Marketing Notes

MARKETING 

PARTCIPATIONS.ORG

 New media have changed the relationship between the recording industry and fans. The fact is that networked technologies allow fans to share copyrighted music in peer-to-peer (p2p) networks and Web 2.0 platforms. Major labels and their representatives have reacted mainly with ‘prohibitionist’ strategies. They identified file-sharing as the cause of the recording industry’s crisis and labelled file-sharers as ‘digital pirates’. However the Internet could be a challenge to create new business models. First, e-commerce allows the creation of new markets, and the reduction of the cost of storage and distribution. Second, synergies between producers and consumers could emerge. In fact, fans are not just ‘pirates’, but also promoters and co-creators.  

Cultural scholars argue that the industry should adopt a ‘collaborationist’ approach to create an ‘affective economy’ (Condry, 2004; Jenkins, 2006a; Varnelis, 2008). In an affective economy audiences are not passive consumers, but are active, emotionally engaged and socially networked users who cooperate with producers and musicians in the promotion of media contents. Empirical research has demonstrated that both indie labels and pop artists can benefit from ‘fan labor’ (Beer, 2008; Baym & Burnett, 2009; Yang, 2009). 

New media have changed the way cultural industries produce, distribute and promote cultural goods. Since the mid-nineteenth century cultural production has taken on an industrial model due to the high capital investment required to produce and distribute music, movies, radio and TV programs. Cultural industries are characterized by a high cost of production and a low cost of reproduction. Because of that, Hollywood, the broadcasting system and the recording industry have all invested large sums in the production of a small number of high value cultural goods with the aim of maximizing their audience. However, since audiences use media contents in highly unpredictable ways, producers tend to minimize the damages of the unsuccessful productions by formatting their contents in three main ways: through the ‘star system’ (i.e., associating the name of star writers and performers to the texts), through ‘genres’ (i.e., associating labels to the products such as ‘horror film’ or ‘hip hop album’ to suggest the kind of pleasure that audience can gain from the consumption), and through ‘serials’ (e.g., TV series, hit list albums) (Hesmondhalgh, 2007). 

In the new millennium, the rise of networked digital technologies is enabling a decentralization of the production and distribution of cultural goods (Benkler, 2006). In fact, digital technologies such as recording devices (e.g., the digital camera), digital editing tools (e.g., GarageBand), p2p networks and Web 2.0 applications (e.g., social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and content sharing sites such as YouTube) allow people to record, store, copy, edit and distribute media files via the Internet at low cost. On the one hand the Internet is thus a new opportunity for industries to create new markets. But at the same time consumers have access to distribution platforms that are no longer exclusively controlled by cultural industries.

Web 2.0 applications -  free services that create an ‘architecture of participation’ where users share multimedia content and connect with each other. 

Web 2.0 fosters ‘media participatory cultures’ that emerged online (Jenkins, 2006a; Varnelis, 2008).

Affective economics has both positive and negative implications: allowing advertisers to tap the power of collective intelligence and direct it toward their own ends, but at the same time allowing consumers to form their own kind of collective bargaining structure that they can use to challenge corporate decision (Jenkins, 2006a, p. 63). 

With the aim of describing how cultural industries are reacting to the challenge of the new media, this focus' on the recording industry because this sector has been faced with these digitalization and decentralisation processes since the mid-1990s. While digital books need a device that allows an easy reading (such as the e-book) and movies need a broadband connection for distribution, the technologies of the Nineties were already enough to disrupt the way music was distributed and listened before then. 

MUSIC THINK TANK 

Connecting with fans is imperative in today’s music industry. It’s that connection that can give them a reason to buy and support your music. Utilizing social media and having a strong online presence makes connecting with fans much more achievable. Below are some good case studies of bands that found success through an online campaign. I encourage musicians to review these examples and pay attention to the elements that made them successful. Then think about how to implement those strategies into your own marketing plans.

1) Arcade Fire – Interactive Music Video Using Google Street View

Arcade Fire utilized HTML5 to create an interactive music video for “We Used to Wait.”Users are prompted to enter the address of their childhood home at the start of the video. While watching the video, scenes from your old neighborhood are pulled in using Google street view.  The elements of new technology, interactivity, nostalgia, experimentation, and personalization all aided in making this video a huge hit. 

2) Josh Freese – Topspin and Miniature Golf

The one size fits all product days are gone. Having something for the casual fan to the super fan is a great way to be able to sell more and put additional money in your pocket. One way to utilize this method is through Topspin, an online funding platform for artists, musicians, inventors, filmmakers, etc. Josh Freese decided to try out Topspin to help fund an upcoming album. The thing I like about what he did was the creative “product” offerings that fit his personality, including:

• Lunch with him at Cheesecake Factory or PF Chang’s
• A round of miniature golf
• Josh washes your car or does your laundry
• He joins your band for a month
• A private drum lesson
• Take three items out of his closet
• Josh writes a song about you

See the full list of packages and items Josh made available, which ranged from $7-$75,000. Check out Topspin to see how you can use it creatively to fund your next project. Just remember to do something that fits your band’s personality. If you make it the right fit and support it correctly, it can work.

3) Amanda Palmer – Turning the Power of Twitter into $11,000 in 2 Hours

Amanda Palmer is widely known for her social media expertise. Advertising Age said, “Palmer is more sophisticated than almost anyone on the internet — musician, brand or otherwise — when it comes to gathering her audience around her and keeping the conversation going.”

On a boring Friday night, Amanda managed to rake in $11,000 in just two hours. It all started with her tweeting about how she was alone, again, on a Friday night sitting in front of her computer. Others started chiming in and began claiming how “we are all losers.” Dialog continued and grew at a rapid pace. A faux organization was started called, “The Losers of Friday Night on their Computers.” Amanda created the hashtag #LOFNOTC and thousands joined the conversation.

A follower suggested the group create a t-shirt. Amanda quickly decided to run with it. She took a sharpie and made a t-shirt design. A website was thrown up that night with the t-shirts available for $25 a piece. 2 hours later… $11,000.

What can you learn for this example?

• Interact with your followers and don’t just mass broadcast.
• Be personable and share a variety of things with your fans.
• Always be on your toes, ready to act quickly when opportunities arise.

4) Matthew Ebel – Subscription Site for the Super Fan

Boston-based singer Matthew Ebel says 26.3% of his income is from 40 hard core fans. You may recognize his name from articles about his ties to the 1,000 True Fan theory/model. One of the ways Matthew caters to his super fans is through a subscription based website.

The packages range from $5/month to $15/month, as well as annual options.  He offers a wide range of perks are including members-only parties, VIP seating at shows, access to new music as soon as he creates it, new live concert recordings every month, broken apart tracks ready for remixing, behind-the-scene sketches, drafts, and ideas, and many more. View the full list of packages and perks here.

5) The Poison Control Center – Tumblr Tour Blog

The Poison Control Center have an awesome tour blog. The band uses Tumblr, a simple and free blogging platform, to regularly update their fans from the road. After each show they share pictures, videos, and posts about their experiences, even down to thanking the sound guy, door person, bartender, and of course the fans. They do it right by updating frequently, providing a wide variety of content, and always remaining authentic.  

6) Gossip Grows on Trees – Building Your Email List with a Fortune Cookie

Email is one of the best ways to directly reach your fans, but sometimes it can be difficult to grow your subscription list.  Gossip Grows on Trees from North Carolina executed a creative way to gain more email addresses at live shows.

They created a download web page that gave visitors a free music download in exchange for their email. At shows they walked around and handed out custom fortune cookies with the URL of the download page and a short message from the band. This gave the band an opportunity to spark conversation and develop relationships with fans. Plus, a lot more people visited the download page and provided their email address because they were approached in a memorable way.

All of these online music marketing case studies have a common theme of musicians connecting with fans. It isn’t enough to put your music out there and hope people will gravitate towards it. You have to be willing to push it out there and utilizing online mediums is a key element.

THE CREATIVE INDUSTIRES 

One of the biggest social media success stories of the last few years has undoubtedly been the rise to fame of one of the UK music industry’s much-loved exports, One Direction.

The group’s success is also a testament to how, in this digital age, UK record labels have become experts in building fan bases around the world and have embraced social media and placed it at the centre of marketing campaigns to ensure global success.

In 2012 One Direction was the world’s biggest band with an upcoming second album. But generating and satisfying demand from fans around the world is a very real challenge. The boys performed a one-off gig in Madison Square Gardens and turned it into a three-month global adventure called Bring me to 1D that got every One Direction fan and the world’s press buzzing.

Fifty-five 'Go1Den Tickets' promising a “once-in-a-lifetime experience” with the boys in New York were released globally. Each was won in a completely different creative way. The band joined the dots with its constant presence via Facebook, Twitter and the official 1D site, where an interactive Bring Me to 1D map enabled fans to follow what was happening around the world.

Millions of fans took part. Tens of millions engaged.

And the result? One Direction’s site achieved its biggest ever volume of traffic. Facebook likes and Twitter follows doubled and, in the first week of release, Take Me Home, went straight to Number 1 in 32 of the 40 participating countries, flying the flag for British music all over the world.

Genevieve Ampaduh, Head of Digital Marketing at Sony Music, who masterminded One Direction’s social media campaign says: “Social media has changed the face of music marketing forever. The ability for artists to reach out to their potential fans in every corner of the globe in real time is incredibly powerful and cannot be replicated by traditional media.

“Early advocates of an artist have become an extension of the label’s marketing teams and play an invaluable role in breaking artists in their local countries. Empowering super-fans should be a staple of any music marketer’s strategy, as should entertaining fans. Why shouldn’t a marketing campaign be exciting, memorable and fun? It should be. And if it is, fans will stay with you for the journey ahead.”

THE MUSIC INDUSTRY COOKBOOK

There seems to be a divided opinion in the music industry to whether or not it is good to give away music for free.
However, when talking to PR and Marketing professional Gavin Handley from the London based company Resonate Media, he expressed that he personally thought it was a good thing to do, if it was done sparingly and with a specific purpose.


“You can use this concept to collect email addresses, which is very handy. You just need to ascertain what your goal is. Many artists and labels decide to do this just because they can, but you don’t want to end up in a situation where your fan base expects everything you do to be free. Rather, I think you should use the concept sparingly; are you trying to break a new act or are you wanting to collect email addresses, for example. Do it, but just do it with a purpose in mind.”
- Gavin Handley, Resonate Media

They put together a free, bi-annual, compilation that they offer on their Bandcamp page in return for email addresses. The compilation only includes artists from their own roster, and seems to have great promotional value beyond acquiring email addresses.

• It gives music enthusiasts and writers a special reason beyond the music to feature it on their websites as it’s free
• It helps to introduce newly signed artists to a new audience and potentially turning them into fans without the consumer having to take a risk when acquiring the music (since it’s free)
• It can also help promoting back catalogue and help those artists reach a wider audience that might not have heard of the older releases

“We do bi-annual comps through our Bandcamp page, in return for customer email addresses. These are a great way to introduce new artists to our fans and we couldn’t achieve the reach we do with these without digital.”
- Aly Gillani, First Word Records
Bandcamp is a great tool for this exact purpose, and it also enables the label to see real-time statistics with relation to what tracks were streamed or downloaded the most, where the visits to the compilation page came from, what fans have supported it over time and so on.

The Music Business

Many media and music futurists are speculating upon the change within the industry. The introduction and success of social networking along with digital music has transformed and reshaped the way music is marketed to the consumer; shifting from a push to pull strategy. “In media and advertising everything is switching to pull. Push Marketing is on its way out.” There is an imminent difference for the consumer receiving information from a push strategy to a pull strategy. Push example; passive, the marketing campaign is in control of the message being sent out and how it is received by potential customers. Pull example; active, the recipient of the marketing campaign is in control of the message and their decision whether to act or not. “Generally the shift from push to pull has been viewed as a shift in power to the consumer away from advertisers and so is bad news for marketers.”

With the increase of social networking platforms and users, with emphasis to Facebook, social networking has become a major and focal part of music marketing adopting the pull marketing strategy. Pull marketing shifts emphasis and attention onto the customer, the essential attribute is to market in the correct places and know where and who your target audience are. “Get people’s attention by providing value and earn their love by engaging with them. This will naturally lead to increased website traffic and increased sales.”
Consumers are increasingly customizing music platforms to better suit their individual needs. Rather than relying on music companies or a DJ to pre-determine the mix of songs on a CD, an increasing number of music listeners are downloading individual tracks and assembling their own sequence of songs. This process is also being replicated with the creation of playlists through platforms such as iTunes, Spotify and Last FM. Fan-built playlists and mixes are taking over the way people get their music. Playlists are inevitably becoming a pull marketing resource that marketing alliances must embrace, due to their ability to share / be shared via Peer-to-Peer networks. “People are choosing what they want to hear rather than having it pushed on them,” said Dave Kusek
I conclude; as consumers gain access to a greater number of options/platforms and more information about such services, those consumer will become more demanding on resource providers. Requiring services to be made available on consumer terms, when and where they want them, rather than when and where it is convenient for the resource providers to deliver them. In addition, as mentioned above consumers are demanding the ability to configure their own products from resource providers, leading to rapid growth in options and music services. Inevitably, shifting music marketing from push to pull. “As digital music services try out different models and features to try and find the optimum mix and consumer satisfaction.”

PUSH PULL STATEDGY / WIKIPEDIA

The business terms push and pull originated in logistics and supply chain management,but are also widely used in marketing,and is also a term widely used in the hotel distribution business. Wal-Mart is an example of a company that uses the push vs. pull strategy. A push–pull system in business describes the movement of a product or information between two subjects. On markets the consumers usually "pull" the goods or information they demand for their needs, while the offerers or suppliers "push" them toward the consumers. In logistics chains or supply chains the stages are operating normally both in push- and pull-manner. Push production is based on forecast demand and pull production is based on actual or consumed demand. The interface between these stages is called the push–pull boundary or decoupling point. 

Complete Definition 

• PUSH – Node performs order planning for succeeding node. Like stated by Bonney et al. (1999) control information flow is in the same direction of goods flow.
• SEMI PUSH or PUSH-PULL – Succeeding node makes order request for preceding node. Preceding node reacts by replenishing from stock that is rebuilt every fixed period.
• PULL – Succeeding node makes order request for preceding node. Preceding node reacts by producing the order, which involves all internal operations, and replenishes when finished.
• SEMI-PULL or PULL-PUSH – Succeeding node makes order request for preceding node. Preceding node reacts by replenishing from stock that is rebuilt immediately. Note that there are several levels of semi-pull systems as the node can have stock at several layers in the organisation.

  

Sound Analysis

SOUND ANALYSIS 

Diegetic sound - is any sound presented as originated from source within the film's world. Digetic sound can be either on screen or off screen depending on whatever its source is within the frame or outside the frame. Another term for diegetic sound is actual sound Diegesis is a Greek word for "recounted story".

Diegetic sound - Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film: voices of characters. sounds made by objects in the story. music represented as coming from instruments in the story space ( = source music)

 Synchronous sound - is sound that is matched to certain movements occurring in the scene e.g when footsteps correspond to feet walking. Synchronous sound: Synchronous sound can be recorded on a tape or magnetic film.

Hardware and Software Essay

The proliferation of hardware and software in the music industry has led to improvements in production practices.

I agree with this statement for the most part. The proliferation of hardware and software in the music industry has led to improvements in production in practices in many ways. The fact that people can now produce music on laptops at home makes producing music so much faster and easier. Instead of making a point of going out to a studio, people can sit at home and produce music easily, meaning that people can do it in their spare time or as hobby. Due to rapidly advancing technologies, producing music is now quicker and easier than ever before. Like everything else in the world, the proliferation of software and hardware has had both positive and negative effects on the production practices. Whilst one could say that there are mostly positives for this argument, I will demonstrate both sides in my essay.

For starters, perhaps the most obvious factor, hardware and software have made music production easier and faster. These days, people can sit at home in their living room or maybe even their very own make-shift studio, and create a whole new track from scratch. People can sit all day and work on a song from the comfort of their own home, rather than having the trouble of going to a studio and worrying about how much time and money it's costing them. This makes the overall experience faster, cheaper, and worry free. The very fact that we can now sit at home and create a brand new song due to the proliferation of hardware and software, makes the whole overall experience much easier, accessible and universal. It means that for people living in the country in the middle of no where, they no longer have to travel to the closest big town to locate a studio. It means for the people with very busy, hectic lives, who only have an hour to spare here and there, can actually sit at home and do exactly what they love without worrying about whether or not it will fit into their schedule. It means people can whip out their laptop on the train and edit a bit more of their new song on their daily commute to work. The proliferation hardware and software in the music industry has made all of this possible, and I feel like that is remarkable.

The increase of options and technological advancements may not always be a good thing however.
Sander Klienenberg, electronic producer and performer says "Technological advancements have opened doors but it has also made it difficult for producers because there are so many options thrown at you" These days there are so many options and paths to go down its almost overwhelming and in more ways that one, simply confusing. All these new advancements in technologies have complicated the industry and made it hard for producers to decide what path to go down.

The internet has been a huge contributing factor to the advancements of hardware's and software's as the internet is the birth place for all the latest gadgets. The internet is used my billions of people worldwide every day and the more people that use the internet to discover new music production technologies, the more this industry will grow. The creation of programmes such as MIDI has led to a further increase in this particular industry. MIDI, which stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, is a protocol designed for recording and playing back music on digital synthesizers that is supported by many makes of personal computer sound cards. It was originally intended to control one keyboard from another, it was quickly adopted for the personal computer. Rather than representing musical sound directly, it transmits information about how music is produced. The command set includes note-ons, note-offs, key velocity, pitch bend and other methods of controlling a synthesizer. The sound waves produced are those already stored in a wavelength in the receiving instrument or sound card.

In conclusion, the proliferation of hardware and software has had both negative and positive effects on the music industry. Whilst the proliferation of music software and hardware has also led to the ability to improve the quality of production, there has also been some bad consequences of the advancement of technologies, which I have highlighted many above.

Image and Sound research

What is meant by transition of image and sound?

A transition of sound is generally used to maintain the flow of the film into the next scene. This is usually done by removing all sound from a scene, perhaps inserting background music, and then fading in the sound from the next scene as it appears.

An image transition is important in good production. It is the moving from one scene to another. There are many different ways of carrying this out, perhaps fading a scene to black and then having the next scene fade from black. Although there are many different ways to do this and often more complex transitions are needed at dramatic moments in the film. 

Explain in your own words, why editing is so important.

Editing or post production is crucial to smoothly including all the elements of a good movie.  Some of those elements include;

Cutting or the "dicing and slicing" of a movie.  A good movie will change cuts every 10 to 12 seconds and that is why editing is very important.   The cut of a frame can make or break a movie.  Is there a dutch pan? Is the movie an action or horror movie, does its use of jump cuts effectively drive the show or are they in the way or superfluous, does the cut list work or is more footage needed? Are the frames out of focus and muddy to form a cacophony number of cuts to indicate a point of view of a fight scene?  

Shot - In filmmaking and video production, a shot is a series of frames, that runs for an uninterrupted period of time. Film shots are an essential aspect of a movie where angles, transitions and cuts are used to further express emotion, ideas and movement. 


Eye-line match - An eyeline match is a film editing technique associated with the continuity editing system. It is based on the premise that an audience will want to see what the character on-screen is seeing. 

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Composition and Framing

COMPOSITION AND FRAMING

FRAMING 

In filmmaking, video production, animation, and related fields, a film frame or video frame is one of the many still images which compose the complete moving picture.

Rule of thirds

The rule of thirds is applied by aligning a subject with the guide lines and their intersection points, placing the horizon on the top or bottom line, or allowing linear features in the image to flow from section to section. 

Depth of field (deep and shallow focus)

In optics, particularly as it relates to film and photography, depth of field (DOF), also called focus range or effective focus range, is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image.

Deep focus is a style or technique of cinematography and staging with great depth of field, using relatively wide-angle lenses and small lens apertures to render in sharp focus near and distant planes simultaneously. A deep-focus shot includes foreground, middle-ground, and extreme-background objects, all in focus. 

Shallow focus is a photographic and cinematographic technique incorporating a small depth of field. In shallow focus one plane of the image is in focus while the rest is out of focus. Shallow focus is typically used to emphasise one part of the image over another.

Focus pulls

The focus pull  is a creative camera technique in which you change focus during a shot. Usually this means adjusting the focus from one subject to another. The shot below begins focused on the plant in the foreground, then adjusts focus until the girl is sharp.

Angles and Movements

Angles and Movements

ANGLES 

High Angle -A high-angle shot is a cinematic technique where the camera looks down on the subject from a high angle and the point of focus often gets "swallowed up." High-angle shots can make the subject seem vulnerable or chicken when applied with the correct mood, setting, and effects. 

Low Angle - in cinematography, a low-angle shot, is a shot from a camera angle positioned low on the vertical axis, anywhere below the eye line, looking up. ... Psychologically, the effect of the low-angle shot is that it makes the subject look strong and powerful.




Canted angle - a type of camera shot where the camera is set at an angle on its roll axis so that the shot is composed with vertical lines at an angle to the side of the frame, or so that the horizon line of the shot is not parallel with the bottom of the camera frame. 

Movement

Panning - In cinematography, panning refers to rotating or pivoting a motion picture or video camera horizontally from a fixed position 

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Tilt - a vertical camera movement in which the camera points up or down from a stationary location. ... The tilt should not be confused with the Dutch Tilt which means a deliberately slanted camera angle.

Tracking Shot - A movie shot made by a camera moving steadily on a track or dolly.

Crane shot - a shot taken by a camera on a crane or jib. The most obvious uses are to view the actors from above or to move up and away from them, a common way of ending a movie. Camera cranes go back to the dawn of movie-making, and were frequently used in silent films to enhance the epic nature of large sets and massive crowds.

 Steadicam - a brand of camera stabilizer mount for motion picture cameras that mechanically isolates it from the operator's movement. It allows for a smooth shot, even when moving quickly over an uneven surface.

Handheld - The technique of shooting a scene without the use of an artificial mechanism for camera support; holding a camera by hand or with a harness when shooting.

Zoom - Common in television commercials, but also in film noir. Zoom. A shot using a lens whose focal length is adjusted during the shot. Zooms are sometimes used in place of tracking shots, but the differences between the two are significant.

Reversed Zoom -  a cinematic technique in which the camera moves closer or further from the subject while simultaneously adjusting the zoom angle to keep the subject the same size in the frame. The effect is that the subject appears stationary while the background size changes