Conclusion Post

Dear moderator,

Thank you for looking through my blog. All of my NEA Research and Planning can be accessed through the AL Research and Planning tag on the right hand side of the blog.

Have a good day!

This blog is now closed.

Post 10: My Production Review

Feedback

Feedback allowed me to improve my products before final deadline.

Website:
When I received feedback on my website I learnt that there were a few minor issues with the current content as well as some more major issues on content missing.
This missing content was discovered when the teacher went over the brief, and discovered content that was suggested for me to include.

Major issues:

1. Biography - after creating a persona and profile behind my artist, it is a waste to not include this on my actual website, this information will allow those visiting the website to understand what is best to include.
2. Sony Music industry context - there is a lack of reference or links to Sony music UK on my website, adding a link at the bottom of the page would improve this.
3. Charity or music industry social context - there is no indication of this. If I do include it, this content would allow my audience to understand my artists values and beliefs.
4. Merch - while I do have merchandise, it is centred around the music rather than the artist.

Minor issues:

1. Website safety guidelines - there is content that doesn't fit within these parameters, which means that on certain computers, this would not show up. Therefore I will rearrange my content to fit within these guidelines.
2. Buttons/Hyperlinks - there are certain links that don't have accurate destinations right now.
3. Make merch clickable - I need to make it so that by clicking on the merch, the viewer can see an enlarged version of the image.
4. Anchorage and labels - my content needs accurate names so that they can be easily understood. Some images have random names that are just a jumble of letters and numbers. My extra videos need some reference of what the intertextual context behind these are.
5. Linked page name - need a more accurate name for my second page.

Post 9: My Website and Social Media Pages

Researching existing website and social media pages and designing my own

 The artist whose website and social media I  decided to research was Khalid. As I said earlier, the internet is very important for music artists to grow. Khalid's website and Instagram are a perfect example of how pop artists have  used the platforms to present themselves and their creations.

Khalid's website features a very interesting style, with unusual colour combinations and an overall design that represents his brand and new album title 'free spirit'. The website possesses the music video, ways to buy/stream the music, tour dates, merchandise and social media; all of which are typical conventions of a music artists website. However Khalid also posses an extra video on his website - his 'free spirit' film trailer. This is a  unique aspect of his website that differs it from others, in terms of what is conventionally shown on a website. The style of his website also sets him apart as, especially at the top of the website, the layering of text, image and background create an eye catching and interesting home page.

As I've said Khalid made use of the common conventions like merch, tour and music, but he also links in his social media page. I found that by looking at his Instagram I learnt a lot more about him as a person, this is because the content on his social media is more personal and about him.Therefore his fans can learn more about him as a person rather than just seeing him as the face behind the music.

My website will have a distinct colour scheme. I will have alternating brown and black stripes with different content and images of my artist. On the first page I will have a tour date page with three different kinds of tickets; ticket, VIP, and Meet and Greet. By having these three tiers I will be able to appeal to an audience who want to spend more to be 'special'. This idea of being special will further my artists fanbase. I also plan to include merchandise. This allows my artist's fans to buy items that show they are part of the artist's fan group, and have a community. In regard to the music that is presented on the website, I will have both links to online streaming of the music, as well as physical copies; both vinyl and cd.

On the second page I will include a behind the scenes video to offer an extra look at how the video was filmed, looking at the professional studio set. This second page will also feature my brand tie in with UNIQLO, which will allow the audience to see my artists style. Not only will my pages possess social media links for the audience to click and navigate to the second page will have an Instagram live feed, this will connect my website to further content for my audience to interact with. I will use my Instagram page as a news page, as presenting news style announcements is very appropriate for instagram. The social media community will also be able to like and comment on the images. This idea of community is also going to be seen through the comment box I put on the website, that allows my artist and the fans to interact with each other. Having all of these features that allow the audience to interact with and buy into my artist and the brand is very important for spreading my artist across the internet. Like Khalid, I also plan to add some extra videos, which will allow the audience to see more of how my artist will act.

Post 8: My Music Video

Research for my music video

In order to plan my music video, I first researched existing music videos in order to see the conventions and style of pop music videos. This helped me to come up with ideas for my music video as well as plan some intertextual links to include in my video.

One of the significant videos that I looked at to help with my ideas was Taylor Swift's 'You belong with me'. This music video helped me with the idea creation of my music video, I used a similar love story with the relationship triangle, but from a different perspective.

As for the key features of a pop music video, my research showed me that typical conventions include; fast paced cuts between both narrative and performance, representations of both setting and relatable characters for the audience to associate with. The videos must also have a clear choice in terms of how they want to relate lyrics and video. The two are either supporting each other or disjuncture, therefore either strengthening meanings presented or creating more.

As Vernallis theorised, the music video should have a clear sense of disjuncture, with the video cutting between narrative and performance in a way that is fragmented, offering multiple narratives and perspectives. One example of this is Khalid's 'Young Dumb and Broke' which uses both performance shots of him dancing towards the camera, as well as narrative from different perspectives of the students attending the school. Multiple narratives are therefore shown through the perspectives and the yearbook narrative, creating a disjunctured music video.




I planned out my character profiles with what stereotype they will play as well as outfits that will be needed. This allowed me to both be prepared for the shoot and also prepare a variety of representations for the target audience to associate with.
I included an intertextual link to 90s chick flick  movie 'Mean Girls'. My video will possess a  character that fits the stereotype of a cool mean girl that is presented in this movie. As well as showing a nerd that transforms into someone cool. While much of the audience won't directly relate to this stereotypical nerd character as the protagonist, they will still be able to relate to the concept of wanting to improve themselves. Therefore the transformation will allow me to create a relatable character. By planning these characters out in the character list I am able to get a clear understanding of both the number of actors and the outfits that I will need in order to film the narrative. By creating this list I am also able to inform the actors before the shoot of what kind of character they play, whether that is a 'cool mean girl' or a 'nerd'. Planning out the actors also allows me to make sure that I am able to represent a range of ethnicities who will be part of the target audience.

My timeline and storyboard allowed me to plan the story with a clear structure. This will make it easier when editing the shots as I already have a clear idea of the order and type of shots I want to include. By also planning certain types of shot movement; such as panning or match on action, I am able to create a narrative that is clear, flows and can easily be cut with the performance bed. For that performance bed, I will both have a professional studio shoot, as well as an off site shot at one of the locations of the narrative. This allows for variety in the video and allows me to cut between the narrative and performance bed for a fast paced, attention grabbing music video that will appeal to the target audience. I have also prepared a shootboard. This will help me with filming on the day and managing my time, as this records the order in which I should film the shots, not based on the shot number chronologically, but rather based on the location or angle of each shot.







My music video will also have an unconventional fourth wall break, where the audio cuts out and the 'mean girl' will speak directly to the camera. While this may not be a common feature of pop music videos, it offers something different and interesting for my video through the impact it adds to the narrative.

Post 7: My Pop Artist or Band

Bruno Mars or Ed Sheeran?

When creating my artist I considered what modern style pop artists follow, both in terms of outfit and attitude. Therefore I researched existing outfits in pop music video as well as general artist style. One outfit I looked at Bruno Mars's 'Uptown Funk' outfit.

This outfit gave an interesting look of smart casual plus bling - which is the general look I went for when designing my performance outfit.

Bruno mars in general can be considered a fashion icon, with his own merchandise included, he wears a large assortment of brightly coloured clothes that are very stylish.



Bruno Mars is one style of pop artist; the clothes he wears are colourful and expensive and he likes to wear jewellery, all showing that he is successful, giving him a look of someone who is famous. Showing off wealth like this presents an artist that audiences will see as inspirational or idealistic, but lacks reliability.

Another style in pop is the casual look, many artists wear a normal style of clothes, that makes them similar to those who view them. One example being Ed Sheeran.

This more casual aspect to the look can appeal to the audience in a different way from the stylish, wealthy kind of look that Bruno coveys. Ed's look makes the audience more able to relate to him. This idea of reliability is a part of Ed's artist persona as a  whole, as he is someone who is known for his music talent and  humble origins.







I decided to try and combine  the two styles. My artist wears smart casual clothes but also likes to show off his wealth, but this is done more with jewellery rather than the actual clothes. This allowed me to create an artist that looks both relatable but also aspirational.

When researching the outfit, key images that I looked at were Bruno Mars, Justin Timberlake and ASAP Rocky. Bruno Mars and ASAP Rocky are two artists that like to show off their wealth, and researching into the two of them helped me decide how to demonstrate this aspect of my artist. In the end I did this by looking at jewellery such as gold earrings. As for Justin Timberlake, he allowed me to see how artists can look stylish even with the casual look, and so I combined this knowledge with inspiration from Bruno's outfit to create mine.

This is the outfit that I chose. I used simple jeans, brown blazer and vans as clothes that are casual but also give a stylish look and added jewellery in order to add the bling factor to the outfit.

Post 6: My Chosen Track

Planning which track to perform

When I was choosing my track I had two main options:




Mike Posner's
Cooler than me
Released 2010 on his album '31 Minutes to take off'

5 Seconds of Summer
Youngblood
Released 2018








In the end I chose Mike  Posner's Cooler Than Me as when planning, I had a clearer idea of  what I wanted to do for the music video, and how to interpret the lyrics.

I chose to take a more direct interpretation, with me presenting a typical song about relationships and chasing a girl.

I felt that creating a video for this type of song would fit well as a pop song and would appeal to my target audience.

Choosing this song also made it a lot easier when deciding how to create my artist as I interpreted that as an artist Mike is confident, which is an aspect I will reflect in my artist through his enjoyment of fame and bling.

I rejected Youngblood as the song sounded more contemporary and the lyrics gave a less direct meaning than Cooler Than Me. The more abstract style of the song was not something I felt as strongly about as my chosen track. My image also fit better with the voice of Cooler than me than Youngblood.

Post 5: My Target Audience

Research into my target audience

My target audience is 'fun loving 16-25 year old's'.

By investigating their habits I am able to understand what is the best content of music video for them.

From this pie chart we can see that the most common listening time is 2 hours.
By further developing my understanding of the target audiences habits and preferences, I am better able to plan how best to present my music. By including not only a video, but options to stream, then I can increase the amount of time or amount of views my track will get. As of this 2 hours, not all will be spent watching the music video.




By looking at this graph, I am able to investigate
how the audience views their content. With the largest proportion viewing their content through video streaming, we can see that the music videos are the best way my artist to appeal to them as it is their preferred method of viewing.

There is also a large proportion of those who listen by audio streaming, both paid and unpaid, which indicates that music streaming services like spotify are also essential for appealing to the audience

Also a large part of the audience likes to stay even more up to date and connected to the artist. As such they will buy merchandise and tour tickets. The audience enjoys being able to support the audience either live at a concert or through buying and wearing clothes to associate themselves with their favoured artists.

This idea of wanting to stay up to date is also reflected through how they follow an artists social media, searching for extra content and information about the artists. They are also able to directly show their support or leave statements that the artist may see.

Therefore through my research into the target audience I have created a list of features that I should include in order to make my pop artist suit the target audience. This includes: social media, merchandise, tour dates and music that can be either watched or streamed (music on multiple platforms). The audiences desire for more content via platforms such as social media means that I plan to construct a consistent star identity for my artist; I will make him relatable but also a figure to aspire towards. This will allow me to draw in the target audience to my artist and any products that go with him.

As a large number of the target audience view songs as  video streaming, I believe it is very important to create a music video that will appeal to them. Therefore my music video will have relatable characters and a story that talks about a modern context for the audience; I will cover the issue of judgement and popularity on social media.

Post 4: The pop music genre

Research into the pop music genre specifically

Pop music is the genre of popular music that produces the most hits. A hit is a song that sells many copies, and the latest hits are listed every week on the charts. To get on the charts, a song must be released as a single, although most singles are also released on an album. Songs that become hits almost always share certain features that are sometimes called the pop-music formula. They have a good rhythm, a catchy melody, and are easy to remember and sing along to. They usually have a chorus that's repeated several times and two or more verses. Most pop songs are between two and five minutes long, and the lyrics are usually about the joys and problems of love and relationships. For example, Khalid's 'Location' is about him trying to find and talk to a girl.

Most conventional pop artists will sing about these relationship topics. As an artist they portray a glamorous lifestyle while also giving a sense of the 'real' them to their fans in order for those fans to become more interested in them while also aspiring to their lifestyle. Music videos in the pop music genre also have to apply to modern context, with themes that are relevant to the modern audience. One of the large modern contexts is the rise of internet fame. This has led audiences to show more interest in the artists behind the songs, and so constructing identities for the artist can be likened to that of creating a product to show to the audience. Another outcome of the rise of social media is the modern desire to be popular on social media. This has led to a very judgemental attitude, with people on Instagram judging you based on appearance.

Goodwin theorises that in music videos it is common to have intertextual references to other forms of media. One example of this 'Californication' by The Red Hot Chili Peppers that depicts the instantly recognisable visual style and narrative of a video game, which attracts those who are familiar with that form of media. In pop music, this idea of intertextual reference is important as it brings in multiple audiences that will listen to the song either due to this reference of just the actual song, expanding the popularity of it.





Khalid who I've talked about is a less conventional pop artist. This is because while his music is pop, it draws inspiration from Soul, R+B and Hip-Hop. His voice and music style is very recognisable to the audience. Other than his music he also portrays a more 'free' lifestyle on top of his fashionable image. His social media presence, like on Instagram, reveals his 'true' personality which leads to more fans.






There are more examples of how pop is a changing style, with Khalid combination of styles only being one. Cross over artists are quite common, where they originate from other genres of music but become pop artists due to their songs becoming hits. One example of this is Shania Twain, who due to her success crossing over from country to pop earnt the title 'Queen of Country Pop'







There is also the rising popularity of K-POP in the West, becoming more and more popular even without fans understanding everything they have said. One example of this is BTS, a K-POP a seven member boy band who began in 2013.  During their 2019 Love Yourself World Tour, BTS became the first Asian artist and first non-English speaking artist ever to headline and sell out Wembley Stadium and broke the record for the single highest-grossing engagement in Rose Bowl Stadium history.


My research influenced my project as it taught me that creating a clear persona for my artist will be an important factor in my project. This will allow me to further increase the popularity of my artist's music through following the industry context of selling the artist on the growing internet. I also plan to include an intertextual reference, as I know from my research that this is a good way that existing artists have expanded their audience.

Post 3: Regulation in the music industry

Research into regulations concerning the music industry

Copyright rules in the UK

In the UK, music is subject to copyright laws which protect the property of artists and songwriters. This is under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988, which results in you owning your own rights to your work up to 70 years after death. This is achieved through the artist creating their song in a tangible format, e.g. writing down the song lyrics, recording a demo/music video, and is automatically copyrighted. However, royalties cannot be earnt without joining a collection society. The PRS (Performing Rights Society) is one of these, and are responsible for collecting royalties from copyrighted music. Once signed, they pay the owner of the song with the royalties from radio stations, shows etc. People who are not the owner of the song are not allowed to use even 1 second of the music without a license, resulting in an infringement.


YouTube's ruling on copyright

If a song is used not owned by the channel, the ads will appear on the video, with revenues going to the rightful owner. The song may be used however if it falls under fair use, which consists of the music being used for parody, teaching, review and formats of this nature. This results in music circulation for UK audiences being primarily from the main owner, with extra content around the song being created by 3rd parties.

YouTube as a free content provider without restriction has also faced issues due to sexualised music videos. In a survey of some 1,500 website members, most (82%) said their children had repeated sexual lyrics without knowing their meaning. And three-quarters said they tried to stop children watching music videos.

Illegal streaming 

More than one-third of global music listeners are still pirating music, according to a new report by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). While the massive rise in legal streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal was thought to have stemmed illegal consumption, 38% of listeners continue to acquire music through illegal means.

Regulation issues in my project

My project had a few key factors to consider; no drinking or violence, as the target audience includes 16 year old's. For me the no drinking alcohol changed my initial plan, which first included a party scene. However in order to appeal to and be appropriate for the target audience, I had to change this plan.

Also in order to avoid the issues raised with YouTube's age restriction, as well as to appeal to my target audience, I was age appropriate to the youngest 16 year old section of my target audience.

Post 2: The role of the internet in the music industry

My research into the role of the internet in the music industry

The internet and especially social media has become essential for artists. This is because it is a the main method of reaching out to their fan base and interacting with them in order to keep them engaged. Fans are interested in any news, merchandise, or general information associated with the artist. One example of an artist that shows demonstrates this is Khalid.

Khalid's website

Khalid's website includes many features that make it easy and interesting for fans visiting the page. The website is digitally converged and possesses links to his social media pages, which includes his Instagram. The website also possesses tour dates and merchandise, allowing audience to spend more to either come and see him live, or to wear clothes so others see them as fans. These features are things that I have taken note of for my website creation.

Khalid's Instagram

A key feature of Khalid's Instagram, is how the content he posts is less about his music and more about himself. Fans who follow him learn about his life, interests and beliefs.
Social media is especially good for expanding his brand, while website's aren't updated that frequently, posting on a social media happens very often. This allows for constant internet traffic on the social media, that could be directed to the website or other content created by the artist. By making use of this platform, artists like Khalid are able to gather more fans through content and more money from advert clicks that come with the website.

By integrating links between his website, social media, music videos, tour dates and news, Khalid like many artists who use social media, is able to further expand his audience and bring in more money from streaming his music, buying merchandise and tour tickets, as well as gain a more dedicated fan base who have genuine interest in him as an artist and a person.  By posting regularly Khalid keeps his followers well engaged.

This research has influenced me to include much of these features and use the internet in order to further create my artist. For my website flat plans, I will include links to social media, tour dates and merchandise.

Post 1: The UK Music Industry

Welcome readers!  In this series of posts, I will be investigating the UK music industry with a focus on...

This series is made up of posts where we will explore:

1. The UK Music Industry
2. The Role of the Internet in the Music Industry
3. Regulation in the Music Industry
4. The Pop Music Genre
5. My Target Audience
6. My Chosen Track
7. My Pop Artist or Band
8. My Music Video
9. My Website and Social Media Pages
10. My Production Review

I investigated the UK music industry in order to gain an understanding of the industry's context in order to allow me to develop my music artist and project. In particular I researched Sony Music in order to see what existing artists are signed with them.


The 3 biggest groups in the music industry are:

All 3 are USA based but own over 100 subsidiary record labels and sub labels around the world accounting for almost every market niche.

Sony Music research:

Sony Music Entertainment is a major American music conglomerate owned by Sony Corporation America as part of the Sony Entertainment subsidiary. Sony Corporation America is a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.

As stated on Sony Music's about page:

These artists were key figures for me to research in order to help me create my artist. My research into the industry in general helped me to get a better understanding of the industry behind the content that we listen to every day.