Research Into the Music Industry ***

***TO BE COMPLETED***

Photoshop Research

Throughout the A2 course we will of course be needing to use Photoshop to help with editing the digipacks for our artists and to make their images as crisp as we can make them. Photoshop is crucial for making the artists' look effective and appealing to the chosen target audience so that they can get their music and name out their as best as possible. I have used photoshop before so I didn't need a specific tour of the program as I am familiar with it, however, I looked up what the different tools do so that I don't get too confused. In the table you can click on the different icons and it will navigate you to a page which allows you to see what the tools do.

Analysing Music Videos

'Like A Prayer' - Madonna

Pop legend Madonna is known for her constant reinvention as a performer. Her biggest hits include "Papa Don't Preach," "Like a Prayer," "Vogue," "Secret" and "Ray of Light," among many others. She is a multi album selling artist and inspires many younger artists for example Lady Gaga and her image is definitely the reason for Gaga's early images. She is great at changing images to see what she can attract fan base wise and change depending on the times. She began as a synthetic artist and was very much made up to seem like a young innocent artist however she then grew into an organic artist who had a lot of control with her image.

The fact that the music video starts off in a church would already raise questions on what kind of point she is trying to get across. I think Madonna's aim was to bring as much controversy into this music video as she can so that she can get people noticing her messages in the video and getting discussions going. Madonna was born into a strict catholic family and therefore that side of her clearly is revealed through out the video; it is clearly a splurge of rebellion which Madonna wants to share and cause the Church goers, the christians and people with some faith to look strangely towards the video.

The idea of a different race is demonstrated in the video through the use of a Black saint which would've caused controversy at the time the video was filmed. Many people would've have very much been into not going against the church or the beliefs of the main religion therefore she pushed the boundaries out and raised some questions amongst the fan base and others. She has a relationship with this saint which would cause many issues within the church. Perhaps she is suggesting she is Holy also.

There is a section where she is literally dreaming and this idea comes across as she is released into the skies, almost as if an angel was around her and she was being taken to the heavens. This again brings in the religious aspect of the film in to context and she is tries to push this idea as much as possible just to make some kind of point. In another light, Madonna is suggesting she is taking some kind of a drug and therefore in this paradise which in inexplainable. This is probably why the video is definitely more suited for the older, more mature generation who understand these things.

When she picks up the knife and opens her hands up it gives the illusion that she has had two holes cut into her hands just like Jesus did in the Bible when he died on the cross. This provokes and imitates the idea that she is replicating saving peoples sins and dying on the cross which is again going against the church. Personally it is quite offensive as she is almost taking on the role of Jesus and is making it seem as though she was the one to die on the cross. Maybe she is trying to get across a message on feminism and wondering why is it a man who Christians worship? Later on she begins to dance in front of burning crosses which again is offensive and portrays a sense of destruction and disbelief - enjoying the craziness of ruining the faith.

A message of race is again brought into the video when the black saint is introduced. In the video he gets caught in the police's headlights of their car and is spotted holding the girl. They clearly assume he was the one to kill her because of his skin colour and this is Madonna trying to reveal how unfair humanity is as we treat the darker race in a different
way to how we treat white people, not even realising it. He starts getting beaten and the audience really start to feel a sense of sympathy towards him.


At the very end, the curtains close and the whole cast of the video are on stage, bowing to the audience as if it were a production letting the world know that it was only a play they put on and telling them not to take it seriously. This was probably Madonna's escape goat so that she didn't receive too much hate for it at the time; she can just say how it was just a performance she decided to put on for the video however people know she was just trying to be completely controversial during that time, gaining as much publicity as she can.

Website practise

We were asked to create a website for any solo artist of our choice without looking at their current website. I, of course, decided to go with 'Drake' as he is one of my favourites. We used the software 'Wix' to create this which we will be using further on in the course, in regards to our campaigns for our music videos. I found it quite useful to get used to the program and just getting into grips with how it all works. It is pretty straight forward to use as the template gives all the information to you, you just need to add your own images etc.

Here is the link:


http://voguephelps8.wix.com/drake

(open in Safari for best results)

(my homepage)

I then compared it to drakes original sight and found that the theme was pretty similar. There were also quite a few images that I had used that were in Drakes website.

http://www.drakeofficial.com/

(original homepage)

Analysing album covers

Here are two very different looking album covers from two very famous and successful artists in this generation. However, the way In which their successes have arrived have been from very different reasons. Rihanna is a highly sexualised music artist who is looked up to by many girls in their teens as she puts across a 'beautiful' image and one some may aspire to be like. She has the talent. arguably, but It is more about the image. Where as, James Bay is considered a far more organic artist who is less about the image and more about the talent per say. Although when he was discovered as an artist the labels would have taken his original image, then enhanced and exaggerated it so that he stands out and becomes someone to look up to as well but in his own 'cool' image. You could argue all artists these days are about the image and if they have the talent it's just a plus side. Of course talent is important but can be improved massively through the use of technology and other programs. 

James Bay's album cover is clearly very different to Rihanna's as it is dark, non-revealing, he is fully clothed, not trying to appeal to anyone in a sexual way and he it is generally far more revealing. This would be because his age group of fans are more likely to not care about the image and more about the music. He is more of an organic artist and therefore is keeping it low form and not anything too shocking. Typically for an artist like him he is holiday is guitar, looking down so there is no eye line connection and he has a hat on which cover most of his facial features. interestingly everything around his is dark, even his clothing, and his guitar is the only highlighted object in the image emphasising the importance of music in his case and how that's what he relies his fame on. However, the whole point of his image is being on the down low, 'indie' and generally quite chilled and cool therefore he doesn't want to aim for that naked, revealing image like an artist similar to Rihanna.

This Unapologetic album cover by Rihanna is clearly extremely explicit and open. You can see her eye contact is aimed directly at the viewer, emphasising a sexual desire almost for a split second and draws the buyers in. This is a typical example of how artists like Rihanna use their bodies as a selling point and allow them to push their success that bit further. Sadly our society relies on the looks more then the talent when they become an artist like this. There is only some writing covering up her naked body showing the interest is her 'perfect' body.