastically over the past couple of decades. Because of how much power the internet gives it's users, it is easier for the rise of  "Bedroom Bands" such as Justin Bieber as he went from using a platform (Youtube) and filming his singing to becoming famous and having his music heard worldwide due to the internet. Another change is that because of the internet, people are able to reach a wider range of an audience and are also able to produce their own work. An advantage of the internet is that you can listen to the music for free on different platforms e.g Youtube and listen to a lot of music artists, however a disadvantage of the internet is that because of these platforms making audiences listen to music for free the artists are making less profit as the consumers are not paying to listen to their music, despite this the internet enables independent musicians/singers to find a global audience without the help of a major label. In my opinion the internet has changed the music industry in both positive and negative ways.

Film and Television:

The internet has significantly changed film and television for example Amazon prime and Netflix have a huge variety of films and shows avaliable on demand whereas on normal television you would have to wait for a certain time to watch the show or film or it would not be avaliable im your country. Another change that the internet changed is that you can access the platforms at any time on any smart device rather than having to hire/buy a DVD where you can only watch on a DVD player. Another advantage it that you don't have to wait to watch an episode of your series you can just watch it whenever you want and when you have the time to therefore you don't miss out on any episodes that you couldn't watch because you didn't have time. However, a disadvantage is that many platforms such as Netflix can be expensive to some audiences therefore they rely more on TV then any streaming platforms. Another disadvantage is that many websites that stream films and shows are probably illegal and copyrighted which you may get fined for watching on such websites.

Newspaper:    

The internet has a huge effect on how the news is portrayed using many online websites such as BBC news which is one of the most popular news sites in the UK therefore i doubt they would post fake news, however some news can also travel through social networking sites such as instagram. But since everyone can post about the news anything could be fake and only done for views and likes, therefore it is hard to know who to trust with news. An advantage is that it's more quicker posting the news online and more up to date than writing a newspaper, it's also a lot more easier to access. However, a disadvantage is if there's ever a moment where the internet may go down we won't be able to access the news online and therefore rely more on newspapers which will be a lot harder to access and less up to date.

Conclusion:

In my opinion i agree with the fact that the internet has given the audience much more power than before as now it is easier and quicker to access film,music,news and entertainment due to the many platforms we have that the audience engage and contribute to such as Youtube, BBC news, Netflix and social media.