Case Study 1- Syco, One Direction

·      Production- One Direction is funded by the voting costs, which X Factor has in place. The profit made from the show was greatly influenced by advertisement and promotion as it gave it a larger audience.

·      Distribution & Marketing- The bands fan base was created throughout their time on the show, as constant viewers who voted for them continued to follow them once the show ended. The merchandise of the band is aimed at their main audience, which are young girls. Their appearance and songs was therefore moulded around the target audience.

·      Exchange- By using the back catalogue of Sony, it creates advertisement and profit for the original artists. By doing this they are creating benefits for other people.  The x Factor’s voting system allowed the audience to give their opinion on what they like listening to and what songs, so the Sony label can then use this information on future artists.

·      Ownership/back catalogue- The whole of X Factor back catalogues songs throughout the show, which is what devalues the original songs. This is because once the songs have been performed it takes away the original meaning to the song as it is adapted to suit the audiences choice instead of what the song writer meant. For example One Direction performed ‘One way or another’ as a pop song where as it was originally a punk song.

·      Synergy- Syco is the company, which is owned by Simon Cowell and Sony. They are split between film, TV and music. One Direction are signed to the label as they were founded through X Factor, and have continued to release music and a film through Syco.

·      Vertical integration- Syco is apart of production, distribution and exhibition however as they do not own all they ways in which their films are shown for example cinema.

·      Horizontal Integration- Syco use their own companies facilities which means that they are horizontally integrated in production and distribution.

·      Global vs Niche Audience- Sony is related to very mainstream music and this is why One Direction are apart of the global audience because they have adapted to fit the majority of audiences rather than the niche few. This again devalues music due to the fact they do not make music, which means something, but instead I is just for the profit.