SYNERGY - ESSAY 2015

Essay Title:
"Discuss the significance of synergy within the media area you have studied."





PLAN
Section 1.
Discuss the vertical integration surrounding One Direction. X Factor advertises them, they are on X Factor (which gets X factor more viewers), they make a film which is released through Sony. Even with One Direction there is arguably horizontal integration too as Sony and Syco jointly own One Direction.


The most obvious form that synergy takes in the music industry is vertical integration within large institutions that produce a range of different media types. For example,  Syco entertainment and music demonstrate vertical integration between its flagship TV show X Factor, and the many musical acts that emerge as part of the shows ‘talent’ spotting process.  For example 2010s third placed One Direction, featured in the record breaking finale to the 2013 season which, according to ratings research board Barb, achieved 17.7 million viewers. It is no coincidence that this same act went on to reach number one in 2013 album charts, with its 685,000 selling album ‘Midnight Memories.’ The synergistic relationship here is clear. The success and subsequent advertising revenue made by Syco entertainment when producing the TV show X factor is huge, with some sources suggesting as much as £200,000 per 30 seconds. Similarly, the success of One Direction is almost certainly boosted by its continued relationship with X Factor, including appearances on the 2013 Christmas episode. My own research also supports the importance of the synergistic relationship between X Factor and One Direction. Of the 50 teenagers that I interviewed 2 reported having purchased One Direction's ‘Midnight Memories’ having watched their appearance on the X factor final. One of the two suggested that she only watched the final in order to catch the appearance of One Direction, which clearly indicates that viewing figures for the show are boosted by the appearance of such artists. However, more interestingly, one of the two respondents suggested that they didn’t watch the final itself, but rather followed a link posted on their facebook page to a recording of their appearance on youtube. The levels of synergy here are vast. Clearly, this suggests the importance to the band of their synergistic relationship with the programme, but it also suggests the important synergistic relationship that it has with youtube as the link she followed contained advertising, thereby ensuring revenue for youtube, while providing free advertising for the band. Another example of synergy associated with One Direction is the release of its 2013 documentary film 'This is Us.' This film was co-produced by Sony Pictures and Syco Entertainment, the two companies that jointly own One Direction. Here we see both vertical and horizontal integration at work, demonstrating that media production is no longer bound by the types of strict ownership issues that once dominated the thinking of oligopolies and instead simply focused on the many different ways that synergy can lead to increased profits.

420

Section 2.
Discuss the prominence of horizontal integration. Consider Adele and Sony Pictures (Syco), Eminem and Call of Duty. London Grammar and advertising Dior. These are all examples of horizontal integration which is synergistic in a sense, but more commonly described as cross media convergence. Acknowledge that the two are very closely related.

 

While there is clearly a difference between horizontal and vertical integration, it is also obvious that horizontal cross media convergence leads to a synergistic relationship between media companies. This is especially true of the increasing prominence of co-promotional marketing. One example of the significance of crossmedia convergence/horizontal synergy is the co-promotion of video games and films by music artists. Adele’s co-promotional relationship with Sony in the marketing of Skyfall is an excellent example of this, with the song achieving over 3 million sales worldwide. Arguably this is unimpressive, given that Adele’s‘Rolling in the Deep’ reportedly achieve closer to 8 million sales. However, Blake Shelton’s 2012 article for billboard magazine suggested that “Buzz generated by the arrival of her James Bond theme song "Skyfall" [helped] stir her 21 album to a 10% increase. The movie itself went on to gross in excess of $1.1 billion dollars worldwide, making it Sony Picture’s highest grossing film. While it is impossible to be certain of the link between the success of Skyfall the movie and Adele’s theme song, it certainly lends some credence to the advantage of a synergistic co-promotional relationship between the music and film industry. My own research also supports this assertion. Of the 50 people I poled, almost 30% said that they had watched Adele’s music video in the run up to the release of the movie, with the express intention of seeing clips from the film. Two respondents claimed that they had subsequently gone on to purchase the song on iTunes even though they had never bought an Adele song before. While this is a tiny minority it is still good evidence that there is an advantage for music artists to be in a synergistic relationship with the film industry. However, while Adele is signed to an independent label, Sony Pictures is the very opposite of an independent company, forming part of the oligopolies that own the largest market share across a range of different media, from film and television production, to gaming, music production and even telecommunications. With this in mind, it may seem reasonable to suggest that while it is obvious that vertical synergy is more likely to exist inside a very large institution,  horizontal integration also seems to require an affiliation with one of these same institutions.

Section 3.
Discuss the way that vertical integration can even be seen outside of the oligopolies, with Alex Day promoting his vlogging with his music and vice versa. Effectively he is an independent TV producer and Music producer.

However, while it is not surprising that both vertical and horizontal integration take place within  and between the institutions that dominate the music industry, vertical integration can also be observed in truly independent production. Musician and Internet broadcaster, Alex Day, is an excellent example of this phenomenon. 

 and his
large synergistic co-promotional relationship between the music and film industry. My own research also supports this assertion. Of the hundred people I poled, almost 30% said that they had watched Adele’s music video in the run up to the release of the movie, with the express intention of seeing clips from the film. Two respondents claimed that they had subsequently gone on to purchase the song on iTunes even though they had never bought an Adele song before. While this is a tiny minority it is still good evidence that there is an advantage for music artists to be in a synergistic relationship with the film industry.

PLAN - OPENING SENTENCES

1. One example of the the significance of synergy in the music industry is the way that co-promotional marketing strategies are now commonplace across several industries, like the co-promotion of video games and films by music artists.
2. Synergy also happens across companies, with co-ownership of artists signed by a specific label allowing artists access to a wider marketplace across the globe.
3. We also see synergy across media platforms, with artists featuring in film and television programmes, which provide a larger audience for both the artist and the programme on which they feature.
4. Another form of synergy that has emerged in recent years is the relationship between artists and the free online sites that allow them to promote their music. There is no cost for the artist to reach a large, worldwide audience and the websites make profit through the attached advertising that accompanies the music track or video.

REMEMBER THE STRUCTURE
PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE
POINT:
ANSWER THE QUESTION - USE THE LANGUAGE OF THE QUESTION

SECONDARY EVIDENCE:
OFFER A SPECIFIC AND DETAILED REFERENCE TO SECONDARY EVIDENCE

ANALYSIS:
ANALYSE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SECONDARY EVIDENCE

PRIMARY EVIDENCE:
OFFERS A SPECIFIC AND DETAILED REFERENCE TO PRIMARY EVIDENCE

ANALYSIS:
ANALYSE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PRIMARY EVIDENCE

EXAMPLE PARAGRAPH

One example of the significance of synergy in the music industry is the way that co-promotional marketing strategies are now commonplace across several industries, like the co-promotion of video games and films by music artists. Adele’s co-promotional relationship with Sony in the marketing of Skyfall is an excellent example of this, with the song achieving over 3 million sales worldwide. Arguably this is unimpressive, given that Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep’ reportedly achieve closer to 8 million sales. However, Blake Shelton’s 2012 article for billboard magazine suggested that “Buzz generated by the arrival of her James Bond theme song "Skyfall" [helped] stir her 21 album to a 10% increase. The movie itself went on to gross in excess of $1.1 billion dollars worldwide, making it Sony Picture’s highest grossing film. While it is impossible to be certain of the link between the success of Skyfall the movie and Adele’s theme song, it certainly lends some credence to the advantage of a synergistic co-promotional relationship between the music and film industry. My own research also supports this assertion. Of the hundred people I poled, almost 30% said that they had watched Adele’s music video in the run up to the release of the movie, with the express intention of seeing clips from the film. Two respondents claimed that they had subsequently gone on to purchase the song on iTunes even though they had never bought an Adele song before. While this is a tiny minority it is still good evidence that there is an advantage for music artists to be in a synergistic relationship with the film industry.

267 words

Source:

http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/1083395/chart-moves-adeles-bond-theme-stirs-21-sales-gain-blake-sheltons-christmas


TASK
In the comments section below, post your paragraphs.