Thursday 29 April 2010
Sunday 25 April 2010
Alexander’s Evaluation
Q1. In what ways does your product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Music videos are an effective way of marketing and promoting a single, which leads to the promotion of the relevant album and ultimately the band. Since this band, Tarantula, is a budding local band, our group decided from the outset that we would not deviate too far from the forms and conventions of modern music videos so as to insure the acceptance by the mainstream audience. The music video for their debut single, No More, was therefore decided to have a narrative/performance structure. There is a mild multi-strand element, featuring flashback scenes as well as two simultaneous present day sequences following our male and female lead actors respectively.
The use of the different elements o f the video (namely camera, sound, editing and mise-en-scene) varies between the separate scenes. The performance shots are set in the band’s rehearsal space, showing them as a young, local, raw band. The red and blue flood lights, as well as the handheld camera shots and the animated energy of the band, give them a more aggressive, anarchist edge as well as being a visual accentuation on the lyrics “MAYDAY”. All other shots are filmed in middle-class house, showing that domestic violence can be happening to anyone, even our neighbours. The normal present day sequences during the verses use tripods and steady cam shots to connote the menial existence of a battered wife/girlfriend in between her ordeals and the obliviousness of her partner of the effects of his actions. The flashback sequences during the chorus are distinguished by the use of black and white picture effects (connoting the past) and use handheld camera shots to show the intensity and violence o f their arguments. The exception to this rule is the last chorus which features a present day sequence, but uses handheld camera shots to connote the girl’s frantic attempt at escape. As the song ends and she is confronted at the end by her abuser, the sequence is reverted back to the use of steady cam and tripod shots, showing futility of her attempt to break out. Throughout the present-day sequences, Tarantula’s lead vocalist (Sergei) is appears around the house black-clad but the girl never acknowledges presence. The more frequently he appears and talks to her, the more her confidence picks up until she finally attempts to leave and passes through him (achieved through double-exposure). When she is confronted at the door, Sergei disappears. Sergei is used as a symbolic reference of her courage, gradually building until she sees her partner again.
The production of this video, especially the directing, has been heavily influenced by “Stan” by rapper Eminem for its portrayal of domestic violence and use of black and white flashbacks. The difference in genre, however, called for more performance shots in our product to appeal to reggae and hardcore rock fans. Another Eminem song “Guilty Conscience” influenced the decision to use a member of the band as a psychological entity rather than an actual interactive character. The cruel twist at the end with the woman building hope until she is confronted at the door was greatly influenced by the “Saw” film series, where the villain’s prevalence is seen as more likely and thrilling as opposed to the fairy-tale optimism of escape.
Q2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
We intended to portray the band as an unruly band of everyday people. There was no use of flashy accessories or clothing, just what they turned up to the photo-shoot wearing. There was no excessive gimmickry which, in itself, is a marketing ploy on its own to appeal to the anarchist, chaos-loving youth.
The video shows this mainly through the performance shots where the band use their personal instruments in their own rehearsal space with no audience, yet they still appear to get lost in their music on their own. This is all used to show the “we don’t care” and “it’s all about the music” attitude that appeal to younger rebel audiences.
The digipak cover follows through with the “ordinary rebel” image, using plain photographs of the band in everyday clothes of their own choice and at urban locations. The front cover consists of a graffiti-like design which keeps the rebel image without trying too hard to do so. The spine has a more sophisticated design, with a spider used as the symbol for Tarantula. This was used to catch the eye of a passer-by seeing the digipak on a shelf. The front cover design was influenced by comic books and their appeal to the more experimental, open-minded and creative of audiences (i.e. who read comics instead of story books).
With the magazine advert, the group changed its direction drastically. We realised we would need a more interesting and eye-catching appearance as well as the plain rebel image to attract audiences (i.e. the plain front and back digipak covers with the attention-grabbing design on the spine). To achieve this, we decided to produce the advertisement as an imagery representation of the song. We used a blood red rose in the centre with bone-white, flower-like designs sprouting from behind it. These were to represent love or the love that the couple once had which has now becoming unhealthy and out of control. The black stone background represents the woman’s loneliness and isolation (i.e. prison) and the cobweb is used to emphasise the loneliness and long- forgotten happiness (as well as a simple symbol for Tarantula). The Tarantula uses the same graffiti logo so as to relate to the digipak, but this time it is coloured blood red to match the rose. The “No More” text is bone-whit to match the flower design. In all, the advert uses three colours of symbolism; blood red for love/violence, bone-white for fear/death and black for loneliness/loss of hope. The advert was influenced by the covers of the books in the twilight series which feature the same three colours. We discovered when put in a different context, these colours have powerful symbolic meaning.
Q3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
The initial target audience profile was defined as early teens to young adults or the “teen rebellion phase”. This was due to the image of the band as well as the music style and was built into the video by using a middle-class house and urban exterior locations. We also had cheap and day-to-day props (i.e. beer can, cigarettes) to further portray the household as ordinary middle-class.
No particular emphasis was made on ethnicity due to the cultural origins of the contrasting sub-genres (reggae and hardcore rock) and there was no gender target either, since there were an equal number of males and females who were interested in the genre fusion.
Since the people who like hardcore rock and reggae preferred performance and story videos respectively, some choosing concept videos as a secondary theme, we sought to appeal to the everyday youth who enjoy raving, as well as the ones who want to listen to a story with an overall concept. The steady cam shots reflect the storyline and the use of handheld shooting was to appeal to the more hardcore “mosh-pit” fans. This fuses all three themes with the necessary balance to satisfy all preferences.
We also saw that there was a more or less equal preference for focus on the band or lead singer, slightly leaning towards the latter. Therefore, we decided to show as much of the entire band as possible in the performance shots and include the lead singer, albeit minimally, in the story scenes to satisfy both preferences.
An equal number of people expressed their inclination towards commercial videos and those with serious issues respectively. Consequently, we chose to include a serious issue but in a commercial friendly way so that it pleases both partialities.
The target audience was also shown to enjoy hip-hop and, to a lesser extent, rock music videos, despite their preference for hardcore rock and reggae music. This inclined our decision to take influence from Eminem music videos (Stan and Guilty Conscience in particular), since although he is primarily a hip-hop artist, he tends to blur the lines between hip-hop and rock. This was an attempt to produce a video that the audience could call their favourite, while at the same time giving them the type of music that they enjoy, rather than the two being separate.
We were also informed that the target audience tends to lean towards cruel twist endings, which we incorporated into the video to satisfy their tastes.
With all this information incorporated into the video, we received a generally positive feedback on all three products. People enjoyed the video, commenting on the aggressive camera shots and editing to reflect domestic violence as well as the balance between the lead singer, the band and the actors from the story. Our use of double exposure was also highly praised. Some people have also claimed that the video can be watch over and over and have been showing it to other people mainly due to the impact of the double-exposure ad variance in pace.
The digipak also received positive review for its colour contrast and its use of simple photographs, rather than elaborate poses and costume. The unique spine was also commented on as very attractive
The magazine advert was proven to be extremely eye-catching and attractive. At second glance it was very strongly admired for its symbolism. We were very pleased with this, since it was the exact desired effect we were going for.
In all, I feel our end products were highly successful and that they have and will continue to encourage the audience to purchase the single, digipak and forth-coming album. It would be better suited to an indie label, due to the raw nature and “young rebel” image of the band.
Q4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
The internet played a huge role in the overall production especially the research stages. Google and other search engines helped with finding valuable information regarding forms and conventions and subject matter research. Examples of magazine adverts and DVD covers were also easily found in this manner which bought the research together quickly and smoothly. Facebook was also utilised for the interviews for target audience research and Myspace and Youtube were used to further promote the video for audience feedback, as well as Youtube serving as a platform to embed the video on our blog. All stages of research, development, pre-production, production and post-production were documented on the Blogger website, which helped to keep all individual information available to each other instantly. Tags on each post were used to access certain documents quickly with minimal search effort.
During filming, we used a Canon XM2 digital camera set to widescreen. Red and blue lights were used during the performance shots which were achieved through coloured, translucent gels covering the bulbs of the flood lights. Handheld techniques were used as to pan around the band, as well as to take higher birds-eye-shots which were later scrapped from the production. The only real problem we encountered was the melting of the coloured gels, which we solved by fitting thin foam sheets in between the gel and the bulb and turning off the lights in between shots.
In the editing suite, we used Final Cut Pro to edit the roughs of the video, learning the techniques in cutting clips and applying transitions. The college equipment was especially helpful in the realisation of the double-exposure idea, which came together smoothly.
For the print production, we used Adobe Photoshop which proved to be an extremely valuable tool. We were able to apply the hand drawn Tarantula logo by scanning it and used the orange colour to avoid clashing with the black and white background. All photographs for the print work was done with a digital camera at outdoor locations and cleaned up through Adobe Photoshop and no green screen was used. We had minor trouble making the rose look realistic enough, until we discovered a flower brush on the Brusheezy website which fit our criteria perfectly.
Altogether, the post-production was helped greatly by our study and understanding of the college equipment and facilities, allowing us to realise our ideas and further expand our creative horizons.
Music videos are an effective way of marketing and promoting a single, which leads to the promotion of the relevant album and ultimately the band. Since this band, Tarantula, is a budding local band, our group decided from the outset that we would not deviate too far from the forms and conventions of modern music videos so as to insure the acceptance by the mainstream audience. The music video for their debut single, No More, was therefore decided to have a narrative/performance structure. There is a mild multi-strand element, featuring flashback scenes as well as two simultaneous present day sequences following our male and female lead actors respectively.
The use of the different elements o f the video (namely camera, sound, editing and mise-en-scene) varies between the separate scenes. The performance shots are set in the band’s rehearsal space, showing them as a young, local, raw band. The red and blue flood lights, as well as the handheld camera shots and the animated energy of the band, give them a more aggressive, anarchist edge as well as being a visual accentuation on the lyrics “MAYDAY”. All other shots are filmed in middle-class house, showing that domestic violence can be happening to anyone, even our neighbours. The normal present day sequences during the verses use tripods and steady cam shots to connote the menial existence of a battered wife/girlfriend in between her ordeals and the obliviousness of her partner of the effects of his actions. The flashback sequences during the chorus are distinguished by the use of black and white picture effects (connoting the past) and use handheld camera shots to show the intensity and violence o f their arguments. The exception to this rule is the last chorus which features a present day sequence, but uses handheld camera shots to connote the girl’s frantic attempt at escape. As the song ends and she is confronted at the end by her abuser, the sequence is reverted back to the use of steady cam and tripod shots, showing futility of her attempt to break out. Throughout the present-day sequences, Tarantula’s lead vocalist (Sergei) is appears around the house black-clad but the girl never acknowledges presence. The more frequently he appears and talks to her, the more her confidence picks up until she finally attempts to leave and passes through him (achieved through double-exposure). When she is confronted at the door, Sergei disappears. Sergei is used as a symbolic reference of her courage, gradually building until she sees her partner again.
The production of this video, especially the directing, has been heavily influenced by “Stan” by rapper Eminem for its portrayal of domestic violence and use of black and white flashbacks. The difference in genre, however, called for more performance shots in our product to appeal to reggae and hardcore rock fans. Another Eminem song “Guilty Conscience” influenced the decision to use a member of the band as a psychological entity rather than an actual interactive character. The cruel twist at the end with the woman building hope until she is confronted at the door was greatly influenced by the “Saw” film series, where the villain’s prevalence is seen as more likely and thrilling as opposed to the fairy-tale optimism of escape.
Q2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
We intended to portray the band as an unruly band of everyday people. There was no use of flashy accessories or clothing, just what they turned up to the photo-shoot wearing. There was no excessive gimmickry which, in itself, is a marketing ploy on its own to appeal to the anarchist, chaos-loving youth.
The video shows this mainly through the performance shots where the band use their personal instruments in their own rehearsal space with no audience, yet they still appear to get lost in their music on their own. This is all used to show the “we don’t care” and “it’s all about the music” attitude that appeal to younger rebel audiences.
The digipak cover follows through with the “ordinary rebel” image, using plain photographs of the band in everyday clothes of their own choice and at urban locations. The front cover consists of a graffiti-like design which keeps the rebel image without trying too hard to do so. The spine has a more sophisticated design, with a spider used as the symbol for Tarantula. This was used to catch the eye of a passer-by seeing the digipak on a shelf. The front cover design was influenced by comic books and their appeal to the more experimental, open-minded and creative of audiences (i.e. who read comics instead of story books).
With the magazine advert, the group changed its direction drastically. We realised we would need a more interesting and eye-catching appearance as well as the plain rebel image to attract audiences (i.e. the plain front and back digipak covers with the attention-grabbing design on the spine). To achieve this, we decided to produce the advertisement as an imagery representation of the song. We used a blood red rose in the centre with bone-white, flower-like designs sprouting from behind it. These were to represent love or the love that the couple once had which has now becoming unhealthy and out of control. The black stone background represents the woman’s loneliness and isolation (i.e. prison) and the cobweb is used to emphasise the loneliness and long- forgotten happiness (as well as a simple symbol for Tarantula). The Tarantula uses the same graffiti logo so as to relate to the digipak, but this time it is coloured blood red to match the rose. The “No More” text is bone-whit to match the flower design. In all, the advert uses three colours of symbolism; blood red for love/violence, bone-white for fear/death and black for loneliness/loss of hope. The advert was influenced by the covers of the books in the twilight series which feature the same three colours. We discovered when put in a different context, these colours have powerful symbolic meaning.
Q3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
The initial target audience profile was defined as early teens to young adults or the “teen rebellion phase”. This was due to the image of the band as well as the music style and was built into the video by using a middle-class house and urban exterior locations. We also had cheap and day-to-day props (i.e. beer can, cigarettes) to further portray the household as ordinary middle-class.
No particular emphasis was made on ethnicity due to the cultural origins of the contrasting sub-genres (reggae and hardcore rock) and there was no gender target either, since there were an equal number of males and females who were interested in the genre fusion.
Since the people who like hardcore rock and reggae preferred performance and story videos respectively, some choosing concept videos as a secondary theme, we sought to appeal to the everyday youth who enjoy raving, as well as the ones who want to listen to a story with an overall concept. The steady cam shots reflect the storyline and the use of handheld shooting was to appeal to the more hardcore “mosh-pit” fans. This fuses all three themes with the necessary balance to satisfy all preferences.
We also saw that there was a more or less equal preference for focus on the band or lead singer, slightly leaning towards the latter. Therefore, we decided to show as much of the entire band as possible in the performance shots and include the lead singer, albeit minimally, in the story scenes to satisfy both preferences.
An equal number of people expressed their inclination towards commercial videos and those with serious issues respectively. Consequently, we chose to include a serious issue but in a commercial friendly way so that it pleases both partialities.
The target audience was also shown to enjoy hip-hop and, to a lesser extent, rock music videos, despite their preference for hardcore rock and reggae music. This inclined our decision to take influence from Eminem music videos (Stan and Guilty Conscience in particular), since although he is primarily a hip-hop artist, he tends to blur the lines between hip-hop and rock. This was an attempt to produce a video that the audience could call their favourite, while at the same time giving them the type of music that they enjoy, rather than the two being separate.
We were also informed that the target audience tends to lean towards cruel twist endings, which we incorporated into the video to satisfy their tastes.
With all this information incorporated into the video, we received a generally positive feedback on all three products. People enjoyed the video, commenting on the aggressive camera shots and editing to reflect domestic violence as well as the balance between the lead singer, the band and the actors from the story. Our use of double exposure was also highly praised. Some people have also claimed that the video can be watch over and over and have been showing it to other people mainly due to the impact of the double-exposure ad variance in pace.
The digipak also received positive review for its colour contrast and its use of simple photographs, rather than elaborate poses and costume. The unique spine was also commented on as very attractive
The magazine advert was proven to be extremely eye-catching and attractive. At second glance it was very strongly admired for its symbolism. We were very pleased with this, since it was the exact desired effect we were going for.
In all, I feel our end products were highly successful and that they have and will continue to encourage the audience to purchase the single, digipak and forth-coming album. It would be better suited to an indie label, due to the raw nature and “young rebel” image of the band.
Q4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
The internet played a huge role in the overall production especially the research stages. Google and other search engines helped with finding valuable information regarding forms and conventions and subject matter research. Examples of magazine adverts and DVD covers were also easily found in this manner which bought the research together quickly and smoothly. Facebook was also utilised for the interviews for target audience research and Myspace and Youtube were used to further promote the video for audience feedback, as well as Youtube serving as a platform to embed the video on our blog. All stages of research, development, pre-production, production and post-production were documented on the Blogger website, which helped to keep all individual information available to each other instantly. Tags on each post were used to access certain documents quickly with minimal search effort.
During filming, we used a Canon XM2 digital camera set to widescreen. Red and blue lights were used during the performance shots which were achieved through coloured, translucent gels covering the bulbs of the flood lights. Handheld techniques were used as to pan around the band, as well as to take higher birds-eye-shots which were later scrapped from the production. The only real problem we encountered was the melting of the coloured gels, which we solved by fitting thin foam sheets in between the gel and the bulb and turning off the lights in between shots.
In the editing suite, we used Final Cut Pro to edit the roughs of the video, learning the techniques in cutting clips and applying transitions. The college equipment was especially helpful in the realisation of the double-exposure idea, which came together smoothly.
For the print production, we used Adobe Photoshop which proved to be an extremely valuable tool. We were able to apply the hand drawn Tarantula logo by scanning it and used the orange colour to avoid clashing with the black and white background. All photographs for the print work was done with a digital camera at outdoor locations and cleaned up through Adobe Photoshop and no green screen was used. We had minor trouble making the rose look realistic enough, until we discovered a flower brush on the Brusheezy website which fit our criteria perfectly.
Altogether, the post-production was helped greatly by our study and understanding of the college equipment and facilities, allowing us to realise our ideas and further expand our creative horizons.
Saturday 24 April 2010
Song Lyrics: No More by Tarantula
Song: NO MORE
Artist: TARANTULA
She dont sing no more
Left on that, kitchen floor
Husband went through that door
He left her for that, fucking whore
She dont sing no more
Left with nothing more
Emotions washed up on that shore
Yeah the raven said, nothing more
When I shout mayday
At the top of my lungs
Im left here stranded
Im left here hung
When I shout mayday
At the top of my lungs
Im left here stranded
I wont be, let down
She dont sing no more
Left on that, kitchen floor
Husband went through that door
He left her for that, fucking whore
She dont sing no more
Left with nothing more
Emotions washed up on that shore
Yeah the raven said, nothing more
When she shouts mayday
At the top of her lungs
She's left here stranded
She's left there hung
As she shouts mayday
At the top of her lungs
she's left there stranded
She wont be, let down
Now you know the whole story
Situation got gory
As his shatter unfolds
Nothing left more for her in this world
Tell me who can hold face
Shredded rags, what a disgrace
Waiting for
That ice cold, embrace
That ice cold embrace
That ice cold embrace
That ice cold, woah, woah
As she shouts mayday
At the top of her lungs
Im left here stranded
She's left there hung
As she shouts mayday
At the top of her lungs
She's left there stranded
She's left there, hung
(Ska Rap)
Artist: TARANTULA
She dont sing no more
Left on that, kitchen floor
Husband went through that door
He left her for that, fucking whore
She dont sing no more
Left with nothing more
Emotions washed up on that shore
Yeah the raven said, nothing more
When I shout mayday
At the top of my lungs
Im left here stranded
Im left here hung
When I shout mayday
At the top of my lungs
Im left here stranded
I wont be, let down
She dont sing no more
Left on that, kitchen floor
Husband went through that door
He left her for that, fucking whore
She dont sing no more
Left with nothing more
Emotions washed up on that shore
Yeah the raven said, nothing more
When she shouts mayday
At the top of her lungs
She's left here stranded
She's left there hung
As she shouts mayday
At the top of her lungs
she's left there stranded
She wont be, let down
Now you know the whole story
Situation got gory
As his shatter unfolds
Nothing left more for her in this world
Tell me who can hold face
Shredded rags, what a disgrace
Waiting for
That ice cold, embrace
That ice cold embrace
That ice cold embrace
That ice cold, woah, woah
As she shouts mayday
At the top of her lungs
Im left here stranded
She's left there hung
As she shouts mayday
At the top of her lungs
She's left there stranded
She's left there, hung
(Ska Rap)
Friday 16 April 2010
Institutional Context & Professional Practice
Institutional Context & Professional Practice
Most often, a record label is a company that brands, trademarks and markets music recordings and videos. It also co-ordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, promotion and copyright protection of these music products. Some larger labels conduct talent scouting and development of new artists (“artists and repertoire”/A&R) as well as maintain contracts with artists and their managers.
Recording artists usually rely on record labels to promote their music through radio, television and to market and distribute their products to stores and other media outlets; all to further broaden the artist’s audience. In recent years, however, the internet has increasingly become a way for artists to directly distribute and promote their products while avoiding costs.
Record labels range between small, localised “independent/indie” to large international media groups. The four largest labels are called the Major Labels. A sub-label is a label part of a bigger company which trades under a different name. Some labels are not a company, but only a trademark or brand. These are referred to as imprints.
Major Labels
1. Sony Music Entertainment (SME)
2. Electric & Musical Industries Ltd (EMI)
3. Warner Music Group (WMG)
4. Universal Music Group (UMG)
Most record labels are controlled by a corporate umbrella organization called “Music Group”. Music groups are typically owned by an international conglomerate holding company, which usually have non-music divisions as well. As of 2005, “Big Four” music groups control approximately 70% of the world music market and about 80% of the US music market. Record companies (i.e. Music Publishing Companies, Record/Sound Recording Manufacturers, Record Distributors and Record Labels) can also make up a “Record Group”, which in turn is controlled by a music group.
Artists “signed” or under contract with these labels are more likely to be successful due to the contacts and facilities at the major label’s disposal, however there is a cost. Their contracts are a lot more controlling and constricting as compared to smaller indie labels. Major labels focus on the aspect of making record sales and usually consider artists as mere commodities.
Independent
Record companies not under the big four are generally considered as independent/indie, no matter the size or complexity. They are usually started by an artist or band putting out their own material using smaller-scale methods of marketing and promotion, such as handing out CDs at performances, posting fliers around the locality or internet. Benefits for indie labels;
1. Income- Income from concert ticket purchase and sales of promotional merchandise are spread between less people.
2. Step to Major Deal- Indie labels can be used as a platform for attaining bigger deals. Indie artists and labels can sometimes be signed to major labels. Major labels now pay more attention to genres which were previously practiced underground i.e. Hip-Hop and Latin.
3. Artist Control- Indie artists retain control and profit from their own careers without total submission to a superior.
4. Strengthen Local Economy- Since indie labels start of locally, equipment and employees are also acquired locally. As they become more successful and expand outside their regional borders, they import money. Therefore, indie labels indirectly help they community’s economic base.
Problems for Indies
Although the success of indie labels is much more rewarding, there are many barriers to the achievement of this.
1. Advertisement Competition- Adverts are dominated by entertainment and leisure products from business giants. Indie products have difficulty competing for attention.
2. Access to Popular Media- The conglomerates which control music groups also control television networks, radio stations, magazines, publishing companies and popular websites. Because of this, most music and videos that reach the masses are owned by the conglomerates.
3. Retail Store Consolidation- Retail stores are increasingly becoming owned by larger companies, as opposed to previous privately owned stores which make it more difficult for indie labels to have their products sold by them. Also, the larger music groups buy out entire shop floors, racks and bins for their artists at a time, making each individual slot more expensive and scarce which makes it even more difficult for indie labels to acquire a slot.
The Internet
The internet is increasingly becoming more and more helpful to indie artist, label and major label interests alike. It serves as an ideal medium for advertising and promotion as well as becoming a solution for the increasing consolidation prices of retail outlets. Although this can be seen as a ray of hope for indie artist breakthrough, there are still some pitfalls.
The internet, as vast as it is, still has dominant sites owned by conglomerates which provide audiences with their own material. Indie artists that promote and distribute their own material, therefore, become so common that it is easy for them to become insignificant.
The upside for the indie labels, however, is that although major labels focus on the genres they expect to sell, indie artists can continue to satisfy the wants of the less mainstream listeners with passion, diversity, vitality and creativity.
UK Television Music Stations
Owner/ Station
Viacom/ MTV, MTV2, MTV Base, MTV Dance, MTV HITS, VH1, VH1 Classic, VH2, TMF.EMAP/ KISS, Q, Kerrang!, Smash Hits, The Hits, Magic.
BSKYB/ Scuzz, Bliss, Flaunt.
Chart Show Channels/ The Vault, Chart Show TV, Bliss
Video Interactive TV/ Channel AKA
GWR/ Classic FM
Zee TV/ Zee Music
Station/ Genre or Target audience
VH1/ Rock and Pop- for 24-44 year-olds
Q/ Rock- Designed for people who read the magazine Q.
Scuzz/ Hardcore Rock
Channel AKA/ Urban (Hip-Hop, Garage, Grime etc)-Underground
Flaunt/ Pop and R&B- Feminine
Box/ Across the Board
MTV Base/ Urban- Commercial
Classic FM/ Classical
Kerrang!/ Heavy Rock
Smash Hits/ Pop
MTV/ Hits from all genres
Most often, a record label is a company that brands, trademarks and markets music recordings and videos. It also co-ordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, promotion and copyright protection of these music products. Some larger labels conduct talent scouting and development of new artists (“artists and repertoire”/A&R) as well as maintain contracts with artists and their managers.
Recording artists usually rely on record labels to promote their music through radio, television and to market and distribute their products to stores and other media outlets; all to further broaden the artist’s audience. In recent years, however, the internet has increasingly become a way for artists to directly distribute and promote their products while avoiding costs.
Record labels range between small, localised “independent/indie” to large international media groups. The four largest labels are called the Major Labels. A sub-label is a label part of a bigger company which trades under a different name. Some labels are not a company, but only a trademark or brand. These are referred to as imprints.
Major Labels
1. Sony Music Entertainment (SME)
2. Electric & Musical Industries Ltd (EMI)
3. Warner Music Group (WMG)
4. Universal Music Group (UMG)
Most record labels are controlled by a corporate umbrella organization called “Music Group”. Music groups are typically owned by an international conglomerate holding company, which usually have non-music divisions as well. As of 2005, “Big Four” music groups control approximately 70% of the world music market and about 80% of the US music market. Record companies (i.e. Music Publishing Companies, Record/Sound Recording Manufacturers, Record Distributors and Record Labels) can also make up a “Record Group”, which in turn is controlled by a music group.
Artists “signed” or under contract with these labels are more likely to be successful due to the contacts and facilities at the major label’s disposal, however there is a cost. Their contracts are a lot more controlling and constricting as compared to smaller indie labels. Major labels focus on the aspect of making record sales and usually consider artists as mere commodities.
Independent
Record companies not under the big four are generally considered as independent/indie, no matter the size or complexity. They are usually started by an artist or band putting out their own material using smaller-scale methods of marketing and promotion, such as handing out CDs at performances, posting fliers around the locality or internet. Benefits for indie labels;
1. Income- Income from concert ticket purchase and sales of promotional merchandise are spread between less people.
2. Step to Major Deal- Indie labels can be used as a platform for attaining bigger deals. Indie artists and labels can sometimes be signed to major labels. Major labels now pay more attention to genres which were previously practiced underground i.e. Hip-Hop and Latin.
3. Artist Control- Indie artists retain control and profit from their own careers without total submission to a superior.
4. Strengthen Local Economy- Since indie labels start of locally, equipment and employees are also acquired locally. As they become more successful and expand outside their regional borders, they import money. Therefore, indie labels indirectly help they community’s economic base.
Problems for Indies
Although the success of indie labels is much more rewarding, there are many barriers to the achievement of this.
1. Advertisement Competition- Adverts are dominated by entertainment and leisure products from business giants. Indie products have difficulty competing for attention.
2. Access to Popular Media- The conglomerates which control music groups also control television networks, radio stations, magazines, publishing companies and popular websites. Because of this, most music and videos that reach the masses are owned by the conglomerates.
3. Retail Store Consolidation- Retail stores are increasingly becoming owned by larger companies, as opposed to previous privately owned stores which make it more difficult for indie labels to have their products sold by them. Also, the larger music groups buy out entire shop floors, racks and bins for their artists at a time, making each individual slot more expensive and scarce which makes it even more difficult for indie labels to acquire a slot.
The Internet
The internet is increasingly becoming more and more helpful to indie artist, label and major label interests alike. It serves as an ideal medium for advertising and promotion as well as becoming a solution for the increasing consolidation prices of retail outlets. Although this can be seen as a ray of hope for indie artist breakthrough, there are still some pitfalls.
The internet, as vast as it is, still has dominant sites owned by conglomerates which provide audiences with their own material. Indie artists that promote and distribute their own material, therefore, become so common that it is easy for them to become insignificant.
The upside for the indie labels, however, is that although major labels focus on the genres they expect to sell, indie artists can continue to satisfy the wants of the less mainstream listeners with passion, diversity, vitality and creativity.
UK Television Music Stations
Owner/ Station
Viacom/ MTV, MTV2, MTV Base, MTV Dance, MTV HITS, VH1, VH1 Classic, VH2, TMF.EMAP/ KISS, Q, Kerrang!, Smash Hits, The Hits, Magic.
BSKYB/ Scuzz, Bliss, Flaunt.
Chart Show Channels/ The Vault, Chart Show TV, Bliss
Video Interactive TV/ Channel AKA
GWR/ Classic FM
Zee TV/ Zee Music
Station/ Genre or Target audience
VH1/ Rock and Pop- for 24-44 year-olds
Q/ Rock- Designed for people who read the magazine Q.
Scuzz/ Hardcore Rock
Channel AKA/ Urban (Hip-Hop, Garage, Grime etc)-Underground
Flaunt/ Pop and R&B- Feminine
Box/ Across the Board
MTV Base/ Urban- Commercial
Classic FM/ Classical
Kerrang!/ Heavy Rock
Smash Hits/ Pop
MTV/ Hits from all genres
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