The Political Economy of Digital Platforms - Report Sample

Introduction

Political economy from digital platforms, such as iTunes, iPods, Sound Cloud, and Google Music, has enabled the study of relations between production and trade and their relation with law. Besides, the platforms mentioned (iTunes and iPods) have actively served as intermediaries, allowing for diverse consumers and producers in the music industry. Advancements of digital platforms mentioned were in place to combat challenges that the music industry experiences where artist songs were downloaded illegally. For iTunes and iPods, numerous experiences emerged that changed consumers' and producers' experiences in the music industry, which touches on the political economy since the entire approach was capsizing room for illegal downloads. The indication that music and trade production shows that the relation between music and law regarding illegal downloads exists and that people have adopted a new norm, which involves downloading music from recognized digital platforms, such as iTunes and iPods.

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Consumers have learned and adopted the new criteria where music is downloaded from the mentioned digital platforms (iTunes and iPods), allowing room for diverse consumers and producers in the music industry. The essay essentially analyzes the political economy of digital media by discussing how platforms present themselves as intermediaries, therefore, allow for diverse consumers and producers, six components of platforms, and the discursive functions of the platform.

Examination of Political Economy

The political economy plays essential roles in how numerous platforms, such as iTunes and iPods, present themselves as intermediaries and allow room for diverse consumers and producers because platforms have disabled illegal downloads of music and enabled extensive user experiences and production of musical tones. Van Dijck. (2013) noted that digital platforms, such as iTunes, iPods, and Google Music had inducted a significant transformation of the music industry, changed the scene of music production and distribution, and that political economy regard platforms and digital networks as the manifestation of power relationships. The mentioned digital platforms, such as Google Music, have changed or inducted a significant transformation in the music industry since the digital platforms' partnership has changed the norms of music downloads among its users.

Since people have diverted from illegal downloads to Google Music, it demonstrates how digital platforms have acted as intermediaries, where it allows for diverse consumers and producers. At this juncture, the consumers are individuals who love music and changed their way of listening to music, from downloads to listening in Google Music direct. With the spike and illegal controlled downloads by the digital platforms, producers have had heightened morale, which has increased music production in the entire music industry since artists found something to smile about as returns and earnings are guaranteed.

Platforms, including digital media (iPod), have changed the scene of music production and distribution because every platform comes with a unique way of handling and distributing music and the way each platform charges per music download, which allows for diverse consumers. Van. (2013) showed that the introduction of numerous digital platforms had impacted the scene of music production and distribution because they act as intermediaries among artists, consumers, and producers.

The increased number of media has given artists several options to upload music to the site of their preference and some to all digital platforms where consumers can efficiently allocate music (Carruthers & Van Damme, 2017). In the case where artists and producers decide to upload their content in more than one platform, they make the availability of music easy for access by consumers, which explains how platforms act as intermediaries and create room for diverse consumers and producers.

Platforms That Have Emerged

The platform is defined as a digital infrastructure in which two or more people can interact, and it provides an opportunity that brings different users together (producers, suppliers, and advertisers). According to Srnicek, a platform is defined as a digital infrastructure that enables numerous people to interact and that it is an intermediary in which different users interact. The two definition fits the term platform because it provides media that users, such as producers and consumers, interact to make a viable economy or interaction.

In the case of numbers of platforms that have emerged in the era of platform capitalism, numerous kinds of platform such as Google, Facebook, cloud services, amazon, and general electric as well as Microsoft have emerged in the moment of capitalism, where the current advertisements are conducted, and interactions improved as people find usage of such mentioned platforms user-friendly.

Bogost and Montfort. (2009) noted numerous types of platforms, including advertising platforms, cloud, amazon, industrial, and general electric, where companies, such as Intel and Microsoft, among others, conduct their online activities. Each type of platform has specified actions. For example, advertising platforms, including Facebook and Google, are used for advertisement purposes, where companies introduce their products to customers. In the case of Amazon, it is one of the types of platforms that has a specified role, such as rental remote and data storage services that are useful for companies' activities in the region. Since different types of platforms have specified or different digital roles, it indicates that they are different kinds of platforms that are designed to complete numerous types of services across companies. The types of platforms are defined and differentiated by the kinds of functions or roles accorded to each of them, which is the authentic way of determining numerous types of media.

The Six Components of a Platform

Technology, users and usage, content, ownership, governance, and business model represent the six components of the business model as a microsystem, which help individuals to understand emergent modes of sociality since it provides a platform for interactions that make it easy for people to reach a conclusion and associate or form groups. Jin (2015) showed that the collaborative and social computing system and tools that enable social networking sites have served as a technological approach that has helped media platform users form groups more easily. Since technology is one component of the platform, it makes people understand modes of emergent sociality because it provides media where people interact and form groups quickly (Andersson, 2020).

Besides, technology as one feature or component of a platform has enabled people to understand modes of emergent sociality as individuals learn from one person to another and therefore how culture is passed from one generation to another (Gillespie, 2010). The emergent of modes of sociality such as the status of women in society has been something easy to learn with the help of components of platforms, such as technology, among other elements. The level of women has been learned from social interactions on numerous plans of action, including Facebook and Twitter. The approach of learning new emerging issues within the social platform shows that the element of the platform (technology) has made it easy to understand modes of emergent sociality.

Users and usage cover another essential component of a platform that enables people to understand the emergent modes of sociality because individuals learn from users (one another) the norms and culture of the media platform. User and usage, content, ownership, and governance help in understanding emergent modes of sociality as technology help in discovering new advances, content help in locating the new norms in society, such as men status, and governance help in understanding new regulations that govern specific activity (Kunz, 2020). Since people have a chance to learn from numerous platforms, they will learn emergent modes of sociality. For example, in the case of ownership, individuals would understand the essence of content ownership.

Discursive Functions of a Platform

Numerous discursive functions of a platform exist, according to Gillespie. They include the fact that egalitarian and populist appeal to ordinary users and grassroots creativity, it positions intermediary as the facilitator, and seeks business to host their contents. Gillespie. (2010) shared several discursive functions of a platform, such as positioning an intermediary as the facilitator who does not choose favorites, seeking a business to host or distribute their content, and positioning intermediary as the neutral conduit in legal environments exists. The mentioned functions show the platform's discursive tasks that are crucial to users of numerous sites, such as YouTube and other related platforms, which indicate discursive processes. Each question function is further explained to fully understand the effectual processes mentioned.

The fact that egalitarian and populist appeal to ordinary users and grassroots activity cover one discursive function of the platform since platforms, such as YouTube, creates room for regular users where their contents are spread in the broader range. YouTube claims to provide an excellent user experience and that it is committed to offering the best user experience and an ideal platform for people to share their videos around the world, which focuses on the ordinary people at large (Gillespie, 2010). As one of the platforms, the proclamation of YouTube shows that the main activity of the mentioned platform, which is YouTube, is determined to uplift ordinary users and their grassroots activity (Kunz, 2020).

The platform is centralized to individual videos with the purpose of sharing them worldwide, which then makes them the income because they earn from the series of videos each person or user uploads. The fact that the platform offers people the chance and opportunity to grow shows that appeal to ordinary users and their grassroots activity cover one discursive functions of the platform, which YouTube fall between the same line. Besides, numerous people with YouTube channels are ordinary users because videos produced are individually, and if in a group, the content is local, which demonstrates that it is of regular users.

Conclusion

Positioning an intermediary as a facilitator that does not choose favorites represents the second discursive function of a platform as platforms such as YouTube act as intermediaries between users and content generators who are ordinary people who upload content to the site. Gillespie. (2010) introduced that platforms such as YouTube does not select favorites contents or the type of videos individuals decide to share with the ordinary users, but are positioned as the intermediary who is facilitators of the content by making produced videos available to regular users.