Digipaks

A digipak is a type of packaging for CD's and DVDs, typically made out of cardboard with a plastic holder for the disks inside. They were among the first alternatives to the jewel (plastic) cases and grew in popularity among record labels and artists in the 2000's. 

An example of a digipak is All Time Low's 'Future Hearts'. This features 6 panels, with a mixture of photos of the band, the logo and other images. 

The front cover features the band name, their logo and the name of their album. The logo features birds; this is something which is on most of their albums. The colour scheme of blue shows that their sound is maturing; their previous colour schemes were dark colours which represented the punk genre. 

The font of 'All Time Low' is bold, and stands out from the rest of the album. 

I felt that this was something I could take inspiration from, by using a mixture of photos of the band but also other things, such as the logo, which are eye-catching. 

Another example of a digipak is Rihanna's 'Loud' album. The colours used are vibrant and stand out; this is stereotypical of the pop genre. Rihanna's face is prominent on the album cover; this is so the audience knows who the artist is. The photo featured within the inside the digipak looks like she's wearing a wedding dress. This could connote what the lyrics may be about on the album and how the artist is wanting to show herself like.The text on the album itself is simple and isn't prominent on the album cover; this could represent that the artist wanted her face to be the main attraction within the album. The album has one main colour which is used on both the front and back; this was the colour of Rihanna's hair during the making of this album. The colour is featured on all 6 of the panels and creates a theme. The conventions of the pop genre suggest that the artist creates popular music. This could be represented through their choice of album cover and colours within the digipak. 

Music Industry

Who are the big three record labels?
Warner, Universal and Sony.

Why do audiences access music videos?
Audiences access music videos because they entertain, inform, encourage social interactions and the audience is able to identify themselves through the video. The audience can 'escape' reality, and they are able to enjoy the video. Also, some videos are used to inform the audience; this could be through the use of events, or things which are occurring in the world. Music videos also encourage social interaction, as the audiences will talk about what they've seen, which could be particularly interesting, with family and friends. Additionally, audiences are able to relate to the characters in a music video, as they can compare the behaviours and their traits with the characters within the video.

How has the music industry changed in the past 10-15 years?
The music industry has changed, as now everything is digital. Audiences use streaming sites, such as Spotify, rather than buying a physical copy of the album. There are now sites like YouTube and Vevo which allow the audience to look at the videos which go with the songs.

How do audiences access music?
Stereotypically, younger audiences access music through sites such as YouTube, Vevo and streaming sites such as Spotify. Websites like YouTube enable the audience to look at the video which go with the music. Some audiences, however, still access music through the use of CD's, vinyl etc.

How do artists and companies generate income?
Artists and companies make money through tours; this is an effective way to make money, as then fans will also buy the merchandise which will be sold at the concerts. Generally, a ticket to see an artist cost anywhere from £20 to £100, and this allows both companies and the artist themselves to generate more money. If a concert ticket cost £50, this would mean that an artist would have to sell 5 of their albums to receive the same money, therefore, concert tickets are an easy way to make money.

How does Spotify work?
Spotify works by allowing the audience to stream songs. There are options within Spotify which the audience can choose from: free version, premium version and a family package. An artist gets $0.006 per stream; although this doesn't seem like a lot, this adds up, as many people listen to the song more than once. 

Why were videos produced?
Videos were produced to entertain the audience, but to also help the artist to gain recognition. They also enable the viewer to understand the lyrics better.

Why are music videos still produced?
Music videos are still produced as they still help the artist gain a bigger audience. They are used to entertain an audience and helps them to get their music across.

How do artists promote music?
Artists promote music through the use of tours, websites and other ways. For example, Lady Gaga promoted her new album by being at the Superbowl in America. This helped her to sell more copies of her songs on iTunes and stream more songs on Spotify. 

What is synergy?
Synergy is the use of combining several companies together. For example, in Lady Gaga's 'Telephone' video, there are brands such as Chanel, Wonderbread and Virgin mobile which are featured. This helps to promote the brands but also enables Gaga to earn more money, as the brands have paid to be featured in the video. Having both the artist and the brands help them to promote each other. Whereas, in Adele's 'Hello' video, no synergy is used, as she doesn't think that this is a good thing to do.


What is the 360 degree deal?
The 360 degree deal is when an artist is on a contract that the company controls. The companies provides support for the artist with things such as marketing, tours, merchandise etc. The record labels get a percentage revenue of the amount that the artist makes.

Band name

Focus Group

We decided to film our focus group, as this would enable us to see how they felt about our ideas. It would also help us to gather new ideas and give us inspiration to alter any of our ideas.
The focus group were very helpful, and gave us lots of feedback; this has helped us to stick to certain ideas and reconsider some of the others. We gave several options, for example, band names and costumes, which gave the audience an opportunity to decide which ones were their favourites and what would match with our narrative. 
A popular costume idea was the wedding dress, and we felt that the ideas given from our focus group would help us to match this idea with the narrative.
We gave the option of 'The Ultra Candy Fusion' as a name for our band; we asked our focus group if this would be suitable with having two male members within our band. The help from our focus group has helped us to decide which name to choose which will be relevant to the genre.

Survey Monkey

For my music video, I decided to make a survey to create a target audience. I managed to get 18 responses on the survey, which was more than enough to see who my target audience could be. 70% of the people who took the survey were under the age of 18, with 30% being between 18-24. For the genre of music video I want to create, this is an ideal age range, as I feel like this is a good age to have as my target audience. 14 of my responses were female, and 4 were male. I feel that for the song I am using and the genre, the target audience will be mainly female.

For the question 'do you have a favourite band/singer?', there were a variety of different responses. The majority of bands/singers which were mentioned are within the pop/indie/alternative genre, with a few being in the punk/rock genre. 
Furthermore, the genres of music which my respondents generally listen to are indie, pop, rock, metal and punk. 
Many of the responses on my survey said that their style is casual or trendy or alternative, and I feel that this reflects on the type of answers which they gave regarding their favourite artist and the genres of music they listen to.
Creating this survey has helped me to decided on a specific target audience and has also helped me to see what types of music a certain age range listens to. I want to target my music video at an age range between 15-24, as I feel that this is a good age range for the genre of indie.

I was also able to find out people's favourite music videos. I decided to watch a few of these, but found that some of them didn't relate to the genre I have chosen. Each music video creates a unique identity for the band; this is what I want to do to ensure that my band is distinct and is different to other bands. I found that by finding out my target audience's favourite videos, I will be able to try and incorporate ideas from them to make sure that my video fits with the demographic of my choice.


I thought that by finding out my age range's preferences, I would be able to target my music video at the correct audience, allowing my music video to reflect the indie genre in the right way.