How the Music Industry uses Social Networking Sites

Today, nearly everyone is on a social networking site, such as Twitter, Facebook etc.  This means that there is a wide audience on-line and members of the music industry have taken advantage of this. Many musicians are on Twitter. Some of those accounts are controlled by the record company they are apart of, some musicians have full control over what they say on Twitter. The artists who have control over what they tweet are the ones that reach a wider audience because they'd have more followers. One notable case is Rhianna. Rhianna's twitter used to be controlled by her company and she had over 20k followers on twitter, she then took over her account and she gained over a million followers on twitter.
Another notable case is JME's twitter. A couple of months ago, he ran a contest promoting the release of his new album BLAM!, in which his followers had to post a print-screen of them buying his album off of iTunes and they could win an iPad, many people posted their pictures of them downloading the album.
This shows that social media is an important way to promote material today. A reason why is because the fans can communicate with the artist, so there is a more direct communication making it more likely for the consumers to buy the artists material.

skills audit

Back in the AS year when we were researching our thriller we only had to focus on the thriller genre and occasionally compare it with other genres. This year, the researching is more different because we get to look at all types of music videos and genres and we also have to interpret them differently referring back to several theories we've learnt this year such as Andrew Goodwin s theory or Carol Vernalis's theory. We analyse the music videos differently to the videos we analysed when researching our thrillers because music videos have more edits and usually don't tell a story and we also have to look at how a base track is used, and the editing is to the beat so there is an edit every two words, something that doesn't happen in TV dramas/films.

We have also picked up new skills on final cut, skills that we didn't need for our thriller such as Lip syncing, we started off by pressing M on the keyboard to place a marker on a certain word of the song, then we placed a marker on the word that is said in several videos, overlapped them, aligned them with the marker in the music then cut certain parts off the video. Learning this skill will help greatly when it comes to producing our music video.

We also had a more in depth look at the current state of the music industry because it would affect the way our music video would be made because we need something to stand out.

Summary on what we learnt on the state of the music industry

THE BIG 3 RECORD COMPANIES

We learnt that the music industry has changed over the last decade, in a very big way. The big 4 companies, Sony Music, EMI, Universal and Warner Music have now become the big 3 due to EMI becoming a part Universal  The music industry is also losing a lot of money due to an increase in piracy and file sharing, however companies such as Apple have taken advantage of digital distribution and have raked in massive profits, a song on iTunes would cost 79p with apple getting 13p. There are over millions of songs on iTunes so there is big profit. This change in the music industry has lead to artists and record companies coming up with different ways to make a profit, by coming up with deals such as the 360 degree deal, where the record company gets a chunk of any other source of revenue coming from the artist. Artists today use music to endorse their products, such as Dr Dre to endorse his new line of headphones, Beats By Dre. Another way the industry has changed is the emergence of the social network sites, celebrities often communicate with fans on websites such as twitter, there is more fan/artist interaction than there would have been 10 years ago.

Mood Board

Blogging task on Andrew Goodwin

 

1.) The main points of Andrew Goodwin’s theory of music videos is that music videos cant be analysed the same way as TV shows or films because the narrative of a music video is approached differently from novels and films. He gives 3 examples how they are different such as the music videos being built around songs, the singer being used as a narrator and character and the fact that singers look directly at the camera.

He also says that music videos rely on components such as repetition so the audience become as familiar with the song/genre. The song would repeat on TV and radio. There is also a structure to a music video, builds towards a climax repeatedly before fading away towards the end.

There are 3 types of relationship between a video and song:

Illustration: Where the video tells the story of the lyric.

Amplification: Occurs when video introduces new meaning that don’t contradict with the song.

Disjuncture: Where there is little connection between lyrics and the video.

He also says that music videos are used to represent stuff, such as objects placed in videos, for example an armadillo representing a piano in Rock the Casbah by the Clash.

2.)

An example of a music video that uses illustration is Linkin Park- Numb, for example the background is often sped up to show the characters isolation and lack of control. 

 

An example of a music video that uses amplification is Daft Punk – Harder Better Faster Stronger, the video still retains a link to the song but the meaning is enhanced through animation.

An example of a music video that uses disjuncture would be Cant Stop by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers as the video consists of random images such as one of the band members spinning a large bin on his fingers. 


 

 

Short list for music video

Chase & Status - End Credits ft Plan B
COLDPLAY - FIX YOU
MARK RONSON - OOO WEE
DELILAH - GO
JUST JACK - WRITERS BLCK / EMBERS

DELILAH FT CHASE AND STATUS - TIME

Carol Vernallis

Carole Vernallis

Vernallis said that music videos have a lot more creative edits compared to the amount used in a film. This concludes of edits which have a rhythmic basis, this means the edits matches to the beat of the song.

·         Continuity – this concept is completely ignored in music videos to ensure that they have the attention of the viewer’s constantly.

·         Obvious edits – they will use really obvious creative edits that will not be usually used in a film to attract the attention of the viewer’s.

·         Jump cuts – are often used

·         Base Track – to give video structure

·      Camera may move in time with the music

Lady Gaga's video Judas is a good example that shows edits which have a rhythmic basis, this is when the shots cuts with the beat of the music and the video sequence also defies the concept of continuity.

Student music video analysis

Blogging task – Student music video analysis.

The student music video I will be analysing is the video done by Jem, Zakariya, Courtney and Fuzail.

In relation to Carol Vernallis’s theory on editing, the video pretty much fits her theory because the editing is jumpy as they are in one location, the next second they are in a different location wearing different clothes, an example of jump cuts being used often. Another thing is that the video has obvious edits which draws attention to what’s going on in the screen, particularly on the bridge, the editing is sped up, and the screen splits up into 4 segments on more than one occasion and the editing is in tune with the beats of the song. Another part of the theory it follows is that it doesn’t follow the usual rules of continuity as I said earlier they appear in different locations within seconds of each other.

In relation to Laura Mulveys theory on the representation of females, it follows it but doesn’t emphasise on it that much because the majority of the video shows the two people playing the guitars and the female appears for a few seconds but during her screen time it is pretty obvious she is being presented as an object of male desire but not in the way females are usually represented as parts of male fantasy as her head is mostly shown.

In relation to Andrew Goodwin’s theory on there being 3 ways in how videos are presented, illustration where the lyrics follow the song, amplification when a deeper meaning is introduced in the music video and disjuncture where lyrics are unrelated to whatever is going on the video, the video is mostly disjuncture as the editing shows them in different locations playing guitars however there are a few parts where the lyrics go with the song for example when the female is introduced in the video.

I feel a major strength of this video is the disjuncture style of the video because as its constantly changing its always interesting, particularly around the bridge where new effects are introduced.

Another strength of the song is the strong editing which fits to changes in the song, the video really fits in with the genre. 

Lip Sync Activity

In this activity we learned how to mark base tracks and synchronise them to match the CD track of the song.  We used FinalCut Pro to edit this sequence, firstly I made a mark on the first word of the song and dragged it in the time line. Then I looked at different base tracks and made marks when the person in the video starts singing and matched that to the song. I done this three times and layered the different base tracks on top of each other. This was a quicker way to edit and change scene by splitting the base tracks to the beat rather than doing all this individually.

this is an example of the base tracks matched to the marker on the song. 

this is an example where the marker on the video which has not been matched 

Lip Sync tutorial

In todays lesson we learnt how to synchronise the video to the song so it doesn't look dodgy. We went on final cut and the first thing we did was select the first word of the song, then marked that particular word by pressing M on the keyboard. Then we got a base track and then marked the part where the artist said the word marked on the song and we matched them up.
We did this with several other base tracks and overlapped them which made the editing process easier as each base track is in sync with the sound so we could just cut it so the video plays with the beat.

 In this picture I was looking for a certain word of the song which i could select and mark.

                                                                     Here is a marker.

                                                     Here are all the markers aligned.

            After marking we dragged it onto the timeline and begun to add the base tracks.

                We learnt a lot today which would help make our music video look very good as this process            helped us lip sync videos very well.

blogging task on Laura Mulvey

"In a world of sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly"

Laura Mulvey believes that males and females are represented very differently; she believes that females are represented as a male fantasy in the media.  She also says there is a sexual imbalance which is responsible for the way that male and females are represented in the media. For example males are represented as being more dominating and females are represented as sexual objects.

The representation of females is done by showing certain parts of the body, revealing clothing

 And body language. This is done in music videos of specific genres such as hip hop and RnB.

Some female artists take advantage of this way of representation for example Nicki Minaj wears revealing clothes in order to attract the male gaze in her music videos. Some artists don’t use this and have gained fame using their talent instead of their image such as Adele.

Nicki Minaj often wears little clothing in her music videos. 

There a few music videos which illustrate Laura Mulveys theory such as Dizzy Rascals Holiday, where nearly all the females are portrayed as objects and there are a few shots where dismembered images of the female is show focusing on the physical attributes, ignoring the personality of the female. 

Blogging task on Carol Vernallis

Carol  Vernallis suggested that music videos should contain edits that break away from the usual  continuity  editing, for example jump cuts in order to maintain the audiences interest in the video. Usually there are jump cuts during a music video which creates movement by changing angles and scenery keeping the audience entertained which would be good for the music artist.

In music video, there also tend to be more visual effects that help draw attention to the video such as wipes and dissolves etc. More special effects are added too. Another factor which draws attention to the video is that the editing is in sync with the beat of the song so in most music videos, there is a cut every time a beat is heard. Another difference between normal film and music video is that the main character in a music video maintains eye contact with the audience by looking directly into the camera, therefore engaging the viewer making them feel closer to the artist.

Just Jack- Stars in there eyes is a good example of a music video that illustrates Vernallis’s theory  as there is lots of obvious edits such as slow motion and saturation, the artist looks at the camera most of the time, there is a base track and the editing is focused on the beat  at the start of the song. 

analysis of a music video.

In my opinion, I consider the music video of Lupe Fiasco Im beaming to be a good example of a music video because it sells the song very well with the use of imagery and it is also quite a unique video because it doesnt follow the usual conventions of a hip hop music video so it provides a fresh look for the genre. The lyrics of the song are explained very well by the music video and that would make the audience watch the video more.

What is the function of a music video?

The function of a music video is to promote the artist who sings/produces the song and to make the audience like the song. Today,  most of an artists audience will be consuming music on websites like YouTube rather than listening to a song on the radio or CD. Music videos have become an essential part in selling a song and are filmed very differently than to how a music video might have been filmed in the past. The music video must grab the attention of the consumer, making them watch the video more therefore they would receive more exposure to the song making them more likely to buy it, which is important for record companies as piracy and file sharing has become a more easier process compared to receiving music by those means 10 years ago.

Laura Mulvey - Representation

 She Writes,

“In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active male and a passive female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly.”

What I think Mulvey is trying to say is that women are represented mainly in a negative mainly as sex symbols or passive obsessed by materialism. This is what causes imbalance how women are always presented as the inferior sex. And most females admire the women in the music videos and wished that they were in their shoes and male viewers desire the women in the music videos and wish that they were in the male characters shoes. The male gaze is all about how music videos cater more for their male viewers by styling women accordingly to what they want to see. So in this case women are usually exposing a lot of flesh wearing hardly any clothes. This is mainly done in genres like pop, hip hop, and R&B. Also body dismemberment is used in a lot of the shots when they are showing women were the show a medium shot of her bum or her breasts.



Videos

Nicki Minaj - Starships

In this video there is obvious shots of body dismemberment which brings her womenly parts to the viewers attention. Nicki shows a lot of flesh in nearly all of her music videos, mostly in bekinis. This video is the perfect example of which proves Mulvey's ideas of representation.

Skills developed during the AS year

During the AS year, when we had to make our thriller I learnt various skills along the way in order to make the thriller as good as it could be. The skills I learnt were:

• Learning to use Blogger in order to post work on-line.
• Learning how to set up and use camera.
• Learning how to set up the accessories that came with it such as the tripod. 
• Learning how to use final cut pro.
• Learning how to use MPEG streamclip so we could post anything we made on final cut onto Blogger.
• Learning how to use Soundtrack and Live type.

reflecting back on AS video remake

http://summerworkprojects12.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/as-set-5-rm-and-tf.html
Here is the link to the music video we had remake back in June. Me and my group remade Peter Kay's music video of "Is this the way to Amarillo."
3 technical strengths of this video were that

• It uses most of the camera shot types used in the actual music video.
• The camera is moving a decent pace so it isnt too fast or too slow.
• The video is fairly accurate. 

3 weaknesses of the video were that

• Not enough close ups were used when I was walking down the hall as in the real music video, it features close ups of everyone walking with him. 
• The lip syncing is quite of because I wasn't miming very well.
• We only used 2 base tracks. 

 I had learned how much effort needs to be put into making a good music video from this experience. 

June music video work

 In june we were told to make a practice music video and i my groiup was told to make 'amerillo'. The other examples of work which you can find here. 

What i learnt from making the music video is that it is more difficult becuas eyou need to synch the music make sure the edits are connected properly and that many diffrent takes are needed.

The techniqual skills that i develpoed during my practice run were:

•   Editing  with base tracks

Reflecting back on AS summer work

Music video remake in June

 http://summerworkprojects12.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/as-set-5-rm-and-tf.html 

AS set 4  - RM AND TF (the first video)

Strengths: 

1. My group planned and shot the video quickly all in one day. So in my opinion a strength I had was efficiently planning pre production in a short amount of time.
2. The software my group used to edit the music video was FinalCut Pro and we were very familiar with it and knew all the tools to make an exact version of the Grease song - Your the one that I want.
3. I used lots of shots and the remake was fairly similar to the actual clip and we successfully used base tracks in our video.

Weaknesses: 

1. Our acting on the video needs improvment
2. The lip sync was not perfect so this made it a little difficult to edit and match the mark.