Beats by Dre
Beats by Dre created by the company Monster, but sold under the idea that they were made by Dr Dre himself, creating an image that people will want to buy into
Needs it Fulfils
The needs that they fulfil are created by the idea behind them and the selling point. The information on the 'about' page of the website doesn't really give you any useful information in relation to the product but sells them to you saying "people aren't hearing all the music." making a statement that makes you think your missing out and it continues saying how artists and producers 'work hard' 'perfecting' their sound, but how you "can't really hear it with 'normal' headphones" saying they can't handle the bass.
The last line "With Beats, people are going to hear what the artists hear, and listen to the music the way they should: the way I do."
Implying that if they don't have these headphones they won't be able to hear the music from their favourite artists in the way that they do, again making them feel as though they are missing out and making you feel as if the headphones are a must.
Exchange Value
...
Symbolic Value
It's symbolic value is showing that you can afford the 'best of the best' the current must have headphones that a lot of celebrities and artists are talking about.
Beats by Dre have also collaborated with some of the most popular American artists and sports personalities of 2010, this is a good way of selling something, they have some of the biggest fan bases and therefore those are the people who will want to have something that their favourite artist has. In a way it's offering you something that celebrities have that you can own without having to save thousands.
Lady Gaga - Heartbeats
Diddy -Diddybeats
Lebron James - powerbeats
Justin Bieber - Justbeats
Real Value
..
£279 studio £80
selling line..
"People aren't hearing all the music.
Artists and producers work hard in the studio perfecting their sound. But people can't really hear it with normal headphones. Most headphones can't handle the bass, the detail, the dynamics. Bottom line, the music doesn't move you.
With Beats, people are going to hear what the artists hear, and listen to the music the way they should: the way I do."
Other items
iPad
Louboutins
Louis Vuitton Luggage
Consuming Passions
Francis Millet, the gleaners' 1857
Claud Monet, Impression, sunrise 1872
Karl Marx 1818 - 1883
capitalism
-an economic system
-emphasis on the acquisition of 'capital' i.e money
-The means of production, i.e. factories are normally privately owned rather than by states
-Privately owned rather than by states
-Free market rather than controlled
-Relies upon fetishisation of commodities
-'Exchange value' is separate to it's 'use value'
buying things you don't have time to make, you loose the ability to make things
Now generating money from business where as previously people would grow up with the same money as their family.
Created the leisure industry.
Selfridges, first toilets in store that allowed consumerism to grow as people could shop for longer.
Charles Frederick Worth 1895, first main designer, people now able to spend more money on luxuries fashion, perfume, the market opened for designers.
Theodor Adorno 1903 - 1969
-'Real' or true needs vs. 'False' need. shops selling us things we don't need
-Commodity fetishism -Things you don't need but they make you feel as if you do.
Standardisation -Everyone can be what they want, no longer limited by class.
Nike - Personalisation, Nike I.D, being able to be individualise your things.
-We live in a post-industrial society
Advances in transport and communication technologies have lead to a 'shrinking' of the world
-Travelling from one side of the world to the other safely, London to Sydney 10600 miles in 19-24hours, once took years.
-Concord took 3 hours 20mins to cross the 3470miles of the Atlantic, London to New York, this enabled people to work in NY in the week and live in London at the weekends.
-Collapsing / Condensing of space and time, due to electronic mass media.
-The 'Global Village' has benefits "Cultural Fusion", two cultures meet, a new culture forms
"Chinoiserie" -Theme in EU art and design styles since the mid/late 1700's peaking 1800's
image of an imaginary and romanticised china - traditional / upper class
"Japonisme" -French term by Philippe Burty early 1870's
-Describes the impact of Japanese are forms on those of the West
-Prior to mid 1800's Japan kept itself isolated
Re-discovery of Japanese are and design
Meiji restoration 1867 / 68 Japan forced to sign trade agreement with west.
Manga and Anime
Japanese graphic communication / heavily influenced by encounters with Hollywood and Disney.
-Risk of Homogeneity [uniformity]
-City centres in different parts of Europe are all similar you could be in any of them and not notice much difference.
"MacDonaldization" Term by George Ritzer. Society is taking on the characteristics of the fast food industry. Not original, you know what to expect, same in other country's, standardised, predictable, efficient.
"Cultural Imperialism"
-One culture is dominant and subsumes others into itself. Ignores any parts of the culture that don't conform to it's ideological position
[ideology = body of ideas or beliefs]
Noam Chomsky Hegemony or survival: America's Quest for Global dominance [2004]
"Cultural Imperialism" or "Cultural Fusion"
is it possible to distinguish between them, can they be thought about in different ways?
-Communicate with people in any part of the world almost instantly
-because we 'see' what's happening, we risk thinking we know and understand what's happening.
-When we stop seeing images of events we risk thinking they are no longer an issue.
The 'Hegemony' of the visual in contemporary western culture means we are at risk of confusing what we see with reality. [Hegemony = Dominant influence]
Edward said's 'Orientalism' and 'Culture and Imperialism'
-Concerned with our typically ethnocentric understanding of other cultures.
The concept of the 'other' is key to our understanding of ourselves and other people.
-We might not know who we are but we know what were not.
-You are other than if you do not have certain characteristics.
Baudrillard
-Our 'real needs' are being / have been eclipsed by 'False needs'
-'False needs' are created by capitalism and perpetuated by the culture industry.
Simulacra = a copy of something, not quite the same 'false version of reality'
Games are Simulacra
US Army recruit people from there online games, people who get top scores "Americas Army"
