Dsituibution of Music!!

Distribution is key to an artists success as it is down to the distributors as to who and how many people will be able to get hold of the music. 

Many record labels distribute the music videos of their artists directly to sites such as you tube, however some make the decision to go through music video sharing websites such as Vevo, in turn Vevo then distribute the videos to you tube. 

Many artists have their own Vevo channel on you tube specifically for the distribution of their videos to the general public. 

Companies Sponsoring the band!!

Sponsorship helps bands become even more known around the world. The companies that sponsor them also benefit as more regular people will be likely to go out a buy the items that the band is endorsing. 

Recently many more artists are endorsing brands to make them more known and to bring in more money. 

Lady Gaga for example has just began starring in an advert for O2 in the UK. She has signed a deal allowing O2 customers priority access to her brand new album ARTPOP 6 days prior to it's general release date of 11th November 2013. 




Similarly to this One Direction also recently starred in an advert for Pepsi in the US. They starred alongside a famous american football player too. This shows  that all kinds of celebrities have sponsorship. 

Make Up/Costume!!

Make up and costume are two of the main things that help portray the genre of  a music video to an audience. For example the pop/punk genre is immediately identifiable by the dark colours and rebellious looks of the artists. 



Alternatively to this hip hop music is associated with over sized clothing and a lot of 'bling' this gives the artist persona of them being gangster and people will always recognise regular people who dress like this as hip hop too. 

Product Placement!!

The latest trend in advertising is to make it, well, less advertorial. The tendency is to move away from in-your-face ads, where the product is the star, to mini-movies­ or quasi-documentary vignettes that feature "real-life scenarios" with the product hovering in the background. Some would argue it's a sort of "art imitating art imitating life" scenario, where adverts are imitating the practice of product placement.

Many artists now have videos with products in and it isn't often that you'll find one with none. 

Nokia Lumia phone in Kelly Clarkson's video for People Like Us.

She also uses a BMW Z4.

In the video for Mika's new song 'Popular Song' he has a Sony Experia Smartphone.

As well as the phone he has a Mini Coupe Cooper S car. 



He is not the only one to have a car in his video. Cars are among the most popular products placed in music videos.


The Saturdays used a Citroen DS5 in their video for 30 Days. The also had Rimmel mascara.


Katy Perry uses a Lamborghini Murcielago in her Waking Up In Vegas video.


Jenifer Lopez uses a Fiat 500C in her music video for Papi.


Melanie Fiona has an Infiniti convertible in her video for 'Watch Me Work' in addition she also has Quadruple Formula 1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel as Infiniti sponsor him so it 
is added endorsement.


The Pussycat Dolls have Campari Alcohol in their video for Hush Hush, as well as this they have a Nokia Mobile Phone and a set of Beats by Dre.


Jessie J also has Beats by Dre in her new music video for It's My Party, she has the recently released Beats Pill and a set of Beats headphones.


The Black Eyed Peas have an Ice watch in their music video for The Time (Dirty Bit)

Social Media!!

It is important for any artist to have a social network where they can get in touch with fans and show their appreciation of the continued support they get. 

Twitter is the main site for such interaction, hundreds of celebrities have verified accounts. The two artists with the most followers are Lady Gaga with 40.2 Million followers and Justin Bieber with 46 Million followers. Due to these stars being among the most popular in the world we decided as a group that we would make a Twitter account for our group which is @Real_Autumns due to our name being Autumns Abandoned. 

As well as twitter Facebook is right up there as one of the main ways for artist/fan interaction. Facebook unlike twitter allows for actual videos to be uploaded and for competitions and apps to be used allowing the fans to enter competitions and such things. This is why we've also created a Facebook page for our band. We have also set up an event, it is the launch of the single name, this is something many other artists do so that fans have something to look forward to. 

Instagram is another main player in the social network world. Many artists and celebrities use it as a way to let their fans have a visual insight into their lives allowing them to become closer to their favourite artist by seeing the things they like and seeing things from the artists point of view. 

Some other websites that aren't as popular with celebrities themselves, but more so the fans are Tumblr. and MySpace.  

Music Industry!!

Purpose of Music Videos:
The purpose of a music video is to give fans the chance to witness the narrative of a song visually or the performance of the song by the artist. They are also used to help the promotion of the single and the artist which in turn increases revenue.

Where are Videos found:
Music videos can be found on a variety of different platforms from Youtube, to multiple television channels. Websites of the artist are also popular places for music videos to be uploaded. The video site Vevo is the main place which videos from worldwide famous artists are uploaded and often have their own channel on youtube specifically for the upload of their music videos through vevo. The are other platforms such as Tumblr and Facebook which also regularly contain music videos.   

Main TV channel's who stream Music Videos: 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Research Into Website Builders!!

Wix.com:
This is a cloud-based web development platform that allows users to create professional HTML5 websites and mobile sites, through the use of a series of online "Drag & Drop" tools. This is an easy to use website and allows the creator to choose from a selection of templates including a band option, this is the most likely option for us as a group as we are making a website for a band in particular. 

Moonfruit:
This is a UK-based web hosting company. It employs a website construction tool called Sitemaker, who's intention is to make the creation of websites a simpler task, whilst providing total design control to make sure that the users can create a website that is 100% their's. 

Screen shot of wix.com with band and singer site templates.

Screen shot of moonfruit.com with some templates.

Research Into Websites!!

Avril Lavigne:
The Avril Lavigne website is similar to something we want to create for our band in regards to layout. The drop down menu's for all the sections are something in particular we would like to repilcate because we think it gives a nice simple and easy to navigate feel to the website. 

Another feature of the website I like is the slideshow in the centre of the screen when you first go on to the website. It has a selection of slides showing the most up to date information and important information that Avril Lavigne fans need.

The final thing that jumps out to me as something which can be transferred over to my website is the feature that enables people to listen to Avril's newest album prior to purchasing it. I personally feel that this is something that can help promote an artist to certain types of people that wouldn't typically go out and buy an album by someone they don't like. It enables them to have the option to have a listen to the album see if they like it and then buy it. 

2 Chainz:

This website is by hip/hop artist 2 Chainz, I decided to research a hip/hop website because our track has influences of hip/hop music. By looking into a few different genre's for websites it allows us to come up with a happy medium of the two genre's making a combination website. This website in particular takes it's main features such as background and logo from the artists name '2Chainz'. 

The banner advertising the new album stands out to me because people are able to use it as a quick link and they will probably be drawn in to clicking it because of it's position on the page, instead of the fact that they went there willingly looking for it. 

The main section of the website continues with the motif of chains with two mens chains hanging down the sides of the website effectively creating a border. Also similarly to Avril Lavigne's website there is a toolbar which allows the visitors of the website to listen to 2 Chainz's music, this enables his fans to not miss out on listening to him whilst using the website. 

The 'Latest Headlines' column on the right hand side of the website particularly strikes me as something that is there to help the site visitors negotiate their way around the website. Something like this will be vital in the creation of our website as it saves time for the fans when they are looking for the latest updates of their favorite artists. 

Logo Research!!

To inspire me with ideas for our band's logo so I decided to research logo's of artists in the pop/punk genre and the Hip hop genre.

This is the Avril Lavigne logo for her song 'The Best Damn Thing' the skull and crossbones represent a punky rebellious side to her but the pink and the heart show's a girly side that is of a more pop like attitude. 

This is the Fall Out Boy logo, this is instantly recognizable as the the band and when you log onto their website it is in the centre of the home screen and pulsates like a beating heart. This means the logo is a big part of the identity of the band.

This is the Beastie Boys logo, and similarly to the Fall Out Boy logo above is one of the main ways the group are recognized by their fans. Throughout their hayday it was something that would emblazon all kinds of merchandise and be a key selling point of their music. 

We wish to be able to create something for our band's logo that will be remembered and recognized straight away. I personally want to be a unique selling point for our artist as it is easier to be aware of than just a font. A logo is able to sell much more things other than just music. Recently a great example of the use of a logo is the One Direction '1D' logo, their fans will purchase pretty much anything that has be endorsed by the band or has the logo on, and this is something I would like to be able to achieve with our band.  

Record Labels!!

Fueled by Ramen:

This is an American record label which is a subsidiary of the much larger and commercial Warner Music Group, however it is distributed by Atlantic Records. Allmusic has called it one of the "epicenters of the emo-pop movement." 

This is the first label under which Paramore were signed until they moved on to Atlantic Records itself. Other famous Artists signed to this label are Fun., and Panic! at the Disco. These artists are of a similar genre to us. 

Def Jam Recordings:

Def Jam is a Hip/Hop record label and as our track has hip/hop influences I decided to have a look at them and the artists they have signed to them. They are one of the most powerful hip/hop record labels in the US, with Rihanna, 2 Chainz, Ludacris and Kanye West among the world famous artists signed to the label. 

Island Records:

This record label focuses mainly on the rock/punk genre and runs as a subsidiary to the Universal Music Group(UMG). It is one of the flagship record labels of UMG the others being Interscope and Republic records respectively. Artists signed to this label are Fall Out Boy, Of Monsters and Men and Snow Patrol among many others.

Researching Font!!

During lesson I began researching the font  several artists in our genre to get inspiration for when we choose the font for the name of our band.

Digipak's of my Genre!!

Digipak Template!!

Whilst doing further research I came across a website with several designs of templates and I decided to save one to my school computer for our group to use when we are ready to construct the digipak.

Popular Artist Digipaks!!

Rihanna-
Rihanna is one artist who, throughout her career, has released more than one of her albums in Digipak form. At Least 3 of her LP's have come out as Digipaks, they are her 2010 releases 'Loud' and 'Greatest Hits' as well as her 2011 release 'Rated R'.

Coldplay-
Coldplay are another popular group that are known around the world that have used a Digipak, the 2008 album 'Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends', is the first of two Digipaks the band have used, the most recent is the 2011 release 'Mylo Xyloto'.

Lady Gaga-

Lady Gaga is another artist who has packaged one of her albums in the form of a Digipak, her 2009 release of 'The Fame Monster' a re-release of debut album 'The Fame' and new album containing 8 songs 'The Fame Monster' is among the first of the Digipaks she has used, in several countries it was not available as it was a special edition, which is what most Digipaks tend to be as artists bring them out in hope of fans buying them so that they have every bit of merchandise possible, which in turn boosts the sales of the artist.

What's on a Digipak?

One of the most important questions that needed answering is 'what is on a digipak?' the first Digipak i looked at closely was the Greenday ;Bullet In A Bible' digipak, from 2005, as I it available at home to use.


The front cover for the digipak is fairly simple as shows the Greenday lead singer performing to a crowd at one of their concerts as this particular digipak contains a DVD of their tour at that time it links the cover to the contents.

The first page when opened contains all Legal information about who wrote each song and who worked on each song. The back of the front cover is a solo shot of another band member, who again is performing to a crowd, which also links to the contents of the CD and DVD.

The second and third pages are the ones that hold the CD and DVD, the photo's behind both are the third band member and a close up of the neck of a guitar, this once again links to the contents. 

The back page contains a full track listing for the CD and DVD and has photographs of the band on tour and a crowd of their fans, as well of this there is more legal information as well a bar code. 

Digipak!!

What is it?
As i'd never known prior to doing media what a Digipak was I took it upon myself to look into what they were so I could understand what I would be creating. Below is what I came across. 

"Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside.

Since Digipaks were among the first alternatives to jewel cases to be used by major record companies, and because there is no other common name for Digipak-style packaging made by other companies, the term digipak or Digi-Pak is often used generically, even when the media holder is a hub or "Soft Spot" rather than a full plastic tray."

Editing Shot by Shot!!

Our Genre!!

As our genre is hip hop mixed with pop punk, I decided to look into these separately to determine the conventions of each genre, to make our music video a combination of these or to completely subvert one of the genre's. 

Hip Hop- 

I looked into hip hop music videos by the group the Beastie Boys. In this particular video they are parodying themselves. This music video shows some conventions of stereotypical hip hop music videos, for example the low angle shots with the artist singing down to the camera and the hand gestures towards the camera when singing. These are conventions we wish to avoid as we want to veer towards the pop punk feel of our genre when creating our music video.

Pop/Punk-
This is the genre we will be concentrating on more so when we create our video as the idea we have come up with fits this genre better than it does the hip hop genre. Artists such as Avril Lavigne are good people to be looking at as she is the same genre as our track is. 

Target Audience Findings!!

Audience Feedback!!!

Audience feedback
My group and I asked our media group (who are within the same age range of our target audience) to listen to our chosen track and then give some ideas and suggestions on what they think the music video for our track would be like. This gave us some ways on ways to
improve our current idea and ways that would attract our younger target audience. There suggestions were;

1. Based on teenage girls
2. Girls getting ready for a night out together
3. A rebel inspired look, taken from Avril Lavigne as inspiration
4. Fast shots when the beat speeds up and match cuts to the beat

Audience Questionnaire!!

Above are three videos of people we know, the first is of Ellie's younger sister Evie, the second is of our friend and class mate Laura and finally we have Mr Wallis our Media teacher.

Target Audience!!

Intertextuality!!

Intertextuality is key during the creation of music videos as it links to references in a media form that are based upon another media form. For example, in Lady Gaga's music video, Bad Romance, there are several forms of intertextuality. The first is the white costumes which are taken from Max's costume in 'Where the wild things are' as well as this the dance routine is based on Michael Jackson's world famous 'Thriller'. Another example is from Kylie Minogues music video, 'Can't get you outta my head' in which she takes inspiration from Madonna's music videos when doing a robot like dance routine. Also Madonna's music video for 'Material Girl' was based upon Marilyn Monroe's performance of 'Diamonds Are a Girls Best Friend' from the movie 'Gentleman Prefer Blondes' which was released 31 years prior to the music video. 




Whilst looking for the Material Girl video I came across a comparison someone had uploaded to You Tube so I have embeded it to my blog as it proves my previous point clearly.

Filters and Lighting!!

An important part of music videos is the lighting used during the video as the lighting helps convey moods and even the genre of the music. I decided to look into what is used in music videos of my genre to help inspire me on ways in which I could use lighting to show my genre in my music video.





Silhouetting!!
This is somethihng, we would like to incorporate into our video as we going a long the theme of having demons/devils and as you cannot see the three people in this video until the lights flash. This could be very effective in our video should we use it as it cements the fact that the three singers in the group are bad.



Backlighting!!



The backlighting is this video is also something we could look into as this band is the same genre as ours, and as the lighting gives the lead singer a mysterious blueish look with an aura it fits with the darker more punk theme of our video.

Hesta Prynn!!

This is a video that stood out to me due to the editing, i love that all the movements are very staccato as the images are cut together. 

Instruments!!

We've made the collective decision to not have instruments play a roll in our music video.We decided to go against conventions so that we wouldn't have a stereotypical pop/punk music video.

despite the fact that the questionnaires we did gave us the evidence that men found it more attractive if a girl band are playing instruments, we decided to opt out of their use.

Location Research!!

For our music video we wanted more than 2 locations, once for each of our 3 protagonists at least, this is to emphasize the difference between the group of demons/devils and our main protagonist. For our main protagonist Ellie thought to use a forest to show her innocence. Where we wish to contrast this for the girl group and use somewhere dark and industrial to add a rebellious/dangerous feel to our music video. 

Location 1:
The first location we looked at was a forest to connote the innocence of our main protagonist and show the good in her. 

Location 2:
The second location we liked the look of was a room with a white back drop so we could focus on just the girl group and when they were performing as we have a photography studio in school we would be able to do this well and we would have access to high and low key lighting to emphasize the badness of the girl band.



The lighting and location in this video would be ideal as it is the kind of effect we wish to be able to create within our music video.

Location 3: 
For our third location we had the idea to use somewhere derelict and industrial, somewhere such as an old warehouse or an old abandoned factory. This would emphasize the badness of the demons within our main protagonist.

Loreen!!

Even though the following song isn't the genre that our chosen track, i have found the video for it to be very inspirational especially from a lighting perspective, this is because the lighting is dark throughout and this is something we hope to achieve for the demon/devils in our video.




Also I love the following shot from the video, as it just show's the lips of Loreen as she performs the first few lines of 'We Got The Power'. I feel like this could be something, should we incorporate it into our video, that would be very successful. 

Hunter Valentine!!

This is possibly my favorite of the video's I've analysed so far during my research.The location of the video is something industrial and that is another of the idea's we have for where to film our video. 

I also love the fast paced editing and this is something i hope to achieve in my own work as it gives the piece an overall professional look, and also love that some cuts are matched up to particular beats within the track itself. 

Another key aspect of the video which i hope will highly influence me is the fluorescent tubed lighting behind the performer, it gives her a kind of aura as if she is a mystical creature, and as we are going for a innocent/devil kind of idea for our video I hope to use something like this so the audience can easily distinguish good from bad so to speak. 




I particularly like the beginning of this video as the beat of the song is in time with the editing.

Sleater-Kinney!!

I also analyzed the video for jumpers by Sleater-Kinney! One thing about this particular video that stood out to me was the use of high angles when the drummer was being filmed as well as the aerial pan shot when the workers are in the office. 

The low angle shot especially stands out to me because we are thinking of filming our video with a white back drop, in a photography studio, as one of options and the section in which the band is performing is filmed similarly. 

This aerial shot is also nice because it shows the hectic world in which the main character of the narrative sections of the video is in, yet it shows how she manages to be in her own bubble at the same time. This is something I would like to convey in my video as the idea we have is a personality within a personality.