To Adapt vs Being adapted

In episode #5, which is power, musician Damon Krukowski give me a new idea that the difference between buying a record in store or purchase music online. I was curious why there is still record store on the street, this is the era of technology, why don’t everyone just go online to listen to music. Krukowski state that go to record store is hunting music, people discover music that they don’t know what they want to discover, then they get a surprise, but when we are online, we are suggested by the internet, and we are adapted to music on the internet, we are getting something that we already feel comfortable with, which never help us to find more type of music that can surprise us. When people go online to find music, we only get music those are spread out commercially, so we lost the fun of hunting, we lost the feeling of surprise. In my second paper, I will discuss this topic more deeply. 

Space Changed By Technology

In my essay I will be writing about episode 2. This episode grabs most of my attention. This episode also creates a lot of discussion on how we start to create our own private spaces throughout the use of headphones to avoid social contact with one another.

Power

In paper number 2 I will be writing about episode number 5 of “Ways of Hearing”, titled “Power” by Damon Krukowski. In episode 5, Krukowski talks about the power companies have over music and our interests altogether. Companies use algorithms to try and give suggestions based on our personal interests. These algorithms are made by collecting the user’s personal data. As helpful as this might seem, it’s concerning to think about the amount of information these companies have and what they can do with it. Many of these companies sell your information to others, who may start to target you with ads and other suggestions you may not want to get. 

 

Power

In paper #2 I want to write about episode 5 “Power” of “Ways of Hearing” by Damon Krukowski. In the episode he talks about how companies like Amazon, Facebook and Instagram collect our information for example, information about the things we’ve bought or things we find interesting. They send us ads about those things. Krukowski explain how these ads they send create exposure for us instead of surprising us. This has actually happen to me. I remember talking to my friend about a product I liked in Sephora and I go on Facebook and I see a Sephora ad and all I said was “woah thats a coincidence” after that I kept seeing different types of makeup ads not only on Facebook but on Instagram too. This episode made me wonder how much power all these companies have.

Money

In paper #2 i will be analyzing episode 4 of ways of hearing “Money” by Damon Krukowski. In this episode he talks about music being property, he states that music should be freely available for everyone because it is something immaterial and therefore it shouldn’t be a price on it. This point that he makes is very interesting because ideally, it would amazing having the possibilities of being able to listen to any music without having to pay for it. However, if we look at it from another perspective, music is a type of art, in which people who make it, put their effort and talent with the purpose of it being successful and enjoyable for the audience. We should at the production of music as any other type of job that requires thinking, time and work. For this reason, music should not be freely accessible for everyone as it would have a negative effect in  the music industry and there would be less artists dedicated to this. In my paper will be going over and interpreting Krukowki’s arguments in this episode and consequently stating the advantages and disadvantages of music being freely available for everyone.

The sound of the deaf

In my paper I will be talking about episode # 6 of ways of hearing, in which Krukowski goes into explain about how digital technology has changed our world. While it is true that noise play a big role in sound. Nowadays people can’t hear well because of the noise that surround us. “We are at risk of losing our hearing” Krukowski states, because of the personal audio devices calling it ‘unhealth listening practices’, what makes you want everything lauder to reduce the noise from outside. Krukowski also explains that signal and noise are all together at analog world. In a digital audio world, everything can’t be louder than everything else ,there is not noise to restrict signal. In my paper I will explain how the switch of analog audio to digital audio  has changed our perceptions of time, space and intimacy.

Algorithms control everything

We are living in a time where algorithms are constituting our world and somehow its controlling our activities. In my paper I’m going to discuss episode 5 of Ways Of Hearing where Krukowski explains how online corporations like amazon, spotify, facebook and others use algorithms to collect our information and present specific ads to us on our devices. By the use of algorithms, they have gained the power to take control of our choices. The algorithms use our history to find out the things we like or have been searching for. Then they recommend and advertise products specifically to us based on our likes and searches. Also in this episode  Krukowski shows the difference between online shopping and shopping in physical stores. I’m going to express my opinion about his statement and try to illustrate it with some of my experiences.

Pleasure over Money

 

I would be writing about episode 4 of Ways Of Hearing by Damon Krukowski which is ‘Money’. How money correlates to music from what he discussed. From what we all know, music is one of the things that entertain people. That is when file-sharing becomes a trend, as well as using a harddrive. By using these kinds of devices, people can experience music for free all over the world. But the question is, should music becomes free permanently? I think there is no chance that music could always be free because none of the producers, managers, and companies will let that happen. Because they also spend a lot of money and time producing music(s), and they turned it into a business. Where they can make a profit and people can satisfy their wants or whatever they want to do. So it is a win-win situation. Even me is spending money on music because of how I love to listen to it and it kind of makes me happy and satisfied with what experience brings it to me. But at the end of the day, it is still different to experience things for free that will turn into genuine happiness for us all.