Music Without Limits

Andrew Megow

Music should not be just a tool for conforming and fitting in with the norm. Music should be free to do as it pleases and have limitless possibilities, and music without limits is what the company Rhapsody claims to provide. The commercial ad that I have chosen is for a website company that advertises the selection of over one million songs wherever we are, and whenever we want, with genre after genre of music to fill all of your music needs. The idea that we now have all this freedom of music has come into the advertising companies' minds and they're selling yet again. It is hard to realize we are merely conforming now through being an individual, listening to different genres of music, and the desire to choose what best fit our personalities.
The ad that I've picked is a commercial on the internet and television which features a woman on the roof of a building in Manhattan. The sound we hear is the usual ambience of the city streets below, nothing special. As she looks down she notices several large bubbles floating amongst the skyscrapers. With a look of confidence in her eyes she leaps from the building and the closer she gets to a bubble, the closer music starts to be apparent amongst the bubbles. Landing safely into one of these majestic bubbles the woman is entranced by the "wall of sound" the bubble features inside. The particular song is a R&B song entitled "Squeeze Me" by the band Kraak & Smaak, which has a funky beat that delights the woman. After a while she presumedly gets bored and falls out of the bubble into another bubble passing by. The bubble has the same feature, a surrounding wall of sound, only this bubble features the alternative pop rock music of David Bowie's "Sound & Vision". It ends with the bubble rising into the sky along with several other bubbles each containing their own person bewildered by the sound inside. The ad kept up with me displaying the websites affection for the individual up until that last scene where it was apparent the women wasn't the only one who knew of the website or in her case, had their own bubble. The idea of individuality is apparently not what the ad is aiming for, by showing other people with their own bubbles. How can one impress others if we're all the same?
In the 20th century, we were told what to wear. We were told what to listen to and symbolically, what to think. During the late 20th century it was well known people were fed up with the idea of conformity, so the idea of one single person, or an individual taking a stand in front of all the popularity of conforming, was a real shocking and rebellious thing for the time. We have one big difference between the early 20th century and the present, and that is choices. So many products are offered to us via the television and internet and other selling devices and through all those millions of choices it was now possible to represent yourself as an independent person and feel good for possessing an identity. For a few brief moments the individual was king of the world rebelling against everything advertisers stood for, until the advertisers got smart. Advertisers began to promote the idea of having hundreds of millions of choices and these choices are brought to us with the courtesy of such companies. In my ad, Rhapsody's goal is to give you millions of songs through Rhapsody with songs of different genres and styles. The actual song may not be owned by Rhapsody but in a way you are listening through rhapsody. Choices are represented in the commercial through the woman's action to jump from bubble to bubble. If each bubble is unique in it's own way, then it is possible to change bubbles if boredom shall arise.
Apple Dictionary defines the word "Desire" as "A strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen." Dreams are desires and dreams can be a sense of fantasy and wonder. The ad of which I picked depict the scenario of being able to leap off of tall buildings and land in bubbles that we may be able to hover above the streets of a city. It is no argument that this thrilling, exciting, wonderful idea would be an experience of a lifetime, so it's no wonder that most people would find this commercial overwhelmingly appealing. Therefore it is no surprise when imagery stays in our self conscious and we think back to Rhapsody and it's magical bubbles. Overall I feel the desire it's trying to reach to us is the idea that we all want music that excites and inspires us to do great things. With the freedom of music you could almost do anything, and never be afraid to turn down certain oppurtunities. No one in their right mind would jump off a building in order to get in a bubble, but with the freedom of all music just a click away, dreams will become reality. Dreams reflect on our personalities and if a particular person is not into the whole "dream" escape scenario of commercial, never fear, Rhapsody's second commercial gives the comfort of choice we all share.
The second ad of which I speak is not visually pleasing in terms of imagery, whereas the latter of which I spoke was. My second ad is a more informative commercial for Rhapsody which promotes the freedom of choice. The one million songs concept is still present but now through Rhapsody we have the ability to listen to the songs we want wherever we want. It goes on to list the certain locations where we might listen to Rhapsody whether it be the house, the car, or your ex-grilfriends house, but wherever you go, Rhapsody can be with you at all times. There seems to be a sense of security being brought to us via Rhapsody and it just feels like there's nothing to worry about, because the company has got you covered.
As we look at the overall feel of Rhapsody I will admit I don't see it a threat to my psyche nor my sense of intelligence, I find Rhapsody to be innocent at most and think it is just trying to stay alive with the rest of the music websites. It's something never quite thought of when some analyses one music website that they are merely conforming to the other websites that offer one million songs and different genres and styles. All claim to be the ONE site that will offer many DIFFERENT genres of music that best fit YOUR personality, and these philosophies are fought between the companies and chain down to the public in the run of things. Is one website better than the other? Most people would say yes but to me, I feel there's a little bias there. Conforming is the name of the game and I feel the majority of the websites are the same. They just have different wallpaper backgrounds.

TA Laura Bennett

My first Ad:


My Second Ad: