Music Marketing Part 1

 Hey hey hey!!

Most recently in my media course, we have started a music marketing/brand development project. The project consists of collecting a range of information relating to a music genre, in my group’s case, Bluegrass, and applying it to a music marketing portfolio and music video to promote the song we choose. 

The first thing we got started on was the research. Immediately after we got our genre, Bluegrass, we began to investigate some record labels that have become home to bluegrass artists, and began with our case studies! Between my group of four, a pair of us took over RCA records and another pair took over Rounder Records, and we all individually investigated the top artists and their marketing techniques, from what digital platforms they used to how they brand themselves, in order to start off our dive into the genre, the right way. 

The next thing we got working on was the music video, what we thought was what the most tedious part, as it would tie in the rest together, we believe is the most creative part of the project. We started off by storyboarding our idea, but before that, we started brainstorming our ideas and putting it on paper, or on a google doc to be more specific. Let me attatch it so you get what I mean.

Through this spilling of words, we were able to have a place to bounce ideas of an eventually reach a more final version of a storyboard. 

As of now, we are working on the presentation/marketing pitch. This has become the most tedious part, because we have come to realize that there is a reason behind every detail, even the most minimal one, behind the marketing and artistic choices of everything in the music industry. Even with the research and the music video part almost down, which did help us, this presentation has been probably the most meticulous and thought out thing we all have done in a while, as it requires even more research and well-thought out organization to make everything align harmoniously. The next step in this step, is to create tactics, a brand, and campaign that perfectly captures the essence of our artist (no pressure right?)

I’ll most definitely update through the course of what we get done on this blog, so stay tuned!

Semester One Reflection

             She’s Back! Here’s my reflection on what my media class has taught me this past semester!!

Once I found out that this media studies class existed and was available for me to take, I was ready for the new year to roll in so that I finally put one of my passions to work. This past semester I’ve expanded my knowledge inmensley about the media and what it consists of. I was able to understand the “why” behind certain moves or strategies of production companies, everything from the shots and angles to the marketing of the content. Due to that close investigation of the media, I feel like this past semester I was able to strengthen my capacity of analyzing, not just in media but in general. Although it may ruin a movie for me, having that capacity to analyze and break down the reasoning behind everything, has become a skill that I truly can see helping me out in anything I set my mind to.

A skill I need to further develop in, is the ability to properly condense, analyze, and output the content I have just consumed. Yes, I may have talked about how I have learned and love the ability to analyze, but sometimes, even when I watch content that does not require me to do an analysis, I can sense the importance and significance of a scene, but I do not know what are the relevant takeaways for me to fully appreciate the content that I am watching. If I were to learn how to compartmentalize and organize the constant and numerous significant pieces that add up to make that content I am watching, I would better digest and truly understand what it is that I am taking in.

As of my film pitch project, I thought my group and I did excellent. We were truly satisfied with what we were able to bring up. What we did need to improve was our creative side. Although you can’t really practice or perfect creativity, I felt that we needed to roam around the genre we were going for, romantic comedies, in order to boost any possibility of a different idea or approach that was needed within these films. Something we learned was not only how to organize a project and focus on what is necessary, but also the components and formulas that make a genre work the way they do. As per romantic comedies, as well as the other genres we learned about during that time, there are elements or even whole formulas that signal to an audience what it is that they are going in to. For example, for our genre, you typically need a character a and b, some type of conflict, and a resolution. With these elements, audiences will be able to get the “gist” of what message us creators want to convey. I personally thought that that part of creating was absolutely great and can see myself lining up those pieces to create something bigger in future projects.