Case Study : HMV

Another case study I am going to use is HMV. HMV are closing down 60 of their stores this year due to a loss in profit.

How have online media developed?

The development within the online media has caused record stores to lose a mass amount of sales as people are now buying music online through itunes legally or through illegal sites such as LimeWire. Spotify is a software which people are downloading where you can get it for free or pay for a better version. Spotify are aimed at building the bridge between downloading illegally and legally. They are offering people to listen to music for free to a certain extent, however the artists are still making money because they get a fee from Spotify for their tunes to uploaded onto the software. Therefore people do not need to leave their homes and go to a store to buy a CD. As the online media age develops CDS will not be available in shops as the sales keep dramatically decreasing.

What has been the impact of the internet on media production?

The internet has had a huge impact on media production. With people downloaded illegally, no money is going into the music industry as people are not paying for the music they are listening to therefore record companies are not making money. Many artists put a lot of money into producing videos and albums for their audience and when people are sharing them for free they are not getting money back to pay for their hard work.

How is consumer behaviour and audience response transformed by online media, in relation to the past?

People are not going out to buy as much music from shops such as HMV therefore they are not making the money they need to stay up and running. Back in the day you could only get music from stores therefore they were booming businesses. However when people can access what they want whenever they want from the comfort of their own home it has become a necessity to turn to the internet instead of the high street.

To what extent has convergence transformed the media?

Convergence has transformed the media massively as people can now link music up to their phone which they have illegally downloaded therefore they are spending no money on buying music to take on route with them. Also if you download some songs illegally off the internet you can make a CD via your computer and then say you want to take it on holiday or put in your car you have access to the CD for free. Also you don't have to just buy an album that has been produced by one artist or band, you can select a range of different genre of artists and songs and place them all on one CD for your own personal enjoyment. People would rather make their own where they will like every song rather then buy it from a record shop where it will be just one artist or maybe a variety of artists however they will not like every song. This could be classed as 'a waste of our money'.