Post 4: The pop music genre

The Chainsmokers

Ed Sheeran

Pop music is defined as music which is appealing to a general audience, as opposed to music that targets a specific demographic. This is due to the general short nature of the songs, often 2 and a half to 3 and a half minutes long, with consistent rhythmic themes throughout. Through the use of a mainstream style and a traditional structure, complete with melodies, a chorus and catchy hooks, this genre of music is currently one of the most popular genres that exist complete with these codes and conventions. Goodwin theorised genre codes and conventions for music videos, being the relationship between the lyrics, music and iconography. There are many different ways that an artist can construct this relationship, however, I chose to take inspiration from the video 'Shape of You' by

'Shape of You' music video

Ed Sheeran, for using an amplificatory narrative. The lyrics entail a very basic love story, however, the visuals add a new layer of meaning to it by have Ed Sheeran and the girl meet and form a bond over the sport of boxing. In my video, I then planned to include an amplificatory narrative through the use of an ex-girlfriend running after her boyfriend in a variety of scenarios. This was in order to provide pleasure to the viewer and encourage repeat viewings, which will increase the chances of Venture becoming a commercial success. The genre of pop was first used in 1926 to describe music with a broad appeal, however, first gained widespread use in Britain in the mid-1950s, but was instead used to describe the rock and roll music genre. From 1967 onwards, the term pop music was becoming separated from rock music and was forming its own musical genre. Over the years, the hybrid-nature of pop has grown, with early pop music having use of gospel and soul vocal harmonies. Recently, the genre of dance and EDM has been a large influence for pop music, with songs such as Closer by The Chainsmokers and Shape of You by Ed Sheeran exhibiting such features. Shape of You features a catchy chorus repeated, along with a consistent melody throughout. Through using these codes and conventions this song falls into the pop music category. This has influenced my initial ideas through my song choice of R U Crazy by Conor Maynard. A repeated chorus is featured, along with a hook of the word no repeated, all put over an EDM inspired backing melody consistent through the track. This results in the song being in the genre of pop, which allows me to stick to the brief.

Post 3: Regulation in the music industry

In the UK, music is subject to copyright laws which protect the property of artists and songwriters. This is under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988, which results in you owning your own rights to your work up to 70 years after death. This is achieved through the artist creating their song in a tangible format, e.g. writing down the song lyrics, recording a demo/music video, and is automatically copyrighted. However, royalties cannot be earnt without joining a collection society. The PRS (Performing Rights Society) is one of these, and are responsible for collecting royalties from copyrighted music. Once signed, they pay the owner of the song with the royalties from radio stations, shows etc. People who are not the owner of the song are not allowed to use even 1 second of the music without a license, resulting in an infringement. YouTube has different rules, however. If a song is used not owned by the channel, the ads will appear on the video, with revenues going to the rightful owner. The song may be used however if it falls under fair use, which consists of the music being used for parody, teaching, review and formats of this nature. This results in music circulation for UK audiences being primarily from the main owner, with extra content around the song being created by 3rd parties.

No Hook - 1011

YouTube also enforces regulation on video content uploaded, one rule being no 'violent or graphic content'. A current social context is UK drill videos, which YouTube has taken down for breaking these rules. Many of these videos portrayed the glorification of violence through the positive portrayal of illegal firearms and knives, examples being No Hook by 1011 and Where Are They by 30. I learnt from this by choosing not to incorporate violent imagery into my music video so it would be suitable for broadcast on YouTube. Sexualisation in music videos is also a current issue, with many music videos objectifying women. This is due to the well known 'sex sells' ideology, however, can have a very

Protests in Chicago

negative impact on impressionistic young girls, resulting in them placing attractiveness central to a woman's value. Examples of this include the music video 'Booty' by Jennifer Lopez and Iggy Azalea, featuring a prominence of suggestive dancing. YouTube has begun age restricting certain videos if they are deemed harmful, examples being the unrated version of 'Blurred Lines' by Robin Thicke, featuring vast amounts of nudity and sexualisation. Labelled 'The most controversial song of the decade' by The Guardian, it has been banned by over 20 UK student unions and causing protests in Chicago. The BBFC has begun age rating certain music videos if deemed unsuitable for a mass audience. The 2018 single 'Nothing Breaks Like A Heart' by Mark Ronson has been given an age 15 rating due to 'sexualised images'. I took this into account during my initial ideas and chose not to include any sexual images to stay suitable for broadcast on streaming sites, such as YouTube.

Napster(1999)

Illegal streaming has negatively impacted the music industry for decades, starting off in 1999, when  Sean Fanning and Shaun Parker developed Napster, which was a peer-to-peer file sharing application, which allowed people to easily pirate music. This reduced the sales for all artists at the time as people could just download their songs for free, which at its peak registered over 80 million users. However, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), filed a lawsuit on Napster, resulting in its shutdown in 2001. Many clone services were developed, most notably The Pirate Bay, a torrent service still in use today, which still has a negative impact on the music industry. However, in 2010, the Parliament of the UK created the Digital Economy Act, which aimed to combat piracy by tightening copyright-infringing content regulations online. Artists also tried to regain their lost revenue from piracy by increasing the prices

of the tour tickets, which have doubled since the 1990s. Streaming services, for example, Spotify, have also been developed which allow for the streaming over 30 million songs for a cheap price, going as low as 3 months for £1. This influenced my initial ideas as I chose to link Spotify to my website flat plan in order to receive extra revenue which may be lost due to online piracy.

Post 2: The role of the internet in the music industry

In this digital age, using the internet as an artist is vital for success. Social media is key to reaching out to your fanbase and keeping them interested, and also for developing your own brand. A website is also key as acts as interactive content for your audience to use, and also for them to keep updated on any news surrounding you. An example of an artist that uses the internet in this way is Khalid. Khalid uses his website as a platform to sell his music through clickable links, and also to promote his own tour dates. The website also includes links to Khalid's social media pages, including Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. This digital convergence maintains his audience share as users of the website would use these links and consume the content on Khalid's social media pages. This also grows his audience, which in turns would result in an increase in music sales. Khalid's Instagram features posts are more focused on him as an artist instead of his music, which helps to create his own brand, differentiating himself from the large competition in the music industry. Khalid's Twitter page further

Khalid replying to a fan message

highlights this, where his personality is centre stage. This is achieved through him interacting with fans and posting relatable content. However, it is also important for an artist to promote their work through social media in order to increase their own viewing figures and also to increase buzz for any new music they may be releasing in the future. I researched into Kanye West's Twitter page, where there are multiple posts about his new album 'Jesus Is King'
which he released on the 25th of October. Two posts were made before the

Kanye West linking his
shop

Kanye West posts before
the album release

album release, one announcing the Title of the album and the release date on the 20th of October, and the other on the day of release showing the tracklist, and stating that it was coming out at midnight. This created huge anticipation for the release, with the first post gaining nearly half a million likes. This would have had a large impact on the streams and sales of the album after it was released due to the huge audience reach of his Twitter account, with 30 million followers. However, even after the album was released, he sent out 4 more posts concerning the album, one of which linking to his store page featuring new and exclusive merch themed around his album. This drives users back to his website, allowing it to act as a central hub, increasing his own sales. All of this has influenced my initial ideas as I have included social media links in my website flat plans, along with tour dates including buttons to buy tickets, and social media integration through an Instagram and Twitter feed. I have also planned out Instagram posts that highlight myself as a creator through behind the scene content and fan giveaways, which act as interactive content. Furthermore, I have also planned out a Facebook and a Twitter page for my artist, which would allow him to have a greater audience reach, thus engaging more people, leading to a greater deal of music sales. Examples of Twitter content I had planned out included relatable posts for my followers, and also promotion of my music and my store.

Post 1: The UK music industry

Ed Sheeran

The UK music scene is at an all-time high, with British artists, such as Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran, having huge listening figures. The latter of which is ranked as the No. 1 artist on Spotify, the worlds largest music streaming service. He is signed onto Atlantic Records which is owned by the Warner Music Group, one of the big 3 music groups. These also include the Universal Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment. Sony Music Entertainment controls a plethora of record labels, including Colombia Records, Ministry of Sound and 8 more. A wide range of artists with varied music styles are signed to these labels, from Hip-Hop (Aitch) to Rock (Foo Fighters). They self promote their own artists through their websites news section, where important information about their artists will be posted. Sony Music has the brand value to sign people based on their talent instead of their original fame, stating on their website they employ a 'broad array of both local artists and international superstars'. Sony Music is owned by Rob Stringer, the CEO, and had a revenue of $7.27 billion in 2017. Sony Music UK is a subsidiary of Sony Music, however has standalone operations in the UK. Through this, artists signed to the label are extremely successful, with Sony Music UK winning 7 out of the possible 11 BRIT awards in 2017. As my artist will be signed to such a large company it has influenced my initial ideas as I needed to create an artist who would be able to sell a great deal of records, and would be able to gratify their audience. This helped to influence my initial ideas as I then planned out how to construct a star identity to ensure my popularity in order to sell more music. I also changed my flat plans for my website to promote my music to a greater

Olly Murs Store Page

degree, by placing my newest music video on the first page immediately when the user accesses it. I also added a large amount of merchandise to my second page, also including links to buy them in my plan. This is similar to most artists signed to Sony Music, for example, Olly Murs. With the brief explicitly stating that my artist would be signed to Sony Music, my initial ideas for my website and video were updated to include institutional information to be shown.

Post 20: Closing post

Dear Moderator

Thank you for looking at my blog. To find my research and planning evidence, click on the label called AS Research and Planning, which is on the top right of my blog. I hope you enjoy looking at my work. 

Thank you.

Ben Mudd, 3148

This blog is now closed.

Post 19: My finished adverts

I am extremely proud of my 2 finished adverts. I put a great deals of effort into both of them and I firmly believe they conform to the conventions of take-away food delivery adverts.

This was a difficult and tiring process, however I am glad I participated in it, and am greatly pleased with the outcome of it.

Post 18: My target audience feedback

I conducted a focus group meeting with 3 different members that would be able to represent my target audience. This enabled me to find certain aspects of my adverts that were successful, and which were flawed.

The focus group was conducted on Saturday morning at my house with 2 of my friends, Paul Devine and Theo Stavrou, and one of my mother’s co-workers, Billy May, and I asked them a series of questions concerning their opinion on both of my different adverts. I noticed many different trends from this data I gathered. In my first advert, the 2 younger members of the group found it humorous when the delivery person arrived so quickly after the trampoline routine finished. This feeling was mirrored by the older member, but she also did find it a bit 'over the top' and 'unbelievable'. From this I can tell that certain members of the audience can suspend their disbelief of the shot due it being an advert, however some can see past this and may find the advert hard to believe and thus identify with. Also, the older member liked the voice over and the music, which was found quite upbeat, 'jolly', which created positive connotations with the brand for them. However, both the younger members said that they found the music to be 'clichéd', and dull. From this I can tell that the music choice does not please everyone, and has different effects on different people.

In the second advert, all 3 of the people said that they understood the meaning of the advert, and were able to identify with it. However, 1 of the 2 younger members said they didn't like the effect of the colour changing halfway through the advert. I think this is more of a personal problem with the advert over an actual error, as the other 2 said they liked the choice. Also, when asked about their general thoughts about this advert, Theo Stavrou stated that he could identify with one of the characters. This is due to my casting choices of actors around the age of the target audience. This response was mirrored by the other 2, showing the success of these choices, resulting in the advert appealing to him.

Questions:

Responses:

I learnt from these responses that everyone has different opinions, and that you cannot please everyone. However, if I was to back and do it again I would have thought more about the choice of music in order to make it be slightly more interesting.