Steal-O-Matic

After finalising our 4 key decision, we we created a steal-o-matic, which is essentially just a collection/montage of various images and videos that represent and inspire the feel that we are trying to achieve in our music video. In order to effectively store and share our influences, we created a playlist on the group YouTube account titled "Group 5 reference videos". Above is the finished result.

4 Key Decisions: Artist

The last key decision that needed to be made was how we would establish our artist. The process flowed quite naturally as our ideas of genre, target audience, track and record label were all deeply thought through.

In coordinance with our selected track, our artist will consist of two members, a male and a female. This lead us to use group artists as our main base of research with AlunaGeorge (1 male, 1 female) and Nico & Vinz (2 males) being two we looked into the most.

Nico & Vinz

AlunaGeorge

To further advance upon this use of 2 members, we sought to diversify as many elements between the two as possible. A difference in gender, we decided, was necessary as well as a difference in ethnicity, particularly as there is a lack of mixed ethnicity and gender groups, with our only major reference point for this niche being AlunaGeorge which was a sure sign that again it's a clear gap in the market.

The next decision was how we should go about sourcing our artists, It was most convenient and efficient to stick with members of the group and so we decided upon using Vivian as our black female and Josh as our white male.

The style of our artist is vital. We wanted to achieve a style that was absract, yet still had clear roots in British urban culture, particularly London. So we looked into other artists such as FKA Twigs, King Krule, Lapalux and Rejjie Snow, who have the ability to switch between abstract cultural wear and minimalist yet mysterious wear.

FKA Twigs

Lapalux

King Krule

Rejjie Snow

Focusing on the name of our artist, we looked at various Electronic/Alternative and we noticed a subtle theme amongst new artist within the genre. A handful of them had names that are abbreviations of a word or simply capital letters to articulate an unrecognised word. For example, artists such SBTRKT (pronounced subtract), SZA and XXYYXX.

Following this trend we decided upon the name NTLS (pronounced nettles) with a direct inspiration from SBRTKT. The name NTLS will allow the artist to be instantly affiliated with the Electronic/Alternative genre whilst still retaining a unique, contemporary and fairly mysterious feel.

4 Key Decisions: Track

In coordination with the brief, we chose the track "The XX - Heart Skipped A Beat". The track belongs to the Electronic/Alternative genre, which would appease our target audience. It was released under the London based record label Young Turks in 2012.


In order to arrive to a decision we created a short list of songs with a few inputted by each group member. We soon realised that we needed a more lyric heavy song as a lot of the songs with few or no lyrics were nigh on impossible to envision a narrative to as there was little progression taking place in a short space of time. Therefore, we concluded upon this track that is guided by its lyrics of love, heartbreak and reliance that are all common themes amongst youth.

The vocals in the song belong to a duet of one male and one female. Having two vocalists allows us to mould the overall artist image into something much more demographically diverse, especially when dealing with a male and a female. This will ultimately allow us to represent and therefore appeal to a larger potential audience. This is especially true in consideration of the fact that there is a severe lack of male and female duets/bands in the current market.

The track also consists of drawn out instrumental pieces that will allow us to focus more on the narrative of our video during these times. Essentially, this track gives us the creative freedom to create any type of narrative music video and to create the most appealing and fitting artist for it.

To ensure that there are no copyright or ownership issues, we decided to contact Young Turks directly and ask for their permission in using the song. Below is the email sent by Louis:

4 Key Decisions: Record Label

After deciding upon our target audience, we needed to create a record label. There were a few major factors we had establish properly:

- Our record label would be solely focused upon and specialised in Electronic/Alternative music, with the latest signing for the label being our own artist.

- It belongs to its parent company Sony Music Entertainment (SME) who will provide funding and support for our record label.

- Another focus of our record label is that it is British and will thereofre exclusively focus on managing British artists and marketing/distributing their content to British audiences.

- The record label itself will be based in London, due to the fact that London is the contemporary cultural hub of the UK and that many of our secondary audiecne in particular will have some connection to London one way or another.

- Eventually we came to the decision of naming our record label "Red Pigeon Records". A pigeon represents an inner city culture whilst the red represents its individuality.

4 Key Decisions: Audience

Primary Audience
We decided that our primary audience would be fans of Electronic/Alternative music. There is a lack of major artists and content sprouting from this genre and so there is a large gap in the market for it. The genre also attracts listeners from all variations of race, gender and somewhat age, meaning the focus is completely placed upon one's love for the genre, allowing us to be free of any major restrictions that are not directly linked to genre.

Secondary Audience
Our secondary audience consists of a more focused demographic of our first, Electronic/Alternative fans ageing from late teens to early 20s (16-24). Within this age bracket lies the majority of Electronic/Alternative fans as well as those most likely to consume music. This means if exploited successfully, this audience will help guarantee a significant level of consumption for our music video.

Tertiary Audience
Our tertiary audience is made up of older listeners sitting in the age bracket of late 30s to early 40s. They are the generation who first experienced groundbreaking electronic music in their youth and so will have some recognition for the genre. Regardless of this, the tempo and mellow feel to the track is calm enough to resonate well with the minds of older audiences.