The reading last week explored the development of certain digital technologies, specifically in regards to discussion of the manner in which technological developments will transform the way consumers interact with media in the future on a global scale. Furthering such discussion this week, however on a centralised scale, Chris Leberer and Megan Brownlow put together an extensive report to explore the impact of technological developments with specific regard to entertainment and media companies. The report analyses the expenditure of entertainment and media companies throughout the globe, across a wide array of categories to identify various intrinsic pieces of information. Two which stood out to me are: that the growth rate of money spent on entertainment and media companies is expanding at a rate much greater than the growth of GDP; as well as the fact that this expenditure increasingly surrounds people under the age of 35. This raises a clear issue that the potential future success of entertainment and media companies is not only extensive in a global realm, but also based quite heavily on the interests of young people. By extension, it becomes clear that as younger generations are far more accepting of new technologies and ways of interacting with media, entertainment and media companies need to focus on keeping up to date with technological developments in order to maintain success.

One particular notion that provoked thought for me was that:

“Much of the E&M industry is growing more global, but cultures and tastes in content remain steadfastly local.”

Where the authors identify a large trend for consumers to hold onto more traditional technology coupled with locally produced content. This made me think about the digitalisation of the DJ. Where, whilst digital DJ machines such as CDJs have become an industry standard since their introduction to the market place 20 years ago, an expansive proportion of DJs prefer the use of an analogue vinyl DJ machine and there still remains a large culture surrounding vinyl DJing.

Summarising my provoked thoughts during the reading of this article, I believe that the success of any media company (or any company for that matter) during the current technological onslaught will be reliant on adaptability to new technologies, coupled with a retention of traditional and local values. Potentially going off a tangent, if you are interested in an example of adaptability throughout technological developments and one specific to DJing, see Carl Cox: http://www.carlcox.com/biography/index.html