Beat Dat Beat, all the way to the bank (mm2)

I have a confession.

It's a real confession, and it's something that you'll judge. But, I love the Jersey Shore. Everything about it, I absolutely love. These people, their culture, their view on life, what they find important, I cannot get over it. My favorite of these people, is DJ Pauly D. He is the (image source. Cast of Jersey Shore) oldest male "guido" in the house, and his signature style is his hairstyle,

his blow out.

These characters, and I refer to them as characters because in my mind, they are anything but realistic, have really taken advantage of the 15 minutes of fame thrown at them and turned it into 15 hours, so to speak. Pauly D came onto the MTV show as an already established DJ, and he uses his fame on this show as a platform to take it further. He recently released a single called (It's Time To) Beat Dat Beat. I downloaded this song, as a joke, to make it a ring tone, again, as a joke. When I hard this song, he starts off the song speaking.

"This is DJ Pauly D, being a guido's a way of life. I dont represent all Italians, I represent myself. I started this whole GTL shit, gym tan and laundry. You gotta stay fresh to death." When I heard this, the first thing I thought to myself was "wow, he is really pushing this".

When we dive into our power tools, there is only more joy that can come from Jersey Shore and this special DJ. Beginning with the brain, as music it obviously appeals to your limbic brain, and we have an emotional response. With the beat of the song, it's club/house music. With the talking in the song, it appeals to your neocortex because you're understanding what he is saying. For those that dont watch the show, you probably dont understand the references that he is making, and that causes you to have to think even more so about what it is that he's saying. Of course, people who really hate the show, or Pauly D, could argue that it enables your reptilian brain in wanting to fight or flight from the sight of this.

In terms of our shifts, I believe it fits perfectly into the aesthetic shift. I say this because of convergence. He went from being an unknown DJ, to a star of this hit TV show. He used the platform to become a household name in the entertainment industry. He endources products, is a DJ, and he has even reached out to YouTube sensation Keenan Cahill. The video below is Pauly D combining his song with the entertainment skills of Keenan. He has even dont promotional commercials for the Justin Bieber Movie, Never Say Never.

Pauly D has managed to really take his fame, and spread it into so many different things, in yet they are all brought back to the first, main point, that he is just a regular guido juice head.

Moving next into the principles, I question ownership. He is his own person, but he is a object marketed by MTV. It was by their hand that he has been able to accomplish all these tasks. So I have to wonder if he is truly the unique individual that he markets himself as or if he is a product of a corporation. Either way, I find him entertaining, but I would find him more respectful if I knew that what he did was for him, not for a company.

Finally, persuasive techniques I'm going to go ahead and say symbols. Bringing in what I said before about ownership, Pauly D has marketed himself, or has been marketed as a product, and everything he touches turns to gold. From his hair, to his music, to the way he talks, it's all an image, it's all marketable, and it's all something that we identify with.

So there you have it, my dirty secret and my dirty obsession. Pauly D will forever remain in my heart.

Pocket Pain (mm1)

Well, well, well, seems the day has finally come. The one thing that was left pure in this world has been taken from us. I dont know about you, but for me, the ability to peruse new musicians and expand my musical taste-buds is something that I take very seriously. Expressing ourselves through music is what we have left in this world where every where we look different media outlets are telling us how to be, how to feel,

(Image Source. Snap shot of app) and how to live. Now music is gone, too.

When I was perusing one of my favorite websites, Mashable, I came across a story about a new iPhone application called "Pocket Hipster". This application works similar to the Genius program that works with iTunes, but it's different--it takes it one step further.

When you first load the app, there are characters that discuss your musical taste, as shown above, almost barding it. The article mentions this, but I didn't actually believe it, so I downloaded it to test it for myself. Turns out that the article wasn't lying. The characters talk as if there is only one correct way to music, and they are here to help you find the right path. It's a 12 step program to becoming a indie hipster. Here is a video showing how the app truly does, talk down to you, and how they sell the image through the app as well.

Because I feel a serious dislike for this app, I wanted this to be one of my media meditations so I could break it down piece by piece with my own 4 step program, starting with the brain. Since it's music, and there is really no work involved except for downloading the initial app itself, it plays into the Limbic brain. When you play a song you like, the Pocket Hipsters will reccomend something else that is similar to that which they believe you will like. You can then hear a snippet of the song. Your limbic brain process this music, and will react to it emotionally. You then decide how you feel about it.

On to the next step, the eight shifts, this is a prime example of the technological shift. When I was younger, I would go to the music store with my brother and we would sort through the rows and rows of CD's for hours, until we came across something that we liked. We then would talk to everyone around and see what they suggested of the album, and then from there we decided to buy it or toss it. Now, all I have to do is listen to my own music on my own iPod or iPhone and this app will tell me what to download.

Smoothly moving onto step three, principles. To me, it raises the question of ownership. I say this because it's the result of a partnership between two music technology startups, The Echo Nest and We Are Hunted, in yet when songs come up for recommendation, the listener is then directed to iTunes to purchase the song.

Last but not least, the final 4th step, our wonderful persuasive techniques. There are two main ones that stick out to me in this instance-- Bandwagon and Plain Folk. The reason I say bandwagon is because this app comes at it's users with a style, an agenda, and an image. It markets clearly to a specific type of music, and a specific stereotype that all hipster styled kids are into indie music. I also say plain folk, which might seem almost like a contradiction, but they are trying to relate to the user by making it seem like it's easy to fit into this trendy, hip, persona.

Now that my four step program is complete, I feel a little bit better about this app. Though, it wasn't reason enough for me to delete it off my phone. I guess that's 99 cents I'll never get back. But at the same time, I can say I paid 99 cents to secure my musical choice remaining my own.

Feed in 60 Seconds

Feed The Need Productions’ Script
Nick: Tonight’s going to be meg brag.
Heather: Yeah, I can’t wait to go to Mars and get weasel-faced at Rumble Spot.
Nick: I want to look meg squelch with my neck bat.
Randy: What are you talking about, units?
Heather: The trip to Mars, unit!
Nick: Like, didn’t you get our m-chat?
Randy: M-chat?
Heather: You’re so null, you don’t have a feed? Everyone does.
Randy: Well, like, what’s so brag about the feed?
Nick: Are you kidding, unit? You can look up like stuff and shit…everything, unit!
Heather: Unit, you like don’t even have to try anymore.
Randy: Wow!! Units, you’re like, so meg brag.
Nick: No wrong! Just get the feed like everyone else.
Heather: Well, see ya later, unit. Maybe if you had the feed you would’ve known the plans.
Randy: I really need to get the feed…

Cait: Has this ever happened to you? Do you like being left behind because you can’t keep up with your units’ technology? 73% of people have the feed. Do you want to be the null 27% left out? Of course you don’t! There’s hope for you! Impress your units and get the Feed. It’s meg youch! Never be left out again.
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