The Continuing Dominance Of American Media And Entertainment And What It Means To Your Online Career

It is an undisputed fact that when it comes to global media and entertainment, America dominates. I have lived in Australia which speaks Australian English and the Philippines which has its own local language, but both these countries are heavily influenced by America.

In these two countries, the local news agencies would frequently have news of American actors, movies and so on. In the Philippines for example, there are regular news segments about the results of American Basketball games.

In Australia, the end scores of American Basketball, Football and other American games are regularly mentioned in the news. I even saw an African news network that has a regular segment on the results of American games.

When I used to work for Philippine companies, there would be co-employees of mine who would skip work just to be able to watch the live broadcast of the American Super Bowl. The same thing happened when I worked for Australian companies.

As you can see, American media and entertainment influence goes beyond movies and songs. Perhaps the most famous example of this would be Michael Jordan. Even to this day, there are still many people from all over the world who buy products that he endorses.

The shoes and other sports products that bear his name have become expensive collectables. Even though he has been retired for decades, many people from all over the world still idolize him more than they idolize their country’s local basketball heroes.

If you are a creator of media and entertainment content, like being an author of either fiction and non-fiction books, it’s hard not to consider the influence of America whenever you produce you products if you’re targeting the international market.

In the choice of language alone, which one do you use? Of course it would be English because most readers worldwide are most familiar with English than all other languages including Spanish and Chinese.

And what kind of English would you be using? Would it be UK English, Australian English and all the other versions of English each country has? Chances are, you would most likely use American English.

This is not likely because you are fond of American English, but it may be out of necessity. Being an Australian myself, I vouch that many Australians are familiar with American English rather than Americans being familiar with Australian English.

Of course you don’t expect global readers to be the one adapting to your choice of language. You can’t for example, expect global readers to read a French language book just because you are a French author and your book’s setting is in France.

There are just so many books today that global readers are just trying to give themselves an excuse to not read your book in exchange for a book that is more accessible to them. The language you use to write your book may just make or break your book internationally.

Since American movies and songs are the most widely distributed and known pieces of entertainment globally, more people from all sorts of countries are familiar with them. They can even beat out the local culture of a country.

I for example am a dual citizen. I have seen places in the cities of both Australia and the Philippines featured in films. The funny thing however is, that I have seen more places in the cities of America than I do of my own countries.

I have seen more American buildings, landmarks, people, beaches and the other things about America because of American movies. And chances are that people all over the world have similar experiences as mine. This is how pervasive the influence of America is.

Is there an adult person today who doesn’t know about the city of New York for example which is the site of many Hollywood movies? If I ask a person in Europe about New York, chances are they would have an idea about it.

But if I ask them about the cities of Australia, Philippines, Africa, Mexico and some other random country, chances are they won’t know a thing. This is the reason why I’m heavily inclined to use American culture in my writings.

Another thing we need to consider is that when it comes to media and entertainment purchasing power, Americans are still the unrivaled leaders. So it pays to consider not only the American influence, but the American market as well.

I’m sure that many Americans who are reading this article right now would probably be pleased to know that their culture is pervasive globally. That is, if they haven’t known about this for some time already.

I’ve met many Americans who are well aware of how pervasive their media and entertainment products are. They fully know that a lot of people around the world know at least a small thing about America.

If you’re an American media and entertainment content generator, take heart to know that even though you are digitally speaking to people from other countries who may not know personally what you are talking about, they still nevertheless listen.

I don’t know about American local politics, but CNN have somehow made me feel concerned for the local politics of America. The funny thing is, I don’t even concern myself with the local politics of the country I live in.

This is the advantage of American media and entertainment content creators. They are by default the most recognizable culture globally. This is good news for Americans who have aspirations to have a global following.

They can just use media and entertainment materials that are distinctly American. Take for example CNN again. This media company has Australian and Philippine local versions. But not only in these two countries that I know, they are also present in other countries.

Being an online content creator and as an author myself, I have already stated that I’m heavily motivated to include American influence in my writing. You might think that I’m patronizing America more than the countries I’m a citizen of. But nothing can be further from the truth.

For example, if I wanted to add a fast food restaurant as a setting in my book, I would easily choose for example McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, Wendy’s and other American restaurants as the restaurant setting in my book.

This is because if I had used the name of a local restaurant that is not distinctly American, I would tend to alienate my international readers. I mean, who hasn’t heard about McDonalds for example?

Almost everyone around the world not only knows about McDonalds as a fast food restaurant name but have also eaten at least one of their hamburgers. Don’t get me wrong, I would like to be patriotic also and write about McDonald’s local competitors.

But I fully know that I’m going against the grain here. If I were targeting young children and teenagers, I’m sure that they perfectly know what McDonalds is. And of course, everyone knows about Hollywood movies and their actors and singers.

Nothing comes close to America in terms of the influence of Hollywood. Successful actors and singers from all over the world have left their own countries to try to be an international success, courtesy of Hollywood.

To discuss about the entire world of the global media and entertainment industry is beyond the scope of this article. What this article would rather concentrate on is the generation of international online content.

And just what are these online content? There are blogs, vlogs, YouTube videos, ebooks and so on. Maybe you’ve noticed it by now, but most of the platforms for these products are owned by American companies.

I’m not saying that these companies would manipulate their business to favor American interests, but what I’m saying is that these American companies would naturally treat the American market as a big if not the majority slice of their market.

Let us take for example the American e-commerce giant, Amazon. Well, not only American, but probably the entire world as we know it. They have a big concentration of their book business geared after the American market.

If you are a foreign author who wants to access the American book market through Amazon, there is a strong likelihood that your path will not be as straightforward as those for an American author.

But this just has to do with the book market which is heavily dominated by American readers. There are even rumors online that non-American authors are sometimes forced to use American sounding pen names in the hopes of selling their books better to American readers.

Though it might seem like a losing battle if you’re a media and entertainment content generator who wants to promote other cultures besides those of America, understand that there are also countries who have somehow succeeded in making their non-American content famous.

Japan:

Japan is the Asian country that comes to my mind when it comes to a country which has somewhat managed to steal a bit of limelight from American media and entertainment companies.

Let’s face it, Hollywood today has found again a very lucrative source of money. I’m talking about American superhero movies of course. American superheroes may be very American like Captain America, but he still has a very international appeal.

But leave it Japan to successfully export their anime heroes as well. The Japanese are not only surviving the onslaught of American media and entertainment, but are thriving as well. While sales of American comics are languishing both locally and internationally, manga comics thrive.

Samurais, ninjas, city pop and anime are just a few more media and entertainment products Japan is well known for. The only hindrance I see that Japan is experiencing in terms of the English speaking market is as already stated, the lack of English language usage.

I’ve been to comics shops that exclusively sell either American comics or Japanese comics and I can tell the difference, American comics buyers tended to be older and far between compared to Japanese comics buyers who were younger and are greater in numbers.

It’s a well known fact that Japanese cartoon illustrations are now being adopted by many countries even America. If you’re a media and content creator who is geared towards Japanese content, there is a high probability that there would be a good demand for your product.

Britain:

James Bond, the London Scene as well as the Victorian, Regency and Medieval England are just some of the things that pop into my mind when I think about the UK. There is an old world and stylish appeal that the UK simply has that simply appeals to everyone around the globe.

Let’s not forget that Britain used to rule a majority of the old world as we know it, and it’s easy to see why they have managed to leave a lasting impression to everyone especially to their old colonies.

We don’t need to look far. The success of Harry Potter and other entertainment works related to witches, fairies and many other mythical creatures seem to have a strong cultural relation with the UK these days.

I mean how many times have Robinhood, King Arthur and other medieval heroes of England have been turned into movies, television series and books? Just like medieval Japan, the world can’t seem to get enough of medieval England.

The good thing about this is that if you ever wanted to write about English places, people and culture in general, you would find that there is a strong market for it. For all we know, we might already be dying but the James Bond series of movies is still not ending.

If you want to reach an international audience for your media and entertainment products, it is strongly advised that you consider the global American influence and the strength of their purchasing power.

Although American influence is pervasive, there are other countries who are still managing to hold off with their own brand of media and entertainment products like Japan and the United Kingdom.

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