Research into existing Companies that produce and distribute music videos

For this task I wanted to have a look at companies who work with the Indie genre and have chosen 4 artists to do this with.

Arctic Monkeys

In 2005, they had signed to Domino Records which was founded in 1992. The record label was founded by Laurence Bell and Jacqui Rice. The company was originated in Britain and it's British chain is located in London, England. There is also an American chain based in America which is located in Brooklyn, New York and they also have a German division called Geographic Music. The record
label has a variety of other artists who are signed to them such as Blood Orange and Wild Beasts.

Bastille

In December 2010, Bastille had signed a record deal with Virgin Records and their first album was called Bad Blood which was released in 2013. Then their second album which was called "All This Bad Blood" was released in 2014. The record company was originally a British company but in 2007, due to the merge with Capitol Records. The company was founded in 1972 by Richard Branson (Who also owns the rest of Virgin), Simon Draper, Nik Powell and Tom Newman. Due to the name Virgin being recognised in every part of the media industry, this has lead to it being one of the most successful record companies.

Echosmith

In 2012 during May, they had signed to Warner Bros. Records who was founded by Jack warner during 1958. Their first album (Talking Dreams) was released in 2013 and their first single was released in 2012 which was called "Tonight We're Making History" The Warner Bros. Records are a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group.  Their main headquarters are based in New York, New York.


Ed Sheeran

Sheeran had joined Asylum records during 2012 and later that year his album "+" was released and had reached the number place in the UK album Charts. Him being with this record label had allowed him to gain international success whilst touring with Taylor Swift as her supporting act. Asylum Records was established in 1971 by David Geffen and Elliot Roberts. This is another subsidiary by the Warner Music Group. He is also signed to Atlantic records which was established in 1947 and was founded by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Ibramson. This is also another subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Both of the record labels were both originated in the United States of America.

What have i learnt from doing this?
From doing this task i have learnt that many of the indie styled bands are not so "Indie" as i thought they would be. But i will have to consider when making my music video. I have also learnt that all record labels distribute their music videos online on websites such as Vevo or Youtube as well as on TV on music channels.

Analysing Other Students Work

Analysing Previous Students Work

Inspirations

Audience Research

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

The Voki below is to show my target audience who is female and in the age group 13-19.

Transcript: I am a 17 year old who likes indie music, like bands such as Echosmith or The 1975. But i like to watching modern viral music videos on websites such as Youtube or vevo. This is because they include strange images or weird dance moves such as Miley Cyrus's We Can't Stop but i also like music videos which are less well known such as Cool Kids by Echosmith. When watching music videos i enjoy watching the ones which have a balance of narrative and performance as this is common within the indie genre.

 My Voki
 

Research into the Relevant Genre

Indie Pop Research

From doing this i have learnt that there are a lot more different things I have to consider when planning my music video, such as the variety of camera angles and the editing (is it going to match the pace of the rest of the music and am i going to include text?) One of the main things i have learnt from doing this is that many different music videos can include sounds such as speech in the beginning or moving around sounds. These are all the different elements i will have to consider when doing my own music video.

Tracking a Band Through Time

Research into Magazine Adverts

Magazine Adverts

From doing this task i have learnt that bands prefer to show off their image in different ways and not just through their music or physical style. I have also learnt that within the indie genre, many of the bands prefer not to use people within their adverts. I have also found out that they like to show a little bit of information about the group in the adverts such as their labels and the date of the album being released.

Timelines of Music Videos.

Timelines

From doing this i have learnt that the paces of different songs also affect the editing and the timing if the final music video. I have also learnt that music videos can be narrative or performance heavy and i would like to make mine more of an equal of both narrative and performance.

Conventions

By looking into four music videos within the genre i would like to work within, i have learnt that i will have to focus on the clothing of each character. I have also learnt that i will need to focus on the lighting as this is important within the music videos in the indie genre. Within the indie genre, i have also learnt that the music video needs to have a deeper meaning, for example with The 1975's song "Girls" the music video is them making fun of pop music videos by them replacing the fully clothed men with women in just lingerie and over sexualising women.

Digipak Research.

From doing this i have learnt that i need to focus the colours and clothing whilst branding the artist and album. I will mainly use patterns or different effects within the overall advert and Digipak. i have also learnt that many different artists have a certain 'brand' to them such as Haim with their Casual-Grunge and relaxed vibe and Echosmith with their bright and contrasting colours with a more of a indie-pop vibe.

Style of Influences

Research into an Artist

In conclusion i believe that i will mainly be using Echosmith as one of my main influences for their traditional style. I will also be using their balance between narrative structure and lip sync as an influence as I would like to aim for an equal amount of both. The style of clothing and destinations used within their music videos may also be used as an influence as i feel as if this could help show the overall traditional representation of the indie-pop genre.

Theory

Carol Vernallis

With narrative, the main ideas she has are to do with how the narrative structure of the video is meant to match the lyrics within the song. A good example of this would be "Riptide" by Vance Joy where all of the lyrics match a different. With the performance aspect of the video, the performance and the narrative don't usually balance out within the overall video. When watching a music video, you will usually think of many different questions which the video will not answer such as "Flaws" by Bastille with many different people with face-painted skulls are roaming around. There will also be a variety of different shots so this could be more like a pop song such as "This is How We Do" by Katy Perry such as a montage of her and others in different scenarios.

With Editing it will mainly match the music's beat along with many other aspects such as it breaking some rules of the editing such as a break of the 180 degree rule. With editing there will not be smooth editing, match on match action or an even pace of time throughout. It will usually be quicker shots compared to film editing as it relates back to the beat of the song.

When it comes camera movement and framing, extreme shots are very common. A good example of this would be . The main style of framing and movement are usually related back to the style and genre of the music video. For example, the movement would be steadier in a slow paced song compared to a dance track such as "Stay The Night" by Zedd which is fast paced. 

Andrew Goodwin

Goodwin's theory is mainly that the conventions within the video are similar to what is being said through the lyrics and the genre that the band/artist is from. Like how a pop girl group such as the Spice Girls with their single "Wannabe" included more of a dance routine within their video compared to Sum 41 with their song "Fat Lip" who included a performance and a comedic aspect within their video. 

With the lyrics within a song represents the music video but only in three ways : Amplifying (creating an imagery that relate to the songs narrative), contradicting (going against the ideas of the song's lyrics) and illustrative (showing the lyrics in a visual way). 

There is also a common link between the sound and the editing such as a fast paced piece of music may include a fast paced editing sequence. 

With some music videos they usually reference films or use films, game or television shows as their inspiration. For example, with Iggy Azalea's latest single "Black Widow" it references Kill Bill and even has Michael Madsen starring in the video. This is because on occasion, the lyrics are able to relate back to a film which has inspired the music video.