Potential Track Idea

Amongst our group, our first track idea is a song called Stripper by Soho Dolls, released in 2006.



The song has a music video already, but it is not very good and the band are not famous enough for this to be classed as a 'hit'. The band don't seem to be together anymore as their official website has been replaced with one solely about Maya Von Doll, the lead singer.

The group, from London, are classed as electro but there is defintely a rocky element to their music. In their own words, their sound is a mash-up of "decaying and desperate glamour" and "savagery and sex", and although I'm not entirely sure what that means, it shows they are quite eclectic!

Although there are men in the band, the lead singer is female so the backing singers and musicians could just as easily be girls, making their music perfect for us to "perform" in our video, being an all-female group.


The song was used in an episode of series 1 of Gossip Girl, an American teen drama, so many people will recognise the song but probably not know who it is by. Their songs have also been used on shows including The Hills and The Vampire Diaries, suggesting that their core market is teenage girls/young women.


Here are the song's lyrics:

Well ana you're late
And maya, i'm here.
The boys in the band,
Decide to appear.
We walk through the door
Savour the air.
The girls on the floor,
I've come here to stare.
We've come here to stare.

Dont touch the girls,
Dont kiss the girls,
I have the right to pull the girls.
Get in a fight,
On every night,
The scratches, the bruises and the bites.
But i wanna touch,
And i wanna kiss,
And if you say no then i will persist,
With you tonight,
You'll make it right.
You know that you're wetting my appetite.


You can call me x,
You can call me y,
You can call me z,
You can come and try.
Come and try.


Dont know what you think you're doing to me,
(Hey! Stripper, Hey! Stripper)
Dont know what you see its getting to me,
(Hey! Stripper, Hey! I wanna be your mister)
Na na, Na na, Na na, Na na, Na
Na na, Na na, Na na, Na na, Na
Na na, Na na, Na na, Na na, Na
Na na, Na na, Na na, Na na, Na


Like you're perfume,
Your skin is smooth.
The way you move,
Im in the mood.
Tease the crowd,
Please the crowd,
I'm boiling i want you to see me now.
You get me girl,
When you're nervous well,
And when your hand is in the thong.
You may be right,
I close them tight,
You're saving the best for me tonight.


You can call me x,
You can call me y,
You can call me z,
You can come and try.
Come and try.


Dont know what you think you're doing to me,
(Hey! Stripper, Hey! Stripper)
Dont know what you see its getting to me,
(Hey! Stripper, Hey! I wanna be your mister)
Na na, Na na, Na na, Na na, Na
Na na, Na na, Na na, Na na, Na
Na na, Na na, Na na, Na na, Na
Na na, Na na, Na na, Na na, Na


I've come to stare,
I've come to stare,
You like me to stare?
I like your underwear.


I've come to stare,
I've come to stare,
You like me to stare?
I am a voyeur.

We have been able to cut it to just under three minutes. The lyrics are quite strange but they have allowed us to come up with some really creative ideas for our video.

Marketing a New Artist

We had a class discussion about the marketing techniques used for new boyband One Direction. Here are some of the most important things we learnt and discussed.

Firstly we made a list of all the things SYCO (their management label) had to work with, the things that One Direction had, fresh after finishing third place in the 2010 X Factor final:

• Primetime exposure - X Factor's viewing figures are huge... 17 million people tuned in for the final
• Public goodwill - lots of people had watched them progress and voted for them
• The backstory - all five auditioned individually and didn't make it into the final 'boys' category but the producers decided to put them together and enter them as a group. This meant that many viewers would already have been a fan of some of them individually, especially Liam and Harry whose auditions were shown and publicised.
• Individual personalities and styles - everyone has a favourite!
• Mix of ethnicities and regions - mostly Northern English/Midlands except Niall who is Irish. Zayn is Asian (possibly only half?) and the rest are white.

One Direction on X Factor

 Things we have to bear in mind when marketing our new artist:

• The product SYCO are trying to sell is the music itself. -> the core product.
• Everything else is marketing eg. concert tickets, merch, etc.
• One Direction are a great example of a band who have been marketed using 360-degree marketing, hitting target audiences from all angles with a complete marketing campaign 
• SYCO have successfully utilised Web 2.0 for One Direction's marketing campaign to effectively target their young fanbase and allow them to immerse themselves in the interactivity of their website and social network links.
• Their official website (http://www.onedirectionmusic.com/) is the hub of the entire marketing campaign, so the website we create for our new artist as part of the coursework will be extremely important.

The marketing campaign must have worked as their debut tour sold out in minutes, despite only having released one single, so we should definitely follow SYCO's example of a great debut artist's marketing campaign.

Interactivity on an artist's website

I will be taking a look at One Direction's official website to identify all the ways the audience can interact and buy into the brand.

As soon as you click on the website we are already faced with the opportunity to click straight through to webstores to buy their single, and to tweet the link.

The first page when you go onto the website is their music video from youtube taking up the entire page, and a small 'enter' sign in the corner, meaning your first instinct is to watch the video.

Once you actually enter the sign, there are buttons on every page enabling you to follow the band on four different websites, already making it extremely interactive and offering a way for fans to get involved.
  



On the main page we are immediately hit with advertising, encouraging users to buy into the brand, whether it's by downloading their single or ordering a personalised poster.



At the bottom of the page there are yet more links to sites like Facebook and YouTube where you can interact with and follow the band, plus a follower count to show just how popular they are! We also see a logo for SYCO, their record label.



Video messages make the band seem like they care more about their fans and offers audiences a chance to see them in video form rather than just pictures, as many websites might only offer. It is also worth noting that the band are always referred to as 'the boys', an affectionate term than their fans call them as it makes their relationship seem more personal.



There are also lots of competitons on the site, encouraging the users to actively involve themselves by entering these competitions and allowing certain lucky fans to interact with them in person!

There is constant branding throughout the website, including their red 1D logo and band name plastered across every page.

The website's scrapbook theme with scribbly writing and doodles adds to their brand image of 'young and fun', obviously appealing to kids and teens.

They are also trying to create a slightly rockier, cooler brand image by showing guitar picks and badges. This may be an attempt to target boys more, as their fanbase is so clearly female that they don't need to make the website girly.



There is an entire gallery of the band, allowing fans to look at all the different photoshoots they have been involved in and appealing to their young girl fanbase and playing up one of their biggest assets: their looks.

Users can also get involved by submitting fan art to the website, however I think this could be utilised more as so far there are only a few images.



Fans can sign up for a newsletter so they get all the latest One Direction news and competitions emailled to them regularly, an obvious chance for interactivity between fans and band and a great way to make fans feel involved and in-the-know.

Web users can also literally buy into the 1D brand through their huge webstore, featuring loads of different t-shirts, hoodies, posters and accessories (there's even a mug!). Some of the t-shirts have slogans like 'I ♥ Louis' etc. so fans can pick their favourite member and proudly wear their name across their shirt.

Album Cover Analysis

I have chosen to analyse more closely Busted's self-titled debut album from 2002 because it it designed with a clear target audience in mind and has lots of genre signifiers and typical album cover conventions.

FRONT COVER

• The album/band title logo is big, bold and red. Quite masculine and strong - aimed mainly at boys but of course girls like them too. 
• Shows the three band members clearly - the focus is on them, creating an identity.
• The set-up suggests they have been arrested, making them look like typically "bad boys" which will seem cool to kids.
• The whole police station theme also fits with the band/album name - they have literally been busted!
• They are dressed in casual, rocky-punky clothing with spiky dyed hair and expensive looking trainers - all very trendy at the time and aiming at kids with a taste for pop-rock.

BACK COVER

• Large, bold, uppercase writing - easy to read
• Same font as on the cover - sticking with style
• Same colour scheme of red, white and black throughout the cover
• Plain background - not too fussy or complicated
• Important institutional info at the bottom

INSIDE SLEEVES

Album Covers Research

Here are some interesting album covers I have researched into (click to enlarge):

The Clash - London Calling (1979)
Clear genre signifiers - ROCK, rebellion, angst, anger. The cover shows a rockstar all their fans probably dream about becoming.

Air Traffic - Fractured Life (2007)
Abstract, like a photo of an art installation, no band photo which is interesting as it is their debut. Suggests that the band is quite quirky and chilled-out.

The Summer Set - Everything's Fine (2011)
No band photo, as this is their 2nd album (they were on their 1st cover). Plays on irony - sad faces, yet 'everything's fine' due to this couple's love? The couple look young, appealing to teenagers, their main market.

Damien Rice - O (2003)
Very simple and understated, much like Rice's music. Cute doodles, suggesting that the album is predominantly about love.

Fightstar - Be Human (2009)
Very attention-grabbing and slightly controversial. FIGHTSTAR font connotes ROCK.

S Club 7 - Sunshine (2002)
They are on all their album covers - means the band is focused on the image and personalities of its members.  All smiling, looking friendly, dressed appropriately - parent friendly and aspirational to kids, their core market.

Everything Everything - Man Alive (2010)
Very abstract, arty and random. Suggests that band are pretty unique and weird (which they are). The font connotes a synth/electronic style.

Busted - Busted (2002)
Debut album - all about THEM, we need to see them. Aspirational to young boys - they have supposedly been arrested, making them seem cool and rebellious, and they are dressed in a skater-boy way that was fashionable at the time. The bad-boy image is also appealing to young guys who will fancy them and think they are exciting and dangerous, yet everyone knows they are harmless pop-fun so parents approve.

Blur - Blur (1997)
The band are already very popular and established by this point so they do not need to put themselves on or any clear genre signifiers, however it does suggest a cool indie vibe. A clever play on the album name and band name, blur - simple yet effective.

The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
This is the re-issue cover but the original cover is pretty similar. The bright colours and psychedelic style is appropriate to the hippy craze and drug-induced state The Beatles and many of their fans were in at the time - looks "trippy". It is also all about fun and light-heartedness, and is of course eye-catching, something important in the time of record stores.

Thom Yorke - The Eraser (2006)
The kind of abstract, creative cover we would expect from Radiohead's frontman, as they are known for keeping out of the spotlight themselves and being generally quite different. This won an album art award in 2006 and is made from cardboard rather than plastic to be environmentally friendly, something Yorke is also known for being.

QUESTIONS:

1. What are the typical features an album cover has?

• Mine all have the name of the artist and album on the front cover, as the majority of albums do.
• Most of them feature some kind of photography, or if not, artwork like Thom Yorke's and Damien Rice's.
• The back cover usually has the track names listed, barcode, and copyright/institutional information.

An album back cover

2. How would you categorise the covers? Are there any other ways of distinguishing between them other than generically?

• I think there are three main categories: The photo/artwork is either 1) of the artist 2) reflective of the title 3) abstract
• You can also often distinguish album covers depending on whether they are for a debut album or for an established artist. For example, Thom Yorke does not need to put himself on his cover as by this point in his career everyone already knows him as the lead singer of Radiohead. Busted, however, have put themselves prominently on their cover for their debut.

3. Album covers serve many different functions. What do you think these are?

• To be "judged by its cover" - if you saw it in a store or on a website you might pick it up/find out more about it
• To appeal to the artist's target audience and possibly others - secondary markets
• To create a brand identity - artists often use similar styles/fonts etc. throughout each album release so fans recognise their brand

Mayday Parade create a strong sense of brand identity with their album covers which fans will always recognise

• To physically protect the CD
• To signify/suggest the artist's style and genre
• To inform the buyer of the track names and order, plus any other information like date and record label

Intertextual References in Music Videos

I have chosen to write about All Time Low's video for I Feel Like Dancin' (2011).

The song itself is quite satirical and almost parodic of mainstream music that is all about partying with lazy rhymes and silly lyrics, so appropriately the video parodies lots of things about the music industry.

The premise of the video is that the band are signed to their new record label, Interscope, which is one of the huge players in the industry, so they are discussing ideas with their new manager about their upcoming music video. This unlikeable manager tells them that they are his 'puppets' then suggests that in order to sell their single and make its video appealing they use product placement (obviously the band must have got some kind of sponsorship from Rockstar energy drink to use their brand, which is kind of ironic in a way). Many artists nowadays use brands like Coca-Cola, BlackBerry or Apple to show close-up shots of their products, so All Time Low play on this idea to the extreme, covering the whole set-up with Rockstar products and models with huge Rockstar logos on their shirts. The company also sponsor lots of rock festivals so the deal is mutually beneficial, despite the fact that they are supposed to be being satirical.

Their "manager" then suggests using sex appeal to target their audience, obviously a backlash against the rock groups and rappers who typically use scantily-clad women dancing in their videos. They name-drop 'Jersey Shore' and dress in tight, sparkly t-shirts like the characters, directly referencing the TV show which is hugely popular at the moment, especially in America. 

Jersey Shore

The band look very uncomfortable in the scene, separating them from the artists who typically use sex to sell their records. The dancers all look quite inappropriate and are meant to seem ridiculous, especially the male ones wearing nothing but underwear groping Jack, the guitarist. 

For the finale the manager then asks how a band can ensure success. Zack, the bassist, answers "Put your heart into it, give it all you got" in a cheesy, slightly tongue-in-cheek way, but the manager shoots him down and explains, as if it is obvious, that they should steal someone else's idea. The rest of the video features the band parodying other artist's music videos, replicating very well-known videos that most of their fans (predominantly teenage girls) will recognise.  They are also slightly ridiculing these artists, as their remakes of their videos look very silly, as they involve the band, four grown men, dressed as teenage boys in caps (Justin Bieber), in bikinis and colourful wigs (Katy Perry) and in white PVC catsuits with ridiculous headgear (Lady Gaga).

Most viewers will recognise at least one of the videos they are parodying, meaning they will compare this version to the original and hopefully find it hilarious (I did!). The fact that they are taking the mickey out of pop artists like Justin Bieber may please their more discerning rock-favouring fans.

This reference to modern pop culture works very well for All Time Low as it shows their sense of humour and lack of dignity, something the band is known for. Fans will know that they do not take themselves too seriously, and this video takes this to the extreme and whether you like them or not as artists, you will recognise the references in this video and probably find at least some of it funny, as well as respecting them for their ability to laugh at and humiliate themselves. 

All Time Low are known for not taking themselves seriously and dressing up in ridiculous outfits in videos

The fact that the whole video is based on their move from a small record label, Hopeless, to major label Interscope, is also a reference for their fans. Many of them were probably sceptical about the move as they feared it would make All Time Low too mainstream, and the band picked up on this and created this video to reassure fans that they wouldn't be controlled by their label, which obviously worked in their favour as they addressed their criticism in such a humorous way.

The video references Interscope Records... here are just some of the artists on this label, including Lady Gaga who is parodied in the video

The video is post-modern in that you wouldn't really understand it if you weren't aware of the pop culture referred to, and/or had no previous knowledge of the music industry. It also plays on the idea that so many things are so prolific in the media that we hardly notice them anymore, like product placement, plus the use of sex to sell pretty much anything in the media; just think of any TV show aimed at young people and it will be full of sex appeal.

Sex appeal in the media - do we even notice it anymore?

All Time Low are also using the post-modern idea that all media is recycled and no-one really comes up with anything completely new any more as everything reflects some form of media that already exists. This is obvious in the 'I Feel Like Dancin' video from the music videos they parody at the end... their manager seems to be a post-modern thinker by suggesting that the only way to sell things is to steal someone else's idea that has already been proven to work.

Critical Response To a Video

Ed Sheeran - You Need Me (2011)

What is effective about the video?

What doesn’t work? What could be done differently?

Really glossy cinematography and lighting The black and white style with high contrast Fast, choppy editing to the beat Simple concept of sign language, yet it works Proper dancers – not just girls moving provocatively Brief appearance by Ed, so he is involved but not the main focus Picks up pace throughout Main actor is intense and engaging Snappy cutaways e.g. the loop pedal White street dancers and black ballet dancer – breaks stereotypes

Bit slow starting – it is just sign language for over a minute which could get boring Could be more personal to the artist as the song is so personal – practically an autobiography of his recent life May be risky to not feature the artist more as he is still rising to fame and people may not know what he looks like – casual fans might think he is the main black guy, as he is in it throughout

Individual Initial Idea

Now I've got my group (myself, Odelia and Charley) we are starting to come up with ideas.
All three of us are keen to be in the music video and the teachers agree it would be the best idea as we now have performance and lip-syncing experience from the workshop day, plus all three of us have dance backgrounds. Plus it would be a lot of fun!

For now we're researching girl bands, but rather than groups like Girls Aloud and Saturdays, we're aiming for more rocky bands with a bit of an edge and maybe some instruments.

So far I'm taking inspiration from Plasticines, a female rock band from France (but they sing in English so their songs could definitely be used).

Here is my initial track selection proposal:



Barcelona - I like the sound: rocky without trying too hard. It does already have a video but I am not keen on it as it is quite basic and the styling seems a little over-the-top to me, as I am imagining a cooler, more laid-back look.
For our video, I proposed that we have two set-ups. The first would be a performance, using the school studio, where the three of us simply sang and played our instruments to the camera.
The second part would be a narrative. The song itself is about going to Barcelona, and while filming the video there would be perfect, of course that isn't at all practical! So I came up with another idea set in a club called Barcelona. It would show the three band members getting ready to go out, dancing around a room and putting on makeup, etc.

They would also be poring over travel brochures about Barcelona, pointing at the pictures inside and looking excited. Around halfway through the video, they would leave and jump into a cab, they pull up outside a London club, clearly showing the name outside: Barcelona. They would then enter the club, and inside it is set up with a Spanish theme: holiday-style cocktails with umbrellas, flamenco dancers, etc.

The rest of my group liked the song but weren't so inspired by the lyrics and sound, and I soon realised that my idea might be possible if simplified a bit, but it would take a lot of effort and would only work if we had a venue available to hire which would be potentially very tricky. We decided to try and come up with something else instead that we were all keen on and would work in real life as a practical and feasible project.

However, the other girls in my group did really like the sound and style of the band, so I decided to research into them a little more and maybe get some inspiration.


The band themselves are really cool and I like their style: trendy without being too pretentious. They are the kind of people that girls want to be and boys want to be with. This is the appeal we are going for, rather than someone like, say, the Pussycat Dolls. Although they are very popular, it is mainly because their music is catchy, and they aren't particularly great role models for girls. They are a bit too sexualised for my liking, as I believe that to appeal to girls as well as boys, a group should be more than just "hot".


PCD - Not the look we are going for!

I've also researched into some other girl bands from recent years. Another band called The Faders had quite a good sound, but image-wise I feel we should be a bit more girly looking, as they dress quite grungy and have a definite tomboy vibe. I think we should go for the middle-ground between them and a group like The Pussycat Dolls.

The Faders

I also think we should move away from the idea of a 'girl band' being a gimmick just because they're females. This quote from the Plasticines sums that up: there should be more all-female bands that are taken seriously as musicians and rock artists. We will definitely be taking on this idea as inspiration for our own band, as although we don't have a final idea at the moment we are all pretty set on being an all-female rock group, so this is definitely relevant.