Next steps analysis.

Now that our group has progressed in analysis for the rap genre and rap videos and we've looked at the demographic's we need to cater to, we can now specify our analysis on what we'll do for our own music video. We've really focused on two aspects of the video and have extensively thought through what we'll do.

Now as we've picked Swimming Pools to be the song we make a video from, it's important to explore different aspects of the video. In the original, there's a marginally negative representation of gender. I say marginally as it's not overly negative, however the females in the video are shown to be objects of desire, as they don't add anything to the video, they are just there to look good. Now some people may see that as a huge negative, I believe as they aren't meant to be the focus of the video and they're not being mistreated or grossly misrepresented, I believe it's only marginally negative. With our video, there won't be a focus on gender, so men and women will be represented equally, as we want the focus to be on the negatives of excessive drinking. The narrative will be mixed, with the main focus being on the main character and how drinking is affecting him, whilst depicting other people drinking and also with visceral shots to represent drinking and to fit with the lyrics of the song.

OUR VIDEO
For our music video, we want the setting of it to be in a party. The idea of it being to represent the negatives of drinking and peer pressure in getting someone to drink excessively. This isn't stereotypical of rap videos, as usually drinking alcohol is associated with partying which is what rappers usually advocate in their songs and videos. We also think the setting will be entertaining and will appeal to an audience, as an entertaining video was the most voted for in our questionnaire. Some problems will be organising a 'party' for us to get the necessary footage and also as some of the actors are under 18, making it realistic will be a challenge. However we can these are problems that can be worked around.

50 Cent - In da club

Schoolboy Q - Collard Greens

Usher - Yeah

R Kelly - Ignition

To submerge our audience and make them feel like they're at the party, we're thinking about using hand held camera work. This is again to make it entertaining, as they can feel like they are at the party. Also we feel this will be the most effective way to show the negatives of excessive drinking and peer pressure as well, thanks to the handheld camera not being fixed to one spot, can capture a lot more footage of the party.

Our take on the music video is positive, as we plan on subverting the stereotypical messages of drinking loads and partying is great by showing the consequences of these actions. We want to set it up by drawing people in and then subverting their perceptions of rap videos and the lifestyle most rap videos condone. We hope by going against stereotypes, we will catch people's attention and the music video will be memorable.

Album covers: Do they require the artist upon them?

The long play record, or album to you and I, has been in existence for nearly 70 years. The albums themselves have artwork on the cases that hold the albums, to save them from looking boring to the average consumer and die hard fan. The idea of having iconic album artwork can be just an illustrious honour as having an iconic album itself, and most commonly they go hand in hand.

A quick search of 'cool album covers' on the internet produces list upon list of thousands of people's opinions. And as a result of this, begs the question 'does the artist need to be on the album cover?'

Here are some albums from the aforementioned 'cool covers' list, and a link to the whole list.

http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/music/50-coolest-album-covers#gallery-15

The Beatles - Abbey Road

Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

The Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks

Now, for those who are eagle eyed, out of those 3 covers, only one had the artists on them, suggesting that having the artist on the cover isn't important to how well the album sells.

The Plot Thickens!!

Now, those covers spanned all genre's. My group's practical coursework is focused on the rap and Hip Hop genre, so it makes obvious sense to focus on that.

Now using 3 lists, we can really get a big grasp of famous album covers from the Rap and Hip Hop genre.

Links below
http://uk.complex.com/music/2011/10/hip-hops-50-greatest-album-covers/
http://www.capitalxtra.com/xplore/lists/best-hip-hop-rap-album-covers/
http://genius.com/discussions/51734-Best-hip-hop-album-covers

And upon looking at them, here are some things I have noticed.

• Album covers vary from person to person. Seems kinda obvious but a point to highlight nevertheless. One artist may have an album cover that is more artistic and will not feature the artist at all, whereas other artists will have themselves on the cover.
• The further back the years you look, the more likely you'll find the artist on the artwork

Here are examples of album covers with and without the artist on the album artwork.

These are some of many examples, showing the point that the decision to have an artist on the album artwork is neither here nor there. There are famous albums which incorporate both ideas, and it's not necessary to use one or the other to achieve success.

When looking to make our digipaks, we shall look to what modern album covers look like and will probably incorporate ideas used by rappers and artists that the group enjoy, as to ensure we stick to modern conventions and ensure we have our own input on the product.

Star Theory!

Most musicians nowadays, are not only known through their music. Through many other forms of media, an artist is treated as a marketable brand over a long period of time. Their face becomes well known and is used as an advertising tool.

Richard Dyer says that these musicians or 'Stars' are constructed and artificial. The Usp's which are a part of the image can be copied and parodied, as the person becomes associated with the image, and are virtually unrecognisable without them. The stars are made to appeal to audiences which will then generate more money for the record company. An example of this is the young boy bands who are manufactured to cater to the new generation of 7-12 year olds that come around every 4 or 5 years.

Outside of music, the 'stars will represent certain cultural attitudes and promote certain ideologies, and the more interested the audience, the more it enhances there 'star quality'. Stars will start out as ordinary people, and then become constructed figures. They act as representations as to what people should look like and aspire to be. However, there image is constantly assessed, and for it to maintain the same effect they have on most people, their image had to change with each album.

Kendrick Lamar

As we are choosing one of Kendrick Lamar's songs for our main text, it's important to look at him in terms of how the star theory can apply to him. Music videos are a way to express oneself, and someone who has a lead singer persona would be essential in an advertisement music video. However we want to go with a more abstract/cinematic video, something which is common in rap video's more so nowadays. Kendrick Lamar doesn't create a celebrity image in the same as other mainstream rappers do, so in our video we think it isn't essential to do so.

Analysis of demographic questionnaire.

To get a better feel of what our potential audience for our video think like, my group and I designed a questionnaire which enabled us to get an idea as to what type of person our target audience is, plus their likes and dislikes in terms of the rap genre and rap videos.

Here are the questions from the questionnaire that we made our participants.

• Pleas put your name, age and gender
• What apps or websites do you listen to music on?
• Which of the following describes you best? Pick one.

A digital, free spirited, creative young single.
Someone with high aspirations but low economic status.
And aspirational, fun seeking, active individual 
Part of a high driving, high involvement couple.

• List your 3 Favourite rappers
• If you chose 'creative young single' what would you change about rap videos?
• If you chose high aspirations, why do you watch rap videos?
• What is your favourite rap album and rap video?
• What would you expect to see in a rap video? Does it need to be linked to the song?
• Do you prefer rap videos to be entertaining or to have a message?
• Do you believe we'll need a lead singer for our music video?

Analysis

To gain an understanding of our audience, we decided to analyse the results from the Questionnaire.

This is for the question "which one of these (Life matrix personalities) are you, pick one"

This question was so we could see what type of people are demographic would be. The one most people selected was the 'Digital, free spirited, creative you minds' this didn't surprise me as this is what we expected from our demographic. Also the 'High aspiration' and 'active young single' ones are very high as well. Looking at these two high results now makes our group consider what things we can do to entertain them with our video also.

This is for the question 'Do you prefer rap videos to be entertaining or to have a message'

This will help us in what direction we take when we come to film our Music video. The results were close. but most people chose to have a message. This is good as in our initial ideas and pre planning, we wanted to have a message in our video. I can see how an audience would want a message in the video as they want to be inspired. We'd also want to make our video entertaining, as a high number of people voted for that, and in my opinion the message would stick if it's presented in a humorous.


This is for the question 'does our music video need a lead singer'

The margin was close but the majority said yes. For our product we'll be using a mainstream rappers song, so realistically we can't have the rapper be in our own video, plus in our opinion it wouldn't look right someone else rapping it. We think that as long as the product is good and they are entertained by it, the fact that there isn't a rapper in the video won't affect people's opinion of the song.

Audience profiling research.

When researching ways to categorise different demographics,  I found a few different methods that this was achieved and ones that helped give an insight into my audience. 

One of the ways I found useful in in identifying a demographic is the ABC1 C2DE form. What this does is it makes the different group from the social classes of the audience. With regards to the rap genre that I'm researching, I think that the genre would come from and focus on the lower sections of the table illustrated above, as they focus on the working class more. I think this as a recurring theme in rap music which is money, and more specifically in making money and how much money you have. This theme would strongly resonate with a working class community as they have struggles with money and I believe that it would clearly resonate with them as they are able to relate to the message the rappers put across.

Evaluating this way of profiling a demographic I feel is useful. However there are limitations, one being that it is quite vague and not specific enough for a specific person or category they may fit into.

Another way I found of looking at demographics is through psychographic profiling. This enables advertisers to link the ideologies of the product to there consumer as they understand how important 'brand loyalty' is as the market gets cluttered with brands that don't differentiate themselves.

Linking to this is the four C's, which stands for Cross-Cultural Consumer characteristics , is a way of categorising people with regards to their aspirations. Here is a handy chart with the definitions of some categories as a part of the 4 C's.

In my opinion, I think this is very effective as a company can use this to find a specific person to sell and cater their product too.

Another way of categorising audiences is through called Life Matrix segments. Here's a picture so you can understand what they are.

This is something I have personally used in one of my questionnaires about the rap genre. Developed in 2002, it defines ten categories which are centered around values attitudes and beliefs more than the original simplistic categorisations. I found it useful as there was little chance in overlapping when a person tried to fit themselves in the category. 

Analysing a magazine advert.

This is a magazine advert for the Manic Street Preacher's 2009 album, Journal for Plague Lovers.

Let's analyse!!

• The main image is of a young child, with the drawing making the child look beaten and bruised. This could represent the raw emotion felt through in the album
• It distinguishes music and lyrics. This is because the band took lyrics from one of their former band mates, who disappeared without a trace 14 years previously in 1995. To use his lyrics again adds to the emotion, as it makes people remember him, and also contributes to the atmosphere felt on the album.
• The release date is there to let fans know when it is available.
• The producer is listed to add more prolificness. Steve Albini, regarded as a very talented producer who has worked on loads of famous albums. His name could alter people's opinions on the album.
• There's cross promotion with Amazon, as they are stated to having the album.
• The website is listed for self promotion of the band, as a subtle way to get people to go there so they can keep up with what the band are doing.

Researching Marketing Tools - Digipaks!

 A Digipak is a patented style of optical disc packaging. They usually consist of a gate fold (book style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside.

Digipak style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums and the tall DVD Digipak is used as a premium package for DVDs and DVD sets.

Two notable albums with Digipak's are Stadium Arcadium by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West.

What would I expect to find on a Digipak

Here are a few things that generally will feature on a Digipak.

• Bold Images on the front and back panels, these are the two main promoters and will draw people in.
• Front will usually tend to have the artists name in bold, with another bold image accompanying it, to attract people to it.
• Inside the Digipak will feature the disc itself and perhaps artwork different to the art on the front and back of the Digipak. Also things that could be featured are lyrics, artist information and personal messages. 

Analysis of Digipak

This is the Digipak for Stadium Arcadium.

What I found

• Their is a lot of bright colours, used to be aesthetically pleasing.
• The colours of blue, red and purple all mix into one another, suggesting the songs mixing into each other and flowing one after another.
• The image on front cover could be meaning to show a bands progression or distancing themselves from other bands of the same genre or their own discography.
• The appearance of the band on the back could be for the benefit of their new fans, so they can now put a face to who plays the instruments.
• The images go with a space theme, suggesting literal spacing with the band, or could be linked again to distance, suggesting the band is far different from earlier releases.