The music marketing project is one that was very time consuming and required meticulous planning and execution. The very first step of this project was researching. Not only were we expected to complete a media context chart on the music genre assigned to us, but due to the unfamiliar nature of bluegrass music to me and my group, we felt it necessary to learn more about the genre. We researched the companies Decca Records and RCA Records, diving into the brands of artists such as Clint Black, The Lumineers, and even the creators of the song we selected, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats. BY becoming familiar with bluegrass music and gaining the necessary background relating to the different types of bluegrass and bluegrass audiences, my group and I were able to successfully determine which side of the spectrum our artist would take: original bluegrass. In doing so, the target audience also became clear: white, middle aged, Southern Americans. Thus, our brainstorming began.
My group and I spent a majority of our time brainstorming for this project. We found that we bounced off of each others' ideas extremely well and had the capability of creating a cohesive brand understood very well by us all if we took our time. We listened to our song, "A Little Honey," a multitude of times, dissecting the lyrics and determining the best course of action for our music video. Eventually, we decided that we wanted to incorporate a mix of different types of videos, settling on a combination of promotional and storytelling. Given our target audience, we felt it was important that our video included traditional conventions of the "country" genre, representing the lifestyle of those we were attempting to reach. It was also crucial that our storyline aligned with the message the song conveyed, one of love. Upon determining the type, aesthetic, and story of our video, we commenced our storyboarding process. The storyboard came very easily to us, as most factors of our video had been decided upon previously; consequently, we were soon able to begin filming.
Considering the "country" palette we aspired to incorporate into the video, it was necessary that we picked a location representative of that. Luckily enough, one of our group members, Taylor, has an aunt who lives in a house containing a large backyard in which she also has farm animals. We scheduled to meet at the farm on a Saturday morning, hoping to finish filming by the early afternoon. As our video starred two little kids (Taylor's siblings), we prioritized completing their shots first in order to let them go. Working with the kids was relatively easy; they cooperated with us and made our hopes for the music video come to life. After the kids were done, the shots of the 'older versions' of them (Taylor and her boyfriend) had to be completed. As the older versions were mainly meant to be reminiscing their younger times, the shots of them closely mirrored those of the kids. This facilitated our process as we had already become familiar with the story and the activities done in it due to the filming of the kids. Then, came the promotional filming. We had already decided upon what lyrics the artist would appear singing, therefore we simply had to record him doing so. While the enunciation part showed to be a bit of a challenge, we were quickly able to complete the production process of our project.
Upon completing our filming, my group and I began working on the actual presentation. We created a PowerPoint in which we wrote down the information we had already gathered: genre backgrounds, target audience, and the music video's assistance in the marketing campaign. Then, we began brainstorming our brand and marketing/distribution practices. Considering our target audience, it became clear to us that older social medias, such as Facebook and Twitter, were preferable for our artist to use. We also recognized that physical distribution, including CDs and cassettes, would most likely be preferred by older listeners and therefore had to be incorporated. Other marketing products, such as merchandise, we felt had to surround the "country" aesthetic as well. Therefore, we decided items such as baseball caps and clothing patches would roll over very well. As for our brand, considering the nature of the song and the promotional aspect of our music video, we decided that the message we wished to send out was that the artist was just a guy and his guitar. We felt this would make him appear friendly, approachable, rubbing off the Southern charm to all consumers. Soon enough, our strategies came together and the PowerPoint was completed.
The last portion of our post-production process was editing the music video. Our group member, Nico, was in charge of the actual editing; however, we all contributed and gave him directions/pointers on what we believed should be incorporated. The sequence of the video was easy to determine; not only did we have the storyboard to guide us, but our lyric division stated which part of the video would align with specific parts of the music. After Nico had the sequence of the videos laid out with the music, he began the more detailed editing aspects. Firstly, we decided that a filter was needed for the "throwback" shots. When the video cut to the young kids, it was necessary to convey that their actions were occurring in the past, that the old kids are simply reminiscing. Therefore, Nico added a filter in which the surrounding areas of the screen sort of faded to black. Then, we felt that transitions would assist the flow of the cuts. Not only did we need to add transitions between the story and the promo, but they were also necessary between shots of the older and younger kids, in an attempt to convey that they are the same people, different ages. After this process was done, we embedded our video onto the PowerPoint and our project was complete.
Throughout the process of this project, I mainly learned the importance of time management. Being given a task with as many sub-parts as this, with as much time as we received, it sometimes felt difficult to keep myself on track and on time; I often felt we were falling behind in our process. I also learned the importance of planning. My group and I did a great job of outlining all our steps and detailing every aspect ideas we had for the project. I feel this facilitated our actual execution immensely and allowed for an extra stressor to be taken off our shoulders; when time came to actually complete the tasks, we knew what we had to do. I think these two will be the main aspects that I will carry over into the Cambridge portfolio project. Considering the weight of the project on my overall score, it is crucial that I do not rush into anything; I must take time to think my decisions through, plan my steps and consider how they will assist my final product. In addition, as this will be a long-term project, it is necessary that I do not fall behind. By staying up to date on all the different portions, including writing, filming, and editing, my experience will feel much smoother and my final cut will most definitely benefit.
