By Jordan Lock

Digital music streaming has now become a front runner in the modern listening landscape, with various platforms rising to the top selling themselves on quick and often free access to new music. Currently the top players in the game, excluding YouTube, are Spotify (170 Million users), Soundcloud (175 Million users), and NetEase (400 Million users). The new developments in music streaming has very likely created a new age in the output of music, one of the biggest would be quantity of songs in the album format. With 100 paid streams and 600 free streams being the equivalent of a single sale, artists and music companies would have more invested interest in publishing as many songs as possible to garner more streams and therefore more sales. In the 2018 Billboard Album Charts, half of the top 10 albums of the year featured more than 17 songs, and number two, Drake’s ‘scorpion’ featured two disks, spanning a total of 25 tracks. I have no doubt in my mind that the recent push of longer album length has everything to do with delivering the most music possible, to allowing for both more songs to accumulate streams, and a higher chance people with differing listening habits to choose their favorite songs and save them to a playlist. Soundcloud’s rise to prevalence has played a huge role in influencing the sound of a modern era, due to the ease of self-publishing on the platform. Many aspiring artists utilize Soundcloud to share their music without much concern for publishing rights, and most without payment. Soundcloud’s promotion of young hip-hop artists has allowed it to cement its place in history with the term ‘Soundcloud Rapper’ becoming a common term in the modern listener’s dialect to label a rapper that came into prominence from utilizing the Soundcloud platform or sounding similar to the associated style of music. Overall, the new mode of streaming platforms has already made a mark in its early life as the new popular method of music consumption.

Source:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2018/05/25/the-top-10-streaming-music-services-by-number-of-users/#5967a5c75178

https://www.dittomusic.com/blog/how-are-the-music-charts-calculated

By Jordan Lock

Green Square Cairns is not only the home of the Cairns CQU campus, but also houses a variety of businesses, big or small. Two of those businesses are ‘Shop 3’ café and ‘Natural Therapy Centre’. Every functioning business needs a logo as a recognizable icon.

The Shop 3 logo is an example of mediocrity, despite it’s relatively appealing design. The positives of the design are its simplicity which allows it to be non-obstructive and delivers the relevant information, the recognizable iconography of the 3 in the logo which resembles the foam patterns on coffee, and its decent use of green coloring which general represents calmness and nature, which is very likely the emotion the owners are aiming for, and also ties it in with the Green Square. However, a big gripe I have with the logo stems from it’s uses of color, imaging and typography. For one, despite the use of color decently portraying the emotions that the business wants to attach itself with, the lack of a unique shade of green very likely is more closely associated with artificiality, as the shade doesn’t resemble natural hues. The imaging of the three as coffee foam is a clever choice, however the lack of any other signifying elements may lead to viewers to just believe it is simply a uniquely designed 3. Finally, the use of typography is uninspired at best, not particularly clear or unique.

The ‘Natural Therapy Centre’ is a great example of coloring, simplicity and iconography, featuring first and foremost the use of coloring in the logo with light earthy greens and browns, creating a sense of both naturistic and calming energy, which is perfect for massage and care center with an emphasis on natural therapy. The icon featured on the sign perfectly fits, displaying three hands, in the same coloring of the text, replicating an image of a tree or fern, further connecting the business with nature. Finally, a simplistic typograph for the title which displays the name clearly but also the entire lowercase logo displaying a relaxed feeling.

By Jordan Lock

The Myers Briggs Personality Test is a very well known and often used personality categorizer that is often used in workplaces and other spaces, even I have taken this test multiple times, for leisure or for education. My personality was described as 79% Introverted, 62% Intuitive, 82% Feeling, 94% Prospecting and 60% Turbulent, however to me this reflects nothing as I do not trust that my answer to perfectly reflect myself, nor do I believe I can accurately answer the evaluation without the assistance of context. In all other times I’ve undergone this test, I have always received differing results which shows that the categorization is subject to variability through possible factors such as mood, recent events or otherwise. I also hold the opinion that the results cannot accurately reflect a person’s true nature in a context when a person may not be completely aware of their own habits, mannerism or similar behavior, like most people are. It would be likely a person who would rank highly on the ‘Feeling’ scale metric would not likely be completely considerate of the patterns f their behavior, and mostly act within the moment. Similarly, if one was turbulent and struggled with the assertion of their own abilities, they would most likely either be unsure of their own answers, like I was, or be unsure that their answers reflect accurately on themselves. A distinct positive of the personality test would likely be with the creation of varying categories, of which there is a large variety, can result in allowing others understand of differing styles of communication between people in an environment. Certain people have more difficulty picking up on certain emotional behavior that differs between members of a communicative circle, so the information presented by the personality types would likely create a net positive in those scenarios. In my personal experience, the impact the test could have taken on my understanding of the ways I communicate or work best in has not occurred and has thus been ineffective in my own life.

Source:
https://www.16personalities.com/

Australia has a very multicultural society which means that intercultural communication is more important now than ever. In workplaces and peer groups understanding intercultural communication is significant to help understand and communicate with each other especially if you are from different cultural backgrounds and working together in a team. Understanding intercultural communication “enhances teamwork, as colleagues respect one another’s cultural background, unique talents, and capabilities.” (The Classroom, n.d.). It is often stereotyped that those who come from different cultural background to western culture are less than however, they often have valuable knowledge that can improve the team and help it prosper. If you are working in a team looking for global outreach members with different cultural backgrounds can often give great insight into how your project may be received in different areas of the world. It is important for all employees to understand how one another communicates, for instance, a migrant from India can have a different “pattern of communication is varied and their concept of formality and informality is different.” (Kegeyan, 2016). Westerners are very informal in the way we speak and communicate with each other compared to Asian cultures for example. We often use first names or informal names to address a boss or supervisor however this can be seen as informal and sometimes disrespectful. Ensuring we understand why they may find this disrespectful and ensuring that you address this cultural barrier as it can hinder productivity and overall outcome in a group. Having each member of the team or group understand one another allows for greater morale to form and promote positive communication between all people. It also provides more information to each individual of other cultures, therefore, increasing their knowledge. Intercultural communication also helps with communication skills on a whole, being able to communicate with someone of different background can help with being more open to other people ideas and beliefs as well as challenging your own beliefs and ideals. In summary, everyone working within a team or group environment can benefit from positive intercultural communication and including each by expanding their knowledge and understanding of one another through communication.

Kegeyan, S.E. (2016, September 2). Intercultural communication in the workplace and the role of communication in an organisation. Retrieved from [ http://scipro.ru/article/03-02-16]

The Classroom. ( n.d.). The Advantages of Intercultural Communication. Retrieved from [ https://www.theclassroom.com/advantages-intercultural-communication-12066503.html]

UK Essays. (2018, April 5). Intercultural communication Advantages and Disadvantages. Retrieved from [ https://www.ukessays.com/essays/psychology/intercultural-communication-advantages-6849.php]

Published by Temarah Smith

Advertisements are created in order to evoke a response for the audience through the message they aim to convey. A recent Westpac Banking ad focused on small business does exactly this. The advert centres around a male character who starts as a young doctor in a war-torn country. He is shown tending to a patient as a building is blown up and collapses in the background. The music in this first shot is soft and sombre and the lighting is dark which straight away indicates a sad tone to the early part of this character’s story. A non-verbal exchange is then made between the male and his pregnant wife, they are travelling late at night presumably fleeing the war they are surrounded by. The way in which their body language and then the touch of hands conveys both their worry and reassurance is key to the emphatic response Westpac is looking to stimulate in the audience. The characters then appear to arrive at a refugee camp and the immediate tone of the scene is lighter, the music picks up slightly to have a more upbeat rhythm and a lot of natural sunlight is shown making the scene brighter. This contrasts the happy moment of their child being born to the sombre moment of having to flee their country. It’s relatable to a lot of Australians that have fled their our country and have come to Australia seeking a new life. Throughout most of the advert, there is no dialogue, just the music. The character is shown packing away his old stethoscope, which is symbolic of him putting away his old career and life and embracing his new one as he opens his own bakery. This is again highly relatable as most migrants come to Australia with a profession but are forced into working-class jobs to provide for their family. The ending shows the character and his daughter as she places her own stethoscope around her neck showing her as a doctor, coming full circle. The advert expertly uses its story-line, relatability, and visuals to convey it’s intended message which is displayed in the text, “Whoever you’re in business for, we’re here to help”.

Juneja, P. (n.d.) Advertising Techniques – 13 Most Common Techniques Used by the Advertisers. Retrieved From [https://www.managementstudyguide.com/advertising-techniques.htm]

Wilkinson, Z. (2019, June 3). War-torn migrants focus of Westpac’s latest ‘help’ campaign. Retrieved from [https://mumbrella.com.au/war-torn-migrants-focus-of-westpacs-latest-help-campaign-582472]

Published by Temarah Smith

Is naming killers really ethical justice or is it simply good investigative journalism?

Today’s ever-growing society focused on instantaneous information, relies on online news and journalism media to inform us of the happenings of the world including massacres and the killers behind them. Why are we as a society so enthralled with the world of killers? In a word, fame. A word that shouldn’t be synonymous with killer however our media has lulled us into an acceptance of this association. Ethical standards in media can be summed up into 5 core principles; truth and accuracy, independence, fairness and impartiality, humanity and accountability. The ethical principles need to be taken into account especially when reporting on massacres. On June 4th 2019, a 45-year-old man went a “shooting rampage” in the Australian city of Darwin killing 4 people and wounding a 5th. The SBS News report going on to identify the suspect of the shootings as Benjamin Hoffman, showing a shirtless photo of the suspect with a digitally blurred face (as so to hide his identity). The report also showing footage and audio of the suspect himself being detained by police and voice over by SBS reporter Hannah Sinclair describing Hoffman as “down, outgunned and arrested”. It could be argued that the use of the footage showing the suspect in a moment of weakness whilst being arrested is expertly implemented to convey his humanity to news consumers. Should we give an involuntary voice to killers and is it ethically just? It is “the nature of journalism and its duty to inform the public as completely as possible about events that affect it” (The Associated Press, 2007). In this sense, times of crisis such as this shooting spree in Darwin require a journalist to convey information accurately and truthfully to the public. Footage is then shown of eye witness accounts describing Hoffman on his shooting spree, portraying the very real emotional trauma of these events as the people as visibly shaken. Is it justice to be naming our killers and providing them fame or is it simply good investigate journalism? The SBS News report keeps to ethical standards of journalism by portraying the real and truthful information however it also provides unneeded media fame for Benjamin Hoffman by naming him.

Associated Press. (2007, December 17) Should media make mass killers ‘famous’? Retrieved from [http://www.nbcnews.com/id/22301897/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/should-media-make-mass-killers-famous/#.XPxsGqIza1h]

Besner, L. (2014, February 18). Which Criminals Get to Be Human?. Retrieved from [https://hazlitt.net/feature/which-criminals-get-be-human]

Ethical Journalism Network. (n.d.) Five Principals of Ethical Journalism. Retrieved from [https://ethicaljournalismnetwork.org/who-we-are/5-principles-of-journalism]

Published by Temarah Smith