Evaluation Task 2

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

How important is the image of the artist?

'music videos are used as a promotional tool'- Keith Negus. The promotion of music is rarely all about the song. Visual images are incorporated as a key element of the marketing strategy, something historically attributed to the marketing of rock music videos. A star image is used to brand the product, branding is then used by the music industry to create a range of products for audiences across a variety of genres. 

Chris Anderson puts forward the notion of Long Tail Theory. The theory of the Long Tail is that our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of "hits" and toward a huge number of niches in the tail.

The star image communicates important messages to the audience as audience frequently associate the look of an artist to a style of music i.e. black, goth makeup=  heavy metal/rock. According to Dyer 'A star is an image not a real person that is constructed out of a range of materials'. If an artist is to be successful they must construct an image that fits to the pre-existing conventions within its associated genre. Websites are another opportunity to publicise and promote a star image, often organised into what Boyd describes as co-option.

All music websites are about the promotion and information being provided to the audience. They fall into three main categories;

1. Promotion of single or album release

2. Promotion of a tour or live performance

3. Merchandising, posters of an artist or band, sales of T-shirts, mugs, etc.

CD digipacks are constructed according to the genre it fits into. When considering how to campaign Philip Kotler defines marketing as;'Human activity directed at satisfying needs and wants through exchange process’. Marketing consists of 4 variables: 

1. Price - how much the product will cost/ consumers will pay for

2. Place - how the product distributed the marketed to the target audience

3. Product - what is being branded (star image)

4. Promotion - how is it advertised, where and publicised?





Interview:

We did this as part of the promotion of 'The Roaches' album being released. Where we answered questions regarding the artists star image, the video, the website and digipack. We presented it as the public asking questions to the presenter (Man in the suit).


 

Five questions I would ask my co-prodcuers about the band:

1.In relation to star image, who is similar to the star you have tried to create and where do you draw influence from?

2.What are the key meanings you chose for your star image and what do these stand for? 

3.How would you say your website, digipack and music video work together to reinforce the star meaning of your artist? 

4.In relation to your target audience, what would you say the genre of your music is and who would appeal to it? 
5.Do you feel your products are accessible to your target audience and link well to each other? 

6.Do you think your products relate to any of your target audience’s values and ideas in life? (

7.Do you believe the website is accessible enough to TA and how could it be more accessible? 

8.Do all your products cross-promote each other? 

9.Where would you like your final product to be distributed and what media is currently being used for a cohesive marketing campaign for your artist? 

How would you promote your artist?

The product itself would be placed both physically and digitally in places such as HMV and Amazon, along with online at ITunes and Spotify. As Mike Masnick says if you “Give the audience a reason to connect and they will pay”. However, due to the changing ways of viewing music, we would place the product mainly digitally as in the online age, young people are more concerned with having access to music, rather than owning it. Therefore most of the music would be bought online because the target audience is largely part of the online generation, as it would be easier for them to download the album instantly or stream it on a streaming app, such as Spotify or Apple music, as opposed to buying it at the shop.This is why most of the marketing has an online focus. Therefore by selling The Roaches album in a CD shop such as HMV, it may not do as well, as if it was sold predominantly online. The Roaches would be signed to Sony Music who would release their product in the spring time, just a few month before their tour so that fans can have a chance to familiarise themselves with the songs and also allow the roaches to build up their fanbase before traveling around England for their Nation tour. The advertisement would be placed mainly in places that share the same audience as The Roaches. For example, on Youtube, it would be advertised in front of artists such as Biffy Clyro and Nirvana, so that these pre existing fan bases can explore The Roaches music as they are similar to those artists.Therefore we guarantee reaching our target audience. Further we would use The Roaches social media accounts such as Twitter where hash tagging is popular and gets the audience involved. #TheRoaches and #Lithium hashtag would promote our artist and generate hype, in order to increase fan interaction as these tweets could possibly appear on The Roaches fan wall on her website. In addition, we could use twitter to get the fans involved by allowing them to ask questions they have for The Roaches.

Spotify Page for 'The Roaches:'