There are many different types of industries within the media world. Each one is intertwied with the other. For example, a new movie might spring up advertising websites (viral marketing) and magazine advertisements (direct marketing). Journalism will follow the production of the movie, offering actor/director interviews and commentary on the production process, and finally reviews of the film. There may even be video game tie-ins and mobile phone apps relating to the movie (for example: soundboards, clips, a mini game, character bios and location descriptions).
There are different industries within the media industry as a whole:
- Publishing (novels, books etc.)
- Magazines
- Newspapers
- Animation
- Film
- Television
- Web 2.0
- Music
- Radio
- Video Games
- Facilities
Publishing
The publishing industry pertains to printed media, ie novels, encyclopaedias, textbooks, puzzle books, biographies, etc. Magazines and newspapers are a form of printed media (published), but those forms of media are an industry in themselves and will be explained separate to the publishing industry.
Magazines
Magazine publishing pertains to the printing nd distribution of magazines. These magazines are printed monthly or weekly (or sometimes quarterly, depending on the magazine), and are usually geared towards a specific specialised subject. Magazines cover a huge range of topics and interests, such as fishing, rifle shooting, celebrity gossip, science, the arts, politics, gaming, children's interests, fashion, and so on. You can find magazines that cater for virtually any common interest.
Newspapers
Newspapers are focused on the news. Within the UK, there are two primary types of newspapers: broadsheets and tabloids. Tabloids, in general, tend to be heavily biased and with a political dogma that reflects that of the readers. Tabliods also typically follow celebrity gossip and focus less on global issues, though these are covered. Broadsheets are the opposite: they tend to follow politics and global issues and are mostly neutral. As the name implies, broadsheets have large pages and tabloids tend to be much smaller.
Animation
The animation industry focuses on animation. Animation is typically aimed at children, as animation can be highly entertaining due to the artistic style, but there is animation offered to teens and even adults. Typically a TV channel will create a show premise catered for an audience, send off the request to an animation studio who will then produce the show and episodes, who will then send back the completed episodes to the channel which will then broadcast the episode. Generally, a broadcasting channel will have its own pool of voice actors and a studio that produces the soundtrack and sound effects. These will be recorded before the animation studio begins production, which will be sent to the studio along with the storyboards and script (the script is used in tandem with the voice acting sounds so the animators can lip-sync) so the show can be produced. Some companies that air their own shows have in-house production facilities and employ their own animators (a good example of this is Disney, who air their own shows on The Disney Channel). This can apply to traditionally animated shows or shows that are animated in 3D using computer software.
For movie animation, typically a movie studio (Warner Bros, Disney, etc) will have their own animation studio tasked with creating animations. An feature length animation will obviously take far longer to produce than a 22 minute episode, and usually the animation quality is far higher as the budget is very high.
Film
The Film Industry is one of the biggest industries here. A huge amount of creative work goes into the process of making a film. The process can take years, depending on the film itself. A single movie can be worked on by hundreds of people.
Television
The television industry is responsible for creating, producing, and distributing television shows. There are many types of television shows, such as documentaries, news broadcasts, soap operas, Reality TV shows, and advertisements. The TV Industry typically creates and broadcasts these shows on their own channel (the BBC is a good example of this), but the TV channel can use third party production companies to produce a show which the channel will then air.
Web 2.0
Web 2.0 is the current generation of the internet. Web 2.0 refers to the technology used to create a website. For example, YouTube, a website created to host user-created videos, could not exist until Web 2.0 was created. The internet is an enormous industry that creates websites for consumption by internet browsers. Virtually any interest (whether common or uncommon) can be catered for via a specific website. Most companies have their own website which inform the viewer of current projects, company hierarchy, news, etc. Much like magazines, websites are "published", but the advantage a website has over a magazine is that adverts can include moving images, can be adapted based on the user's browsing history and interests (targeted marketing), and the website can include embedded videos and sound effects.
Music
The music production industry deals with the sourcing of artists and the production and distribution of music. The music industry pioneers new music genres, with individuals or bands producing their music for a music company such as EMI or Sony Music. The music industry relies on the latest technology to produce and distribute music, such as the internet or new storage technologies like memory cards or cloud storage. The music industry hit a particularly large high with the advent of highly portable music players like the iPod. Piracy is a particular problem for this industry in part due to the ease of file sharing via the internet, so many music companies are highly aggressive in tackling internet piracy.
Radio
The radio industry tasks itself with producing radio shows for distribution over the airwaves. Radio shows are wide and varied, catering to local towns and cities, or nationally. They can be politically motivated, geared towards a specific genre of music or musical era, chart music, talk-show based, or for general entertainment.
Video Games
The video game industry creates and distributes video games. Video game production is very similar in principle to movie production, especially in this era. The video game industry in its infancy was very simple. A basic video game consisted of graphics and sound effect production, and coders would construct an interactive game around these. As the video game industry flourished and technology progressed, video games became more cinematic. Voice actors and orchestras would record lines and soundtracks, and movie "language" (such as camera angles and direction) began to trickle into certain games. Interactivity increased, where players could influence the environment in ways that were beyond simple gameplay mechanics. As technology progressed further, motion capture became prevalent in order to increase realism and player immersion. Celebrity voice acting became common as the industry grew into new heights. As of 2012, the video game industry rivals the movie industry in size and profit. Some games, such as Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty, carry so much weight that their release can affect profits for other markets. Upon release of GTA IV, for example, the movie industry took a hit as movie-goers stayed at home to play the game instead of going out to watch movies.
Facilities
The facilities industry is related to the equipment and technology the other industries use to create their media. Movie-makers use recording equipment and software to create the films, and the facilities industry produces the cameras, mics, editing software, and distribution equipment that are needed. Music makers use recording equipment such as mixing decks and microphones, musical instruments, and music editing software. The facilities companies, like Aria or Sony, can directly sell this equipment to large and wealthy movie/music/radio production companies. Smaller companies can rent the equipment on an ad hoc basis and return them when production ends. Some companies produce equipment and software that editors use, but these companies may also produce products that are not exclusive to media. An example of this is Apple. They produce Final Cut, a movie editing software suite that is widely used within the movie industry, yet they also produce computer software for home office and even commercial and home computers. Smaller companies may not produce any equipment at all, but instead buy products directly from the equipment producers in order to lease them out media producers to make profit.
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