Sunday 30 September 2012

Crisis in the Music Industry

In today’s lesson as a class we read through a article about the current situation of the music industry. Whilst we were reading through we highlighted important things about the current situation. From this we can see any changes that may need to occur or things that need to be stopped. For example downloading free music is one of the major factors that affect the music industry as they produce no income from illegal downloads. These are the important parts that I highlighted:

· The music industry is changing rapidly
· Consequences are the development digital media formats which can be reproduced and distributed by anyone effectively cost free.
· The losers are the musicians and corporations
· De-commodification of music - No longer worth anything
· In the 19th century music could be bought and sold for profit.
· Commodity of the music becomes effectively free
· Try to sell musical commodities at a relative profit.

The Iconography Of The Album Cover

Due to the advance in technology it has meant that music software such as ITunes has contributed to album artwork being a thing of the past. From this line the article is making it clear that more people are downloading their music rather than going to the shop and buying the CD. It shows that album art work physical presence is fading and that they are becoming digital. This means that when it comes to making a cover for DJ BooSH I will have to come up with new and interesting ways to intrigue people to purchase it.

Part packaging and part advertisement, the album cover provides an insight into the artists worldviews, leading to the success of collaboration between the creative minds, the best album cover art illustrates and accompanies the music in a way that creates a whole package. Certain album artwork has become a recognisable object in their own right and has lead to inspire other work shown in the media. From this paragraph I have an understanding that when it comes to making my album cover I have to use visuals that will help the audience gaining an understanding of the type of person the artist is and the genre of music that they fall into. When it comes to making my album cover I will use visuals that show the audience the genre of music does, it could mean that I could u bright colours or even gain inspiration from artists in the same genre of music.

Julian house a album cover designer said in Relation to the music industry work we do a pitch but only if we feel that the client has come to us because they like what we do, rather than being part of a bigger competitive pitch process. If I was to choose a company to produce the album cover for BooSH I would choose them based on me liking the work they have previously done rather than the reputation or money they have. If I was to look at the work that Julian House Company has made and I liked it I would consider using them because they would be an ideal match.

How much input does the designer have?
There may be a brief from the record company that covers the basics, like whether the artist need to be on the cover, who the demographic, ect. But we take most of our directions are from the artists. More often than not this involves sitting down and talking with them about the ideas behind the album, anything they’ve seen that they like. Then well go off and do several sets of visuals and present them, then hone it down from there.  This shows that album cover designer are mostly under instructions from the artists, it shows that the artists inform them what visuals they want to see on the cover. The designers will make a few drafts and the artist can choose which one they prefer. If I was to do this for BooSH there would be few important things that I could insert, I would use bright colours to symbolise the genre of music that DJ BooSH falls into. I would also insert 4 people who’s identity is unknown, this is because we believe that DJ BooSH shouldn’t be shown in the video therefore we not going to show his identity on the cover. I would give the designer some freedom into what they think should be included on the cover, this would be shown in some of the drafts that they would make.

Who made it , why, how, for whom and for what purpose?
It’s important to think about not just who made the media text and why, but who the audiences is and how they respond to it. Before making my album cover I have to consider the target audience and the people that are going to purchase and listen to DJ BooSH, with this taken into consideration I then can aim the cover at my chosen target audience. As DJ BooSH fits into club music genre it will mean that the visuals that I use will be linked to clubbers, this is so the target audience can empathise and relate to the music that DJ BooSH produces. Target audience is a major part, if it isn’t chosen correctly it could mean that the correct people wont listen to the music and the song wont be successful.

Associations and connotations
It is important to consider the difference between denotations and connotation. Denotation is simply identifying the elements within a image and connotation which means identifying the meanings that the images can portray. When it comes to making my cover I will try and use both denotations and connotation to provide the audience with ideas of what certain images can show and mean.

Tuesday 25 September 2012

Adorno and Horkheimer Theory

Leona Lewis
An artist that fits into Adorno and Horkheimer theory is Leona Lewis. Leona came to fame on the TV Show X Factor and since she won the show in 2006 she has had three number one songs. Leona Lewis fits into the theory because she can be typed as a typical TV Show winner. Leona Lewis can fit into this type because most X Factor winners obtain the Christmas Number one. When She first auditioned she was an ordinary women who dressed how she want, this can be seen from her first audition she was dressed well but she didn’t have much makeup on. If you look at her now it looks like her image has been branded by other people who want her to look like a superstar. Now she wears make, has her hair straight and wear expensive brand clothes.  The theory states that shows like X Factor produce stars that are all similar and that many of them aren’t unique.















Lady Gaga
I believe that an artist that doesn’t fit into the theory is Lady Gaga. I believe that she doesn’t fit into the typical women singer; I think this because she has her own style and doesn’t follow other people. Lady Gaga is known for her unique dress sense, one of her most famous dresses is the one made out of meat. Even though she is a well know artist she differs from the typical women artist such as Leona Lewis and Alicia Keys. This is because she doesn’t fit into the typical category she took inspiration from David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Queen. With this she mix them together to make her own image which separates herself from the others.


Westlife




I believe that Westlife are a typical boy band within the music industry, I believe this because of their style and the type of music they sing about. Their song Uptown girl , relates to a girl who lives in a posh family it is a typical song as they talk about love and girls. Another example of a band that does this is JLS who also can be seen as typical. Band like Westlife within the music industry tend to be similar, they start to produce products that can make a bigger name for themselves, and this is because the industry wants to make as much money as they can through the band. The Adorno and Horkheimer theory states that the artist go through the same process, this could be that they make their first single they want to make a name for themselves. Even though this is the case Westlife have become one of the most successful boy bands, the audience have became adjusted with how typical a band is that they don’t have high expectations.











Planning and Research

A record label is a company that is associated with the production, distribution and advertisement of a music video and artist. There are two main categories that a record label can be split into major or independent. A major record label is a label which has huge financial backing, with this money it means that they can obtain big named artists and make more music videos. Whereas an independent record label doesn't receive financial backing from outside organisations. This is why independent companies don't become as successful because they cant produce as much money as the bigger labels. A big advantage of signing for a major record label is that more money can be made, in addition the fact that majors have more funding means that they can help get CD's into shops all over the world.

Sony Music Entertainement


Sony are one of the most recent Music companies , they were founded in 2004. They have a wide range of local artists and superstared artists. It was once owned by Sony Coporation of America.


Subsidary Companies
  • Columbia Records
  • Sony Music Nashville
  • Columbia Records UK
  • Syco Music
  • JG3 Records



Universal Music Group



Universal Music Group was started in 1995 by Doug Morris and Daniel Glass, it is currently the largest
music company representing 80% of the market.

Sunsidary Companies

  • F2 Records
  • XL Recordings
  • Top Dawg Entertainment
  • Tennman Records
  • will.i.am Music Group


Warner Music Group










Warner Music Group was started in 1958 as part of the film studio Warner Bro. They are the  first media company to form a cooporation with Youtube.

Subsidary Companies

  • Rap-A-Lot Records
  • Smoke-A-Lot Records
  • Maverick
  • No Limit Forever Records
  • Maybach Music Group

EMI


EMI were founded i 1931 and are the oldest comapny within the major 4. They are owned by universal Music Group and Sony /ATV Music publishing.

Subsidary Companies



  • Priority Records
  • Get Money Gang Entertainment
  • Ice H20 Records
  • Pinegrove Records
  • Capitol Latin  

  • Independent Record Labels

    An example of an independent record label is Loose Music, they are a British independent record label  who are based in London. They were formed in 1998 by a record label named Vinyl Junkie. Since they formed in 1998 they have relesed music with artist such asThe Handsome Family, Townes Van Zandt and Grand Drive. They currently deal with music in the current Genres: americana,country,folk,alt-country and alternative

    Loose Music logo.png






    As a group we have decide to make Sony Music Entertainment our record labels, Sony is a subsidiary company this is a major advantage because they will have the financial backing and it will provide support when it comes to advertising the artist BooSH. The original company American Record Corporation was founded in 1929 which means they have a lot of experience working with artists like BooSH. Sony Music Entertainment have artist signed from many different genre of music, this could be a major advantage for BooSH. It would be an advantage as the experience that the record label has can be used towards BooSH and any mistakes made with other artists can help the label learn from them. Calvin Harris is currently signed with Sony Music Entertainment , he is artist that is similar to BooSH so by signing with Sony it means that we can follow the same path and methods used by Calvin Harris to establish himself.

    Friday 21 September 2012

    X Factor Lesson


    In today’s lesson the class were split into four different groups, the four groups represented the four different X Factor judges. The four X factor judges were Gary Barlow, Louis Walsh, Tulisa and Kelly Rowland, as them we had to answer 3 questions about the show they are What we want from this year? What group do we want? One word to sum up X Factor? Whilst doing this we had to answer it as our given judge. After we done that in our groups we had to watch different performances from contestants and we had to do three things in relation to their performances they were What’s our opinion on the audition? Feedback we would give them and Industry perspective, something we wouldn’t say on camera. One of the auditions was Janet Devlin we said she done Ireland Proud, Good voice and improve confidence. Another performance that we looked at was Frankie Cocozza we thought he was very confident maybe over confident, we though he needs to work on his vocals and that he should give up singing. In this lesson by looking at the different acts it shows how fame transforms individuals, an example of this is Janet Devlin when she started the show she was shy, unconfident and pure. Later on in the show she became sexualised, this is to appeal more to a male audience. If you look at the two pictures the change in image is obvious her hair colour has changed, she wears more make up and her skirt is short which links to her being sexualised.

    Artist Brief

















































    This is the brief that we have chosen as a group to follow, we wont follow it exactly but we have decided to use this as a guideline. The brief informs us about a artist in this case it is a Jack Mitchell who is a DJ, the brief tells us background information about the individual. Once we decided that we wanted this particular brief in our group we discussed different ideas that would could use. Firstly we had to decide the song that we were going to use, there were many that we came up with these include centipede by knife party, right here right now by fatboy slim and many more. As a group we came to a conclusion to use the song one more time by Darft punk. Once we decided the name we all agreed that we wanted to change the name 'Magma'. We all believed that this wasn't a good name for a DJ, so we decided to change the name too Boosh.


    Michael Jackson Case Study


    This is the case study that I personally work on by myself, I had to choose an iconic artist who's image has changed overtime. I decided to choose Michael Jackson, I have chose him because I think he is a person who has had a major impact on the music industry. I created the case study using powerpoint, in the presentation I looked into how Michael Jackson broke into the business. In addition I also looked into events that changed peoples perception of him.

    Music Video Director

    Jonas Akerlund Case Study

    When I'm Gone Analysis

    Eminem - When I'm Gone





    • The artist appears in the video he is at a counselling session, this can indicate a drink/ drug addiction links to the genre of the music rap.
    • Rapper is wearing baggy tracksuit bottoms, baseball cap, hoody this can be seen as typical for the genre. The rapper has tattoos on his arm, tattoos tend to link to prison where criminals and gangsters are associated with.
    • Fact that the rapper has a problem and wants to become a better person tend to link to the genre as they want a better life for themselves.
    • Rapper writing lyrics how people start to make something of themselves.
    • Music matches lyrics and visuals.
    • Reconstructed live performance.
    • Red shown throughout this symbolises love for his child which is his daughter.
    • Gun is a typical gangster tool / icon.

    Paradise Analysis

    Coldplay - Paradise





    ·         Band seen to be playing at gig this can be seen to be a typical because they are known to be a rock band, this is one of Goodwin’s codes and conventions.

    ·         In the video there were a few intertexual references one that I spotted was a link to the lion king, this is when a red background can be seen symbolising sun set and a tree sits in the middle of the picture.

    ·         Lyrics are shown on cardboard as they are sung this is another code and convent that music links with visuals.

    ·         Typography like it’s from a film.

    ·         Links like real life and fantasy.

    99 Problems Analysis

    Jay-Z - 99 Problems



    · The genre of the music is hip hop, the video shows typical 'Thug Life' – Graffiti, Police, and Criminality. Styling of characters- Chains, baseball cap, big jacket, baggy jeans.
    · Derogatory treatment of women – ‘Bitch’, dog then women shot, women in bikini. Setting- Brooklyn- Run down, Basketball courts.
    · Record shop  the shots are repeated throughout – symbolises old school keeping it real- Musical integrity
    · Black and white – Ghetto style – reference to old New York films. Opposing usual romantic, connotations make everything seem darker/ grim linking to the life they live. 

    Introduction to Media A2


    Music Videos

    · To create a recognisable image that will appeal to the target audience.

    · Marketing tool for the artist/band.

    · Increase airplay of song.

    · Create more interest in the album.

    · Selling singles, albums and the artist/band brand.

    IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY!!!

    Andrew Goodwin wrote about music video and suggested that basically they follow certain rules, or codes and conventions.

    1.      The record company’s demands for exposure of the artist will mean a lot of close up shots of the singer/band.

    2.      There will be a relationship between the music and visuals.

    3.      There will be a relationship between the lyrics and visuals.

    4.      Genre characteristics, rock music shows live performances, hip hop image of wealth and gangster lifestyle.

    5.      Reference to the notion of looking e.g. TV Screens, Mirrors, People looking at each other.

    6.      Intertexual reference.

    Scopophilia Over sexualised treatment of the body.

    Music Video textual Analysis

    1.      Performance, narrative and other visual elements.

    2.      Genre characteristics

    3.      Cinematography

    4.      Mise–en-scene

    5.      Editing

    6.      Looking

    7.      Intertexual reference.