Music Industry: Music Piracy Vs. Music Subscription

The music industry is under severe pressure from people who download, burn and distribute free, albeit illegal, copies of copyrighted songs. Will subscription music services solve this problem?

For centuries music has be entertaining people and engaging them into this beautiful art of melodies. The music industry has been developing with the advancement of technology and the vocal effects. The music market has become so huge and with the media convergence, music became more accessible for people. Moreover, Internet made it even easier for people to listen to music through online stores, free downloading websites, and sharing websites. Online stores are completely legal and allow people to purchase the songs and albums they want online to download them straight into their computers, and that actually helps with the marketing for the singers and musicians. An example for an online music store is iTunes. As for the free downloading and sharing websites, people argue about should it be legalized or considered as an illegal action. Also, copying and burning CDs, should it be allowed or is it considered as being illegal too?

The way I see it is, although these kinds of websites exist, artist such as Lady Gaga reached the Diamond level of sales for her albums and that just proves that the music industry is not affects by the music piracy! There’s nothing that replaces the original CD and clear songs. Furthermore, free downloading should be legalized, as with all the new technologies people should be allowed to enjoy music for free. Its like a painting, people would rather to go watch it for free and admiring the art and beauty of it, the same goes for songs people want to listen to it and enjoy the melody, and of course if people liked the music they probably will buy the original CD. Everything that is illegal gives people the motives to break the rules and go around the laws. Moreover, subscription music services may work only for the fans of the musicians, but otherwise people wouldn’t subscribe and pay for a musician that they don’t really like, but they liked one of his/her songs, it just doesn’t make sense and still people will go around it. Probably hack the websites and still get the music they want for free. Music is a pure form of art that everyone should be allowed to listen to it and enjoy it. Although it is the musicians right to get money for what they are doing, but the statistics show that albums are still being sold, online stores are still going and people are still paying to listen to good music.

Useful References:

Limewire?

Music Industry Piracy Investigations

Copyright Infringement

The Relationship Between Fashion & Music Industries

Cultural industries are very related although the have so many difference. Due to convergence these industries became interdependent, and in this article I'm showing how Fashion and Music industries are related ...

Fashion and Music changed so much over the last few years, they transformed from being classic forms of art into crazy creative industries.

Fashion design is not about having classy and neat designs anymore, nowadays it became something way beyond. Fashion is about giving statements, being crazy and artistic. Fashion industry’s products are considered as modern art pieces as the designers blend, fuse and mix different materials, textures and colors to create their fashion lines. Moreover, you can tell a lot about people from they way they dress, the brands they wear and the way they combine their outfits.

As for the music industry, more music genres are created and more people are going into this field as it became more acceptable to be a musician and its considered as a great career nowadays. Music is everywhere now in shops, restaurants, phones, iPods, laptops, cars, and people are consuming so much music that they can’t live without it. It takes you from a mood to another as the songs can manipulate your feelings and thoughts.

Although music and fashion are completely different industries, but they are blending in and merging so perfectly that they became interdependent. They became very huge and popular and they are approaching a wide audience of people, as they are a part of people’s daily lives.

The advertising for these two industries is very huge now as the technology advancement boosts it. Songs, catwalks, new designs, latest news about music and fashion can be viewed everywhere now! TV, internet (Facebook, Youtube, gossip websites, official designers or musicians websites, mobile phones applications and many more..

Therefore, both industries became influential to people, specifically teenagers as they look up for the models, singers and musicians and consider them as role models. Also, fashion and music affect people’s behavior, taste, they dress, type of concerts they go to which will eventually determine what kind of people they hang out with, and what social group they belong to. For example fashion designer could launch a new line of clothes very punk or hippie and singers can wear them and as people like these singers they will copy them in what they wear and how they act.

One of the most famous fashion and music icons is Lady Gaga, she became known for both her music talents and her weird, interesting, amazing fashion taste. She gives a statement saying you can wear whatever you want without caring about others. Lady Gaga is a trendsetter, as people love what she’s doing and her uniqueness. Also, she is representing something new and everyone simply admire that. Moreover, Lady Gaga promotes for her fashion and the brand she wears in her music videos as they will be shown everywhere by almost everyone. Also, Gaga is in a position where she can use her popularity to promote her own products like her fashionable headphones that everyone is buying because it carries her name.

Also, Tokio Hotel band were hired by DSquared to model for their new collection in a fashion show, just because of how popular they are and the amount of fans they have got. As that fashion show was a success, the band hired the designer to make a new look for their tour. That’s an example of how the two industries work together to promote each other.

Looking at these examples shows how much music and fashion are going commercial and its not really about the talent anymore, it’s about what you represent and how you do it. Most of the people in these industries look for earning as much profit as they can, and in every way they can do it. Yet, people still admire fashion designers and musicians.

I think the future of both industries will be very technologically based as machines will do everything and there won’t be a need for huge crews. Also, I think a lot of things will be based on the virtual technology. Like models, singers, concerts, catwalks and you can have them at your home while sitting on your couch with friends and family! How cool would that be?

As cool as that may sound, convergence is affecting the two industries’ privacy, as everything will continue to be online and easy to copy. Designs will be copied and replicated, songs will be downloaded for free and gossip about celebrities of the fashion and music world will be spread so fast! But disregarding all this, the two industries are still successful and will continue to be successful!

If you want to know more about the relationship between the fashion and music, here are the links which I got some of the information from:

Tokio Hotel: Fashion Show

The Norman Lear Centerainment

Gaga Daily

Music's Effects On Teenagers

Virtual Fashion Technology

The Intimate Relationship Between Music & Fashion

Lady Gaga's Fashion

Conglomerates Own The Fashion Industry!

Fashion is a huge industry that is owned by many conglomerates. Conglomerates own most of the international fashion brands that are not privately owned by the designers themselves. Conglomerates reduce the invesment risk of the companies, increase the growth and the companies can increase their market shares and increase their earnings.
There are a few international conglomerates that own the most popular high class brands. The following is a list of the most important conglomerates:
• AEFFE Group (Alberta Ferretti, Moschino, Pollini, Jean-Paul Gautier)
• Utex Fashion Group (Utex, U&I, Hilary Radely, Jones New York, Daniel Hechter, Massimo Moda)
• LVMH Group (Louis Vuitton, Loewe, Celine, Berluti, Kenzo, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs, Fendi, StefanoBi, Emilio Pucci, Thomas Pink, Donna Karan, Nowness)
• Inditex Fashion Group (Zara, Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Uterque)
• GUS plc
• Benetton Group (United colors of Benetton, Under colors of Benetton, Sisley, Playlife)
• PVH Corporation (Calvin Klein, Arrow, IZOD, Bass, Van Heusen, Chaps, DKNY, Donald J. Trump – Signature collection, Geoffrey Beene, JOE, Kenneth Cole, Timberland, Sean John, Tommy Hilfiger, Ted Baker, MICHAEL, NAUTICA, J.GARCIA)
• PPR Company (This company owns retail shops and luxury brands, for instance Gucci Group)
• Gucci Group (Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Sergio Rossi, Stella McCartney)

Vivienne Westwood.. A Rebellious Legend..

Choosing an Important figure in the Fashion Industry in the UK isn't a very easy task, but when i started reading about Vivienne Westwood and how she created and introduced the Punk Fashion I was amazed and proud that a lady did that and she was successful ...



Vivienne Westwood is one of the British most known and appreciated fashion designers nowadays. She has been in the fashion industry for more than three decades, she added a lot to the fashion world, new concepts, ideas and way of interpreting fashion. Vivienne Westwood certainly is a fashion legend. Westwood has always been credited for the creation of “Punk Fashion”, because of how she presented punk style to the public and made it a fashion statement.
She grew up having a unique taste of clothing and a love for arts. As a teenager she made most of her clothes, and she customized her school’s uniform to go along with the fashion trends, by her way of dressing I think Vivienne Westwood made a statement that she will be a part of the fashion world, although she didn’t really realize it until later.
Furthermore, she started her university life by joining the Harrow School of Art, following her interests and studying what she really liked. Later she attended the University of Westminster for one term, and then Middlesex University. However, Vivienne didn’t really get into the fashion and art world after she graduated, instead she worked as a primary school teacher and this how she earned money.

But after she met Life/ Business partner Malcolm McLaren her life totally changed. McLaren had just opened his shop selling Rock and Roll gear, and Vivienne started designing clothes for the shop. Her designs reflected the turmoil of those rebellious times. Also, introducing the punk fashion meant that she was mirroring the social movements and groups that existed and still exist in the United Kingdom, as the punks were some kind of a popular social group. After that, Westwood and McLaren got into everything in fashion, clothing, shoes, jewelry, perfumes, underwear and all sorts of things. Moreover, this might have made them weird since they started all this in the 1970’s when people were partially conservative and not as open-minded as now, and that makes it hard for Vivienne’s designs to be accepted. But! They had faith in what they were doing and so in 1975 they opened the first punk clothing shop in London “Seditionaries”. They were presenting their fashion as the modern 70’s look. In 1981, Westwood showed her first seminal collection in London, and she called it “Pirate”. That collection was a success and it pushed her even further in the competitive world of fashion. Westwood made a huge movement in the fashion industry with her collections and stunning shows. Her wild fashion shows affected the show styles of the other designers.
After that, Westwood kept on expanding as she opened a new shop called “Nostalgia of Mud”, and it consisted of wild and unique fashion pieces like torn t-shirts, bras worn outside disheveled clothing and many more.
Unfortunately, Westwood and McLaren came to an end, but Vivienne kept on going and she didn’t stop. Westwood had goals and love for the fashion more than anything else and that was motivating her. She came up with a new collection called “the witches” in summer 1983, and that was the first time for her to be completely independent. Vivienne was away from the fashion world for a few seasons, but she came back after that powerfully with new concepts and new outrageous designs. Then in the 1990’s she was known as the Queen of Punk.
Success leads to another, Vivienne Westwood continued being creative and satisfying her customers, and in 1990 she decided to expand her customer’s circle and attract more people, and so she launched a menswear collection in Florence. Following that, in 1990 and 1991 she was named British Designer of The Year! In addition, in 1998 Westwood won the Queen’s Export Award. Many more successes followed until recently in 2007 she was awarded for Outstanding Achievement in Fashion Design at the BFA.
I personally find Vivienne Westwood a very important and interesting figure in the fashion world as she added and created so much for fashion. Alongside to her unique fashion, she had unique aims, she once said, “ My aim is to make the poor look rich and the rich look poor”. Furthermore, the way she developed and expanded shows how clever she was and although she had to go in separate ways with McLaren she remained strong and got even more successful and went international. Vivienne Westwood’s rebellious nature influenced everyone especially other fashion designers and so she opened the door for everyone to be innovative and to be unique.
Westwood thinks being dressed very nicely and formally is boring, people have to be unique to be noticed and to feel special. She believes that the way people dress can change the way they think about themselves, and she has a faith in fashion being a personal propaganda and that it manipulates how people direct their social, education and work lives.

The Role of Regulatory Bodies in The Fashion Industry

Regulatory bodies or regulatory authority is important to put legislations and laws that the Fashion Industry can follow to maintain certain standards and to avoid any errors. Also, the regulatory bodies represent the government figure as they have to ensure compliance...

The fashion industry in the United Kingdom has a few organizations that represent the regulatory body, as they control the standards of this industry, regulate and protect the companies involved, and ensure human rights.
BFC (British Fashion Council), this organization aims to get London to be global and reach the standards of other fashion cities. So they basically work on improving the British Designers' image, and showcase their best collections. Also, they do events like London Fashion Week, where they bring out the best of the British Fashion Industry. Moreover, the BFC organizes an awards event annually to encourage the designers to reach high levels of international fashion design standards.

In addition, BMI ( Body Mass Index) is an organization that controls and aims to put laws to monitor the size of the model and protect their health and humanity. Being models means being very unhealthy by eating very little in order to stay in shape, and skinny. A lot of organization opposes to the fashion industry which forces models to have very small sizes, and the BMI is one them as it indicates the limits of the sizes that the models can reach.

There some firms that are associated with protecting copyrights and helps designers to keep hold of their own designs. Also, these firms help designers in legal matters. Like the FDPA (Fashion & Design Protection Association) which is responsible in the situations that I mentioned.

I found a blog which follows the changes in the laws and regulations in the Fashion Industry and I found very interesting information and found them very useful as well. Click here to see the blog.

Ownership Structure of The Fashion Design Industry (UK)

These following graphs show how the ownership of the fashion design industry is structured in the United Kingdom. What companies, organizations and institutions are associated with the fashion design industry... 

The structure of the Fashion Design industry’s ownership is centered on the Designers as they are the main creators of this industry. Then the ownership extends to include companies and institutions. It starts with the training institutions which train people who are interested in the fashion field and improve their creative skills. Also, the suppliers are a vital part of this industry as they provide materials that the Designers need to make their fashion collections. The modeling agencies become important once the collections are ready as the clothes, bags and shoes need to be worn and displayed by models, and here comes the role of the press which includes photographers who make photo shoots that are published in different media. Moreover, designers need marketing companies which include advertisement and public relations, this helps to make a good image for their brands, designs and to increase their sales. Also, Fashion events companies which organize and arrange fashion events like catwalks and parties. In addition, distributors make a major part of the business side of fashion design as they provide the clothes for the shops and private clients and this is how the fashion collections are exposed to the public. On top of all that, the most important part of this industry are the financiers as they sponsor the designers and provide them with money to keep going. Besides the ownership of the fashion design industry there are organizations that are involved in setting the rules like regulatory bodies and associations.

Resources and References About Fashion Design

This is a list of some of the websites that I found useful and cover a lot about the fashion industry in the United Kingdom... 

·      http://www.fashioncapital.co.uk/

This website provides information about the fashion industry in the UK, the fashion activities and events and services for the people who are in the fashion industry or who are interested in it. It is a very useful website since it contains a big amount of information about the fashion industry. 

·      http://www.apparelsearch.com/fashion.htm

      http://www.apparelsearch.com/Fashion/Stylist/Stylist_Agencies_fashion.htm

This website is like a fashion directory, it provides all the connection to all sorts of fashion media like magazines, websites and newspapers. Also, it provide reviews, jobs, networks, calender and guides.

·      http://www.wix.com/innasa/Innas-Alatawi

As for this website which I created myself for one of my communications classes to describe a career. I chose fashion styling, so this website involves all information about how to be a fashion stylist. 

·      http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/reports/2009/futureskillsfinalreport.aspx

This link basically explains what skills future fashion designer will need in order to get a good career and to succeed in this huge, competitive industry. 

·      http://www.jobs.ac.uk/jobs/creative-arts-and-design 

http://jobs.trovit.co.uk/jobs/fashion-design-opportunities-london-manager

These website is like a search engine for jobs, by putting specific requirements in specific fields or parts of the fashion industry. It helps both companies and employees to find what they're looking for exactly. In addition, it shows the opportunities offered in this field so aspiring fashion designers can decide whether they will have chances or not. 

·      http://ezinearticles.com/?Changing-Fashions:-A-Look-at-the-UK-Fashion-Industry&id=274334

This link explains all about the UK high street fashion industry, as it gives us a glimpse about its history that gave the UK its fashionable importance.

·      http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/

·      http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/londonfashionweek

These websites provide information and updates about the London fashion week, when does take place, what activities are going on, which designers are attending, and so much more information. 

·      http://www.events366.com/Events-Group/Fashion-Events-in-London.aspx

This link is like a calender and an organizer to all fashion events that take place in London. 

·      http://www.ftmlondon.org/

This website is for the Fashion and Textile Museum which has a great importance as is displays all the new trends and it offers fashion related courses for people who are interested in this creative industry. This museum is only an example of the fashion institutions in the UK, as there are lots and lots more. 

These websites helped me in exploring the  fashion  design industry in the United Kingdom especially in London. I found a lot of useful information about the education requirements, jobs opportunities, range of salaries and events that take place in London. Moreover, London is one of the most fashionable cities and the Fashion Design is one of the major industries that make it famous. Also, it is the destination of most of the fashion designers for launching their new collections', thus it has a lot of department stores which display the latest trends and fashions in the market. The fashion industry in London is growing day by day since more people are getting their education in this field, and other people are waiting to see more of these fashionable trends. I think these websites are very helpful towards my research about this creative industry.