RESEARCH: INDUSTRY ( RECORD COMPANY, ARTIST)

Record Company- RCA records 

• RCA is a record label company of Sony Music Entertainment and one of the second-oldest recording company in all of US history
• RCA president, Tom Corson says- 

'clearly after MTV's Video Music Awards, her fans and people were looking for the next Miley      event'

'We feel like the video, Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus, was over-performed, and we were very pleased with the pickup. The video is obviously high-quality, and the song is beautiful and wonderful. It's one of the songs that convinced us to sign her' 

• RCA Records music label is home to genres like Pop, Rock, Hip-Hop, R&B and Country
• It has signed international superstars including Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Dido, Kasabian, Kodaline, Kelly Clarkson and recently, Miley Cyrus 
• RCA was known, until 2011, to have signed contestants from American Idol. Even though they've stopped this  now, they still continue to achieve great success with idol alumni such as Kelly Clarkson, Daughtry and Adam Lambert
• RCA have produced several notable Broadway cast albums. Among these are original Broadway recordings such as Fiddler on the Roof and Paint Your Wagon. 
• RCA Record company have their own Facebook page in which they update fans with the latest news and information about the stars

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Artist- Miley Cyrus 

• Miley Cyrus is both an American actress and recording pop artist. Her musical career started when she signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records in 2007, where she released Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley cyrus. This was made  the soundtrack of the series, and had sold over 300 million copies in the United States alone. 
• She was described as having 'upbeat pop songs, with a splash of country' by the Star Scoop
• Many other successful tracks followed this including 7 Things and I Though I Lost You, which earned a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Her lead single The Climb, starred in  Hannah Montana: The Movie, introduced her to country and adult contemporary markets 
• Cyrus quickly developed an adult image and mainstream pop sound when she released her third album Can't Be Tamed.  This video featured prominent dance elements which was promoted through sexually-themed performances. 
• Her fourth album, Bangerz, in 2013, was released through RCA Records. Its singles 'We Can't Stop' and 'Wrecking Ball' were promoted with very provocative music videos. Despite the controversy on her provocative performance at the MTV music Awards, and her provocative dancing in her new hit singles, she still continues to be the most successful artist to originate from Disney. 
• She is ranked number thirteen on 2010 celebrity 100. In 2011, she was in the Guinness World Records for 'Most Charted Teenager'. At the age of 18, she has had 9 top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including her recent number one song 'Wrecking Ball' 

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RESEARCH: DIRECTORS LABEL

THIS IS MY SLIDE SHARE FOR RESEARCH ON DIRECTORS LABEL

JOANNA L from jolewin

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RESEARCH:TRENDS

Over the summer and within the past few months there have been tracks that have completely taken over the charts. These songs range from mainstream pop songs to modern house music.

Best Song Ever  One Direction - One direction are an English-Irish pop boy band based in London.   Their Hit single, Best Song Ever, reached number 2 on the charts with their music video breaking the VEO record for the most views during its first 24 hours online. The song is upbeat, fast tempo, and buoyant.

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Wake Me Up Avici - is a song by Swedish DJ and music producer Avicii. It features uncredited vocals from Aloe Blacc, an American soul singer. The song reached number one in much of Europe and achieved critical and commercial success internationally. The song has been described as a 'summer anthem' by Variance Magazine.


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Heart Attack Demi Lovato- American recording artist Demi Lovato's song, Heart Attack, sold over 220,000 units in its first week. Heart Attack, currently holds the third-highest opening-week sales figure of 2013 in the USA and is placed behind songs such as Justin Timberlake's 'Suit & Tie' and Katy Perry's 'Roar'. Heart Attack reached international airplay, and didn't take long to become one of the top 20 hits in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

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Get Lucky Daft Punk- is a song by French house music duro Daft Punk and features Pharrell Williams. 'Get Lucky' is a disco song, and has reached top ten in the music charts of over 32 countries, sellin
g more than 7.3 million copies.

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Other hit singles that have appeared this summer are- 

We cant stop- Miley Cyrus

Come & Get it - Selena Gomez

I Need Your Love - Ellie Goulding's melody on Calvin Harris

Radioactive - Imagine Dragons

I Love It- Icona Pop Feat. Charil XCX

Holy Grail - Jay-Z feat Justin Timberlake

RESEARCH: MORAL PANICS

BBFC reviews its policy on music and factual videos in a Guardian article. On the 3rd of September, 2012, The Department of Culture, Media and Sport closed a three-month consultation that observers believed would end a loophole. This means that DVD's with a variety of titles such as The Bitch of Buchenwald and Britains' Bloodiest Serial Killers can claim exemption and release from being given these age guidences' by the British Board of FIlm Classification



Currently, as things stand, most documentaries, music videos and sports can claim exemption from classification. David Austin states that 'The great majority of exempt video works are fine. They are not going to harm anyone, but there are a significant number of titles that are potentially harmful to children'



The BBFC has estimated that around 200 videos might be caught by a change in the law. Austin showed the Guardian a variety of examples that would have been classified, but claimed exemption. All of these examples range in seriousness, however, the most shocking, was a documentary  about the American heavy metal band Slipknot. Austin argued that the documentary was so bad he confiscated it away from his 10 year old son, and would give it back when he's older. The documentary shows the word Slipknot carved into a fans arm and another who had done the same to her belly.


Gorgoroth, a Norwegian black metal band, made a music video which was rated X in Germany but is still unrated in the UK. This music video shows a topless women being crucified with blood running down her breasts. Music video, Come Undone, by Robbie Williams, too, shows some serious images of a variety of drug takings. It contains scenes of Williams cavorting in bed with two naked women.


Austin stated that  'Given concerns about knife crime in this country, that really is how to kill someone. If that came in for classification, we would not classify it- we would cut that'

The BBFC, along with other regulatory bodies, is ' calling for exceptions to the exemptions that would cover material that is violent, sexual, discriminatory, has repeated strong language of containes imitable behaviour such as drug use'

"it is completely common sense' says Austin. "we're talking about videos quite legally being sold on the high street, often to children. Some companied do submit them on a voluntary basis, which makes it even more confusing for parents who see on the shelf 18 and 15 ratings and see ones with an E symbol"

Although it is good that artists are pushing boundaries of music nowadays, i think that there should be a limit to how far artists go.  It is important that there is a certain degree of freedom in todays music industry, however, i  think that there should be a limit to this freedom. I believe there should be laws and regulations to control music and its videos as they are starting to become bad influences on younger audiences.

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RESEARCH: STARDOM

Dyer has written extensively about the role of stars in film, music and TV. Stardom has remained a key factor to the success of commercial production, distribution and exhibition of films and music.



One of the many reasons that pop performers are described as being pop stars is because they are so quickly promoted to this status by their management. This status can be achieved by judicious written stories, having a famous boyfriend/girlfriend, attending a variety of premieres and parties, and lastly, featuring in HEAT magazine. During this process, it isn't hard to forget about the artists music ability in the light of their love affairs and excentric outfits. However, a true pop star has a lasting remembrance, and has 'brand awareness' amongst a wider market over a period of time.



Despite them being ' real people', experiencing real feelings and emotions, pop stars are commonly constructed as artificial images. It helps if their image contains a particular USP ( unique selling point)- they can be copied and/or parodied by it. Their representation may be metonymic, such as Madonna's conical bra or Britney's belly or Justin Bieber's bands. The construction of a pop star and their image is consistent over a period of time, and isn't dependent on the creative input of others 

 For Dyer, 

' A star is an image not a real person that is constructed ( as any other aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials (eg advertising, magazines etc as well as films) '

The music industry manufacture stars for a particular purpose: to make money out of audiences. Record companies shape, nurture and manufacture their star. They are fabricated by record companies to shape them and turn them into something that is specific to what audiences want to see. Pop stars are clearly the product of their record company, and at the end of all of it, they must be sold. For Dyer, 

' Stars are commodities produced and consumed on the strength of their meaning' 

Stars also represent a sense of shared cultural values and attitudes as they promote a certain ideology. 'Star quality' is achieved through audiences interests in these values. It is through conveying beliefs of ideas and opinions outside music that performers help create their star persona. For example, if a star begins a new trend, their fans will copy their hairstyles and clothing. Stardom, and star worship in general is a cultural value. 

A star begins as a real human, possessing different gender, ethnic and race characteristics. They exist against a particular historic background. The star is then constructed and transformed into something which fits in with the modern day trends. Stars arn't read as being entirely fictional, and instead they are recognised as being part of their own time and culture- the product of a particular generation. Audiences depend on stars and star trend as an idea of what they are supposed to look and behave like ( e.g for women to look think and beautiful). We compare ourselves to other stars. 

Rihanna is a good example of star trend. Rihanna is modelled on what trends are being set, with her persona's character and personality being based on what is the 'right now' trends. She was constructed by her record label company, Def Jam Roc Nation, with different fashions and hair-do's. We can see how over time, she has changed and adapted to fit in with the modern, up-to-date

trends.

Sources:

Richard Dyer — The Stars (BFI Education 1979)

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RESEARCH: MUSIC TV CHANNELS

Music television is a type of television programme which primarily focuses on playing music videos from bands or artists. Music Television programmes may also host their own charts. 


MTV- 

 MTV is a 24-hour general entertainment channel which is operated by Viacom International Media Network Europe.  MTV music videos  were guided by television personalities knows as 'video jockeys' or V J's. MTV focussed, originally, on targeting young adults and teenagers, however, in recent years, MTV's programming targets a range of audiences from adolescents to adults. It has spawned numerous sister channels in the US, with some of these going independent. 



MTV's ( Music Television) original purpose was to play music videos non stop, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, guided by 'video jockeys'. MTV's original tagline was 'you'll never look at music the same way again'. Although MTV, nowadays, doesn't play music 24/7, several of its spin-off channels do, including MTV Hits and Music Jams. Music Videos can now be played on demand for viewers at MTV.com, where it supports a wide selection of videos and international channels. 

since 1995-2000, MTV has played 36.5% fewer music videos on their channel. In 2008, it saw an average of just three hours of music videos per day. This decrease in could be due to the rise of the internet which is being used as a convenient outlet or promoting and viewing music videos. 

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UK HOT 40 - 4MUSIC 

4 music is a music and entertainment channel in the United Kingdom.The channel was first launched on the 15 August, 2008, replacing the Hits. It plays a chart of the "biggest" and "best" music videos out right now. It is an exciting, dedicated music programme that boasts specially commission pieces with new talent. It is in charge of showcasing the best mainstream music that is currently out. UK HOT 40 is the UK's number 1 music channel, beating MTV1 Total and Viva. 


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VIVA 

Viva is a music video and entertainment channel in the United Kingdom. This channel was launched on 26 October 2009 by Alexandra Burke, replacing TMF. 
Viva offers a variety  of unique, award winning music videos. It showcases the hottest music in the industry right now. The channel includes extras like themes programmes hosted by top names including Chipmunk, Lady Gaga, Leona Lewis and Kelly Rowland.  On weekends, it allows viewers to watch the highlights of great live performances by top artists


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GREATEST HITS 

Greatest Hits TV is a British satellite TV music channel which is owned by UltimateHits Limited. When the channel was first launched on 29 March 2010, the channel was named Lava , however, in 2011, was rebranded and named Greatest Hits TV . The channel specifically specialised in indie and rock music. It provides a platform for pop punk and indie musicians. It also features young and unsigned music artists from around the United Kingdom. It is an overnight programme and showcases music videos between 3.00am and 8.00am 

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RESEARCH: REAL VIDEOS

This is my Slide Share on Research into other Music Videos

JOOOOOO from jolewin

RESEARCH: THEODORE ADORNO

Critic, Theodore Adorno, argues that popular media and music products are characterised by standardisation,  (they are basically formulaic and similar)  and pseudo- individualisation ( incidental differences make them distinctive, but they're not). 


Our music video is also characterised by standardisation and pseudo- individualisation.  We have incorporated ideas form the story Alice and Wonderland, adapting and modernising them to fit into a modern day context. We have also researched and looked at many other music videos, getting ideas and using pesudo- individualisation to create our own individual video. 

sources: Adorno, Theodor W. (1991), The Culture Industry: Selected essays on mass culture, Routledge, London.

RESEARCH: CODES AND CONVENTIONS

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RESEARCH:GENRES

Music can be described in terms of many genres and styles.

Rap- 

• is associated with a primary ingredient of hip hop and reggae
• Raps core components consists of a range of beats and rhymes
• Rap is spoken or chanted as rhyming lyrics 
• Instrumentalists, a drum machine, a sampled break beat are all sounds that can form as the backbone of a track. This arrangement can be spacious or dense, and the chorus can range from a sweet melody to atonal shouting 

Hip Hop/pop - 

• Hip hop is a music genre that consists of a variety of stylized rhythmic music that usually accompanies rapping, ( a rhythmic speech that can be chanted or shouted)  
• The term "pop" is used to describe a piece of music that has "popular appeal" 
• Throughout its development, pop music has consumed influences from other genres of popular music
• Early pop music drew on the 'sentimental balled' for its form. Vocal harmonies in pop music was influenced by cgospel, soul music, instrumentation of jazz, country and rock music. Its up beat and boyunt pace was influenced by tempos from dance music, and backings from electronic music. 
• The promotion of pop music significantly effected the rise of new Music Television channels like MTV, which ' favoured those artists such as Michael Jackson and Madonna who had strong visual appeal' 
• The main medium of pop music is the song, which often lasts between three to four minutes in length. It generally is marked by a noticeable and ongoing rhythmic element( simple traditional structure) 
• Examples of pop artists include Rihanna, Adele, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars

Country - 

• Country music is a genre of American popular music. It firstly originated from the southern eastern genre of American Folk music
• Country music usually consists of a range of ballads and dance tunes with commonly simple forms and harmonies. 
• It is usually accompanied by string instruments including guitars ( both acoustic and electric), fiddles and harmonicas. 
• Modern day charted country singers include Taylor swift and Luke Bryan 

Rock - 

• Rock music originated in America as 'Rock and roll', which later developed into a range of different styles
• Rock music is primarily influenced by Rhythm and blues and country music 
• It mainly was centred around the electric guitar which was combined with other instruments such as the drums and bass guitar. 
• Rock is usually song-based music, but over time the genre has become extremely diverse and so the music characteristics of rock has become difficult to define 
• Rock places a higher degree of emphasis on live performance and musicianship than other genres such as pop music
• Rock as a genre of music has served as a vehicle for social and cultural movements - has led to sub-cultures including rockers, hippi and mods - also led to changes in social attitudes towards sex, race and drug use 

House music - 

• house music is a genre of electronic dance music and is commonly a dance-based music
• House music is characterised by constant, repetitive beats and synthesized baselines
• House music has divided and fused with a variety of other genres creating sub genres such as electro house, tech house and euro house 

R&B- 

• R&B is an obbreviated term for Rhythm and Blues and is a genre of popular African American music which emerged in the 1940's 
• Bands usually consists of pianos, guitars, saxophones, bass and drums, which are also usually accompanied by vocals
• However,although R&B originated form the traditional rhythm and blues,  contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines pop, soul, funk and hiphop
• Contemporary R&B artistis, such as Stevie Wonder, WHitney Houston, Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey are usually known for their use of melisma ( moving between different notes whilst only singing one syllable of text)
• COntemporary R&B has a polished record production style which is accompanied by drum machine -backed rhythms 

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RESEARCH: LAURA MULVEY

'Film has been called an instrument of the male gaze as it produces representations of women, the good life, and sexual fantasy from a male point of view'(Schroeder 1998). This concept comes from the article Visual Pleasure and Narrtaive Cinema by Laura Mulvey, a feminist film theorist. This article was published in 1975 and is one of the most widely cited and notable articles in the whole of contemporary film theory. Laura Mulvey declared her intention to make political use  of Freudian psychoanalytic theory in a study of cinematic spectatorship. These psychoanalytically studies of "spectatorship" focus on how "subject positions" are constructed by media texts. Mulvey focusses on how Freud refferred to (infantile) scopophilia, which is the pleasure of looking at other peoples bodies (particularly, erotic) objects. When we go to the cinema, the darkness of the auditorium allows us to look at the screen without being seen by other members of the audience. Mulvey argues that there are various feautires of the cinema viewing conditions that facilitate for the viewer, like the voyeuristic process of objectification of female characters and also the narcissistic process of identification with the ideal image and ego seen on the screen. She also states that in a patriarchal society the pleasure in looking has been split between both active male and passive female. 

This is reflected in the dominant forms of cinema. For example, narrative films in Hollywood not only typically focusses on a male protagonist but also assume a male spectator. In traditional, hollywood, cinematic films, men are presented as active, controlling subjects that treat women as passive objects. Women are treated as passive objects of desire for men. These types of films place women in relation to "the controlling male gaze" presenting them as objects of desire and as 'spectacle'for men to look at. Men do the looking, and women are there to be looked at. 

Today we watched the Miley Cyrus's music video, Wrecking Ball, which demonstrates Mulvey's idea of "the male gaze". Miley Cyrus in this case, is presented as an object of desire for men to look at. She is seen as a desiring sexual object as she swings, half naked, on a large stone ball. 

RESEARCH:SHOT COUNTS

Track: Alice

Artist: Avril Lavigne

Director: Tim Burton

Release Date:27 January 2010

Length of video: 3.34

Number of shots in entire video: 104

Average length of shot: 2-3 seconds 

Number of shots in 30 second segment: 18

Within the 30 second segment there are:

Number of CU:7

Number of ECU:1

Number of LS:4

Number of MS:1

Number of panning shots: 0 

Number of tilts:1

Other shots: Low Angle shot, Tracking, high angle shot,POV 

Analysis - what have you learnt from this process?

Shot number	Shot type	Shot length	Description	Edit to next shot
1	Tilt	3
2	CU	1
3	CU	1
4	Tracking	2
5	CU	1
6	Low Angle	1
7	LS	2
8	CU	1
9	LS	1
10	CU	1
11	CU	1
12	LS	1
13	MS	2
14	LS	2
15	High angle	3
16	CU	3
17	POV	1
18	ECU	3

Track: Wide Awake

Artist:Katy Perry 

Director:Tony T, Datis 

Release Date: May 22, 2012

Length of video: 4.37 

Number of shots in entire video: 124

Average length of shot:4

Number of shots in 30 second segment:8

Within the 30 second segment there are:

Number of CU: (medium -close up) 1

Number of ECU:1

Number of LS:0

Number of MS:2

Number of panning shots:1 

Number of tilts:0 

Other shots:Tracking shot, Over the shoulder shot, follow shot 

Analysis - what have you learnt from this process?

Shot number	Shot type	Shot length	Description	Edit to next shot
1	MS	6
2	OTS	5
3	MS	2
4	Tracking shot	3
5	Follow shot	4
6	MCU	4
7	Pan	4
8	ECU	2

Track: We Can't Stop

Artist: Miley Cyrus

Director:Mike Will 

Release Date:June 3, 2013

Length of video:3.51

Number of shots in entire video:122

Average length of shot: 2 secs

Number of shots in 30 second segment:14

Within the 30 second segment there are:

Number of CU:4

Number of ECU:0 

Number of LS:0

Number of MS:9

Number of panning shots:0

Number of tilts:0

Other shots:Medium Close up 

Analysis - what have you learnt from this process?

Shot number	Shot type	Shot length	Description	Edit to next shot
1	MS	2
2	MS	6
3	CU	2
4	CU	3
5	MS	2
6	MS	1
7	MS	1
8	Medium CU	1
9	MS	2
10	MS	2
11	MS	1
12	MS	2
13	CU	2
14	CU	2