The 4 P's of Music Industry Marketing

1. Summarise in your own words what the 4Ps of music marketing are. Use the following categories:

a) What band/artist related products can audiences buy?
Audiences can buy CDs (singles and albums), DVD’s (Live or documentary), posters, biographies on the artist, digital media such as music videos, podcasts etc., band merchandise (t-shirts, bags, jumpers etc.), as well as more specific products such as the headphones that Lady Gaga is promoting where she is working with the company Heartbeats.

b) Where can audiences buy/listen to music/merchandise/hardware?
They can buy CDs from music shops such as HMV, general stores like W.H. Smiths, as well as online from sites such as Play.com. Audiences can also listen to music on the internet, such as through steaming on sites such as YouTube, as well as buy it online eg. from iTunes. Because of the portability of things nowadays, people can listen to music anywhere, such as on their phones, iPods etc. Merchandise can be bought online, usually from the artist/bands site or sites like Amazon, as well as from their live shows.

c) Give 2 or 3 examples of paid-for/subscription based and free products.
You can pay for products such as band merchandise eg. clothing, usually on their own website.
Free music downloads which you can usually get off the artist/band’s website.

d) List between 5 and 10 examples of creative music marketing strategies

• Fashion Takes Control - Topman offers bespoke access for music fans: UK high street retailer Topman handed over control of a music campaign to a selection of emerging artists. The CTRL platform – inspired by the recognition that fans want greater access to bands – enabled one act per month to put on a live event featuring a selection of their favourite artists, whilst also taking hold of the creative reigns of the Topman CTRL blog. This shows synergy between fashion and music industries.

• Pixie Lott performed a couple of free gigs to promote the release of her new album, Turn It Up, and the fans had to print the tickets off.

• If the shoe fits: The Dolly Rockers have entered into a partnership with KangaROOS footwear in order to promote their latest single ‘Gold Digger’. The ‘How do you rock your Roos?’ competition asks visitors to a Bebo (social networking site) page to record their own dance routine to the new Dolly Rockers single. The winner will get to spend a day with the Dolly Rockers and their choreographer, get a behind-the-scenes experience during the filming of the Dolly Rockers’ third music video, get themselves a Dolly Rockers makeover and receive a whole bunch of KangaROOS and Dolly Rockers goodies.

• Get your Little Boots on: Nokia turns a part of London into a roller disco - Nokia Skate Almighty. The event offers up a free hour of skating accompanied by DJ’s and live performances from Little Boots and Calvin Harris. Nokia is to offer an exclusive remix of the Little Boots track Remedy (A1 Bassline remix) via the Nokia Music Store and Comes With Music for four weeks.

• Tight Fit – Band in a Banner: This campaign promotes upcoming Universal act VV Brown, is simple but strikingly effective. VV Brown climbs into her own web banner ad, crouches down and proceeds to sing acoustic versions of the songs ‘LEAVE!’ and ‘Crying Blood’ from within the banner alongside her band.

• The Great Escape – You can buy without fear: Lily Allen’s single The Fear is being promoted via a viral music game. The game, entitled Escape the Fear, features Lily as the main character, where players must help Lily navigate 10 levels whilst avoiding obstacles. The site includes the video for the single and plenty of embed options for the user’s favourite social portals. It also has the option to email the viral game to friends. Plus there is a competition attached to the game to win tickets to Lily’s sold out date at Koko on 28th January.

• Reward Ceremony - Mika offers brand loyalty: Island Records Group and Casablanca Records are teaming up on a unique reward based online venture in support of Mika’s upcoming album. Mika is launching a loyalty scheme via his website which will enable fans to earn points that can then be traded for rewards. Points are awarded for creating a profile, uploading content, adding comments and buying products. Points can be used to acquire free music, video downloads, screen-savers and even a private acoustic gig from the artist.

2. Who is Frukt UK and what is their mission statement/company ethos?
Frukt UK is a specialist music marketing agency that creates and develops ideas that use music as a means of marketing.
“We’re all about music and are really very fond of it. Music colours people’s everyday lives…We help brands access the passion and the communities, the lifestyle and the artists.”

Group Meeting

Today we spent time finalising our pitch for our track and music video idea which we will demonstrate to the class tomorrow. We completed a treatment which contains our ideas so far for the music video and its visual style. We also answered some questions on the track itself, the artist, the genre, the target audience and how we can apply Goodwin’s theory of music video to our track (see group blog for all.) Overall I think we are really prepared for tomorrow and doing this has made us think about our ideas in more depth which is really helpful. The feedback that we receive tomorrow from the rest of the class should also be really useful and we can hopefully make changes or improve accordingly.

Location and Actors

So far, we’ve got our actor for our main artist; however we still need to find someone to be the featuring artist in the track. They must have certain qualities, the right attitude and the right look that we are looking for, so it’s been quite difficult to find someone.
For our location, we’ve got quite a few in mind for our music video. We’ve been in talks with a studio which seems ideal, as they provide the right backdrops (plain white and black), as well as lighting and is able to provide a deal for the weekend. Hopefully this works out, but if not, there is the possibility of using a green screen studio and then we can put in our own background in post-production. We’ll also need a bedroom which we’ve decided on for some shots of the main artist, as well as something like a living room for the narrative part where the young boys are playing video games or something, or a park for them to play football, but these are easy to arrange. We may also use one of these places for shots of the girl and her new boyfriend (the featuring artist).

Lady Gaga - Marketing and Promotion Case Study

1. Summarise the changing image of the band/artist as it has developed over time. It might also be useful to summarise the music genre also.

Having initially focused on avant-garde and electronic dance music, Gaga found her musical niche when she began to incorporate pop melodies and the vintage glam rock of David Bowie and Queen into the mix. She made this change to put a twist on the music and differentiate herself from the underground rockers of New York. She has been primarily influenced by glam rockers such as David Bowie and Queen, pop singers Michael Jackson and Madonna, artist Andy Warhol, poet Rainer Maria Rilke, fashion icon and entertainer Grace Jones, and fashion as a whole. Her vocals have drawn frequent comparison to Madonna and Gwen Stefani, while the structure of her music is said to be reminiscent of classic 1980s pop and 1990s Europop.

Her image is unique and extremely extravagant. Her interest came from initially being inspired by her mother and her later work in burlesque shows. Gaga has stated that she is “very into fashion” and that it is “everything” to her. She claims that: “When I'm writing music, I'm thinking about the clothes I want to wear on stage. It's all about everything altogether — performance art, pop performance art, fashion. For me, it's everything coming together and being a real story that will bring back the super-fan. I want to bring that back. I want the imagery to be so strong that fans will want to eat and taste and lick every part of us.” She was called Lady Gaga early in her career after the Queen song ‘Radio GaGa,’ as her vocal style was similar to Freddie Mercury and these comparisons still continue.

She has also her own creative production team called the Haus of Gaga, which she handles personally. This team creates many of her clothes, stage props, and hairdos, as well as collaborating with her on her clothing, stage sets, and sounds. Gaga says that she considers Donatella Versace her muse. Her fashions have also been compared to that of Christina Aguilera, noting similarities in their styling, hair, and make-up.

2. Who are the fans? Do you have any sense of how the music companies have segmented the audiences? To what extent has the branding of a band been linked to target audience?

Lady Gaga’s fans are primarily the gay community as she had support from them from the start with some of her first major performances at events related to gay culture, including early performances at the San Francisco Pride event where she sung ‘Just Dance,’ as well as later on when she performed on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. These are two highly rated events by the gay community and she is gradually being considered by some as a rising gay icon. She claimed difficulty in the early stages of her career in getting her songs to receive radio airplay and stated, “The turning point for me was the gay community. I've got so many gay fans and they're so loyal to me and they really lifted me up. They'll always stand by me and I'll always stand by them. It's not an easy thing to create a fan base.” She also said that “every time I go to cities to play, even in arenas, I always make sure I play a second show at a gay club,” this maintains loyalty from the fans.

As well as this, Gaga’s outrageous clothing, make-up, hair and overall image are appealing to the gay community. Her lyrics often have underlying bisexual meaning which the marketing companies draw on in the videos, such as her song "Poker Face" which lyrically discusses fantasizing about a woman while being in bed with a man and therefore this appeals to the gay community. Other fans include younger people as the genre of pop appeals to them, as well as males due to her provocative clothing and females due to her upbeat, dancing songs with entertaining music videos.

3. What marketing strategies can you identify? What kinds of stategies can you list?(above/below-the line? unexpected promo stunts? etc). List any examples of the use of synergy with other industries to promote other media/products in connection with a band/artist.

Lady Gaga has her own official website (http://www.ladygaga.com/) which helps promote her as an artist, with information, news, a chance for fans to join, her music videos, events/tour dates, photos, biography etc. The style of the website reflects Gaga’s image with eye grabbing photos and an overall bold image, which is also reflective of her album cover image.

There is also advertising for Lady Gaga headphones (www.ladygaga.com/heartbeats/) where she works in synergy with ‘Heartbeats’ to promote ‘the latest high resolution headphones.')She also has her own MySpace page (www.myspace.com/ladygaga) which advertises her album, provides information on upcoming shows, a chance for fans to sign up for a Lady Gaga regular newsletter, advertisements for Lady Gaga products such as jackets, notebooks etc., as well as samples of her songs for fans to listen to and be made aware of.

Lady Gaga’s live performances, such as on television on the Ellen DeGeneres Show also promotes her as an artist.

4. Add any relevant links to your blog, especially Myspace page/music vids/official websites etc. A couple of illustrations (e.g key web design graphics/album cover photography) would also be useful to add to your blogs.

http://www.ladygaga.com/
www.myspace.com/ladygaga

Music Video Ideas – Camera Techniques

For our video, I was thinking it would be a good idea to conceal the second artist until their introduced properly at 1:43min. This would build up his character more and reflect the fact that he thinks he’s ‘all that.’ Therefore I thought it was a good idea to look at ‘Ego’ (see video below) which shows this well and is relevant to they key themes of our song. The use of camera work at the start on Kanye West who’s talking about his ‘big ego’ really reflects the effect we want to create on our rapper. The use of extreme close-ups do this well, as well as great lighting to create a silhouette. The video also demonstrates good cocky gestures such as re-adjusting his collar/sunglasses/jacket, smiles to the side of his mouth, posing against the wall, hands in pockets, certain mouth movements, cocky laughs etc.

It also gives us ideas about costume, such as a pair of glasses, dressed in black (connotes he’s a bad character..) etc..


Ego – Kanye West and Beyonce

Music Video Effects and Ideas

Here are three music videos that use the effect of stop motion. I think it’s such an effective technique and really grabs the audience’s attention. I think it would be a good effect to be used possibly in small areas of our music video, such as the flashback to when the two males were best mates as schoolboys (aged around 13.) The effect would be used to emphasise the fact that we are looking back in the past, kind of similar to looking at video filming them. However I don’t know how this would look against the rest of the editing and whether it would work. Also I don’t know how difficult it is to pull off.

Plan b – No Good:


Oren Lavie - Her Morning Elegance:


Metric – Sick Muse:

This one took 60000 photos and 3 cameras which they did in one day.

Obviously ours wouldn’t be as complicated as these and it would be on a much smaller scale, especially as if we did use it, it would be for such a small part of the video.

Group Meeting

We presented some ideas to both our teachers and have now decided to go ahead with ‘Anyone but Him.’ As a group, we discussed some ideas for the video which are all on the group blog and overall I’m happy with the song choice. It provides clear themes for the song and a meaning that we can work with. We will need two main actors and possibly a few other actors to play smaller parts such as two kids which will resemble the main actors as it was when they were younger as well as possibly a girl to include some narrative and to make the meaning more understandable. Our main idea for the video is to play on contrasts. These two ex best school friends are now competing for the same girl. One of them has already dated her and is now jealous, telling the girl to date ‘anyone but him’ (his best friend.)

To show this rivalry, we would show them as completely different eg. in their image, attitudes - confidence/cockiness, location – black and white backgrounds in a studio shows contrast and each has its own connotations (white – innocence, feel sorry for Mr Hudson, whereas black – dark, ‘bad’ arrogant Tinie Tempah), editing – split screen? etc. The over confidence of the second man who is now dating the girl is shown in lyrics such as ‘I see your girl want me,’ so we would use this when considering our camera work for him (See post on Ego – Kanye West.)

Our video would be mainly performance based and we would therefore rely heavily on our two actors, however if we can pull it off then I think it can look really good.


Lyrics:
[Mr Hudson:]
Anyone but him
I'd rather hear you’d had the whole football team
than have to watch his filthy lips on your skin
Anyone but him

Anyone but him
With schoolboy fists, we can take this outside
But knowing my luck that ___ would win
Anyone but him

Who's gonna take you home, who's gonna take you home
Who's gonna take you home, if it isn't me

Anyone but him
My blood boils as my eyes turn green
Is this the best of the best of the scene
Anyone but him

Anyone but him
With schoolboy fists imma take this outside
But knowing my luck that ___ would win
Anyone but him

Who's gonna take you home, who's gonna take you home
Ohhh who's gonna take you home, if it isn't me…

Anyone but him
Look past the leather in the dash and the rims
And you will see his whole hustle wears thin
Anyone but him

Anyone but him
He's gonna take what you can't take back
And then's he's gone out the door on a whim
Anyone but him

Who's gonna take you home, ohhh who's gonna take you home
Listen, who's gonna take you home, if it isn't me…

[Tinie T:]
Yes, Yes, Yes
Umm, Ye
Umm
You win some, you lose some
I ring ‘em, I take ‘em out for Dim Sum and use ‘em
I can hear the two of ‘em, whispering in the loo,
They’ll be like he’ll sex us and he wont even text us
Like Houston, I’m reckless
English like my breakfast
And she date my manager, said he look like Kanye West does
I press her, then I press up
I sex her then I dress up,
Schoolboy fists but I throw punches like I’m Lennox,
I never heard a man so jealous, so jealous,
So tell us about those letters,
You know she let me open every single one you sent her,
When you cry for her attention, just remember I’m the centre
And on the first night she let me enter, HA!

[Mr Hudson:]
Oooh
Who’s gonna take you home (I’m gonna take her home)
Who’s gonna take you home (I said I’m gonna take her home)
Noo, who’s gonna take you home, if it isn’t me… (Me! Me! Me! Me!)

Who’s gonna take you home (I’m gonna take her home)
Who’s gonna take you home (I said I’m gonna take her home)
Who’s gonna take you home, if it isn’t me… (Me! Me! Me! Me!)

Who’s gonna take you home
If it isn’t me…
Who’s gonna take you home
If it isn’t me…
Who’s gonna take you home
If it isn’t me…

Group Meeting

In our meeting today, we looked at all of our possible track ideas and also spent time searching for other songs as a group. As the song Anyone But Him seems to be our favourite in the group so far, we decided to look at it in some more detail. We went over the basic story behind the song and decided on how we interpreted the song and its lyrics. Here’s our thoughts:
We decided that the overall basic story is that Mr H. dated a girl quite recently but they broke up after they had problems. He then found out that his best friend has now gone behind his back and started dating her – the ultimate betrayal for Mr H. In the song, he is telling his ex that he accepts that she's moved on but doesn't want her to move on with his best friend. Mr H. has now lost his friendship with his best friend who has now become really arrogant (shown in his rap verse later in the song), and at the same time, his girlfriend.

Ideas for the music video visuals:
• We could make the two artists complete contrasts and play on the rivalry through what we actually shoot (shot content – photos, narrative – the girlfriend, them as young kids), the camerawork (slower and faster, high/low angles), location (contrasting backgrounds – black and white) and the editing (eg split screen).
• We thought we could show ECUs and the silhouette of the best friend until he starts his rap verse making him more interesting and building up his profile, to play on his arrogance and cockiness.
• We also thought that we could do flashbacks to the two artists as childhood best friends. This would suggest that they have been lifelong friends and therefore highlights and emphasizes the betrayal.
• We also thought we could cut to shots of the girl a couple of times, and cut to shots of the girl with the new guy.

BLK feedback

Super work on this blog Tanya, all up to date and lots of ideas and analysis - well done!

Track Ideas - The Script

The Script – If You See Kay

If you see my friend, doesn't matter where or when, tell me if you see Kay
If you see my friend, doesn't matter where or when, tell me if you see Kay

She said I won the battle but I lost the war,
And now my head is sore,
And if I try and sail back in she's gonna push me from the shore,
Now I wont ever get the time of day,
No way no way no,
Not from what I said but from what I didn't say,
What I didn't say

So if you see Kay will you tell her that I love her,
And if you see Kay let her know I want her back,
If she listens say I miss her,
Everything about her,
Make sure you say I'm sweet F.A without her,
If you see Kay

If you see my friend, doesn't matter where or when, tell me if you see kay
If you see my friend, doesn't matter where or when, tell me if you see kay

She got me saying sorry through the door,
She don't care anymore,
She says it's to late now should have thought of this before,
But I ain’t gonna take this as defeat,
No way no way no,
Cause I'm gonna shout it out to everyone I everyone I meet

So if you see Kay will you tell her that I love her,
And if you see Kay let her know I want her back,
If she listens say I miss her,
Everything about her,
Make sure you say I'm sweet F.A without her,
If you see Kay

Now I'm sitting here in disbelief,
How it truly broke my heart to have to watch her leave,
But she was torn between what she wants and what she needs,
They say you love someone enough you've gotta set them free,
She said that she was born and leave this down to her,
Knew the truth was good she looked me in the eyes a lot,
Saying it's time to cut the ties,
Time to say goodbye,
So she left,
But she never never left my,
Never never left my mind

So if you see Kay will you tell her that I love her,
And if you see Kay let her know I want her back,
If she listens say I miss her,
Everything about her,
Make sure you say I'm sweet F.A without her,
And make sure you say I lost my way without her,
If you see Kay

If you see my friend, doesn't matter where or when, tell me if you see Kay
If you see my friend, doesn't matter where or when, tell me if you see Kay

This is an idea for a possible music video. In the song, he is explaining that him and this girl have broken up but now he wants her back. But the lyrics show that she isn’t interested such as ‘Now I won’t ever get the time of day,’ showing that she wont even acknowledge him, as well as ‘And if I try and sail back in she's gonna push me from the shore,’ which shows that if he does try to get her back he wont succeed because she’ll just push him away. Overall its about the problems in this relationship, and how they’ve had an argument which he’s won but now he’s lost her, shown in ‘she said I won the battle but I lost the war.’ As well as taking the literal meaning on the song, I also like the way they’ve played on the title of the song, ‘If You See Kay’ which pronounces ‘F.U.C.K.’

My idea for the video would be that this man is literally lost, left wondering the streets, 'and make sure you say I lost my way without her' and is actually looking for this girl, as the lyrics suggest, ‘If you see my friend, doesn't matter where or when, tell me if you see Kay.’ You’d be able to see that he’s starting to break down and he’s literally in pain, ‘now my head is sore.’ He walks down crowded streets asking random strangers if they’ve seen Kay because he says that ‘I aint gonna take this as defeat, no way no way no, cause I'm gonna shout it out to everyone I everyone I meet, if you see kay will you tell her that I love her.’ But when the music changes at 2:00mins and he says ‘Now I’m sitting here in disbelief,’ it goes back to the point when this girl walked out on him. It then flashes back to their argument in the house and when she actually leaves, leaving him sitting there alone on the floor in a deserted room. Throughout this, there could also be cuts back to this band performing in this empty room (the music is this guys outlet), where there would be the main singer, drummer and guitarist.

Another possible song by The Script - Fall For Anything:

Does that bring you down, down, down x3

Don't keep yourself away
Don't live your life that way
Of course he's gonna say anything you want
Then leave quicker than he came now you got yourself to blame
Don't put yourself back in the fire again

It's the same damn things you're so quick to believe
You do it over and over again
And it's the same mistakes that I'm watching you make
You do it over and over again

So before they bring you down
You've gotta stand for something or you'll fall for anything
Fall for anything
You've gotta stand for something or you'll fall for anything
Fall for anything

Cause they'll bring you down, down, down x4

Oh, please don't be so naïve
Don't wait 'till your heart bleeds
Love wasn't built for speed, listen to me girl
He keeps fuckin' with your head, tryna get you into bed
And in the morning you'll just hate yourself

It's the same damn things you're so quick to believe
You do it over and over again
And it's the same mistakes that I'm watching you make
You do it over and over again

So before they bring you down
You've gotta stand for something or you'll fall for anything
Fall for anything
You've gotta stand for something or you'll fall for anything
Fall for anything

Cause they'll bring you down, down, down x4

And you give until there's nothing to give
Until there's nothing to give
Until there's nothing to give x3

Before they bring you down
You've gotta stand for something or you'll fall for anything
Fall for anything
You've gotta stand for something or you'll fall for everything
Fall for anything
You've gotta stand for something or you'll fall for anything
Fall for anything
You've gotta stand for something or you'll fall for anything
Fall for anything

Before they break you down, down, down
Cause girl they'll bring you down, down, down
Cause they'll bring you down, down, down
Cause they'll bring you down, down, down

Track Ideas

Mr Hudson – Possible Tracks

If we decide to use actors in the music video that are outside our group then we can use male stars. I really like the sound of Ben Hudson (stage name: Mr Hudson.) He’s an artist based in London and was originally part of Mr Hudson and The Library, a band with members from both London and Birmingham. The band members have listed influences from various genres of music including Chet Baker, David Bowie, The Police, Andre 3000, Marvin Gaye, The Specials, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzee Rascal. His sound is unique and he makes certain music with a slight jazz sound, but then collaborates with artists such as Kanye West. Its been described as cocktail jazz meeting hip-hop.

‘Anyone but him’ is a song off of Mr Hudson’s new album, ‘Straight No Chaser,’ and features Mr Hudson and Kanye West. This song evokes key themes of jealousy, rivalry and competition between two men. The message of the song is clear and I think it presents two completely different characters. This means we can create a real contrast in the music video between the two artists. This would be displayed through their image, attitudes eg. confidence/cockiness, location, editing etc. The over confidence of the other man is shown in lyrics such as ‘I see your girl want me,’ which would be clearly reflected in the shots based on him.

LYRICS:
Anyone but him
I'd rather hear you’d had the whole football team
than have to watch his filthy lips on your skin
Anyone but him

Anyone but him
With schoolboy fists, we can take this outside
But knowing my luck that fuck would win
Anyone but him

Who's gonna take you home, who's gonna take you home
Who's gonna take you home, if it isn't me
If it isn't me, if it

Anyone but him
My blood boils as my eyes turn green
Is this the best of the best of the scene
Anyone but him

Anyone but him
With schoolboy fists we can take this outside
But knowing my luck that fuck would win
Anyone but him

Who's gonna take you home, who's gonna take you home
Who's gonna take you home, if it isn't me
If it isn't me, if it

Anyone but him
Look past the leather in the dash and the rims
And you'll see his whole hustle wears thin
Anyone but him

Anyone but him
He's gonna take what you can't take back
Then's he's gone out the door on a whim
Anyone but him

Who's gonna take you home, who's gonna take you home
Who's gonna take you home, if it isn't me
If it isn't me, if it

[Kanye]
Now when she go black, she ain't never coming back
I'm sorry Mr. H, I thought you already knew that
You'll see her on a black street like Chauncey
I'm a bad boy like Sean C.
Roc-A-Fella like Shawn C.
Keep them Apes with me like Don C
Like Jay, keep Beyonce
I'm just talking nonsey, so nonchalantly
See my Mark like Ronson
Pop my collars like Fonzy
Paparazzi is on me
I see your girl want me, I'm filling up her glass
Feeling on her ass, feeling so upper class
And your boy, so fresh
I might even flash cash
So at the end of the night, you ain't even gotta ask

Who's gonna take you home, who's gonna take you home
Who's gonna take you home, if it isn't me
If it isn't me, if it isn't me

If it isn't me
Who's gonna take you home, if it isn't me
Who's gonna take you home, not if it isn't me
If it isn't me

Who's gonna take you home, who's gonna take you home
Who's gonna take you home, if it isn't me
If it isn't me, if it isn't me

The video would be mainly performance based; however there could also be some narrative. Editing could also reflect the theme/message of the song, for example there could be use of split screen to emphasise the fact that these two men are parallel to each other, each competing for this girl.

There has also been another version of the song produced live on BBC Radio 1 which is similar but features Tinie Tempah as a replacement for Kanye West and with different lyrics in his verse. The rivalry and jealousy is clearly shown in this performance with lyrics from Mr Hudson asking “who’s gonna take you home?” and then with sharp replies repeating “me,” as well as “I’ve never heard a man so jealous, so jealous.”

I actually prefer this second version as its more passionate (maybe because its live) and the lyrics in the rap verse are better as they lend better to the themes of the song.


This is another song (Time by Mr Hudson) but I think it’s a little too slow


This is another possibility (Everything is Broken by Mr Hudson Ft. Kid Cudi)

Track Idea – Stop Me

Plan B – Stop Me (Mark Ronson Cover)



There’s not really much going on music wise (1 guitar) therefore we could reflect this in the video with a simplistic look – a man and a guitar. Or we could show a complete contrast and add in different elements such as narrative of unrelated people’s lives which are quite depressing and fit with the lyrics etc.

Track Ideas

Black Eyed Peas - Track Ideas

I like these two songs as they’re really upbeat and they feature both male and female singers, which gives us more variance for our music video. However they are quite long in length and would require commitment from quite a few people if we feature people for each different singing part. However the lyrics are quite good and the songs allow us to do performance or narrative or both.


LYRICS:
I can't go any further than this
I want you so badly, it's my biggest wish

I spent my time just thinkin’ thinkin’ thinkin’ about you
every single day yes, I'm really missin' missin' you
and all those things we used to used to used to do
hey girl, whats up, it used to used to be just me and you
I spent my time just thinkin’ thinkin’ thinkin’ about you
every single day, yes I’m really missin’ missin’ you
and all those things we used to used to used to do
hey girl whats up, whats up, whats up, whats up

Can you meet me halfway, right at the borderline
that's where I’m gonna wait, for you
I’ll be looking out, night and day
took my heart to the limit, and this is where I’ll stay
I can't go any further than this
I want you so bad it's my only wish

Girl, I travel round the world and even sail the seven seas
across the universe I go to other galaxies
just tell me where to go, just tell me where you want to meet
I navigate myself myself to take me where you be
cause girl I want, I, I, I want you right now
I travel uptown (town) I travel downtown
I want to have you around (round) like every single day
I love you alway..way

Can you meet me half way (I'll meet you halfway)
right at the borderline
that's where I’m gonna wait, for you
I’ll be looking out, night and day
took my heart to the limit, and this is where I’ll stay
I can't go any further than this
I want you so bad it's my only wish
I can't go any further than this
I want you so bad it's my only wish

Let's walk the bridge, to the other side
just you and I (just you and I)
I will fly, I’ll fly the skies, for you and I (for you and I)
I will try, until I die, for you and I, for you and I, for for you and I,
for for you and I, for for you and I, for you and I

Can you meet me half way
can you meet me half way
can you meet me half way
can you meet me half way
meet me half way, right at the borderline
that's where I’m gonna wait, for you
I’ll be looking out, night and day
took my heart to the limit, and this is where I’ll stay
I can't go any further than this
I want you so bad it's my only wish
I can't go any further than this
I want you so bad it's my only wish



LYRICS:
[Will.i.am ]
I’ve got so much love
for you darlin' and I,
I wanna let you know how I feel

And its true that I love you
and it's true you’re the only one and I do,
I adore you
and its true girl

you make me feel alive ive ive ive 4x

[Fergie]
You say, you say, you say
that I’m the only one
you say that I’m your number 1
now your gone and I feel numb
tell me where do we go wrong
you were my best friend and boyfriend
now its seems like you're my worst friend
I gotta do soul searching
without you I'm a whole different person
I ain't acting like I used to
I don't feel loved like I used to
it was your love I was used to
why did I have to lo-lo-lo-lose
your love your love your love
your love is what it was
that have me feeling bust
you are my true love

[Will.i.am]
and its true that I love you
and it's true you’re the only one and I do
I adore you
and its true girl

you make me feel alive ive ive ive 4x

[Apl.de.ap]
Hey girl you’re the only one
must be my number one
now your gone I feel so numb
tell me how did we go wrong
first friends then we became best-friends
you used to be my girlfriend
now your my worst friend
yeah I gotta do a little soul searching
without you I'm a whole different person
I don't even act like I used to
I don't even feel loved like I used to
I guess its your love that I was used to
and I feel bad that I had to lose you
I got so many things that I wanna sa-sa-sa-sa...
I guess this means that I'm missing you
sorry for the things that I did to you
I'm so lost without you

[Will.i.am]
and its true that I love you
and it's true your the only one and I do,
I adore you
and its true girl

u make me feel alive ive ive ive 4x

[Fergie/Will.i.am]
la di di da la di da la da
la di da la di da
la di di da la di da la da
la di da la di da

I’ve got so much love

la di di da la di da la da
la di da la di da

I’ve got so much love

la di di di di di di di da la la la la

...I adore u and its true girl

you make me feel alive ive ive ive 4x

[Taboo]
So easy to fall in love with u
and all the things that u do
baby girl you’re so remarkable
so special, so wonderful
so special, so wonderful
so special, so wonderful

baby girl you’re so remarkable
so spec-al-al-al-al-al-al

First Group Meeting

We had a short meeting at break today where we discussed as a group all of our song choices and ideas that we have for the project so far. I explained my idea for the song Anyone But Him by Mr Hudson (see post later) and the rest of my group seemed to like it. However we’ve all decided to go away and try and find some more song choices and potential video ideas, and then we will meet up again next week to try and finalise a song choice.

Carol Vernallis

Carol Vernallis says the camera in MV seems to mimic the way we view sonic space…do you agree? Do you think we are conditioned by MV to read sonic space in particular ways?


She suggests that the jumping camera focus is like the camera in place of our eyes, doing what we do when we listen. However this is predefined for us by the Director – we have even less choice to look away/outside of the Director’s choice than we do in film – do you agree?
Yes I agree slightly because a director’s choice of shots in a music video tends to be more specific, showing only what they want the audience to see. These shots can’t be too complicated as music videos tend to be very choppy and a lot must be shown to the audience in a very short amount of time, therefore there isn’t a chance for the audiences attention to divert away from or outside of what the director wants us to focus on.

She says MV experience is more like listening than viewing – do you agree?
I think the music video is there to enhance the viewer’s experience of the music; however I don’t necessarily think that it is more about the listening. The visuals generally add something new to the song and emphasise an aspect of the music such as the lyrics or the beat/rhythm. The music video is there to promote the artist and their music, as well as captivate an audience; therefore it is as much about the listening as it is about the viewing.
　
“We compensate imaginatively for what we do not see in the frame” pg41 Agreed?
Yes, often the audience isn’t given the full picture; therefore we use our imagination to fill in the gaps as to what we think is happening.

The constant motion in a MV and the variances it shows mean that a strong CU is a stable point. The MV ‘brings us towards these peaks, holds us against them, and then releases us’ p43 Do you agree?
Yes I agree because it is a strong CU that draws the audience in and grabs their attention, before moving out to another shot and ‘releasing us.’ These ‘beauty’ or ‘money’ shots of the artist are what draws the audience closer and helps them feel involved, being able to relate more to the artist and to recognise familiarity.

Is the viewer being ‘sutured’ (stitched) into the diegesis of the film world through the editing?
Yes, it is the editing that controls what we see and in what order, and therefore brings us into this world of film.

MV is freer in terms of viewer identification and perspective – agreed?
Yes because people can take on different perspectives with the video. Some may understand it in different ways and identify with it differently. The director will often guide the audiences in a certain direction, but they can usually read into it differently and create their own perspective on both the visuals and the song.

Carol Vernallis believes the image alone cannot tell the story – do you agree?
Yes mostly because the music and lyrics are what anchor the images and give the visuals real meaning. The visuals will sometimes tell a story to a certain extent; however it is the music that creates the right atmosphere and mood for the story, which is needed to tell it fully.

BLK feedback

Excellent posts so far Tanya, what a great start to your background work for this project! There's a few things missing though, see targets below.

We also need to get you using/applying advanced theory more explicitly when you analyse music videos, think Vernallis for now, although you will also need to get to grips with Goodwin in the new term. Loving the analytical stuff you have done so far though, that's really put you ahead of the game.

For now, your short term targets are:
1. Link your lip synch to your blog
2. Post your lip synch evaluation
3. Post the work you have done for Miss T on Vernallis. See her post on the main Music Video Blog for the specific details of what is needed here
4. Post your track research/ideas – we need to see what tracks you have in mind for your own video
5. We need a photo and some info about you please!

All instructions are on the main blog if you are not sure what you should have done. There will be a lot happening when term starts so the sooner this outstanding work is completed, the better.

Great effort so far, keep up the good work and see you soon!