Music is a global expression found in diverse cultures, encompassing mainstream and underground genres that cater to different audiences. These subcategories differ in terms of popularity, conveyed themes, artistic innovation, and financial achievements. Hip hop, initially an alternative underground movement, challenged societal challenges such as urban impoverishment, racism, and economic marginalization faced by Black communities residing in inner cities.
Mainstream music, widely known and promoted by the media, refers to popular commercialized music. It is praised for its popularity and commercial success. In contrast, underground music, not represented or advertised by the media, exists as an alternative. However, it is crucial to acknowledge that both mainstream and underground music can possess positive and negative attributes. The fundamental difference lies in their level of popularity. Mainstream music frequently emphasizes glamour and projecting a desired image for its intended audience.
The media has depicted rap music, particularly when connected to black culture, as being associated with negative stereotypes. Such stereotypes include the correlation between wealth and its unlawful origins, the exploitation of women for fame, and the glorification of illegal drug usage and sales. This further perpetuates the misconception that poverty within the black community is equivalent to a life filled with criminality and promiscuity.
Mainstream music emphasizes form over content and imposes restrictions on artists, akin to a modern form of slavery. In contrast, underground music embraces creativity and the full expression of artists. Without label representation, underground artists are not bound by censorship or conformity. This freedom enables them to convey their lyrics more freely and establish their unique identity, rather than adhering to a predetermined criteria. Underground music prioritizes authenticity.
Both mainstream and underground music genres have artists who are passionate about their craft. However, their popularity levels result in different revenues. Mainstream music, which is highly visible among locals and tourists, captures society’s attention and generates income through CD sales, online music downloads, and concert attendance.
Both local promoters and the tourist industry take advantage of the unique characteristics of their city’s music scene. This often involves modifying the artists’ image in order to appeal to non-locals. Additionally, ratings play a role in generating income for mainstream music. Regardless of the quality of the music, the industry is constantly driven by monetary gains. Record labels, whose objective is to make a profit, are responsible for promoting and marketing it. However, this is in contrast to underground music, which either has limited sales or none at all, depending on how much effort the artists put into promoting themselves. Underground artists are rarely advertised to the public for purchase or download.
Concerts are frequently organized by underground music artists to gain recognition from fans who appreciate their unpublished music. The way music is presented is heavily impacted by creativity, as it determines its appeal and impact on the listener. In contrast to mainstream music, underground music displays greater originality, with artists creating their own beats and writing their own lyrics.
The ability for artists to release their own music grants them a greater sense of autonomy and promotes more creativity since there are no constraints to adhere to. Graffiti, beat boxing, and beat making may be looked down upon in popular music nowadays. Nevertheless, underground artists utilize these mediums as a way to express themselves and establish connections with others. Underground music holds the potential to influence individuals and act as a platform for both the artist and the audience, possibly sparking transformation. On the other hand, mainstream music is predominantly geared towards commercialization and prioritizes sales through their musical output.
The presentations, sales, creativity, and messages of mainstream and underground music can be noticeably different. However, most underground artists eventually transition into the mainstream industry and adapt to fit the conventions of mainstream music. Given enough time, mainstream artists can also reshape mainstream music to resemble its past roots in underground music, which had a stronger focus on positive influence rather than negative. Despite being overlooked by the press, various scenes can gain recognition and maintain their cultural distinctions through the influence of music press and niche media, as mentioned by Thornton.
Outsourcing Of Aircraft Maintenance
Good afternoon, today we will discuss the advantages of both internal and external aircraft maintenance. Recent studies have shown that the cost benefits of internal maintenance are minimal, so our company is considering outsourcing this process to external vendors. You may be wondering why we are considering this change, so let’s analyze the potential factors involved in both internal and outsourced aircraft maintenance.
Currently, by managing our aircraft maintenance internally, our maintenance crews can enhance their competencies and knowledge by learning and co-training for each type of aircraft. However, last year’s finance summary revealed that the expenses for crew training, salaries, purchasing, and equipment upkeep exceeded the budget, resulting in only minimal benefits.
We have expanded our maintenance team by increasing the number of crew members. This has led to the creation of two teams: a quality team and a safety team. These teams are responsible for ensuring that our maintenance crews maintain high standards of quality and environmental safety. Consequently, labor costs have been impacted. All costs related to maintenance are considered variable costs. According to Friend (1992), one approach to measuring maintenance cost is examining the number or proportion of staff members engaged in engineering and maintenance work at an airline. To decrease expenses, outsourcing the entire maintenance process could be a potential solution as it would result in fewer workers employed by our company, particularly those with long-term contracts.
For instance, the aircraft’s internal maintenance cost can vary depending on the number of man-hours needed for servicing, typically around $200 thousand. Nonetheless, by outsourcing the maintenance package, we can save approximately $100 thousand per aircraft at market rates. This not only leads to a reduction in servicing expenses but also enables us to delegate supervision of the entire maintenance process to agencies. Consequently, our workforce can dedicate their efforts towards other crucial sectors.
Cannon and Richey (2012) argue that business aviation is propelled by the advancement of airframe design and avionics technology. To ensure the upkeep of the increasing number of business aircraft, several regulations are implemented. With technological advancements, more sophisticated and costly equipment is introduced to support these aircraft. Consequently, if we choose to handle maintenance internally, we will be responsible for acquiring and maintaining such equipment.
Outsourcing maintenance helps the company save costs on equipment purchase and upkeep. However, our current hangars cannot accommodate the new aircraft that will be acquired in the next five years for servicing the entire fleet. If we decide to stick with internal maintenance, constructing a new hangar would be necessary in the near future. On the other hand, outsourcing allows us to potentially generate revenue by selling or renting out space in our existing hangars.
Cannon and Richey (2012) emphasize that the business aviation fleet relies on the expertise of maintenance managers and technicians who oversee countless ramps and hangers worldwide. However, concerns regarding maintenance standards from external agencies, compliance with deadlines, and potential impacts on flight safety and reputation remain.
Decision on adopting external agencies maintenance: Due to the marginal cost benefits of our current situation, I recommend outsourcing the maintenance. Although maintaining the upkeep internally may potentially allow for better quality control, we should still consider external agencies. According to Sheehan (2003), “A properly certificated repair station offers the advantage of written minimum personnel qualifications, supervisory methods, quality control programs, and increased surveillance from the national regulatory authority.”
Additionally, an Approved Maintenance Organization, or AMO, typically offers a greater depth of personnel and experience for a specific task. Through these professional services, we can minimize the time it takes to turn around aircrafts, thus preventing passengers from experiencing inconvenience caused by technical issues. Furthermore, we have the opportunity to assign some of our technicians to an external maintenance agency, allowing them to gain valuable training and improve their competency in servicing procedures. This arrangement benefits both our technicians and enhances their skills.
Having technicians on site sends a clear message to agencies about our commitment to quality. They can also serve as a point of contact in case of any production disputes or delays. Outsourcing also provides the advantage of saving on fuel costs. In order to maintain our aircraft’s servicing, it needs to return to the hub. If this is not possible, we have to perform advance service in order to avoid maintenance issues when the aircraft is deployed to other countries.
By utilizing worldwide outsourcing maintenance services, aircraft can now undergo servicing as needed without the need to return to their hub. This provides cost savings by reducing fuel consumption. There are reputable maintenance agencies located overseas, such as in Indonesia and Brunei, that meet our standards. In such cases, we can outsource the servicing of our aircraft to these agencies.
The cost of servicing will be more affordable compared to internal maintenance due to cheaper labor and rental. Additionally, our currency’s strength makes it even more economically advantageous. Safety is also given high priority based on our standard. Our mission statement strives to generate profits for the company and stakeholders. In this competitive industry, as we explore various methods of generating revenue, outsourcing maintenance helps decrease labor costs and overall expenses, serving as an additional revenue generation avenue. Members of the board, we kindly ask for your support regarding our proposal. If you have any concerns, please inform me. Thank you.
REFERENCE
- BookJohn J. Sheehan, 2003. Business and Corporate Aviation Management.
- James R. Cannon and Franklin D. Richey, 2012. Practical Application in Business Aviation Management.
- C. H. Friend, 1992. Aircraft Maintenance Management.
- AI-Kaabi, H. , Potter, A. , and Naim, M. , 2007. An outsourcing decision model for airlines’ MRO activities.
Gene Splicing- Genetic Technology
Gene Splicing: What Is It?
Gene Splicing is a type of genetic technology that involves taking pieces of DNA from one or more organisms and combining them into another DNA strand to create new DNA or recombinant DNA.
How Does It Work?
The process involves using chemicals called restriction enzymes as scissors to cut the DNA. Thousands of these restriction enzymes exist, each recognizing only a single sequence of DNA. Once it finds that sequence in a strand of DNA, it attacks it and splits the base pairs apart, leaving it like a broken chain.
Scientists can add any desired DNA to a broken chain” and repair it with an enzyme called ligase. One of the advantages of gene splicing is that organisms can be improved beyond their original state. For instance, pineapples were once in danger from parasites, but gene splicing technology allowed scientists to insert antibodies into pineapple DNA, thereby enabling the fruit to defend itself against these parasites.
One advantage of gene splicing is the ability to create essential hormones, such as insulin, which is beneficial for diabetic patients who need to regulate their blood sugar levels. Additionally, gene splicing can increase the production of crops like rice and wheat, which is especially useful in third world countries that rely heavily on these foods. Lastly, gene splicing has the potential to cure previously incurable diseases such as paralysis, cancer, and diabetes. Scientists believe that it could be a pathway to finding cures for these illnesses.
One of the cons of gene splicing is that it has the potential to go terribly wrong and cause severe or even fatal harm to the organism being tested on. Another con is that the consequences may be unknown. For example, when attempting to make a crop of rice produce more through gene splicing, it may instead kill off the entire crop. This brings us to another con of gene splicing where it could potentially be harmful to organisms that feed on the gene-spliced organism.