R+P Post 15: My Record Label

My Record Label

• Innovate Records
• Independent British label
• Based in London
• Sub-label of Atlantic Records, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group - one of the 'big three' recording companies - whose parent company since 2011 is Access Industries
• We sign artists from a range of genres including R&B, Hip Hop, Soul and Grime
• We focus on trying to create unique sounds that combine elements of different genres/subgenres to stay current and fresh
• We place very high importance on creative freedom for our artists and take pride in allowing them the time, space and support needed to create truly unique and personal music that they can be proud of

Ownership breakdown

Below is a flowchart showing the ownership model of our record label

Our Logo

R+P Post 14: My Target Audience

Primary Audience

Our primary audience is fans of the genre - both contemporary and 'old school' R&B and from my research, conducting surveys of fans of the genre and looking at industry statistics, I know that this is a popular genre. This audience would be interested in buying the album, looking at the website to find out more about the artist and each song and concerts so that they can really experience the music live firsthand. Similar audiences would be fans of well established R&B artists such as Luther Vandross, Diana Ross, Jason Derulo, TLC and Ne-Yo.

Secondary Audience

Our secondary audience is people aged 12-25 as this age group is the largest consumer of music. To appeal to this audience we will ensure that our artist is relatable yet still inspirational with a strong social media presence. In addition to this, the opportunities to buy merchandise such as T-Shirts and posters would appeal to this demographic as well as being able to stream the songs.

Teenagers and young adults

R+P Post 13: Influences and inspirations from art, fashion and culture

We have been influenced by a lot of 90s R&B artists and their styling as we wanted to take these familiar old school elements and build on them to give a modern twist to keep it current and relevant. In addition to this, we were also inspired from TV and film by actors and characters that are cute yet slightly socially awkward nerds as they are so lovable and it's a mix of characteristics that I think could work well for our artist.

90s R&B 

Below is a collage of 90s R&B artists with fashion elements that I would like to include in the styling of our artist.

Artists: Jodeci, Ginuwine, Boyz II Men, R Kelly, Usher and Blackstreet

A trend I picked out from this research was the big chains, white vest tops and baggy jeans/trousers. Taking these elements and putting a more modern twist on them is something that our group would like to do, for example having an understated silver chain and a white muscle tee with tighter fitting jeans so it's not so much of a throwback.

TV and Film

Below are examples of the lovable nerd characters in TV and film including Stuart from The Internship, Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds and Jughead Jones from Riverdale.

Recently there have been more and more characters that are quite awkward and nerdy but still lovable and good looking. I feel that this is something we can incorporate into our artist's image to break the conventional view that singers, especially R&B singers, are very smooth and confident. Coupling some of the 90s fashion elements with the style seen above such as messy hair, beanies and hoodies could help modernise the traditional R&B look and make our artist stand out.

R+P Post 12: Artists/bands that have influenced my ideas

Ne-Yo

Ne-Yo is a key inspiration for us in terms of  brand image as a whole. He brings an arguably  more sophisticated edge to contemporary R&B which isn't typically associated with the 'gentleman' image he portrays - seen even in the url for his website and is a nod to traditional old school R&B. In a lot of his music videos Ne-Yo actually wears a suit to help carry on this image of class and as he said himself the title of gentleman is him trying to set an example by being 'courteous, kind and charming'. Whilst I don't want our artist to be styled quite as smart as this, the traits Ne-Yo embodies are something that could work well for our artist. I also think the style choice of nearly always wearing a hat is something that helps Ne-Yo stand out and is something that our group discussed for our own artist - we did say, however, that this could make out artist too similar to Ne-Yo and so discussed other accessories that could work such as a necklace or statement ring. 

Ne-Yo also recently invested $23 million dollars in a coding school to help black people get jobs in tech based industries and has spoken out on Black Lives Matter as well as defending the likes of Beyoncé for performances promoting 'black' culture. This is something I would like for our artist - they need to be speaking out on hot topics such as racism and sexism, not standing for discrimination like this.

Rag'n'Bone Man

Another artist who has influenced my ideas is English singer-songwriter Rag'n'Bone Man. I think his image of a 'normal guy' with an Instagram feed including typical friend group pictures, selfies and quirky captions really fits his styling, adds to his authenticity and image of being a 'serious' musician. This 'normal', authentic image is something that I would like our artist to have as it is relatable and the unpolished vibe would help them stand out.

R+P Post 11: Artist websites that inspired and influenced my ideas

An artist's website is very important in marketing them as a brand as it acts as a platform where all their relevant information can be found and works on the theories of synergy and cross media marketing as there are links to social media and a consistent image throughout. There are also purchasing opportunities with links to buy the artist's music and merchandise.

I started by researching a range of different artist's websites and making some notes for example:

• Ne-Yo 
• brand image of him being a 'gentleman' seen in url - www.neyothegentleman.com
• quite simplistic website - video takes up most of the page which can be scrolled along to another video
• small icons at the top are inks to mail list, twitter, facebook, instagram, merchandise, video and soundcloud
• Jennifer Hudson
• bright colour scheme - white and purple
• links along the top
• scrolling pictures at the top of main page
• Rita Ora
• focal image of artist on home page - relaxed pose and 'natural' makeup 
• video underneath focal image followed by tour information and social media links at the bottom
• a 'listen' link to hear her new single

Two websites that I really liked and was most inspired by were Rihanna's and Jason Derulo's. 

Home page for Rihanna's website

I really liked how the pictures on the home page are black and white until you hover over them, showing the link to the article it's advertising. I also liked how on the tab along the side there is a diagonal line through the page name that you are on, making navigation even easier and this could be something that we could do.

I really liked how the background photo changes so seamlessly as you scroll down the main page. I was also particularly inspired by the social media section at the bottom of the page and its eye-catching layout which I think we could take and adapt for our own website.

Overall, I found the website research really helpful because it highlighted the conventions we need to include in our own and the range of style options we have.

R+P Post 10: Album covers that have inspired and influenced my ideas

Album covers are a vital part of an artist's promotional package because they sell not only the music but the artist's image and brand as a whole.

A debut album should:

• Introduce the artist and their identity
• Establish the genre
• Stand out and draw attention
• Work in synergy with other products
• Include institutional information such as:
• record label
• copyright
• music format
• year of release
• distributor
• parental advisory if necessary

I looked at a range of different album covers to get an understanding of conventions and style before narrowing my research down and looking at album covers that were along similar lines to what I originally envisioned - dramatic lighting, CU and a dark colour scheme.

Below is a collection of some of the album covers that I looked at.

In addition to this, I also did a close analysis on Amy Winehouse's album cover for 'The Best of Amy Winehouse' 

Although this isn't a debut album cover I think that the sole focus on the artist, colour scheme and eye-catching simplicity is something we can really learn from for our own album cover.

R+P Post 9: Music videos that have inspired and influenced my ideas

One of the music videos that really inspired our group was Miss Independent by Ne-Yo. It has the stylised lighting we are after and dance sequences similar to what we are thinking. Also the styling of Ne-Yo in the music, particularly the hat, influenced us as we wanted our artist to have an obvious distinguishing feature that could be seen not just in the music video but across all of the platforms - social media and website.

Case Study

We also looked at a range of other music videos for inspiration for a range of different elements.

Lighting

James Arthur - Can I Be Him and Gabrielle - Dreams

The lens flares with blue tint and the white flickers in the lighting are very effective and visually pleasing. We thought that making bold lighting choices such as this would not only comply with conventions but also keep the audience interested in watching the video and would ensure, so long as we pulled it off properly, that our video looked professional.

Dance Sequences

Ne-Yo - Closer 

Dance sequences like in Closer are an R&B music video convention and are very effective as not only can they reflect the emotion behind the lyrics but also they are aesthetically pleasing, especially with the different lighting, mix of group and solo shots and the camera movement and rapid angle changes they're typically accompanied by. Whilst this may be hard for us to pull off, getting a large enough group who can all dance may be hard, we can't ignore a genre convention like this and I think that with our lighting plans it could look very effective.

Narrative

Beyoncé - If I Were a Boy

Whilst we don't want to make a solely narrative video like If I Were a Boy, the structure and cohesion of it really influenced our ideas. We took from it that less is more and that we need to keep our narrative section simple so that the audience can understand. The theory of disjuncture comes in here, highlighting that we need to find the balance between that and ease of understanding. From this music video I also really liked how the cheating shots were done, with the phone call getting ignored and the symbolism in repeating a shot with both characters when the roles were reversed.

R+P Post 8: Possible tracks for the single

When we first started the process of choosing a track, we sat down as a group and came up with a long list of songs that we liked and thought could work.

Our list of possible songs

After this we listened to each song, without watching the original music video, and tried to come up with ideas that could work. From this point we found it quite easy to cut down the possible tracks as some were really hard to think of ideas for and we thought if we weren't immediately inspired then it was doubtful we could make a good music video for it.

This cut the possible songs down to:

• Mario - Let Me Love You
• Justin Timberlake - Cry Me a River
• Destiny's Child - Survivor
• TLC - No Scrubs

Mario - Let Me Love You

Pros

• Strong male lead - Laith in our group could do it
• R&B - from my research this was identified as possibly a good genre to pick
• Lyrics lend themselves to strong narrative and performance shots
• Strong beat throughout - cutting to the beat would be easy

Cons

• At 4:26 the song is too long and we would have to cut it down 
• Would require dancing and it may be hard to find someone comfortable enough to do that in front of the camera
• Is a well known song so copyright may be an issue as well as creating something different enough to stand out from the original music video

Justine Timberlake - Cry Me A River

Pros

• Strong male lead - Laith could do it - easy to keep casting within our group
• Strong beat
• Contemporary R&B - gap in market for a song like this
• Emotive lyrics that lend themselves to a narrative
• Lyrics also lend themselves to conceptual/artsy shots of rain and water
• Very catchy

Cons

• Very well known - peaked at number 2 o the UK Official Charts Company
• Music video is also well known
• Song is too long at 4:50 - would need to cut down 
• Does get a bit repetitive towards the end

Destiny's Child - Survivor

Pros

• Strong message - inspirational 
• Strong, female group - feminism, current issue
• Strong beat
• Lends itself to interesting performance and conceptual shots

Cons

• Needs 3 girls for the group which may be hard getting people to agree to 
• Dance heavy which again may be a problem 
• As a group we were actually finding it quite hard to come up with a lot of ideas for the music 

TLC - No Scrubs

Pros

• Strong female group - feminism a current issue
• Very catchy and fun
• Strong beat 
• Contemporary R&B - identified as possibly a good genre to choose

Cons

• Again needs 3 girls which may be a problem getting enough people to agree
• It may be hard to make the lipsync for the rap section believable
• Song is too long so would need to be cut down

Ideas for Cry Me a River

Ideas for Let Me Love You

Once we had a list of songs, we actually narrowed our selection down very quickly because the brief meant we had specific criteria to meet and as a group we were a lot more inspired by some songs than others.

R+P Post 7: Record labels of interest

Record labels are very important to an artist as they are the platform through which their music is made and distributed. Record labels also invest time and money into creating an artist's brand image, and marketing them, ensuring that there is an audience for their music and it has the appeal and reach necessary to be successful.

There are 3 major, global record labels known as 'the big 3' and they are Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group. These major record labels have many subsidiary companies and with their owners are examples of horizontally and vertically integrated companies.

Below is a a diagram showing the subsidiaries of the Warner Music Group which Meera put together.

I think that an ownership model like this would work really well for our label as we could have it as a smaller, more niche subsidiary which can be followed back to on the the big 3.

R+P Post 6: Current trends in popular music

To get a good understanding of the current trends in popular music and to see any gaps that could be useful for our work, I looked into the Official UK Charts to see what music was doing well.

Below are screenshots of the top 10 single and album charts from the week 13th - 19th October 2017.

Singles top 10 with genre 

Album top 10

These charts make it easy to see the current trends in popular music in terms of genre and artist. The range of genres represented, highlights the varied music taste nowadays and the move away from being a fan of just one genre that then heavily influences your own aesthetic and lifestyle choices. They also show that hip hop is very popular as well as the merging of it with other less mainstream genres such as Latin and Reggaeton. I think this, coupled with the fact that Liam Gallagher, a British alternative rock/britpop artist, is number 1 on the album charts, and that gender for the artists on the singles chart is fairly even, shows that there is room for a new British male artist from an indie label in the market.

I think that this move away from traditional 'Pop domination' highlights that audiences now are after music that is more standout and maybe less formulaic which is why genres such as hip hop, latin and R&B are doing better, especially in songs that mix elements of all. From this research I will take that it may be better for us to chose a song that isn't mainstream pop and one that has more of an 'old school' vibe to it with possibly elements from different genres such as hip hop, rap or R&B.

R+P Post 5: The kind of music video I would like to make

I would like to make a music video that has both performance and narrative elements, referencing theories such as the notion of looking, audio-visual aesthetic and disjuncture. For the performance shots I would like bold, stylised white lighting that contrasts with the narrative shots that will be graded slightly unsaturated but with a warmer undertone than the performance shots to add contrast.

Below are some examples of lighting set ups that I would like to include in my music video.

     James Arthur - Can I Be Him

Gabrielle - Dreams  

  Ne-Yo - Miss Independent


Having quite dramatic lighting like this is an R&B convention which is the genre I would most like to make a music video for and is visually pleasing as well as being captivating to watch.


I would also like to include dance sequences in our video as I believe that they can express the emotion of the music and lyrics very well which is a very important part of the audience's experience watching a music video.

Below are some examples of inspirational dance sequences

Other conventions that I would like to include in the music video are beauty shots, discontinuous editing, intertextuality and a clear link between the music, lyrics and visuals.

R+P Post 4: Audience groups of interest

In order to create a successful artist and release a song that does well it is important to understand the audience you are appealing to.This means knowing their age range, personality and life style choices in order to cater to their specific uses and gratifications.

Age

A survey in 2016 found that whilst music was most important to 13-15 year olds, over all the age groups surveyed there wasn't actually that much of difference. 

Bar chart of survey findings

From this survey, I would say that the age of a core TA should focus on teenagers and young adults up to mid twenties as they place the most importance on music and are therefore most likely to engage with it. Having said this, as the percentage drop across the ages is very small, this shows that music is a universal pleasure and that to get as big appeal as possible it is important to not discredit or overlook the older age ranges, especially as they are the ones most likely to buy physical copies of the song or legally download it, making more money for the label.

Consumption

With advancements in technology, many people access music through the internet from websites such as YouTube, through paid streaming services like Spotify or through specific phone apps such as Apple Music. This can be seen in a 2016 survey which found that 71% of internet users were active consumers of music.

Illegal consumption of music has also become a big problem with the advances in technology. Stream ripping is currently the biggest infringement of songs' copyright and a survey found that 30% of internet users do it and this rises to 49% among 16-24 year olds.

The table below shows the break down in copyright infringement by demographic in the last 6 months of 2016.

This data shows a need for awareness of music consumers habits and the need, especially to appeal to younger ages, of online streaming, with no adverts and a wide range of choice. This was also highlighted when Taylor Swift received backlash in 2014 when she refused to release her 1989 album on Spotify and took her other music off.

Research

I also spoke to a group of people of 16-50 years old to get an idea of what musc they liked and how they consumed it.

The table below sums up the audience research I did.

From my research I can see that Pop and R&B are the most popular and woul dbe a good choice for our project.

R+P Post 3: Music genres that interest me

An artist's genre is an extremely important part of their identity and impacts their image and how they will be marketed. Audiences expect certain things from a genre and the artist has to meet these expectations in order to appeal to them.

To help decide what genre we would do for our project, I looked into my personal favourites: R&B, Pop and Hip Hop.

Below is a mindmap of examples from each of these genres.

R&B

R&B is one of my all time favourite music genres, stemming from when I was little as it was what I mainly listened to with my family. R&B originated in the 1940s and was originally used to describe all blues records. This was later expanded to include music developed from soul, jazz and gospel. With the emergence of contemporary R&B in the 1980s elements of dance, hip hop and funk were also integrated into the genre, helping to make it more mainstream.

Examples of R&B songs are:

TLC - No Scrubs

Ginuwine - Just Because

Hip Hop

Hip Hop is a very diverse genre originating in the 1970s and is tightly linked with youth culture. Stylistic elements of the genre include rapping, DJing, beatboxing and synthesised beats. The raps included in these songs tend to be very personal to the artist and broach topics such as crime. The 'New School' hip hop wave started 1983/84 with the Golden Age of Hip Hop and saw the genre become more mainstream and be incorporated into other genres such as neo soul, pop and R&B. By 1999, hip hop was the top selling music genre and today is the most streamed genre on Spotify.

Below are some examples of hip hop songs:

Sugar Hill Gang - Rapper's Delight




Eve - Let Me Blow Ya Mind ft Gwen Stefani

Pop

It is important to separate describing music as popular from the term pop music as a genre, which has its own set of distinct characteristics the same as any other style. Pop music originated in the 1950s from rock and has mainstream mass appeal. It regularly uses elements from other styles such as country, dance, folk and jazz and typically the songs are about love and relationships. The songs tend to follow the traditional verse-chorus form, reflect existing trends and by nature promote recording and technology over live performance.  

Example include:

Sam Smith - Too Good At Goodbyes

Ed Sheeran - Perfect



Following our individual research, my group came together and discussed what genre would work best for our project and in the end we decided on contemporary R&B. We felt that this would work really well for our project as the genre is gaining more and more popularity as well as being diverse enough to allow us a lot of creative freedom whilst still conforming to the genre conventions.