3a - AUDIENCES
How do your products engage with the audience?
MY PRIMARY AUDIENCE
15-25, male + female
Those who listen to other indie rock acts such as Arcade Fire, and are interested in older musicians such as David Bowie, The Smiths, Sex Pistols, Bauhaus.
Nowadays it is much more credible for younger audiences to be aware of older acts due the impact of Web 2.0, an observation Simon Reynolds made about pop culture in general, not just music, in his 2011 book Retromania:
MY SECONDARY AUDIENCE
Suede first emerged in 1992, so their oldest core audience then 15-25 would now be 40-51, and one could say they grew more fans over the next seven years, maybe less so with their fifth album that received very negative reviews, so altogether their original audience would be in the age range of 32-51, both male and female.
The intertextual references to Suede's back catalogue (that I also mentioned in my EvalQ1a) can be linked to visceral pleasures. When showing my video to a Suede Facebook fangroup full of, it showed that my intertextual references had paid off, through the language you can see it got them excited, so if there was a new album release that was being promoted through the video I created, it would quite likely make them want to buy it.
*Insert screenshot of fans talking about references to Suede videos*
Something that I did in order to make the album even more appealing to Suede fans is add bonus tracks. A compilation album on its own isn't always quite enough, while some will buy it just for the sake of it along with new album artwork, bonus material. This was done with the recent re-release of the debut Suede album, with multiple demos and outtakes.
Uses and Gratifications, based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs:
The Uses + Gratifications Theory, from the Wiki entry, which uses the book as a source:
MUSIC VIDEO
I would have preferred to create a pure narrative video, however by cross-cutting the narrative sequences, makes the band more appealing to potential new audiences as you are seeing them play, and can make you want to see them live and thereby pay for tickets.
As mentioned in the evaluation of my representations, going against the convention of heteronormativity and representing other sexualities in the characters of Brett Anderson, Sadie and The Flower Man.
Mise-en-scene:
A large number of music videos deal with issues of romance, often a conflict which prevents a couple from being together (Astrid S's Bloodstream), it is a common trope. So the beginning of the video makes it look like this is going to be a typical relationship video
The quirky characters, the clown make-up is a well known facet in our culture, it is one of Barthes's 5 codes, his cultural code.
You are meant to have sympathy with the protagonist, this was achieved, a woman in her 40s said it spoke to her maternal instincts.
DIGIPAK
With my album artwork I was much more direct and intertextualized the first two album artworks to create a feeling of nostalgia within my secondary audience. The image of someone being in a caressing position with a book fits the same weird and quirky nature of the music videos that attracted the original teen audience
The dreamy, with a similar act of affection between the protagonist and a book (from one of the later scenes which didn't make the cut)
WEBSITE
I aimed to make my website as both user-friendly and targeting the audience as much as possible with the language on my website.
For example I changed the Shopping Parting Message: "Thank you for shopping with us, hope to see you again soon", to a more personal message thanking for financial support (I was inspired t0 do this by a live performance of Arcade Fire where lead singer Win Butler thanked the crowd for supporting their band with the ticket sales":
Also, I followed a common convention done for acts targeting younger audiences, abbreviating merchandise to "Merch".
I also changed the Clothes section in my shop to Costume, like it's a dress-up for a fandom, cosplaying.
SOCIAL MEDIA
In the language in social media, I addressed the fans as "Insatiable Ones"
I created trailers and counted down the days until the video was released, as to get fans excited by teasing content:
...
...
....
And then spread the video on social media when it was released:
This post didn't come out quite right, it's meant to say:
"NO MORE WAITING, SUEDE VIDEO OUT NOW, SADIE'S JOURNEY BEGINS"
...
POETRY COMPETITION
Fitting with Suede, whose lead singer takes the writing side of being a musician very seriously, I had a competition started, that people would publish short texts on Tumblr, and that their favourites would appear on the website, and that the winner will get the chance to be in their next video along with a visit to their town and a free ticket to a gig:
Top 3 Submissions on the Home Page, one in German:
I was inspired by Brigid Cherry's research into fan fictions of horror films, where she realised fans were no longer contented with the main text, the film, but created further stories, paratexts, to make the story carry on.
The tumblr side I was inspired by Halsey's website, where she has poems posted on her main home page when you scroll down to the second strip.
This showcases the theory of convergence, the fans are helping to create content through the digital technologies of social media.
Also, through social media I had the fans encourage all the fans to put on make-up of the protagonist. So fans could dress as these characters at concerts, it also creates a Uses + Gratifications, a feeling of community when seeing other fans dressed up as characters, much stronger than everyone wearing T-shirts.
This is a form of self-actualization through creativity., fitting both a sense of personal identity and creating personal relationships between audience members.
The competition started:
Examples of my fans doing this, using the "Sadie" and "Sadie Tour" hashtags.
...
3b - DISTRIBUTION
How do your products be distributed as real media products?
MUSIC VIDEO
Music videos, dating back to live performance recordings, were always shown on programmes or channels specifically.
The videos are offered on sale, for those who want permanent possession of the videos.
I presented myself as an emerging music video director. So, this fictional director I created, in the future, this video might form part of a collection as has been done to many prolific music video directors:
Now, due to digital disruption, anyone can download the YouTube video through websites such as YouTube Converter, including in high quality.
DIGIPAK
The images of the album artwork will likely be used for the live stage tour, which Suede have done in the past.
The front album cover is the immediate promo for the song (Spotify, iTunes, Deezer which will be seen through nearly all streaming services)
A number of acts will have their album cover in the background, however they have gone even further. With their second album, Dog Man Star, they created an extra catalogue of silent short films that were accompanied by the music separately from the music videos created for their singles.
With their most recent album, Night Thoughts, were they created a whole feature film without them appearing in it, they had it play in the background the whole time.
Depeche Mode even had one of their videos, Cover Me, used in live shows before it was officially released (creating pirated versions)
WEBSITE
...
How do your products engage with the audience?
MY PRIMARY AUDIENCE
15-25, male + female
Those who listen to other indie rock acts such as Arcade Fire, and are interested in older musicians such as David Bowie, The Smiths, Sex Pistols, Bauhaus.
Nowadays it is much more credible for younger audiences to be aware of older acts due the impact of Web 2.0, an observation Simon Reynolds made about pop culture in general, not just music, in his 2011 book Retromania:
Retro is not a completely new phenomenon, of course: pop has an extensive history of revivals and creative distortions of the musical past. What is different about the contemporary retromania is the aspect of total recall, instant recall, and exact recall that the internet makes possible. Fans can drown themselves in the entire history of music at no cost, because it is literally all up there for the taking. From YouTube's archive of TV and concert performances to countless music, fashion, photography and design blogs, the internet is a gigantic image bank that encourages and enables the precision replication of period styles, whether it's a music genre, graphics or fashion. As a result, the scope for imaginative reworking of the past – the misrecognitions and mutations that characterised earlier cults of antiquity like the 19th-century gothic revival – is reduced. In music especially, the combination of cheap digital technology and the vast accumulation of knowledge about how specific recordings were made, means that bands today can get exactly the period sound they are looking for, whether it's a certain drum sound achieved by Ringo Starr with help from the Abbey Road technicians or a particular synth tone used by Kraftwerk.
MY SECONDARY AUDIENCE
Suede first emerged in 1992, so their oldest core audience then 15-25 would now be 40-51, and one could say they grew more fans over the next seven years, maybe less so with their fifth album that received very negative reviews, so altogether their original audience would be in the age range of 32-51, both male and female.
INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES FOR ORIGINAL AUDIENCE
The intertextual references to Suede's back catalogue (that I also mentioned in my EvalQ1a) can be linked to visceral pleasures. When showing my video to a Suede Facebook fangroup full of, it showed that my intertextual references had paid off, through the language you can see it got them excited, so if there was a new album release that was being promoted through the video I created, it would quite likely make them want to buy it.
Something that I did in order to make the album even more appealing to Suede fans is add bonus tracks. A compilation album on its own isn't always quite enough, while some will buy it just for the sake of it along with new album artwork, bonus material. This was done with the recent re-release of the debut Suede album, with multiple demos and outtakes.
I showed my video to the 10-year old sister of a Media student in the year below as well as a number of Year 8 students, they found that both the music and the narrative of the video didn't appeal to them.
There might be some exceptions in the age of 10-14, but most will not be part of my audience.
Uses and Gratifications, based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs:
The Uses + Gratifications Theory, from the Wiki entry, which uses the book as a source:
- be informed or educated
- identify with characters of the situation in the media environment
- simple entertainment
- enhance social interaction
- escape from the stresses of daily life
INFORMATION/EDUCATION:
This is mainly applied to news media, however a music video set in a historic setting can lead to increase knowledge of history. And also, as there are references to other texts. Some hardcore music fans who watching this video leads to them discovering Suede would see this is a
PERSONAL IDENTITY:
A young audience could identify with the young female audience.
The band, especially the lead singer, who have been glamorised could be idealised by teenagers who are attracted towards male (Male/Female Gaze)
SIMPLE ENTERTAINMENT:
The fast-paced editing style proved to be entertaining towards a younger audience (Quote: "Holy moly it was amazing"), and some will enjoy it just for its production values. Their is some comedic reactions to be had through the Character of the Flower Man's bizarre/creepy smile and the eating of the flowers.
ENHANCE SOCIAL INTERACTION:
Suede were never a band that were popular with teenagers on a mass scale, so they will not be discussed as much like for example an episode of The Walking Dead.
Thereby, this can be applied to Dick Hebdidge's Subcultures. They could then dress in leather jackets, die their hair black and put on the make-up of the protagonist as a form of resistance to mainstream society, and thereby form their own social group.
ESCAPISM:
Someone might be browsing the web and discover this video, and just like in the category of simple entertainment, might get pleasure through being able to distract themselves from problems at work/school.
MUSIC VIDEO
I would have preferred to create a pure narrative video, however by cross-cutting the narrative sequences, makes the band more appealing to potential new audiences as you are seeing them play, and can make you want to see them live and thereby pay for tickets.
As mentioned in the evaluation of my representations, going against the convention of heteronormativity and representing other sexualities in the characters of Brett Anderson, Sadie and The Flower Man.
Mise-en-scene:
A large number of music videos deal with issues of romance, often a conflict which prevents a couple from being together (Astrid S's Bloodstream), it is a common trope. So the beginning of the video makes it look like this is going to be a typical relationship video
The quirky characters, the clown make-up is a well known facet in our culture, it is one of Barthes's 5 codes, his cultural code.
You are meant to have sympathy with the protagonist, this was achieved, a woman in her 40s said it spoke to her maternal instincts.
DIGIPAK
With my album artwork I was much more direct and intertextualized the first two album artworks to create a feeling of nostalgia within my secondary audience. The image of someone being in a caressing position with a book fits the same weird and quirky nature of the music videos that attracted the original teen audience
The dreamy, with a similar act of affection between the protagonist and a book (from one of the later scenes which didn't make the cut)
WEBSITE
I aimed to make my website as both user-friendly and targeting the audience as much as possible with the language on my website.
For example I changed the Shopping Parting Message: "Thank you for shopping with us, hope to see you again soon", to a more personal message thanking for financial support (I was inspired t0 do this by a live performance of Arcade Fire where lead singer Win Butler thanked the crowd for supporting their band with the ticket sales":
I also changed the Clothes section in my shop to Costume, like it's a dress-up for a fandom, cosplaying.
SOCIAL MEDIA
In the language in social media, I addressed the fans as "Insatiable Ones"
I created trailers and counted down the days until the video was released, as to get fans excited by teasing content:
...
...
....
And then spread the video on social media when it was released:
This post didn't come out quite right, it's meant to say:
"NO MORE WAITING, SUEDE VIDEO OUT NOW, SADIE'S JOURNEY BEGINS"
...
POETRY COMPETITION
Fitting with Suede, whose lead singer takes the writing side of being a musician very seriously, I had a competition started, that people would publish short texts on Tumblr, and that their favourites would appear on the website, and that the winner will get the chance to be in their next video along with a visit to their town and a free ticket to a gig:
Top 3 Submissions on the Home Page, one in German:
I was inspired by Brigid Cherry's research into fan fictions of horror films, where she realised fans were no longer contented with the main text, the film, but created further stories, paratexts, to make the story carry on.
The tumblr side I was inspired by Halsey's website, where she has poems posted on her main home page when you scroll down to the second strip.
This showcases the theory of convergence, the fans are helping to create content through the digital technologies of social media.
Also, through social media I had the fans encourage all the fans to put on make-up of the protagonist. So fans could dress as these characters at concerts, it also creates a Uses + Gratifications, a feeling of community when seeing other fans dressed up as characters, much stronger than everyone wearing T-shirts.
This is a form of self-actualization through creativity., fitting both a sense of personal identity and creating personal relationships between audience members.
The competition started:
Examples of my fans doing this, using the "Sadie" and "Sadie Tour" hashtags.
...
3b - DISTRIBUTION
How do your products be distributed as real media products?
MUSIC VIDEO
Music videos, dating back to live performance recordings, were always shown on programmes or channels specifically.
The videos are offered on sale, for those who want permanent possession of the videos.
I presented myself as an emerging music video director. So, this fictional director I created, in the future, this video might form part of a collection as has been done to many prolific music video directors:
Now, due to digital disruption, anyone can download the YouTube video through websites such as YouTube Converter, including in high quality.
DIGIPAK
The images of the album artwork will likely be used for the live stage tour, which Suede have done in the past.
The front album cover is the immediate promo for the song (Spotify, iTunes, Deezer which will be seen through nearly all streaming services)
A number of acts will have their album cover in the background, however they have gone even further. With their second album, Dog Man Star, they created an extra catalogue of silent short films that were accompanied by the music separately from the music videos created for their singles.
With their most recent album, Night Thoughts, were they created a whole feature film without them appearing in it, they had it play in the background the whole time.
Depeche Mode even had one of their videos, Cover Me, used in live shows before it was officially released (creating pirated versions)
WEBSITE
The website is the main source for the information that news
The images I create can be used as profile pictures for social media accounts of the fans, such as this Tumblr account I created:
THE MUSIC ITSELF
For the majority of history, music industry made profit from the sale of physical products, that starting out with vinyl, and later cassettes and CDs. The former never really became profitable, however CDs soon became the main staple with which to sell music.
With the advent of the web, the music industry like all media industries is facing a challenge through digitisation, with the impact of piracy and legal streaming services decreasing the number of physical products of music drastically.
Napster is seen as the first major disrupter of the analogue era of music, as described by
Napster is seen as the first major disrupter of the analogue era of music, as described by
The advent of iTunes saw
Last year the CEO Spotify was named the most powerful figure in the music industry
UK record companies themselves seem to be on the recovery as
UK music company revenues last year grew at the fastest rate since the height of Britpop in the mid-1990s, as the growing popularity of services such as Spotifyresulted in income from streaming overtaking CD sales for the first time.
UK record labels enjoyed a 10.6% surge in earnings in 2017 to £839m, thanks to the digital popularity of a new generation of artists including Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Dua Lipa and Stormzy. It was the fastest growth since 1995, when Oasis, Blur and Pulp created a high-street CD sales frenzy.
Music companies enjoyed a 45% year-on-year increase in subscription streaming revenue – from £239m in 2016 to £347m – as an industry hammered for a decade by illegal piracy now enjoys the success of music lovers turning to legitimate services such as Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.
This article starts with also this sentiment, , it names Spotify as
The market leader by a country mile, with more than double the number of subscribers of its nearest rival. The primary reason the recording industry is, after 14 painful years, slowly rolling into the recovery position. A miracle worker. The frothing coverage of Spotify’s direct listing on Tuesday has been almost exclusively about what it means for Spotify, its employees and the assorted investors who have held their nerve despite the company racking up losses that run into the billions.However later the article makes the point about how artists themselves are not sharing the same profit:
But there was little talk of what it means for the musicians and songwriters increasingly reliant on the service for their income.
In short, unless they were prescient enough to invest or get shares several years ago, it will mean nothing, yet. Artists will not be paid any more than they already are, and users will continue to pay what they always paid to subscribe, or be forced to keep navigating the various listening restrictions on the free tier.
Suede themselves therefore do not make a profit from Spotify and YouTube. Their original primary audience, my secondary audience, comes from a pre-digital time when CDs were much more successful. And as the Facebook fan page proved, they are very nostalgic for the vinyl form and many bought the re-release of their eponymous debut album.
That is why I also pushed the vinyl version of my album, so that newer audiences might be more attracted.
Even the stereotype of younger fans only listening to music online seems to be breaking
A band like the Arctic Monkeys with a very strong core teen and 20something audience was. However, in both these cases, is the vinyl comeback mainly due to 20s or teens? Both acts have been around for a while so their original core audience will be in their 30s now, if those are
THE SMARTPHONE
Arguably, all of my products will mainly viewed through the Smartphone:
- Music videos are watched more and more online, and the music videos are often put for example, if someone
- The front digipak cover will be seen mainly through listening to the music on Spotify or having downloaded it legally or illegally
- In order to check out newest information such as tour dates, the quickest way (mobile data and wifi make it even more accessible)
- Social media is again not as much followed on PC than on smartphone
- While vinyl is making a comeback, it is still less common to bring vinyl to a party unless it were a Suede fan event, and so you would more likely connect your smartphone to amplifiers as to put on the music
...
No comments:
Post a Comment