Friday, 30 September 2011
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
Friday, 16 September 2011
Font ideas for CD cover
This is a selection of fonts I looked at to use on my CD cover and magazine advert. I thought they were all suitable for the genre of music, however I felt the last one matched the narrative plot of the song best. The font is quite 'dark' and scary with the splatter under the letter a. Also I felt that a serif font would go well with the artists niche and quirky style. I only wanted to use this font for the artists name so it could also be seen as a logo, therefore I also chose to use the font above it. I felt these two fonts went well together as they both have a sort of 'smudgy' look to them with the white/faded patches. I also felt that it would work well to have both a serif and sans-serif font.
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Having a 'niche'?
LADY GAGA

Lady Gaga came to prominence following the release of her album 'The Fame' in 2008, which was a huge success and achieved international popularity with the singles "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". Gaga is now well-recognized for her niche style as a recording artist, in fashion, in performance and in her music videos. Her wacky style shows in her music videos and lyrics, and makes her individual and therefore stand out from any other artist. her music and style has been inspired by artists such as Madonna with her dance-pop music, and different stage outfits. However, Lady Gaga has not always been as eccentric as she is today. Before her fame she was signed to Def Jam and used to play different music with just her and her piano in small nightclubs and bars. She was then dropped, but she found Redone and baecame who she is today.


Sunday, 11 September 2011
Thursday, 8 September 2011
CD Cover Design Research

This album cover is simple and yet very effective. The quirky, colourful image in the middle goes well with the indie/ pop music that Kate Nash makes. A lot of Kate Nash's songs are about love and friendships, which the heart shapes and pictures suggest. The colours red and blue aslo suggest this, they could represent boys and girls, or love/happiness and heartbreak/sadness.
Beyonce - Sweet Dreams
Beyonce has a different approach to many other bands/artists when it comes to album covers. She tends to keep hers simple with just a photo of herself, her name and the album name. In this photo she is crouched down, hiding most her outfit, with only the studded shoulders showing, and the dark gloves and shoes she is wearing. The writing is also placed over her body which makes her face stand out the most in the black and white image. The colours black, white and gold help to portray her R&B style music.
Michael Buble - Madison Square Garden
Unlike many other album covers, Michael Buble's 'madison square garden' uses very nuteral colours. This cover has a very autumny feel to it, as well as the atmosphere of a concert. the image is of Michael Buble stood with his back to us and a spotlight shining onto the front of him, at the bottom there is also a blurred image of a crowd of people.
Branding - Jusin Bieber
Teen pop sensation Justin Bieber has taken advantage of using merchandise to help promote his music. You can purchase Justin Bieber jewlery, t-shirts, badges, posters, mugs, bags, dolls, headphones, and even Justin Bieber nail varnish. They have all worked to establish a brand identity of him as they all have teh same 'theme', using purple as the main colour and also using a similar font on all of the products. This tells you straight away that his target audience is teenage girls. They are all very successful as merchansise as you will now see Jusin Biebers name almost anywhere, from stationary shops, to clothes shops. These items could be incorporated into a CD cover or magazine advert by using the colours, images and text from them. This would then be advertising his merchandise as well as his music.
THE ONLINE REVOLUTION
The internet has had a massive impact on the music industry and it now plays a big role in the promotion of music. Many artists have now got their own websites and pages on social networking sites where they tell their audience about their music, and some sites also have music players so people can listen to their songs for free. This works well because so many people now have constant access to the internet through things like mobile phones. Many people use the internet to download their music, either through a pirate site or a legal site. This has become a very popular way of getting music as it is so quick, easy and convenient. By using the internet bands/artists can quickly make their music become well known.
ED SHEERAN – Acoustic
Ed Sheeran is an artists that has used the internet a lot to help promote his music. He has his own website where you can listen to his music, get the lyrics of his songs, find out his tour dates, and there are also links to his ‘pages’ on many social networking sites, such as twitter, facebook, YouTube, MySpace and SoundCloud. Using these you will be able to listen to his music and read about his songs and him as an artist. Since 2005 Ed Sheeran’s music has become very well known and popular, and as a result his latest single "The A Team" instantly did very well, entering the UK chart at number 3 and selling over 58,000 copies in the first week.
TARGET AUDIENCE
CALVIN HARRIS – Dance – Target Audience: teenagers and young adults
In 2006, Calvin Harris signed a publishing deal with EMI as well as a recording contract with Sony BMG. His music became well known after he posted it on his MySpace page. He promoted his first album, “I Created Disco” in 2007 by touring the UK in support of Groove Armada and Faithless. In 2007, Calvin Harris worked with Kylie Minogue, producing and co-writing the songs 'Heart Beat Rock' and 'In My Arms' on her album “X”. Calvin Harris has also collaborated with the Mitchell Brothers and Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Calvin Harris claimed, in an interview with Fearne Cotton on BBC Radio 1, that he had turned down the opportunity of working with Lady GaGa because he disliked the demo that he was sent of her music. In 2008, Calvin Harris collaborated with Dizzie Rascal creating the song 'Dance Wiv Me' which went to number one in the UK singles charts. The pair performed the track acoustically at the 2008 Glastonbury Festival, for the BBC. Calvin Harris has also remixed tracks for many different artists such as CSS, Primal Scream and Kaiser Chiefs. All of these things have helped to promote Calvin Harris as an artist, and therefore promoting his music and albums.
KE$HA – Pop – Target Audience: females aged 16-24
Ke$ha used viral marketing to promote her music and make herself known to many people. When her debut single “Tik Tok” was released she offered it free for a month before releasing it for digital download in August 2009. It quickly reached number one on iTunes in New Zealand without radio airplay. Radio stations soon began expressing interest in the song, but RCA/Jive Label Group chairman/CEO Barry Weiss decided to delay its shipping to radio by a month, to October, to let the song continue to build viral support digitally and good word of mouth. To promote her album “Animal”, which was released in January 2010, ke$ha did several performances worldwide and also made several TV appearances.
Michael Bublé uses his website, http://www.michaelbuble.com, to help promote his songs and alums. On here there is a music player that audiences can use to stream his songs, and there is a link to an online shop where you can buy his albums and merchandise, such as tops, shorts, jackets, and dressing gowns. He also puts his tour dates and locations on here, and there is a fan club that you can become a member of. Michael Bublé does many tours before album releases to promote them. Another way Michael Bublé promotes his music is by allowing his songs to be played on the radio, this way it can be played on stations suitable for his target audience.


How has each artist’s approach to promoting their music differed due to their target audiences?
Both Calvin Harris and Ke$ha have young target audiences who would probably spend a lot of time on the internet and on social networking sites such as MySpace. Because of this they have used a lot of viral marketing to help promote their music, also they have made their music available for digital download. Ke$ha even took into consideration the fact that the majority of her target audience probably wouldn’t have much money and so made her album free for a month before it was officially released for digital download. However, as Michael Bublé has an slightly older target audience than Calvin Harris and Ke$ha he can’t rely on social networking sites to promote his music as these are mainly used by younger audiences.
What do you think is the best way to promote an album?
I think that one of the best ways to promote an album is through the use of viral marketing. This is because the internet has developed a lot in the last few years, and it has now become a part of peoples everyday lives. By advertising on the internet anyone can see or listen to your music and albums. Also people will be able to read reviews about the albums which could persuade them to buy them or even just listen to the songs and tell their friends, which then leads to good word of mouth.
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