A Nothing into Something

By Myia Jones
Motlow Buzz Reporter

            When I was a child, I was always into being famous. I couldn’t get enough of the media. Just seeing the cameras and the bright lights, along with the stars on television, has always amazed me. I loved the extravagant colors of wardrobes, and seeing people change their emotions, whether it was real life or a cartoon.

            My parents always kept me involved in sports like dance, tap dance, track, basketball, etc., but I knew that wasn’t for me -- at least the “real” athletic sports. As a child, I would beg my mom to put me on TV, or let me model, but her response would be, “This is just a scam!” I couldn’t seem to shake the feeling there is more out there in the world because I saw it on TV. Every birthday, I used to pray and wish that I would become “a somebody” by the time I was at the age of 16 to the age of 18.

            Growing up, I was bullied and doubted I could be anything. I never told my parents, so it took a hold on my heart. I was soon introduced to the performing arts, where I learned I could be myself. Once I got on stage, it was like I was a certified natural. I became addicted to the sound of “LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!”

            When social media came into play, it was like love at first sight. Social Media is what really helped me decide specifically what I wanted to do in life. I loved taking pictures and creating posts for others to relate to, as well as getting out certain feelings, or emotions, when I didn’t have anyone to talk to. It’s something about following your favorite celebrity, or keeping up with the latest fashion trends that had me.

            Fashion was never my thing. I couldn’t seem to realize what looked good on me, or what my actual style was. What really played the part in this was I had a low self-esteem from all the bullying, and at the time I didn’t know my worth. I would always wear jackets and blazers to hide my skin, and ponytails to hide my length, but there has always been a flame in me, that swore I would get it all together.

            Fast forwarding to the end of my 12th grade year, and I became more of a fashionista—without the funds. When I got to college, I exploded with the ability to not be afraid of me, and I had the funds this time. I began trying things I never thought I would, and wearing clothes I never thought I could.

            In the year of 2016, things became clear. I had just gotten a new job in downtown Nashville, and I felt as if it was exactly what I needed. I met a lot of designers, store owners; you name it. I’ve also met a lot of famous people like athletes, dancers, singers, etc. Coming from the small town of Murfreesboro, you rarely meet young people who own businesses, or a lot of black business owners. One of the most “awing” moments for me was to see people my age that are very successful. In a short time of experiencing all of this, I decided I wanted to create a blog about celebrities, gossip, and the latest fashion trends.    

            My blog, Jae’s Box, is just that. This article is intended for women and men ages 16 and up. This blog requires the viewers to subscribe where they will now be known as a “jewel,” hints the name “Jae’s Box,” as in a jewelry box. Most of my articles will be posted no later than the day the specific event will occur. We will have a comment section for each article where viewers can state their opinions, and we will have direct messenger for comments, findings or concerns. We plan on having multiple social medias in order for our subscribers to be able to take us with them anywhere.

            Now that I’ve introduced how I came about writing my blog and what my blog will be about, here are a few articles that will be featured:

           

Nike Will Be Introducing Hijabs for Their Muslim Athletes in Spring 2018

The Hijab, according to CNN Money, took 13 months to make and came into creation after Muslims athletes would complain about having to wear their traditional scarves while competing.

Nike also states the “Nike Pro Hijab” may have been in the making for more than a year. http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/07/news/nike-pro-hijab/

Katy Perry Says She Tried to “Pray The Gay Away”

Singer Katy Perry received an award from the Human Rights Campaign  in LA and openly opened up about her sexuality, deciding to thank the LGBT community.

In her speech, she spoke about growing up in a very strict and religious family. Katy mentions, she was very curious about her sexuality, but knew that it wasn’t something that would be accepted.

Katy claims she tried to “pray the gay away” at Christian camps, but she ended up finding her gift. http://www.katyperry.com/

Tomi Lahren Suspended for A Week

Tomi’s program, “Tomi,” will be off air for at least a week, according to The Hill, after what was reported as rising tensions between her and other Blaze employees.

Lahren reportedly upset her boss, Glen Beck, after her appearance on “The View”. Tomi claimed to be “pro-life” and even took shots at conservatives, calling them hypocrites according to the Daily Beast.

Glenn took it to his radio show on Monday to blast his employee.

On Monday Lahren took it to Twitter to try and do a little damage control, which prompted her boss responded back.    https://twitter.com/TomiLahren?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Tennessee Teen and Teacher Go Missing Together

Corpus Christi police said they have been unable to wrap their head around the fact that, a Tennessee school teacher and a student he’s accused of kidnapping were in the South Texas Gulf Coast city.

Tennessee authorities have been hunting for the 50-year-old Tad Cummins and the 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas for two weeks.

Cummins has been added to Tennessee Most Wanted List after being suspected of kidnapping the teen. http://people.com/crime/elizabeth-thomas-missing-tad-cummins-romantic-emails-school/

The Death of the Music Industry

 

By Sarah Nichols
 

 

                The music industry seems to be breaking records day by day. Unfortunately, it is breaking all the wrong kinds. As CD sales are dropping to an all-time low, the music industry is taking a huge blow. It is understandable that the once ever-so-popular compact discs are dying out. Isn’t that what technology does? It slowly creeps into our lives, ignites a whirlwind, and then is snuffed out by the next new thing. Like its predecessors (vinyl records, cassette tapes, and the phonograph), CDs are slowly but surely becoming a thing of the past.
 

                Nielsen SoundScan, which began tracking music sales in 1991, recorded America’s album sales the week of Aug. 28, 2014—a jaw-dropping 3.997 million albums. Not only was it the lowest album sales since 1991, but the first time it has dropped below 4 million in that span of time. People may agree to the idea of CDs becoming extinct with an excuse like, “It is just their time.” But is their death a premature one? Some say yes, and the culprits behind the CD’s untimely death is due to digital downloading, audio streaming, and online piracy.
 

                The event that initiated the downfall of the music industry was the moment digital downloading became available. Instead of having to buy a physical copy, Apple created the online store iTunes that, for a price, provides digital singles and songs available for download. For a mere 69 cents (sometimes 99 cents or $1.99) individuals can pick and choose what they want to download instead of spending 20 bucks on a physical copy they would only listen to a few songs anyway. While aspects of this are great, there are flaws that were unforeseen when digital downloading was first introduced.
 

                Godfather of punk rock Iggy Pop has very loud opinions of exactly what he thinks of digital downloading and U2’s poor attempt of befriending the age of digital downloads. “We are exchanging the corporate rip-off for the public one,” he says, “Aided by power nerds. Kind of computer Putin’s. They just wanna get rich and powerful. And now the biggest bands are charging insane ticket prices or giving away music before it can flop, in an effort to stay huge. And there’s something in this huge thing that kind of sucks.” In fact, NPD estimates that iTunes has been responsible for 63 percent of music downloaded in the past year and that the music industry will never be able to return from the digital age.
 

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                The rise of audio streaming platforms such as Spotify, Pandora, SoundCloud, YouTube, 8tracks, and a host of other sites makes the accessibility of music easier than anyone could ever imagine. With the  touch of a few keystrokes, anyone can have unlimited access to the many media streaming services from virtually anywhere: from your phone, computer, TV, car or any portable device. It is no wonder that the music industry is suffering. Major stars and artists speak out against the age of digital streaming. They scrutinize the corporations that make a handsome profit off their art that they spent all the money, hard work, blood, sweat and tears creating. Yet, these corporations do nothing to re-invest to keep the artists, that are making them so much money, afloat.

                Amanda Palmer, former lead singer of The Dresden Dolls and front runner of Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra, spoke at the 2013 Virgin’s Disruptors Conference. “…one weird thing is that iTunes, Apple Spotify, Google, whatever, all of the people who are profiting – [and] YouTube – who are profiting off the artists from the small level to the huge levels aren’t really feeding very much back into the creation of new content.  And, that’s actually one of the largest problems, and even though my views aren't nearly as extreme as David Byrne’s, he does bring up the giant question, which is ‘where is the capital going to come from to make art?‘… But wouldn't it seem that the place that is making the lion’s share of the profit should actually also be putting money back into the creation of content to make a healthy ecosystem?”
 

                High-profile bands like Pink Floyd have this to say: “Of course, this letter doesn’t say anything about an 85 percent artist pay cut. That would probably turn off most musicians who might consider signing on. All it says about royalties is ‘we are all fervent advocates for the fair treatment of artists. Fine print is one thing. But a musician could read this ‘letter of support’ a dozen times and hold it up to a funhouse mirror for good measure without realizing she was signing a call to cut her own royalties to pad Pandora’s bottom line.”
 

                Audio piracy is a cheap, fast way to get all your favorite music, and maybe to you a song or two here and there isn’t a big deal. I mean, Katy Perry and Justin Bieber are millionaires. They won’t miss the 99 cents from iTunes or the $17.99 it would be to buy a physical copy, right? Wrong. When everyone across the globe participates in audio piracy, the music industry takes a big hit. Since the emergence of Napster in 1999 and other peer-to-peer sites, American music sales have dropped a disturbing 53 percent from $15.6 billion to $7 billion. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), “from 2004 though 2009 alone, approximately 30 billion songs were illegally downloaded on file-sharing networks…only 37 percent of music acquired by the U.S. consumers in 2009 was paid for.”

               Even headlining bands are noticing the dramatic decline of profit from albums. Iggy Pop states in his John Peel lecture at the radio festival, “If I had to depend on what I actually get from sales, I'd be tending bars between sets.” He goes on to talk about how the recent digital advances have caused the music industry to become “almost laughably pirate” and the electronic devices “estrange people form their morals and also make it easier to steal music than pay for it.”
 

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               Not only does this merely affect CD sales, but the people who work for the music industry as well. Songwriters, recording artists, audio engineers, computer technicians, talent scouts and marketing specialists, producers, publishers and countless others (RIAA) take a great hit from profit losses. In fact a study, by the Institute for policy Innovation pinpoints the annual damage of audio piracy at $12.5 billion in losses to the United States economy, as well as $2 billion in wages, and a devastating 70,000 lost jobs.
 

               Born in the '90s, I was a kid exploring the beginnings of the Internet.  I discovered that I was in the height of LimeWire. I am ashamed to admit in my younger years (I’m only telling you this because I checked the statute of limitations, and I’m clear), I was an audio pirate. From the ages 7 to 14 I built my own corrupted empire; kids from all grades would give me list of songs to download for me to put on a disc for them. I would charge them $5 a CD. I distinctly remember just before my 10th birthday breaking my portable compact disc player and getting my very first iPod - I was instantly smitten. Yes, I had money from my criminal transactions, but it wasn’t enough to buy all the music I wanted. So what did I do? I just downloaded more songs. Sure, I knew it was a “crime”, but I didn’t really know how serious it was nor who or what I was affecting. Only until we had a talk in our Criminal Justice class and I conducted my own research did I realize I was part of the music industry’s problem.
 

                I seriously believe that if we teach kids at a younger age how their actions online can cause irreversible effects, then a lot of these problems will be solved. To my knowledge, there are no such programs available, but maybe this is something to consider installing in our future curriculum. Keep in mind, I’m not telling you to stop jamming out to Spotify or to boycott the iTunes store; they’re both amazing music platforms that I love using. I’m asking for you to stop and think next time you decide to rip a song off PirateBay—reflect on the repercussions of this action. When you digitally download an album, maybe every once and a while you can dish out the extra $10 to buy the physical copy. In the end, it will be worth it to see the music industry be restored to its former glory; there is no telling what we will see from it when it is.
 

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