1. Music Industry Revision Ownership Focus Question: What issues are raised by ownership in a contemporary media institution you have studied?

2. What do the following terms mean? The big 4 Vertical integration Horizontal integration Oligopoly Monopoly Synergy Audience tastes Merger Subversive audience behaviour Music hardware Artist and Repertoire Convergence technology Convergence industry Conglomerate

3. Oligopoly - When a market is shared by a few . Is it fair that so much is owned by just a few companies? Do these companies have too much power? Sandi Thom left RCA (Sony) because she didn’t like the way they were promoting her as a pop artist.

4. News Corp. settle row with Merlin When MySpace Music was first set up last year it only sold music from the Big 4 . At the time independent labels criticised the venture for leaving them out in the cold. However recently News Corporation (who own MySpace ) and Merlin (an agency that represents independent artists) have signed a deal to allow independent labels to make money from having their music on the site. See Guardian article from 21/11/09 for more details.

5. Mind-mapping Draw a mind-map to answer the focus question. Use terms looked at earlier in the lesson. Issues raised by ownership Moving on traditional boundaries Convergence technology / hardware Sony Ericsson Phone, Sony Play Station EMI owns Toshiba Reaction to audience Consumption tastes Music on digital format / social networking We 7, MySpace Music, Stream music from www.sony.com Horizontal integration Control of market Subsidiaries Vertical integration Synergy

6. To Finish Write a paragraph on one of the issues raised by media ownership e.g. horizontal integration. Success Criteria: - Use Sony as your case study. - Use Point, Example, Explanation. - Use key terminology - Where possible argue points for and against.