Music Marketing Project Reflection
Research
After receiving the rock genre and choosing the song "Many Shades of Black" by The Raconteurs for our Music Marketing Project, we were sure to do in depth research about marketing techniques used by popular rock artists and groups. Focusing on the groups Foo Fighters, Måneskin, Greta Van Fleet, and The Warning, we learned about the different ways they began to develop their brand. For example, our research on The Warning provided us with information on how social media impacted their brand when they posted a YouTube video of their cover of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" which launched their rise to fame. We used this information in the planning process of our artist's marketing.
Planning
Beginning the brainstorming process of for our artist's brand was by far the most difficult part. We had to be meticulous in choosing each aspect of his brand and campaign. We began with choosing a mysterious and easygoing vibe for his brand. We also created his stage name to be OBSID¡AN, purposely choosing an upside down exclamation point to replace the letter I in order to add to his overall style. We also decided on a black and gray color palette to create a muted mood. After creating a good foundation for our artist's style, we began on creating his campaign outline. Despite the rock genre's target audience being older within recent years, we decided that OBSID¡AN would be aimed at a younger crowd between the ages 19-30, who have an economic status of lower to middle class. Based on this, we chose Instagram as his main social media platform as it reaches a wide audience. We created his account but refrained from posting pictures with his face in order to continue his mysterious style. We also created a website for him which would sell his merchandise and provide links to his music. Throughout all the Instagram posts, along with the website and merchandise designs, we made sure to clearly incorporate his style by using a dark color scheme. We chose to have his concerts be pop up shows in order to show his spontaneous personality and also contribute to his brand's motto which is "live life in the moment". Pop up concerts would also be a way for him to connect and be present with his fans, helping him grow his brand. For our music video, we chose to do a storytelling video about a breakup which related to our song's lyrics. We also incorporated artistic elements with our editing. We planned this out by creating a storyboard for each scene in the video.
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| Campaign Outline |
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| Instagram Account |
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| Merchandise |
Production
After creating the storyboard for our music video, our production process began. This part was definitely the most fun part of the project. We finally got to bring all of our planning to life. We filmed at Isabella G.'s parent's photography studio as it had many good spaces to use as backgrounds, along with a tripod, light sticks, and backdrops which we used in for the artistic elements in our video. Isabella G. and Lucas played our couple for the music video. We chose to not include Lucas's face in any clips since the main focus was supposed to be on Isabella G. By following the storyboard we created, the filming process was fairly simple. We began with filming all scenes that required daylight and finished with the scenes that were using the backdrop since we filmed in a dark warehouse with the help of a light stick for a dramatic effect. Grace, Angel, and I all contributed to the camera work while filming.
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| Scene with Backdrop |
Post-Production and Presentation
Once we finished filming, Isabella G. edited the music video together and added many effects onto it. The decision of changing to the black and white coloring was chosen while we were storyboarding our video. The order of the scenes was determined by our storyboard which made this whole process much more efficient. For the presentation, we created a PowerPoint which outlined the rock genre, our artist and his target audience, and the marketing plan for him. We designated multiple slides to each person and prepared to explain each part that we had on the slide. The presentation overall went well and we were able to elaborate on our marketing plan with many details.
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Slide from Presentation
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Reflection
This project has been the most complex one that we have done all year. From all the research and planning, I have learned so much new information about marketing techniques used in the rock genre and how each artist/group utilizes it to develop their brand. I have learned the importance of incorporating your brand's essence in each choice you make, whether it is the design on the merchandise or the type of concert the artist will do. Each choice contributes greatly to the success of your artist/group. When developing my Cambridge portfolio, I will keep in mind the importance of doing in depth planning and research for the project in order to be most successful. Without doing this, I wouldn't have a good foundation to begin the production part of the project.
