Industry and audience power essay

Essay question: “The internet has given audiences much more power than ever before.” To what extent do you agree with this statement?

It is evident that the internet has given consumers much more power than before. Examples to support this is now that because we are in the new digital media age and more creators become smarter, they have come up with ways for the audience to watch television on demand. This means that the audience could catch up with their shows instead of watching it live on TV. One disadvantage is that the more people aren’t viewing the TV, they might have to shut down programs on the TV.

Changes that happened in the music industry is that now days, the audience could access music anywhere instead of the radio such as YouTube, Spotify and more. Also, people are now making albums at home on their computers that sound as good as studio albums. One advantage for this is that it could cost less for consumers and that you don’t need to pay rent on huge studio space. Another advantage is that you could go viral without a promoter. That means your music is able to have a potential reach of half of the world with a click of a button, and the best part is, it’s free. One disadvantage is that people get addicted to it and spend more time on their technology listening to music or making music that they won’t spend as much time going outside and spending time with families. Another disadvantage is that the business side of music is struggling to generate enough revenue because of the new technology. Most of the people who are part of making a record are paid in royalties, and anytime music changes hands without money being involved, those royalties can’t be paid—which is why so much has been done in recent years to try and reduce music piracy.

Changes that happened in the film and TV industry is that you can watch your favourite programs in colour which was introduced in the 1960’s. One advantage is that it saves time and makes the audience leave their work to go home and watch TV not on a scheduled time but to open up their laptop and watch it freely whenever you want. Another advantage is that you can also watch your shows anywhere such as Tablets, laptops, phones and more, and in any websites such as 123movies and Putlocker. One disadvantage for this is that people get addicted to it and kids wouldn’t do their homework but just go on their phones and watch their show. Another disadvantage is that because there are so much illegal streaming websites that thousands of people use to watch movies, such as 123movies, the movie company won't get paid that much. 

Changes that happened in the newspaper industry is that some people are no longer reading newspapers, but are now accessing their technologies in order to read the news instead of going on TV. One advantage for this is that people don’t have to wait for the news to come on at a certain time but can now search it up. Another advantage is that Reader can read news any time whenever he wish and able to read information again and again.One disadvantage for this is that print industries are slowly dying and losing money. This has a huge impact on them because maybe in the near future there no longer will be newspapers. Also, people could put fake news online and anyone would easily believe what it says but if they watched the news on TV they would know if it’s real or not.

In conclusion, I agree with the fact that the internet has given consumers much more power than before and that the audience have quicker access to watching shows, listening to music, reading the news and any other form of entertainment. This is because I think, and other people think, accessing stuff online is easier and quicker.