Our final exam topic on the coursework side is Radio.
We have two CSPs to study for this topic and also need to consider the place for radio in a digital media landscape. Here's a brief video updating where we are in the course and introducing the new topic:
Radio CSPS
War of the Worlds – Columbia Broadcasting Company (1938)
Life Hacks – BBC Radio 1 (2017-)
These are targeted CSPs and need to be studied with reference to two elements of the Theoretical Framework (Audiences and Industries) and all relevant contexts.
Example exam questions
Briefly define public service broadcasting (PSB) [2 marks]
To what extent is War of the Worlds a historically significant media product? [20 marks]
Identify two strategies or techniques used by Radio 1 to attract a youth audience. Explain the reason for each. [4 marks]
Explain how regulatory contexts shape the output of media industries. You should refer to your radio Close Study Product, Life Hacks. [9 marks]
Key question: Is radio still relevant in the digital age?
How does radio respond to the digital media landscape we now find ourselves in. Will younger audiences listen to the radio? Does it have influence? Are podcasts the future for younger listeners?
BBC Sounds
BBC Sounds is a relatively new app designed to bring younger listeners to BBC Radio content. It aims to fulfil its requirements as a public service broadcaster while also responding to the demands of the digital media landscape.
The ShoutOut Network
The Shoutout Network is a London-based network of diverse podcasts designed to give a platform for BAME voices. It demonstrates the rise of independent media producers in the 21st century media landscape. The representation of minority voices also arguably provides an element of public service broadcasting.
Introduction to radio: blog tasks Create a new blogpost called 'Introduction to Radio' on your Media 2 Coursework blog and complete the following tasks: BBC Sounds Read this Guardian feature on the launch of BBC Sounds and answer the following questions: 1) Why does the article suggest that ‘on the face of it, BBC Radio is in rude health’?
It has half the national market, with dozens of stations reaching more than 34 million people a week. Radio 2 alone reaches 15 million listeners a week.
1/9 Britons tune into the Today programme.
However it's only now facing competition.
2) What percentage of under-35s use the BBC iPlayer catch-up radio app?
3% 3) What is BBC Sounds?
A new app and website radio with livestreams, catchup services, music mixes and podcasts together under one roof.
4) How do audiences listen to radio content in the digital age?
Using apps like spotify and devices like Alexa which allow for you to skip songs,
5) What does Jason Phipps suggest is important for radio and podcast content aimed at younger audiences?
"Journalists have a process but younger audiences can find that very cold and want to access the actual response of human beings. They really want to understand the heart of the story.”
6) Why does the BBC need to stay relevant?
It could very quickly lose it's funding if it fails to compete with new competition in the market. Many politicians have expressed interest in getting rid of the BBC, including Boris Johnson.
Now read this review of the BBC Sounds app. 7) What content does the BBC Sounds app offer?
Anything audio (apart from long-form audio books). Music, news, drama, documentaries, true crime, comedy. Playlists, podcasts.
8) How does it link to BBC Radio?
The app lets you through any live BBC radio station
9) What are the criticisms of the BBC Sounds app?
>The information is hard to navigate and the search isn't sensitive enough, which is apparently common with the BBC.
>There isn't enough content: It needs to be as packed as Netflix to work.
10) Two new podcasts were launched alongside the BBC Sounds app. What are they and why might they appeal to younger audiences?
Beyond Today and End of Days:
> Beyond Today is a 20-minute podcast that delves deeper into the big stories of the Today programme. It's an attempt to mimic the new york time's successful "The Daily" programme.
> End of Days is a true crime podcast about the waco cult victims.
A London-based network of diverse podcasts. It launched in 2015 with their flagship show Melanin Millennials, which focuses on socio-political issues for millennials.
2) What podcasts are offered by the ShoutOut Network?
Mostly Lit, Two Fools Talking, Artistic State of Mind, Top 4mation and Archived History
3) What audience do they reach?
With the continual growth of these shows reaching more than 20,000 listeners per month, of which 92% are from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, the ShoutOut Network has positioned themselves in a prime place for sponsors and advertising to reach the vast community of listeners for their products.
4) What are the 2015 statistics on podcast listening in the UK?
3.7 million people, 6.5% of the UK population, listen to podcasts. 57% of them listen to them on their phones, and 47% listen to podcasts while commuting and 34% when they are relaxing or doing nothing.
5) The article suggests podcasts are ‘picking up more steam’. Do you think podcasts the future of radio?
Because podcasts are so diverse and easy to access, they're appealing to an extremely wide range of audiences who have a range of mainstream to niche interests. I think that, because of the diversity of podcasts, as well as the ability to listen to them at any time, they'll continue to pick up steam and mainstream popularity. However I'm not sure they'll completely replace radio, as the live nature of radio is presumably appealing to some audiences.
Our second Music Video CSP is The Specials - Ghost Town.
This is a culturally significant British music video text from 1981. Like Common, it reflects social, cultural and political contexts through both the lyrics and the video itself.
First, here's a video giving you an update on school reopening and teaching the key points from the lesson on Ghost Town:
Notes from the lesson
AQA introduces this text with a simple statement: “Ghost Town is a product which possesses cultural, social and historical significance. It will invite comparison with the other CSP music video allowing for an analysis of the contexts in which they are produced and consumed.”
Social, cultural and historical context
Ghost Town by The Specials conveys a specific moment in British social and political history while retaining a contemporary relevance. The cultural critic Dorian Lynskey has described it as ‘’a remarkable pop cultural moment’’ one that “defined an era’’. The video and song are part of a tradition of protest in popular music, in this case reflecting concern about the increased social tensions in the UK at the beginning of the 1980s. The song was number 1 post-Brixton and during the Handsworth and Toxteth riots.
The aesthetic of the music video, along with the lyrics, represents an unease about the state of the nation, one which is often linked to the politics of Thatcherism but transcends a specific political ideology in its eeriness, meaning that it has remained politically and culturally resonant.
The Specials: redefining genre
The Specials played a type of ska music known as 2-Tone - named after The Specials' record company. A hydrid mix of Jamaican reggae, American 1950s pop and elements of British punk rock, it was popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was also notable for its mixed race bands - the Specials had both black and white members - and its stand against racism at a time of racial tension in the UK. Margaret Thatcher had been elected in 1979 with the warning that Britain was being "swamped" by non-white people. In constrast, Ska and 2-Tone was prominent in anti-racism campaigns in the 1980s.
Ghost Town conveys a specific moment in British social and political history while retaining a contemporary relevance. The cultural critic Dorian Lynskey has described it as ‘’a remarkable pop cultural moment’’ one that “defined an era’’. The video and song are part of a tradition of protest in popular music, in this case reflecting concern about the increased social tensions in the UK at the beginning of the 1980s. The song was number 1 post-Brixton and during the Handsworth and Toxteth riots.
The aesthetic of the music video, along with the lyrics, represents an unease about the state of the nation, one which is often linked to the politics of Thatcherism but transcends a specific political ideology in its eeriness, meaning that it has remained politically and culturally resonant.
The Specials: Ghost Town video analysis
The video combines eerie shots of a deserted East End of London with the band in a 1962 Vauxhall Cresta lip syncing. The mise-en-scene and cinematography seem to reference a range of film styles including British social realism, thriller and horror genres, with the expressionist lighting drawing attention to the different meanings of the lyric ‘ghost town’.
The strong political message of the video is a challenge to the audience with a direct mode of address which is both angry and plaintive. The video was unusual for the time in conveying a strong social message (in contrast to the dominant style of pop music in the charts at the time), meaning that the audience of the time might well have been shocked or discomfited by it.
Conduct a close-textual semiotic analysis of the video focusing on how meanings are created. Think about the following areas in particular:
Narrative
Mise-en-scene: setting, lighting, colour, actor placement/movement, costume and props
Camerawork and editing
Ghost Town and media theory
Andrew Goodwin's theory of music video is a useful one to learn when analysing Ghost Town. His theory states that music videos contain some or all of the following elements:
A link between the visuals & lyrics (complement, contradict or amplify)
Genre characteristics (heavy metal in industrialised settings; rap music in urban street contexts etc.)
Contain intertextual references (references to popular culture)
Contain notions of looking (e.g. screens within screens)
Include objectification of females (e.g. male gaze)
Include demands of the record label (close ups of lead singer, symbols or motifs associated with the band / performer etc.)
Video will be performance, narrative or concept based.
Applying Neale’s genre theory
Music video was still a very new media form in 1981 so it’s therefore difficult to find ‘repetition and difference’.
However, the video clearly uses recognisable genre conventions of film genres such as social realism and horror to create something familiar to audiences and yet new and different as it was in the form of a music video.
Applying Gilroy’s diasporic identity The representations in the music video are racially diverse. This reflects its musical genre of ska, a style which could be read politically in the context of a racially divided country. This representation of Britain’s emerging multiculturalism, is reinforced through the eclectic mix of stylistic influences in both the music and the video. The song and video offers evidence of Gilroy’s Black Atlantic diasporic identity theory – that black culture is forged through travel and hybridity, a “liquidity of culture”. The Specials are representative of ska – itself an international hybrid music genre blurring reggae and American 1950/60s pop and later elements of punk rock – which brings in working-class British culture (linked in part to Coventry in the Midlands where they were formed). Ghost Town and Postmodernism The hybrid mix of references and music video forms – an experimental combination of narrative (the journey), performance and concept – means that the video can be read through a postmodern approach with reference to intertextuality and hybridity. We can see examples of bricolage and pastiche – a merging of British film genres such as social realism and hammer horror in order to create something new (as music videos were in 1981). The lighting, colour and camerawork also create intertextual references to these film genres. Arguably, the narrative offers an example of bricolage - a postmodern take on the 'road movie' but with no destination or quest to complete (which is perhaps why the video ends with them aimlessly throwing stones into the River Thames). Finally, it could be argued that the combination of an arthouse film-style with a popular genre of music (the song reached #1 in the British chart) provides an example of Strinati’s definition of postmodernism as a blurring of art and popular culture.
Industry contexts
Ghost Town video director Barney Bubbles said: "A good video can sell a record which might not do so well," Bubbles told Smash Hits magazine in 1982. "The record companies know that. I think Chrysalis would agree that The Specials’ 'Ghost Town' video helped sales a good deal. This year I intend to make videos which are really inexpensive but really inventive. It can be done, you know."
In 1981 opportunities for revenue directly from music videos were very limited and their economic value came as a marketing tool to advertise the single. This function was particularly important pre-internet, with the popularity of broadcast pop shows such as Top of the Pops (MTV was launched in 1981 but had limited availability in the UK initially). However, the Ghost Town video is now on YouTube with revenue opportunities through viewing and advertising. It also provides a link to The Specials YouTube subscription channel which has opportunities to purchase their back catalogue and new material.
1) Why does the writer link the song to cinematic soundtracks and music hall tradition?
It paints a bleak aural and lyrical landscape. Written in E♭, more attuned to “mood music”, with nods to cinematic soundtracks and music hall tradition, it reflects and engenders anxiety.
2) What subcultures did 2 Tone emerge from in the late 1970s?
Mod and Punk subcultures
3) What social contexts are discussed regarding the UK in 1981?
Riots were breaking out across its urban areas. Deprived, forgotten, run down and angry, these were places where young people, black and white, erupted. In these neglected parts of London, Birmingham, Leeds and Liverpool the young, the unemployed, and the disaffected fought pitch battles with the police.
4) Cultural critic Mark Fisher describes the video as ‘eerie’. What do you think is 'eerie' about the Ghost Town video?
The cinematography and settings, within the context of the lyrics especially, is unsettling as something is clearly 'off' or missing. There are many people crammed in a car at night, through dim tunnels and empty streets, with their expressions and mannerisms changing on a whim along with the music with the music.
5) Look at the final section (‘Not a dance track’). What does the writer suggest might be the meanings created in the video? Do you agree?
The video depicts how "protest sometimes has no words" and the absence of people in the video is a cry out against injustice, against closed off opportunities, filmed before the bankers get there and after the cleaning ladies have gone.
It starts with a siren and those woozy, lurching organ chords. Then comes the haunted, spectral woodwind, punctuated by blaring brass. Over a sparse reggae bass line, a West Indian vocal mutters warnings of urban decay, unemployment and violence.
[...]
The song's much-celebrated video - in which the band, crammed into a Vauxhall Cresta, patrol empty, crumbling streets - seems unlikely promotional material for a hit single.
2) What does the article say about the social context of the time – what was happening in Britain in 1981?
A depiction of social breakdown that provided the soundtrack to an explosion of civil unrest. "it expressed the mood of the early days of Thatcher's Britain for many. "It was clear that something was very, very, wrong," the song's writer, Jerry Dammers, has said."
3) How did The Specials reflect an increasingly multicultural Britain?
With a mix of black and white members, The Specials, too, encapsulated Britain's burgeoning multiculturalism. The band's 2 Tone record label gave its name to a genre which fused ska, reggae and new wave and, in turn, inspired a crisply attired youth movement.
They used a reggae beat as well as take influences from other cultures.
4) How can we link Paul Gilroy’s theories to The Specials and Ghost Town?
The music itself is a social commentary and protest of the state of Britain at the time, commenting on political tensions and unease. The genre of ska and the existence of the specials can be seen as a political statement due to the racially divided Britain in the 80s: The Specials is a mixed race band representative of a genre of music which can be considered a hybrid of reggae, American pop and punk rock. These elements accumulate in a hybrid of Black culture with working class British culture, supporting Gilroy's diasporic identity theory.
5) The article discusses how the song sounds like a John Barry composition. Why was John Barry a famous composer and what films did he work on?
John Barry is a famous composer who composed the scores for 11 of the James Bond films, including the main theme for the first ever Bond film in 1962.
Close-textual analysis of Ghost Town
Watch the video several times and make bullet-point notes of your close-textual semiotic analysis using the following headings:
opens with low angle shots of high rise buidings
shot east end of london early in morning
create sense of foreboding , looming over audience, threat
entire video drive through ghost town
40 secs in see band in car: dressed in classic sca/ two tone costume
pace of editing in chorus increased dramatically, w/ car veering from one side to another
camera movements, turning over entirely, horror genre
classic music vid convention: pace of edtiing
tunnel shots creates sense of travelling but not getting anywhere bc shot isnt changing: narrative? meanings behind video?
traveling w/ no purpose: atmosphere in britain in 1981
lighting + colour: uplighting in car: horror
abandoned cars lit from inside: inside, ghostly,
shadows on walls enacting lyrics of song
lighting used to create effects
not in black and white, although looks like it could be: greys, blues, muted colours
creates atmosphere: ominous, eerie, dangerous
band member ejected from car at one point.
shots towards end suggest losing control: out of control
video ends banks of the thames: londons industry on the other side of river
mindlessly throwing rocks into river suggests hopelessness aimlessness of lives for working class people in 1980s
slow fade 2 black
1) Mise-en-scene: Setting, Lighting, Colour, Actor/performer placement and movement, Costume and props. How are some of these aspects used to create meanings?
The video is set in East London, early morning. The deserted setting of what would usually be a busy place creates an eerie tone, with the video portraying a drive through an empty ghost town.
40 seconds in we see the band dressed in classic sca/ two-tone costume, capturing the genre. The band themselves are crammed into the car, and we can see strip lighting appear on the windshield while they mouth the lyrics with little emotion. This continues the creepy atmosphere.
Lighting is used to suggest horror: Abandoned cars are lit from inside and shadows dance on the walls of the town enacting the lyrics of the song. The use of lighting especially helps create the ghostly atmosphere of the music video.
The music video uses muted colours, almost looking like it could be black and white, with primarily cool blues and warm greys.
2) Cinematography: Camera shots and camera movement.
The video begins with low angle shots of high rise buildings, some static shots and some moving with the camera. This creates a sense of foreboding and instant threat as the buildings loom over the audience. (Their appearance is also timed with the notes of the music.)
The camera in the video is consistently moving at a slow pace along with the music, moving through the streets of East London. This hand held camera movement positions the audience into the setting of this ghost town, somewhat like they're in the car along with the band, looking up at the buildings.
The tunnel shots create a sense of moving but not actually getting anywhere, because the shot isn't changing. This idea of travelling with no purpose could mirror the atmosphere of Britain in 1981 and the lyrics of the video; with Thatcherism and general social unease in Britain being apparent.
Around 1:04 minutes in, the camera begins to swerve and topple, at one point turning over entirely, matching with the maniacal and jarring shift in the music and the movement of the car. This has conventions of the horror genre and helps the eerie atmosphere of the music video.
3) Editing: Pace, juxtaposition, timing.
As we reach the chorus, the pace of the editing dramatically increases as the car begins to steer out of control, veering from one side to the other in a frightening display that seems to have been foreboded from the start. This happens once again, when the same "AAAA" chorus is repeated.
A fast pace is a classic music video convention, however it is juxtaposed with the eerie build up and falling action being slower paced.
Now apply media theory to the video - perhaps by considering whether Ghost Town reinforces or challenges some of the media theories we have studied. Make bullet-point notes on the following:
1) Goodwin’s theory of music video.
> Link between lyrics, music and visuals. > Genre characteristics
2) Neale’s genre theory.
Uses recognisable genre conventions of film genres such as social realism and horror to create something familiar to audiences and yet new and different as it was in the form of a music video.
The music itself is a social commentary and protest of the state of Britain at the time, commenting on political tensions and unease. The genre of ska and the existence of the specials can be seen as a political statement due to the racially divided Britain in the 80s: The Specials is a mixed race band representative of a genre of music which can be considered a hybrid of reggae, American pop and punk rock. These elements accumulate in a hybrid of Black culture with working class British culture, supporting Gilroy's diasporic identity theory.
4) Bricolage and pastiche.
Elements of the horror genre and perhaps general parody of 80s horror films.
Narrative bricolage: hinting at road movies with no destination or quest to complete so they don't end up going anywhere.
5) Strinati’s definition of postmodernism.
Perhaps the ideals behind the music, essentially being a protest, is an example of mediatisation. The music video is commenting on British culture at the time, becoming a sort of time capsule of early 80s political tensions and the effects of Thatcherism through a video artform that was increasingly popular. "The desires of the moment rather than the truths of history" maybe?
