C2 Music
Tuesday 4th March 2025
Do now
1. 2
2. 70%
3. 30%
4. to make money
5. Social Media, Television
1. to tell people about to promote other artists, to provide entertainment, to help sell a song, to introduce a new artist.
2. to vibe, enjoy, and possibly relate to the song, record labels, convey meaning of a song, promote artists image, showcase artists musical prowess.
A mix of narrative and performance, Lyrics have a semantic field of the ocean, lip syncing, a lot of special effects, seems ahead of its time.
Narrative music video, Stormzy is commenting on black lives matter, the lyrics link to BLM,
It is a conceptual music video, it has a montage of many scenes and shot types,
Friday 7th March 2025
Do now
1. to make money
2. To promote the artist.
3. to showcase artists other skills, tell a story.
4. Performance, narrative
5. lip syncing, video tells a story, range of shot types.
The lyrics in waterfalls by the hit group TLC, they are lip syncing and dancing, there is a coreography and they are also performing for the camera, it is also portraying a narrative aspect as well
The lyrics in Superheroes by stormzy are mainly in support to BLM (black lives matter) and to help with the protests of BLM, this somewhat tells a story, it is also animated similar to a movie, showing things normal humans couldn't do.
The lyrics in The Man by Taylor Swift are...
The music industry:
- In the UK music industry contributes billions to the economy it is a massive global media industry
- The UK exports loads of music around the world.
- Due to the changing way we consume music, the industry has forced many challenges recently.
- Most people download music or stream it rather than buying physical copies.
- Streaming now accounts for 80% of music consumption in the UK.
- The technological developments that once threatened the music industry have allowed it to generate revenue in different ways and to extend their reach to different and new audiences.
The streaming sites for stormzy are
Ownership:
- Record labels are companies that make contracts with artists that release their music. Record labels usually fund the costs of producing and distribution and circulating music to audiences.
The big three:
There are currently three major record labels in the industry, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group & Sony Music.
These three are part of a major CONGLOMERATES and are HORIZONTALLY INTERGRATED.
They all have SUBSIDARY record labels, most of which was previously independent & associated with specific genres. E.g. Island Records.
These major labels are able to invest large amounts of money in artists that are, or are likely to be, commercially successful. Videos for major artists often have a budget of over a million dollars.
They are able to reach large audiences through high-profile marketing campaigns. They can also benefit easily from SYNERGY with other companies in the conglomerate.
Taylor Swift: Universal
Stormzy: Warner
Regulation:
The industry isn't regulated by a single organisation, but there are regulatory guidelines in place for music products in britain.
The BPU runs the Parental Advisory Scheme, which is voluntary, and uses the logo to notify audiences about content that might be offensive or unsuitable for children.
It is the record label's responsibility to assess the product and apply the logo where appropriate - both on a physical product and online.
Tuesday 18th March 2025
Music audiences
Do now
1. Owning a physical copy.
2. Warner, universal and sony
3. development of digital technology
4. two different platforms or products are used to help sell each other
5. smaller record label owned by a larger conglomerate
Stormzys star persona
- Quite scattered, seems normal and not formal, he is highly appreciative of his community and his awards. Having humour on his social media posts. Is also a role model to other people.
- The pictures he is shown are very popular trendy brands at that time of when he would post stuff about himself.
Taylor Swift star persona
- Someone who is appreciative of her fans, very confident and self aware publicly, a looked up to public figure, posting apologies on her social media and telling everyone about her life.
Friday 21st March 2025
TLC - Waterfalls
Do now
1. Niche
2. star persona
3. development of digital technology
4. personal identity, social interaction
5. Buy official merch, enter competitions, follow them on all social media.
TLC is an all-girl R&B/Hip hop group.
'Waterfalls' is a track from their second album, CrazrSexyCoal (1994).
The group was originally formed as a fusion of R&B and hip-hop (a hybrid that became popular in the 1990's).
Unlike many groups at the time, TLC had more of a 'rock 'n' roll image'.
Waterfalls is an episodic song.
The second scene follows the story of a different man with a different "waterfall" he is chasing.
Media language:
'Waterfalls' blends three types of music videos, performance, narrative and conceptual.
There is some clear illustration of the lyrics (where images show the literal meaning of the words).
The music video has some intertextual references, for example when the three are first shown as water spirits this was a reference to terminator 2.
Mise en scene:
Typically, inner-city sets and locations (the brownstone house, stoop and street corner) have connotations of a 'ghetto' and the costumes (baggy tracksuits, baseball caps, dark glasses) connote a dangerous urban environment.
Special effects:
(SFX) are also used to balance the gritty realism of the narratives.
one example is when they are portrayed as water spirits. And another is when the ghostly figures popped up.
Many R&B videos focus on romantic narratives. Waterfalls references this genre with the guy and the woman.
Tuesday 25th March 2025
Taylor Swift- the man
Do now
1. Performance, narrative and conceptual
2. R&B and hiphop
3. Diegetic sounds for when it shows a narrative clip.
4. Expressionistic
5.
This does break conventional pop music video conventions as there is no form of performance aspect/ lip syncing.
The man is also shown in more glamorous locations - enjoying leisure time on a yacht and a tennis court.
The character of the man could be described as the false hero, according to Propp's character roles.
Clothing codes and props:
For the props, there are strawberries, we see him on a yacht and champagne which is a relevant indicator to immense wealth and power this is a connotation of higher class.
Colour palette:
There are a plethora of colour palettes in this music video, however the main colour palette is quite a warm one to connote a large amount of confidence emanating from the man.
In the music video 'The Man', men are represented as powerful and much more dominating and are typically seen as the ruling class of society as the frequent additions to men throughout the video.
Women in this video aren't shown often but when they are, they are commonly objectified and not shown as having much crucial importance and are only mere side characters when compared to men.
Taylor Swift in this video only gets a small amount of screen time, this is an indication that this video isn't about her thus not deeming her very important for this music video she has made.
Inequality is shown as quite a crucial thing throughout this video as men are clearly the more predominant gender, getting more screen time, shown as being in the higher classes, and women only shown as technical play toys for the men and are no where near important when in comparison to the importance of men in this.
Friday 28th March 2025
Stormzy - Superheroes
Do now
1. No lip syncing
2. The wolf of wall street, John McEnroe
3. The outfits, Man centrally framed
4. False hero
5. Taylor Swift, gender
OVERVIEW
- Superheroes was released on 13 December 2019 as part of Stormzy's second album, Heavy is the Head. The video for Superheroes premiered on 9 September 2020 when it was shown in school classrooms in London, Glasgow, Dublin and Manchester at the start of the term when schools re-opened after having been closed since March due to Covid-19 pandemic.
- In 2020, Stormzy donated £500,000 to the Black Heart Foundation to provide educational scholarships for students from disadvantaged backgrounds and pledged to donate £10m over the next decade to help combat racial inequality in the UK.
CONVENTIONS
- Subverting music video conventions. Superheroes does not include the artist performing the song. It is entirely narrative based, Stormzy featuring as a character leading the young boy on a typical hero's journey.
The colour palette creates meaning, with the soft shades throughout the video.
Clothing codes and props: Along side the boys tracksuit, there is a woman shown with a Marcus rashford football shirt, this is because at the time rashford was also standing up for racial equality, stormzy wanted to represent Rashford in this as he is deemed a role model by perusing the government to take back their actions of cancelling free school meals during the pandemic, showing his respect to Rashford for what he had done.
Lighting: In the opening scene of Stormzy's music video we can see bright lights, creating a sense of peace and love around the town that this video is set in. We can see this from the bright colour of the sky giving of a bright pinky - orange hue casting over the town.
Stormzy is represented positively as a Black role model with the power to inspire the younger generation. From the start he is shown to be caring, taking time to support and inspire the central male character.
Tuesday 1st April 2025
Industry and audiences
Do now
1. No lip-syncing, narrative
2. Noughts and crosses, toy story
3. Bright colour palette, streetwear clothes
4. Stormzy
5. race inequality, stormzy
The preferred reading of the video is to make women feel empowered.
The oppositional viewpoint might come from a male perspective as it may be a bad representation.
Homework:
Music videos reflect in which the time they were made in many ways, for example, waterfalls shows key features emphasising the time zone in which it was produced. Waterfalls shows things like very basic and choppy editing which is common within 90's as technology wasn't as advanced throughout that time period for example, the transitions, aerial shot of planes. Another way in which waterfalls represents its time in which it was produced is through the narrative within the music video, the narrative shows subjects like drug misuse and HIV which was highly common within the 90's and was an important social issue within the time so TLC had presented and emphasised this matter. TLC highlights their genre in a hip-hop style which was very common within the timing of the bands coming together. However this song wasn't apart of the commonly typical Hip-hop style of music video, it was merely based on the narrative aspect instead of the common performance based style that hip-hop music used very commonly around the time of the music video.
Friday 4th April 2025
Do now
1. Hyperlink
2. in a more personal way
3.personal identity, entertainment
4. entertainment, education
5. preferred, negotiated and oppositional.
Why do artists have websites?
To help promote a new album tour.
How does this appear on the Taylor swift website?
Another important reason for musicians is to aid in the promotion of a new album tour. Because of the various albums that Taylor Swift has, having a promotion for her new album tour helps to set the album aside from others and make it known that this is a new album and doesn't blend in with the other ones. On TS's website as soon as you log on you are shown the newest album that she has made which has a link to stream on download her new release.
Why do artists have websites?
To help promote their brand through tie-ins to an album release.
How does this appear on the Taylor swift website?
An additional important reason for musicians is to help promote their brand. These artists use tie-ins to help promote their brand and bring foot-traffic or get people to visit their website and attempt to entice them into interacting with the website or even buying merchandise or even dvd's or albums of the artists music.
Why do artists have websites?
It's a place to sell merchandise, an important revenue for stream artists.
How does this appear on the Taylor swift website?
Another important reason for musicians is to sell merchandise. This is because it is important revenue for stream artists and their main source of income as streaming artists allow people to stream their music for free. On TS's website, there is a link that she has made available for people to visit her website and stream her newest and/or other albums.
U&G:
Taylor swift:
Taylor Swift's website demonstrates Uses and Gratifications theory by offering fans information, entertainment, and opportunities for social interaction and personal identity, fulfilling their needs for connection, escapism, and knowledge about her and her work.
Stormzy:
Stormzy uses his website and social media to connect with fans, share his music and personal life, and promote social causes, fulfilling users' needs for entertainment, information, and community, aligning with the "uses and gratifications" theory.
Social media
Tell fans about events
Tell fans about their lives
interact with people
post pictures
building and maintaining public image
self promotion
activities
responding to controversies
sharing personal moments
providing glimpses into personal lives
promoting upcoming projects
leveraging social media for business
endorsements and partnerships
launching personal brands
networking
highlighting achievements
1. an artist can use their social media to promote themselves by building a consistent brand presence, having leverage relevant hashtags, engaging with their audiences and having collaborations with largely known brands.
2. by engaging with current trends, participating in viral content or using popular hashtags.
3. Pinned tweets/posts are things that have been pinned and are shown at the top of your social media page causing most attention towards that specific post, to help engage their target audience and make them want to follow you.
4. A profile picture serves as a visual representation and first impression of an individual or brand on online platforms, helping to create a recognisable identity and convey personality or professionalism.
5.
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