Inspiration - Coldplay

I've had a few ideas to do for my music video, and a lot of these ideas have simply came about by just watching other artists or groups music videos. One music which has given me great inspiration is british band 'Coldplay' for their song 'Midnight', which is part of their newest album ghost stories. The music video was released on 25th of February, originally as a teaser to promote their next un-announced sixth studio album.

The music video itself for the song 'midnight' was directed by Mary Wigmore, and premiered on Vevo on february 25th. The music video lasts for about 5 minutes, set mainly in a forest overlooking a city. Throughout the whole music video it is mainly shown in thermal infrared, where we often see the group themselves, nature such as trees, animals, and the city it self. The video has over 1 million views in less than 24 hours of release. Here is the video.

So why do I like this video? I like it due to two main reasons. The first being due to its originality, this is because most music videos we see today are similar, however this video is different and uses great special effects to make it unique as we don't often see a music video completely in another perspective. The second reason I like it is due to the fact that it offers a viewing from another perspective, allowing us to view something differently due to the effects used. Basically saying that if the music video was shot normally it would appeal and come across completely differently, not letting us pick up the same messages, therefore showing how we all have different perception. 

Music ads - examples

In this post I will look at few examples of how artists, and perhaps some or their songs or adverts have been advertised, via print media.

1) Sterophonics - Here is the advert for the groups new album 'keep calm and carry on'.

The image used on the advert for the album, is actually the same one used for the album cover, therefore creating a link between the two, and people will recognise the CD. I will now look in details at certain aspects of the advert. The first being the actual image used, which is the group at a table, in the sea, possibly relating to the albums name of being able to keep calm, even though they are in the sea and eat. The colour is mainly grey, which could symbolise grief or sadness, which is a common theme/emotion used by groups. On the advert they give no other information of the tracks on the album. However other information which is give includes; the date that the album is released, so then people have an indication of when they can buy it, the ways you can listen to the song so people know where or how to get it, and the bands website.


2) Jessie J - Here is an advert for her debut album 'who are we'

Like the first advert a print media advert is used, which uses the same image of Jessie J on the album cover, so therefore creates a link between the advert and CD soon to come. The image shows Jessie J, looking rather dark yet good, therefore relating to Goodwin's theory again of trying to put the artist in a good light, as well as selling music through sex appeal. The other information includes the website of the artist, so an indicator of where to buy the song, and unlike the last advert, it also includes other known artists, so is therefore trying to promote the album by linking other who are more well known and popular. However the advert does not say when the album is out.

Albums and adverts.

There are many different ways in which you could advertise an album. However the type of adverts which I will look at is mainly print media, which could often include:

• magazines 
• posters
• newspapers
• bilboards

Print media was the first type of advertising which was introduced, and the first advert came in the 19th century when music was advertised in short broadsheets which before the intro of adverts which had one income from subscriptions to the paper.(would often be small ads). The print media further developed in 1870s, when the introduction of the 'printing industry' perfected colour and made mass production possible.

 Artists will often put advertisements in music related magazines, as those who read it and see it are more likely to check the album out, perhaps buying it if they like it.

Music videos and there reflection of artists

The music video that a band or singer uses is very important for image that is given out to viewers. This is often why artists or group put a lot of time and effort into creating good music videos which can give off a good vibe as well as viewing to the audience. I will look at a few different groups or artists and explore how their music videos have shaped their image to the public.

1) Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga has a rather unique image. In her videos and often in live performances, she always appears to have a rather unique or wacky costume. She has kept this image consistent and has been seen as a role model for many due to her uniqueness, inspiring others in many ways. Yet, then again although she is unique some people may relate this with her history of drug use, which again relates to how everything can effect the singer image. (In addition in most of her music video she will be seen dancing, which falls into the characteristic of a pop video).
An example is her song 'Bad romance'.

(more to be added)

Digipacks and Genres.

1) Pop - Pop music and digipacks often display the artist on the front cover in a good light, often looking good. Therefore they seem to be appealing to the consumers. In addition it often refers back to Andrew Goodwin's of the use of sex appeal to sell the music. An example is Rihanna's album cover for LOUD.

2) Rock - Often rock digipacks may show off the band themselves, as well as the use of dark colours/shades, or perhaps objects which refer to a certain theme, such as rose to resemble romance. (sometimes random stuff which is like concept theory) Therefore unlike pop digipacks their aim is not to show off the artist or use physical appearance to sell the music. An example is ACDC. 

 

3) Rap - Often rap digipacks will show the rapper themselves, sometimes posing, sometimes tey will try to look intimidating, and often they are topless to show off their physique. In addition many times the album covers will show and object, such as money, or perhaps a weapon. Good examples include 50 Cent and Eminem.

4) R&B - R&B digipacks are often seen as very gentle and slick. They're often related to themes within the music genre such as emotions within. A lot of these emotions are often love. An example is R Kelly's album 'Love letter'. 

5) EDM- Electric dance music digipacks are often quite stylish and simple, often because there's often not actually to much to resemble the music with images. Therefore some often include large words, object, or scenery. An example is Calvin Harris ablum '18 months'.

 





Artists digipacks

1) Britney Spears

In the picture you can see Britney Spears' digipack for he album 'female fatale'. I have chosen to look at this digipack because Britney Spears was considered to be one of the most popular stars around around the time when digipacks where most popular. I will look to identify and analyse some key aspects. One of these is the pictures used, and in this case it is mainly of Britney herself, posing looking 'sexy' which can link back to one of Andrew Goodwin's theories, that we can try to sell music through sex appeal, as well as often showing the women body. Moreover on the back of the digipack there is a list of tracks on the album and their number; useful information for the consumer as they could see the songs while identifying which number they are as they use their CD players. However apart from those aspects their is no other information or writing offered on this specific digiack, showing that is it in fact very basic, perhaps as it was one the earlier ones.


2) Radio head

Here is the special digipack for Radio heads album 'In rainbows'. I have chosen to look at this digipack as its rather unique compared to a vast majority which just has the singer or group themselves of the front. I will also look to identify and analyse key aspects of this digipack just like I did in the previous one. There are no real images shown on the digipack, however on the front cover there is colourful writing on the front. This is unlike the previous cover which shows the artist as they try to show the individual in a good light, whereas the group decided to choose this cover with a range of colour as it reflects the rainbow. Other information included in the digipack are the tracks on the CD.

Digipacks

A digipack is a type of CD packaging often made from a certain heavy paper like material such as cardboard. These digipacks can often fold open, having three parts to it, often packing which opens to both the left and right, with the CD being held in the middle part. This useful product was originally created by Meadwestvaco, who named it digi-pak, however the product became very popular, so soon it was being used by many other manufacturers.

Digipacks have both pros and cons, some of the pros include:

• They look nice and will appeal to consumers, therefore are useful for marketing, as well as promotion. 
• They crack less compared to jewel cases.
• They are seen to be environmentally friendly compared to similar products such as jewel cases as the digipack can be made from recyclable product. 

Some of the cons include:

• When the teeth of the tray in the digipack does break, the CD can fall out of the bottom as theres nothing to hold it. 
• The trays in the digipacks break often. Therefore offering little protection
• They're expensive compared to similar products.