Album Cover

Myspace

http://www.myspace.com/harlemuk

Evaluation Planning

In order  for our evaluation to be as good as we could get it we planned it in great detail first. Here are the charts we used to plan it:
Goodwin Planning Chart

Vernallis Planning Chart

Album Cover Planning Chart

Myspace Planning Chart

Evaluation - Question 4

Throughout our project we have used a range of different types of technology and here is a still shot with all of them in it:

For research the main type of technology used was the web. It was useful to watch TV and find music videos like that, but when it came to being specific www.youtube.com and www.myspace.com came in handy. Most of our research was conducted over the web in order to compare other music videos and research into the conventions of band Myspace's. The web is the place where you can get the most variety of things in a short space of time and therefore came in handy a huge amount.
When planning our music video, the main type of technologies that were used were the HD Video camera and the stills camera. We practiced recording videos of each other lip-synching to our track in order for us to plan what looked realistic and what did not and who was going to say what lyrics. Also the stills camera was used to take pictures throughout the planning process of evidence of the progression of our planning. We took pictures of our storyboard, timeline and various spider diagrams in order for them to be uploaded onto blogger easily.
The technology used when producing our music video was the HD video cameras which we used to record all of our footage on and pag lights which were used when natural lighting was not strong enough. The HD cameras allowed our footage to be of better quality than previous cameras and therefore made the video look more professional. However when it  came to editing the footage, as the footage was of such high quality the PC could not cope with it and therefore caused many problems with crashing and saving. The pag lights were not originally going to be used, however when we captured our footage of the performance shots we noticed a huge contrast in lighting between that and the New York footage as some of the shots were grainy and dark due to lack of lighting. We therefore decided to reshoot and took pag lights along with us to use for these shots. When capturing this footage we noticed how much more professional it looked with the use of more lighting and therefore felt the pag lights came in very useful.
When editing our music video we used Adobe Premiere Pro. It allowed us to edit our video in a non-linear style which made the process a lot easier and quicker. Also it allowed us to create more than one timeline so we could create different parts of the music video on different timelines and then put it together when it was completed. It made it a lot easier to organise and manage. However the only downside with using this was that because we shot on HD cameras, the programme became slow and temperamental as the quality of the footage was so high.
The technology which has been used from start to finish of our project has been the use of our blogs. This is where all different forms of technology have come together and been apparent with us uploading photos, videos, website links etc. This technology has come in most useful to us as it has enabled us to work on this project wherever and whenever we like. The use of a blog has made the management throughout the project a lot easier and allowed us to communicate ideas a lot easier.

Evaluation - Question 3

Evaluation - Question 2

The music video and Myspace work together to market the album as this is where the money is made if the audience buy it. This means that we have used cross platform throughout our marketing campaign. When using this type of marketing we had to create a link between all of our products to make sure the audience do not get confused. To do this we used the theme of New York and dancing throughout each product to allow the audience to spot a link.
Our video is based around two girls using their dancing to find fame in New York City. This is where the themes of New York and dancing stem from and as they are such strong ideas we decided that we could use them to market all of our products and create a link between them. At the beginning of our video we use montages of New York to set the scene and there are a lot of shots of the New York taxis. This links in with our Myspace where the main colour scheme is that of the New York taxi. The beginning of the video is taken up with shots of the city and therefore really sets the scene for the audience and makes them understand that New York plays a central role with the artist. At the end of the video we see the two girls dancing in a dance studio. We can tell its a dance studio due to the mise-en-scene with the bars, mirrors and white walls. These signifiers, mainly the bar element, are used throughout our three products to show the dancing theme. The ending of our video is taken up by the dancing shots, making it both interesting for the viewer and to draw attention to the fact that the girls are dancers and therefore make it easier to find the link between the products.
On our Myspace we used the colour scheme of white, yellow and black which is very stereotypical New York as it connotes a New York taxi. Also we used a background image of New York taxi's lined up on the street to amplify the New York theme throughout our myspace.

We have also used lots of images of us wearing 'I Love NY' tops to create another link between the album cover and myspace as these appear and are dominant in both. To emphasize the dancing in the Myspace we used images of us with the bar behind us, signifying a dance studio. These images and shots are used on both the album cover and the video creating a link between the three.

Also in our Myspace we have focussed our background information on the fact that we both grew up with dancing playing a central role in our lives.
On our album cover we have used an image of the New York skyline layered over another image of Nisha and I which enforces the New York theme running throughout our products.

Also on the back cover we have used a shot of Nisha wearing an 'I Love NY' top, linking in with the Myspace and also signifying the New York theme. The shot of Nisha on the back cover is of her holding a bar. Once again this shot is used in all three products linking them all together and connoting the dance theme as bars are usually seen in dance studios.

We have also used the white font on the black background which links in with our Myspace and therefore relates back to the idea of the New York taxis.
All in all we have tried to create something different by incorporating the fact that dancing is one of their main talents as well as singing and their background in the marketing of our products to distinguish them from other artists out there and encourage the audience to buy their products.
Overall i think our marketing campaign does work quite effectively as we focus on the artists to market the products rather than the music itself which is very stereotypical for this genre as it is all about the appearance of the artist which attracts the audience into buying their records. However our marketing campaign can be seen to be too similar to the original artists 'The Pussycat Dolls' who also used their dancing background to promote them as something different and unique to the audience. Also the fact that the music video is only for their debut single would make it seem as if the New York theme and dancing theme which have stemmed from it are only promoting the video and not the whole album, therefore in order to make our campaign successful we will need to incorporate these themes throughout every single from that album in order to make it clear to the audience it is promoting the album and not just that one single.

Evaluation - Evidence for Question 1

Evaluation Video - Question 1

Evaluation - Question 1 MYSPACE

On our Myspace the text anchors all the images on the page and gives them a reason to be there. It is also aimed at grabbing the audiences attention and make them want to read on. Each image on the myspace is headed, therefore letting the audience know what it is about. It also emphasizes the visuals as the audience do not only have them to look at, but also the text to read as well. To make it clear to the audience that some pieces of text are more important than others we made them bigger and kept the less important things smaller. We also made titles bold and capitalled to make them stand out a lot more to catch the audiences attention and make it easy for them to find what they want to read.

The iconography used throughout the myspace is representaional of the band because the font is yellow and white on a black background which is very typical of New York as it looks like a New York taxi, therefore enforcing the theme of New York. Also on our website the majority of the images taken are from inside the dance studio, connoting to the audience just how important dance is for them. Our website is very much based around the two themes of dance and New York making it more central in the branding of the artist.
For the hiphop/pop genre there tend to be a lot of visuals of the artist themselves and a lot of advertisements for the merchandise and links to websites. We tried to encorporate this into our myspace to make it clear of the genre by using advertisements to our fashion store, links to our facebook and twitter, and having lots of images of each of us.

To entice the audience a myspace tends to give fans a more personal relationship with the artist. They usually include ways of contacting the artist, giving feedback and have elements where you can find out things about them you would not normally know. On our website we tried to use this insight into the artists life as much as possible with the use of behind the scenes pictures where you can see the girls in their everyday lives, links to their facebook and twitter to let fans become even closer to them, having personal information about them such as their likes and their background, being able to add them as friends and message them allowing them to become more personally involved with them and allowing them to comment on thewebsite, letting them leave their feedback and have an input into the artists life. Also the general tone of the website is very chatty and friendly making the audience feel more comfortable and giving the audience a more laid back interpretation of the artist letting them relate to them more.

On our myspace we have used the record labels email addresses as a way to market the record label. It is a form of viral marketing and word of mouth endorsement as people can see the email addresses and pass them onto friends via conversations, however they can also use the email addresses to email the label if they are interested, promoting the label entirely over the web. Also the fact that the fans can download the artist's music over the site and get onto other sites linked with them are all forms of viral marketing as they are promoting themselves over the web to their audience. We thought that as our artist was independant and would not have the money to do mainstream campaigning, viral marketing would be the most cost effective and useful way of promoting them as it can have a wide reach for minimal cost.

Evaluation - Question 1 ALBUM COVER

The layout of a debut album will usually always contain song lists on the back, an image of the artist on the front, bar code on the back, institutional information on the back, links to websites on the back, name of album and artist on the spine, serial number on the spine, a distinct colour scheme running throughout and a large name of the artist and smaller name of the album showing the artist is the main focus and want them to sell the album.

The functions of a debut album should be to promote the artist, sell the album, grab the audiences attention, create an image for the artist, promote the genre and create a target audience.
As we were a debut artist we felt that having a photograph of the band members on the front, back and inside covers would be more eye-catching and also market the artist to the audience. We made the images very glossy, striking and glamourous and also used the majority of close ups to give it a more personal feel for the audience. Photographs are also very stereotypical for the hiphop/pop genre, therefore promoting our genre in the album cover. For more established artists they may not follow these conventions of using photographic images. For example 'Green Day - American Idiot' used a cartoon hand squeezing a heart as their main image. This image is distinctive for the band and therefore would be recognisable to fans. Also cartoon images are also very common for the rock genre as they use their outrageousness to sell their music rather than themselves.

Our band is based around the fact that the girls used their dancing to make the famous and were originally from New York. The theme of New York runs throughout our album cover with the use of 'I Love NY' tops and layering an image of us on top of an image of the New York skyline. Also the use of the white and red font connote America. The dance theme is used distinctively on the back cover where Nisha is posed against a dance bar. This shows that she is in a dance studio and that dance is involved with her life. This connotes the concept of dance to the audience.

An album cover is all about creating an image for the artist and branding them. Our album sets up the image of two glamourous, sexy girls from New York who are involved with dancing. The close up shot of each half of our face that has been placed together connotes to the audience that they are best friends and are so close they are one person, however the black line between them shows that they still each have their individual identity. I think it is very successful as whilst branding the artist, the image is very striking and therefore grabs the audiences attention.

Evaluation - Question 1 VERNALLIS MUSIC VIDEO

Vernallis says that during the music video, people may move in time to the music and actions may not be completed. When constructing our music video, we tried to emphasise this point by using a dance routine which is in time to the music and had shots of the two girls in New York so they moved in time to the music e.g. walking across the road. Also when we edited it together we cut the shots before the end of lines and before the end of dance routines making it unpredictable and more interesting to watch for the audience, also enforcing Vernallis' point.
The shots of New York are there to build up the theme of New York and to enforce the narrative of the two girls being dancers in New York, however the frames which contain the two girls in them are more important than the shots of the mise-en-scene as it adds to the storyline. Therefore we edited these shots so that they were longer in comparison the the less important shots making the audience notice them more.

Evaluation - Question 1 GOODWIN MUSIC VIDEO

As question one was such a large question this was the one i was pushed for time on the most. I felt i had a lot more i could of said but just did not have the time to say it so i have decided to blog up everything i never had a chance to mention.

As the genre of our music video was hiphop/pop we felt we followed the conventions well by including dance routines which are nearly always in this genre of music and regularly cut back to CU's of the artist as this genre of music is very much about the artist and selling them. Also our shots are very glossy and we are very made up and look perfect in our performance shots which are very common for this genre. Comparing our video to other music videos such as 'The Pussycat Dolls - When I Grow Up' and 'Lady Gaga - Just Dance' they create a very glamourous appearance of the artist and the artist is the main focus of the video. Each video styles the artist in a distinct way to create and build up a certain image for them and there are constant performance shots of them to remind the audience who they are watching.

There is lots of relationship between lyrics and visuals in our music video and i feel the lyrics are illustrated by the video. The song is describing people who work hard to achieve what they want in a city with bright lights, which is very representative of our video of two girls working hard as dancers to get famous in New York City. Sometimes music videos tend to use the lyrics to amplify the lyrics like 'Rihanna - Shut up and Drive' where she is clearly talking about having a sexual encounter with a man in her lyrics but yet uses cars in her video as a metaphor.

Goodwin states that close ups are used as visual hooks for the audience to entice them to watch the music video. In our music video we developed this further by not only using CU's as visual hooks but also LS with us dancing against the window. This reveals the mise-en-scene of the dance studio putting the performance shots into context with the rest of the video.

Evaluation

On Tuesday we did our filmed evaluation for our project. As we were only a group of two we thought it would be easier if we split the questions up between us to do. I ended up getting question 1 and question 3 to do.
I spent the week leading up to the evaluation preparing my questions in order to do as well as i could on the day. When it came down to it, however, i was so nervous about speaking to the camera and rushed for time that i ended up missing out some important things. Overall i felt i could of done a lot better so i am just going to blog all the stuff i missed out on the day and hopefully this should make up for my not so great video.

Artist Name

I tried to come up with a few ideas for an artist name and here are a list of names that i thought of:

• Harlem
• Chelsea
• Showstoppers
• Street and Sass
• Twice as Nice
• Nilon
• Collision
• M.E.T

I really like the idea of Harlem as it is a borough in New York and it reflects the artists backgrounds as they came from New York, however i am going to discuss it with Nisha before making any desicions.

Album Cover and Myspace Photo Shoot

While we were re-shooting our footage in the dance studio we thought it would be a good idea to have a photo shoot for our album cover and Myspace at the same time in order for us to have the dance studio mise-en-scene in the background and to make it an ongoing theme throughout our products. Nisha and I both decided that we should look glamourous for the photo shoot, however still have an element of dancing involved with it, therefore we decided to have full makeup and quite a plain outfit with a few splashes of colour.
My costume was red lipstick, black eyeliner and eyeshadow, gold jacket, black vest top, 'I Love NY' t-shirt, leggings and wedges.  I would alternate between the black vest top and 'I Love NY' t-shirt in order to give the shots some variety.
I felt the overall shoot went very well and we got more than enough shots for our album cover and Myspace. Also when we were in the moment we found ourselves shooting various random photographs which we thought would look good on our Myspace as they seemed more personal and less posed. We got a wide range of shots from mid-shots, long shots to CU'S, two shots and individual shots. All of them are unique but yet all link due to the costume, therefore i think they can be used in a very positive way to help brand our products and sell our artist at the same time. The photo shoot went better than we hoped and hopefully we will see the rewards from this when it comes to creating our Myspace and album cover.

Dance Studio Reshoot

As some of our footage from the dance studio was not as good as we would have hoped it would look, due to the mise-en-scene being too cluttered and not looking like an actual dance studio and some of the shots being grainy, we decided to hire the dance studio again for £5 an hour to do a reshoot. This reshoot was very last minute as our deadline for the music video was for the week after but we felt it had to be done in order for us to achieve the best out of our video.
When we got to the dance studio this time we decided that it would be better to have the camera facing against a white wall and angled towards us dancing rather than having the camera pointing towards the cluttered back drop in order to have us dancing straight at the camera. We felt this would tie in better with the mirrored shots of the dance studio too as it would seem as if they were shot at the same time but just from two different angles making the dance sequence seem more believable.
Also when it came to reshooting the grainy shots we decided that the only way to overcome this was to have better lighting in the shot in order to enable the camera to focus better. We used a pag light for this as it was small enough to carry around and yet strong enough to direct a beam of light directly on us to light us up and make the shot less grainy.
When capturing this re-shot footage we really noticed the difference it made to the quality of our video and were very pleased we decided to reshoot, despite the amount of time we had left.

Editinggg

Over the previous 2 weeks we have been manically trying to edit our video together and to be honest we are a little bit addicted to doing it :)
We are aabout 65% done and i feel are doing very well and are on track for finishing, although it may be a little stressful. We are both keen about the video and share our ideas with each other allowing progression to be easy. We each take it in turns to edit and help each other out when needed. All in all i think the edit process is far easier when there are less people involved therefore allowing our group to be one of the most productive. I enjoy being ahead :)

Dance Studio

As Nisha and I's video revolves around a dance routine, we decided to hire out The Dance Studio in Winchmore Hill in order to film our dance routine and also our beauty shots.
We did this over the course of two days, shooting for 3 hours each day and this cost us £5 per hour which we felt was reasonable for what we were getting.
The shoot went well and the footage looks good, although in some of our shots we have a problem with lighting but after playing around with the shots, hopefully this issue should be put right. As we had planned what we were going to do, unlike our New York shoot, we were organised and managed to shoot everything we needed to and even have time for more. This was due to us getting down to work straight away and knowing the best use of our time within the studio.
Overall i felt this shoot went well and Nisha and I work as a team very well.

New York Filming

When we first came up with the idea of shooting in New York, we did not really consider all the things that could go wrong as we were too excited. However after speaking with our teacher she bought as back down to earth and made us truely aware of what we were planning to do out there and how difficult it could be as we did not really know the area and we could not plan properly as it was more a spur of the moment thing.
We shot together on the first morning we got there at 5pm. We had not initially realised that as it was so early it would still be dark therefore we would not be able to shoot any of our actual footage. However, despite this we managed to practice a lot of our shots in order for us to be able to shoot them in a few takes when it got light, therefore saving time.
We were very organised on the shoot and both communicated very well. With shots that we could not get we compromised and a lot of what we shot ended up was impulsive.
Over the duration of our holidays we both shot more footage in order for it to be used in our video as cut aways from the main performance.
I think Nisha and I worked really well together and we made the most out of the time we had. Looking back on our shots of New York when capturing them made me realise just how much we did shoot and how good it will look in our video if used in the correct places. It was a very productive shoot and one that i would love to do again :)

The Pussycat Dolls - Top of the World

Here is our chosen song:

New Track and Idea :)

After being split into our group, Nisha and I finally agreed on a song choice.

We decided to go for The Pussycat Dolls - On Top of The World.

After listening to this track we came up with the inspiration to shoot a bit of our footage in New York City as we are both going there in the half term and it seems to fit with the lyrics very well.

I have realised just how much more we are into this project now that we are doing a music genre we like and a song we will not get sick of. After pitching our idea to the class and getting a lot of positive feedback from it, I am feeling a lot more confident about going ahead with the project with just the two of us.

Ahhh im so excited, lets hope this is the beginning of amazing things to come :)

DYM MYSPACE FEEDBACK

Very good Myspace research, Loren. You clearly show conventions of pages and purpose. You should link the web page examples to your blog, and also add some detailed semiotic analysis to your notes.

New Group

After coming to the conclusion that our groups hearts were not fully in the project and that we were not working to our full potential as a group we decided to split up into two smaller groups, Nisha and Me and Jack and Shaun. I think as me and Nisha have similar music tastes it will be easier for us to choose a song and as we are a lot closer as friends i feel we can interact with each other a lot more and really speak the truth.

After we decided to split our group i immediately went away and had a browse around for some songs. I blogged them up on the group blog and told Nisha to have a look. After looking at my range of songs she also came up with a few that she thought would be good.

Together we came up with a short list of songs which were:

The Pussycat Dolls - On Top Of The World

Ciara - Pucker Up

Lady Gaga - Sillyboy

Out of these 3 songs we were going to pick our final song. After some discussion we both agreed that the Lady Gaga song would not be beneficial to do as she already has a distinct image and to break away from this may be hard. So we each allocated ourselves a song and decided to come up with a treatment for it.

Overall i think we are working well together and it seems like our similar taste in music is really helping this process of picking a song a lot easier and therefore making the project move a lot faster than it was before. Also as we are both doing a song we like, we are both keen to do work involved with it and are constantly discussing it, showing our excitement. Anyway my treatment of Ciara- Pucker Up is on the group blog. Hopefully we can decide on a song by tomorrow :)

Effectiveness of Different Album Covers

Different album covers are created for different purposes therefore making them effective in different ways. Personally i believe that all album covers that are created are effective as they all work to the strengths of the artists however certain onces are more effective than others due to them being more focussed on their target audience or being more mysterious to make the audience want to learn more. Here are an example of a few album covers which have caught my attention at being effective:

Madonna - Celebration

This album is both a greatest hits album and an album containing her new singles. It therefore draws on the greatest hits element in the front cover using an iconic image of her from when she was younger. Fans of hers would recognise this and therefore feel nostalgic and want to buy the album. However she has put an effect on the image to make it seem very like pop art. It therefore grabs the audiences attention as it makes it a very striking, distinctive image, and even people who are not her fans end up wanting to know more. This also gives the image a modern twist therefore combining both new and old perfectly, exactly what the album has done. This therefore is a very effective album as it both sells the album to the audience using nostalgic images and bright, eye catching colours and also gives a sense of what the album is about from just looking at the front cover. A very clever idea.

Paramore - Riot

This album cover focuses on the idea of doodling and therefore giving it a very unprofessional look. All over the front it black biro with the words 'Riot' scribbled all over it. From this the audience know that the name of the album is 'Riot', however they do not know who it is by. At second glance, however, the audience can notice that one of the scribbles actually says 'Paramore' therefore giving away the name of the band. The fact that the cover draws on the notion of being self made makes it eye catching and different. Also it is outrageous showing off the personality of the band. The fact that the title of the band is camouflaged in amongst the rest of the doodles makes the audience curious and therefore spend a long time looking at the cover, enticing them to buy it more. This album cover is effective because of the general unprofessional feel of the cover which is very unusual and therefore makes it stand out from the crowd.

Oasis- Definately Maybe

With this being their debut album they wanted to sell the band to the audience and get them well known. However unlike many other artists, they have done this in a very quirky way which catches the audiences attention. They have placed all band members on the cover but in a situation which seems fairly normal and everyday. They are all watching TV and relaxing, with glasses of wine in what looks like a typically british living room, with one of them playing guitar. It creates an image for them of being typically british lads, being fairly lazy and loving the TV. The british audience will draw on this fact as they will see the situation as being recognisable and will therefore take a closer look at the album. They have put the 'Oasis' signiture font at the top of the album, big enough for the audience to notice it but not too big for the attention to be drawn away from the band. I think this cover is effective because it draws on the right balance for being quirky and yet still selling the band for a debut album. The audience can recognise the band, build up and image for them but yet still not feel bored by the image.

Pussycat Dolls Album Cover Deconstruction

Pussycat Dolls - Doll Domination

Front

• One main image - Long Shot, slightly low angle
• On motorbikes on a road
• Posed in a powerful way - emphasising 'domination'
• Background is lots of famous landmarks - silhouetted and faded
• Each bike has the initial of their first names - fans will know their names and therefore recognise this
• Road is painted with different names of cities - taking over the world and enforcing 'domination'
• Girls are central and biggest thing on the cover - selling them as they are most important
• Dominant colours are nautical - showing power and sexiness
• Pussycat Dolls logo at the top of the album between the two words of the title - shows importance of them and are selling them as a band
• Bold but simple font - focus on the image and band logo rather than the font
• White font on red banner continuing the nautical theme
• Directly addressing the camera - flirting with the camera and enticing people to buy the album
• Title acts as a headline for the image and anchors it well - small in comparison
• Very little clothes - provocative nature and iconic sexy image of the band
• Midriff's on show - showing off their dancers body and using it to sell the album
• Nicole Scherzinger in the middle showing she is the most important
• It is a cover where girls aspire to be like them and men fantasise over them - using their sexuality and perfection to sell the album
• Typical 'perfect' girl group image with hair blowing, full makeup, perfect bodies, fashionable clothing - mainstream

Back

• Black, red and white are main colours - connect back and front and are nautical theme again
• Song numbers are in red and titles in black distinguishing between the numbers and titles of the song
• The titles of the songs are in bold and any collaborations are in lower case - importance of title over collaboration artists
• Main image is central and takes up most of the space - band are the most important things and will sell the album
• Main image is of the band posing on a bar - long shot and slight low angle
• Very little, sexy clothing - iconic of the band and using their perfect bodies and sexiness to sell the album and promote the band image
• Posing in flexible positions - iconic of the band and drawing on the dancers side of the band in order to sell it
• Nicole Scherzinger is central showing she is the most important
• Same road is used in the image showing a link between the back and front covers
• Directly addressing the camera again - enticing in the audience
• Using the fact that girls will want to be like them and guys will want to be with them in order to promote the artist
• Bar code on the right hand side
• Bold and simplistic font - does not draw attention away from the main feature, the band
• Fashionably clothed, full makeup, perfect hair, perfect bodies - typical mainstream girl group
• Institutional information is small in comparison to the other information - insignificant in comparison to the band as that is what is selling the album

Spine

• Name of the band
• Title of the album
• Both take a central position as these are the most important things as that is what audiences will look for when looking for albums that have been stacked away
• Same bold, simple font tying it in with the covers
• Same cream background used tying it in with the covers
• Serial number and record label in smaller font at either end - not as important but still needed on the spine
• Very simplistic compared to the rest of the album cover - just tells basic information as it is needed to do the job quickly

Album Covers Research

What are the typical features of an album cover?

• Name of the artist - dominates
• Name of the album
• One main shot of the artist/band on the front cover
• A colour scheme/theme connecting back and front cover
• Song list on the back
• An image on the back cover relating to the one on the front in some way - once again usually of the artist
• Bar code on back cover
• Colour scheme used throughout relating to the image artists or title of the album
• Name of the executive producers, managers and record labels on the back
• Logos of companies which helped with the album on the back - institutional information
• Links to the band/artist websites on back
• Logo of the band -typeface - visual motif
• Stickets promoting the album on front
• Parental advisory warnings on front
• Style of packaging - front, back and spine
• Price labels and offers
• Debut albums create an image
• Later albums are more fan based
• Greatest hits use nostalgia to sell

How would you categorise album covers?

• Genre
• Gender
• Era
• How famous the artist is e.g. debut
• Number of previous albums
• Types of album
• Style
• Record label
• Packaging
• Tone of album
• Target audience
• Band or solo artist

What are the purposes of album covers?

• To sell the artist
• To promote the artist
• Catch the audience's attention to sell the product
• Encourage people to buy the artists music
• To create and image/brand/identity for the artist and their music - distinctive
• Get people talking about the artist and their music
• To make more money for the artist
• To show off the artists music to the audience
• To show off the producer of the album
• To show off the genre of the music
• To create a target audience
• To sell the institutional identity

Myspace and Artist Website Deconstructions

Dizzee Rascal's Website

• Uses his new album font
• Pastal coloured theme in a wide variety of colours showing his craziness
• Lots of advertising of his new album encouraging fans to order it
• Gives links to websites you can buy his album from again encouraging the audience to buy it
• Links to his blog so his fans can keep up to date with him
• Allows fans to contact him in order to gain contact
• Allows fans to download wallpapers etc therefore marketing him as a brand
• Centered around his new album
• List of his dates down the right hand side encouraging fans to buy tickets and advertising them
• Main page is all latest news items about him so people can keep up to date with him and encourage them to view everything about him
• Links to view photos of him
• Link to a special page with all his records advertising them to the public and encouraging people to buy them
• Link to his own TV show DirteeStank TV which allows fans to watch him personally as he lives his life like reality TV which gives them a personal insight
• Gives a link to his myspace page to allow them to work together to market him
• Very wacky and fun which represents him

Christina Aguilera's Website

• Candy pink stripy pink background
• Pop art theme which is bright and eye catching and exciting for the audience
• Gives the latest news about Christina allowing fans to stay up to date
• Shows tour dates encouraging fans to buy tickets
• Advertises various products by her therefore using her and her music to market her other products etc her radio station and perfume
• Advertises her greatest hits album encouraging fans to buy it
• Allows fans to join her mailing list therefore becoming more personally involved with Christina Aguilera
• Gives links to her calender, press and news allowing fans to keep up to date with her
• Gives the audience a link to her music allowing them to listen to it and encourage them to buy it
• Link to her biography so they can learn more about her
• Gives the audience links to ringtones allowing them to download them therefore marketing her
• Loud and eccentric style which represents her
• Quite feminine using the pink but yet not too feminine which shows her personality
• Main image is of her kissing a pink panther looking glamourous which shows off her fun and flirty but yet stylish side
• Gives links to photos of her showing off her image to fans
• There is a forum where fans can discuss and give feedback on Christina Aguilera therefore making it a more personal experience
• Link to her store which sells her merchandise therefore marketing her other products and encouraging the audience to buy them
• Shows all the different charities which Christina Aguilera supports therefore giving a good impression to fans and encouraging them to take part too

Katy Perry's Myspace

• Red and green background showing off her different side as these two colours arent normally seen together
• Banner at the top of the page advertising her new album, new single available to download and buy, her store, her new video and her latest tour date therefore encouraging fans to buy all of her things and marketing her
• Allows people to listen to her latest singles and up and coming releases and therefore would encourage people to buy them when they are released
• Shows her blog posts keeping the audience up to date with her latest stories
• Advertising her main website with the enticement of a free song when you visit it
• Allows fans to add her as a friend/message her etc therefore making the fan base more intimate
• Gives links to pictures and videos of Katy Perry
• Shows her tour dates encouraging fans to buy tickets to go and see her
• Has a link enabling fans to vote for her at the MTV EMA's making fans feel inclined to do it
• Gives fans a number which they can call/text and leave Katy Perry a message making it more personal and allowing them to get involved
• Allows fans to sign up to her mailing list
• Has her 'Waking Up In Vegas' video on it in order for fans to view it for free and therefore advertising it
• Links to her twitter page therefore encouraging people to get more involved with her
• News stories about Katy are there allowing fans to keep up to date with her
• Clips of her past videos are also available to watch and therefore sell her previous singles
• Allows fans to get Katy Perry ringtones
• Very personal as there is a 'Things to Know' list and 'Influences' list therefore making fans feel closer to her and therefore more comfortable
• People can post comments on her wall giving her feedback or talk amongst each other about her therefore making it a more personal and interactive experience
• Lots of close up shots of Katy Perry to sell her to the audience

The Black Eyed Peas' Myspace

DYM HW FEEDBACK

Loren - the extended deadline for posting your marketing research has passed. You are missing your wikipedia case study research notes. Please post this work asap.
Mrs D.

Goodwin's Theory Applied To Miley Cyrus

I am analysing the Fly On The Wall video by Miley Cyrus applying Goodwin's theory.



1. The music belongs to the pop genre as Miley Cyrus is a huge pop sensation appealing to young teenagers everywhere. The video represents this genre by lots of beauty shots of the singer, lots of dance routines and jumping around, sparkly clothing, a cheesy storyline, singing the lyrics into the camera and directly addressing and flirting with the camera.
2. The song is about knowing all of her secrets and knowing about her personal life. The lyrics are amplified by the video as she is talking about a boyfriend through the lyrics, saying that he wishes he knew everything she did when she was not with him. However this is amplified by the use of paparazzi in her video instead of a boyfriend. The paparazzi are known to be intrusive and at the beginning of the video when her boyfriend turns into a photographer, it is saying that her boyfriends can also be intrusive and rather suffocating at times and never letting her get her own space. The lyrics 'Don't you wish that you could be a fly on the wall' are amplified by the use of a shot with paprazzi chasing her as she is trying to hide. It is showing that they want to follow her around finding out everything about her without her knowing, therefore being like a fly on the wall camera which records peoples every move without them taking notice of it. It is a way of spying on somebody without them knowing which is basically saying that her boyfriend does not trust her when she is not with him.
3. The visuals are always cut to the main beat, cutting two and from the narrative shots to the beauty shots of Miley singing to the camera. As the song is a pop video and the main focus is the singer, Miley, the instrumental section is not used to illustrate the use of the different instruments in the video, instead it is made to stand out by creating a dance routine by male dancers dressed as the paparazzi. It breaks up the video and makes the instrumental section of the song more relevant to the theme of the video. The music is a quick pace the whole way through therefore keeping the video at pretty much the same pace throughout which is fairly up beat and fast. The only sections where the music changes pace is at the beginning and the end where it is all relatively slow moving, shown by the introduction and ending of the video which is slow moving too in comparison to the other sections of the music video. Also the verses are slightly slower than the chorus which is shown by less cutting between shots and more shots of the beauty shots of Miley Cyrus rather than the fast moving narrative.
4. There are lots of CU's of Miley Cyrus herself, therefore the music label is using her to sell the single. As she is already a huge popstar with millions of fans they use her as their selling point because as soon as people see the song is by her then they will listen to it if they are her fan. Instead of emphasising her tween star image from Hannah Montana, they are trying to give off a more grown up impression of her by giving her sophisticated, fashionable, rock chick clothing and making the videoe revolve around her and her boyfriend showing she has male attention and is into guys. She is wearing lots of makeup and her hair is done nicely, showing she is a typical teenager and not keeping up with her squeaky clean image. The video is like other videos she has as there are lots of beauty shots of Miley Cyrus herself and they are trying to portray a more roc chick image rather than a squeaky clean popstar image that she had previously, showing that she is growing up. Motifs that keep reoccurring during her music videos are the use of boyfriends to drive the song.
5. There is a huge sense of being watched in this video, as it is about being watched. The theme of the video is the aspect of being watched when she does not want to be. They emphasize this by the use of cameras and when there are beauty shots of her we see flashes from cameras in the background, showing that there are people watching her. Also right at the very end of the video where we see the scene through a computer webcam gives the sense of people spying on her without her giving her permission. The costume is very grown up, and although not very revealing, is rather sexy. She flirts with the camera rather a lot by twirling her hair and pouting at it which emphasizes the underlying sexual nature of the video which is rather subtle due to her meant to be very innocent.
6. There are intertextual references to the use of paparazzi in the media and the use of various websites and magazines as a way of telling the world about celebrity gossip. It is showing people how the paparazzi get involved with the lives of celebrities when they really are not wanted and is showing it from the celebrities point of view rather than how the audience see it as pictures and videos in the paper and on the internet.
7. The music video is mainly performance and narrative based with cross cutting between the two. However there is the overall concept running through the video of being spied on by the use of camera flashes in the performance scene and paparazzi and cameras in the narrative scene.

Pitch Reflections

On Wednesday last week we did our pitch to the rest of the class during the school open day.
At first i was very nervous to do it as i hate getting up and presenting things, however the casual atmosphere made me relax and feel more comfortable.
Overall i think the pitch went very well. We came away with some positive and negative feedback which is on our group blog, but the majority of the video was loved by the audience.
Our group worked well together leading up to the pitch, trying to finalise everything and making it pitch standard. We all divided up the jobs which needed doing and therefore got the job done much quicker than we had expected.
I was put in charge of genre within the song and costume, therefore making me concetrate most of my energy on these parts. The others in my group were given different roles and when it all came together it seemed perfect.
I think our group are getting on well at the moment, and hopefully this is a signifier of good things to come :)

Group Meeting Number 3 Reflections

Today during our group meeting we had a look at all our individual treatments and came up with our final one which merged all of them together.

We then went onto the main blog and shared the questions out between us which need to be answered for our pitch tomorrow.

I was given the question about genre and genre signifiers to do which i was happy about as i feel fairly confident about this area of the song. As it has to be done by tomorrow i did not want anything too tricky to do as i would never be able to do it in time.

I think overall our group is working well together so far with people being honest with each other and us all getting along. Hopefully this will continue throughout the project, even through the stressful parts.

I am extremely nervous about our pitch tomorrow which we have to do in front of the class, teachers and visiting future parents and students. I do not like speaking in front of an audience but hopefully if i am being supported by my group it will not be too bad. I am looking forward to seeing what everybody else thinks about our idea and what feedback they have to give us, i just wish there was a less tormenting way of doing it!!!

FINAL SONG IDEA!!

We have finally chosen our track for our music video. As soon as we heard this song we knew it would be perfect as it contains both male and female vocals and is neither too hiphop or too indie. We have all decided to go away and come up with our own treatment for this song and then we will go through them all and come up with our final one tomorrow.

So here is my treatment for this song:

It is going to be a performance video but with a twist. Like 'Run DMC and Aerosmith - Walk This Way' it will be the two different genres competing for attention from the audience/camera. They will be dressed very stereotypical for their genre of music with the male wearing skinny jeans and having his band perform behind him, and the girl wearing lots of jewelry and makeup and looking very hip-hop.

At first there will be a wall separating the two different music genres, but as the music video progresses this barrier becomes smaller and smaller until they eventually swap roles. This is signifying how the gaps between music genres are shrinking and also there is less of a divide between males and females.

Throughout the video we will cut to shots of the lead male vocalist and the female vocalist dancing and singing separately with an effect like the ipod advert on it. It will be their own individual chance to shine focussing the audiences attention on the two main focal points of the song.

We will begin the video with a close up of the sticks hitting the symbols on the drum kit and then cutting to a CU of the girl turning the volume up on her CD player.

There will be a lot of sexual tension between the male lead and the female throughout the song and this is eventually what brings them together because they cannot resist each other. They are teasing each other throughout. They both morph into the other person in appearance in order to be accepted by them.

At the very end the two people will be performing on a stage together in a dark room, almost like a concert venue, with lots of people dancing around in front of them and partying. There will be a distinct difference in the people as the boys will be dressed indie, like the male lead and the girls will be dressed very hip hop like the female lead, however they are partying together which shows the two genres and sexes can come together seamlessly and there is no need for a divide.

The last shot will be of

Treatment for Song AGAIN!

We had another group meeting today and ruled out about another million songs. We cannot all seem to agree on one. Anyway i really like the idea of doing an Arctic Monkeys song as their music is so iconically indie and we could therefore play on the genre throughout our music video.

Here is the treatment for my favourite Arctic Monkey's song:

I think with this song we could really focus on the performance side of the indie band genre.

At the beginning we could have a shot of the band performing in a blank room with lots of black and white photos in the background. We could be constantly getting close ups of the band and then close ups of various photos.

Everytime we cut to the photos, they will then turn into a sequence and we will see the sequence being played out and it will resemble what is being said by the lyrics. It will be in POV of a guy going out at night. It will be him wandering the dark streets of London and eventually he will get to a seedy club which he goes in. In the club it will be dark with lots of provocatively dressed girls. We will follow him round the club with people looking at him etc. Right at the end we will see him get to where the band are performing in the club and he will take up the place of the singer there. The narrative will turn into performance. When we cut back from the narrative to the performance in the blank room the sequence will freeze and turn back into a black and white photograph.

We will constantly be cutting from the narrative to the performance, until right at the very end when the two coincide and we see that the man is actually the lead in the band.

The black and white images turning into a sequence will resemble 'Pink - U and Ur Hands' where shes reading the book and the pictures turn into the scenes.

The club will be a mixture between the club in 'Akon's - Smack that' video and 'Kylie's - Spinning Around' video.

Second Meeting Reflections

We had our second group meeting today and came to the conclusion that none of our songs would be good enough to do a music video too. Therefore we all decided to go away and come up with new ideas for tracks which we would pitch to each other tomorrow. I liked the idea of doing a cover song so here are a few of my track ideas:

I also liked the sound of some of these tracks which i came across while looking:

The 4 P's of Music Industry Marketing

a) What band/artist related products can audiences buy?

They can buy CD singles, albums, merchandise e.g. t-shirts, key rings,

b) Where can audiences buy/listen to music/merchandise/hardware?

Internet stores, the band website, myspace.com, music downloading sites, record stores, radios, television on specialized music channels, gigs and concerts, music festivals, adverts for the band

c) Give 2 or 3 examples of paid-for/subscription based and free products.

Examples of free products are free music downloads, free episodes to watch online, free tickets to a gig when you pre order a CD.

Examples of paid for/subscription products are CD'S or albums bought from music stores or online, music magazines which you can subscribe to, merchandise such as clothing.

d) List between 5 and 10 examples of creative music marketing strategies (including at least 3 internet based examples).

• Topman CTRL: FRUKT brought the band closer to the audiences by inviting audiences to take over Topman for a month, program their own gig, and blog on the CTRL page.
• Nokia International Rights: Used music, song titles and artists to advertise their phones as they had mp3 players on them. They were both TV adverts, magazine and poster adverts.
• CocaCola: Using a interative YouTube webisode to promote their drink Sprite. It is called 'The Green Eeyed World: Reality Remixed' about up and coming musicians. There will be 5 seasons of 4 episodes. Related adverts may appear on TV and so might some episodes. It will also be included on Sprite packaging encouraging people to watch the videos.
• National Homeless Advert: Raising awareness to homeless people by using Radiohead's track 'It can happen to anyone of us'.
• Gatrorade: They are marketing their drink with the famous rapper Lil Wayne to fit in with the new gangster image.
• TicTac: Taking a musical approach to their campaign giving away free downloads with Sony BMG, using viral marketing to help a 16 year old boy create a TicTac orchestra by having a website which contains free ringtone downloads, examples of different instruments and a TicTac Guitar Hero game.
• KangaRoos: Pairing up with the band The Dolly Rockers in order to promote their new single and the shoes. Involves a competition where fans have to come up with a dance routine to the new song and post it on their Bebo page. The winners will receive lots of Dolly Rocker goodies plus KangaRoo trainers.
• Samsung: Bebo and Samsung are teaming up to promote their new Beat phone over the internet in a online series. It will be interactive and allow the audience to interact through blogs, upload track reviews, share music news and win chances to appear in episodes. They will also be trying to find a co-presenter for the show and are also offering live performances from White Lies and The Maccabees to promote the series.

e) Who is frukt uk and what is their mission statement/company ethos?

They are a specialist music marketing agency. They develop and create ideas that use music as a way to market products. Their ideas are creatively bold and distinct and created with a collaboration of their team and other agencies. They deal with music alone and use both on and offline ways to market products.

Black Eyed Peas - Rock Your Body

After our group meeting, it was decided that the song with the most potential on my blog was Black Eyed Peas - Rock Your Body. Now in order for my song to be considered i am going to write a brief treatment for it in order to tell the rest of the group and promote my idea.

Here are the lyrics for the song to begin:

I wanna rock right now
I want I wanna rock right now
I want I wanna rock right now
Now, now, rock right now
I want I wanna rock right now
I want I wanna rock right now
I want I wanna rock right nooowww

I wanna da-
I wanna dance in the lights
I wanna ro-
I wanna rock yo body
I wanna go, I wanna go for a ride
Hop in the music & rock yo body right

Rock that body, come on come on rock that body(Rock your body)
Rock that body, come on come on rock-that-body
Rock that body, come on come on rock that body(Rock your body)
Rock that body, come on come on rock-that-body

Let me see ya body rock
Shakin from the bottom to the top
Freak to what the Dj drop
We be the one to make it hot (to make it hot)
Electric shock, energy like a billion whats
Space be boomin, the speakers pop
Gollat the comb, we miss the spot
We bumpin your parkin lot

When you comin up in the spot
Don’t bring nothing we call pink dot
Cus we burnin around the clock
Hit the lights and then turn them off
If you bring that don’t make you stop
Like the jungle we run the block
No one rollin the way we rock,
Way we rock

I wanna, I wanna rock right now
I wanna, I wanna rock right now
I wanna, I wanna rock right nooowww

I wanna da-
I wanna dance in the lights
I wanna ro-
I wanna rock yo body
I wanna go, I wanna go for a ride
Hop in the music & rock yo body right

Rock that body, come on come on rock that body(Rock your body)
Rock that body, come on come on rock-that-body
Rock that body, come on come on rock that body(Rock your body)
Rock that body, come on come on rock-that-body


Supa fly ladies,
All of my Supa fly ladies,
All of my Supa fly ladies,
All of my Supa fl-
Supa fly ladies

Yeah you could big ballin
long as you feel like your own
Yeah you could be the model type,
skinny wit no appetite
Short, stacked, black or white,
long as you do what you like
Body outta sight, body, body outta sight

She does the two step and the tongue drop
She does the cabbage patch and the bus stop
She like electro, she love hip-hop, she like the rege
She feel punk rock, she love samba and the mambo
She like to break dance and calypso

Get a lil crazy, get a lil stupid
Get a lil crazy, crazy, crazy

I wanna da-
I wanna dance in the lights
I wanna ro-
I wanna rock yo body
I wanna go, I wanna go for a ride
Hop in the music & rock yo body right
rock yo body right
rock yo body right

Come on, yeah

Rock that body, come on,come on rock that body
Come on
Rock that body, come on,come on rock-that-body
Go Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh,
Now Go Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh
Now Go Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh
Now Go Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh

I want I wanna rock right now
I want I wanna rock-
I want I wanna rock-
Now Go Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh
I want I wanna rock-
I want I wanna rock-

Now Go Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh

I wanna rock right now
I wanna, I wanna rock right now
I wanna, I wanna rock right now
Now, now, rock right now

Now Go Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh

I wanna, I wanna rock right now
I wanna, I wanna rock right now
I wanna, I wanna rock right nooowww

First Group Meeting Reflection

We had our first group meeting today in the media block at 12:30pm.

The aim of our meeting was to narrow down our song choices in order to make the selection process a lot easier. We listened to the track ideas listed on everybody's blog and decided to pick one song from each blog that we would put on our shortlist. The songs we shortlisted were:

I Want It That Way - Dynamite Boy (Jack)

Sunny Days - Kid British (Shaun)

Rock Your Body - Black Eyed Peas (Me)

Out of the three songs listed above our favourite was Jack's song idea as we felt the fact that it was a cover track could make a good base for a video and also the band is unknown therefore we would have no image of previous videos influencing our music video.

We set everybody in our group the task of writing a treatment for their best song choice to post on the blog and pitch to the rest of the group. After this we will finalise our song choice...how exciting :)

Lady Gaga Case Study

1. Summarise the changing image of the band/artist as it has developed over time. It might also be useful to summarise the music genre also.

• Mainly influenced by glam rockers such as David Bowie and Quenn, pop artists such as Madonna and Michael , artist Andy Warhol, poet Rainer Maria Rilke and fashion icon Grace Jones.
• Her music structure is very similar to 1980's pop and 1990's Europop.
• Music that is a mixture of both dance and rock.
• Said to be extremely into fashion and inspired by her mother.
• She has her own creative team called Haus of Gaga who put together all her costumes, stage props and hair dos.
• Said to have drawn inspiration from Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani and Madonna.
• Considers her muse as Donatella Versace.
• She is seen as the rising gay icon and a lot of her success is down to the gay community.
• Markets herself a lot to the gay community as some of her first performances were to the gay community. One of her early performances was singing 'Just Dance' at the San Francisco Pride event and a later on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, two hugely rated events by the gay community therefore setting herself up as a gay icon.
• Early in her career she decided to focus on pop music to differenciate herself from the underground rockers of New York and took part in burlesque shows where a lot of her fashion inspiration still comes from.
• Was nicknamed 'Lady Gaga' early in her career after the Queen song 'Radio Ga Ga' due to her vocal style similar to Freddie Mercury and is still compared to Queen now.
• Begun performing with fellow burlesque dancer Lady Starlight and their show was known as 'The Ultimate Pop Burlesque Rockshow'. People still say her music has a rock n roll edge and compare her style to burlesque dancers showing she has not changed for the public very much.
• Used her history to help to market her nowadays and make her stand out from the crowd.
• Was dropped from her original record label Def Jam Records but maintained her trashy image in order to come up with her own record label.
• Her label Haus of Gaga supports up and coming people in the industry by getting them noticed through her fame.

2. Who are the fans? Do you have any sense of how the music companies have segmented the audiences? To what extent has the branding of a band been linked to target audience?

• The gay community are make up the majority of Lady Gaga's fans.
• Performed two of her debut concerts to target the gay community specifically, one at San Francisco Pride event and one on The Ellen DeGeneres crowd.
• Outrageous clothing, makeup and hair which appeals to the gay community.
• Her lyrics have underlying bisexual meaning which the marketing companies draw on in the videos and therefore appeals to the gay community.
• Her revealing and provocative clothing appeal to the male audience.
• The dancing and pop theme throughout her songs appeal to the younger generation.
• The influences from older bands appeal to the older generation.
• The use of male models in her videos appeals to both the female audience and gay audience.
• She markets herself in a feminist way which appeals to women.

3. What marketing strategies can you identify? What kinds of stategies can you list?(above/below-the line? unexpected promo stunts? etc). List any examples of the use of synergy with other industries to promote other media/products in connection with a band/artist.

Lady Gaga has achieved her prestige through a variety of different marketing strategies. She has her own official website, the look of the website is very trendy and bold - mirroring her personality. An image of the official website is shown below. Here is the link http://www.ladygaga.com/events. She also as her own myspace page www.myspace.com/ladygaga which automatically starts playing music as soon as you log onto her page. This promotes her music straight away and allows her fans to become aware of her latest tracks which they may or may not be aware of yet. Furthermore she has her official fan club on http://www.facebook.com/ where she currently has 105,527 fans. Furthermore she works in synergy with 'Heartbeats' to promote 'high resolution in-ear headphones' -http://www.ladygaga.com/