Industrial Context- Contemporary Context of Music Videos and the Industry

 Finances

The production process of music videos is financed by the label the artist belongs to, who in turn are beneficiaries for the royalties that come from the videos. Music videos can also make money via digital downloads and product placements, alongside serving as a form of creative and commercial representation for the artist. Artists can capitalise from their music videos, by selling merchandise and tour tickets as their popularity increases.

Distribution

Distribution platforms are often used to deliver music videos to various digital platforms and channels, gaining an audience. These platforms can either be direct-to-consumer, such as Maestro, or third-party, such as Youtube. Direct-to-consumer platforms allow artists to build their own video hosting presence to reach audiences, allowing more control over personal branding and monetization. Third-party platforms aren't exclusive to streaming music, and can provide a broader audience, but offer less control.

Industrial Context- Major Players in the Music Industry

 

Industrial Context- Universal Music Group

Who are the UMG?

Universal Music Group is a conglomerate, owning and operating a broad array of businesses engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising and audiovisual content across 60 countries worldwide. The label aims to shape culture via artistry, developing recording artists to promote the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful music.  They aim to develop new services, platforms and business models for music delivery and related content, creating new commercial and artistic opportunities, diversifying and increasing the plurality of voices within the music industry. UMG owns labels such as Abbey Road, EMI, and Interscope Geffen A&M.

Abbey Road

Abbey Road Studios describes itself as 'the most famous recording studio in the world. renowned for its creativity and technological excellence'. The label has signed artists such as The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Oasis, Radiohead, and Amy Winehouse.

EMI

Emi Records is self-described as 'one of the most culturally significant labels in popular music', being at the forefront of every seminal musical movement. The label has signed innovative artists such as Elton John, Queen, and Metallica.

Interscope Geffen A&M

Interscope Geffen A&M is a unification of three of the most influential record labels in modern music history, developing artists across a wide range of musical genres including rock, rap, pop and alternative. Such artists include Blink-182, Guns N Roses, and The Rolling Stones.

 

Focus Group

 

Industrial context- History of Music Videos

 

Audience Profile

 Audience Profile

“A 16-25 year-old middle-market audience that likes to be entertained”

Age

To appeal to the age group of ‘16-25 year-olds’ as stated within the brief, the people featured within my music video will be apart of this demographic, enabling my audience to relate to those featured. According to the Pew Research Center, rock is 45% of people aged 16-29's preferred music genre, so this audience will be likely to identify intertextual references of other bands within the rock genre. This is something I can utilise within my music video, maximising audience interaction.

Social class

A ‘middle-market’ audience is likely to fall under the ABC1 target demographic. This means they are likely to have disposable income, which can be spent on artist merchandise, and tour tickets. They are likely to be considering going to or currently attending university, suggesting they may be interested in more complex ideologies which could feature in the music video.

Psychometrics

An audience who ‘likes to be entertained’ is likely to consist of explorers and reformers. Explorers like to discover new things, and the rock genre is becoming increasingly diverse with the rise of sub-genres, catering to their needs. Reformers are socially aware and unimpressed by status of materialism, whose needs can be catered to by adhering to rock music video conventions, which often have a narrative with a deeper meaning occurring throughout.

Gender

According to the Nielsen Music 360 annual survey, there is nearly a 50-50 gender split between rock music fans- the genre is of equal interest to all genders. This means that my music video and website shouldn’t be gender biased, as statistically there isn’t a preference. Within my music video, I should include representations of both genders, in order to target the largest demographic possible.

Past Creative Work