What do you guys think?

Interviews

The sydney music industry is an explosion of sound and evolution at the moment, the pub and live music scene is clawing its way back over the electronic music industry. We wanted to speak to some representatives of this industry, both those who are at the roots of the music industry, and those who are about to explode into popularity. The first cab off the rank was Peter a keyboardist from a synth pop band called “We say Bambouleé”, as a band they are regulars at such sydney watering holes as the Exclesior and the Hopetoun hotel, two of the major players in up and coming music. They have just started to get airplay on the sydney community radio station FBi, which they are great supporters of. Peter states, “I think, rather than managers and industry people, it pays to know bands who, even outside of your genre, are nice people and want to support you.”. He states that the music industry in sydney has a strong community feeling, between band and band and band and listener. The band is one of those little gems you find in the pile of every growing music pumped out from garages and pubs all over sydney australia and the world. Through gaining a greater understanding of bands opinions and their experience of the music industry we gain a better realisation how both how to serve the artist and deliver to the consumer.

We also spoke to dan and toby fitch, bassist and lead singer of up and coming band the spirits. They describe themselves as ethereal, cavernous, bright, oceanic and vast. They have just been getting airplay on Sydneys major youth radio station triple J,and they get regular playtime on FBI radio. We met them in a pub one afternoon and they told us about how they recorded their first EP in early 2009 “We recorded it for free above a music chainstore with our friend craig, and we kind of borrowed the equipment from the store….without asking”. It seemed the more we delved into the music industry the more it became apparent that it was all about community, who you speak to, who you know, everybody supporting each other. This is exactly how the listener community is constructed, somebody tells somebody a new artist, and they pass it on, its about who you listen to, and who you share it with.

Secondary

Visual study

As music is a visual and sensory experience it was important to conduct a lot of hands on visual experience research. Attending up to date and and current gigs and music festivals we could gain a greater understanding. Events such as Ratatat live at manning bar in Sydney university, gave us an insight to who exactly went to these gigs, who the faithful were. We spoke to ally who said “i really really like Ratatat, when i heard they were here i had to get a ticket” when asked about whether she buys CD’s she stated “not usually, i will buy Aussie artists sometimes”. This was the general impression we got from both Ratatat and the essential festival, the public and mostly our target market had a very strong passion for music, much like our client, but they could not afford to buy this music outright unless it was something they really desired.

Media and promotional execution

Benefits

Hard copy really and honestly believes we are acting as a catalyst to take music into the future, technology has improved music connectivity but it also has taken away part of its soul and that tactile deep connection that used to run through both the music industry and its listeners. Hard copy will bring that textural desirable feeling back to music, allowing a listener to truly discover and appreciate both new artists and artist they know and worship.

Client

Last.fm (http://www.last.fm) has a unique position in a already crowded music market, their website is their main form of communication with their market. It acts as a user dominated system where people can listen to their favourite songs, and from these favourite songs they get recommended to other artists,they exist as the sole provider of this kind of service in the digital world- this is an opportunity to create a physical brand. In creating this community they allow the listener to expand their musical horizons and supply musicians with an outlet for exposure,they have the resources and audience base to really get the message across (they have the trust and popularity necessarily to successfully launch the Hard Copy project). Their aim is to make music more democratic, as they state it allows ” everyone listening to music how they want to, when they want to. Without a middle man making your decisions for you.”They have an honest ethos which is parallel to Hard Copy’s in regards to equal appreciation of independent music.

Branding
The Last.fm has to represent itself in user dominated market, their website is predominantly used by the listener and almost completely run by the user and user based information links(between artist – artist). It requires a very simple projection of both its brand and user interface, which it does extremely well, its website is simple and most of the time easy to navigate. Their Logo stands as logotype, and when broken down the a & the s from the last get singled out, they suggest a tape player or a continuous loop. Their branding clearly represents a clean yet urban and emotive style.

The audience that Hard Copy will be targetted to is young adults aged 16-25, who have grown up in an age where music can be freely and easily downloaded. They rarely purchase CD’s any more, opting instead to download mass quanities of music illegally. As a result, their appreciation for the artists and connected culture has been degraded. Their perceptions are thus waiting to be reinvented; Hard Copy’s representation instilling new found inpiration to go and purchase CD’s, support artists and enrich their personal link with the music industry.

The following avatar was created to aid in the design and approach of Hard Copy through clear identification of the target audience:

Jordan Phillips is 21 years old and a part time student who works in a cafe. He spends most of the week working and nights studying or hanging around at friends houses. He considers music to be a big part of his life, always having his headphones in on the train and iTunes on while working. However, he has not purchased a CD in the last 3 years. Rather he frequently uses torrenting websites and programs sch as LimeWire to download huge quanities of music. On average, he will download 4 to 5 albums a week; the artists based on what he see’s in popular media such as magazines and websites. He will listen to most tracks once or twice, rarely knowing where the artist is from or what the music was written about. He will easily decide he doesn’t like a track, a few minutes into a song, and then never listen to it again. He often complains about needing “new music”, regardless of his cascading collection. This is due to the lack of devotion he feels towards many, if any of the artists he listens to.

Last.fm as the client will be able to use the benefits of their current reputation to launch Hard Copy. With over 30 million devoted active users, the site has in theory, already captured the desired target market. The site does not provide free-downloads, and represents artists with honesty and ethical consideration. However, Hard Copy will act as a medium to transfer “online” fan appreciation – which in reality generates limited income for artists – into more solid support.

Promotional material for Hard Copy can be featured on the Last.fm website with huge success. As each new “Edition” of Hard Copy is released (one per artist), the respective advertisements will be able to feature on each artist’s Last.fm homepage, thus directly marketing to fans. Additionally, links to the Hard Copy website can be placed on Last.fm, exposing the brand to millions of musically interested people.

The initial launch of the brand is being planned for January 2010. This will be instigated firstly by the Hard Copy books themselves (the “product”). The first selection of artists to be featured are:

American indie folk singer-songwriter Bon Iver, four piece etherial pop band The Spirits, three piece synth-pop band We Say Bamboulee and finally British electronic folk band Tunng.

They have been selected based on their independent mentality and high quality of artistic merit. Due to their non-representation by commercial labels, they can boost their exposure and support through Hard Copy, which in a sense becomes a “label” in itself. However, both artists and audience can have piece of mind in knowing that the musical representation from Hard Copy is unique; paving the way for ongoing artist support through creating a real informative connection and desirable product purchase (instead of purely digital distribution).

One artist will be released per month. This is to create suspense and instill the perception that the books are to be collected. The time frame is long enough to maintain interest while allowing for design, printing & distribution schedules.

The website will begin running to co-incide with the first edition release. This means that the audience can immediately start engaging with the online capabilities and extras available online. It will give ongoing exposure and information for the upcoming editions, keeping everyone in the loop.

After the fourth edition is released, advertising to the wider public for the Hard Copy Festival will begin; book purchasers having already received their complimentary ticket with their book. Poster’s will be distributed, which have been designed to incorporate “take-away” tickets, along with sale’s becoming available on the website. This immediately launches the Hard Copy festival to a broader audience, whilst individuals who have previously made book purchases will maintain their exclusive early awareness of the event.

The additional Hard Copy artist books (one for each remaining month of the year, thus 8 more in total) will increase the appeal of the festival- each artist being added to the line up consecutively. This yearly production and distribution scheme for Hard Copy is intended to be repeated each year; new books, new artists and new line-ups for each one. Hard Copy can gain a reputation for such high standard of music representation, product standards and social entertainment.

[Overview (2-4 pages)
This is a reflection on issues, statistics, objectives, actions with content about:
–  ‘The brief’: this is the brief written by your team for week 5, with the purpose of stating the issues involved
And finding benefits for the client and target audience.
– Background: what is the identified problem or issue? What are the causes? Why it requires your attention?
– The opportunity: what have you found? How you will use what you have found?
–  Client involvement: what you do for them? How can they be part of the project? Initial and ongoing benefits. )

Popular music has become just that: undeniably and universally marketable. Roughly 70% of the world’s music distribution is controlled by what is known as the “Big Four”: Universal, Sony BMG, Warner and EMI (Jobs 2007). What’s worse, the convenience of the internet combined with the ease of digital music downloads has degraded the acknowledgment, understanding and gratitude musicians once received from their listeners.

Popular music has become just that: undeniably and universally marketable. Roughly 70% of the world’s music distribution is controlled by what is known as the “Big Four”: Universal, Sony BMG, Warner and EMI (Jobs 2007). What’s worse, the convenience of the internet combined with the ease of digital music downloads has degraded the acknowledgment, understanding and gratitude musicians once received from their listeners.

By taking action, we change our current “fast-food” approach to music: bring a new appreciation to the meaning and message within songs, whilst supporting the creative generation of independent musicians. If we allow the current musical environment to progress without alteration, our appreciation of music could be altered to the point of no return. We need to act now. The world is constantly changing and so is our understanding of culture. “Perhaps technology is still too new and the entry lags of the music market so great that the real effects are not yet apparent. (Alexander 2006)”.

This change that we are proposing will not only benefit the musical domain, but enhance the cultural gratification for audiences. Our research has shown that only 19% of Sydney-siders are content with the artists and music currently available within the mainstream online sphere. 33.4% lack satisfaction, and an incredible 47.6% are completely unsatisfied (2009, pers. comm, 14 Mar).

Hard Copy will provide a greater scope of quality music for this audience, delivered through a new communicative approach, with the further outcome of a more honest, passionate representation for artists and their songs.

These are the things I was doing.