Question 1: 

Technology has advanced considerably over the past 30-or-so years, and the cultural
industries have been on the forefront of some of the biggest changes. Drawing from at
least 3 class readings, discuss how technology is transforming cultural industries on
both production and consumption sides. Include your perspective on how
technological and cultural change are related, and your own perspective on the future
of cultural industries.

In this digitalized era, our everyday lives are surrounded by technology which is
convenient for us to get exposure to the outside world. With no exception of cultural
industries, they are encountering enormous changes with the aid of technology. While
some benefit from such advancements, some gradually lose their market and
competitive edge with the invasion of digital agents. This paper will explore the
transformation of cultural industries on both production and consumption sides under
digitalization. By analyzing different cases within the industry, a clear picture of the
relationship between technological and cultural changes can be acquired. In the last
part, further insights can be generated on the future of cultural industries.

To start off, the music recording industry is one of the prominent industries influenced
the most by digital networks, which have undergone shrinking consumer markets and
deteriorating record sales. Back in the old days, physical recordings were well-
protected by copyright laws, and it was prevalent to see people buy CDs or disc
records for streaming. However, in recent years, the digital distribution of music via
the Internet, including illegal file-sharing and legal music purchase in online music
stores such as Apple Music and Spotify, have intensified the competition within the
market (Hesmondhalgh 2019, 294). From the perspective of consumers, online music
streaming gives them an unprecedented, advanced experience in which a variety of
music genres can be found but not limited to an album. Therefore, the music
producers and record companies that once dominated the music business are facing
two major challenges: how to combat “piracy” of unlicensed copying by cooperating
with the authorities and how to compete with legal music streaming platforms by
abandoning hard copies (Hesmondhalgh 2019, 296). It seems that it is time for those
record companies to transform their marketing strategies to attract consumers on the
Internet instead of physical recordings. 

Another industry suffering from digitalization is the news industry. The traditional
printed newspaper business is declining in demand as new media waves emerge such
as BBC news can be installed from the App Store. The living habits of people in this
era has transformed to more technology-advanced while buying newspapers seems to
be a practice for the elderly. Apart from waning sales revenues, they mainly rely on
advertising for funding and profits. However, statistics indicate that the global
advertising expenditure on newspapers is notably deteriorating steeply
(Hesmondhalgh 2019, 302-3). It means that the prospect of the news industry is
gloomy, and an urgent strategy is needed to transform its operation.
 
On the other hand, the new media technologies have boosted the development of
cultural industries and facilitated the cross-border cultural exchange. As social media
is frequently used by today’s people, it helps the spread of popular culture globally
regardless of time and space, contributing to the increased consumption of popular
products such as Japanese animation and manga, Korean television dramas and pop
music. (Chua and Sun 2014, 419) In particular, Korean entertainment companies take
advantage of social media to promote consumption both online and offline. Their
marketing strategies are to establish an interactive relationship between idols and fans
on social media platforms like Instagram and Tiktok. This creates a loyal fanbase with
the connection of social media, also promoting the sales of offline physical products
like albums and light sticks. Moreover, online video charge platforms such as Netflix
provide channels for weekly subscription, which provides a variety of films and
television shows for consumers to choose and facilitates collaborative projects with
film producers around the globe, such as the recent hit-the-world “Squid Game” is an
example of collaboration between Korean director and Netflix. For free access online
video platforms like YouTube also find its position to earn huge revenue by
expanding advertising (Hesmondhalgh 2019, 307-10). This illustrates how technology
aids the development of the entertainment industry in a more profitable and efficient
way.

Apart from the transformation of consumption patterns, technology also gives rise to
innovative cultural products that are commercially produced, such as virtual idols. For
instance, Hatsune Miku is originally a software product that allows users to input
lyrics and melodies to compose songs by female voices, and then post songs on Nico
Nico Doga (a popular video-sharing site in Japan like YouTube). It also constitutes a
complex interaction between consumers that viewers can insert comments on videos
as if “live” participation. Besides, it serves as a virtual idol by its “kawaii” (cuteness)
image, attracting millions of male fans to live concerts as an animation projection
(Sone 2017, 141-44). In short, its popularity enables it to extend a network of
products across different media platforms such as digital games and television shows.
This example illustrates how technology advances the development of subcultures by
the means of new media. The online cultural exchange seems to be the mainstream in
the digitized world, aiding the offline physical purchase of merchandise. 

It is foreseeable that cultural industries will develop with the dominance of online
platforms continuously as e-commerce has been thriving alongside the prevalence of
digital devices. The use of technology gives consumers a whole package of
entertainment experience even just staying at home. Consumers can have a higher
degree of choices and autonomy for purchasing products online. Besides, producers
can collect consumers’ preferences data by reviewing the selling figures to adjust their
production styles. However, such advancements have a dark side that certain
traditional cultural industries such as the newspaper industry will fall behind the times
by substitution of digital media if they don’t have sufficient funding to transform their
selling strategies. At the same time, producers must not overlook the offline physical
purchase as some people still prefer in-person consumption, thus a combination of
online and offline strategy should be established systemically to maximize profits.  

Word Count: 953

Chua, Beng Huat, and Sun Jung. 2014. Social Media and cross-border cultural
transmissions in Asia: States, industries, audiences. International Journal of
Cultural Studies, 17(5), 417-422. DOI: 10.1177/1367877913505168

Hesmondhalgh, David. 2019. The Cultural Industries. Ch. 11: The Effects of Digital
Networks on Individual Industries.

Sone, Y. 2017. Japanese Robot Culture. Ch. 6: Hatsune Miku, Virtual Machine-
Woman. DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-52527-7_6