Alicia Keys - Like You'll Never See Me Again

I decided to look at some videos by other Neo-Soul artists and gain inspiration from their videos, to help me when I shoot my video with AbbieSinger. This video is not the official video by Alicia Keys as the official video's embedding code was removed upon request.

I produced a Moodboard to give me more of an insight into the genre 'Neo-Soul' and what existing artists there are already.

Planning of chosen unsigned artist

My unsigned artist is Abbie Hameed, known as "AbbieSinger" who has a keen interest in making music about her life, past events and things that are important to her. She considers herself to go under the musical genre of 'Neo-Soul'. Abbie attends the same 6th Form as me and has always taken part in talent shows by performing. Her music is widely appreciated by people in my sixth form and around Newham and Redbridge. Abbie chooses to make music as a hobbie and something she wants to further pursue later in life as a career. I chose to market Abbie because she is a very versatile and co-operative artist and is easy to work with as i see her often. Another unsigned artist that my group mentioned was a male Grime artist. I thought it would be interesting to market him because he does a lot of free-styling which is quite relative to real life. However his pre-set attitude and style was typical of a mainstream Grime artist and it may have been hard to market him differently to everyone else, as he has similar values to existing Grime artists already. Taking all of this into account, our group decided to market AbbieSinger because she was easier to access and work with, and had more of an idea of where she wants to be which is important when working with unsigned artists.

Follow this link for more information on Getting started in the music industry:
http://zaramedia11.blogspot.com/2011/01/getting-started-in-music-industry-and.html

Roles in the Music industry

There are many roles within the music industry who are all involved with marketing the artist.
- Manager – Responsible for planning tours, leasing with record company, promotional activities, photo sessions. Confidence is needed and important to think about the bigger picture and think creative. Everything you think of has to be relevant in the future, not something that will only last a year or 2.
- A&R (Artists and Repertoire) - Finding bands and seeing a lot of gigs. Pair them with producers to make big records and singles and campaigns. Ideas about videos and how the artist wants to be perceived is important
- Producer – Works with an act to get their songs onto record. They will help an act choose the right tracks and capture the right sounds for a record.
- Engineer – Sound engineer – Helps build sound picture, make your ideas come to reality. Often have a good idea of how to get the best sound for you but if an artist knows what sound they want to produce they need to describe it very carefully so the engineer can produce that for them properly.
- Promoter – Pays for everything – venue, security, band, catering, posters, leaflets. Projecting/advertising the event, pays for venue, security, advertising, paying bands, catering, researching new artists. Marketing team who market everything that happens and deliver shows.
- Booking Agent - Finds, sources and books shows. Looks after and progresses with an artist, negotiates deals with acts and venues. UK artists should start in the UK, but it is important to try working yourself up into different countries to gain more publicity. Booking agents deal with the length of shows, positioning, when to perform, issue contracts, work permits are sorted for over-seas artists who want to start making music in another country e.g: UK to Japan
- Tour Manager - Makes sure the artist gets to the right venue at the right time to perform a gig, a tour manager will handle all the personnel issues during a tour. These can include everything from handling the press during the tour, checking if they band are healthy enough to perform and making sure budgets are in check.
- Plugger – Increases your chances of getting played, the producers and DJs personally know these people and take their opinions on. Keeps producers and DJ’s in the know of the plot for what a bands activities are outside the record. – what they’re touring, capabilities they have, festivals, what press they may have in order to create a buzz on an act.
- Publisher – Allows work to be created, selected and delivered at high quality for the public. -
Creatives: find talent and exploit that talent, work with other artists to pitch songs. ALSO:
Sync team: pitch to tv, media and try to get music placed there.
Administration – protects artists rights and that they get paid for performances, record sales, synchronizations. Very important inter-related functions of a publisher
- Agent – Everything is sorted for the artist - Fee, travel, and hotel. Gigs are very time consuming so you need an agent to be sorting out everything for you when you get onto a certain level. If you get an agent too early, you can risk scaring promoters off because they feel like the artist has someone there to help them already. You need people to be talking about you already and building up word of mouth in order to be successful in finding an agent. Sending out MySpace link and being pro-active and being enthusiastic will encourage an agent to want to work with you.

Looking at all these roles has helped to realise how much work is put into marketing an artist and making sure they are successful. The only way an artist to be successful and make it far is by having all these people playing these roles and on-hand for you to make you the most appealing artist to the audience as you can be.

CCCS Theories about Youth culture

CCCS - Centre for Contemporary Cultural Srudies aka The Birmingham School
This Centre focused on particular areas of research into popular cultures such as urban subcultures and ethnic and sexual identity. CCCS aimed to study cultural institutions and their interaction with society and social change. Investigation into gender roles, ethnicity, criminal and other subcultures and how they all link into society was vital.
David Reisman defined 'Mainstream' as audiences who passively accept the styles and beliefs provided by commercials. By conforming to something mainstream, you will come across similar to everyone else.
A 'Sub-Culture' is a minority group formed from a wider, more general 'parent' culture. E.G: Soul -> Neo-Soul. Subcultures upset the mainstream beacause they confront it with difference which may be an opposite set of values to the traditional ones that everyone else would follow. There are two types of going against the mainstream. Through Crime and Through Style. The difference is that people who feel alienated result to crime in order to resist against the mainsream, they think they are causing trouble and making things worse for institutions but infact, they are making more money for the people they're rebelling against. When rebelling through style, people do it by upsetting the social norm but not intend to trouble it by causing crime and destroying society. Punks for example, created their own identy in order to stay diffferent from the invading Asian race and Caribbeans.
Sub-Cultures arent that different from their 'parent' culture because most subcultures react against or continue some of the values or styles of the parent culture.

Dick Hebdige was the first to look at how subcultures are assimilated into the mainstream. He stated that subcultures only emerge because they replace a culture that has been absorbed into the mainstream already because being different from everyone else is what matters.

The Meaning Of STYLE

So subcultures exists becase it is a way for young people from a lower to middle class background, who feel they have no access to the mainstream society, to react to the mainstream in whatever way they feel necessary. The white working class youth created the subculture of 'Punks' because they felt at the time they looked similar to others of a working class community which and felt this came through the rise of the unemployment. As stated above, some reject the values of the mainstream through crime, and some audiences use dress to either reinforce their class origins or exaggerate the fact that they aren't bound by a lower class root regardless of their past. This is the rebellion of the mainstream through style. Subcultures however need the mainstream to react to in order to rebel. But Counter-Cultures aim to make a revolution by completely opposing social mainstream and not adopting any of the traditional values or beliefs, these are all rejected.

PUNK subculture

Chosen Unsigned Artist Preparation

Lyrics - AbbieSinger - Abbie Sing

Video Ideas and To-Do list in regard to my unsigned artist - AbbieSinger

First draft of CD COVER

I conducted a brainstorm of all the ideas I have for my unsigned artist 'Abbie'. It mapped out all the things I need to do and how it can be done. For example, ideas on her image, her genre of music and how the album cover can reflect this, her ideal brand name, music video ideas etc. This is just the start of my project and the aim is to negotiate with my artist on the best way to market her.
I listened to some of Abbie's tracks with my group and we decided on the song that we would make a music video for. Part of the lyrics are located on the right.

I also drafted a quick CD cover with ideas for Abbie's album. After looking into Abbie as an artist, she is based around the genre of 'Neo-Soul' which is a fusion of contemporary R&B and Soul with incorporated elements of Jazz, Funk, Pop, African music etc and came around in the late 1990's. I wanted to portray quite a relaxed and peaceful environment hence the sun, sea and sand which colours I could emphasise by making them bolder and brighter and more saturated in order to make it stand out from other album covers.
The white rectangle is where I will place an image of Abbie, my unsigned artist.
The Guitar is a main instrument Abbie uses within her music so I felt this should have significance in the cover. I chose to make it cover the sunset because not all of Abbie's songs are positive and calm, some of them are quite informative and attack people's stereotypical perceptions of a particular type of person. Rene Magritte is a surrealist artist who became well known for his witty and thought-provoking imahges. He has inspired the idea of guitar floating in the air (infront of the sun) creating quite a surreal atmosphere and still making the guitar have significant value by having the audience questioning what it must mean. The draft cover gives the audience a window into Abbie's life as this is what she enjoys singing about, and aims her music at people who enjoy and appreciate the not so obvious meaning behind her songs.

Audience Feedback
I carried out audience research on what people think of my CD cover, how it can be improved, anything they don'tunerstand about it and essentially whether or not they would buy it.
I found that audiences usually go for albums that stand out, something which isn't dull otherwise they assume that the music will be dull also. Audiences enjoy covers with bright colours that go together and seeing the artists face clearly is important and more preferred than seeing the whole body of the artist.
Some of the people who took part in my audience research said that if they genuinly listen to the music and like it, then the cover is not so important, but obviously in most cases, it is the front cover of an album which is what draws someone into buying the album itself. The audience seemed to like albums such as 'Rihanna - Loud' because of the colour scheme which is quite toned down and calm apart from the red which is loud itself and stands out. Also, the font and title of an album cover is important too and shouldnt be so small as this is one of the main features of the album.
All this feedback has been very helpful because I know specifically what the audience expect and like a CD cover to look like so that it would appeal to them and there would be a bigger likelihood of them buying the CD.
The aspects stated about the colour scheme of an album and the importance of seeing the artists face clearly has influenced me on maybe changing the colour scheme of my album cover and toning it down. Also making sure the Abbie is the main subject of the cover and she is what you look at first instead of other aspects of the album cover. The name of the album "AbbieSinger" needs to be very visual and eye catching to the audience too.
After gathering feedback from Abbie herself, she said my ideas for her album cover were very creative and she liked how everything linked into eachother somehow symbolising aspects of her life. The only improvement Abbie advised was to make the title of her album to be more obvious so that the title and the image of herself is the first thing the audience look at when they see the album cover.

Subculture Research

We all did presentations on different subcultures to gain an insight into their typical visual image and their values and beliefs. From this I could adopt particular styles and beliefs from existing subcultures and adapt them to my unsigned artist for my project depending on how the styles relate to my artist.


- Ravers
- Rudeboyz
- Bling Hip-Hoppers
- Goths
- Mods

Bling Hip-Hoppers

Mods

This is the my plan of research for different music genres, where the music comes from and other debatable topics within the music industry.
It helped me to understand what information I know already, what I need to find out and how I will find it out.

I briefly analysed a number of CD covers in order to see the range of covers on the market and how a specific genre is reflected.

What makes an affective album cover?
In order for an audience to be enticed into buying a CD/Album, there are many small things that could make the biggest difference to a cover. Minimal things such as the font of the text, colour scheme and imagery can convey the most complex messages but also the most simplest messages depending on how you interpret it.
Audiences usually enjoy album covers that can be interpreted in many ways due to intriguing imagery. If an album cover is shocking, more people will remember it and talk about it. People also enjoy a cover that they can identify with or that educates/informs them about different cultures or genres etc, this relates to the uses and gratifications theory and how people use the media.

Album Analysis
'Nas - Stillmatic'
The text on Nas' CD cover reads 'StillMatic' in graffiti style writing. The font itself shows that Nas may have come from a slightly 'Ghetto' background and the 'still' part emphasises that Nas is still that person and regardless of his routes, he has still made it as a rap artist. His appearance in the orange valore tracksuit symbolises that he can fit into fashion and what was popular in that time, the fact that it is valore also suggests he is wealthy and proud of it. This is further emphasised by his heavy jewellery which is on show, clear for us to see. One of the values that Nas lives up to is that your physical appearance is important in the music industry, also you need to show off and have a lot of jewellery to look good.
The Pigeon sitting on the wall next to Nas can be interpreted in different ways. I saw it as a way of Nas using it because it could have connotations of being high/flying high - (status-wise).
Nas is posing in a way which is typical to all rapstars which suggests that he is trying to conform to typical standards and stereotypes of rap artists and therefore reinforcing their image within that genre.

Analysis 2
JLo - 'J to tha Lo' - The Remixes
This album cover is mainly of Jennifer Lopez and photos of her in a collage style. The use of many different colours (bright) shows her personality portraying her as a fun person who is into having fun. Also, the colours reflect her genre of music as we can see her in clubs, dancing, showing off which is reflective of an RnB/Pop genre.
Jennifer's name is written on the front of the cover reading 'J-Lo' which for one, is a catchy nickname so she has been branded which reinforces her identity as a musician and the unique selling point of having a different name so more people are likely to remember it.
The collage of just herself from music videos allows us as the audience to be reminded of past good tracks from our favourite artists. This relates to the Uses and Gratifications theory where people are informed on what kind of people JLo is and can possibly identify with her providing we are a young, fun, enjoy singing and partying and generally having fun.
Her poses and facial expressions are quite seductive suggesting that this is what the audience expected of her and she reinforces the stereotype of latino's being 'Sexy'.
The values and beliefs that Jennifer portrays is that you have to be seductive in order to gain good reception from the audience (of both male and female gender) and you have to look good in order to be successful in the music industry.
She believes that life should be about having fun and experiencing many different things and doing what you love - in her case, music.
Jennifer Lopez believes, by referring to a quote - "If you've got it, flaunt it". She shows her body quite a lot on the cover and in videos through the clothing that she wears. She flaunts her body simply because she can. It is desirable to men specifically so that the target market is made wider for more popularity, but from a male's perspective, this is and example of Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' where the male audience gain pleasure from observing a female in this way. JLo's image could also be appealing to a female audience because girls may look up to her as she is an attractive person and is successful, so they choose to 'narcissistically identify' with her.

Visual image in music

I carried out marketing research on a famous artist called Trey Songz, and looked at how he is presented, his genre of music, his image and the values and beliefs he represents.

Trey Songz - Jupiter Love; Trey Songz - Already Taken

Trey Songz is RnB/Hip - Hop artists whose tracks is usually slow and relate to love, pain and success, hence his album ‘Passion, Pain and Pleasure. The picture presented where Trey Songz is shirtless, sexualises him which reinforces his reputation of being an RnB artist. Also his pose is quite calm, and he is holding himself which could have connotations of holding a loved one which relates to the type of songs he makes.  The image had been constructed in this way because it is suitable to the genre of music he makes.

An artist who he is similar to is Tyrese Gibson. In the images, they both have a similar pose, both shirtless, and Tyrese often sings about Relationships, love and other intimate topics too. Because these artists are so similar, it may put audiences off one of the artists where they only like Tyrese, or they on like Trey. This relates to the uses and gratification theory where audiences will choose the media and music that meet their needs and music that targets them specifically that they can relate to. This will help with my project because it has made me realise that I will need to make sure I market my artist as uniquely as possible and make sure he/she/they are not similar to any other existing artist already otherwise audiences may not be interested in their music.

Tyrese – One; Tyrese – Signs of love making

Values and beliefs Trey Songz represents:

-          Having a toned, muscly body is important in a male

-          Tattoos (chest) are a his way of expressing his love for his family – “To God I pray may April’s showers rain down on her Forrest and Grow the strength that started with one Rose”
April is his mother's name, Forrest is his little brother's name and Rose is his grandma's name

-          Importance of relationships and how he loves his girlfriend through his music

Visual image is important in the pop industry because the media has made it this way. They establish a way of telling a male or female how to look and making it obvious that this is the way they SHOULD look. By constructing this appearance, people become more self-conscious about themselves and try and follow this trend. For example in x-factor, artists tend to have their own fashion style throughout the show, but winners such as Leona Lewis, her image has been modified over the years and become more daring in some of her music videos such as ‘Bleeding love’. When marketing my artist, I need to ensure their image isn’t out-dated and also doesn’t blend in with anyone else’s image otherwise my artist won’t get noticed.

How important in Visual Image in the Music Industry?

Visual image in music:

In order for an artist to be successful, they need to have a lasting significance, meaning the records that they release must be consistently good. Someone who releases one good track and you don’t hear from them again is an example of not such a successful artist. From reading an article explaining the ‘Star Theory’, it stated that stars are a perfected/modified image. They aren’t real, simply constructed from a range of materials; this could be advertising, magazines, films etc. TV Shows such as Pop stars clearly shows the construction of a young aspiring artist. The artist would start off as an ordinary teenager, but the further they get in the competition; they become more groomed, styled and coached in order to fulfil a set of record company expectations. As audiences and public ourselves, we like to believe in and relate to artists who are their own, and our constructions instead of something simple and the same as everything else which we have seen too many times which is what a record company is likely to turn you into.

Stars are manufactured by the music industry to serve a purpose, this purpose is to make money out of audiences and is done by making sure the persona of the star appeals to them so that they buy records and become fans.

We know that visual image is modified by record companies because in X-Factor or Pop Idol, the producers and marketers tend to manufacture the artist into what the audiences want, and essentially ‘photocopying’ the style of another artist. E.G: Boy bands/teen bands that appear on these shows tend to look and act the same as boy bands in the music industry already.

What is seen as 'acceptable' in a society changes over time and people often want to see something different rather than copies/clones of the same artist. A change in image helps to keep the audience interested which is key within the music industry. It is important to stay relevant to young audiences otherwise they won't be interested in what music you make if it doesn't relate to them. It could be argued that stars provide audiences with a focus for ideas of what people are supposed to be/look like and it is up to the audience whether they want to create a homogenous culture and conform to these values, E.G: Being thin and beautiful if you are a woman.

An example of a huge start whose image has been shaped by their manager is Kylie Minogue. She started off as quite an innocent 'model next door' girl in her initial videos. As time went on she took on more of a 'sexy' image as society's expectations of what a pop artist should look like, changed. This new appearance made Kylie Minogue feel more comfortable with herself and she grew in confidence. He music also reflected her growing up and becoming more independent and sophisticated, for example in the video 'Chocolate' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_EmAwSVeOE). It could be argued that Kylie was embracing her sexuality and become sexy because she wanted to, or is it really because she had an aim to stay current because of her age which puts her at a slight disadvantage within the music industry. Audiences usually like music from artists who are viable and can change with the time just as long as you don't look the same as all the other artists.

In Kylie's video 'Can't get you out of head', (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfr9bhSmfXc) we see Kylie in control of the car and mechanisms which conflicts with the expected role of a female in a car which would be to be sitting in the passenger seat.

Audiences become fans of artists because of particular values and beliefs that the artist portrays in their music. Other reasons why audienced become fans is because they have aspirations to be like that artist, so start to dress and act like that person. This also gives us a sense of personal attachment to that artist. This relates to the uses and gratifications theory where audiences identify with the artists.

The changing image of Kylie Minogue:
From young and innocent, to mature, grown, and 'sexy'.

Why do audiences listen to music? / What do audiences like? / The importance of visual image to them?

Audiences have many reasons for listening to music. I found that this is because it is a way for people to relate to the lyrics/messages of the song. They almost feel like the artist is singing for them because the messages sent may be exactly what the listener was thinking. Audiences also listen to music as a form of entertainment and escapism. It helps them to forget about stressors and just relax for a while. Another reason why music is largely listened to is because some people follow their friends from a hype that is generated amongst a group of people who you may associate yourself with and this would incline you to want to listen to the artist too.
Audiences like music which they feel targets them and they can understand as they may be in the same situation or strive for the same things in life. The people who took part in my survey stated that they feel visual image is what makes a person who they are because when we see a new artist, the first thing we see and comment on is the way they look, so it is important to keep up with the mainstream and what is popular in order to have a lasting significance.