INTRODUCTION TO THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

INTRODUCTION TO MUSIC INDUSTRY

Musical taste can differentiate depending on the person, it can be a controversial topic almost to the point of tribalism. Tribalism is contentious because people feel that it often defines or signifies their personality and lifestyle. It has become an entire culture, it’s not just about the music but the way you dress, speak or act. It gives people something to be apart of or to follow. The music industry is made up of four trans-national corporations also known as ‘the majors’, which are: Universal, Sony/BMG and EMI. Each major has a smaller subsidiary in order to reach all different kinds of target audiences or genres, much like the film industry. These are known as ‘major independents’, they have very little financial connection with the majors yet they fall under their name. The majors have well known stars and will often spend a million or more on a project whereas ‘independents’ have up and coming stars and will spend 100,00 on a project. Then there are the minis which are the category that we fall under as we have a smaller project with a smaller budget.

We all have to accept that it is a ‘dynamic tension’ that exists between the artistic and commercial forces that support the success of this vast media business. There is a tension between the organic and the synthetic. An organic band is a band that is created out of the love for the music, the music comes first and then from that a band is naturally formed. Whereas a synthetic band is a manufactured band, often created to fill a gap in the market. These bands are often very politically correct so that a wide range of audience will be able to relate to them. Our band is organic as although we have created them they were created to work with the music, the music was not created to work around a band. They also have a personality and are very accessible or approachable to their audience.

A music video is there to serve many different purposes, it promotes the band or song as well as creating a ‘star image’ for them. It also informs and entertains and reinforces, adapts or undermines the ‘meanings’ of a song. And as our music video is the first introduction that people will see to our band it is necessary to make an impact.
Our band has a relatively wide target audience as I think older generations may like the song and the video as it is not to ‘modern’ and younger audiences will all know and like the song as the band is very popular at the moment. The video can get a lot of publicity on a wider range of television as it is not offensive, it can be shown of children’s T.V as it is a very visual video and they will enjoy those aspects even if they don’t understand it whereas older audiences will understand the concept of the video and enjoy it for that reason too.

There are huge threats to the music industry and there is a danger that a pop video will become defunct and irrelevant soon, as technology develops so do the resources for things such as internet downloading of videos, manufactured programs with live feeds and music television is becoming more mainstream. Illegal downloading websites have put music artists at great risk, as a person can buy their song and then copy it to many more who have not paid for it. Artist can own different shares in their ‘empire’ yet if you are an unknown name you could own 100% of everything that is worth nothing, or if you sell to a company, 10% of something. But if you sell to a huge company, such as one of the majors you can own 3% of a lot. Which are what many artists are doing, they then create their own brand of things or an ‘empire’ from there music which was their starting point. Victoria Beckham is an example of a woman who had a successful music carrier but now has brands of many things, like clothes and perfumes and has used her status from her previous singing carrier to get her there.