Note- this 'cheat sheet' assumes you will be answering an 'industry' question with the 'music industry' examples, ie Kanye West, Lady Gaga, and your own chosen artist. You could, of course, answer an audience question instead.
“Digital technology”
• Recording
• techniques
• Websites
• Videos
• Social networking
• Youtube
• itunes, spotify etc
• Live performances
• Production techniques.
• Distribution.
• Use of social media –twitter etc.
• Marketing – via website, youtube,
• Listening formats
“Marketing”
• Band/performer websites
• exposure – magazines, celebrity endorsement etc
• fan sites
• music press articles
• social networking sites
• viral campaigns
• iTunes etc.
“Distribution”
• Financial – ownership, budget, etc
• Industry – size, scope
• Placement, marketing strategies
• Internet.
Distribution may be interpreted widely here and discussions on performances, videos and music releases are all valid. Other factors may include star person and music genre.
In general, I would advise arguing that distribution is not as essential as celebrity. Instead emphasise that physical sales are simply not as important anymore, and discuss the decline in CD sales.
“Advantages of the internet”
• Internet develops audience engagement (e.g., through points noted below)
• Sites directly linked to the selected texts e.g. band websites, label websites,
• newspaper/magazine on-line
• Blogs
• Twitter (ultimate in uses and gratification!)
• Use of YouTube
• Social networking sites e.g. MySpace, Facebook, Bebo (lol), etc.
“Stars and celebs”
• Clearly important !
• Websites (official)
• Fan sites and fan fiction
• forums
• Videos
• Social networking
• Chat shows
• Magazines
“Regulation”
• Largely self-regulated
• Legal constraints in areas of copyright, licensing, downloading
• New threats such as peer to peer and torrent sites
• Parental advisory stickers
• Radio edits
• Censorship