Pitch

Planning Our Song

Choosing Our Song:

Four our coursework we are making a music video, so of course we need a song from our chosen genre, indie/alternative. We searched for different bands from this genre, preferably unsigned ones. We tried to look for songs that didn't already have music videos because this would allow us to create a music video for it without the influence of an original video and we could create something entirely our own. We found a band called Jungle Doctors, an indie band that have not quite made the big scene yet, so we thought that their music would be good to use as it isn't as popular as say, The 1975 and the song we chose of theirs, 'LATE', doesn't have a music video so we could create our own and use our ideas, along with genre conventions to make a product for the band that we want to create. 


In order to use a song from this band we had to seek out if we actually could, if there were any copyright laws, so we sent an email explaining about our coursework and asking permission to use the song. 

Another key factor, of course, was listening to the lyrics of the song and thinking of ideas for our video based on the lyrics. These are the lyrics:

Said you wanted it

But you let go

Now you're letting yourself slip

                                                   Said you wanted it

                                                    But you gave up

                                     Now every bone in your body aches  

                                                   Said you wanted it

But you let go

But you gave up

Now you're turning to drips Said you wanted it

Not living in a drowse for no more

Now every bone in your body ... So listen You're not a boy You're not a boy

You left it all beyond

What good are your for? Everything you left, that has gone You're not a boy Said you needed it

Or all the bones in your body ache

But it didn't change Not every time you look Said you needed it But it stayed the same Said you needed it

Now every bone in your body ...

But it didn't change Or I could read you like a book Said you needed it But it went away You're not a boy

You left it all beyond

Not living in a drowse for no more You're not a boy What good are your for? Everything you left, that has gone You're not a boy

You're not a boy

Never listen to a word anyone says Never listen to a word anyone says Never listen to a word anyone says Never listen to a word anyone says

You're not a boy

Not living in a drowse for no more You're not a boy What good are your for? Everything you left, that has gone You left it all beyond You're not a boy

You're not a boy

Not living in a drowse for no more You're not a boy What good are your for? Everything you left, that has gone

You left it all beyond

For example, one idea we had for a part of the video would link to the lyric "You're not a boy", and we thought we could challenge stereotypes and whilst with this lyric one might think of things that aren't considered 'boy-ish', we decided that we might show all of the conventions of a boy (whilst linking to the indie genre) by showing scruffy appearance, dark clothing and other things that we'd associate with boys, as well as the indie/alternative genre in order to be quite ironic and different, as people wouldn't expect to see this because it is quite contrapuntal (because the sound wouldn't link with what is being shown).  

Band Identity

Band profile from jasminbodman

Character profiles from jasminbodman

Focus group

Questions 

1) what image does the band represent?

2) How do the bands represent the indie/ alternative genre in their music videos?

3) what image does the advert give of the band?

4) how well does the Digi pack represent the genre 

5) why would you purchase this album

6) how is the band portrayed in the music video

7) how does the music video, advert and the Digi pack all link

8) would you purchase this CD 

From the focus groups we were able to find out what our target audience likes about this genere, we asked two 17 yr olds and one 18 yr old questions about the arabella Arctic Monkeys Digi pack. from this we able to understand what it was that intrersted our audience on stuff they liked and disliked about the digi pack giving us a clear idea of what to include and what not to when we do our own.

Record Label Research

A brief historical overview of the label.

What other acts are signed to that label?

How successful are they?

Why is it appropriate for your band/artist?

Examples of record labels that are associated with our genre:

Eclipse Records

Dancing Turtle Records

Dirty Hit

Abbey Records

Domino Recording Company

We researched different record labels that would associate with the indie/alternative genre and found five examples. Some of the labels are signed to indie bands that are considered popular within the genre, such as Dirty Hit is a label who signed The 1975 and Domino Recording Company is the label for which Arctic Monkeys are signed to, two bands that we have researched in depth. However we have decided to research further into Domino Recording Studio as we want the band that we are going to create have a similar image to that of the Arctic Monkeys.

Domino Recording Company

Domino Recording Company was founded in 1993 by two men, Laurence Bell and Jacqui Rice. They are an independent UK based company, however the company worked with small American bands when they first started out in the business. It is now known as one of the longest running (and successful) UK record labels today. There are different 'parts' to the label, such as a branch in USA that handles the releases in the USA, with German and French branches too. Also, Geographic Music, a branch that is in a position of authority over the subsidiary releases slightly different music, music that offers a different kind of sound. 

Acts that are signed to the label include the Arctic Monkeys (UK based), The Kills (USA based) and Franz Ferdinand (UK based). From looking at the Domino website, they are 'very English', with slogans such as "Domino...is watching crap on tele" and I think the British-ness shows through in the videos created by the artists that they are signed to, for example the song by Arctic Monkeys, "When the Sun Goes Down" portrays a British scenery within the video and if one was to watch it, they could most likely identify it as a British video. This is good for the band as well as the record label because the Arctic Monkeys have become very popular through the years with their unique music and interesting videos so would also give credit to the record label too, perhaps resulting in more labels wanting to sign with them. "No Wow", a music video from The Kills, like the music videos of the Arctic Monkeys, shows the genre perfectly (as indie/alternative/rock) with simple colours and visuals and similar camera shots and movements. A thing that we noticed was that on YouTube, it is clear to see that The Kills' video was uploaded by none other than their record label - if people and fans liked the video, they could click on the name of the page that posted the video (Domino Recording Co) and then find more videos that are linked to the one that the people liked. 

The record label has become more successful throughout the years, starting off quite small and unrecognizable to quite a popular company. The fame started to grow when bands like the Arctic Monkeys and The Kills were signed to them, because these bands were quite popular beforehand with the target audience. As the company have different branches into different countries, it shows that they have expanded and grown as a company in order to find new talent across the globe and it also means that more people globally can find out about the company.

This record label is suitable for our band/genre because they have the image that we want to portray through our band. The Arctic Monkeys are a band that we have been influenced by in the research and planning of our music video and band image, so by using this record label, it would really tie together the image that we want to create and our target audience would easily recognize our band as an indie/alternative band if we used a record label that already promotes bands similar. 

This is the website for the recording company, where a lot of information can be found about all of the band that they support. The website also has information about CD and album sales, which promotes the band and urges people to buy the album as well as singles. The site, for us, was quirky/cool/original which would reinforce the characteristics of the indie/alternative genre.