R+P Post 13: Influences and inspiration from art, fashion and culture

I would like to make a music video that has fashion inspirations from celebrities such as actresses, reality stars, models and also instagrammers.

A particular trend that has become very popular is the street and sporty style. Right now, public figures such as Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, Kanye West and Cara Delevingne are known for being very stylish and on trend.

These people are especially influential to young people of today's generation. This is because modern generations are always seeking new things to try out explore and generally move with the times. Also the street/sporty trend is largely associated with youth and was previously.

This is Kanye West's style which is slightly minimalist, a fashion trend that has become very popular also lately.

This is the collage of Cara's styles which she likes to mix up.

R+P Post 12: Artists/bands that have influenced my ideas

Bad Blood - Taylor Swift

I've loved Taylor Swift since a young age. I think she's a great female singer who has a very distinct star identity. Her songs are usually narrative songs which detail her personal experiences. She was very popular with young girls especially with her hit songs Love Story and You Belong With Me. Since then she has developed her style of music to create songs such as Bad Blood and Blank Space, attracting an even wider fan-base. Not only has she developed her music but she's changed her identity to become a very strong, independent and sassy woman in contrast to her gentle, teenage princess persona. In 2015, she became the youngest woman ever to be included on Forbes "100 Most Powerful Women".  

I'd like my band to be able to come across as kindly as Taylor Swift still does till today but also as a group of powerful individual women. I want our type of music style to be flexible like Taylor's. The music videos she now releases are explorative of sub-genres such as rock and edm compared to her early songs which were mainly country pop. I would also like to make our music video very vibrant, classy and fast-paced like Bad Blood's.

Another artist I've loved for a long time is Rihanna. Below is her music video 'B*tch Better Have My Money".

I think she is a queen and a diamond in the music industry. She has been doing her own thing since the beginning of her career and her talent is clear from the fact that she is one of the best selling artists of all time. Examples include 'Take a Bow', 'Umbrella' and her more recent songs 'What Now' and 'Stay'. What I like about Rihanna as a star is that she controls her own image. She is a large public figure in that her sense of fashion and music is acknowledged by the media. She is arguably a respected fashion icon and very popular on social media. Not only does she have taste but she embraces her sexuality completely. She isn't afraid of judgment or what is normal and what is good. Her confidence and fierceness is infectious. Additionally her music videos have a lot of impact. They are very artistic and skillfully shot and edited. The aesthetics of her videos are always very beautiful in my opinion and I think she would be a great inspiration for my artist/band.

R+P Post 11: Artist websites that have inspired and influenced my ideas

Three websites which stood out to me the most were Rihanna's, Little Mix's and Ellie Goulding's. 

All have similar conventions such as interactive opportunities and purchasing opportunities as well as endorsements such as perfume. The visuals displayed on their websites mean they have created their own unique style connoting their own/band image. Conventions include their latest music video, tour information, and social media links. These are all features essential to replicate when creating our own website in order to attract fans who will buy our music.

Rihanna's website has a strong impact. It is in a distinct black and white colour scheme which has a very modern and RnB vibe. It is synergistic with other RnB artists such as The Weekend who have the same colour scheme for their website. The home page consists of many images creating a bold and powerful image of her as an artist and displaying her various achievements such as co-creating a Puma line and being on the cover of Vogue. The collective flow of images creates a very strong identity and allows fans to know what she has been up to.

On the other hand Ellie Goulding's pastel colour scheme and very simple, concise layout was different, creating a very feminine cute image of her. Her website looks clean and fresh. The image of her wearing a fur coat is very synergistic as it shows up on her other pages. By putting up such an image she connotes confidence and sexiness. That in itself is connoting power which is present but more subtle than Rihanna's website.

Little Mix's website follows the same conventions but is slightly different in that it has interactive links to each of the girl's pages where they share a bit of information about their personal lives. We could also recreate a similar page for us if we decided to become a girl band. By including a bit of information about themselves they make viewers and fans feel closer to them.

R+P Post 10: Album covers that have inspired and influenced my ideas

Neon Jungle

Welcome to the jungle was released in July 2014 by RCA Records. They describe their music as being "pop, a bit of bashment, dubstep, grime and rock". This album cover is very fun, urban and full of attitude. The CUs of the artists' faces show their confident, fierce facial expressions. The design is very pop art like and modern. It looks very clean and chic but very detailed. This cover is bold and bright making use of neon colours to show their strong and individual characters while also having dark grungey filters to reflect their style of music.The neon colours is synergistic with the look of their other music videos such as Braveheart. To add to the boldness is the title of their album "Welcome to the Jungle" which uses a term from their own band name. It emphasises the madness of their album and possibly their own crazy outgoing personalities. It highlights their refreshing attitude and sass, a similar trait seen in popular emerging girl groups.

Fifth Harmony

Reflection is Fifth Harmony's second album released in January 2015 by Syco Music and Epic records. The album discusses themes of romance, heartbreak, confidence and female empowerment which is well connoted by the album title "Reflection". The album is mainly pop featuring grungy hip hop and rnb. I think the black and white colour scheme is very appropriate for this album as it ties in with the seriousness of the songs meanings and gives off a grunge vibe. It also creates a very classy prestige vibe along with the classic gold font. Their outfits show a lot of skin which targets their male audience but more importantly shows that they are confident in their own skin and feel beautiful. The hats adds a professional edge which ties in with the female empowerment. Hit singles in this album inlcude Bo$$ and Worth It which are two very enpowering songs. This would be a good inspiration for our album cover as we would like to give off the same classy and empowering vibe.

R+P Post 9: Music Videos that have inspired and influenced my ideas

I have come across a lot of inspirational music videos and a few of them have really stood out to me.

Worth It - Fifth Harmony ft. Kid Ink

When Worth It was released in March 2015 it became hugely popular peaking within the top 10 charts in nine countries. It was Fifth Harmony's first international successful single which received multi platinum awards. I think our music video could take a lot of inspiration from Worth It which is a very empowering song. Of course with every song it received mixed reviews however it was hugely popular for it's lyrics and representation of women. All the girls had sass and attitude to spare. Below is my semiotic analysis of my favorite scenes from the video.

If we were to make a music video featuring a female star or girl group I'd like to create a feminine but powerful image like these girls do in Worth It.

Move - Little Mix

What I like about move is the visuals of the males and how the girls dance paired up with their guys. The guys are wearing very urban street items of clothing such as joggers, beanies and chains. Their outfits are hip and masculine. Their is a clear colour scheme of black and white for the outfits but the constant change in colour of the background adds to the video's colour and vibrancy. There are a lot of light flashes which adds movement and dynamics. I think some of the dance moves are well timed to the song's beat which looks very cool as the lights flash or the scene changes to a silhouette. I noticed that the video was also quite practical to shoot. All of it could have been shot in a studio which we might think about for our music video. There were also a lot of camera angles used in this music video which I'd like to incorporate into our music video.

R+P Post 8: Possible tracks for the single

During our group meetings we all had a few strong choices of songs we wanted to pitch for our music video. Monica liked Greencard by Oh Land which is a really obscure indie type song.

After listening to this song a few times i started to really like it. Indie songs have a special place in my heart and this singer's style of singing was particularly nice. Although the lyrics are quite catchy and fairly simple, the meaning to them was quite complicated and creating a music video to portray their meaning would definitely be a challenge.

Gift liked Ways by Jhene aiko which didn't have a music video

I personally love Jhene Aiko so when Gift suggested this song I knew that I would like it instantly. I loved the melody and the lyrics which were about not giving up in general and to keep going which could be interpreted in many ways allowing flexibility in the music video we'd create. However the song had a slow pace as well as solemn vibes which was not the type of song I had in mind for our music video project.

Thakshana and I really wanted to do Locked Away which is currently in the charts.

For Locked Away I loved the song which was about love, faith and loyalty. It wasn't just another cliche love song specifically between a woman and man but it was slightly different in that it applied to partnerships as well as familial relationships. It was serious but also fun. It also had a reggae vibe to it as one singer had an accent. This cultural diversity is something I wanted to include in our music video. I was slightly put off by the fact it already had a music video I quite liked. However if we chose this song, I would include performance shots and not have three narratives but one with more development whether it was between two partners, friends or family members.

However during a group meeting, we were browsing YouTube and found Red Planet an old song by Little Mix which although was old had a lot of potential for a fun, cool and street music video to be made. It didn't have it's own music video so we wouldn't have the problem of making something that ended up similar. After asking around for advice on Red Planet we decided to work to the strengths of our group as performers and dancers. Filming this type of performance and concept video could be done in the Seward Studio which we were all excited to try out and experiment with. We started coming up with a lot of ideas and so decided to become a girl band and make Red Planet our debut single.

R+P Post 7: Record Labels of interest

Currently the UK has three major record company groups:

These labels dominate the music industry today and control about 70% of the market.
We will need to establish a record label for our artist or band as artists have become increasingly reliant on record labels to promote their music and broaden their consumer base. The internet is now a major platform for artists to sell their music in an inexpensive way and gain new audiences. There has also been an increase in the start-up of independent record labels due to the proliferation of technology and free platforms such as social media and YouTube.

A record label's role:

• A publishing company that manages brands and trademarks
• Coordinates the production, distribution and marketing of recorded music and music videos
• They talent scout and make contracts with artists to develop their music

Big record labels own several subordinate label companies such as Def Jam Recordings which is owned by Universal Music

Def Jam Recordings

Is an American record label which develops mainly hip hop and urban music. It has contracts with various popular artists including Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Jhene Aiko and Iggy Azalea.

The relationship between artists and their record labels can be complicated as many artists have had albums and songs altered or censored before they are released. Artwork and even titles can be changed. Record labels do this as they believe the album or single will sell better however it can frustrate the artist as they do not have complete freedom over how their music is being represented. Although artists have less control over their music, they generally benefit hugely from signing with a record label as major labels will financially back marketing campaigns and make use of their international connections and reach to promote the artist.

After all my research I'd like my artist to be signed up to a record label who will help build his/her career closely with them and help them to develop their music and artist identity hands-on.

R+P Post 6: Current Trends in Popular Music

According to NME pop and rock are the leading genres in the UK.

















New statistics published by the BPI state:

• Pop records were responsible for more than a third of all album sales in the UK during 2014 at 34.5%
• Rock albums were just as popular making 33.2% of sales

However the last time pop was so popular was back in 1999 as rock overtook pop and became the most popular genre in 2013. 

Popularity of genres such as dance has never risen so high since 2006 with 16.2% of sales. This is due to current leisure trends such as partying, clubbing and raves where dance music dominates the night.

Non digital music
Although CD sales are falling, vinyl records (music pressed into grooves on large, flat, black discs) are one area of physical music sales that's booming. Music shops such as HMV might have done badly business wise but that is because they tried to shift from music sales into video game sales which already had big competitors such as GAME.

YouTube
YouTube has become the world's most popular viewing platform for music and continues to grow. Contributing to this is the proliferation of mobile platforms. Faster streaming capabilities and larger screens mean people can instantly watch a video anywhere at any time. Examples of the most viewed songs on YouTube include Gangam Style by Psy which gained an incredible 2 billion views and Blank Space by Taylor Swift with 1.3 billion views.

Girl Power
Singers such as Adele and Emeli Sande have become famous worldwide as they produce song after song with amazing vocals, gut emotion and deep lyrics. Groups such as the spice girls have been replaced with groups like Little mix, Fifth Harmony and Neon Jungle who have changed the girl band image.

EDM
Electronic dance music, first discovered in the US has revolutionised the music industry as artists such as Harris and Skrillex have come onto the scene.

R+P Post 5: The kind of video I would like to make

I would love to make a music video that fuses two of my current favourite music genres - Edm and RnB. Two recent music videos come to mind when I think about the style I would like to create; Do It Again and Lean On. Here are the lyrics to the two songs.

Here are screenshots from Do It Again including Pia Mia with friends on a car journey (urban scene),

her on a beach dancing (conventional dance scene), and her partying with friends on the beach (social partying hangout place scene).

I would like to make a music video where we have a few outfit changes reflecting an urban street vibe where the singer or singers look trendy in a sporty way but also in a sexy way for mass appeal. This is the trend in current music videos. I would also like to make one with different scenes like a dance scene, solo scene and a sort of party/chilling with friends scene as they change things up and show different aspects of the singer such as their lifestyle while also relaying the message of the song. Sometimes the scenes do not relate to the song's lyrics at all such as lean on because it is mainly a performance video. I want to make a hybrid narrative and performance based music video.

R+P Post 4: Audience groups of interest

Any genre of music especially popular hit songs target a large demographic of the population. Whether it's a single artist or a band, mainstream pop, rock, rnb or edm music appeals to both males and females of a wide age range and different ethnicities. However the introduction of some genres such as edm being later than the introduction of pop means that the appeal of edm is skewed towards younger audiences and the appeal of rock is skewed towards audiences of a particular culture.

EDM
This graph from Nielsen (a media and entertainment website) shows the audience groups of interest towards EDM music from 2014.

The graph states that edm music is mostly consumed by younger people aged 18-24 of white ethnicity. Since festivals and concerts have become increasingly popular in the last decade, the development and popularity of edm music has boomed in areas such as the UK and the US. Usually younger adults participate in these festivals and concerts.

HIP HOP
An article on techcrunch reveals that:
"The global hip-hop community: twenty four million people between the ages of 19-34 from a range of nationalities, ethnic groups and religions. Their collective spending power is $500 billion annually in the US alone"
Hip hop was born out of economically deprived areas of New York but since then the genre has become one of the most consumed music across the world. It is difficult to find solid statistics showing audience groups of interest in RnB and hip hop due to organisations who do not wish to disclose information and technological advancement which has impacted the music industry for example pirating. However this table showing the some of the most popular songs in the charts has been of the rnb and hip hop genre.

The rap and hip hop genre has always stereotypically appealed to male youth of dominantly African ethnicites and American culture. However the rising rnb and rap stars such as Nicki Minaj, Iggy Azalea and Rihanna mean more females now listen to rnb.

Here's the current UK top 40 singles chart

Hopefully my group will be producing a music video for an rnb, edm song meaning we will be targeting a young audience of both genders worldwide.

After questioning a few young people aged between 16-25 about their consumption of music I found out that generally:

• They listen to music for free and only occasionally buy an album
• They listen to music almost everyday
• They listen to music everywhere whether on transport, in the shower or studying

Below is a conversation I had with one member.

R+P Post 3: Music genres that interest me

I love listening to a range of music genres and sub-genres including rock, indie, and punk but right now I am obsessed with EDM and R&B.

Below is a selection of my favourite current EDM songs:

Where are you now - Justin Bieber ft Skrillex

What I like:

• Arty abstract theme
• Very cleverly edited together
• The unique, distinct edm beat and tune
• fast pace of animation

Lean on -Major Lazer & DJ Snake ft MO

What I like:

• The exotic setting and costume
• Urban aesthetic
• Simple catchy dance moves
• Camerwork panning and high angle shots

EDM stands for electronic dance music and is produced largely for nightclubs, raves and festivals. This style of music was initially adopted by the American music industry scene and developed in the 2010s becoming increasingly popular now with many edm songs topping the charts.

The edm genre usually consists of various sub-genres such as house, trance, dub-step and trap music.

Here are my favourite choices out of all the recent R&B song releases.
Can't Feel My Face - The Weeknd

Trap Queen - Fetty Wap

A brief summary on the history of R&B music:
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated as R&B or RnB, is a genre of popular African-American music that originated in the 1940s. R&B music was originally used to describe music that was marketed predominantly to African Americans during the 50s when urban and jazz based music was becoming increasingly popular.  Bands usually consisted of drums, bass piano and vocalists. The lyrics would portray African American history and focus on themes of freedom, aspirations, pains, struggles and relationships. R&B music has developed significantly since and is now very contemporary often combining elements of the EDM music genre. The Weeknd's songs are a great representative of the contemporary R&B genre style.

What I love about these music genres and videos:
Look
Hip hop dance routines/scenes, street look/style, trendy, lifestyle connotations, colourful visuals, scenery, movie-style format, fast paced editing, special effects.

Sound
Deep bass, drum, distinct singer/rapper voice, meaning of lyrics.

Influence
Mainstream popular young artists with large fanbases and influences, songs are heard on the radio, tv, in clubs, clothes shops, restaurants, at social events.

R+P Post 2: Myself as a music consumer

How my music tastes have developed can be narrowed down into 3 tracks. These songs represent the types of music I listened to during the three stages of my life so far.

Childhood

Hips don't lie - Shakira
I first heard this song in year 3 which was a time where I only listened to music that played on the radio in my mum's car as well as the cd's she listened to. I hadn't developed my own music taste and knew nothing about music videos. This was the first music video I had ever seen and the first time I found YouTube. I loved the song as it was so popular and known at the time and all my friends used to sing and dance to it. The sexualising of Shakira's body and that of women in general had an impact on me, I remember thinking it was really mature and strange, I didn't really understand the lyrics either but still listened to it because it was catchy.

Early teens

R U Mine - Arctic Monkeys
Throughout secondary school I met friends who had different music tastes and spending time with them and going out to social events shaped and expanded my music tastes. I became interested in rock and indie genres as well as many others. One band which stands out is Arctic monkeys and R U Mine is one of my favourite songs.

Now

Do It Again - Chris Brown ft Pia Mia
This song represents my love of R&B and hip hop pop songs which I've always loved but only recently gotten back into. Chris Brown is one of my favorite hip hop artists at the moment and I particularly like this song because of its music video which features street fashion, beach dance scene and a fast paced editing style.

Myself as a current music consumer
How/where/when I consume music?

• Laying in bed - on my phone with earphones
• Travelling on transport such as the bus and tube - phone with earphones however if it is a car journey I use speakers
• While doing chores - Youtube on laptop or phone/speakers
• Social events e.g. parties/dinners/raves - speakers/DJ/PC

Who I consume music with?

I consume music mainly by myself because I have my own personal playlist I like to listen to on my phone however I do share my music with friends who have similar tastes in genre on public transport or on a car journey. It would likely be without my mum around because she doesn't like listening to trending mainstream music.

Why I listen to music?

• Mostly when I'm on transport I have a bit of thinking time so I like to sort out my thoughts or daydream while listening to music - it sets a nice mood for me personally and is a form of escapism.
• It's fun and nice getting ready to music before going out as it sets an upbeat/groovy atmosphere. It can be relaxing for early mornings or it livens up my afternoons and evenings
• I also listen to music for personal identity as some singers are role models to me whether in fashion or attitude and I like to watch their music videos for inspiration which sticks in my mind if I just listen to the song again.

R+P Post 1: My A2 group

For my A2 music video project I will be working with Thakshana Yogeswaran(9179), Monica Aghadiuno (9365) and Godgift Emesi (9044).
(from left to right)

Being in a group of four means the group is nicely balanced with an even number of opinions on everything. We are all very individual, creative and have our own strengths.


Strengths

• we're committed and enthusiastic
• we're team players
• we all have vision and like to come up with and discuss our ideas even if they're not similar
• though we may disagree on ideas we all talk it out and come to a decision
• Gift is a dancer and good at coordinating outfits
• Monica is great at camera work and visualising scenes for songs
• Thakshana is very practical and arty with abstract concepts and camerwork
• I'm good at visualising the look of the music video and stage set-ups

Our plans
We plan to have frequent meetings every week with definite set meetings on Mondays and Fridays. This gives us four days to do anything we decided to on Monday and the weekend to think about what we've discussed on Friday in order to feedback on Monday.
If we find we're falling behind we have Tuesday till Thursday to decide on any emergency meetings.
We plan to set up a group chat on Whatsapp to update each other on decisions, meetings and to generally work on our project as a team. Having this group chat has proved very useful so far as we all use social media everyday. We remind group members of anything they've forgotten and ask each other for opinions on things like songs and video effects. It's a very easy and efficient app to use.