Emma is traditionally the role of a music manager who looks after artists, she is in publishing music which involves publishing music, she is a writer for music. Emma herself started as a singer in broadway and Westend which led her into this area. She has written for many artists such as Gary Barlow, blue, Craig David. She then had a opportunity to work in TV for SYCO records which is Simon Cowell's music record. She worked closely with Simon Cowell on all his shows (AGT, BGT, X-Factor) being a vocal coach and scouter as well. Emma does not just focus in one area she has a wide variety of artists her career is very diverse.
There is less opportunity as labels are looking for the artists following number. So they tend to invest money into influencers and singers who already have a platform. As artists can distribute their music on media so easily. Because any singers can do that meaning any singer has access to releasing someone else's song. Which is annoying for music management when they need to ask for rights and permission to use their songs.
After 100 million streams you make £5,000 who goes to the song writer or owner of the song.
After a new artist like someone on Tik Tok/instagram/YouTube goes viral all their other released songs which were not that successful increases in streams meaning they make a bit more and awareness for the artist rises.
Her company builds strategies. The wisest way to go about this is publishing having a smart input.
When she worked on X factor she would scout people based on their stage presence, how the crowd reacts, their social media meaning their following, and then the voice, however the record label likes a singer with no fans almost as a challenge.
An Example of how quickly media can help artists
Emma has worked with Corinne Bailey Rae the singer of 'Put your records on'. This is a 2006 hit she was announced as the number one breakthrough act.
Streaming; 374 million/whereas Ritt Mooney streaming is 274 million
This is Ritt Momney's cover of her song. Before posting this he contacted Emma's management company to ask for permission to use the song. Then a famous Tik Toker went on to post a makeup tutorial with this song in the background. This caused Ritt Mooney to get a record label after posting this and a huge recognition adding to his following. This also helped Ritt to gain some more recognition for his other songs which were not as popular as this hit.
Short term artists: In the music industry there is short term artists were they have hit singles, bringing in short term money. Then there are album singers were they are guaranteed to do well making constant good songs knowing they will always do well.
How the pandemic effected the music industry: During the pandemic Emma has found it hard as festivals are key for upcoming artists, ad artists have had to learn how to do things at home eg recording, song writing. She has found it really difficult as she has had to be on her phone constantly especially with working with different time zones.
Are Vinyls still relevant: Emma says that physical copies are relevant in different countries, but thinks that it is nice to have a physical element to it. Specifically in England it is not popular whereas in Asia physical copies are more popular than digital streaming.
Are music videos still relevant: In terms of music videos it is seen quite important for labels to have a music video. The high budget music videos are not that important. And now because of instagram longer videos and snapchat gives artists access to posting it on their social media. There is also lots of money in making a music video and Emma thinks they are getting more popular as people enjoy watching artists. Artists also enjoy making music videos so they want to do it. However music videos are not as important as they do not boost sales like they used to.
Childish Gambino is the musical stage name of American actor, rapper, comedian, writer and producer
As Donald Glover, he has a number of mainstream Hollywood movie credits, including playing the young Lando Carlissian in 'solo: A Star Wars Story'. He is also the voice of Simba in 'The Lion King' remake.
Glover is also known as a successful TV work in the US and is double Emmy and double Golden Globe winner for 'Atlanta', a show he created and stars in.
Linking back to Richards Dyers star theory Donald Glover is an example of someone who crosses lots of different types of media. (wide exposure) similar to Elvis as they both appreciated the benefits of wide exposure, live and televised music appearances, acting roles, interviews, music videos etc.
Background information
This is America was released in the US on the 5th May, 2018 to coincide with Donald Glover hosting 'Saturday Night Live' one of America's best known TV shows.
In terms of genre, it is hip hop with very deliberate elements of Afrobeat.
The song's release was not previously announced but instead appeared online while Glover was on one of Americas most popular TV shows were he was promoting a film he starred in.
Textual Analysis Of Music Video
What is it saying about
Race: Shows how people are treated in America. That it happens to everyone even religious people
Gun culture: That it is common, whenever you think it is fine someone dies but then it gets back to normal as it is the norm. That people should not have a gun
The police
There is a social media element to it using recent viral dancing. HIs dancing almost distracts the viewers from the violence happening in the background.
- The police objective is to not harm white people but target black people
- suggests that getting gun and machine guys are so accessible
- Him being shirtless shows he is vulnerable as well
- he suggests we are a self obbssed society who care to much about what we look like through the lyrics and the clip of the kids watching down on him filming.
- The kids are very present in the video, his point with this is meant to indicate that kids today are growing up around this environment. Where they have to ride their bikes to school through riots or just filming what happening.
- The mise en scene represents being in a deserted industrial warehouse is a comment what's happened to society that we do not make anything anymore
- wrapped in a red cloth the gun which shows that the gun is worth more then anything else. It is representative of guns being treated with care and priority this contrasts with black lives.
- lots of elements relate back to African heritage (the school uniform, being quite traditional colours style as Americans do not normally have uniform, the dance moves from Africa.)
- The long 17 second pause in the song is respect for the 17 victims of the February shooting at a school in Florida.
- As well as all the cars being empty if you look closely all the cars doors are open. So as well as representing the job loss with the new cars it could potentially represent the black drivers who are asked to get out of their cars by police and shot
- The cars could gives you this impression of a stalled economic mobility of many black Americans.
- The kids filming could hold lots of meanings (Stephon clark who was shot dead because they thought he had a gun but was only a phone)
Childish Gambino "This is America" music video tackles many issues from the past and the present. Including powerful imagery about gun violence, race, heritage, police brutality and this is done both subtly and extremely obvious. 'This is America' was released in the US on the 5th of May 2018. The songs release was not previously announced but instead appeared online while Glover was one one of America's most popular TV shows, were he was in fact promoting a film he stared in. In terms of genre, it is hip hop with very deliberate elements of Afrobeat. Glovers intentions with this song was to create it as an anthem for the fourth of July.
The video touches heavily on gun culture and how society has changed. The music video is set entirely in a warehouse which could be interpreted as the country's foundation, built on systematic white supremacy and oppression. Although at the start it may look cheerful through the facial expressions and the guitarist playing an up beat tune. It then drastically shifts into an aggressive tone, after Glover shoots the guitarist. Our attention is on Glover as he is singing but when he shoots the guitarist our eyes follow the bullet to the guitarists head were you see he is covered in a white bag. This idea of him dying in a white bag links back to lynching. After Glover shoots the guitarist the gun is hurried away by a school kid wrapping it in a red cloth. The colour red itself symbolises life, anger and war but using it to take away the gun after it being used is a reference to Americans willingness to protect gun rights over people. It also suggests that guns are being treated with care and priority over people, as whilst this is happening the dead body lays still in the frame, this is to contrast with guns and black lives. The act of Glover giving the gun to the school kid suggest how giving guns to children is normalised nowadays.
Through out the video Glover dances with the school children whilst all this chaos is happening around them. The school children are wearing this traditional school uniform relating back to African heritage. This idea of the school children dancing and enjoying their life despite their surroundings and how they are not bothered by it shows how children in society have grown up today. The dancing is a way of distracting the viewers from what is really going. Shaking the frame distorts and blurs the background making viewers miss what is really going on. Allowing us to focus on Glover doing these viral dances. This suggests that entertainment media is served as a distraction from the bigger issue at hand. Later on in the video Glover uses the lyrics "I'm so pretty" which links to this idea that we are a self obsessed society who care too much about what we look like when we should be worrying about peoples lives. During all the violence going on around Glover he remains shirtless which symbolises this idea that everyone is vulnerable even him and that he feels threatened.
During the video there are multiple references to real events and people such as the Charleston massacre, Jim Crow and the first horseman of the apocalypse. However a more subtle reference is the the long seventeen second pause in the song, is Glover paying his respect for the seventeen victims of the February shooting at a school in Florida. All of the previous references show how mass shootings and shootings are normalised today even if you are religious, it is now the norm. However with his seventeen second pause for respect almost shows viewers they should pay their respect. In the video as well there is a suicide during a moment when the school children are dancing and people are running around but the fact that nothing happens and everyone carries on suggests again how it is normalised and that Glover is touching on mental health issues that the black community face because of all this violence they are surrounded by. The fact that you do not really see it shows that it is not looked upon and is now not seen as a big issue.
Towards the end of the video Glover is in the same location but surrounded with cars. They are not cars which you would typically see in a music video they are old 90 era cars. This potentially could have a few different meanings. One could be the relation to job loss or possibly linking to a stalled economic mobility of many black Americans. I also think that it could be a reference to deaths, as if you look closely the cars are all empty and in America it is very common for black drivers to be shot outside their car. In this scene SZA an American singer features by sitting on top of one of the cars. Many fans were suggesting that her hairstyle looked very similar to Liberty and SZA then went on to post a picture on her instagram with the caption 'Liberty.' this implies that she is the American dream.
The final segment in this music video is a shot of Glover running away from the police. The interesting idea behind this is that he is running away from smoking not because he shot all those people. This brings in this idea that people are sent to prison for drugs over murder. The scene of him running away has brought in many parallels to the film 'Get out' and when the car scene starts to zoom out it links to the sunken place. Making the viewers realise they have been watching everything from the sunken place from get out.
This is Rex Orange County an upcoming artist who is from Surrey and this is his first music video released. This is quite different to most music videos which I find quite intriguing and made me want to carry on listening to this artist. From this video you get this idea that his style of music is quite chilled and relaxed this is clear through the use of rhythm, lyrics and the visuals. Through this music video I get the impression that the record label was trying to portray this unique quite cool style by using stop animation and claymation in their video. Doing this allows us to focus on the music as not much is happening in the video it also means we listen to this artist not taking into consideration what he looks like which might effect someones opinion about him.
Album cover - Loving is easy
This is Rex orange county's second single released shortly after the 1st single. He has titled it 'Loving is easy" which is the title of the song. Doing this is effective as at the time not many people would recognise his name Rex Orange County but will be familiar with the song "loving is easy".
The cover and the music video is a snap shot of the music video showing the clay figure of him. This is a very different approach for an album cover especially one of the first album covers. Although doing this shows Rex orange county's as unique and quite rule free approach to style which translates into the visuals. In this video although it is clay you get the feeling that Rex Orange County is a very down to earth singer as the clay figures are in a sitting room playing a keyboard and guitar.
First album released on Soundcloud
This is Rex Orange County's song Bcos U will never B free. This was his first album released on Soundcloud he did not release a music video at the time but later on released a music video for all three songs on the album after getting some recognition. This picture for the album cover is Cleary taken by himself of just him sitting holding his cat. He has then changed the hue and saturation to give of this very green effect making it stand out a bit more. There is no titles of his name/song/album which is not a very good approach for a first album cover release but it does have him in. However he only released this on Soundcloud not expecting for it to get as much recognition as it did.
- A link between the lyrics and the visuals (either metaphorically, symbolically or literally)
lewis Capaldi - someone you loved. This music video links the lyrics to the visuals very literally as he sings about needing the person he lost and we see the person he looses at the start.
- A link between the music and the visuals (visuals reflect the pace, rhythm and atmosphere of the music)
Hozier - From eden. This music video reflects the atmosphere it is very chilled and quite calming which this video shows with clips of them in a car very happy.
- Reflect the common features of the genre of music (stereotypes involved)
Mika ft Ariana Grande - Popular. This music video shows lots of stereotypes of a pop music video as it hols a narrative based in high school so the audience can almost relate to the artists.
- Use of intertextual references (referring text which is in another. Using scenes from films, tv scenes, other music videos which the audience will be familiar, will make you feel clever when you notice it)
Iggy azalea - Fancy. This music video is almost a recreation of the film clueless which is very popular for Iggy azaleas audience doing this also brings in fans of the film clueless.
- Notions of looking and voyeurism
Dua lippa - levitating. This music video focuses on the artist encouraging the audience to look at them and see them as entertainment use by wearing revealing clothes.
- Reflective of the record label. Could reflect issues such as the records labels financial status, power/connections, other signed artists, global location, target audience.
Florence and the machine - Kiss with a fist. This is a music video which reflects the record labels financial status as they use one crop and two rooms.
- Star image is a key focus.
Megahn Trainer - me too. This music video is focused completely on the artist using multiple close ups.
- Three main types of music videos either performance which involves the band performing the song normally playing instruments. Then there is narrative which is story based music video. Then concept based which is less common possibly abstract
1. performance - Bombay bicycle club - always like this. This is a series of shots of the bad performing in different locations and using different cameras.
2. narrative - Disclosure- La La La. A more subtle narrative but hinting at the film wizard of Oz. Which is concerning a deaf boy who fled from his abusive home finding a stray dog that accompanies him and he comes across lots of people.
3. Concept - Jaimie xx Gosh, Radar detector Darwin deez both abstract music videos but the first holds lots of meaning and concept to it whereas radar detector is very abstract and fun. These are two similar types of music videos but yet completely different.
There are three main parts to Richard Dyers Star theory that he believes makes a star.
1. Star is a construction. Richard Dyer states that the star is a construction and not a real person. They are constructed through advertising, music videos, magazines.
2. The star is a commodity. This is the selling the image to the target audience this involves attracting people purely on how their image is.
3. The star as an ideology. This is what the band represent and stand for which helps reach a larger audience.
Common values of stardom
- Youthfulness
- Rebellion
- Sexual magnetism
- Anger/aggression
- Originality
- Creativity/talent
- Explicit about drugs and sex
- Success against the odds
The artists are sold to us the audience and convince us that they are so much different to the rest of us. They are the product and almost fake. The record labels take some of their personality traits and use it as part of a marketing technique to sell them.
People also want to relate to artists so artists needs to show an ordinary side to them so artists need to have two sides of them. This stops us from getting sick of them. For example Beyonce will post a picture of her in a massive gown in which people will look up to her but then she will post a picture of her on her PJ's eating which helps the audience relate to them.
Iconic imagery- This is a selling point for an artist. Something to make you think of the artist when you see something which is associated with the artist. It is something they always use or wear for example flash from guns and roses always wears his top hat, that is his selling point it helps the band be iconic.
Spice girls is the perfect example as a group which holds a very iconic imagery. Their individual styles each our very iconic and recognisable to their audience. Doing this encourages girls to have their own style. They are also seen as very empowering how it is an all female group pf friends. Which most girls will want to have a group of friends and to be famous.
Social media has developed into one of the main marketing strategies for anything like films products business music. It is an easy way to promote things as it is free and so easy to target bigger audiences. Using social media also helps businesses to engage with their customers and receiving feedback which is very beneficial as you can find out what people are saying about your work. Allowing you to enhance your business and bringing in new helpful ideas to improve. Using social media is also extremely helpful as you can spread your brand globally.
Using social media there are three points which help you create a successful social media market. I created three examples using this strategy.
1. Engagement
This is what I posted to engage my audience. I thought it would engage my audience as I used very bold
colours which really stand out, especially how they are placed on top of a black and white photograph. As well as the colours I thought this picture is not the typical picture you would come across on instagram so it makes people want to look at it to try work out what they are looking at. And having only half a head I feel is intriguing especially for an artist as you are unaware what they fully look-like making the audience curious.
2. Tell the story
This is what I posted referring to "tell a story" this is meant to include behind the scenes footage things
which feel exclusive. This allows the audience to remain engaged and want to know more. It also shows into the artists life and what they get up too. Which is what some people want to know. With this post I simply captioned it "behind the scenes of us printing the album covers" This shows the artist is putting in effort and almost an insight in on their life.
3. Promote
For promotion this is pretty much advertising but trying to do it subtly so the audience does not feel like
they are being shown an ad. To do this I posted a picture of a dress which is very bright and colourful.
Using a bright colourful dress makes you look so boosting awareness. I showed what is being advertised at an event so it looks like the artist wants to wear it which will make the audience also want it. I then captioned the post "our new artist wearing the brand new clothing line, very limited stock get there quick" saying there is limited stock makes it feel exclusive.
