Music in the Media

First off, I must say I am very disappointed I missed Ehren Ebbage's performance and words of wisdom in Wednesdays class. I have checked out his music and I am very impressed!

I think the way musicians have used the internet to promote themselves is genius. As my good friend and talented musician Manasseh said, "Having a presence on the internet is almost as vital as having good songs to get ones name and act out to their audience. MySpace is probably the flagship of internet resources to get independent artists music out to people worldwide in a way that almost no other outlet can."

Using sites such as MySpace, Youtube, Reverb Nation, Facebook, iLike, cdbaby, snowcap, and purevolume gives musicians a way to get their music out there without even leaving their own home. It also gives independent musicians the ability to get their music heard by record labels and other music companies. I remember seeing Colbie Caillat's MySpace page and downloading her music WAY before she ever became mainstream and got connected with a record label. I believe MySpace is one of the major reasons she even got discovered.

Itunes has also been another form of new technology combined with the use of the internet to change the music scene completely. Cd stores are rare to find now because everyone buys their music online. I personally use Itunes every single day, whether its on my laptop while I'm doing my homework, or at the gym running on the treadmill with my Ipod at my side. I cannot wait to see what the world comes up with next!

To end this weeks blog post I thought I would add something fun. Here is a link to Manasseh Israel's MySpace Music Page. Check it out, I know you will love his stuff! And if you don't believe me, check out his music below...

http://www.myspace.com/manassehdavidisrael

What Do You Stand For?

I enjoyed Steve Smith's presentation to our class on Wednesday of last week for several reasons, mostly because I was not completely sure I was doing the right thing going into journalism with the fall of newspapers and other forms of "old" news. . . but he convinced me. He convinced me by saying these words (not all in order so please don't get mad at me!),

"Journalism begins with a set of values, What do you stand for? Understanding those values gives us a framework for the decisions we are going to make. We defend the defenseless and give voices to the voiceless. We filter the news and information based on the values we have created for ourselves, we believe we can make those powerful judgments"

These words really hit home for me. Posted on the wall of my room at home, as well as my dorm room here is a poster. You can see it at the top of this page. I love it, I have always had it in my room. I was always the "helper" the "giver" the "listener" in high school and whenever I got overwhelmed with all of those actions and other people's problems and emotional breakdowns I looked at that poster and realized it is part of who I am. I stand for many things...

I also was on the "Astor Post" which is my high school paper, and I always stood by my values when I wrote the articles. It made me realize that just like he said he felt he had to do this because it was what he (Mr. Smith, and no I don't mean brad pitt) was made to do, it was his purpose here, I feel like I have the same purpose.

I cannot wait to get out in the world and do good, to put the news out there and make an informed citizenry possible. "Journalists are outsiders. Paid to be observers, more than to actually be involved". I have always been that type of person anyways... I don't mind. I want to do something positive with my life.

Public Relations

This past week I really enjoyed the guest lecturer and her presentation on Public Relations. When I realized I wanted to be a Journalist a few years back, I thought about maybe minoring in Public Relations (since my family always told me I would be good at it) but I had no idea what it really was. So having someone sit us down and show us what the PR world is all about really helped me decide that I do want to explore that field as well. I find it fascinating that Edward Bernays was related to Sigmund Freud who was a genius in the psychology field. I also think it is amazing that Bernays decided to use communication tactics along with the psychology background he had to change people's minds/opinions. It's brilliant, a little sneaky yes, but brilliant still. The whole turning the bad phrase "propaganda" into "public relations" and using it to his advantage is interesting as well. He was able to get women to smoke in public, and change the perception of smoking in general to this elegant image by promoting women smokers. I don't necessarily agree with everything he did, nor do I want to promote/deceive someone into buying a product that is terrible for them, but I do hope some day to be able to achieve the greatness and prestige Bernays had.

OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA!

The Election Night last week was very important to me. I even skipped out of my Sororities New Member Meeting to sit in my dorm's lounge and watch the news coverage of it all night long. We were watching CNN news, as well as the Colbert Report. It was a good mix of comedy and news to the point where I was actually entertained. I was in contact with my family and friends every hour, first being scared by McCain's lead, and secondly being ecstatic by Obama's. It was the first time I had watched any kind of news and political campaign coverage in quite some time. I felt proud when Obama won, we all went crazy, jumping up and down and hugging each other. We all were proud that our generation's votes had changed our Country. That we had finally made a difference. It was one of the most amazing feelings I have ever had. Thinking back to all my friends working on the Obama Campaign back in Astoria, writing newspaper articles for my high school's Astor Post, and my mother working for his campaign as well, calling people at their homes to tell them to vote for Barack. Everyone in this country was ready for a change, ready for all our hopes to begin to come true. All night long, everywhere you looked there was something about Obama. People's Facebook status's had quotes, videos were being posted from my friends across the country like in Boston where kids were rapping on the streets and doing conga lines. Every website had a headline saying congratulations to our future president. It was astounding. I will never forget it.

This election and this class has made me realize that I need to stay in touch with the news, with my country, and with it's people. Today I subscribed to TIME magazine, and each month when I get it, I am promising myself that I will sit down and read it from beginning to end.

It's time for a change.

:)