Music Marketing Blog Post #2

 Music Marketing Project P.2

Research

     The first thing my group did was research the genre we were given. We specifically looked at two different companies, Atlantic Recording Corporation and 

Sony Music Entertainment. Within these companies, we researched two artists signed by these labels. For Atlantic Recording Corporation we researched Bruno Mars and Kehlani. And for Sony Music Entertainment we researched Foushee and Given. Each member of my group was given a task to research, mine was Sony Music Entertainments' history, and finding artists signed to Sony. After all our research was done, we compiled the information into two charts. 

Brainstorming

After overviewing our information, we all had an idea of trends in the current state of R&B. We began to think about the music video itself. My group and I developed a storyboard with the specific scenes and their purpose. Fabiana drew the storyboard whilst we were brainstorming scenes. We knew that we wanted to keep dark tones in some areas of the music video. We also all agreed the video should be centered around how the boy felt. Our decision came from us wanting to stick to the storyline the lyrics presented us. It was about a man who will never find the love he once had. I came up with the scene idea of the girl vanishing behind the tree. I thought it would be an interesting way to represent the separation in a breakup. 

After situating the main shots in our music video, we started brainstorming the marketing portion. Unfortunately, Nicole and I were the only ones present the day we were situating all the marketing aspects. Despite the setback, Nicole and I brainstormed together to determine how our marketing should be done. Nicole first suggested changing the title of the song to something shorter. We went back and forth with different names till I said "only you" and it stuck. Next, we wanted to determine the artist's name. I suggested using the name "Kaden" and Nicole agreed and its what we went with. After this, we brainstormed specific designs. Nicole came up with the logo having the broken heart as the "O". I liked it a lot since it symbolized the meaning of the music video. I took the task of developing the social media page and graphics. Initially, the main color scheme was dark blue and maroon. During the production process of creating the graphics, I felt as if a lighter palette would fit well. 

Production 

Only You graphic

During the graphic production stage, I used Adobe Photoshop to create the graphics. I first began with the "Only You" album cover. First, I began by masking out the polaroids from their picture. Once I had both polaroids on a transparent background, I moved both to the main file. I duplicated one of the polaroids and positioned them at the bottom. Next, I put the polaroids into a group. Then I duplicated the group and rotated the group placing the image at the top. After some trial and error, I settled on a gradient color I used for the main background. I installed custom cloud brushes to use in the background. After scattering clouds, I created the title "Only you". I created another layer putting it over the "Only You" masking it slightly. The last step was making a slight hue over the text. To do this I used to ellipse selection tool filling the selected ellipse with a yellow gradient. Then I decreased the opacity of the hue and placed it over the text. 

Kaden Graphic

For the "Kaden" logo graphic I began with the text. I first used a solid font text layer which I duplicated. I then went to the blending options and selected the color gradient I wanted for the text. Next, I selected the stroke option on the text creating an outline of the original. Then after some trial and error, I select the right scale of motion blur to use on the text. I change the direction slightly until I liked how it looked. After I was satisfied with the text, I made the gradient background. I used three color sections on my gradient to achieve this look. I then went to my brushes selecting various splatter patterns until I found one I liked. After I put the splatter overlay I was finished and rendered out the image. 

This was the most simple graphic that I made for the Instagram page. All it was was a filter with a retro camera overlay. I also changed the data to 2022 at the bottom a small detail I thought was nice to add.

For the video production, we all gathered at Fabiana's house. Her house was perfect to use since she had a window facing the outside. This was exactly what we needed for one of our shots. We began with the outside shots. Me and Fabiana directed Gabe and Nicole through the tree scene. After a few takes, we were satisfied with how the shot turned out. Next, we went inside her house to film all the shots in the room. While we were producing, Nicole came up with the idea of writing "Only You" on the whiteboard. We took several attempts at the scene of Gabe writing until we got it right. After checking off all the shots, we all went home and Nicole began editing the following days. 

Post Production

After everything was completed, we began creating the PowerPoint presentation. We all distributed the slides between each other. I was given slides 7-9 which contained the distribution steps, social media examples, and distribution trends. I thought adding the vinyl store idea was innovative and would fit well with our genre. For the distribution trends portion,  I wanted to give concrete quantitative data in our presentation. After some research, I found a 2020 bar graph about music consumption in the US from satistica.com. 

Presentation

For the presentation portion, we thought it would be best if we each presented the slide we created. This way we would have some security that each member has knowledge on their section. My three sections had many elements that I had to overview. I had to describe the three distribution steps in detail. I also wanted to memorize the specific percentages on the distribution trends slide. I believed this would add to my presentation. In order to memorize all of this information, I created notes on my phone for me to review. The notes were sectioned off my slide and I began reviewing 2 days before my presentation. On the day of, I came to school around 10 minutes early to review in my car before the presentation. I was sure that I knew my information and was ready to present. 

Reflection

I really did like working with a group on this project. There are some group dynamic issues that I identified. Mainly, understanding each other's schedules and maintaining communication. This is something that my group attempted to do by creating a group chat. But I find that many times, people don't respond ever at the same time. We each have our schedules which determine when we are on our phones. I think next time my group should find a time we can all be on the group chat. At this time we will provide updates on our progress and address questions about the assignment. I also learned how important planning is when it comes to projects like these. Planning is something I never skip in any project but is something I can always improve on. I think if I planned out the color scheme better originally I wouldn't have had to change it later on. I really did enjoy creating the graphic portion for our project. My graphic design skills are something I want to further develop moving forward. I think the way we brainstormed is an element that will help me in my Cambridge Portfolio. I find when I think of words related to the topic and how I can expand upon the term, I gain a sense of direction in the brainstorming process. Furthermore, creating a list of potential ideas and weighing the positives and negatives was something that will help me moving forward. Overall, this project was highly beneficial in showing me my strength and weaknesses when it comes to producing high-quality media.