Final Draft

The article “MySpace Generation” was written by Jessi Hempel and editorial assistant Paula Lehman. It was printed on December 12, 2005 in Business Week. It stresses how big music networking sites have grown in the past years. It also describes how music networking is more in tune for the teenage crowd. They also try to convey the idea that these music networking sites are the new gateway to advertise new music to middle to upper class teenagers. The internet is where most of musicians start in this generation. The sites that Hempel and Lehman targeted were MySpace and Buzz-Oven, and were originally started to help up incoming musicians to post new music and concert information. Now they have grown into international music gathering places. They came to the conclusion that music networking is constantly taking over the life of students, teenagers, and even adults. The thesis of the article is, the web has become to newest music hop spot and it is aimed to serve the younger generation, and Advertisement is also gaining popularity with music networking sites. Because of growing number of teenage web users, online advertisers aimed their ads toward teenage users. Hempel and Lehman present studies about teens and internet use, what kids of advertisement affect teens the most, and first hand accounts of what a typical day of a teen’s life is like. The article uses the knowledge of the content by Hempel and Lehman, and solid and legitimate evidence to support their claims about the new music networking scene.
The authors use many rhetorical techniques throughout the article especially logos. Logos is an appeal based on logic or reason. In the “MySpace Generation” article the authors use logos with their solid evidence they collected. Logos can be seen in numerous places throughout the essay. A prime example of logos is the use of facts. According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, “87 percent of twelve to seventeen-year-olds use the internet, vs. two-thirds of adults” (209). This affects the essay with cold hard evidence that a large number of teenagers of the current generation use the internet. This solid evidence presents a stronger argument and supports the authors claim in the thesis that more teens are online they any other generation. Music advertising has caught on with the new trend of online music networking. MySpace, for example, was originally started for bands to post music and profile information to promote themselves. Now it is used by almost all of the 87 percent of teenage web users. Hempel and Lehman also use information according to Nielsen//NetRatings, an online statistics website that counter users, to support their claim that they have legitimate evidence. They state, “Preeminent among these virtual hangouts is Myspace.com, whose membership has quadrupled since January alone, to 40 million members. Youngsters log on so obsessively that MySpace ranked No. 15 on the entire U.S. Internet in terms of page hits in October”(209). This supports Hempel and Lehman’s claim that the online music and music networking scene has exploded in the recent years. The growth in MySpace users corresponds with the high ratio of teens to adults on today’s web. Another logos example is the fact given by the Kaiser Family Foundation survey. They state, “Teens use music networking sites for approximately one hour and twenty-two minutes a day on average” (Hempel and Lehman 209). That piece of information corresponds with the authors claim that teens are online more than ever before, and these music networking sites are perfect places for musicians promote themselves to their audience. This bolsters the thesis because it shows the readers that teen’s users spend a good deal of their time on the web and using these music networking sites.
Major Companies have taken notice to the online music networking explosion. News Corp, for example, “spent $1.3 billion on Web acquisitions so far to better reach this coveted demographic -$580 million alone for July purchase of MySpace parent Intermix Media, Even companies like Coke, Apple Computer, and Procter & Gamble are making a relatively low-cost bet by experimenting with networks to launch products and to embed their brands in the minds of hard-to-reach teens” (Hempel and Lehman 210). This quote clearly shows the interest major companies have started to show in online music sites. These companies are using these sites because they know millions of teens use them and it is a good place to reach the teen generation. This is yet another example of factual evidence that helps support Hempel and Lehman’s thesis. Another appeal of logos or solid evidence is what David Rich Bell a Marketing Professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School said. He states, “Major companies should be exploring this new medium, since networks transmit marketing messages person to person, which is more credible” (Hempel and Lehman 210). This can be seen as a non sequitur fallacy, which occurs when there is no evident connection between a claim and its reason. Of course person-to-person advertisement is going to work better than communal advertisement so the claim that Bell is trying to make is irrelevant. Bell is making a pretty strong assumption on what kind of advertisement works best with people. He can not simply say that person to person advertisement is most effective because its success can vary with to many factors. It does not positively support the thesis because it states an obvious fact which makes it irrelevant to the thesis. Coke pays Buzz-Oven less then $70,000 a year, but now Coke is paying Buzz-Oven an undisclosed amount to launch Buzz-Oven Austin. This is solid evidence that major companies, like: Coke, Apple Computer, Procter & Gamble, and New Corp, are recognizing that the “hard-to-reach” teen crowd can be reached through music networking sites like MySpace, Buzz-Oven, etc. This supports the thesis with factual evidence that major companies have realized the profitability in advertisement on these music networking sites.
Another prominent rhetorical technique that Hempel and Lehman use in the “MySpace Generation” article was ethos. Ethos is an appeal based on the character of the speaker. Ethos can also be seen as personal experience that adds credibly to the author. One way Hempel and Lehman show their use of ethos in the article, is by establishing credibility with their audience. When they show us that they are knowledgeable on the subject they are writing an opinion on, they build credibility with their audience. One way Hempel and Lehman build credibility is by telling the stories of teens and how music networking sites have affected them. This helps to persuade the reader it believe what they are saying because they know what they are talking about. Hempel and Lehman accomplish gaining this credibility when they describe the story of Amanda Adams, a sixteen year old Dallas teen, who uses Buzz-Oven to post pictures, listen to her favorite music, and even posts flyers for concerts held by Buzz-Oven in her attempt to network to other teens that have the same interest. They describe her daily routine and stress the fact that she is using the internet most of the day. Its where, “you get a fast pass to the hip music scene…. It’s where you go when you need a friend to nurse you through a breakup, a mentor to tutor you on your calculus homework, an address for the party everyone is going to” (Hempel and Lehman 208). From taking online quizzes to finding out where the next party is Amanda’s music network is centered on the internet. This information builds credibility towards Hempel and Lehman because is shows us that they are knowledgeable how music networking is interwoven in teenagers lives, and what roles teens play in the music networking scene. The author also builds credibility when they say that the music networking scene is always changing. Mike Ziemer, a typical twenty-year-old, was hired to help Holt say in tune with the teenage generation Ziemer agrees even when he talks to Holt, the creator of Buzz-Oven, “He’s not plugged in enough”(Hempel and Lehman 216). This shows the readers that Hempel and Lehman did considerable research on how the targeted audience is always changing tastes, but is still staying around the same age group. This helps with building credibility for the author’s because it shows how much they have analyzed the “MySpace Generation” article.
The article uses the knowledge of the content by Hempel and Lehman, and solid and legitimate evidence to support their claims about the new music networking scene. They music networking scene has erupted in the recent decade. It is becoming a way of life for millions of people everywhere in the world. The people that are most affected by this are the teen age group. Almost all of the advertisements on the music networking sites are targeted for them. Major companies like Coke, Apple Computer, and News Corp all have recognized the profitability in investing in these up incoming networking sites. The authors show ethos, or the knowledge of “MySpace Generation” with the information they gather form real live teens, like Amanda who use Buzz-Oven, Mike Ziemer who started a site like Buzz-Oven, and even Aden Holt who started Buzz- Oven itself. They show the use of logos, or logical analysis, through the use of many different kinds of fact, surveys, and studies by scholarly writers. They tell use things like 87 percent of web users are teens, or that teens use music networking sites for approximately one hour and twenty-two minutes a day on average. These facts only help convince the reader to believe what Hempel and Lehman are trying to when analyzing the article. They are solid factual evidence that complement the thesis.