Influence of music styles

Influences of the pop genre

The pop genre has been dominated by the American and British music industries.

The pop genre has also made use of technological innovation. For example, in the 1940s improved microphone designed allowed a more intimate singing style.

There are many different types of pop for example, indie pop, pop rock and dance-pop.

Indie pop

§  It originated in the UK in the mid-1980s with its roots in Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label and the dominant independent band I the UK at the time: The Smiths.

§  Typical instruments in the genre include: guitar, bass, drums and vocals.

§  Power pop, punk and post-punk was a significant influence of indie pop.

§  Notable artists in the indie pop genre include: Marina & the Diamonds, Lana Del Rey, Bastille, Camera Obscura, Lykke Li etc.

§  NME released a compilation cassette called C81 and 5 years late released another one called C86. These cassettes featured a wide range of groups which reflected the different approaches of the immediate post-punk era. It is seen as the birth of “indie” in the UK.

Pop rock

§  Typical instruments include: electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, drums and vocals.

§  Pop rock music is used to describe the commercially more successful music that uses features of rock music. It has defined as an upbeat variety of rock.

§  The music genres pop and rock is argued to have a clearer distinction in the US than the UK as pop is rooted in white crooners whereas rock is rooted in African-American-influenced forms such as rock and roll.

Dance-pop

§  This genre of music originated in the early 1980s. It developed from post-disco and synthpop and is generally quite up-tempo music which ideally is for clubs as it intends to be danceable but also suitable for the contemporary hit radio.

§  Characteristics:

·          Strong beats

·          Up-tempo

·          Easy, uncomplicated song structures

·          Emphasising on the melody as well as catchy tunes like pop music

·          Prominent hooks

·          Simple lyrics

·          Polished productions

§  Typical instruments include: drum machine, synthesizers, keyboards and vocals.

§  Some notable dance-pop artists include: Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.

§  Post-disco is a more modern variant of disco music which intends to be more experimental, electronic and producer/DJ-driven which often uses sequencers and synthesizers.

§  Dance-pop music was usually created, composed and produced by record producers who would then hire singers to perform the songs.

§  It became a major genre in pop music by the 1990s.

§  It was influenced by other genres such as contemporary R&B, house, synthpop and techno.

§  In the mid to late 2000s, new dance-pop artists were introduced such as Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Katy Perry. Some of their notable dance-pop songs include “Don’t Stop the Music” by Rihanna, “Just Dance” by Lady Gaga and “Hot N Cold” by Katy Perry.

Research into directors

Research into artist

Bruno Mars

 

·         Born as Peter Gene Hernandez.

·         Born on 8 October 1985 in Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.

·         Occupation: singer-songwriter, record producer, voice artist, choreographer.

·         Instruments: vocals, piano, guitar, drums, harmonica, keyboard, bass, beatbox.

 

Mars signed to Motown Records in 2004 and after a year he was dropped by the company. He met songwriter and producer Philip Lawrence through the company. They then collaborated, writing songs for Mars but received many rejections from labels. In 2006, Lawrence introduced Mars to his future A&R manager at Atlantic Records who wanted to sign him immediately but it took 3 years for him to be signed to the company as Atlantic felt that it was too early and that Mars still needed development as an artist.  He finally signed with Atlantic in 2009.

His debut album Doo-Wops & Hooligans was digitally released on 4^th October 2011 and physically released on 5^th October 2011. The lead single “Just The Way You Are” was released on 19^th July 2010. It reached the top of the several charts such as the Billboard Hot 100.

On 30^th October 2011, he exclusively performed “Runaway Baby” on the results show of The X Factor UK. On the same day he received 6 nominations for a Grammy Award for: Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance.

Mars has released 2 studio albums: Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010) and Unorthodox Jukebox (2012). He has released 1 EP, 21 singles, 17 music videos, 5 promotional singles and 3 other charted songs.

He has featured in 2 films (Honeymoon in Vegas and Rio 2) and 3 televisions series.

 

Success

Ø  Billboard ranked Mars as the 12^th richest musician of 2013, with earnings of around $18.8 million.

Ø   “Just The Way You Are” (12.5 million) and “Grenade” (10.2 million) are two of the worldwide most digitally sold singles of all time.

Ø  Amazon.co.uk named him as the 12^th best-selling digital artist.

Ø  Mars became the first male artist to top the 4 million mark in digital sales with 4 different songs.

Ø  He has sold over 130 million records worldwide as a singer, producer and songwriter.

Ø  Mars has the highest total number one songs on Hot 100 Airplay among all solo male artists.

Ø  He has sold 11 million albums and 68 million singles worldwide as a singer.

Awards and nominations

§  He has won a total of 67 awards and has been nominated for 209 awards.

§  Mars won his first Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance on 13^th February 2011 and also received 6 nominations including Best Rap song, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Producer of the Year.

§  He has won 2 Brit Awards for International Male Solo Artist 2012 and 2014.

§  He won Favourite Pop/Rock Male Artist in 2012 as the American Music Award.

Research into genre

By doing this research I can apply some of the conventions of the pop genre into my music video. For example, I know I should try to make it colourful and display a positive message to the audience. I also know that my song fits in with the genre as it is about friendship and I found that typical pop songs are about relationships. Since the pop genre is focused on visual imagery I know that I should create a music video which meets this and this could be done through the use of mise-en-scene.

Audience research

Research into equipment

Media - Equipment by fionawongmedia

Music Channels

Media - Music Channels by fionawongmedia

Music Video Theory

Research into music labels

Media - Research Into Music Labels

I researched the main music labels in the music industry, looking at information such as when it established, the artists under the label, the revenue of the company as well as the number of employees in the company. Through this research task I found that all the major labels had many subsidiary labels and that there's a lot of merging between companies. For example, EMI was aquired by the Universal Music Group.

Music Video History

Work that I admire

Jason Mraz – I Won’t Give Up (Lyric Video)

The lyric video for the song revolves around the theme of letters. The time which the video was set seemed to be old and so the colour/lighting of the video was made to be dimmer and brown so that it matched the time era. Furthermore the props used matched this time era as letters were more often written before the computers were used by most people so this suggests the time the video was set in. Furthermore, the use of fountain pens and old style keys reinforces the time era it was set in.

There are several ways in which the props are used to present the lyrics of the song. A lot of the time the lyrics are written on the envelopes of the letters but they are presented in different ways; for example the lyrics were sometimes written on a few separate envelopes and sometimes the whole line of lyrics was written on one envelope. Another thing which was often used was a table which varied in colours to make it not seem too repetitive. Actors were used in the video where they flipped the page in the book and picked up the envelope to reveal the lyrics. The video also had a narrative to it as there was some acting in the beginning and at the end of the video.

I like this video because it has a nice theme and the props used were well selected to create the theme. The lighting was also adjusted to match the appropriate time era to when it was set. Furthermore, although some of the props were used over and over again, each time it varied a little to make it look different and interesting to watch. Another thing I like about it was the incorporated acting in the beginning and at the end of the video which makes the video different to other lyric videos.

Katy Perry – Birthday (Lyric Video)

This video is really creative in the way it presents the lyrics of the song. Firstly, the number of cakes used to create the video is quite incredible. Although most of the lyrics were displayed on birthday cakes but the amount of different types of cakes used made it remarkable. Some of the cakes included traditional birthday cakes, cartoon cakes, cupcakes and other types of cakes were used. The bright colours used were very appealing and suitable for the theme of the song as they connote happiness which links to the title of the song “Birthday” as it typically a joyful event. Another part of the video which I like is the use of transitions between the different types of lyrics. Some examples include the use of a pan and tilt. The sequence of the lyrics shown was also continuous a lot of the time where it was not edited so it was all in one shot and this made it flow. There were a variety of props used in the video which were all closely related to the title of the song. For example, at first there was a cake mix which a wooden spoon, then there was plain flour, a rolling pin, ribbons, candles and so on. It is quite fascinating how the lyrics were put onto each of these items to make it look interesting to the audience. Overall, the lyric video was creative in how the lyrics were displayed with the great amount of props used to create it which is what I really admire about this video.

Conventions of a music video

Conventions of a music video from fionamedia

Analysis of previous student’s work

Lorida Berisha

Kodaline – “All I Want” – 4:42

 

 

FINAL VIDEO from Lorida on Vimeo.

 

Media - Analysis of Previous Student's Work

What is a digipak?

What is a digipak?

A digipak typically consists of a folded heavy paper/cardboard or card stock with one or more plastic trays which can hold the CD or DVD attached to the inside. It is one of the first alternatives to jewel cases that is used by major record companies.

It is often used as the packaging for CD singles or special editions. The use of digipaks became popular amongst record labels and recording artists in the early 2000s.

§  Digipaks looks nice and is perhaps more stylish and professional-looking than jewel cases.

§  However they are more expensive than jewel cases.

§  Digipaks are more environmentally friendly because they use about 65% less plastic than most jewel cases.

§  Although digipaks don’t crack like jewel cases but they wear away quicker as the paper eventually comes apart or the colour may fade.

§  Furthermore the teeth used to hold the CD in place cracks and fall out more easily than is jewel cases as the outer packaging is made of paper.

Similar Product Research

I analysed a music video which is similar to what I intend to create. I chose this music video because it a performance-based pop music video which involves the lyrics of the song in a creative way. I identified some interesting parts of the music video in terms of the lyrics, mise-en-scene as well as the use of camera.

Media Similar Product Research from fionamedia

For this task I analysed digipaks, magazine advertisements and websites. For each of them I analysed parts such as the colour scheme, image and text. Through this task I have learnt that having a consitent colour scheme is important in making a product look professional. The image should also be thought carefully to match the colour scheme and the text should also be considered well to make it suitable for the product. I will consider to use some of the conventions I found in my own product such as having the artist and album name in a different colour.