Online Music Vids

TV viewers are getting more and more likely to view content via the internet as technology has improved over the past years. Huge channels like MTV have increased the content on their websites to try and cater for the online computer user. MTV has launched its very own Overdrive media player which holds an incredible amount of music videos which can be viewed on demand. This will give YouTube a run for it's money by streaming these videos at higher qualities than YouTube which are all home recorded and uploaded by people all over the world. Not only does Overdrive offer music videos but recently uploaded content featured a live show of the Arctic Monkeys in Barcelona.

example of success purely from self promotion with new technology - Sandi Thom

Alexandria "Sandi" Thom[1] (born August 11, 1981) is a Scottish singer-songwriter from Macduff in Aberdeenshire. She released her first single in 2005 and received a great deal of publicity for webcasting her gigs from a basement in Tooting in 2006.

21 Nights from Tooting
21 Nights from Tooting was a "tour" consisting of 21 performances from the basement of her Tooting flat, from February 24 to March 16. These were recorded and then webcast. Tickets were sold, but the venue had a capacity of "six people" ("10 including the band").
The MySpace post announcing the gigs was posted in the early hours of February 22. Thom's website states that "the idea popped into her head" after her car broke down travelling from a gig in York (on the 22nd) to one in Wales (on the 23rd).
Thom states that she was familiar with webcasting, having had a show at the Edinburgh Left Bank webcasted.
Prompted by a contact from Thom's manager, news services noted Thom's promotion efforts. The audience for the first day was reportedly around 60 or 70, increasing to 70,000 (later quoted as 48,000) by the middle of the run, with viewers from Russia, the United States and Pakistan.[10].
The publicity surrounding the tour led to major label interest, with music label representatives attending the gigs in question.
Thom subsequently accepted an offer by Sony. This led to the single re-release being delayed until May, when it was released on Sony's RCA label. The news of this broke on April 3, 2006, the official signing itself being webcast. The single was placed on Music Week Daily's playlist that day. She was the first artist signed the RCA label since its reorganisation.

Controversy
Some observers have questioned how she was able to sustain production of the webcasts; critics suggest that she "could not have supported such a large audience on her webcast if she really was a starving artist". Others question the veracity of claims made about viewership. There are also questions as to the level of involvement of PR agency Quite Great. Her manager, Ian Brown, in an interview with the Guardian, asserted that the idea did indeed come from her, whilst her management and publicist claim to have conducted a large publicity campaign, including a million "virtual flyers"
Some critics accused Sony of orchestrating the campaign. Craig Logan, the managing director of RCA, denied these accusations, claiming that the label was "drawn to" Thom after hearing of the webcasting.
The Guardian's review said that it was "ironic" that she had "harnessed new technology to draw attention to the kind of pop made by her foremothers" - the single being a lament to the spirits of '69 and '77.

key terms for music and the Internet case study

mp3s - sound
mp4s - video+sound
DRM - Digital Rights Management
wi fi - wireless internet
RSS - a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated digital content, such as blogs, news feeds or podcasts
RIAA - Recording Industry Association of America
CRB - Copyright Royalty Board
P2P - Peer to Peer networking allows people to access files from others computers depending on what privileges they will allow each other. Commonly brought up in the download arguments as file sharing.

Bebo bands - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bebo#Bebo_Bands

On 11 July 2006, "Bebo Bands" was launched. On this section of the site, bands or solo artists are able to create a profile showcasing their music. Along with undiscovered talents, it has a section called "New Music Only on Bebo" linking to established artist pages including Paris Hilton, Matt Willis, Orson, Coldplay, Kylie Minogue, The Kooks, Lily Allen, and others.
The band pages include; a band member list which is similar to the friends list on a normal profile, a list of "groupies" (fans who have added the band as though it were a friend), an area for tour dates, a blog, and a list of songs which have been uploaded for playing through Bebo's media player, or to be added to other user's playlists. These songs can be grouped by the band into albums, along with cover-art. All band members can edit the content of the band profile.
Although the Bebo Band section is intended for use by musical groups, the facility is also used by many to form clubs or societies, or as unofficial fan pages for established bands.

Music in the home of multimedia

Music is now an integral part of many homes. New convergence technology, e.g. hi-fi, PC, DVD player, games consoles, and radios, has massively opened up the ability for popular music to move into the home environment. In the same way that production has been changed, the action of listening and experiencing music has also been affected. As new media technologies expand and 'improve', our universal consumption is ever-changing. The digitisation of music files has, at grass-roots level, caused this, as now music can be shared and played through anything which can read and process the series of 0s and 1s. This can have diverse affects though. People will not be going to the cinema as often as prices are constantly rising and this is putting people off, when they can sit at home and watch a film in more comfort.

democratisation of music

Music production by record companies has been adversely affected by the Internet: bands and artists no longer need a record deal to promote their music. The Internet has enabled free publicity and this extends to record production itself. With the development of technology, recording has become democratised: paying a lot of money to a professional recording studio is no longer necessary, many bands/artists use small devices to create their own 'studio' and, on a smaller scale, some computers and mobile phones now include recording software. Once the desired effects have been made, a band can promote themselves using their websites, generally on MySpace, and offer free downloads or snippets as a way to promote themselves. The cost of advertising has been significantly subsidised by the fact that artists can promote their stuff for free. It solves financial problems for the band and can even allow bands to set up their own record distribution network. An example of this is the band Enter Shikari, who set up their own indepandant "record label" called Ambush Reality, which is co-owned by the band members themselves, and their friends.

success of Myspace

MySpace launches UK version
A UK version of the social networking site MySpace.com is to be launched "within the next 30 days". Around a million of its current users are based in the UK. In an interview with the BBC News website, it was staed that the first priority of the new site would be the UK music scene."Clearly the first place to go is music, so we will tap into the music scene. We're already working in the US with CD:UK which is coming over to the US, to be called CD:USA, and we're going to integrate bands from MySpace into that programme. We hope when we go back to the UK to tap into how successful that show is. Hopefully they'll want to market through MySpace and we'll tap into the local events scene, parties, clubs, artists, film makers, television producers, so I think it's going to grow pretty rapidly."

MySpace's music section has helped many amateur bands progress eg. the Arctic Monkeys, who owe a lot of their success to the publicity that MySpace generated for them.

Lily Allen on MySpace
'It's such a powerful thing, to send your stuff out there and get such a massive response' (singer Lily Allen on how she's profited from airing her music on MySpace.) 'I'm constantly getting harassed for new material. It's amazing really,' says Lily Allen, MySpace's latest star. Amazing, because she's yet to release a single record. But since joining the MySpace community last November, things have been snowballing for the 20-year-old Londoner, whose ska-driven musings on life, love and selfloathing have seen her acquire numerous online fans.It's not hard to see why. Lily's music has the same qualities which made the Streets' debut album, Original Pirate Material, so ground-breaking - honesty, ingenuity and humour, all wrapped up with a catchy melody.

the future - http://ntrg.cs.tcd.ie/undergrad/4ba2.01/group10/futuremain.html#MUSIC

Music, the Internet and its Future
The Internet seems poised to revolutionise many aspects of the music industry including: the publishing of music, artist royalties for use of copywrited material and the sale of recorded music.

Theories Related to Future of the Industry
There are currently three arguments
1. The industry will be unchanged because of the MP3's less-than-CD-quality sound and its large disk space requirements. In other words, the MP3 technology will be shelved along with other music technologies such as the 8-track.
2. The industry will eliminate traditional record labels by eliminating the need to manufacture and distribute the physical product of CDs.
3. MP3 will simply wet music lovers' appetites for the benefits of a technology that can deliver songs online. Because the majority of music buyers are not willing to sift through thousands of obscure bands, web sites, etc. they are not going to be willing to completely shift to Internet music technology. Internet music technology will have a place in the market, but will not completely dominate it.

As we look to the future of music, the most obvious change we can expect is the dismantling of traditional physical music retail operations i.e the music shop. This is not to say that retail sales of music will be obliterated, but to say that retail sales will possibly re-emerge in a different form i.e. through the Internet . The Internet is accesible nearly anywhere in the world where music buyers want to purchase music.
Another change is the demise of the manufacturing and distribution infrastructure that currently supports traditional music retail stores. As more consumers have more access to the Internet, aspiring recording artists will need experienced guidance, financing and promotional resources in order to create quality music that will reach audiences more mature and more sophisticated about music. Record companies will have more distribution opportunities, giving them more ways to expose and distribute their artists' product to the consumers with more precise methods for targeting the ideal customer for their music. More revenue opportunities mean more abundantly available, affordable music. This will be good not just for established artists who will continue to see more money spent to promote their work but for new artists hoping someone will invest in their work.

The Future of Internet Music Distribution
Music distribution using MP3 compression through the Internet has become an important happening and a major concern of the recording industry. MP3 is just one of many forms of compression that is available for audio. At this time it happens to be wildly popular and is likely to remain so. The popularity MP3 is driving changes in the music industry that will bring a leveling of income to composers and performers, increase in their share of gross revenues, and drastically increase the number of composers and performers that are accessible to the music purchasing public.
After MP3 as finished remodeling the recording industry, the recording industry will consist of a three players:
1. Remnants of the current recording industry
2. Internet companies that sell CDs
3. Internet companies that sell individual recordings.
MP3Shareware.com is a new Internet company intent on capturing this market.
The leveling of income will occur because at the high end the limiting factor of unauthorized recordings will reduce how financially successful any artist can be. The middle and base layers will provide exposure that was impossible in the pre-Internet recording industry thereby increasing the possibility of financial success for more musicians.
In the new recording industry, artists will retain more control of their copyrighted products and receive a larger percentage of the profits. Both MP3.com and MP3Shareware.com offer a 50% split compared to the small percentages now given by record companies.
With the Internet, anybody can put their music online quickly and easily. Mediation sites such as MP3.com and MP3Shareware.com offer several important advantages over private sites such as handling credit card transactions, a high hit rate, and the capability of aggregating many artists to produce custom CDs. Most private sites will simply provide a link to their music on the mediation site of their choice.
Internet audio distribution is providing composers and performers choices that have never been available before.

The future of MP3
Right now MP3 is changing the way we receive and listen to music. Napster is actually using a recent law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act as a defense to the pending lawsuit it faces with the Recording Industry Association of America. Even if Napster is eventually shut down, there are other programs available right now that can not be stopped so easily. Gnutella is a file sharing program that links individual computers together without a centralized server. Since Gnutella can share any file type, people are claiming that movies will be distributed in the same way once broadband internet access becomes available in more areas. The bottom line is that the music industry is going to have to adapt to new technology. One way would be find another way to make money on recorded music than just selling CD's. For example, many online retailers are losing money on their merchandise in order to be competitive but are making up for this loss by selling ad space on there sites. Even if they can't stop people from sharing copyrighted music, people will still by CD's. It is much easier to purchase a CD than find and download every song on that CD and put it on a recordable media. Mp3 sharing poses the bigest threat to music singles since the consumer is only interested in one song. It also poses a threat to an artist who releases 1 or 2 good songs from their CD but the rest of their CD sounds like it was recorded in two days. The recording industry has to evolve and figure out how to use new technology to make money instead of clinging on to the past.

example of copyrighting and piracy issues - Metallica sues Napster

Corporate thrash rockers Metallica yesterday accused Napster of effectively trading in stolen goods when it filed a copyright infringement suit against the digital music seek, locate and download software company. Worse, the suit, filed with the US District Court for the Central District of California, claims Napster is a "corrupt organisation". In addition to the copyright infringement allegation, the suit cites the unlawful use of a digital audio interface device and states that Napster violated the US Racketeering Influenced & Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Metallica and the companies that publish its music and are assigned its copyrights, Creeping Death Music and the decidedly un-rock'n'roll sounding E/M Ventures, base their claims on the way Napster's software allows users to trade in illegal copies of the band's music across the Net. That, said the band's drummer, Lars Ulrich, is in effect, trafficking in stolen goods. "We take our craft - whether it be the music, the lyrics, or the photos and artwork - very seriously, as do most artists. It is therefore sickening to know that our art is being traded like a commodity rather than the art that it is," he added. To be fair, Ulrich is laying it on a bit thick here, since Metallica, like most major acts, is as much a tight business organisation as an artistic endeavour, but broadly he has a point. "From a business standpoint, this is about piracy - aka taking something that doesn't belong to you; and that is morally and legally wrong," said the tub-thumper. Interestingly, Metallica's allegations are also made against a number of US universities - specifically the University of Southern California, Yale University and Indiana University - who originally banned the use of Napster on campus networks, but have since relented. Says the suit: "Napster has devised and distributed software whose sole purpose is to permit Napster to profit by abetting and encouraging the pirating of the creative efforts of the world's most admired and successful musical artists. Facilitating that effort are the hypocritical universities and colleges who could easily block this insidious and on going thievery scheme." It's certainly true that, in public at least, Universities' dislike of Napster had more to do with its log-jamming effect on their networks than its possible use in piracy. The irony here is that Napster was designed to aid the distribution of MP3 files, and MP3 has always been said by the format's proponents to be about taking the power of distribution away from the major labels and putting it back in the artists' hands. Clearly, as a band of artists, Metallica disagrees. And as an international business too, that goes double. Metallica's action is the second legal assault launched against Napster, which is currently the target of an anti-piracy suit brought by the Recording Industry Association of America, on behalf of its record label members.

iTunes outsells conenventional record sales

Music download retailer iTunes now sells more music in the US than some of the country's biggest traditional retailers, according to analysts. NPD compared 12 iTunes separate song downloads to one album purchase at an ordinary retail store and found that iTunes beat Tower Records, Borders, and Sam Goody. But it was also found that it was beaten by others, including Wal-Mart and Amazon.com. More than seven out of 10 US digital music sales through PCs are through iTunes, a figure which grows when Apple Mac users are taken into account, see the full article:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4459312.stm

notes from lesson on 20/4/07 - Internet and music

• in the last 20 years - production, content, performance and reception has changed popular music
• developments driven by music industry, musicians and consumers
• ISSUE - distribution on the Internet
• digital technology DEMOCRATISES music making - anyone can be a producer, performer, engineer - "digital auteur"
• low cost of digital recording software
• record companies loose control of there artists (power/control has been taken away)
• independant distribution - do you need a record deal?
• music in teh multimedia home eg. hi-fi, PC, radio etc.
• popular music penetrates the home environment more
• digital music empowers teh listener more eg. ordering tracks etc.
• listening becomes more creative eg. playlists
• digital technology allows the artist to distribute music how they want it to be heard eg. surround sound
• becomes distinctly private but mobile experience
• blurring the boundries between public and private
• music on the move - CONVERGENCE with mobile phones
• is it an anti-social technology? (negative technological determinist)
• internet allows for performance to be streamed/transmitted as well as music videos
• visualisation of songs via multimedia devices
• Napster was the first to offer free music downloads - caused panic in music industry
• peer-to-peer networking eg. Kazaa and Gnutella
• piracy revolution - 1 pirate can transmit to millions
• 800 million illegal files are available on the Internet
• sites like this do not hold the files, just provide the peer-to-peer service
• DRM - digital rights management, controls access or usage of digital data and is used by publishers or copyright owners
• ISSUE - protesting copyright OR monopolising the market

Institutions - the World Music Market

The world music market consists of record companies and labels and publishers that send out recorded music products around the world and they control the rights to those music products.

The "big four" record groups that currently dominate the market are:
Sony BMG
EMI
Universal
Warner

They each consist of many smaller record companies
Record labels sign, market, publicize, develop and promote as well as provide sales support to the larger distribution companies for their releases and artists.
In 2005, Nielsen SoundScan reported that the "big four" record companies accounted for 81.87% of the U.S. music market.

possible case study - the iPhone

TECHNOLOGY

taken from http://www.apple.com/iphone/ - 23/4/07

"iPhone combines three amazing products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching — into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone also introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting you control everything with just your fingers. So it ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, completely redefining what you can do on a mobile phone."

further information can be seen at teh following:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/technology/
http://www.apple.com/iphone/phone/
http://www.apple.com/iphone/internet/

INSTITUTION

Apples i-Phone is converging three main media interests: mobile phones, music players and internet into one product. This convergence allows Apple to enter two markets: the mobile phone market and of course continue in the MP3 market. This will further increase there profits and enable the further production and development of new technologies. If the product is a success, it will also allow Apple to continue onwards in this market while also continuing to branch out from the iPod original concept.

AUDIENCE

The success of iTunes in conjunction with the iPod has allowed audiences to access more bands online and purchase legal downloads at a time when they are unable to physically go to a shop and buy the CD themselves.
iPod's and other new technologies of this type are owned by a wide range of people, from young adults and teenagers to those older individuals who have been able to keep up with technology and are therefore not "techno-illiterate".
With the music distributor EMI dropping its copywrite rules, iTunes is now able to put up higher quality songs for audiences to download and with the release of the new iPhone seeing the convergence of different technologies, people are now able to fully organise all their needs into one device.
However, with less copywrite laws in place, piracy of music is bound to increase and peer-to-peer sites like Limewire, which is used to download copywrited material, can only prosper in taking profit awa from deserving companies etc.

ISSUES

The blistering success of the iPod and iTunes immediately put sales in conventional high-street stores down and if the new iPhone is anywhere near as successfull as its predecessor, stores such as HMV and Virgin Megastores could be devastated, leading to raised unemployment etc. Of course, iTunes is not the only site to blame. In fact, it is the illegal siites that are to blame more than anyone, as these profit no one and allow piracy to fester in the industry.

THE FUTURE

With the limitation of copywriting laws now seeming to increase, it is likely that more and more people will continue to download songs, whether it is legal or not is yet to be decided. What is clear is that high-street stores could be set to disappear from our town centres. People like myself who enjoy collecting CDs for their sentimental value as well as their purpose will be forced to buy online in a forth coming digital age. The iPhone could be said to be a herald of this age, as people will be able to access iTunes on the phone and download any track or album they wish, thus removing the need to frequent music stores while out and about. Artists and record labels are also boaund to loose revenue as the unavoidable increase in illegal downloads is liekly to reduce their profits considerably

"Label leads way with DRM-free music" article from Guardian Unlimited

http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,2049769,00.html

• EMI's announcement this week that it was going to offer downloads without Digital Rights Management (DRM)
• death of copy protection
• the record label can sell to customers without worrying about interoperability; iPod owners can buy from new outlets; Apple can sell to non-iPod users; other retailers can offer downloads from a big label. And, crucially, customers can (hopefully) stop worrying about interoperability.
• first step to vindicating the long-held views of anti-DRM campaigners
• "Apple has dropped the proprietary DRM but still have the customer lock-in due to AAC."
• There were other, less travelled aspects of the announcement that could have positive impacts in the long term.
• For example, if entire catalogues from big labels begin to go DRM-free, some of the hidden costs of restricting rights could also disappear
• EMI's motivations for the move were more than simply benevolence - business has been tough for the company, despite a roster of high-profile artists
• The deal also covers music videos, which will be opened up in the same way, showing how video and audio are coming closer together.
• it puts a premium on albums, too, offering bulk purchases at a lower wholesale price.
• it is likely to take some time for all the wrinkles to shake themselves out. Not every record company is going to simply fall behind the idea, and not every customer is going to get exactly what they want.
• However, nearly all observers agree it is a step in the right direction.

Does the Myspace effect have pitfalls for fans and artists?

• “niche product” – a commercially available item, event or attraction that is likely to appeal to only a limited number of people
• could turn out to be music’s key mantra for the net age
• fans have more power
• the initial impetus for the record-breaking opening week for the Artic Monkey’s album came from the internet
• 50 million is the latest worldwide estimate of registered members of Myspace, which is set to launch a UK-specific site in the spring with a particular emphasis on music content
• the music industry is eyeing these sites with interest – and fear as the websites could transform the landscape in which music is made, marketed and purchased
• this change could lead to the empowerment of the artist and the fan at the expense of the manufacturer and the retailer
• sites allow a fan to be just a few clicks away from becoming a well-informed voice in the forging of new musical tastes
• posting new songs, details of forthcoming gigs and evidence to surfing A&R men of the size of your online fan base opens music-biz doors
• high street retailers and music-industry executives with huge overheads stand to loose from online music sales
• fans are now bombarded with choice, informed to the point of instant expertise
• leads straight towards the “Proceed to Purchase” button (much easier)
• Myspace allows for a sense of community and ownership
• users have the resources to adapt to new formats, invest in changing technology and exploit fresh revenue streams
• cyberspace is delivering priceless marketing profiles to fans email

notes on "Marketing music on the web" by Matt Keating

• websites are the best way for labels to keep in touch with fans
• it can be used to build up a band’s fan base eg. the Arctic Monkeys success can be attributed to their website
• Arctic Monkeys – second number one single and a debut album tipped to be
  the fastest-selling album in more than five years
  - have the most popular band website in Britain
• fans download tracks or burn demos and file-share with other fans = word of mouth
• over a million tracks are downloaded legally each week
• “websites are now central to marketing in the music industry” – Chris Hassell, the founder of Ralph, the agency that handles the digital activity for Franz Ferdinand and the Kaiser Chiefs
• websites allow bands to build relationships with fans
• even unsigned bands can have a national or international fan base
• bands can keep regular live web-chats and online video diaries on their websites to keep their fans informed
• bands, particularly on smaller labels, are taking a more active online role
• bands stipulate in their recording contract that they have control over how their website is run
• what a good website repays a band and a label in knowing who their audiences are
• incomparable in terms of any other marketing and research channel
• websites are an artist’s ongoing communication with the audience between record releases and tours

notes on "reporters in the digital democracy" by Emily Bell

• one of the most profound changes taking place in the mainstream media is the part played in it by the audience
• consumers are now making themselves heard in a rapid move towards the democratisation of media
• over the past three years, speed, volume and type of response made possible from the internet has changed to allow ‘bystanders’ to become more involved
• local papers have always been close to their audiences, more so than national papers eg. ‘village round-up’
• mainstream media must incorporate eyewitness testimonies but also combine these communities with its own work
• what media organisations have to do is make sure their communities have both the right tools to use on their websites and learn how to grow and engage with communities

notes on "The age of permanent net revolution" by John Naughton

• 1993 – the world wide web takes off
• the web is estimated to contain more than 3,000 billion pages and is growing by 25,000 pages an hour.
• this has created a revolutionary transformation of our environment.
• “endism” – the perspective that sees new technologies as replacing older ones (John Seely) eg. CD-rom predicted as a replacement for the printed book.
• although replacements such as this never came to be, the interactions between new and old media became more complex.
• led to the notion of media ecology (cultural critic Neil Postman) – the dominant ‘organism’ was broadcast TV but this is now in decline as the audience is fragmenting.
• the fragmenting audience no longer suits the business model of broadcast TV, which depended on attracting mass audiences.
• broadcast TV is being taken over by digital TV and will soon be devastated by Internet Protocol TV (IPtv).
• new media technologies enable viewers to determine their own viewing schedules and (more significantly) to avoid ads
• the era of ‘appointment-to-view’ TV is coming to an end
• it will however continue to exist as some things are best covered using few-to-many technology
• the net and the web are NOT synonymous
• the web is enormous BUT is only a part of the internet
• the next generation will live in an environment dominated by the net
• broadcast TV is a ‘push’ medium – producers decide the content, create it and push it down analogue or digital audiences at audiences
• the web is a ‘pull’ medium – user is in charge; they decide what they view/use
• the switch from push to pull is a radical increase in consumer sovereignty
• the emergence of a truly sovereign, informed consumer is thus one of the implications of an internet-centric world
• the underlying assumption of the old broadcast model was that audiences were passive and uncreative.
• passivity may have been due to the absence of tools and publication opportunities than to intrinsic defects in human nature.
• new blogs are being created every second
• the traffic in ideas and cultural products isn’t a one-way-street – as it was in the old push-media ecology
• number of people watching TV has fallen in recent years
• 24-34 y.o. fell by 2.5% between December 2003 and 2004
• 16-24 y.o. fell by 2.9% in the same period
• however, broadband connections rose more than 60% in 2004
• in the US, under-25s spend more time on the internet instead of watching TV

Key Concepts

Convergence - the process of multiple technologies being brought together to form a new product eg. games consoles now allow users to play DVDs and CDs etc.

Personalisation - the characteristic of offering users a personalised experience eg. Sky+ allows users to personalise their viewing schedule.

Interactivity - this is two-way communication and in the context of NMTs means content that is reactive to the audience's choices. For example, traditional TV is very un-interactive whereas interactive TV encourages a less passive participation on behalf of the user

Linear - these experiences are those that move in a straight line from start to finish eg. watching a film in the cinema.
Non-linear - these experiences offer more choice in how they view eg. DVD chapter selection give the user the opportunity to watch a film from any point, not just the beginning

Democratisation - the ability to communicate your opinions and ideas, or share creative output eg. blogging

Digitisation - material can be reproduced perfectly by a computerised system and transported effectively, across the Internet, for example.

Five areas of study

1. Technology
This area in important in understanding what the technology allows audiences and institutions to do that they couldn't do before.
It incorporates marketing, companies that provide it, cost, hot/cold media and push/pull technology, is it a new or old form of technology and who is responsible for its development

2. Institutions
This area is used to find how the new media technology allows institutions to work in new ways to reach their audience and make profit.
How are media institutions converging interests to create profit? This question includes marketing campaigns and how they meet audience demands.

3. Audience
This area is concerning how audiences are using their new media technologies and how traditional experiences of the media are changing. What are audiences giving up so that they can spend more time interacting with new media technologies.
It incorporates statistics on how the technology is consumed and whom this consumptions is by and issues of convergence, interactivity, quality, choice, control (advantages) and information wealth, cultural imperialism, piracy, surveillance and fragmented society (disadvantages) when appropriate to consumer.
This will require primary research, investigating consumption patterns.

4. Issues
Encouragement of illegal activity, increased spending, harming children? Issues such as this are very important when investigating new media technologies. Will people use jobs? Are NMT generating any "moral panics" (meaning how are people affected)?

5. The future
What could happen if the technology was extended?
How could media practices change?