1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
3. Did the article convince you one way or the other about the feasibility of a career in this field? Please explain.
Post as a comment to this post (click "comments" link below). Due by the beginning of class Week 3.
Chung, Erick
ReplyDeleteJuly 26, 2010
Audio Survey
Reading Reflections
Neil Gaiman Asks: Heard Any Good Books Lately?
In the article, Neil Gaiman Asks: Heard Any Good Books Lately?, by Neil Gaiman, he states that the audio industry business is not going down like the CD industry has and believes that it is on its way up. He provides three main reasons as to why he thinks the audio business has maintained itself and will be on its way towards the mainstream retailing. First, he introduces us to Mr. David Sedaris, who is a well-known author in the audiobooks industry. He not only publish books in audio form but provides voice acting with the recording as well. He states the problems with the audio industry and as to why the audio sales has dropped and how it can provide better results in acquiring people’s attention and sales overall in the industry is by providing better voice actors. Mr. Sedaris says that it does not interest the listeners when they hear one person doing all the characters in the novel.
Secondly, Mr. Gaiman introduces Mr. Martin Jarvis, who also claims and agrees with Mr. Sedaris in voice actors and its limitations on providing good story telling, says he would like to see it further develop into a whole new scale by seeing the audiobooks continue its market in digital form since he does think that the audiocassette is no longer the appeal of the consumer market. He states that having in form of ipod would increase sales and also having readers put more passion into the reading can provide better acquirable taste in listening to audiobooks.
Thirdly, author Gaiman refers to Mr. Don Katz, who is the president of a company, www.audible.com. The president of the online retailer store claims that the sale in the audiobooks industry has decreased due to the current economic market, but that does not mean the audiobooks has no business period. Depending on the time of the year, just like any other business, the audiobooks has its ups and downs. He thinks the retailing market can increase by way of implementing its audiobooks marketing with Hollywood to make it more appealing to all genres of consumers in the bookworld. Basically put, he is stating that the business is out there, someone needs to keep finding the right way to sell it.
Overall, Mr. Gaiman’s interests in audiobooks are in the emotional aspect or the experience aspect of the consumer then the graphical charts and business statistics of the business. He describes his childhood years as he is being read by his parents and how he enjoyed his life growing up with books and the ease of having audio novels being read to him in the car while he was traveling. But I have to disagree with him on the main purpose of the article which is to claim rather or not the audiobook industry is going down the drain or not. I personally think it is going down. I see too many great novels in text form in movie form before it even has a chance to be made into an audio form. People tend to enjoy the image aspect of entertainment, and not audio in my opinion.
I really do not see myself in the audiobooks industry as I have no patience for painstakingly re-reading the same pages over and over again with issues that may arise from my stomach and possible tongue-twisters as mentioned by Mr. Jarvis in the article.
Reading Reflection: Johnnie Gordon
ReplyDeleteMusic Industry Counts the Cost of Piracy by Eric Pfanner of the New York Times Global Business.
I selected this article because in the reading it goes into depth in the continuing fall of compact discs(cd) sales because of the rise of piracy and ditigal downloads.This article describes the lack of laws regarding piracy and how the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry wants stricter laws.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
The mains points of the essay were stressing the point on how the global industry sales decline 30 percent. It also desribes that piracy has cut out the middle man to receive funds that generated by cd sales. It also mention that the digital world of music has grown in revenue because of Itunes and others subcribes sites.
3. Did the article convince you one way or the other about the feasibility of a career in this field? Please explain. Yes, because this article shows how uncertain this industry is. The digital area is convient to access with no money being spent for the consumer. This article shows that the laws, rules, and regulation has no affect regarding piracy. I think the realesing of cd should cease and all music should be placed on itunes and on other share sites where the individual should have to pay. These big shots who are ramping and raving about money should make sites like limewire pay fees for everyone who downloads anything from that site to make up for the loss of revenue of cd sales. Opinion only.
Alfredo Zuniga
ReplyDeleteReading Reflection
Say So Long to an Old Companion: Cassette Tapes
I selected the article called Say So Long to an Old Companion: Cassette Tapes by Andrew Adam Newman. This article was interesting to me because it talked about not only about why cassette tapes are dying, it also has a few history lessons about cassette tapes, CD’s, and eight tracks.
The main points of the article are how the cassette tape still lived through publishers of audio books. Many predicted that the cassette tape wouldn’t last past 2009. The only reason why they have lasted this long was because of the mix tapes people use to make for each other. There are still a few cassette tape players for sell. There were still a few cars sold with cassette players installed. But with the introduction and the CD and now the MP3, cassette tapes are dying fast.
Audio books are still popular; I have a few of them on my iPod. However, having a career recording audio books to cassette tapes wouldn’t be a good choice. Many young people don’t even know what a cassette tape is or looks like. Maybe making audio books digitally would a better career.
Gerardo Valadez
ReplyDeleteReading Reflection
Vinyl vs CD vs MP3
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it?
I read this titled article called "Vinyl vs CD vs MP3" by: DJ Ron Slomowicz because he talked about how comparing from when he started djing since the early 90s how using Vinyl was the way to spin but until the Late 90s, he than began spinning Cd's. Then later on became MP3's which is pretty much out there nowadays.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
The main points to this article has a lot to do with comparing differences between a Vinyl, an old school record used from the early 1900s, CD's, a compact disc used with a lazer to read disc for songs, and an MP3, an I POD to a Computer Laptop with songs already listed onto a play-list.
3. Did the article convince you one way or the other about the feasibility of a career in this field? Please explain.
Yes, because I sometimes here and there love to DJ and I seem to find it very hard sometimes though when you see and hear all these DJs out there which makes it very competitive for me think about how I can do better and makes me different from that DJ. I personally use Vinyls to scratch linked up to my Laptop along with an MP3 attached for voice overs during a track fading to other tracks. Adding on to the list can go on and that's what makes this career and hobby a fun type of field!
Mike Valadez
ReplyDeleteReading Reflection: Say So Long to an Old Companion: Cassette Tapes
1. The article I chose is called "Say So Long to an Old Companion: Cassette Tapes". I chose it for the reason that I've noticed the decline in cassettes too and I'm interested in the downfall and to see if the article has any positives or reasons to keep them around for longer.
2. The main points of the essay is plain and simple. Although they should've died long ago, they've stayed alive for good reasons. The reasons mostly consisting of Audio books and the help they serve as that and also as mixtapes for hits and romance and the negatives they have as well like "melting" or "hissing" or "snapping in the Winter". Although most of us thought they were dead, most of us would've never guessed they had a good purpose like the audio book or mixtapes for romance or hits. But with the rise of MP3's and CD's, tapes must fall with Barnes and Noble and Borders even losing interest and business in them.
3. The article convinced me that tapes will be around for a little while more but will only last so long. I did find a few good positives in the article about how they're still being used as audio books, however, the article still lead me to believe they will die out soon.
Jose Avelar
ReplyDeleteJuly 27, 2010
Reading Reflection W2
I decided to read Basile, Lisa Marie. "How to Write for a Music Magazine." In this article the author explain what skills are necessary in order for a new writer to be able to work for magazine companies. This article caught my attention because I thought it could be something I can do in order to make money. There is a lot of good advice that the author gives.
The author explains some good ideas and tips in order for you to be able to write for them. She says that it is necessary that you know about music, new and old. You also need to have writing experience about music because you need to be able to write articles. Last the author say that it would be a good idea to start off with an internship because if you have no experience companies will usually not hire you. I believe that this author has a lot of good points in order to get the job.
The author did do a good job at convincing that this is a easy way to get in the industry and start making some money. However I am not interested in pursuing this branch of the industry. I want to do something that is more involved in the actual audio and not writing about it.
1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.
ReplyDeleteFour reasons why the audiobook industry is broken
I chose this topic because there is so much more room for improvement in this field than what the author is mentioning. There are problems with bit rates and quality of sound. I think that there can be a bigger effort on business getting together to better increase the quality of product, which most do have good products and sound quality is good, but I just believe that you get what you pay for. In this case you are better off going with the better companies if you want better product. ROI is another issue.
2. What are the main points of the essay?
Availability, usability and Accessibility of audio books.
3. Did the article convince you one way or the other about the feasibility of a career in this field? Please explain.
I have some ambitions about a career in this field because its expanding beyond just authors and publishers of books. Software companies, medical facilities, and other companies that are crossing over into the “digital era” are using audio books for some many things, such as instructional videos for working heavy equipment, Pastors who teach Sermons that are in a set of a series, I II, or III. I think two of the three issues discussed are more prevalent to the growth of this Industry. Usability and Availability which will lead to more Accessibility.