The music marketing project was an experience full of learning and creativity. Creating an artist's image from nothing was like a behind-the-scenes of the music industry.
My group started like every other, listening to the songs that were selected for us. We got the genre of rock so there was a variety of sub-genres in the folder including hard rock and indie rock. At first, all our minds were blank for ideas. After a few more short listen we were able to narrow it down to two songs and take a vote on which one we liked more, and was marketable. We finally decided on “Mountain on my Gates” by the Foals, which fall into the indie rock sub-genre, meaning our database was based on rock artists. Our knowledge of recent rock bands was very limited, most of us only knew 80s rock bands like Queen and nirvana. Despite our challenge, we searched for artists that had built themselves their image. We had an advantage already because the band from the song, Foals, is an active band and released a song in the past few years. So, from there we researched the company they are signed with, Warner records and from there discovered the band, Muse. Then we researched other bands that are active today and found The Strokes which is represented by RCA Records and from there released the recent Eurovision rock band winner represented by this label. So we chose the bands and researchers of the labels and artists' campaigns/images. Each of the bands had a unique image that makes them themselves and highlights them from the numerous bands right now.
The first thing we had to do was come up with a band name and their background. We searched and decided that our band should be Australian, around their 20s, working for 1 ½ years to blow up. Most of us searched for indie names that we could use. We had a few names to choose from that were very unique, but none sounded good enough for a famous band. I thought about music about a song called “drops of Jupiter” by the band Train. I didn't want to copy the name directly because it would be illegal, so we had to change some of the words. The words tears were suggested by me because, and I'll explain my thought process; Indie band's songs usually rely on strong emotions, meaning tears. They also usually relate their band to something unique, where space came with. Furthermore, the planet Jupiter was chosen because it is orange and the largest in our solar system (just like our band). When we decided on a name Daniela was able to create our band logo. It included the colors orange and blue (the main colors of our band), and a guitar-wearing headphone. From there we were done with the overall image.
The reason the artists originally wrote the song was about overcoming challenges from addiction, but we saw it as a song about reaching happiness and letting go of things bringing you down. From there we build the storyline around the scene and lyrics. To continue the process, we came up with colors that matched the vibe of the song; oranges, blues, browns, greens are the set color pallet. From here we all brainstorm together and come up with different parts of the storyline. After throwing some ideas on the table we all agreed on the storyline we have now, a man quitting his job and finally finding his happiness somewhere else. We each came up with different parts and worked as a team to build the story. After overcoming this challenge, it brought up a new one, Where are we filming? We searched for the palaces where a story could be the best expressed, using location in Weston. We needed free office space, a forest trail, a date place, and space to film promotional shots. As a group, we decided that the Town center would be the best place to find an office, and a date place, Regional Park the closest trail and for promotional shots, we could film in someone's house.
Eventually, we had an outline of the music video we wanted to produce, so we separated the remaining work. Bianca and I were in charge of the storyboard while Daniela and Balthazar started with the campaign and presentation. Daniela had experience with building a campaign before she decided that she could do most, with suggestions from the other group members and help from Balthazar. I sketched the overall idea of the shots into the storyboard, which was made up of ideas from me and Bianca, while the others were coming up with ideas on camping. We were done with the storyboards quickly, so Bianca and Me started helping them with ideas, organizing the presentation, and editing the look of the presentation. Daniela had made partnerships with oculus, converse, and a clothing brand Kith. While the other came up with the marketing strategies and any other things we needed.
This whole process has been a great learning experience, though we still have a big part to finish; the music video, which I believe we will have fun developing.
