Group- Contextual Research

Who owns the record label?

• Record labels are usually part of a larger conglomerate in the music industry. An example of this is Universal Music, a large music company based in the UK. They have 8 record labels, signing stars from Take that to Florence and the machine, even the Rolling stones. 
• Another example of a large conglomerate is warner bros. who have a record label named the warner music group, this too has big stars such as Bruno mars, Kylie Minogue and the Bee gees.

What is involved in a record deal?

• A record deal is a legal contract between both the record label and the artist in which allows the label to sell and distribute the artists work. This usually means that the artist is only allowed to produce records for that single label, however special appearances on other artists albums will carry a notice stating that the artist was loaned by courtesy of the label, usually leading to a percentage of the sales.

How are musicians promoted?

• Record labels spend huge sums of money on promotion for their client especially when they are releasing a new song or album. Record labels usually use the same routes of advertisement; Television, Magazine and poster. The label tries to build up a star image through its promotion campaign in order to add excitement and gain the public eye. Labels can now use the advantage of social networking sites now to contact their target markets. Fan pages are often set up and have proven very popular over the last few years. The most popular route of advertisement is magazines and posters with the large majority of money being spent on blitzing public places with pictures of the artist and their new album.

Who is responsible for making branding/marketing decisions?

• In some cases it is the artist/producer who implements self promotion within the video such as the name of their new album; an example of this is ‘Macklemore’s Can’t Hold Us’ video in which there is constant references to his new album at that time ‘The Heist’. Usually though there is a marketing team which uses web 2.0 for viral marketing as well as providing information to the public through things such as leaflet and bus posters.

Why is a music video significant?

• A music video is significant as it provides a more unique way of representing ideas and lyrics through the eyes of the artist. This can be through a narrative or a performance which depicts the emotions of the band. Furthermore, it gives the audience an understanding of what the song/lyrics mean. Finally, to avoid creating tedium, instead of looking at an image with a song in the background there is a multimedia presentation to watch.

What are the 3 stages to the production of a music video?

• The 1^st stage is pre-production which involves planning, to see what the target audience would be by gathering information. Also planning the whole video whether it will be a performance or a narrative, and planning to get to locations or props which will be incorporated within the video.
• The 2^nd stage of the production of a music video is the actual production process of the video which involves filming, this can be a very time consuming process as a lot of footage has to be gathering in order to get the possible shots. 
• The final stage is editing all this footage into a filmic media text which lasts around 3 minutes long. This is through using various editing software's to get the right effects and make sure things like the cutting rate goes with the tempo of the song.

What role do NMT’s now play in promoting artists? How has this changed traditional practice? To what extent is this example of ‘we-media’?

• NMT’s (new media technologies) are much more digitalised now and aspects of the picture can now be altered or completely re-developed. This can create a false image and even a star image that is not accurate or true, but it is what the audience want to see, and will try to copy if the artist is a role model.
• There is software like Photo shop.
• Also through new media technology, the music video or whatever is being presented can be distributed and exhibited to a wider audience through the ease of transportation of the digital picture and fast internet speeds.

Changed Traditional Practice:

• This has changed traditional practice to online media, and has made not just the music industry but other forms of media industry increase in size and revenue from the wider audience and the greater speeds and accessibility to better more advanced technology.

We-Media: How audiences are shaping the future of news and information.

• This is an example of we-media because it is-through new media technology and the various audiences it can reach- the audience that get to see all the footage and music videos and films, and it is there decision as to whether it is liked or disliked. Therefore the future will consist of media they like as while developing a form of media, it is normally scripted to what the audience want or expect, and so the news and information will be what the public and audience want to hear.

What role does the music press play in promoting artists in a digital media age? Are they still relevant? Give specific examples from the UK press.

• The music press play a huge role in promoting artists because it the first way you can see artist’s new songs, music videos and so on. However, with the advance in new media technology and the development of the internet, people can illegally find, download and share footage that should not yet be given to the audience. An example of this is piracy in the film industry and this has made a loss of revenue for some industrial companies.
• They are very much still relevant because there is no way anyone can stop people like the paparazzi getting images of artists and leaking them over the internet.
• The music press have their own magazines which are in conjunction with their own websites. There are live images and downloadable tracks that are available for the public to see and maybe even share by tweeting, or linking to Facebook and social networking sites. An example of a magazine is NME (New Music Express) which is an Indie genre magazine and the website will have the different tracks available to the public. The music press of the magazine and website ‘Q’ is a more highbrow text, and will have the different genres on one website. However the search bar and genre categories will make it easy to find for the audience. All of these are synergistic with each other and all play a role in promoting the artists. I believe the website access to the music press or more relevant today as it is free to get on whereas the magazines are not, whether you buy them separately or on a monthly deal.