Today we watched an interview between our teachers and music manager Emma. She started as an artist, was signed to universal and has now moved to managing, however, she says the industry has massively changed over the year and so her title has broadened. She owns an agency and is also a publisher, she also manages artists and has also written songs for other people.
She's worked with many artists and even helped write musicals with people such as 'Finding Neverland'. She worked for Simon Howells record label psycho and therefor all the tv shows linked to this label. she is super diverse which means she has a lot more financial security because she has more opportunities for varying jobs more than someone who only has experience in one category.
These days it's much easier to get a deal with a record company if you can prove there is already interest in you as an artist, especially on social media platform and apps such as YouTube. One of her artists who co wrote the song 'put your records on' with Corinne Bailey Rae has been earning a lot of money because a guy in America (Ritt Momney) made a cover of the song and requested permission to release the song and it went viral on Tik Tok and then everywhere on all streaming services. This, in turn, then brought the original back to popularity and took it from 89 million streams to over 600 million streams, all thanks to Ritt Momney who has now been signed to Columbia Records.
RITT MOMNEY"S VERSION:
THE ORIGINAL BY CORINNE BAILEY RAE:
THE TIK TOK CHALLENGE:
Emma does a lot of searching for new artists, what you're looking for varies from person to person, for something like XFactor it's very different than someone for a record label. They look at following and audience, image, talent and then it's just who fits what they require and who stands out.
The pandemic has had a huge affect, people have been let down and managers are unable to meet their artists etc. so social media has massively grown especially in terms of finding new artists.
Physically copies are still relevant but it depends where and who. Physical is huge in Asia, much more so than digital release whereas in the uk everything is mainly digital. People tend to only buy physical copies at gigs and concerts more as a memory and a keep sake. Physical copies are released in tiny numbers compared to how they used to be. Vinyl is coming back but as merchandising more than anything else.
Videos however, are coming back in because it's much easier to access video streaming services such as YouTube so people are starting to make more extravagant videos to give people something to talk about.
Today we had a look at band logos and how important logos are to a music artist.
Logos are a an image that allow you to quickly identify and artist and their genre, maybe even a little insight to who they are as a band or artist.
Logos can also be used to create money and used for and as advertising. If you create a great logo, you can print it on merchandise and sell it and then in turn other people want want to start printing it on clothing and accessories. people then walk around with these on which is basically free advertising for you. some die hard fans make stickers and stick them on walls, or poster, some even get them tattooed on their bodies.
There are 7 main types of logo:
Abstract logo
Mascot logo
Combination Mark
Emblem logo
Lettermark
Watermark
Pictorial mark
I had a little play at trying to design a logo for a band.
I think this video is just so clever and has so many layers to analyse that we as an audience can't even comprehend. I think the contrast in the music and in the video swell is very significant. The music at the beginning is very light and fun with a strong Caribbean influence and then as soon as we see the first gun fired the tone of the song totally changes. I personally feel like here he is saying this is who we are and who were trying to be, we are gentle people but since coming to America you make us out to be criminals and thugs and so we've started to act like it because life is cut throat and we have to survive.
When Childish Gambino first enters the shot his back is to the audience, he turns around and starts to dance and instantly he uses extreme facial expressions and physical movement. As someone who knows a lot about the black history and the racist context behind American jazz, it was immediately obvious to me that he was playing a character like Jim Crow. The exaggerated facial expressions and hyperbolic movements were very similar to those used by white performers in minstrel shows. They used to adopt characteristics to make fun of black people and their culture, they were portrayed as dumb and animalistic, people to be laughed at. In this video of a minstrel show you can see the similarities in the movement:
However, the specific character of Jim Crow seems to have been embodied by Gambino and the similarities are undeniable, see here an illustration of the character 'Jim Crow' and a still of Gambino in the video...
One of the most interesting aspects of the video, I think, is the school children. They are prominent throughout the video for an important reason. I think for a lot of the video the kids represent the younger generation in todays society and how they're growing up around this violence but it doesn't even phase them, this is how the cycle grows and continues. At times they're dancing and laughing while people riot and kill each other behind them as if it's nothing.
I think what Glover says here is very reminiscent of Tupac's famous 'THUG LIFE' tattoo which is actually an acronym for, 'The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everyone' highlighting this idea that if we keep raising children in this environment of violence they will never know any better and the cycle will continue.
The children are also in school uniform which isn't common in America unless they go to a private school, this to me, highlights how to be respected as a black person in America you have to have a wealthy education and background or you have a slim chance of doing really well by yourself. This is also echoed by what the children are doing. They are performing viral dance moves with Gambino in the midst of all the chaos. I think this illustrates how in America entertainment and social media is used as a distraction from the deep rooted problems in American society. I also think this is a symbol for the fact that black people deserve a lot more credit than they get for a huge proportion of American culture. Jazz, Hip Hop, Blues dance and music, all created by black people and brought over to America by slaves. People feel comfortable appropriating black culture and style but don't want to respect their roots and acknowledge their suffering. This links back to how black people are not respected unless they're famous or wealthy an even then they still don't get the recognition they deserve for the huge input they have on American society and especially social media.
One of the most shocking moments in the video happens at the very start when a black man is playing the guitar on a chair and then has a sack on his head and is shot by Gambino for no reason. This to me screams that black people are killed in America for no reason. This dates back to the Jim Crow laws and the Ku Klux Klan who lynched black Americans and kept slavery alive after the 13th amendment supposedly abolished slavery. This is still current now, racist hate crime against black Americans, even the police killing unarmed, innocent black people for no valid reason. Purchasing a gun in America is shockingly easy and it leads to horrible massacres and murders yet they won't give the guns up. A black person with a gun is a gang member and a criminal but a white person with a gun is just mentally unstable and naive. Something of huge significance here is also how after he shoots the man, he places the gun in someones hands as they hold a red flag. The red flag I think represents republicans and how they are the main culprits who want to keep guns and be allowed to use guns. I feel like this juxtaposition of the gun being taken so gently and the mans body just being dragged along the floor highlights how people prioritise the right to have a gun over peoples safety. The Black Lives Matter-movement is still prevalent today as Black people are still targeted
and killed in racist hate crimes and by the police. An Uproar in the movement was sparked by an incident in may 2020 when a police officer kneeled on Black American citizen George Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds as he told them he can't breathe, consequently he died. This led to huge global protests and a rise in police violence.
Today we had a lesson on the relevance of music videos and how that's changed over time.
I had a look at the the music video for the lead song on Florence and the Machines first album lungs.
I think in this video the label was trying to convey the youth of the artist and how fun and playful she is. The lyrics of the song it pretty aggressive but presented in an up beat and light hearted way. The video essentially does the same, she's smashing things with a bat and smashing a plate over someone head playing with 'fire' after "setting fire to their bed" but it's all done with props and bright colours. her outfit is a colourful purple short skirt and a super bright and flowery top. she has long stripes socks on and red underwear the we see when she stand over a fan, slightly sexualised.
I think they were also trying to convey her as someone whose wild and carefree which did eventually become one of the things everyone loved about her.
The outfit is very of it's time and so it her hairstyle and makeup, she's someone you want to dress like but not mainstream because she's individual and unique.
This was the album cover for their first album 'Lungs' on which 'Kiss with a Fist' was the lead song released in 2009.
I love this album cover. I remember seeing it when I was younger and thinking it was really cool.
Here we are introduced to the lead singer the main artist. Her body language is super open and free but she's looking away from the camera which adds a layer of mystery and intrigue. This is an interesting choice for a first album as we don't know her yet. It has the key elements of the artists name and the name of the album.
The colour palette is very moody and dark which feels fitting with the name of the album. However there are pops of colour surrounding her with pink flowers and green birds but they're still gentle and feel slightly sad and melancholy. The material backdrop is very dark and she looks really pale which stands her out against the background as someone whose important.
She is wearing a totally sheer dress but it covered by a set of fake lungs that sit over her chest where her lungs would be inside her. Her ribcage is placed exactly centre in the shot which highlights this area of her body and therefore the title of the album as its written across the lungs like a label. Her hair is messy and covers a lot of her face which adds to the carefree but also the youthfulness and the mystery.
