Where does your media come from? Make a list of 8-10 media products you’ve
recently consumed. These could include
your top news sources, magazines you read, TV shows you watch, musicians and
radio stations you listen to, Internet sites you frequent, video games you play,
and/or movies you have recently seen.
Look up what companies produce your products and then see if a media
conglomerate owns those companies (use the databases on “Free Press” or
“Columbia Journalism Review”). Then
analyze your findings. (Remember that most
programming on services like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu are produced by other
companies. For example, if you watch "Scandal" on Netflix, it's
actually produced by ABC, which is owned by Disney. "Orange is the
New Black," however, is produced and distributed by Netflix as an original
series.)
List of 8-10 products I’ve recently consumed:
ReplyDelete1. Instagram (Owned by Facebook)
2. YouTube – (Owned by Google)
3. Jane the Virgin (The CW – CBS Corporation, Warner Bros., Time Warner)
4. Passenger’s (Sony)
5. Lovesick – TV show (Clerkenwell Films - Netflix)
6. Dreamland – Movie (Beachwood Park Films) (Watched on Netflix)
7. Drake (OVO Sound – Warner Music Group)
8. Tame Impala (Modular Recordings – Universal Music Australia – Universal Music Group)
9. Pokémon (Nintendo)
10. Mario Cart 7 (Nintendo)
Most of the media I consume come from different conglomerates which I thought was surprising to see after researching into them. After analyzing my findings, I thought a lot would be a part of the six multinational conglomerates but only a few are, while others are still a part of other huge conglomerates. My main media sources include Instagram and YouTube, with Instagram being owned by Facebook, and YouTube being owned by google, I still understand how those are smaller owned companies that are growing into conglomerates since they are more recent in years compared to the television and music conglomerates. The only media I’ve watched that is a part of the six multination conglomerates is Jane The Virgin, which comes from the CW network which is owned by the CBS Corporation, Warner Bros. and the Time Warner conglomerate. I thought it was interesting how three conglomerates can own one network. It shows how they maximize their power with each other to dominate in owning parts of the media. The other conglomerates were Sony Pictures and Netflix, which Sony is not a part of the large six but it still a huge conglomerate. I was also surprised to see how the music I listen to is a part of the three major music corporations. I had to really research their companies, especially Drake since he is signed by his own record label OVO Sound. After analyzing his label, I learned that it is part of the Warner Music Group. Also for another one of my favorite bands, Tame Impala. Their label is a part of Universal Music Australia, which is the Universal Music Group. For video games, I typically play Pokémon and Mario Cart. I was surprised to see that they are a part of the same conglomerate. They own some of the best played games that are owned worldwide between many age groups coming in with different variations of games and the systems they are played on.
- Sarah D
1. The People Vs. O.J. Simpson – FX – 21st Century Fox
ReplyDelete2. NFL.com – CBS
3. Finding Dory – Pixar Animation Studios – Walt Disney Pictures – The Walt Disney Company
4. Madden – Electronic Arts
5. The Princess Bride – Act III Communications – 20th Century Fox – 21st Century Fox
6. Fox News Channel – 21st Century Fox
7. Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey – Fuzzy Door Productions – Natural Geographic & Fox – 21st Century Fox
8. Planet Earth – BBC Natural History Unit – BBC one – BBC – HM Government (UK)
9. ESPN – ESPN, inc – The Walt Disney Company
After researching the media that I indulge the most in I came to a very surprising conclusion that many of the shows and things I enjoy come from one parent company. Based on this small sample of the media I have consumed lately I realize that 4 out of the 9 outlets come from 21st Century Fox. This is somewhat troubling as I had previously believed myself to be well diversed in the products I consume through the internet and through television but I guess I have been misguided like many other Americans. Before I began researching where these shows came from I had guessed there to be a much heavier impact from Disney because I knew they owned many companies such as ESPN and I am a fan of many of the movies they have produced. That was not the case as 21st Century Fox dominated this list. I also realized that more or else all of my television consumption comes from Disney and Fox while almost none of my internet consumption comes from these companies. NFL.com and Facebook are the two major sites I frequent online and they the former is owned by CBS while the latter is self-owned and is one of the parent companies that is beginning to absorb smaller companies such as Instagram. My goal after this post is to try and diversify my viewing as much as possible even if it involves performing some research beforehand.
RJ G
Instagram - Facebook
ReplyDeleteYoutube - Google
Grey’s Anatomy - ABC - Walt Disney Company
New Girl - 21st Century Fox
Devious Maids - Lifetime - Walt Disney Company
Finding Dory- Pixar - Walt Disney Company
Harry Potter - Warner Brother Pictures - Time Warner, Inc.
Beyonce - Parkwood Entertainment - Sony Corporation
Drake - Ovo Sound - Warner Brother Records - Time Warner, Inc.
After researching the media I have recently consumed I have come to the conclusion that I need to diversify my media sources. My nine media outlets come from only five media conglomerates, with Disney and Time Warner, Inc. being the most frequented. I think this surprised me the most. I had previously known before my research that Youtube was owned by Google, and Instagram was owned by Facebook. However, I believed that the television, movies, and music I listened to were so varied that they must all come from different sources. It surprised me that such a wholesome, family friendly movie like Finding Dory could also come from the same company that produces popular TV dramas such as Devious Maids and Grey’s Anatomy where topics such as sex, infidelity, rape, romance, death, and other mature topics are discussed regularly. Or that the Harry Potter films are owned by the same conglomerate that produces Drake’s R&B/ hip hop hits. That just seems like such an unlikely, and sort of comical pairing to me. I suppose I was under the “illusion of choice,” that because we are offered such a huge selection of media to consume that we must get it from a variety of different sources, when in fact they all some from the same six companies. I also took notice that when Facebook absorbed Instagram that this is how media conglomerates form. Both of these are newer companies, so it will be interesting to track how this company grows in my life time.
- Andrea W.
List of 8-10 media products recently consumed:
ReplyDelete1. YouTube (owned by Google)
2. GooglePlus (Owned by Google)
3. Instagram (Owned by Facebook)
4. Taboo-TV show (FX-fox entertainment group)
5. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell- TV show (BBC America, Cuba Films-Netflix)
6. Tidal-music (artist-owned coalition- Beyonce, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Calvin Harris, etc.)
7. WorldStarHipHop-(Owned by WorldStar LLC)
8. Flipboard- (privately owned- Mike McCue)
9. Stranger things (21 Laps Entertainment, Monkey Massacre- Netflix)
10. Hangouts (owned by Google)
There are many types of media formats, including print media (books, magazines, newspapers), television, movies, video games, music, cell phones, various kinds of software, and the Internet. With each type of media, both content, and also a device or object through which that content is delivered is involved. After researching the media products that I’ve recently consumed, I noticed that different companies own many of them. It was originally expected that most would be owned by one parent company, but to my surprise, some are even privately owned. For instance, Comcast, worth $55.8 billion, owns an array of media formats and even provides Internet service to which the media uses to operate. I would have thought at least one of those listed would be own by a sub-company of Comcast, after all it is one of the six largest media conglomerate. Nonetheless many are apart of huge conglomerates. YouTube and Google+, being the most frequent source of my media consumption, both owned by Google which is not one the largest but is still in fact a large and growing conglomerate. Google has a lot of great products to offer and I am not surprised that most of my media consumption is sourced from there. It is worth $250 billion, which is about five times more than Comcast, so growing, and producing more products will not be a problem.
-Levi S.
1. Instagram (Owned by Facebook)
ReplyDelete2. Hangouts (Owned by Google)
3. YouTube (Owned by Google)
4. Spotify (Owned by Spotify Technology S.A.)
5. La La Land (Summit Entertainment- Lionsgate)
6. The Office (U.S.) (NBCUniversal Television Distribution - Comcast Corporation)
7. Death Proof (Dimension Films- The Weinstein Company)
8. Paper Girls (Image Comics)
9. Bitch Planet (Image Comics)
I noticed while doing my research that most of the media I consume does come from conglomerates, some bigger than others. For example, one of the shows that I like to re-watch fairly often, The Office (U.S) is owned by NBCUniversal and it is part of the big six conglomerates which is the Comcast Corporation. The two recent movies that I’ve watched Death Proof and La La Land are owned by big companies like Lionsgate which bought Summit Entertainment, and The Weinstein Company which bought Dimension Films. With these two movies I wasn’t able to find whether or not they were part of the big six multinational conglomerates but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were since the media we consume isn’t as diversified as it used to be. When it comes to music and podcasts I prefer to use the app Spotify which is a really useful app to find new up and coming artists but Spotify also has many artists that are signed to conglomerates like Sony. Other apps that I use on a daily basis would be Hangouts and YouTube that are both owned by Google, and Instagram that’s owned by Facebook. Although these are smaller owned companies I’m sure that with time they’ll be picked up into growing conglomerates like everything else has. Lastly, I like to read two independent comics called Paper Girls and Bitch Planet. Both independent comics are from the same company called Image Comics which has in recent years become more popular in the comic book world thanks to AMC turning The Walking Dead comic books into a TV series. Overall, it’s surprising to see that most of the media that we consume comes from these conglomerates that in reality don’t give us much diversity. Although it appears as if we have selections to choose from we don’t have many choices as to where we access our media from.
- Gisell O.
1. Reddit - Advance Publications
ReplyDelete2. The Office (US) - NBC - Comcast
3. Modest Mouse - K Records, SubPop - Warner Music Group
4. Chet Faker - Downtown Records - RED Distribution - Sony Music
5. Glass Animals - Caroline Records - Capitol Music Group - Universal Music Group
6. TedTalks - Sapling Foundation
7. Messenger - Facebook
8. Psychology Today - Sussex Publishers
Advance Publications owns a lot of newspapers and magazines all over the country, and according to Columbia Journalism Review also owns the majority of the Discovery Channel. These are a lot of main sources of news, and it is concerning that it is all owned by one company.
I was surprised to see that some of my favorite artists are owned by three of the biggest music companies. These are three that I randomly picked and they all have a distinct style, yet are all separately owned by these three huge companies. This really shows how much control these companies have over the music industry.
The Sapling Foundation is independent and makes most of its money from selling tickets to live talks and from sponsors, such as Google, GE, AOL, Goldman Sachs, and The Coca-Cola Company. I found it interesting yet disturbing that it was difficult to find Sapling Foundation sponsors. They did not list them anywhere on their website. I got the list from Wikipedia, who got the list from a study done by Masters student Rosemari Ochoa.
Messenger is my main form of communication with friends, and it is completely controlled by Facebook.
It seems as though a lot of my media comes from large conglomerates, when I was hoping that would not be the case. I was hopeful when I saw that TED is owned by Sapling Foundation, but disappointed when I learned they have big-name sponsors. Sussex Publishers seems like the only company here that is not owned by a giant parent company. It proves that we need to be critical and analytical of the media that we consume, instead of blindly following everything we read or hear from our favorite sites or shows.
Helen P.
Delete1. YouTube- Google, which is owned by Alphabet Inc.
ReplyDelete2. Tumblr – owned by Yahoo!
3. Instagram – owned by Facebook.
4. Snapchat- owned by Snap Inc.
5. Rotten Tomatoes- Fandango, which is owned 30% by Warner Bros and 70% by Comcast.
6. Vine- owned by Twitter.
7. The Weeknd- XO and Republic. Republic is owned by Universal Music Group, which is owned by Vivendi.
8. The Doors- Elektra, which is owned by Warner Music Group, and ultimately owned by Time Warner.
9. Lana Del Rey- Interscope/ Polydor, which is a branch of Universal Music, which is owned by Vivendi
All three of the musicians that I researched are signed to labels owned by large conglomerates. Two of which, Lana Del Rey and The Weeknd, are signed to different labels, but their music is produced by the same company, Universal Music, which is ultimately a owned by Vivendi. There are so many popular/influential record labels owned by Universal Music Group, such as Interscope, Def Jams, Republic Records, that it is incredible to imagine that Vivendi ultimately owns all of them. I was also surprised to discover that Universal even partially owns Vevo, a popular music video sharing website, and channel on YouTube.
Social Media sites, such as Instagram, are unique, because they can be owned by larger companies, but many of those large companies are independent and not owned by conglomerates. This enables the social media company to have more freedom and also allows the user to have more freedom. Snapchat is a good example of this because Facebook tried to buy them out for 3 billion dollars, but Snapchat declined. If Facebook did buy Snapchat, they would have made many changes for the user, and the company may have had less freedom. Unfortunately, over the years many social media sites have been bought up by larger companies, which have changed them in many different ways. For example Tumblr used to be owned independently, but Yahoo bought it out. Yahoo changed many things about Tumblr, such as adding ads to the users blogs, and adding ads to the Timelines.
YouTube is another example of this because YouTube used to be independently owned, but was bought out by Google, who added persistent advertisements to most of the videos. There is a good side to YouTube being bought out, which is that it allowed users to make profit off of their videos. Ultimately, there are pros and cons, to social media sites being bought out by larger companies, and it will be interesting to see in the future if a conglomerate will try to buy out a large social media company such as Facebook, or Yahoo.
To conclude, it was interesting to discover that conglomerates own many popular music labels, but the most interesting discovery I made was about social media sites. I realized that some social media sites especially “up and coming,” or independent social media sites, such as Snapchat are independently owned, and other sites are owned by large companies, which are still not a part of a conglomerate.
Anisa S.
Media List:
ReplyDelete1. Instagram – Facebook
2. American Horror Story – FX (21st Century Fox)
3. The Flash – The CW – CBS
4. Arrow – The CW – CBS
5. The 100 – The CW – CBS
6. Split – Blumhouse Productions – Universal Pictures – Comcast
7. Diablo III – Blizzard Entertainment – Activision Blizzard
8. KROQ – CBS
9. Linkin Park – Warner Bros. – Time Warner
After looking up which companies own the media I use, I noticed that most of the media I use is owned by one of the big six multinational conglomerates. 21st Century Fox, CBS, Comcast, and Time Warner are four of the six big multinational conglomerates. They own seven of the nine media that I listed. The show American Horror Story is owned by 21st Century Fox. The shows The flash, Arrow, and The 100 are all on The CW and owned by CBS. Split was the most recent movie I watched and really enjoyed. IT is owned by Comcast since they own Universal Pictures. The radio station KROQ is also owned by CBS. One of the bands I listen to, Linkin Park, is owned by Warner Bros., which is owned by Time Warner. The other two are owned by Facebook and Activision Blizzard, which are smaller conglomerates. Researching who owns the media I use really opens my eyes to how big these conglomerates are. My dad worked for Warner Bros. Television and I remember him telling me that they changed to The CW since they were bought by CBS. It didn’t mean anything to me at the time, but now I am more aware and understand what is going on. The big six conglomerates want to expand and own as much of the media as they can. There are still smaller conglomerates out there, like Activision and Facebook, but it would not surprise me if they got bought by one of the big six conglomerates. Taking a look at the list, most of the media I use is owned by CBS. Surprisingly, the biggest conglomerate, Comcast, only owns one of the media I listed. Making this list really puts into perspective how much each of the big six conglomerates own since I looked through each of them to find out which conglomerate owned the media I use. Owning more companies shows power, and that is what the big six conglomerates want and thrive for.
Christine H.
Messenger - Facebook
ReplyDeleteYouTube - Google
Instagram - Facebook
Reddit - Advance Publications
Drake - Signed by OVO Sound which operates under Warner Music Group
The Office (US) - Produced by NBCUniversal Television Studio which operates under Comcast
Fire Emblem - Nintendo
Snapchat - Snap Inc.
When first learning about the different conglomerates that control the media in class, I made the assumption that most of the media I consumed would be under those conglomerates. It wouldn’t have been surprising to me as companies are always finding ways to expand their horizons.
However, to my surprise, I have a somewhat diverse list of different companies that distribute different products. I have known for a while now that Instagram is owned by Facebook, and Youtube was bought by Google. I actually remember the day the Google buyout happened and how I had to sync up my gmail and YouTube account to continue using the service. I actually was surprised to find that Reddit was not an independent company. It is a form of media that I recently started using more and the amount of freedom that it allows made me assume that it was its own company. Drake and the Office operating under conglomerates did not surprise me as the music and television industry is always producing new content; operating under conglomerates would be almost a necessity in order for these forms of media to be successful. I actually did not realize that Nintendo would be considered a conglomerate, but upon researching it, it makes a lot of sense with all that products they have provided throughout the years.
What really surprised me was finding that Snapchat is still an independent company. It has risen in popularity very quickly throughout the years and yet the service it provides is so simple. I would have assumed they would need the help of larger companies to be this successful, and yet they have managed to provide a successful product to the masses while maintaining their own independence.
In a way, I am satisfied that the media I consume does not all fall under the same conglomerate. If this were the case, then it would feel as if there would be less diversity in the messages I consume within the media. Although these media conglomerates offer more opportunities for the variety of companies out there, I do hope they have a good amount of freedom to express the company’s true values instead of following a single message the conglomerate has set up for them.
- Dean V.
1. Overwatch – Blizzard Entertainment
ReplyDelete2. KROQ – CBS
3. KIIS FM – IHeartMedia
4. The Bachelor – ABC, The Walt Disney Company
5. Buzzfeed – Buzzfeed Inc.
6. Instagram – Facebook
7. Youtube – Google
8. Spotify – Spotify Technology S.A.
9. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Warner Bros, Time Warner
From video games to music and television, I consume a fairly large amount of media. After learning in class that media usually comes from one of the 6 big conglomerates, I was curious to see where I get my media from. While doing research on the media that I consume, I was very surprised to see where my media came from. Most of them come from different companies. I knew where some of them, like The Bachelor and Overwatch, came from, but as for others like KROQ, KIIS FM, Instagram, and Youtube, I had no clue who their parent companies were. I didn’t even know that CBS, who owns KROQ, owned music stations. I thought they just owned television stations. I was most surprised to learn that Time Warner is a parent company of Warner Brothers. Although they both share the word “Warner”, I never put them together. In researching Warner Brothers, I was also surprised to see how many other various musicians they own. They own some of the most popular names in music from Green Day to Michael Buble and smaller names like Lianne La Havas and LIGHTS. I was expecting Buzzfeed and Spotify to be owned by a separate larger parent company, but they are not. Although Blizzard Entertainment, Spotify Technology S.A., and BuzzFeed Inc. are independent companies, I would not be surprised if one day they were bought by one of the 6 big conglomerates. I was expecting most of my media to come from one of the 6 big conglomerates, but I am glad that my media comes from a bunch of various companies because then I am not getting one biased message in all the media I consume.
-Katherine C.
Huffington Post (Aol/Verizon)
ReplyDeleteChewing Gum (Retort/RTLGroup Europe’s Largest TV, Radio, & Production Co.)
Friends (Warner Brothers/ Time Warner)
Grey’s Anatomy (The Mark Gordon Co/ ABC)
Broad City (Viacom/Comedy Partners)
Instagram (Facebook)
Psychology Today (Sussex Publishers)
YouTube (Google)
Ariana Grande (Universal Music LLC)
Adele (Sony)
After listing the media I most often consumed over the last 2 weeks, I was surprised to find more diversity of ownership than I expected. Of the television shows I enjoy on a regular basis, each was owned by a different parent company.
Chewing Gum, which airs on Netflix, is produced by Retort/RTL Group for England’s E4 network. RTL, while not based in the U.S. falls into a similar pattern of a few major conglomerates owning consumable media. RTL is the largest TV, radio, and production company in Europe. Friends, Grey’s Anatomy, and Broad City are shows owned by predominant American media companies. The television shows that I watch may have different parent companies but they still all fall under the umbrella of the same media conglomerates that control most of the programming that American audiences are exposed to on network T.V. This fits well with what we’ve learned in class and assigned readings that speak of the control a few select companies have over the majority of media content. While I watch these shows with a degree of critical analysis, I can see how the messages these programs convey are easily controlled to promote specific sentiments and ideas meant to drive profits and reinforce white, heteronormative, patriarchal hegemony.
I primarily get my news from a collection of online news sources, most often, The Huffington Post, which is owned and operated by Aol under parent company Verizon. I was aware of HuffPo being sold and have noticed changes in the way the news is delivered since Aol acquired the company from Ariana Huffington. I worry about the commercialization I see through advertisements and marketing, but I have noticed that they continue to compile stories from several news outlets and seek out a diverse staff of bloggers.
The music I listed is a small fraction of the artists and performers that I enjoy, however as I began to research the listed artists and others I found that they were all owned by the same companies. The majority were owned by Sony and Universal LLC.
YouTube and Instagram seem independent because they are owned by industry revolutionizing tech companies, however, the revolution as of late, is the introduction of targeted advertising and the sharing of browsing data of those who use their services. This is flooding users with messages that keep them isolated and controlled by their friends and social groups.
The only seemingly independent source of media I consume is Sussex Publishing’s Psychology Today. Although independently owned, I notice that the way content is presented on the cover is often suggestive and follows sensational tactics including the objectification and sexualization of women. The “brownie points” I may earn by enjoying an independent media source feel empty when I critically examine the way Sussex appeals to readers of their publication.
I appreciated the opportunity to examine where the entertainment I enjoy comes from and I look forward to continuing to critically analyze the content these sources produce.
-Jeremy F.
The media and entertainment products I used are:
ReplyDelete1: CNN (owned by Tuner Broadcasting system division of Time Warner Cable).
2:New York Times (owned by Ochs-Sulzberger family)
3: Washington Post (Jeff Bezos of Amazon bought the paper in 2013)
4: Uncharted video games series on PS4(Naughty Dog is the studio behind the game, which is owned by sony.
5.NPR radio (public broadcasting radio)
6. Daredevil T.V.Show( produced by Marvel television, ABC studios and Netflix)
7. Youtube (owned by goggle).
8.Apple music(owned by apple)
I was somewhat aware of my media sources being owned by big conglomerate companies. Most of the movies nowadays are big budget and are often finance by big movie studios, which are often owned by big conglomerate company. Big companies often buy out small startups which not only limit innovation but also control the flow of information. It also limits the competition and creates a very toxic culture in corporatism. CNN owned by Time Warner Cable might not be eager to talk about the net neutrality in their presentation. Since, lots of big studios are owned by somebody else, many independent movies may not get financial support. Most of the time, we are not even aware that we are consuming the media and entertainment owned by same company. For example, I would go to watch Sausage Party, a movie produced by Sony Pictures in a cold Friday evening after I play for four hours of Uncharted 4 in PS4. For news media, lots of papers are also owned by some other company which might affect its independent reporting. I often used NPR as my news source which is owned by National Public Broadcasting. Most of the news channels are also subsidiary of big internet or cable companies. Music also has received the same fate as most of the major albums are produced by big music studios. Major newspapers are also bought big Conglomerate companies, as newspapers are struggling in the new digital age. I was very surprised by the fact that New York Times was not own by some other big media company.
Sesan N.
The media and entertainment outlets I have been using:
ReplyDelete1. Scandal-The Walt Disney Company
2. Power106-Emmis Communications
3. Instagram-Facebook
4. Youtube-Google
5. The Rap Game-Hearst Corporation and The Walt Disney Company
6. Chegg -Privately owned by Aayush Phumbhra
7. Snap Chat- Snap inc.
8. Joyful Nosie(movie)-Time Warner
9. Fruitvale Station(movie)-The Weinstein Company
As I was going down the list of the different things I consume not even half of the entertainment I watch and use are not part of six multinational conglomerates. If you look at Snapchat and Chegg they are both privately owned companies. I have watched Scandal, The Rap Game and Joyful Noise which are all a part of one of the six multinational conglomerates. I have Scandal and the show The Rap Game that is a part of Walt Disney which we all know Walt Disney owned a lot of our major television shows we may watch. Then I have Joyful Noise which is owned by Time Warner. The six multinational conglomerates is where 90% of our media come from, where as in 1983 90% of our media had come from 50 different companies verse how it is today. We have 89% of the music today this owned by 3 corporations, and the only station I listen to everyday on my way to work and school is Power106. Power106 is in fact owned by a public company called Emmis Communications which is its own outlets. I cannot pin point all of the songs that come on the radio because they do play a varied of different artist. The last song I listened to was “Bounce Back” by Big Sean and he is under ROCNation which is owned by Jay-Z. Jay-Z is his own label he is not under any of the three major corporation, so a lot of the different things I consume is not owned by the 6 multinational conglomerates for media outlet and the 3 music corporations.
-Roshandra S.
1. Instagram - Facebook
ReplyDelete2. Snapchat - Owned by Snap Inc.
3. Spotify - Owned by Spotify Technology S.A.
4. Netflix- Netflix Inc.
5. If I Stay - Summit Entertainment, Warners Bros - Time Warner Inc.
6. Friends - NBC - Comcast
7. Drake - Ovo Sound - Warner Brother Records - Time Warner, Inc.
8. J Cole - Dreamville Records, Roc Nation and Interscope Records, Columbia - Sony Music
As discussed in class, the Telecommunication Act of 1996 deregulated the telecommunications industry allowing the formation of media conglomerates. Today 90% of our media comes from six conglomerate companies. As I researched each media products I had recently consumed I was astonished by my findings. When you realize that most of the media you consume daily, listen to or watch, is owned by the top media conglomerates is insane.
When it comes to music I usually use Spotify. Spotify is owned by their own company. Within Spotify I enjoy listening to Drake or J. Cole. When researching who produced Drake, I discovered he is produced by Ovo sound but under Warner Bro record which is owned by Time Warner. Time warner is the third leading conglomerate when it comes to our media. Not only Time Warner but Warner Bro record has the third spot of music corporation society consumes the most. If I Stay is also, owned by Time Warner too.
For J. Cole, I learned he is produced by one of the biggest music corporation, Sony. If I wouldn’t have done the research I would not have known. The one media conglomerate that stunned me the most is Comcast. It surprised me because I work for Universal Studios and it is owned by them. Comcast is number one on the list of where 90% of our media comes from. Comcast bought NBC and all Universal including Universal Pictures. Not to mention it is the number one cable/internet provider. Once I knew Comcast owned universal, I started making observation at work and realized Comcast is advertised nearly everywhere. An example is my debit card from work has Comcast printed on it and to point out the obvious the Comcast/NBC building is next door to Universal Studios. Also, one of my favorite TV shows, Friends, is owned by Comcast as well.
For social media, Instagram and snapchat are independent companies who own themselves. The fact they are so popular and not owned by one of the six largest media conglomerate is interesting. Netflix is also a part of a company who is independent but they provide movies and TV shows owned by media conglomerates.
- Alexis B.