Most Corrupt Industries

Everyone says that corporations are extremely corrupt. But, are the corporations actually corrupt or is it the industries they're in that decides whether or not they'll be corrupt? Think about it, I previously mentioned how you rarely hear about the music industry being considered corrupt. So, who are the corrupt ones?
1. Utilities: "In January 2006, FirstEnergy ponied up $28 million, on top of a previous $5.45 million penalty, to make the criminal charges go away. The cost of the replacement reactor head? $605 million, according to the Toledo Blade." (par. 1)
2. Wall Street/ Securities: "Madoff piloted the most devious Ponzi scheme ever, finding new suckers to give him money as he paid (some) old ones off, eventually defrauding his investors of an estimated $18 billion." (par. 2)
3. Telecommunications: "Officials finally decided WorldCom had been claiming $11 billion it didn't have. WorldCom filed for the then-biggest bankruptcy in the United States, and Ebbers was convicted of securities fraud and conspiracy" (par. 3)
4. Construction: "...three former Fluor employees in Richland, Washington, were indicted last week for fraudulently charging about $560,000 in goods and services. " (par. 4)
5. Media: "...Four major chains, including Clear Channel, paid out $12.5 million in 2007" (par. 5)

Media and Telecommunications, in my opinion, go pretty hand in hand so that just shows how corrupt that area is. Utilities, well, here is another example of corrupt utility companies.

The story of Erin Brockovich is all about a corrupt utility company.

So, does this truly prove that it is the industry that creates corruption? I think it does. Some industries have no reason to be corrupt, and some do.  I'm not saying that there aren't some companies who just have bad apples in their work place that create corruption, but I do think there is a correlation between industry and corruption.


"Corruption at the Movies - Galleries." The Daily Beast. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. <http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/1564/1/?redirectURL=http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-04-28/the-most-corrupt-professions/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsL1>.

Love, Money, Boasting and Bars

Universal, Sony, Warner Music and EMI are 81.87% of the US Market as of 2005. (Cashmere Par. 2, 3, 4, 5)  The music industry today is extremely diverse and I'm sure if you researched each of those four you'd see that each of them represent different types of artists.  Music today is so diverse. The lyrics you hear from radio station to radio station in a sense are all about the same few topics.
Corey Deitz, former radio personality with a BS in Telecommunications from Kent State University, made a list of the top 10 music topics played on the radio in 2008.

1. Love: Choose Me
   
2. Love: Making Love
   
3. Love: Don’t Want To Break Up
   
4. Love: Painful Break-up 
5. Money
   
6. Love: Falling In Love
   
7. Bars & Clubs
   
8. Bragging
   
9. Love: Devotion
   
10. Love: On The Ropes 

I thought I'd sent up a little experiment and go through iTunes and see if I could find at least 2 songs about each topic.

1. Love: Choose Me -- "You Belong With Me"-Taylor Swift & "That Should Be Me" -Justin Beiber
   
2. Love: Making Love -- "A Night Off" -Drake & "I'll Make Love To You" -Boys II Men
3. Love: Don’t Want To Break Up -- "Stay With Me" -Finch & "Stay My Baby" -Miranda Cosgrove (this one was actually pretty difficult)
   
4. Love: Painful Break-up -- "All Again For You" -We The Kings & "You're Not Sorry" -Taylor Swift
5. Money -- "N Luv With My Money" -Chamillionaire & "Money to Blow" -Drake (Didn't even have to go to iTunes for this one!)
   
6. Love: Falling In Love -- "I'd Do Anything" -Simple Plan & "So Much" -The Spill Canvas
   
7. Bars & Clubs -- "Make Love In This Club" -Usher (Two in one!) & "Waking Up In Vegas" -Katy Perry
   
8. Bragging --"I Look Good" -Chalie Boy & "Who's Got Your Money" -Tina Parole
   
9. Love: Devotion --"Little Devotional" -Taking Back Sunday & "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" -Aerosmith
   
10. Love: On The Ropes  --"Goodbyes" -Miley Cyrus & "The Cheeseburger Song" -Veggie Tales (okay, maybe this one is going out on a limb, but he really is torn about whether or not to wait for his cheeseburger!)

I think it's proven that these themes are very common in songs when I could so easily find songs about each topic all in my own personal music library. But to me, what is most apparent about this is that love is the most common theme. I have fifty songs in my library that have love in the title, but that doesn't mean out of the 700 left the majority aren't about love, because they are.

The thing is, the music industry is huge and it's everywhere.  These huge companies that sign all of these musicians have a lot to do with society and what is popular at the time.  However, they don't always have the best judgement.  Sometimes artists go from company to company until someone signs them, and sometimes people who don't deserve to be signed at all are.  Music impacts everyone, regardless of if they realize it, and I think the music industries are some of the least corrupt out there.  People always seem to focus on the bad things of major corporations but I don't know what bad things to say about these companies.

Universal for example, it has had its controversies here and there, like bribing radio stations to play their music, but in comparison to some other companies is that really that bad?  They aren't providing products that could kill anyone and they aren't lying about what they provide.  Universal is an example of a corporation that more corporations should be like.

Now, here is a video of one of the songs above because I felt like if I was going to mention songs I should at least have a link to one (: I couldn't decide which so I used a random number generator and this is what is picked! I love this song.
Enjoy

Work Cited

Cashmere, Paul. "Universal The Biggest Label of 2006." Undercover: Your Daily Music Fix. Web. 27 Apr. 2011. <http://www.undercover.fm/news/1203-universal-the-biggest-label-of-2006>.

Deitz, Corey. "The Top 10 Music Topics Played on Radio in 2008." News and Advice on Internet Radio, SIRIUS XM Satellite Radio, AM, FM, HD, HD-2, Podcasting, IPhone, BlackBerry, and Android Radio Applications. Web. 27 Apr. 2011. <http://radio.about.com/od/radioprogramming/a/aa020209a.htm>.

Advertising

Every major or minor corporation has one thing in common, advertising.  No matter how big or how small they all advertise their company in one way or another, they have to or they'll never get any business, obviously.  But, unfortunately some companies go a little bit over the top with some of their ads.  Some are disturbing and some are just questionable. If you search YouTube, there are a lot of videos of banned advertisements.  For example:


This commercial, which I find hilarious, was banned for a reason.  It implies having a child just isn't worth it.  While it  makes its main point, don't have sex if you aren't going to be safe about it, or if you aren't ready for a child, it's still just....wrong.  It makes people wonder.
This, like a lot of advertisements, are just simply inappropriate.  Oddee.com made a list in 2008 of the 15 most offensive, banned and rejected advertisements.  Here are the reasons they were considered so bad.

1. Objectifying or demeaning a certain group
2. Obscene
3. Trivialized violence
4. Frightening
5. Immoral or inappropriate
6. Sexually explicit

The way I see it though, there are plenty of ads that are out today that sexually explicit or inappropriate. I think though, companies are getting away with it because they only air their commercials on stations not being seen by children, or on main channels but only during prime time.  The problem with this is, children are still watching.  I know when I was 8 years old I'd watch MTV with my 17 year old sister.  If I saw some of the commercials that I see now, then, I'd have some questions.  I see this mainly with condom commercials, especially Trojan, or with KY.  While I suppose the companies are making their point, I can't help but be a little uncomfortable with some of those commercials.  Not because I'm uncomfortable around sex, but because the whole idea of their commercials just make me uncomfortable.
While I don't necessarily agree with a lot of the commercials or advertisements I see today, there are plenty that I fine acceptable.  While doing my research for this blog I came across another blog by someone who didn't seem at all to agree with advertising. Mark Irons, the creator of this blog, said " [People in advertising] serve no useful purpose in the world, and just drag the rest of us down into the mire. Off yourself and do us all a favor."
Can you say over dramatic?  
The thing about it is, advertising is essential in our world.  How am I supposed to know which pizza place to order from if I didn't know who was having the better sale.  However, I definitely think that advertising companies need to cool down their advertisements.  Unfortunately "sex sells" is a common phrase today, and is the truth.  The obscenity and objectification in advertising is a lot of what sells things today.

Why can't a product sell itself?

Work Cited

"15 Most Offensive, Banned and Rejected Ads - Oddee.com (banned Ads, Offensive Ads...)." A Blog on Oddities: the Odd, Bizarre and Strange Things of Our World! | Oddee.com. Web. 27 Apr. 2011. <http://www.oddee.com/item_96502.aspx>.

 Irons, Mark. "Mark Irons’ Home Page." RainDrop Laboratories, Home of Agora. Web. 27 Apr. 2011. <http://www.rdrop.com/~half/index.html>.

Valentine's Day

Billshrink

So maybe I'm a few months late to talk about this topic, but it definitely involves corporations.  Valentines Day: The ultimate corporate holiday.  Why is it that America feels like they need a holiday to say "I love you" to their loved ones? Why do they think they need to spend a ton of money on one day? Do people really think the more money spent on them on Valentines Day means the more someone loves you? It doesn't.  Now I'll admit, when the day comes around I want attention too. If I'm single, I wish I wasn't and if I'm not, I expect something good. That's the downfall. This corporate holiday has made us into greedy people who expect to be blown away this one day a year? Honestly, if someone really loves you they'll blow you away everyday.  They won't need Valentines Day to do it. According to Online Dating Magazine "15% of singles send flowers to themselves on Valentine’s Day". (Par. 2)  It's sad that it means SO much to women to get something on Valentine's Day that they go to lengths to spend money on themselves. Billshrink.com posted this graphic about Valentine's Day.Click on the caption below the picture to be taken directly to Billshrink.com and enlarge the photograph.  It has so many statistics that prove how much of a corporate holiday Valentine's Day really is.  Especially one particular quote near the bottom of the graphic that talks about how some taken people still don't enjoy Valentine's Day because they feel it is meaningless and they're under pressure to provide the perfect gift for their loved one.  That right there is the problem.  People shouldn't worry so much about what they're going to receive or give someone on Valentine's Day.  They should show their love everyday.  The following clip from the movie Valentine's Day shows two teenagers (played by Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner) who talk about how much they love each other.  All he got her for Valentines Day was a teddy bear and they're still so in love for two high school students as opposed to other people in the movie and in the real world.  People who expect diamonds and pearls and when they don't get it it just isn't enough. I'd say I wish we had Valentine's Day without all the corporate influence, but honestly, I think we're too past that.

Works Cited

"Valentine's Day Statistics." Online Dating News Blog - Online Dating Tips and Advice. Web.