<p>The purpose of this study is to identify the representations and stereotypes that are used in reviews to describe male and female pop artists and further on argue the consequenses these theses bring to the construction of male and female performers in society. The main question is: In what way do live act reviews present male and female pop artists?</p><p> </p><p>A qualitative content analysis with tools from rhetoric analysis was used to answer this question. The content of Swedish newspapers Aftonbladet and Svenska Dagbladet was chosen to represent the media.</p><p>The study is based on social constructionism and focuses on gender and stereotypes. These theories claim that men create the patterns that rule society and that women are unknowingly accepting this. We slowly grow into these stereotypical patterns so that we hardly recognize them anymore. The main reason for this is that the media provides information that is said to be objective, when it’s really influenced by the norms of society itself.</p><p> </p><p>The result of the study proves that female artists are being held back by the unwritten rules of society while male artists are encouraged when it comes to developing themselves and their artwork. Women artists are portrayed as sexual and the journalists focus on details such as flaws regarding their singing skills. Male artists are portrayed in a more positive way and are mainly described as good entertainers.</p>

The design of a pop-up book or card has hitherto been labour intensive with tasks of trials and errors. The constructions of collapsible pop-up structures can be demanding and inefficient without adequate knowledge of their geometric properties. This paper examines the properties of creases in 90° pop-up structures. A 90° pop-up structure is one that erects fully when two adjacent base pages, on which it sits, are opened to a right angle. In particular, we define a boundary region for creating 90° pop-ups. Similarly, paper folds are able to achieve pop-up effects and can be integrated with 90° pop-up constructions. The development of these pop-up structures can be represented graphically. Through this study, a fundamental foundation for pop-up topology and geometry is built. This foundation would be vital for understanding the applications of pop-up making techniques. The mathematical relationships devised would be useful for developing computer-enhanced pop-up design. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

The human visual system is adept at detecting and encoding statistical regularities in its spatio-temporal environment. Here we report an unexpected failure of this ability in the context of perceiving inconsistencies in illumination distributions across a scene. Contrary to predictions from previous studies [Enns and Rensink, 1990; Sun and Perona, 1996a, 1996b, 1997], we find that the visual system displays a remarkable lack of sensitivity to illumination inconsistencies, both in experimental stimuli and in images of real scenes. Our results allow us to draw inferences regarding how the visual system encodes illumination distributions across scenes. Specifically, they suggest that the visual system does not verify the global consistency of locally derived estimates of illumination direction.

"Blue & Red" is about sound, sense, paranoia, and experience. When intuition goes awry and projections are shot in all directions the camera and eye can go, poems are bound to be nearby. From beginning to end, the reader may wonder what landscape the wanderlust traveler walks on. Where he may settle. Is he a boy? What is manhood? Has the prince stolen the key from the queen? "Blue & Red" has tautological hair, performance anxieties, and actualizations. Sentimental at times, we remember. Some traumas are daily. "Blue & Red" stands on the argument that if you put all of your heart, soul, spirit, body, and mind, into a poem, the process will yield an art/entertainment for the thinking person. It rests on the fact that love and gratitude are not lost. It rests on intangible things we must agree on. It lastly rests on the autonomy of the free mind.

The focus of this master?s thesis is on determining whether Judith Hermann?s book of collected short stories, <em>Nichts als Gespenster</em> (2003) can be assigned to the so-called category <em>Popliteratur</em> which had its climax in the 1990?s, or whether it advances this genre by focusing on new perspectives. To show this, Hermann?s short stories are compared with Christian Kracht?s <em>Faserland</em> (1995), which is a prime example of a pop-novel at the end of the last century. Thomas Jung?s criteria for <em>Popliteratur</em> serve as a methodology for the textual analysis. <br /><br /> In the first part of this thesis <em>Popliteratur</em> as literary phenomenon is introduced. In addition to a definition and its history from the 1960?s till nowadays, the focus is on <em>Popliteratur</em> of the 1990?s and its authors who do not just write but stage themselves in the media and in public. Furthermore from this, the existence of <em>Popliteratur</em> in the 21st century is discussed and categories of how it appears in new literary forms, e. g. ?Generation Golf? and ?Zweite Generation Pop?. This is followed by a consideration of how Popliteratur is assessed in literary studies and literary criticism. <br ><br /> In the second part of this thesis, Christian Kracht and Judith Hermann are introduced, followed by a comparison of <em>Faserland</em> and <em>Nichts als Gespenster</em> from the point of view of Jung?s criteria for <em>Popliteratur</em>, namely its topics, its language, narrative technique, construction of identity and its target group of readers. After the textual analysis, the question whether Judith Hermann?s work can be assigned to <em>Popliteratur</em> or whether she transforms this genre will be answered. <br ><br /> My conclusions are that Hermann advances <em>Popliteratur</em> in the 21st century by focusing on melancholia and self-reflexion more than on the provocation that was more typical of earlier <em>Popliteratur</em>.

The purpose of this study is to identify the representations and stereotypes that are used in reviews to describe male and female pop artists and further on argue the consequenses these theses bring to the construction of male and female performers in society. The main question is: In what way do live act reviews present male and female pop artists?   A qualitative content analysis with tools from rhetoric analysis was used to answer this question. The content of Swedish newspapers Aftonbladet and Svenska Dagbladet was chosen to represent the media. The study is based on social constructionism and focuses on gender and stereotypes. These theories claim that men create the patterns that rule society and that women are unknowingly accepting this. We slowly grow into these stereotypical patterns so that we hardly recognize them anymore. The main reason for this is that the media provides information that is said to be objective, when it’s really influenced by the norms of society itself.   The result of the study proves that female artists are being held back by the unwritten rules of society while male artists are encouraged when it comes to developing themselves and their artwork. Women artists are portrayed as sexual and the journalists focus on details such as flaws regarding their singing skills. Male artists are portrayed in a more positive way and are mainly described as good entertainers.

The number of the radio stations reached 208 high at 2008 since they were allowed to apply for the operating licence in 1993, according to statistics of the National Communications Commission. However, the radio stations are facing intense competition with blooming on-line radio stations. Therefore, how to retain loyalty of audience is an important issue for all the radio stations. This study is to explore the correlation of audience personality, life style and the loyalty to the pop-music radio stations. Also it investigates whether a person¡¦s inner-attribute and outer-behavior are related to his loyalty of a pop-music radio station. We used on-line questionnaires and purposive sampling of Kaoshiung residents. We hope that the results of this study would benefit administrative managers for the pop-music radio stations to understand the station¡¦s advantages, the needs of the audiences, and to manage the audiences¡¦ loyalties effectively in the competitive environment. The method of collected data is by using on-line questionnaires and purposive sampling of Kaoshiung residents. Among 241 samples, 236 were effective and 5 samplers were non-listeners to any radio station. After the data anlaysis based on factor theory, the samples were sorted in five different personality traits including agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, openness and neuroticism. The statistical results show that the number of the audiences possessing agreeableness is the greatest, followings conscientiousness, openness, extraversion, and finally neuroticism. Also the audiences emphasize on the achievement pursuit, following amusement, media attentiveness, topicality interest, job emphasis, spending efficiency, and plan deliberation. The audiences possess the loyalty of the radio station which doesn¡¦t show any differences because of diverse personalities or life styles, and the attitude loyalty is higer than the behavior loyalty.

This research aims to investigate three issues :(1) how the consumer needs of pop music and the product attributes of records affect consumer satisfaction, (2) this research also focuses on how the match between the consumer needs of pop music and the product attributes of records affect consumer satisfaction, and (3) how the consumer satisfaction contributes to the repurchase intention is also discussed. Our study shows that listening to music, acquiring the information about music and adoring idols are main consumer needs. When the CD products satisfy these consumer needs, the consumer satisfaction will be high. In addition, consumers identify three major product attributes: function, idolatry and fashion. The interaction between listening to music, acquiring music information and functional attributes will affect consumer satisfaction positively. Similarly, the interaction between the idolatry and symbol of idol will affect consumer satisfaction positively. Consumer satisfaction has also been found to affect the repurchase intention. Compare to consumer needs, the perceived value of CDs has a stronger effect on consumer satisfaction. Therefore, if business models may need to be developed to reform the compact discs industry.

This thesis examines the cultural consumption of the Korean music video Gangnam Style in the broader context of the increasing popularity of Korean popular content, often called the Korean Wave, and of complex conditions of transnational consumption. Specifically, it investigates why the music video Gangnam Style gained popularity not only in East Asia but also over the world, how it is circulated, and what conditions contribute to its success. It focuses on the role of the networked audiences and the interactions between the networked audiences and mainstream media through a chronological analysis on the distribution and reproduction process of Gangnam Style on YouTube. Through the case study of Gangman Style, this thesis attempts to rethink the established globalization theories and to suggest new perspective of cultural circulation in the globalized and digitalized media environment.

The task undertaken in this dissertation is to determine the extent of the challenge facing the major firms (majors) who currently control over 80% of global sound carrier and publishing revenue in the popular (pop) music industry. The aim of this thesis is to explain the disorganising effects currently being experienced. Specifically, the central question guiding this thesis asks: what will be the effect of new technologies on the future organisation of the music industry? I focus broadly on recent universally accessible digital technologies which have raised questions about the future of the industry’s current organisational structure and processes both in terms of input (creation of music products in their commodified form) and output (access and consumption of music products). The industry’s processes are highly integrated and its business model is complex because it centres around the sophisticated management and aggressive appropriation of intellectual property (namely copyright) for repeated exploitation for decades after its initial acquisition. The purpose of this research, therefore, is to examine not only the tangible aspects of the manner in which the industry’s organises its products but also the intangible dimension. Significant recent changes experienced by the industry are identified. The literature is not conclusive in terms of explaining these developments. While existing research exists on recent developments, a comprehensive analysis of the organisation of the industry both in terms of input and output remains underdeveloped in the literature. In particular, in relation to product re-organisation and consumer behaviour, copyright development and corporate restructuring, the literature is not fully developed. Current research is focused on illegitimate technological attacks – namely digital piracy. However these do not adequately or comprehensively explain current disorganisation in the industry. This dissertation remedies this deficiency by proposing four separate but interconnected factors are affecting the highly concentrated status quo. Together, the positive and negative impacts of emerging technologies have created a serious dilemma in terms of product commodification for the controllers of the industry. I argue interconnected illegitimate and legitimate technological challenges are at play suggesting re-organisation is occurring multidimensionally. The research undertaken is empirically grounded, and though primarily based on qualitative data (and subsequent quantitative data for statistical corroboration), the current work has implications for understanding the industry’s methods. Together, these approaches form the basis of the dissertation’s methodology. The research reported in this dissertation attempts to determine to what extent the use and consumption of these different technologies can be regarded as the primary catalyst for the challenge to corporate control of the music industry, and the manner in which it is structured. If the dominant few intend to identify and rationalise challenges in terms of their corporate model, then they must understand the dynamic nature of interacting technologies.