MUSIC MARKETING: THE RESULT

an in-depth look at the R&B Marketing Project

In class, we were asked to create an artist with base on four songs provided to us. The songs, assigned randomly to us, embodied a certain genre - in our case, R&B. Upon listening to the tunes, our group decided on Shai's "If I Ever Fall in Love," hoping to create an artist who could transform the sentimental tune. But in order to understand who would fit the profile, we needed to study the genre itself. And so, our work began.

STEP 1: RESEARCH

More than simply knowing where to look for inspiration, we needed to know what to look for. What is R&B? The music style has been documented as early as the 1940's, emerging - and diverging - from the Blues, which had been around for some time already. Its main characteristics were the contagious beat and personal touch to lyrics, culminating in a rather humane genre to encapsulate an artist's sentiments.  In its early days, Rhythm and Blues was popular mostly among African-American audiences; it is only natural that this music, a mix of sentimentalism and "a beat you can dance to," would come to talk of social justice. R&B evolved side by side with the Civil Rights movement in the 50's and 60's - the fight for justice motivated many to put yet another personal struggle into lyrics, celebrating Black culture in a time of oppression.

Throughout the years, however, its sound has evolved (though the themes themselves remain largely unchanged). Borrowing from and influencing a variety of different styles, R&B consolidates itself as the broad term it is today. In fact, the Rhythm and Blues of the 21st Century ranges from Pop to Indie to Rap - and we have the case studies to prove it. 

As instructed, we looked into four different artists from two different record labels: Republic Records and Glassnote Records. The former is a subsidiary of UMG, one of the giants of the music industry. In its 26 years of existence, Republic Records has represented a variety of artists, from the Jonas Brothers to Nicki Minaj. Among their lengthy catalog are two of our picks for "R&B Models:" Drake and The Weeknd.

Ad illustrating Drake beside the Sprite cans

 

Drake, as opposed to many in the music industry, began on TV, already having somewhat of a basis to build onto. Already on the good eyes of the public, the singer was able to participate in a variety of events, and partnered with several companies on different occasions. That is, already being a figure of relatively high status, corporations could benefit from having Drake be the face of a product, and he would, too. With such profits in mind, synergy was adopted as a major marketing strategy - one example noted by our group was his collaboration with Sprite for a commercial and the subsequent release of commemorative cans featuring Drake's lyrics.

The Weeknd

The Weeknd was yet another artist whose marketing strategies inspired our own. Particularly, the singer's brand was a focal point in our research. To begin with, the celebrity (who was recently the headliner for the SuperBowl's Halftime Show) is a relatively discreet person. Unlike other artists, The Weeknd keeps most of his personal life to himself, allowing his songs to speak for him. Additionally, despite removing his private information from the equation, he still speaks from experience, using music to promote both his Ethiopian heritage and his feelings with regards to many topics - heartbreak, drugs, love, and others. The Weeknd's ideology much inspired our group in creating our artist, The Unknown - what matters is not who sings the song, but what is sung. Still, of course, the lyrics and melody are never devoid of sentimentalism or the personal touch common to R&B. Even secretive personalities express themselves somehow.

We had now seen one side of the spectrum: high-profile artists signed with a major label. Though our second pick for a records company is not as "low-profile" as it may seem - in fact, it was regarded as one of the top alternative labels - it is certainly less well-known than UMG's offspring. Glassnote Records, founded in 2007 by Daniel Glass, is most commonly known for its indie artists. Despite our artists being content creators for the R&B genre, they fall under the alternative end of the umbrella term that is modern-day Rhythm and Blues. 

snny's album, Otito

The first of our second batch of artists is snny, an artist whose indie roots are quite prominent. More than just experimenting with the sound of this contemporary R&B, snny uses it to reflect his style and story. In fact, the artist's whole brand is focused on the intimacy between him and his audience, to whom he grants entrance into his history coming from the Ivory Coast. As opposed to anonymous artists such as The Weekend or The Unknown, snny prided himself in opening up to the audience, both through lyrics and through other projects. Particularly, the singer released a short film about his life and journey from his homeland and how it felt to return there. From his case study, we gathered information on promotional practices and distribution - the latter being distinct from any other explored in our research. Snny, as a smaller artist, made his songs available on free platforms as a way to gain exposure. SoundCloud and BandCamp are not the usual means of distribution, given that platforms such as Spotify or Apple Music are much more profitable. And indeed, snny's music is also available on major websites; still, the interactivity of fans with the artist is necessary in order to first establish himself as an influential person in the industry - or, if not influential, at least minimally well-known.

Childish Gambino in "This is America"

Also under Glassnote's wing is the bigger artist Childish Gambino, whose strategies were also main factors in our own marketing plan. Donald Glover innovated the genre, bringing even virtual reality into play. The highly technological acts were used not only to awe the audience, but also to promote interaction. Childish Gambino's campaign not only made use of GIFs and apps, but also hid secret messages in each of the artist's creations, motivating the fans themselves to look for deeper meaning in all of Glover's moves.

With the knowledge we gathered from the research, we focused on building a brand that would represent our genre.

 

STEP 2: BRAINSTORMING

In hindsight, perhaps if we had given ourselves more time to brainstorm and build a concrete brand, it would have been easier and more effective to produce for The Unknown along the way. 

Our first idea was a tentative approach to the anonymity - not a full-face mask, but a decorative one. The purpose was not to hide the face, but a mere prop to add to our singer's persona. Quickly, the idea was discarded and replaced by a much more solid one, one with a purpose. The Unknown bridges the gap between full anonymity and the touch of humanity to every song. Although no one really knows who is the person behind the mask, all can relate to their lyrics - and this, as mentioned before, is a pivotal aspect of R&B.

The development of the brand took some time, and such delay (and maybe a bit of trouble with communication within our group) may have caused later parts of the project to be rushed. Nonetheless, we had a general idea, and, with that, I set on to produce a logo. Below are some of the working designs:

 

an attempt at a "speedpaint" of me creating a logo

possible logos created on IbisPaint X

the first version of The Unknown's current logo, made on Microsoft Word

some shots from the storyboard

At this point, storyboarding also became a focal point. As per the premise of our project, we were required to create music video to the tune assigned at the beginning. Here, we were faced with another issue. The brand, which I described at the beginning of this segment, was still in the process of consolidating itself. The storyboards done in this step were only of minimal influence on the final product. Only some factors were addressed both in the draft and in the actual music video - among them, colors were maintained throughout, given that blue is intrinsically connected to The Unknown's whole brand. In making the storyboard, I looked at some R&B music videos: Usher's "I Cry," Kia Marie's "Fog," Ella Mai's "Trip," Jhené Aiko's "The Worst," and India Shawn's "Moving On."

STEP 3: PRODUCTION

The production step in our project meant more than just filming the music video. We had to fabricate an online presence real enough to emulate that of an actual artist. Our group divided the work: one of them would work on creating Instagram, Snapchat, and other social media accounts, while I made the website. Using website-makers, I created The Unknown's page. Taking inspiration from H. E. R.'s, Alicia Keys', and The Weeknd's own webpages, I attempted to promote our artist and his song. Also in the website, as discussed in the previous stages of our project, we would include clues regarding the singer's identity. These can be seen on the bottom of the "home" section, as a series of pictures. Below are some of the products of this step:

creating the website on Wix

The website. The merch seen here was made on Microsoft Word.

the Instagram page created and edited by one of our group members

Through Zoom metings, we also managed to discuss what we would do with regards to the music video. We agreed on meeting live - though, of course, abiding by the guidelines so as to keep everyone safe. We recorded everything in one day. The editing, on the other hand, was a process.

STEP 4: POST-PRODUCTION

The editing process was done mostly by the group member with the most experience editing. Knowing the pecise techniques, he edited together the clips, and (again through Zoom) the group met to discuss where to place text, shots, and other components of the final music video. Here is the full clip:

 

STEP 5: PRESENTATION

creating the PowerPoint

The presentation was a combined effort of our group. Some of the presentation was done simultaneously with other parts of the project - notably, the website and media pages. For that reason, the research put into the production step was also featured on the slide show, which was shared with all members. Along with the Google Slides file, the group shared a "presentation script" so everyone would know the theme in each slide, and which I would edit afterward to fit the overall aesthetic. Since this step is the conclusion of our whole process, each member talked about the part they worked on, selling the purpose of our artist. 

CONCLUSION

With the collaboration of the group, we managed to create a final product that represents the research we have put into the genre. That is not to say that it did not have its flaws: communication and time management were major issues. And yet, we have learned useful information about patterns of consumption and distribution among the genre - a factor common to various types of media, and is thus, quite helpful in Media Studies. Besides, it is true that we learn from our mistakes, and so a valuable lesson also comes from this project: always plan in advance.