The+Rise+and+Fall+of+the+Hit+-+A+Summary

Summary**
 * Rise and Fall of the Hit

- NSYNC’s release of new album set record of 1st day sale - Huge drop in music record sales after the release of No Strings Attached - Traditional model of marketing is not working anymore, signifies an end of an era - It isn’t because the popularity of music decreased, big players of music business blames piracy - Technology (P2P) gave audience a “choice” and sense of “exploration” instead of flashy packaging of newly released records - Audiences can now purchase songs one by one, instead of buying the whole album and getting a few good songs - Another reason for diminishing record sales is due to the ineffectiveness of in-store displays (audiences simply don’t come in contact with them much anymore because of programs like Napster and various online music stores) - Rock radio stations also has declined listeners, due to the Telecommunication Act which added 700 FM stations to the dial and the popularization of cell phones and Mp3 players (ipods) - Besides radio stations, TV ratings, major events (Oscar, Olympics…etc), box office, and many other media platforms have dramatic declination of audience - But one has to remember that culture before the industrial revolution, was mostly local, niches were geographic - Media platform as unifiers – TV, radio…etc - Internet is the opposite of broadcasting - The concept of a “hit” is no longer a monopoly, now it is up to us, the mass public, to decide what a hit is, separated by interest and niches.