record label: the decision

we chose Atlantic Records as they seemed to have less big artists, which means they would have time to develop the ones they do have.

Atlantic Records' parent company is Warner Music Group, whom are widely seen as the second biggest record label in the world and are constantly in contention with the other major labels: Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and EMI who prior to late 2011 would be regarded as one of the major labels.

Atlantic Records is an American label founded in 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. It was in 1967 that Warner became their parent company. The label are most famous for being host to many major rock acts over the years such as Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones, and also helping the evolution of African-American music, as they held such talents as Ben E. King (best known for 'Stand By Me') and Ray Charles (best known for 'Hit The Road, Jack') in the prime of their careers. Currently their most popular artists are of the urban genre, as their website mainly promotes rappers; Wiz Khalifa (similar style to our artist) and T.I as well as RnB star Trey Songz. With such a convincing range of talent we were sure that Iceburg would fit in nicely at Atlantic records.

label research

After the creation of Iceburg it was time to find an appropriate label to enter talks with about possible promotion and this meant going into depth on searching for the right label. As the rap hybrid genre was becoming more popular it was a good idea to start looking at some of the more commercial labels that would possibly sign him.

The label we looked at was 'Atlantic Records' because of its success and fame for producing successful artists's such as 'Wiz Khalifa' and 'Lupe Fiasco'. "Over its first 20 years of operation Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most important American independent recording labels, specializing in jazz, R&B and soul recordings by African-American artists, " With credentials such as these and with their market expanding to the UK this seemed like a sensible label to use for the purpose of this task. As Lupe Fiasco showed with his debut album it was possible to mix the idea of rap with rock beats, The potential was spotted and Atlantic records chose to distribute this artist's music and with Iceburg being of a similar mould in a generally new market this gave him the opportunity to follow a similar pathway.

As Atlantic Records is a predominantly American label with UK links we thought it would make sense to look at other labels closer to home. This lead to the attraction of 'Island Records' which "is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group. The label now operates as a division of The Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the United States (where it is now a largely rock-oriented label, much like in its heyday) and as a standalone label in the United Kingdom (also known as Island Records Group or Universal Island).Since 2007, there is also a frontline local artist and repertoire label in Australia known as Island Records Australia, run by Universal Music Australia. Island Records was also the founding company behind the highly influential Anime licensor Manga Entertainment, which has changed hands numerous times during the 90's and early 2000's" and  has a more recent record of producing UK artists. With success stories such as 'Rizzle Kicks' on their books this was the logical path if we were to try and tackle the UK market. However as it was a rock based label we were not sure that it would such a great idea. This was still a possibility however. 

The avenue of looking at a UK grime label was also explored as the new interest and commercialisation of this genre meant that the market was fast growing and contained our target audience. With Wiley and Skepta becoming growingly popular the idea of singing with 'Boy Better Know' became more appetising. "The band and label were established by Jamie Adenuga (born 4 May 1985). "Boy Better Know" is a registered trademark, clothing line and Boy Better Know sim cards.In 2008, they pioneered a short-lived dance fad called the "Rolex Sweep" which accompanied the song of the same name by Skepta. The song and dance was later referenced by Chris Martin of Coldplay during a rendition of "In My Place" at Brixton Academy". With an advertising plan and commodity ideas already in place this label had a strong appeal as with a pioneering label in place this made a strong point for being considered as being a debut artist on a label surrounded by newly found success the fan base would have already been in place. This could have been a risky move as the general hype around the label could have died quickly and this would mean our artist would have a limited opportunity and may not make it. Similarly Professor Green's first record contract fell through when the label went bust meaning he could not legally release anything that he recorded with them and had to start his career effectively from scratch.

All three of these labels made a strong point for consideration which we would late have to address for our artist's journey to progress. 

 

Vernallis analysis

Narrative:
The video is half performance based and half narrative.
The video starts off by showing off a boy who is lying on his bed thinking about his life while Kelly sits in the closet narrating his life It cuts between The boy's past experience of being bullied at school and Kelly sitting in various locations around school saying what he wished people knew about him before he has to make people notice. It shows how being quiet has had an effect because "good to get attention" and after the abuse he has seen his mother suffer decides he can no longer take the pressure and commits suicide to that every knows his name after being on "prime time news".


During the second verse of the song it shows the reaction from the kids in school who that Kelly has given a voice to cutting between between her performance performing and their emotional response and the past were he was bullied. The parts of the boy's story are shown from his perspective so that the audience can understand why it has caused him so much anguish.During the second verse of the song it still cuts between Eminem performing and parts of B Rabbit from the movie. The parts Kelly Rowland show empathy for the people she is singing for because throughout she is on the outside of the large groups or is in plain view to the audience but invisible to those around her. It looks as though she is in the same situation and does not want to be identified with those who shunned the boy towards suicide.

The performance given is quite indirect as it is almost as though she is simply recollecting instead of performing to camera through the majority of the video. however there are scenes were Kelly becomes more direct and shows real emotion in her performance as there is a part in the last chorus when she starts to cry while singing.

There is a clear link between visuals and audio as when she reaches the lyrics "the chords on his guitar" she begins to start playing an air guitar and a random electric guitar is introduced to the track.

Diagesis:

We are made aware of what has happened as the video develops, and the video only becomes clear to those who have knowledge of the tragedy that actually took place which Kelly Rowland wrote her song about. As the song is a report rather than a standard pop song not a lot of information is given straight away to the audience in a jumbled sense before it is slowly unravelled by the lyrics that eventually match the visuals.

magazine ad

the colour scheme of the background reflkects the mood of the album. As black and White is a emotional rap album the greyscale effect suits the advert which is showing the sincere sign of the artist. The centre of the picture is Wretch 32 in a thoughtful pose; this is to echoe the emotion that he is trying to convey through his music in such tracks as 'Don't go'.  The font for this advert is very basic so to not distract from the artist and follow his simplistic approach.

Questionnaire

Questionnaire

The questionnaire that was composed in order to develop a better knowledge of our target audience so that possible ideas of an artist and initial planning could be progressed.

1. Select your gender
Male     Female

2. Select your age
13-15     16-18     19-21     22+

3. Name your favourite 3 artists/bands?

4. Which artist would you be MOST LIKELY to listen to based on genre and style?
Arctic Monkeys     Rihanna     Foo Fighters     Olly Murs     JLS     50 Cent     None

5. How would you define your favourite music genre?

6. Is there a particular sub-genre which you like more than other elements of the above genre?

7. What appeals to you about this genre/sub-genre?
Lyrics     Beats/Instruments     Fashion     Culture     It's popular

8. Which music channels do you watch regularly?
I don't have/watch music channels     MTV Hits     MTV Base     MTV Rock     MTV Dance          MTV Classics  

9. How do you consume music?
Free downloads     Purchasing physical CDs     Getting free CDs from festivals                            Online Purchase and Download (iTunes etc)

10. How much would you estimate that you spend on music in an average year?
Nothing     Less than £15     £16-30     £31-45     £46-70     £71-£100     £100-150     £151-300     £301-500     £500-1000     Over £1000

album art research

This album cover shows the artist; Chipmunk as this promotes his image. The artist's name is clearly visible along with the name of the album. He chooses to show his tattoos in the picture quite clearly as they may tell his story. The inclusion of his tattoos seems to be loosely linked to the album title as he has changed his style and sound from his first album 'I Am Chipmunk'.

This album by The Streets shows Mike Skinner, the main artist standing alone at a bus stop. The scene is something that would be seen in everyday life, which represents the album's content as he raps about daily activities and thoughts. The fact that he is standing alone also represents the album's content as it tells a story of his trust issues and how at one point he feels betrayed by all his friends and feels alone.

Ed Sheeran's album cover is simple like his music in he uses minimal instruments to put more emphasis on his lyrics. The cover is picture of his face as he is clearly recognizable as he is a newly established singer. Instead of the album title 'Plus' he has the symbol to represent his unorthodox style and varied style. The picture is tinted orange to typify his ginger hair.

 

The album 'Black And White' by Wretch 32 shows the artist centred. the name and album title are clearly visible. The concept of the cover match the album title as the colour has been removed so that it is 'Black and white'. The artist is wearing traditional 'urban' clothing with the fashionable scarf and varsity jacket his swagger reflects that of his music which is hip hop based.

director research

Copy of Spike Jonze: music director on Prezi

development of music star:chris brown

Chris Brown is artist who has developed his style over the years from main stream RnB to more generic underground sounds such as hip hop dance widening his genre range.

When his debut single run it came out he was known as sweet boy with great talent as his early videos such as 'Yo' included interaction with the ladies and b boy dance moves. He established himself as performance based artist with his videos being recognised for the slick choreograhy.

 When chris brown began to develop his sound he started collaborating with artists such as Chris Brown and his inconic symbol became his swagger. He chose to wear varsity jackets and big trainers which werealways noticable and this would be expected to seen in his videos  such as 'Kiss Kiss'  and 'Wall to wall' this was before the more drastic developments and he was still recognised for his dance  ability.

After the scandal involving Rhianna Chris looked to re-invent himself as an artist and this meant changing his style. Although he had collaborated with rappers before he always chose to sing, when he released champion with chipmunk it was clear he had developed his new style. Covered in tatoos and wearing more hip hop clothes it seemed as though the sweet boy image had disappeared.

This underlined the transformation of his ocnography as he is still recognised for his amazing dance moves, like michael Jackson he seems to have re-invented himself and his style with every album but still has his trademark motifs.

potential music track

WU LYF

WU LYF: World Unite! Lucifer Youth Foundation fact file

-album title : go tell fire to the mountain

- genre : none

 - Artists : jeau, lung ,elle jaie , Evanse

- record label : None

 review-

Short for World Unite, Lucifer Youth Foundation, Manchester newcomers WU LYF matched their loftily absurd moniker by recording this debut in a church and refusing to sign to any label, preferring to go it alone.

The results are epic, confounding, but undeniably beautiful. Ellery Roberts’ hoary half-shout bristles against mellow church organ and jangling, Vampire Weekend-ish guitar on We Bros, which is recorded with dreamy, distant echoes reminiscent of early Verve.

Deciphering the lyrics is no mean feat, but his shamanics are more percussive backing than philosophical doctrine, adding to the thickly layered, wilful wanderlust of the melodies and signatures, such as Spitting Blood.

You won’t hear them on Capital Radio – but this record is full of compelling ideas and music well worth digging your teeth into.

The lineup: Jeau, Lung, Elle Jaie and Evanse.

The background: Oh, to be baffled in this digital day and age, when so little is left to the imagination. Even writing about brand new bands you find that, more often than not, everything is spelled out at the first possible opportunity, which makes the joy of discovering something unformed and obscure that much harder. It must be harder still for the bands to retain any mystique or reveal themselves slowly over time. To keep out of the spotlight completely is virtually impossible. All credit to Wu Lyf, then, because even in this overlit environment they are proving difficult to decipher, to get a fix on, which makes us very happy indeed. They're baffling.

They're from Manchester, and they're not signed, we know that, although their gigs have for a while now been attracting a lot of A&R attention. The only photographs we've seen of them show them standing in front of a purple haze of smoke, their faces covered by white handkerchiefs, like they're a terrorist cell or something. In one photo there are six of them, in another there are 10, while their website – theirMySpace is so unfathomable it's literally useless – names four individuals. So far, so confusing.