Post 6: My chosen track

My song is Express Yourself by Labrinth, released in 2012 under the Syco label, the song peaked at number 12 on the UK singles chart and interpolates a classic funk sample from the song "Express Yourself" by Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band and mixes it with the famous drum break from James Brown's Funky Drummer. These samples, combined with an EDM inspired instrumental at the chorus and upbeat lyrics is exactly the sort of genre mixing, upbeat sounding music common to the pop music genre. It was premiered on the fourth live semi-final of the sixth series of Britain's Got Talent.

The original performance of the song, complete with Labrinth's cool blue suit and a fun colourful background

The original artist is very similar to my star persona, as Labrinth is an artist that also radiates positive vibes and upbeat energy, this meant the song would be a perfect fit for my planned star, as well as it being very pop-sounding and having no expletives.

Labrinth's colourful outfit, reflecting his star persona

The song I originally wanted to do was Sunflower by Post Malone and Swae Lee, which although does have the cheery sound I wanted, it verged too closely to hip-hop music that I decided Express Yourself would suit the task better.

Instead, my song allows for very open interpretation of the message, whether that be a direct narration of the song, which tells the story of not fitting in and learning to be yourself; the interpretation of the original video that just shows a montage of various people's unique hobbies and talents, or the interpretation I went with, which is a story of someone being inspired and inspiring others to express themselves. Though similar to the original video as it still follows the express yourself theme of the song, I made sure to make my video different to the original in most other ways, what with its story and more grounded presentation. During my planning for the video, I kept my viewing of the original video to a minimum as I didn't want to get too caught up in that idea and let it influence my own.

The original video shows a man spraypainting a van, though funny I didn't want to take the risk of promoting things that were of questionable legality in my video.

Labrinth's chilled-out performance of the song; he looks like he's just enjoying himself and isn't too bothered about performing to the audience.

The punk drummer performing for a group of middle-aged women, highlighting the comical, absurd tone of the original video

Post 5: My target audience

My"fun-loving" 16-25 year old mass-market target audience are such large consumers of music, pop music in particular. With their familiarity with streaming services such as Spotify, their constant engagement with artists on social media and the fact that many artists in the pop music space are around this age, it means pop music is listened to by this group possibly the most out of all age demographics.

The 16-25 year old age demographic

Music is a part of their identity, it provides a way for young people still trying to decide who they are to have something that represents them. A young person is defined in part by the type of music they listen to, they share their favourite songs on social media and it provides a common ground for many different people to come together.


All major pop artists appeal to this age group, Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande or Calvin Harris; they all make music to be consumed by people of this age. These are people who have the most free time, are the most interested in keeping up with modern trends and pop culture and are at a mature enough age to be able to buy the many things these artists put out as well as be able to understand and engage with the songs that have deeper meanings with more serious topics. Ariana Grande may have millions of little girls who adore her music, but they're too young to buy any of her merch, stream her songs as they may not have the devices to do so or interact with her on social media. Even if Ariana Grande could do well simply through the money from the parents of preteens, most artists can not. If an artist like Calvin Harris wants to sell out a venue it's going to be the party going, alcohol drinking 16-25 year old audience who will be buying the tickets. There are themes in many artists songs ie heartbreak, partying and various life issues that people under the age of 16 just can't relate to.

The typical concertgoing 16-25 year old audience

Despite this, stereotypical pop music nowadays is definitely disappearing from the mainstream, particularly with 16-25 year olds. This is a generation of people who grew up listening to all of these stereotypical pop icons and now are looking for something different. Rap & R&B music is taking over the music scene, with artists like Drake, Travis Scott, Post Malone and Kendrick Lamar completely running the charts today. Pop is keeping up by taking influences from rap as well as features from famous rap artists, however, it is plain to see that rap is the new rock & roll and is neck and neck with Pop music in terms of popularity.

A list of billboards 2019 number 1 songs with all Hip-hop/r&b songs highlighted

My knowledge of my target audience has moderately influenced my actual project, simply the fact that it's a pop music video inherently makes it well targeted at this audience. I am also 17, playing my 17 year old artist, which though on the lower end of the age bracket, still fits within it. I was concerned that possibly the song would be too "cheesy" for this audience who likes a fair amount of edge in their music, however the positive message is something that people of this age would be happy to hear, as well as the song being overall enjoyable due to how closely it follows typical pop music conventions. I also made sure my video contained people of a similar age to me (17-18 year olds), as that is the age of my target audience. My website also will also link in with my artist's social media pages, as that's something that's extremely popular with young people aged 16-25 in 2019. I decided to only make a Twitter and Instagram page as Snapchat is generally targeting the younger end of my target audience age range and Facebook would be targeting the older end; Twitter & Instagram fit perfectly within the age range.

The social demographics of each different major social media platform

My site also will have a few emojis on my behind the scenes page as that's something that engages young people who love to use their phone. However, I made sure not to use too many emojis, as to where the audience feel they are being pandered to, something this generation knows all too well from the abundance of failed viral marketing campaigns out of touch companies are doing today.

The over abundance of emojis in modern marketing

As well as this, there will be streaming links to my song on the main page, as that's how most people in my TA listen to music, with the CD being a sort of special edition product for only the most die-hard of fans.

To get more information on this, we conducted an online survey, directly asking the target audience their thoughts on music, here were the results

We had a fairly even split, making this group representative of both males and females of my audience

Again a range of age groups, meaning both sides of the age range are taken into account

Most listened to around 2 hours of music per day, meaning music was clearly important to these people

At home + public transport were the top answers, with in the car being at the bottom, possibly as much of this audience cannot or does not regularly drive 

This is data that surprised me, the website is actually a major engagement point for 16-24 year olds, before even Instagram, showing the importance of making a quality website for them to go to.

Pop is beaten out by Rock here, showing how it isn't especially dominant in the modern era

Spotify is unsurprisingly the main way my target audience listens to music, however, Youtube is so close by; showing the importance of putting up a music video so listeners have something to engage with whilst listening on the video.

Many people seem to listen to music for atmosphere or the positive feeling they get from it, showing that upbeat music such as my song would be a good fit for this audience.

A wide variety of bands and artists, spanning many different genres

Very mixed thoughts on the pop music genre, with many calling it manufactured and boring; but a lot of the audience saying they like it or saying that the genre has its faults but there are good songs within it.

Again, a wide variety of genres and artists however no modern pop songs were stated

Post 4: The pop music genre

The pop music genre literally means music that's popular, but that is far from what it's really about.
Rap and electronic music are very popular genres; however even if a rap song were to reach number 1 on the charts, it still wouldn't fall into the pop category.  Pop has a distinct sound, very accessible, non-experimental, high energy music, a genre so hard to pinpoint as it typically takes ideas from other genres that are trendy at the time. Rap and electronic music influences can be heard in many "Pop" tracks today but with the aforementioned elements which really give it that pop feel. However, go back to the 90s and early 2000s and punk and R&B influences can be found in many pop songs; showing how pop music is constantly changing in sound.

Artists such as Green Day were huge on the charts despite not being typically pop sounding music

One reason may just be because people like listening to this kind of music and so want to make more of it, however, a more industry-driven reason is how good pop is for commercial success. Absolute conventional pop music is made to appeal to the widest audience possible, to spread the most popular message, to present the most popular artist and influence many aspects of modern pop culture. It is common for people to say "it all sounds the same" which though not necessarily true, makes sense. It is a perfect way for music executives to make money as it's a proven formula that when all of these things are put together people will come out in droves to stream the songs, buy the album, attend the concerts and wear the merch.

The struggle for modern artists and labels isn't whether or not these pop conventions will prove popular with audiences, it's the question of how to use these conventions but repackage them in a way that audiences are not completely tired of seeing.

Some major pop artists include Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Charlie XCX and Ed Sheeran. These artists represent the genre so well because the music they make falls exactly in line with the pop music sound as well as their songs all being extremely popular. Artists like Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift may have started out as typical guitar playing or country singing artists but have definitely developed the pop sound as they have become more and more popular.

This Taylor Swift song from 2009 listed as "Country Pop"

This Taylor Swift song 10 years later listed as
 "Synth-pop", with no mention of country

This can come off as an artist losing their musical integrity in order to sell more records, going from personal acoustic songs to heavily produced music with vague messages. This growth is something artists and labels again, have to make sure to get right, don't change too much to annoy old fans, but change enough to not alienate the masses. These artists also all fall into the typical pop artist look, young, attractive and fashionable; the music alone isn't enough to build a star persona, the artist must sell their entire lifestyle to the audience, that is what makes an artist aspirational to the typical viewer.

The typical pop star look shown by 4 major faces of the industry

The pop genre most heavily influenced my song choice, with my song Express Yourself containing the exact kind of genre hybridity that is so prevalent in modern pop music. The song contains influences from electronic music for the main chorus, but clear funk influences in the baseline that follows the entire track; even mild jazz elements can be heard at the end with the smooth, very much improvised guitar. This, combined with the songs upbeat sound, typical structure and cheesy lyrics make it the perfect song to represent the pop genre.

My song falling into both Electro-funk and R&B genres

The video was also inspired by the pop music genre, with the use of dancing, performance, bright colours and a narrative that is definitely based on the lyrics. The video doesn't try too hard to be abstract or especially thought-provoking, it presents the message of the song without directly translating the lyrics to video, a video that anyone can understand and enjoy without having to decode a deeper meaning. Though there are many pop music videos that have unique or unconventional concepts, I wanted to make sure my video was unmistakably pop and so went for a more uncomplicated approach.

Sia is an example of a successful experimental pop artist

My website also presents the pop genre and shows what my artist stands for; fun, energy and authenticity. There will be plenty of photos of the artist all over the website showing his outgoing character, my planned yellow and blue colour scheme helps make the website as a whole look exciting and positive and there will be behind the scenes videos to connect the audience to my pop star, allowing him to seem more genuine by showing his faults. These are things that labels would want on an artist like mines website, it taps into the audiences desire to escape from the doom and gloom of everyday life by making the website look fun and making the artist look happy all the time. This makes users on the site want to buy the merch and listen to the music as they subconsciously think that maybe by doing so it will too make them happy.

Post 3: Regulation in the music industry

Research regulation in the music industry

The addition of the parental advisory sticker came about in the late '80s after the PMRC group of parents complained about how easy it was for children to listen to songs with unsuitable content. This sticker is technically left to the discretion of record labels however the RIAA and BPI heavily request it to be put on any songs with explicit lyrics and it is almost always done where applicable.

The logo placed on most singles and albums with explicit lyrics

There are also typically clean versions released of songs or even whole albums as radio stations are not allowed to play music with offensive language in the UK according to OFCOM rules, the American supermarket chain Walmart also only carry censored versions of records.

OFCOM deals with regulation of BBC content meaning music played on BBC radio or demand

The BPI is the British recorded music industry's trade association, they represent the interests of British record companies by promoting British music and fighting copyright infringement, they also founded the annual BRIT Awards. The certify songs for silver, gold or platinum certification in the UK as well as developing software to actively fight known copyright-infringing sites.

UK drill, an offshoot to both UK grime and Chicago drill is a rap genre which is typically quite violent in its lyrics. Though many would argue that the songs are simply a reflection of the hardships these artists have been through and that it acts as an outlet for them to creatively express themselves; many see it as simply a way of promoting violence and have taken action to get it banned. 2 UK artists Skengdo and AM were banned from performing drill tracks and given 9 months in jail for doing so, there are also many songs/videos removed from Youtube due to being too distressing or violent. Many believe this acts outside the laws previously put in place and set a dangerous precedent against freedom of speech

A drill music video that was removed from Youtube

A large number of music laws however are based on copyrights, you have the publishing rights when you create the song, however often the actual master/ final recording can be owned by someone else, typically the label the artist is signed to. The collection of royalties is overseen by the MCPS, the PRS pay royalties to their members whenever their work is performed, broadcast on the radio, streamed, downloaded, reproduced played in public or used in film/TV. PPL is another organisation who license music out to businesses who play recorded music, without the need for the business to contact the artist directly. VPL is a sister company of PPL who specifically deal with music video licensing. PPL and PRS recently formed together to start a joint venture known as PPL PRS.

PRS and PPL, the 2 major music licencing companies in the UK  

These practices are quite effective as they protect artists work and make sure that artists are properly recouped for their work. They provide grounds for any artist regardless of size to sue those who use their work without permission or pay, with no hoops they have to go through to own the copyrights of their own music.

Generally, these laws don't impact the music itself as artists will usually just make a song and think about copyright infringement after it's created. Despite this, it is fairly common for artists to sample other songs for their own music, whether to simply use it as a base to build off of or as a mashup with other songs. In these cases, copyright laws must be followed, with samples having to be cleared by the original artist/artists estate (if the artist has died),  typically in these cases artists must pay a certain amount or give a certain percentage of music revenue to be allowed to sample these tracks. Often artists will give others over 50% of the song's revenue just for the ability to use a sample, which can actually be a smart move if the song does extremely well and allows the artist to make a lot of money from future, non-sampled music.

Despite only owning the sample in the song, Sting owns 85% of all revenue made from it. This shows how powerful samples are and how far people will go to license music.

Copyright laws do heavily impact how people consume music, with over one third of music consumers pirating their music. The advent of sites such as Youtube where anybody can post anything means it's not at all uncommon for people to post other people's music without permission and with the site being so popular, many listen to their music either on or ripped from the platform.
However, Youtube's Content-ID system allows them to detect copyrighted music in a video and either take down or claim revenue from any views the video gets. As well as this, companies like PPL are making sure to move with the times and give royalties to artists for streams on platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music, services which allow people to easily and conveniently listen to all their favourite music whilst still giving money to the artist.

The Youtube Content ID system recognizes a song and will send any revenue made from it to the artist  

This all meant that as I supposedly signed to Sony music, they would own the masters to the song/album; which would mean they would want me to sell as many records as possible. This can be seen through the website, as it contains a large section promoting people to buy the single/album, therefore giving me and my label royalties. My site will also contain links to stream the song on Spotify and Apple Music, as now artists can earn royalties through such platforms.

Spotify pays its artists with money acquired through premium subscriptions and ad placements 

As well as the website, the song itself, though not created by me, is impacted by copyright laws as it contains a drum sample all the way through from James Brown's funky drummer, as well as heavily interpolated the Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band song of the same name. This means a lot of money was likely spent / the creators own a large percentage of the song's revenue to clear all of these samples. This is very likely the case as both songs were released less than 70 years ago, meaning they are all still protected under copyright law. 

The 2 songs Express Yourself sample and interpolate.

Post 2: The role of the internet in the music industry

Artists and bands usually use social media to market themselves today. Brands are typically built through these pages, with artists making their posts and profiles in a way that markets their unique qualities to an audience. The power of social media comes in its reach, as posts can be shared, screenshotted and retweeted by millions of people all at no cost. It acts as a way to build a closer bond to existing fans whilst also attracting new ones. Twitter is often used by artists to say what's really on their minds with many acts speaking out on the stress of the industry or their own personal struggles, this makes an artists twitter page seem like a way to directly see the real personality of the artist.

21 Savage giving his personal thoughts on success within the music industry

This perceived authenticity, however, makes Twitter the perfect place for fans to be manipulated by companies. Artists can promote things on Twitter and people will genuinely believe the artist themselves actually uses/likes said product when they're only doing so for monetary gain or to please the label.

A more harmless example of artist promotion as Stormzy promotes the BT Beyond Limits program to help kids in the UK

Instagram however, is also extremely popular with artists, using it as a way to show photos they've taken with other artists, events they've been to and photos of them on stage. This acts similar to Twitter as it allows the artist to promote themselves and other brands, however, Instagram posts are generally perceived as less personal than tweets as artists can't just post their thoughts straight to the app. This is where Instagram stories come into play, acting as a more personal version of Instagram posts, where artists usually post whatever they want to at that moment, usually things on these stories are just recorded with the artists phone or are screenshots of things on the artists phone removing that extra processing that is common with normal Instagram posts.

Artists 6lack's Instagram story of him filming his daughter, like a typical home video 

One of the main things about these social media sites is that artists often have pages on all of them, keeping a consistent brand across all of them. Artists will promote the same thing across different social media and may use the same profile picture and bio to solidify their image to audiences.

Tyga promoting the same song/video across both Instagram and Twitter

 Another major way artists promote themselves through the internet is via their own artist website, which acts as the ultimate hub connecting all different facets of their brand, linking to social media pages, songs, interviews etc. The website itself will also be designed in a way which reflects the artist through its use of certain colours, photos and language.

Khalid's website ties in his social media pages, his world tour and his short film all combined with images and colours that match his brand

In this way, I planned to create a website and various social media pages that all link; with various social media feeds on the website, the social pages being shown in the music video and a variety of content on both Instagram and Twitter which will be very similar; ie promoting the same song on both platforms.

I will also promote streaming of the song on streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music on my website and social media pages as the internet has made this the primary way music is legally consumed.

Post 1: The UK music industry

Sony music group is the second largest of the "big 3" leading labels in the music industry, ahead of Warner music group and only second to Universal Music Group (UMG).

The "Big 3" labels

Headquartered in New York City, the Sony Corp. owned label signs major artists such as Michael Jackson, Khalid and Travis Scott, showing their reach both past and present. The label typically signs artists through their many subsidiaries such as Columbia Records, RCA Records, Epic Records and Arista records.

The large range of artists signed to Sony Music, spanning all different genres

12 of the main Sony Music subsidiaries

These labels provide these artists with resources which boost their career in various ways eg helping to market them further, helping with merchandising and improving their PR as well as often giving artists a large sum of money for the initial signing. This is all at the cost of taking a percentage of the artist's money from sales, touring and merchandise as well as often locking artists into the deal until they deliver a certain number of albums and singles. Major labels also typically control when music can drop in order to maximize sales, which can often be frustrating for artists and fans who want to put out/ listen to new music.

My knowledge of the music industry helped me decide on the content I would be putting on my website as it allowed me to see the importance of making promotional content and the type of corporate influence in these videos. In this sense, I made sure that my website would contain many ways for the audience to buy things, whether that was buying merchandise, tickets, albums or using a discount code on another site (which would give the artist/label money). The main reason labels sign artists is to make money and so I feel my website, alongside the collaborations my artist had with other Sony Music signed artists through social media, were ways my content was influenced by the industry side of the project.

Khalid's website contains various ways to buy into the artist as shown by the options on the top bar

Blog post 22: Closing Post

Dear Moderator,
Thank you for looking at my blog. To find my research and planning evidence, click on the label called AS research and Planning, which is on the right side of my blog. I hope you enjoyed reading my blog and thank you.

Makori (3233)

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