Wednesday, 21 September 2011

Audience Research - Online Survey

We created an online questionnaire in order to thoroughly research our audience. We chose suitable questions which we feel will give us an idea into who our audience is. We will analyse the results next week. I will be sharing this survey online to try and get as much feedback as possible.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Q6KDF7N


Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Nick Gardner - Genre Research

Nick Gardner is a singer-songwriter who is gaining popularity for his videos on YouTube. He started out covering songs by Bruno Mars and Adele which has gained over 250,000 views ,  before he released his first single "Where I Go" in 2009.  This increased his popularity and was well received by his fans that watched his covers.

Nick released his second single "Out Of The Clouds" in September 2010 which was the 60th Most Viewed Video for Musicians on YouTube. 
This is is the song that we have chosen to do for our digipack and music video. We will create an image for our artist and make a narrative for the video based on the lyrics.

Singer Songwriters
Singer Songwriters are a type of musician who write, compose and sing their own music. Typically they perform the entire song using a guitar or piano. 
Nick Gardner falls in this category because he has written his songs and peformed them accomanied with his piano. He then uploads his videos to YouTube, many famous artists today have got their recording contracts due to a big YouTube following  such as Ed Sheeran or Justin Bieber.




Example of singer songwriters

 James Blunt
 Noel Gallagher

 Norah Jones
 Bruno Mars
Alicia Keys

Tuesday, 20 September 2011

Plans For Audience Research

Because we have to create a digipack and a music video for our artist, it is essential for us to know the audience that we are aiming this product at. Therefore we need to plan how we will research our audience.

Surveys

Last year we used Survey Monkey which allows you to create an online questionnaire which can then be shared across many social media platforms. We will use this to create a survey asking various questions like "What are your hobbies?" etc.
This will give us the feedback we need in order to create our star image and tailor it to our audience.



YouTube
I plan to look at YouTube comments and statistics for research. This is a good resource for us as we can feedback on what people like or do not like about particular songs or videos.




Facebook

Facebook is another good site for researching into our audience as we can create pages or send direct messages to hundreds of people at once. This allows us to get a variety of opinions into what our typical audience for our genre is.











Interviews
We will go out and find people who are particularly fond of the Pop genre and interview them of what they expect in a digipack and music video. We will also ask specific questions relating to Singer Songwriters in order to get  in depth research into what they expect to see.

How A Music Video Is Made

There are many stages to how a music video is made and it can vary by artist, genre, director and the budget. These are the general steps into how they are made :

Step 1. Choose A Song, Record Company which choose a song they are happy with.












 
Step 2. Choose A Suitable Director out of a shortlist












Step 3. Budget and Deadlines are agree with Director and Video Commisioner








Step 4. Storyboard is developed clearly depicting the narrative and shots that need to be filmed, locations are chosen









Step 5. All staff are employed ; art director, director of photography etc.










 Step 6. The Sets are built and all personnel turn up for shooting. Filming commences.









Step 7. Filming is finished. Raw footage is sent to the managers.









Step 8 . The label , artists and manager view and comment on the footage 









Step 9. Changes to film are agreed and visual effects added. Editing takes place, cutting rate is decided and transitions are added.





 

Step 10. Finished video is passed to Label for release online and TV stations.

Media Language

There are many different terms that are used when analysing media texts. Record companies put a lot of work into a music video or digipack and there are a lot of things for them to consider.

Digipack
This is a physical copy of an album/single including the cover , inlay and CD. It also comes with bonus extras that you won't be able to find elsewhere, things like Behind The Scenes DVD or even exlcusive bonus songs. This engages the audience with the artist more and increases their fanbase.

The Record Label  wants money.










The Artist/Band want to engage with their audience.




The Digipack allows them to do both.


Intertexuality

This is the relationship between different media texts. For example whenever you see a film playing in the background of a music video or a video game with a movie poster in it that is intertexuality.
Here is an example in the Big Bang Theory where they have a "Halo Night"


Intertexuality can be used in the marketing of a digipack in many ways. One way is to show the digipack in your music video. Another way is to include a bonus DVD with concert clips , interviews etc.




Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin published a book containing his music theory. He said that there are 3 possible relationships between lyrics and visuals in a music video. The visuals either:

  • Illustrate 
  • Amplify
  • Contradict
 Jay-Z's music video for 99 Problems is a prime example of the visuals illustrating the lyrics.






Star Image

Richard Dyer is antoher theorist who stated that a star is an image constructed out of a range of materials.
Stars may seem like  "real people" or even like "drug addicted rebels" but this does not reflect who they really are and it is just an image that is created for them.

Star images are constantly changing and can evolve over time. Here we see the Black Eyed Pea's image has changed as their genre has changed.

Monday, 19 September 2011

Genre Research - Pop

Pop music is a mainstream style of music that is normally targeted at a younger audience from 3- 20+ years of age. Pop songs usually consist of short simple songs that utilize new technological innovations to create a variation of existing themes of music.



Characteristics of Pop
- it appeals to a general audience, no niche audiences
- commonly uses the "verse-chorus" form or the "thirty two bar" form
- focuses on melodies and catchy hooks
- the lyrics are simple and reflect common themes such as "love" and "relationships"
- the chorus contrasts melodically, rhythmically and harmonically with the verses

Styles of Pop
Adult Contemporary- Pop music which is generally rock based aimed at 18-45 year olds
Baroque - a combination of classical music and rock'n'roll
Bubblegum - Pop music aimed at pre-teens and teenagers
Christian - Pop music which is based on the Christian faith
Dance - dance oriented music with pounding beats
Hip- Pop - a fusion of the vocal style of pop with Hip-Hop
Pop Punk - combination of Punk and Pop
Pop Rock - a mix of catchy light lyrics on guitar based songs
Pop soul - soul music performed by "White" artists
Teen - solely aimed at teenagers, combines dance, R&B, Hip-Hop,Country, Rock with Pop

Pop  Icons

  • Aerosmith
  • The Beatles
  • Mariah Carey
  • Celine Dion
  • Whitney Houston 
  • Michael Jackson
  • Elton John 
  • George Michael
  • Madonna 
  • Kylie Minogue 
  • Elvis Presley 
  • Rihanna 
  • Britney Spears 
  • The Spice Girls

Genre Research - Soul

Soul music combines the sounds of gospel music, rhythm and blues music.  Soul music became popular in America in the 1960's and Soul was a big part of the "British Invasion" in the 60's.




Characteristics of Soul

Tone - Soul is a very emotive music and therefore the tones used reflect various emotions whether it be happy or sad. Tones such as smooth or ghentle are frequently used.

Rhythm and Blues  - Soul borrows a lot from Blues music with the 12 bar , 3 line style lyric that is associated with Blues music.

Call and Response - This is when the artist "calls out" a particular phrase or saying and another artist "responds" to that. This is a feature that can be seen in many Soul songs.

Repetition - A lot of the same musical notes, phrases and rhythms are generally repeated in Soul music.

Instrumentation - Soul music is performed with a combination of different instruments. The use of horns and trumpets define what Soul music is all about.  The Saxophone is one iconic image of Soul music.


Styles of Soul

Detroit ( Motown) Soul - strongly rhythmic and influenced by Blues. Often includes hand clapping and a powerful bass line.

Memphis Soul - features melancholic and melodic horns , organs , bass and drums to create a unique Soul sound.

Chicago Soul - focuses more on a gospel sound , was a lot more diverse to other Soul styles

Philadelphia Soul - features a more orchestral sound with "doo-wop" vocals

Blue-eyed Soul - refers to artists who perform in other genres that are inspired by Soul

British Soul - a lot of artists in Britain were referred to as Blue-eyed Soul peformers, artists such as the Beatles and even George Michael.

Northern (Modern) Soul - soul music that is performed by DJ artists and features an up-tempo beat.

Nu-Jazz and Soulful Electronica - Electronic genres such as House , UK Garage were influenced by Soul music.

 Icons of Soul

Adele - British singer whose album "21" which was a critical and commercial success.

Cee-Lo Green - member of Gnarls Barkley whose Soul single "F*** You" was an instant hit.

James Brown - referred to as "The Godfather of Soul" had many hits such as "I Feel Good" and "Get Up". 

Beyonce - a lot of her work and style is heavily influenced by Soul.

The Commodores - Soul band that sold over 75 million records worldwide.

Bruno Mars - a lot of his music follows the style of Soul

Aretha Franklin - referred to as the "Queen of Soul" had many hits most notably "Respect".

Marvin Gaye - had many hits such as " I Heard It Through The Grapevine"

The Jackson 5 - the band were famous for their Soul music.

Alicia Keys - known for he piano instrumentals in most of her hit songs

Otis Redding - most famous Soul song was "The Dock of the Bay"

Ray Charles - pioneer of Soul music and is one of the icons of Soul music.