Public relations faces dilemma

On the 13^th of August during a concert at the Indiana state fair, a tragic accident occurred when a stage collapse was resulting in seven casualties and more than 58 fans sustaining injuries. As a result, the band Sugarland is now defending itself via court attorneys against claims of negligence. (http://blog.matternow.com/2012/02/)

The band is pointing fingers on the victims and claims that they are not guilty or at fault this statement was provided by the attorneys. Nobody consulted the public relations practitioners on the tragedy so that damage control can be done.

Public relations practitioners could have made sure that a media conference occurred to avoid the negative rumors that are spreading about the negligence of the public relations practitioners, I mean public relations practitioners are there for a good reason which is to speak on behalf of the company which is the band and to make sure that the fans are happy under any circumstances. The band should never lie about the incident because the more they lie the case becomes more serious and shocking. The media has the story published on the headlines and I must add that the public relations team would have done a better job in controlling the dilemma but only they know how they plan to control this issue.

Immediately following the tragic event, Sugarland expressed sympathy for the victims and their families involved and has continued to do so throughout the legal filing. The rule of crisis management is not to blame the victims. Unfortunately, Sugarland and their legal team are now caught up in a blame game which will most likely end up in a jury trial. (http://blog.matternow.com/2012/02/)

Heather Yaxley, blogger for the Green Banana said “But I’m beginning to believe the majority of modern practitioners view PR as a non-intellectual trade, where craft skills count most, along with a friendly personality and a preference to spend time churning out releases and Tweets rather than thinking about anything more important they should be doing.”(http://jmc417.personal.asu.edu/wordpress/)

success, power and glory

Black Entertainment Television (BET) is a media broadcasting company  that motivates the black youth globally on achieving their goals. Just because you are black that doesn’t mean you don’t have the right to express yourself through music. BET is giving musicians a platform to express their talent through music. Music is a powerful source of communication people can ever think of. Music is who and what we are. Musicians write music not just to make money but to be heard. musicians use music to reach out to the public in terms of sharing their feelings, emotions, situations and social issues with the public. I believe that when people share their problems with people they love, it gets easier for people to move on to tomorrow rather than being stuck from the past. All in all, music tells a story.

E.g. Chris Brown and Rihanna are reuniting through music as they are collaborating on the song titled birthday cake. They are telling us, "the target audience" of their music that they are now dating which they are doing through music. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bonnie-fuller/rihanna-chris-brown_b_1293536.html) Musicians are using music to express their feelings, congratulations Robyn (Rihanna) on using your rights for your happiness through music.

Has the music industry turned its back on the beautiful black women? It’s a relevant question given today’s music charts. The Billboard charts are filled with many  African-American woman, but today if you look you’d be hard pressed to find such diversity in today’s market. (http://www.bet.com/news/opinion/sound-off/color-coded-is-the-music-industry-playing-an-unfair-game.html)

BET does not only focus on the black race but focuses on musicians as a whole because this is a big industry and everyone who is talented is more than welcome to achieve his or her goal and show potential through BET. Nikie Minaj is making money, all thanks to  BET by striving to make it big for the people.  The awards ceremonies, hosted by BET encourages musicians on working hard and doing the best that they can and in achieving that, they get an honourable award in return.

The impact of piracy in the global market

Piracy is destroying the music industry which has a major influence on the music industry’s economic growth. People are committing this crime to put food on the table and to support their families. This does not mean that they can take other people’s products and make them their own. Musicians are going all out to release hot and powerful music albums so that the messages reaches through the consumers or the target public. People are aware of this crime but they still tend to support the people who commit this crime.

Purchasing CD’s and DVD’s from local music stores can be very expensive but that shall not be a lame excuse for committing crime. People are coping and selling CD’s at a low price of R10,00 forgetting that someone worked very hard to get the album on track and produced. Just imagine if the original copies where sold at a low price such as R10,00 don’t you think that it would affect the music industry’s economy? And it would also affect the musicians as a whole. This is unfair technology was not invented to be used for committing crime but was invented so that we can communicate globally.

Piracy is killing the raw talent of people like Zahara, Zonke, Lira, Kurt and many other musicians who are passionate about the industry. Why can’t we just buy music? Music producers and companies asked. Why can’t we just start a new wave of total pride in original music? (http://www.gpjobs.co.za/?p=223)

While people are terrified of global warming, I am terrified of the piracy that has the potential to kill the music industry – what a sad world that will be. (http://www.gpjobs.co.za/?p=223)

ADELE MAKING WAVES IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

Beyond success

The success of album entitled 21 made her appear on the Guinness Book of World Records. She is the first artist to sell more than 3 million copies of an album in a year in the UK. Her album entitled 21 made her become the first artist in history to lead the Billboard 200 because of the popular songs called someone like you and rolling in the deep. Adele is also the first female artist to have three singles in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time, two albums in the top five of the Billboard 200 and two singles in the top five of the Billboard Hot 100. The song and album are actually the most dreadful experience from her past relationship. In her latest interview, she said her next album would not deal in heartbreak because “I’m done with being a bitter witch”. Since the release of the album entitled 21, Adele has overcome a throat surgery which made her think that she will be unable to sing again. In 2011, Billboard named Adele artist of the year.

Adele’s memorable moment at the BRITS awards

Adele said: "Nothing makes me prouder than coming here with six Grammys... I'm so proud to be British and flying the flag," as she gladly accepted the album award from George Michael.  She was cut off by Corden in order to make way for a closing performance by Blur and was a boo from the audience because Adele wasn’t yet done with her speech. Adele responded by sticking her middle finger up at the audience forgetting that it was a live broadcasting ceremony (viewers where watching at home). She later apologised.

Backstage, Adele said: "I flung the middle finger at the suits, not the fans. Sorry if I offended anyone, but the people in suits offended me. I didn't get to complete my thank you speech." ITV issued a hasty apology, saying in a statement: "The Brits is a live event. Sadly, the programme was over-running and we had to move on. We would like to apologise to Adele for the interruption." Brits organisers also said sorry: "We regret this happened and we send deepest apologies to Adele that her big moment was cut short due to the live show over-running. “We don't want this to undermine her incredible achievement in winning her awards."