Against The Current - Research

Against The Current are an American pop-rock/pop-punk trio from Poughkeepsie, New York who formed in 2011. The band currently consists of lead vocalist, Chrissy Costanza, guitarist Dan Gow, and drummer Will Ferri. The group started on YouTube and gained a larger audience after posting covers for a variety of popular songs, they have also performed covers with YouTube cover artists such as Sam Tsui and Alex Goot.

The band originally consisted of 4 members, Chrissy Costanza, Dan Gow, Will Ferri and Jeremy Rompala. However Rompala left the band in 2014.

Against The Current released their debut EP 'Infinity' on May 27th 2014, they were not signed at the time so independently release the EP through online distribution. Throughout 2014 the band was touring to support the release of 'Infinity' before going back to the studio to record their next EP 'Gravity'.

'Gravity' was released February 17th 2015 and announced a few weeks after the release that they had been signed to Fueled By Ramen on March 4th 2015. 'Gravity' charted on four Billboard magazine charts, peaking in; Independent Albums, Alternative Albums, Heatseekers Albums and Rock Albums charts.

After touring again they one back to the studio to record their debut full-length album which was released May 20th 2016. The album was titled 'In Our Bones'
'In Our Bones' has been called "Pop-rock perfection" at Alternative Press.

For their debut album, three music videos have been released for, 'Running With The Wild Things, Wasteland and most recently Young and Relentless. These music promos have been a mix of narrative and performance based.

Audience Research

A target audience is needed to ensure that the promotional product that I will be making is targeted towards a certain demographic. To help with this I have created a focus group who can give me feedback on the product that I will be making. This focus group will also be giving me feedback on products that I am deconstructing stating the strengths and weaknesses of different products. The focus group will be asked a certain points during over a period of time so they can view my work as I progress and then can give me feedback.
The goal of making a focus group is to create a representation my target audience.


Description
A description of my target audience would be a male or female in their late teens and early twenties. Someone who maybe rebellious or wants to break from society's rules, they would be someone who enjoys going to concerts and festivals.
They may be someone who finds a sense of identity from the music they listen to and like being a part of a band family with people who feel the same about the music they listen to. They could be someone who uses music as an escape from the real world, to relax and enjoy themselves without stress.


Audience Profile
Age: 16 - 25
Gender: Male and Female
Selby’s Psychographic Cluster:
- Rebels: who wish to remake their world in their own image.
- Drifters: who are not sure what they want.

Registrar General’s Social Scale: C1

Website Homepage Analysis || New Politics

The New Politics homepage features the cover for their latest album, 'Vikings'. There is synergy across the website homepage and the album as it follows the same colour scheme as the album; dark greys, black, white and red. 

The New Politics typeface is at the very top of the page, so that the person looking at the page will look at the band name first along with the album cover picture, this inter promotes that band and their latest album.

They have their latest music video up and near the top of the page meaning that people who visit the page are very likely to click on the video as it is right there for them to watch rather than them having to search for the song and band elsewhere.

They have various links available which will take take the viewer to their store, music, tour, mailing list and links to the latest single.

They also display links to where you can download their music, promoting the band as music stores will automatically suggest the bands other albums when looking at their current one.

The record label logo is also shown along with social media platforms of where people can follow the band, promoting them as it will give people updates on new music and touring dates helping the band to grow. Underneath the record label logo the artists signed to the label are displayed in their own specific typeface, making the bands more recognisable to fans.

They display information about upcoming tours and events, this gives people easy access to finding out the they can go see the band and where to get tickets.

By making everything easy to find for the viewer the website helps to promote the band. The viewer will enjoy their experience and will be able to discover more things about the band easily.

Record Label Email

I sent an email to the record label Fueled By Ramen to ask permission to use Against The Current's track 'Forget Me Now'. I did have trouble trying to find an email for the record label as Fueled By Ramen as they didn't have a specific email address that could be used to directly contact them.

Digipak Anaylsis || New Politics - Vikings

New Politics
Album cover: The first thing that the viewer sees is the red flag, your focus is drawn to it due to its stark contrast with the black and white back ground. After the flag, the band logo is 'painted' in a darker black, drawing focus to it promoting the band. The black/white/grey/red colours create an urban feel which fits with the alternative genre.
The cover is like a reference to where the band started in Copenhagen, Denmark after moving to America and where they are now becoming more successful. 
Their band symbol can be seen at the very top of the cover.
The typeface that has been used is very clean and could be linked to the new maturity of the band as it is very simplistic. The characters are spaced out making the band name and album title very easy to read, this can be linked to the bands new music and more success in the alternative genre.

The album cover has a different feel to it like its darker more mature or rebellious due to its simplicity compared to their previous albums. This is link to their latest music as the band has matured with the type of music they are now producing.
It may be seen as rebellious because of the colours used; black and red which may be stereotyped with teenage rebellion. 

Back panel: Once again the New Politics logo is displayed but now the logo is red in front of a black and white wall. The bigger image and bright red contrasts with the dark wall, drawing your focus instantly to it. The back has the same simplicity as the cover, carrying on the theme of maturity and maybe rebellion which fits with the alternative genre. The rebellion is illustrated as the big red logo has been spray painted onto a wall, stereotypically street art is associated with rebellious young adults.

One the back they also display all the tracks on the album at the top and copyright details at the bottom, leaving a a big middle space for the logo and an empty wall. By having the copy right details at the bottom it will be one of the things on the panel that will be looked at last by the viewer. This is good for their marketing because they want to promote the band so having an eye-catching logo is imperative.

The writing on the back panel almost blends in with the brick wall behind it, there is synergy across the typeface on the album cover and back panel, keeping it very simplistic. However there are some changes, the spaces between the characters are much smaller making the text harder to read. This means people won't spend so much time reading the text but look at the image on the back instead.

Both the back panel and album cover have an urban feel to them appealing to a younger audience of teenagers and young adults, keeping synergy across the alternative genre.

Music Promo Analysis || New Politics - West End Kids

New Politics are a Danish rock band that formed in 2009 in Copenhagen. The band's current members are, lead vocalist David Boyd, guitarist Søren Hansen and drummer Louis Vecchio. So far they have released three albums: New Politics in 2010, A Bad Girl in Harlem in 2013 and their latest Vikings in 2015. The band's sound has been described as mix of 'punk, pop and electronically induced dance rock'.

Record Label
New Politics have been signed to DCD2 Records which was originally named DecayDance records, founded by Pete Wentz, bassist of Fall Out Boy. The label was relaunched in 2014 when the label changed it's name, keeping acts that were already signed to it. New Politics and Lolo were the first artists to be signed under the new name.

Lyrics
Walking slow down the freeway
Sarah says that it's not much further
Kiss the sunlight on her face
Let's say goodbye to this old and broken

Town where we fell in love
Dead end streets became a drug
Held our voices like a prison cell
But now we shout it from the rooftops

Oh, we are the kids that you never loved
We are the ones that will never grow up
We're just some kids from the west end
Woah, woah, woah

We are the voices you never heard
We are the fire you never let burn
We're just some kids from the west end
Woah, woah, woah

Say goodbye to your old friends
Kicking down all the rusty fences
Don't need much where we're going
Just a little bit of love to get us by

Goodbye, we're on our way
You and I, we got it made
Throw your gold into a wishing well
And we'll be shouting from the rooftops

Oh, we are the kids that you never loved
We are the ones that will never grow up
We're just some kids from the west end
Woah, woah, woah

We are the voices you never heard
We are the fire you never let burn
We're just some kids from the west end
Woah, woah, woah

We are the kids, we are the kids, oh
We are the kids, we are the kids, oh
We are the kids, we are the kids, oh
And we'll be shouting from the rooftops

Oh, we are the kids that you never loved
We are the ones that will never grow up
We're just some kids from the west end
Woah, woah, woah

We are the voices you never heard
We are the fire you never let burn
We're just some kids from the west end
Woah, woah, woah

We are the kids, we are the kids, oh
We are the kids, we are the kids, oh
We are the kids, we are the kids, oh
And we'll be shouting from the rooftops

We are the voices you never heard
We re the fire you never let burn
We're just some kids from the west end
Woah, woah, woah

Lyrics and Visuals
The narrative is very different to the lyrics but there are still links between certain lyrics and the music promo. For example 'And we'll be shouting from the rooftops' with the last part of the video where the band in on a rooftop at the end of the video and they look out over the city below. This could be seen as they have done their shouting from the rooftops, they have defeated everyone within the game and now that it is related they can look out. This could be symbolising how they have created this album in a genre that many record labels do not support and can now let to become successful.

The lyrics 'Oh, we are the kids that you never loved//We are the ones that will never grow up', also link to the visuals as stereotypically it is kids that are playing games but this band are still kids at heart. It could all be alluding to the music industry doesn't support the genre of alternative rock as much as other genres, 'kids that you never loved'.

Music and Visuals
The music and visuals link together more than the lyrics. This may be because the narrative/concept of the music promo came from the synth sounds within the music, giving the track video game like sounds.

Narrative/Performance/Concept
New Politics music promo for 'West End Kids' is a narrative and concept video. The video shows each of the band members playing within different video games and beating off their opponents. The first game with Søren is The Legend of Zelda where he beats the big boss, the next is Louis in Street Fighter where he beats his opponent and the last with David is Grand Theft Auto.


Throughout the video there are cameos from artists on the DCD2 label, the Boss was Travie McCoy, Street Fighter was Lolo and the the gang in GTA was Fall Out Boy, with Brendon Urie from Panic! At The Disco as the person playing the games and MAX at the very beginning of the video. This music promo isn't just a promotional video for the song and band but the entire record label as it displays the artists that are already signed to it.

The record label logo is also shown on top of the games consoles, as promotion for the label directly.

Mise en Scene
Location
There are various different locations used in this music promo to show when a different game is being played or a change of scene happens. The Legend of Zelda and Street Fighter location appeared to be a warehouse which had props added to it to create a game like style. The warehouse gives the video an urban feel to it, this is synergistic to the whole 'Vikings' album and its digipak as the panels are very urban and grungy. 

Costume and Make Up // Props
Costumes and make up were important features in this music promo as the costumes and make up show the characters to the audience. Each costume used is very different, the Legend of Zelda costume is Link's and this is obvious to anyone who has played the game. The Street Fighter costumes are ones seen in the original game and the GTA scenes are also clear from the costumes, for example the costumes Fall Out Boy where are stereotypical in the game.

Lots of props have been used such as a shield and sword in the Zelda 'game' scene along with cut outs of bushes in a pixel style to give the background depth and also help with showing what game was being played.

Lighting
The lighting has been used to highlight the players. 
At the very start of the video, pink, purple and blue lights have been used to represent the game colours reflecting on the faces of the band.
In the nighttime GTA scene the lights have been used to draw focus to the two bands as they appear.

Camera Work and Editing
Editing has been used to create a game like look to the video, they have done this by animating writing over the top of the shots, such as 'Wrecked' in the GTA typeface. The typefaces of video games are unique so by using them the audience can easily see what game is being played. Special effects were added in the post production stage, for example the swords glowed as they were used to highlight them and in the Street Fighter scene to it was used to show big hits by lighting up some of the hits.


Focus Group
"The editing work done to make the video seem like an actual video game is really affective and looked amazing" - Jess 17

"I liked how each of the band members was playing in a different game and the cameos from other artists made it really fun to watch as you look out for them" - Jack 17

Synaesthesia

Synaesthesia

The production of a sense impression relating to one sense or part of the body by stimulation of another sense or part of the body.

Synaesthesia within music is understanding the pace and beat of a song, to help understand this a synaesthesia graph can be made. It shows how the beat, pace and music in general affect the body and how it can make you feel.

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Website Homepage Anaylsis

Most band website homepage all follow a similar layout, which promotes the band. This is done by having various links to social media and where to follow them at the top of a page so a viewer can instantly follow the band. There are also links to their stores, tours and sign up pages so that a viewer can get alerts of anything new happening with the band.
As a viewer scrolls down there will often be their latest music video available to watch and other related news about the band and what they have been up to.

By using this type of layout, it grants easy access to everything for the viewer which in turn keeps the viewer interested as they are not struggling around the page to find what they are looking for. The band is also being heavily promoted in several ways along with also promoting the record label, which can lead to a viewer discovering other bands under the same record label.

Website Homepage Analysis || Panic! At the Disco

Panic! At The Disco's website homepage is very similar to New Politics this may be because they are both signed to the same record label, DCD2 and the label has synergy across their signed artists so a viewer can tell when the band in under their label.

The front cover from the album 'Death of a Bachelor' is the homepage's header promoting the newly released album, along with the new Panic! name typeface in bright yellow as it is on the album cover. The synergy between the digipak and website make them feel as though they work together instead of separately. 

Directly underneath the header there are links to different pages such as a news page, tour information, photo and their store and sign up page. By having all the relevant links in one place at the top of the page, the viewer knows where they can find links to different pages but also know that the band have a merch store, touring information and other social medias.

The viewer doesn't even need to click on the link to sign up to the bands mailing list as if they scroll further down the can find another sign up bit.
If the viewer does not see that there is a mailing list originally or ignored it, they may be more tempted to sign up to it the second time they see it and they don't have to leave the homepage to do it. 

There are severally links to the bands social media where fans can keep up to date, and like on the New Politics homepage the record label DCD2 is displayed with all its signed artists underneath, promoting other artists and the record label itself. By linking the other artists in the label to the Panic! At The Disco homepage it can make the viewer feel as though the record label is like a family making in more friendly and may make them want to look at the other bands as well.
The bands latest YouTube videos are uploaded to the homepage promoting them so that a viewer can watch them on the website but then may click on more of the bands videos and go to their YouTube channel and discover more about the band.

Digipak Analysis || Panic! At The Disco - Too Weird To Live Too Rare To Die

Interestingly Panic! At The Disco have changed the typeface of their logo as the band have progressed from album to album. For the 2013 release of 'Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die' changed from the steampunk and theatrical style to a more basic and elegant logo. 
This change in typeface diversifies the brand name as the logo changes to suit the genre and style of music on the album.

The album cover for 'Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die' is very simplistic with the black and white picture and the smoke that has been coloured.
The cover is very different to previous albums as they were busy with bright colours, this cover almost represents the changes within the band and how the band is maturing.












The back panel keeps the theme of black and white with a simplistic picture. The list of tracks copyright details are all at the top drawing the viewers eyes towards the picture. Voyeurism can be seen within the picture as the viewer is looking at Brendon who is looking through the mirror, almost like he is look at you.

Music Promo Analysis || Panic! At The Disco - This Is Gospel

Panic! At The Disco is an American rock band that formed in 2004 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The bands current members are, vocalist Brendon Urie along with his touring band, bassist Dallon Weekes, guitarist Kenneth Harris and drummer Dan Powlovich.
The band has changed members over time as two of the original members, Ryan Ross and John Walker left after the album Pretty Odd and Spencer Smith left after their album Too Weird To Live Too Rare To Die.

Record Label
Panic! At The Disco are signed to DCD2 records which was originally named DecayDance records, founded by Pete Wentz, bassist of Fall Out Boy.  Panic! At The Disco was the first band to be signed to the label and has gone on to sign many other artist like the band. The label was relaunched in 2014 when the label changed it's name, keeping acts that were already signed to it. New Politics and Lolo were the first artists to be signed under the new name.

Lyrics
This is gospel for the fallen ones
Locked away in permanent slumber
Assembling their philosophies
From pieces of broken memories

Oh, this is the beat of my heart, this is the beat of my heart [2x]
Their gnashing teeth and criminal tongues conspire against the odds
But they haven’t seen the best of us yet

If you love me let me go
If you love me let me go
‘Cause these words are knives and often leave scars
The fear of falling apart
And truth be told, I never was yours
The fear, the fear of falling apart

Oh, this is the beat of my heart, this is the beat of my heart [2x]

This is gospel for the vagabonds,
Ne'er-do-wells and insufferable bastards
Confessing their apostasies
Led away by imperfect impostors

Oh, this is the beat of my heart, this is the beat of my heart [2x]

Don’t try to sleep through the end of the world
And bury me alive
'Cause I won’t give up without a fight

If you love me let me go
If you love me let me go
‘Cause these words are knives and often leave scars
The fear of falling apart
And truth be told, I never was yours
The fear, the fear of falling apart

Oh, the fear of falling apart
Oh, the fear, the fear of falling apart

[4x]
(Oh, this is the beat of my heart, this is the beat of my heart)
The fear of falling apart
Lyrics and Visuals
There are clear links between lyrics and visuals in this music promo, as the idea for this video may have come from some of the lyrics, for example 'If you love me let me go' and 'The fear of falling apart'. This is shown as the man appears to be trying to escape something, 'let me go'.

Music and Visuals
The music and visuals fit together in this music promo. There is a heart beat at the beginning and end of the video, this beat fits in with the 'surgery' scene at the start of the video the beat continues throughout the video. The track is fast paced which links well with the fast movements portrayed in the video.

Narrative/Performance/Concept
The music promo for 'This Is Gospel' is a concept and performance based video. The concept for the video may have come from lyrics. The video centres around a man who may be see to be losing his mind, and shows him as he is trying to escape something or maybe himself, this has been left open to interpretation for the audience. There routines within the video, such as the surgeon hands as they manoeuvre around the man trying to perform an 'operation'. 

Mise en Scene
Location
There is no real location with this music promo as it was most likely shot in a studio in front of green screens so that backgrounds could be edited afterwards in the post production stage. The video may also have been shot in front of black screens to put emphasis of the light used.

Costume and Make Up // Props
There are two main costumes that have been used to show the difference in scenes. At the start of the video there is a man on what seems to be an operating table, the audience can assume this from the main being in plain clothes whilst arms and hands around him are in surgical gowns. Compared to when the man is wearing a suit in the next half of the video, the suit along with the visuals suggests that it may be the mans funeral suit.

Props have been used within this video, at the start surgical props are being used, this helps to show the audience that the hands are meant to belong to surgeons. Other props such as ropes and a coffin have been used. The ropes are used more as a symbolism as the man is trying to escape something.

Lighting
Lighting has been used to draw the focus of the audience onto the man, he is the centre of attention throughout the entire video. The bright lights contrast with the black backgrounds, this makes the man stand out more.

Camera Work and Editing
There are many close ups of front man Brendon Urie during the video to draw attention to him, this is also helps to promote the artist because the audience are 'told' to focus on him.
During post production editing has been used, for example there is a shot where ropes are wrapping around a man pulling him back, this was most likely edited. 

Focus Group
"I like the concept for this video as it can mean what you want it to mean. It also seems like he is have an internal struggle and the way they showed that was interesting" - Alex 16

"I feel like the video is relatable as everyone can go through their own battle and it makes me want to watch it over and over" - Isabel 17

"There is a nice tie between the lyrics and visuals. It makes the concept easier to understand and the video overall more enjoyable to watch." - Jack 17

Narrative/Concept/Performance

There are three main types of music videos; Concept, Narrative and Performance. Each type creates a different feel to a music promo, but they can be mixed together to create a more diverse music promo.

Narrative videos often follow a storyline that has been suggested in or by certain lyrics of the song. The story can be told in different ways, such as a link to the story or like a short film with a beginning, middle and end.
If a song is promoting a film clips from that film may be used to create a story.
An example of a narrative music promo could be, Glass Animals - Life Itself

Concept videos are generally based around an idea/concept which may be obscure and unusual to the audience. Audiences can be attracted to a concept video due to its unusual nature, and audiences are given more freedom in determining what the video means to them, making the video more personal.
If a concept video is successful it will keep an audience looking out for new things that they had previously missed.
There are different ways a concept video can be created, it can have a theme or have symbolism. A concept video needs something to build on so a theme or symbolism that can be recreated throughout the video is used, for example a thematic video for a rap song may have reoccurring shots of streets.
An example of a concept music video is, OK Go - Upside Down & Inside Out

Performance videos are made up of clips of the band or artist performing the song, from the clips of the perforce a music video can be put together and created.
Performance videos tend to include lots of close ups of either the artist or a band (the lead vocalist more commonly). The performances by the artists can be set almost anywhere, making the videos more intriguing for an audience. There may be particular motifs such as an artist or bands style which will be followed, this may depend on a record label, the genre of music or on other previous performance videos.
Performance videos are almost always lip-synced, showing good editing skills.
An example of a performance music promo may be, Panic! At The Disco - Death Of A Bachelor

However these different types of videos can be mixed together, most commonly is performance and narrative. This would show the artist performing the song whilst have snippets of a narrative story played in-between the performance clips. This can make a music promo more interesting as there are more elements in one video, meaning an audience member may go back and watch the video again.
Shane Harte's music promo for Left Standing is an example of the mix of performance and narrative.