The "Touch" Phenomenon

More and more devices are following or joining the "touch" bandwagon. and of course iPods are no exception to this. The purpose of "touch" operations is to make the operation of that particular device that much easier... as if iPods need to be any easier to use. This brings me back to the point that is emphasised by the "touch" option. People are passively demanding everything to be faster and more efficient. Everything that we use needs to keep up with the fast pace at which society is moving. It is almost as if we function all that much better when everything is coming towards us at a fast pace. I mean if you have of a cellphone that can change tracks with just one shake of the phone, i guess "touch" technology was the next and most natural route for iPods to take. This further emphasises just ho impatient we have become. Devices are getting smaller with bigger memory and a whole lot faster and more efficient. A large number of these iPods are getting more and more affordable. But as much as a large number of iPods on the market today are easily affordable even on a student budget, I find that a lot of students still opt to purchase the more pricey iPods, all in the name of efficiency, style, memory and most importantly...if its the best iPod out there at that moment.

All in all, i believe that iPods are a fashion statement for a lot of people and this is aided to some degree by earphones. for some people it is just a means of staying in your own little bubble when you desperately need to block out the world, and for others iPods mean a whole lot more than just a means to listen to your favourite music at your own leisure. for example those who devote their entire blogs just for iPods. It tends to be rather scary when you type in "iPod cult" you actually get more than 20 responses. In this way for some people iPods have become some form of a fetish. For some listening to music via the iPod is just a means of getting through the day. It is a means of coping with certain daily activities that we would rather not participate in. However, with all of this said, we have to realise that there is a very thin line between just listening to your iPod and just being plain rude. There is a time and place for everything and some of us music and iPod lovers alike have to learn that iPods are not exempt from that common sense rule.

But i have to agree that iPods are truly a fantastic new media invention. they are multipurpose devices that easily fit in with everybody's personal preference. All this can be owed to the initial love that people have for music and technology alike and not to mention entertainment in general

'Look up in the sky! Is it a bird?Is it a plane?Its Superman!' These words evoke imagery from our childhoods, and I'm sure we all remember the music that then followed. The same can be said for the sound track to our all time favourite movies, like the sound track to 'Titanic'.I've always been rather imaginative and growing up with the culture of television watching, music has always been associated with particular imagery or rather the other way around. By simply hearing the particular theme song for a programme or movie I am able to then remember the programme.Themes that stick out in my head include that of 'Pumpkin Patch' and 'Kideo' (I'm really showing my age here!), my favourites when i was growing up. The question then is if these programmes would have been so successful without the accompanying music? I know this might sound silly, but until recently I never quite enjoyed a song before i saw the video.I guess a lot of other people are like me or channels like MTV would not be as popular-my favourite channel by the way.Image and sound go together and compliment each other, it is with this realisation that music videos are so important to artists; you have not really made it until you have a music video out. Music is not only important in this respect, but also in film.Can one truly pull off a whole film, short or otherwise, without music? I doubt it. It is essential to the whole meaning making process, and adds to the nonverbal meaning making elements of a film.

Do like the Cockroach

The cockroach is one of the oldest species in the world, dating back to the times when dinosaurs walked the face of the earth, it has defied extinction, how? The answer is an easy one, it was able to adapt itself and survive through out the ages. The key characteristic of new media is one's ability to keep up , keep abreast and adapt oneself to its development. The advancing of technology bring forth many new and interesting forms of media, which are said to make our lives easier as consumers.These however, like anything in life, do present a flip side, they come with new challenges. This is a broad and encompassing statement, to narrow the focus I will be referring to the impact new media has on music. The progression from analogue to digital as far as prerecorded music is concerned brought about a huge improvement in its quality, out were the Lp's and tapes and in were compact discs.Music lovers were gratified by this new technology, but there was another side to the coin, Cd's were much more expensive and were easily damaged. Then came ipods and storage devices that can be plugged to audio machines ranging from home theatre systems to car stereos, which allowed individuals to download and share music from the Internet and amongst each other. This is all well and good for the consumer who can now own music without paying so much as a cent, through some illegal sites and music sharing. The flip to this however is almost devastating for musicians and music as a form of entertainment, unless it does like the roach and adapt its self to this new climate. The how might prove to be complicated, but what isn't at its inception? A new strategy has to be adapted by all production and distribution companies where some music is only available by down load from reputable sites, where the artists can receive all their royalties.

The Medium IS the Message

Music is far reaching and has an immense amount of impact on individuals in our global village, it is not only a means of entertainment but also a strong communicative tool, if utilized properly can be very useful. The reason why music is such a good way to relay messages is because it has the ability to not only attain, but retain one's attention whilst entertaining them. Proof of this can be seen in all societies where nursery rhymes are taught to children as the first step to the learning process; the alphabet is taught using a given tune- therefore making it easier for the child to learn and remember. Some scholars even, use music to remember their work for assessments by adding a tune to the given material. Having this much power at their disposal, one would then think that the material that artists and producers choose to produce would be of some substance. One would imagine the lyrics to be rich and meaningful? This is not the case! The content found in most modern day popular music is mostly of an offensive and derogatory nature, where sexual connotations are always implied and the abuse of alcohol, unruly behaviour and offensive language is encouraged. What then, is the message that these artist want to render to the public especially to our youth? We live in a society where there is no message, where the medium is the message. The engaging beat and rhythm of the song are the only things worth any notice. I have heard many er occasions where older and seemingly respectable individuals listening to inappropriate music and when i ask them why they would listen to such garbage, their simple response would be that it is not the lyrics they like, just the instrumentals! The sad reality is that immature audiences will not only listen but also emulate some of the implied behaviour. What then is the solution to this crisis? How do we control and censor what gets put out for consumption? Search me...........

Music and Identity

Youth and popular culture are mainly signified by the popular genres of music of the day. These range from culture to culture and from society to society. Musicians are seen as idols by many young people, who are more impressionable and easily swayed. They then copy their dress sense and even mannerisms depending on their maturity level. Looking at our own society, in the 1980's black young people were influenced by the likes of Brenda Fassie and Macy Phakela. This saw a wave of youth starting to wear the takkies and 'bang bang' jeans that these musicians always wore, they became fashion icons and the kind of clothing they spotted became very popular. With the amount of clothing artists wear decrease by the day, what does this spell out for future youths and their dress sense?

One can be presumptuous and then assume that even the clothing industry is to a certain degree determined, or rather influenced, by the artists who sell music, therefore implying that fashion is influenced by music. At the time when i was about ten, one of the most popular South African groups was 'Boom Shaka', this saw a rapid wave of young girls wanting to dress and look like Lebo Mathosa and Thembi Seete- the leading ladies of the group. We tried to copy their hair styles, braids at the time, and some were even brave enough to try and pull off their skimpy/ unconventional dress sense ( if their parents allowed it!). We didn't only want to look like them, but tried dancing like them as well; this not being very popular with our parents. For those who do not know, their dancing was provocative and left very little to the imagination. With globalisation and digitisation however, young people almost never look to South African artists for inspiration, but tend to prefer international artists. This having being made much easier with channels like MTV and Channel O, to name but a few. The youth now look at the latest trends American artists employ, the latest Beyonce or Chris Brown look are what you need to master in order to be seen as 'cool'.

This however,is not to say that American music and artists didn't have an impact on young people before the days of DSTV- hardly so. One could not have missed the influx of 'niggas' (pardon the language) that came in the early 1990's. Boys and even men were obsessed with not only looking, but dressing, talking and even walking like 2PAC and Snoop Dog! What i am saying however is that SA artists still featured to some extent. The question therefore is, has globalisation swallowed our own sense of identity?