Daheem’s A2 Music Portfolio

Fatima was responsible for making this presentation for the prominent artists of edm songs so she made slides on canva. I wasn’t able to embed them into my blog post so I have converted it into power point presentation and embedded it into the following.

After planning out our target audience with each other, we discussed it with our teacher whether it was rightly applicable or not on our genre.

After discussion we came to the conclusion that all the psychographics, behavioral and geographical factors were right on point bit as far as the demographics were concerned our age limit started from a bit to younger age so we change it from 16-30. Honestly it does look more sensible after we understand it more deeply with the other factors.

As this thing was done and over with, we were instructed to make make questionnaires for our target audience, just like last year, to understand their preferences. We need to find out what they like and look forward to in the edm songs.

We came up with this rough draft for the questionnaire:

Then we got it checked by the teacher, who made a few changes to the sentence structure and rejected two questions as they were too predictable and simple. After making the mistakes right Arooj made the questionnaire on Google Forms and she sent it in our Whatsapp group. We all contributed to take out mistakes and polish it more into a final one ready to be taken.

The survey:

My group and I chose EDM genre for our music videos. As we start our planning we had to choose a target audience for our song as it’s the factor that makes a product successful in the market. Now, EDM are also known as dance music, club music, or simply dance, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres made largely for nightclubs, raves and festivals. It has a very strong beats with a higher bass as compared to other songs. Because of this reason we chose the age group of 13-25 as this age group is likely to enjoys fast loud beats and visit such places.

The song will be meant for both genders but after we found a research that said that 55% males and 45% females listen to edm songs so we still might do something more gender equal. The age group mentioned above is more likely to be hyper-active with a lot of social media usage, might pay more attention beats rather than music as whole and has a somewhat carefree attitude. Now this has age factor too,  but only the high class and a few middle class people have such an attitude and can afford the luxury for even buying an album or visit concerts and clubs.

The hyper-active and carefree attributes with us that our audience is probably going to be the aspirers who seek status and are materialistic oriented to image, fashion and appearance typically of course younger generation. Other than aspirers there are also going to be explorers who seek energy, individualism and discovery, again then being the younger people.

I hope all of these attributes are going to help us create something professional and successful.

When it comes to advertising your business, it’s imperative that we know who our “target audience” is, and how to reach them. While it’s important to reach as many people as possible, and it often seems like focusing only on certain parts of the population is limiting, you need to be “direct.” Directly reaching those interested in our product or service will ultimately put more money in your pocket. Therefore, before you decide what your message is, and how to deliver it, we need to understand your target audience.

From my previous understanding Target market is a group of people that you intend to host by your media product. Target market is a market place for a particular media product comprising of existing customers who will use your product. This mass market can be categorized into groups based on the audience’s needs, characteristics and behavior.

As far as Geographical factors are concerned the market is sub-categorized by the region or country. On the other hand, customers are also grouped by their personal attributes such as age, gender or nationality and these are called the Demographics. In these also comes in the societal classes which are the high class, middle class and working class and even the ones with white collar jobs.

Then comes the Psycho-graphic factors which includes the group’s  lifestyle, personality, values and interests. Now as far as these are concerned, psycho-graphics divide the market into aspirers, succeeders, resigned, explorers, strugglers and reformers. These are made by personal traits of people and what kind of lifestyles they have. In my opinion Behavioral factors have a minimal effect on the buyer power but it matters a lot as it tells us how a buyer may behavior towards a product such as the rates of the product may effect the buying power.

In this post I will be discussing some codes and convention of edm songs that are commonly found in all of them. Before diving into it, what I remember from previous research for magazine, codes and convention are divided into technical, symbolic and visual to make understanding much easier.

From what I have learnt from watching edm song videos, every song has its own conventions as some are performance based some conceptual but very few narrative as edm songs are all about the beats. It may be because the lyrics don’t really tell a story or explain what the song is. But because these songs are very quick and fussy the videos have much calmer performance and visuals that enhance the beat.

Some of the good edm music videos are:

In these videos as far as technical codes are concerned they have a standard camera movements such as  such pan and tilt with a variety of shots such as Arial shots and longs shots. I think that because of these the beat of the song is more enhanced and then the quick editing techniques add up. The close-up shots are even used to show facial expressions and singing plus performance.

As far as the mise-en-scene is concerned I haven’t seen any relevant connection between the song and the visuals. I think the visuals are only there to amuse the viewers with the beat. The bright colors, animations and fusion of various cultures and ideas, such as black&white, all make it incomparable. Fast editing creates action and dramatic effect in to a simple set and performance.

I have noticed high key lighting in all of them, mostly daylight. Other than that the contrasts, exposure and brightness enhances such a simplistic lighting into an action-packed video.

In my opinion what makes these edm songs interesting to the audience other than its musical beats are the diverse visuals that are way different to what we can judge by hearing it which puts us in a different mindset.

In the end all the factors that are mise-en-scene, camera work, lighting, sound and editing these music videos look more professional each having it’s own style.

After being instructed to choose a music video for our music video, me and my group members individually started to find music videos that we liked personally rather than pressurizing each other and I think that all of us respected each other’s opinions at the end. We didn’t make a goal that we were going to find songs with THIS specific genre instead of limiting ourselves. Our target audience is basically the the age group from 13 – 30s, so we probably would come up with something that this age group would be interested in.

At the end we came up with four songs which were:

1. Bad Liar (alternative indie)
2. Udd Gaye (EDM)
3. Coldness (pop)
4. Tune Kaha ( pop)

Most of the songs that we choose were pop songs but we really were satisfied with them, so after the selection, all of the groups were asked to present their chosen songs and the whole class voted which they liked the best.

In our case ‘Udd Gaye’ won vote, even from teacher.

This song is basically EDM song that stands for dance music, club music, or simply dance. It is generally produced for play back by disc jockeys who create seamless selections of tracks, called a mix, by seguing from one recording to another. EDM producers also perform their music live in a concert or festival setting in what is sometimes called a live PA. Some common examples of this music genre include:

We were absolutely happy that we got this song as it has a great beat and there is no such narrative to it so we have a wide area to work with it from conceptual, contemporary to even a distinctive performance. The amount of brainstorming for ideas is limitless and we have already started some planning for what we want to do and what we can for this song.

Last year I did an extensive research on Genre as it was the first I was going to need it’s help to make a successful magazine. From what I remember, Genre is a specific category or style of any art or media type. It’s actually a part of the key concepts of media and basically  involves a particular set of characteristics associated with a genre’s style and content may be, for example, a particular setting, character types, technical codes (lighting or music).

I recognized it the first time through basic scenarios such as at the end of a romantic comedy film the two lead characters will realize they are in love. Audiences may even select a text on the basis of its genre. Mostly media producers market texts according to genre because a niche audience has already been identified as taking pleasure in that type of text. However I believe, a genre is not static, it changes all the time, resulting in hybrid (or sub-) genres and changing codes and conventions. There is also a relationship between genres and the societies in which they are created.

There is a really large variety of various kinds of genres but right now at this stage we will be looking into the ones found in music videos commonly.

Rock songs

Rock music is basically defined by rhythm, not melody. originated as “rock and roll” in the US in the early 1950s, and developed into a range of different styles in the 1960s and later on. It is based around amplified instruments, especially the electric guitar and electric bass, and is characterized by a strong bass line and driving rhythms. Rock songs are typically performed by rock groups, and while fast dance music is the staple form, slower ballad-style songs are also a popular part of the repertoire.

Hip Hop songs

It developed as part of hip hop culture, a sub culture. It is the backing music for rap, the musical style incorporating rhythmic and/or rhyming speech that became the movement’s most lasting and influential art form.

Indie songs

Indie songs is music produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous

Pop songs

According to Richard Dyer a star is an image, not a real person, that is constructed out of a range of material (e.g adverts, magazines, films etc.). He believed that as record buying public, we prefer to believe in the stars who are their own and our constructions rather than a transparent offering designed explicitly to appeal to our blander taste buds served up by a record company interested only in our wallets.I think that P!nk is also one of those stars.

A bit of her history….

Alecia Beth Moore, known professionally as Pink (stylized as P!nk), is an American singer and songwriter. She was originally a member of the girl group ‘Choice’ in 1995 but after Choice disbanded, Pink signed a recording contract with LaFace Records and began working on her debut solo album with various producers.

Her debut single, “There you go”, was released in February 2000 and became her first top-ten hit on the Billboard top 100 chart, where it peaked at number seven. Internationally, the song also charted inside the top ten in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

Discography:

In April, Pink’s first album, Can’t take me home, was released to commercial success. Despite a moderate peak of 26 on the Billboard 100 chart, the album was certified double platinum by the(RIAA) for two million units shipped in the United States. It also went platinum in the United Kingdom and multi-platinum in Australia and Canada, while selling over four million copies worldwide. Critical reception to the album was mixed. The album’s second single, “Most Girls”, peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and became her first chart-topping single in Australia. “was released as the final single and reached number 33 on the Hot 100.

At this point pink was known for her rock/pop genre for songs and her Gothic style with pink bob cut hair. She broke the stereotypes at the first place which made her stand out from the crowd. She shows athleticism and has a manly touch in her music, which is shown through various activities like riding bikes or boxing. She told Instyle, “I’m eclectic. I’m a tomboy, but I’m kind of a hippie and kind of a gangster […] I don’t know if that’s a good thing, but it is my thing.” She materialistic things and fake love in her songs and more girl power starts to reflects out of them. Pink also won the trophy for Female New Artist of the Year at the 2000 Billboard music awards.

P!nk reinvented herself with her second album, M!ssundaztood, trading her hip-hop sneer for the pop-rock sound that she became known for. The album’s lead track was written and produced by her childhood idol, Linda Perry of the 4 non blondes, whom P!nk famously cold-called for help with her sophomore album. P!nk has tackled several intimate topics throughout her discography, but “Family Portrait” remains one of her most personal tracks. The song chronicled the divorce of her parents. She told that her mother cried for four days after hearing the song.

P!nk is known to for the carefree lyrics and breezy beat of her songs. Her latest album Hurts 2B Human, released on April 26, 2019 is the eighth studio album and its lead single “Walk me home”, It was called a “foot-stomping anthem” as well as an “optimistic departure” from the content of her previous album, ‘Beautiful trauma’

Her Public Image

I personally think that her style has changed a lot through years and she appears more powerful physically and through her voice. Pink has been noted for her fashion style, such the “adventurous” hairstyles she has worn, which have included fluorescent spikes to pink-streaked dreadlocks to a pitch-black skater cut. She is an animal-rights activist and a prominent campaigner for PETA, contributing her voice toward causes such as the protest against. Pink is also outspoken about LGBT rights and supports same sex marriage. In October 2012, Pink stated that she does not define her sexuality saying, “I never felt the need to.”

Pink is also involved with several charities, including Human Rights Campaign, ONE Campaign, Prince’s Trust, New York Restoration Project, Run for the Cure Foundation, Save the Children, Take Back the Night, UNICEF and World Animal Protection. As of May 2008, Pink has been officially recognized as an advocate for the RSPCA in Australia. On February 16, 2009, Pink announced she was donating $250,000 to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal to aid the victims of the bushfires that swept through the Australian state of Victoria earlier that month. Pink stated that she wanted to make “a tangible expression of support”. Pink also donated money to Autism Speaks and in August 2012 became a spokes model for Cover Girl, featuring in a fall 2013 advertising campaign themed “beauty with an edge”.

What  kind of Legacy She is Leaving ???

Pink has been credited for breaking boundaries and pushing the envelope throughout her career. She is regarded as the “most trailblazing artist” of her pop generation. Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times says, “Pink stood up for her music, broke the music industry’s mold and scored a breakout hit, challenging a school of teen singers to find their own sounds as well.” He adds, “[Pink] also started a race among other teen pop stars to add substance to their own sound.”