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EP audience and market research

For my artist-based EP I was inspired by artists India Arie, Lianne La Havas, and more funky music I had recently found on YouTube. This was Fkj & Masego- Tadow and Fkj & Tom Misch- Losing my way. I love the lyrics and vocals of the female artists with such an acoustic feel but also like the funk and instrumentation the other two brought to play. This is the type of combination I was going for with my personal touch showing mainly through the lyrics, as this is my strength as a singer songwriter.

Looking at India Arie she is considered by Wikipedia as an artist of R&B, Neo soul, and Pop genre. Was signed to Motown 1999-2007, then Soul-Bird Universal republic 2007 to present. (En.wikipedia.org, 2018) Motown records and Universal republic joined with republic records to form one known as Universal Motown republic group. This group then became one of the top three in North America who deal with Pop, Rock, and Urban performers. (En.wikipedia.org, 2018) Artist Fkj is seen by RA site (Resident advisor) as a “rising star of the Parisian electronic scene.” Saying he is a part of the “New French house musical genre.” (Resident Advisor, 2018) Fkj is also known as French Kiwi Juice and is a part of Roche Musique French label based in Paris. All of Roche Musique group “are in love with house music” and have a “real French touch background.” (Resident Advisor, 2018)

Fkj’s stylistic approach is of “incredibly groovy loops, classy hip-hop rhythms, gloriously funky basslines and richly colourful synth sounds.” (Resident Advisor, 2018) French Kiwi’s first EP was named “The Twins” released at the end of 2012. This was then followed by a single then another EP. This shows me that an EP is a good way of getting your music out to the public faster, as its less songs. EP stands for extended play, but Fkj used it as a good starter in his music career like most artists. India Arie has an upcoming eight song EP called Medicine. SoulBird.com say that this is an extension of her 2013 release of SongVersation, describing it as almost a gift to the world to help heal to what they describe as “Tumultuous times.” (Soulbird.com, 2018) This kind of attention may attract BBC radio 6 taste maker Chris Hawkins who likes to find music that fits the season, and perhaps this was a season that needed healing. (Musicweek.com, 2018)

Artists of this genre are known for/ to have a free spirt, clear mind, wisdom, and are very real, true and are down to earth people. This is the type of identity I would like to attach myself to with my music. Talk about the “Taboo” topics, say it like it is, being different is good, in powering, deep, relatable lyrics. I want my music to be reflective and going along this is why I believe that going for an independent record label would be best at this point as their focus is on putting music first rather than personal profit. I see this as more realistic to me as these record companies tend to work with local venues, record shops and studios which I am more likely to be within the scale of first getting started.

Realistically these ways of using an EP would be possible for me including digital distribution. This can be done on my personal artist website, and social media. This can be done easier on Believe digital. This is a site where you can distribute your music physical and digital on multiple platforms securely and globally. You also receive professional help and have a better overview and tacking of your sales. (Believe Distribution Services, 2018) This way CD, and vinyl formats along with media platforms such as Spotify and Apple music can all be done on one place. To sell better I could have early releases and sneak peaks, or even special editions in the future. With this service it can help me build an established demographic audience.

Jaguar records is a UK independent record company for popular urban music. “Jaguar aims to deliver fresh new artists and music to the mainstream public. We create and produce music, videos and artwork that aims to push the boundaries of popular music and expression. Jaguar strives to deliver a unique sound in popular urban music.” They help with songwriting, management, and publishing, and anything multimedia based. (Jaguar-records.com, 2018) Visuals are also important in an artist’s career. This could be videos or live performances which can all be improved through better management and resources I can get with this service.

My vocals on my EP are similar to the ones on Aine Cahill song Blood Diamonds in the way in which it is layered. She is signed to Lab records limited which are also UK based. This record label could be an option for me too. (Management and Management, 2018)

In London there will be “A night of Neo soul” at 100 Wardour St, on Sunday 27th of May this year where the audience is strictly guests aged 21 years and over only. This shows that within the genre India Arie is in these are the type of events in the UK that can take place with a more mature audience. (Tickx.co.uk, 2018) For “A night of Lauryn Hill” in London at the Jazz Café, as you go to buy the tickets you can see they use words like classics and living legend, or most impactful female artist of our time. These words and event information shows for the type or artist, the genre, venue and the link to the marketing sell points to attract the right target audience. (Tickx.co.uk, 2018)

Searching for past FKJ events I can see that he has performed in London at the Electric Brixton, at the Town hall Parade. As you go to buy his tickets there is a short description of who he is and how he started off as an artist. This is then followed by “Today, FKJ has sold EPs and performs everywhere across the world. Many world tours allowed him to play in Asia, North America or Europe and thus to expand his fan base. FKJ’s last London headline show sold out in advance, so be sure not to miss his biggest one yet!” This shows how the promoters have use the marketing format of showing his success and progress then finishing off by selling tickets by saying he isn’t mediocre, so buy tickets while you can. (Resident Advisor, 2018)

Overall I am hoping that fans of both India Arie and FKJ can recognize me as a potential mix between the two as this is what I was aiming for. Meaning their audience could be mine also with the help of all the mentioned services I could market myself in similar ways.

Bibliography

Tickx.co.uk. (2018). A Night of Lauryn Hill Tickets @ Jazz Cafe - 28th May 7:00pm. [online] Available at: https://www.tickx.co.uk/event/1024029/a-night-of-lauryn-hill/ [Accessed 19 May 2018].

Tickx.co.uk. (2018). A Night of Neo-Soul Tickets @ 100 Wardour St - 27th May 7:00pm. [online] Available at: https://www.tickx.co.uk/event/1050601/a-night-of-neo-soul/ [Accessed 19 May 2018].

Believe Distribution Services. (2018). Distribution | Services - Believe Distribution Services. [online] Available at: https://www.believemusic.com/audio-distribution/ [Accessed 19 May 2018].

En.wikipedia.org. (2018). India Arie. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_Arie [Accessed 19 May 2018].

Soulbird.com. (2018). India.Arie. [online] Available at: https://www.soulbird.com/ [Accessed 19 May 2018].

Management, A. and Management, A. (2018). Artists. [online] LAB Records. Available at: https://labrecs.com/artists/ [Accessed 19 May 2018].

Resident Advisor. (2018). RA: FKJ. [online] Available at: https://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/fkj/biography [Accessed 19 May 2018].

Resident Advisor. (2018). RA: Roche Musique - Record Label. [online] Available at: https://www.residentadvisor.net/record-label.aspx?id=9008 [Accessed 19 May 2018].

Jaguar-records.com. (2018). Services – Jaguar Records. [online] Available at: https://www.jaguar-records.com/services/ [Accessed 19 May 2018].

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Resident Advisor. (2018). Shut The Front Door presents: FKJ Live in London. [online] Available at: https://www.residentadvisor.net/events/969013 [Accessed 19 May 2018].

Musicweek.com. (2018). Tastemakers: What's BBC Radio 6 Music's Chris Hawkins listening to this week?. [online] Available at: http://www.musicweek.com/tastemakers/read/tastemakers-what-s-bbc-radio-6-music-s-chris-hawkins-listening-to-this-week/072086 [Accessed 19 May 2018].

En.wikipedia.org. (2018).

Universal Motown Republic Group

. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Motown_Republic_Group [Accessed 19 May 2018].

EP Tracks

Song 1- https://soundcloud.com/catm_live/master1-little-things

Song 2- https://soundcloud.com/catm_live/mix-master-1-here-and-now

MD5311 001 Catherine Msuya Production Project

First picture is of Outcast & the second is of Yellow line.

Visit Original Link

Album review - Beyonce Lemonade

Catherine Msuya 21/05/2017 Music culture Album review

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Beyonce sure did this and in the form of an album for all to hear and dwell in the reasons behind her story. A proverbial phrase to encourage optimism, used to tittle her album, and with lyrics, good timing, and visuals a clear theme could not go unnoticed. (Google.co.uk, 2017) “Black lives matter” was a clear message reviled in many ways. She even went as far as to include civil rights leader Malcom X by sampling his speech in her song “Don’t hurt yourself”. She is also overall known for promoting the image and being a strong black woman, and with her song “Formation” she takes her massage to the next level. Not only does this track have references of where she was born, to who she is but also in her grand live performance of this song at the 50th Superbowl event, she used visuals to her advantage. (Genius, 2017) She was wearing all black alongside all her female dancers’ representing the Black Panthers. The timing itself was correct for the release of this anthem as it was a good contribution to black history month. This album made it worldwide due not only to her popularity but her high quality material. Providing more than the usual, the album came with the poetic long video. Watching like a movie this kept people talking and listening closely. From this I can see that there might be a big chance that playlists and albums can die away but if used correctly. The marketing approach effects sales and Beyoncé knew how to work with this to have the best income and impact for her music to thrive. In this age and time people turn to online services for music especially YouTube and this is where the full visual music video to the full album was posted for an unlimited time making it exclusive to those who were lucky enough to watch. As if this wasn’t enough to make people want more Beyoncé also exposes herself to romers of her personal life as she mentions some questionable lyrics. The lyrics mainly revolves around her relationship with Jay Z in bad terms. This left her fans astonished and shocked, even with no real certainty that their assumptions were facts. Either good or bad there is no such thing as bad publicity. “What’s worse looking jealous or crazy” was a lyric form “Hold up.” (Genius, 2017) Another lyric also found on this song also touches on the implication that Jay Z had cheated on her, “something don’t feel right because it ain’t right, especially comin up after midnight. I smell your secrets, and I’m not too perfect to ever feel this worthless.” To talk more on the visual album itself it came as a surprise to the public. As the song wasn’t mentioned or advertised just simply released. With famous faces who worked on this album like Diplo, James Blake, The Weekend, Kendrick Lamar, Jack White and MNEK. Lemonade shows so much emotion and in the most poetic and mysterious way in my opinion. As already mentioned Malcom X was sampled and so where a few more inspirational media factors. “Poet Warsan Shire, Alan Lomax field recordings right by the quoted lyrics form the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Animal Collectives and Souljia Boy, even classic 70’s samples were added.” (Pitchfork.com, 2017) The Yeah Yeah Yeahs Maps song has “they don’t love you like I love you” lyric that makes the well know “Hold up” chorus. This song on top of “Sorry” and “Don’t hurt yourself” it was clear Beyoncé wasn’t happy in her relationship with Jay Z, as in “Don’t hurt yourself she event goes as far as to take her ring off and through it to the camera. “Uh, this is your final warning. You know I give you life. If you try this shit again…You gon lose your wife…” (Play.google.com, 2017) This was sung by Qween B herself right at the end of “Don’t hurt yourself.” This song had the iconic rock song version from Led Zeppelin of “When the Levee Breaks” music sampled. (Pitchfork.com, 2017) Beyoncé brings things back to girls to staying empowered and working for their own money through the song “6 Inch”. This links and follows on well from her Malcom X sample saying “The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman.The most neglected person in America is the black woman." (Pitchfork.com, 2017) As this reminds women of the reality that was worse off than what it may be today, her song “6 Inch” reminds them of their new higher postion they can get for themselves as females. “6 Inch” is another Beyoncé hit that uses the image of 6 inch heels as a symbol of wealth and power. (Pitchfork.com, 2017) Using samples on this track from Isaac Hayes “Walk on by” instrumental, Beyoncé took a small part for her own music and changed it to her liking. “Freedom” is a song of hope of overcoming oppression and social damage of racism. Smartly choosing Kendrick Lamar, a black rapper to be in her album, and feature in this song was right as both Beyonce and Kendrick have proven themselves to be titled and well known as political influential black music activists. Most well-known and successful artists of this generation in my opinion. “Freedom” had a sample from “Let me Try” by Kaleidoscope which is a rare sample to find. 1959 field recordings at Memphis, made by Alan Lomax was used in “Freedom.” (Frazier, 2017) In “All night” OutKast ‘s track “Spottie Outtie Dopaliscious” was sampled for its melody and outstanding horn’s. Though this song goes through love and how sweet it can be, especially if its true love it shouldn’t be forbidden or hidden. Her first song on her album defiantly sets a scene or idea that there might be bad vides or problems in her relationship for the rest of the lemonade to then make it clearer. “Pray you catch me” is almost like a chance to hear what her fist thoughts were in a more relaxed sad manner compared to her other songs. “The video for this song alone has images of her kneeling down on the stage as a metaphor for a crumbling relationship on display for the public to see.” (Mic.com, 2017) This shows the kind of culture we now live in where nothing really can be kept private. You are almost expected to showcase your life on social media. Why not use this for good. Beyoncé realizes that this is the kind of world we now live in so why not post content of encouragement and is relatable. Talk about what matters, and what hurts, experience, the truth, political issues and history. All done in a music visual album entertaining and engaging for the world to be captivated by. At the same time the video shows how she doesn’t hide from her problems or the evil in the world. She how’s that her too as perfect as she may seem, she still gets affected. Know your worth and love yourself for who you are, stand up for what’s right and know your history/roots, money is the best revenge, so aim high. This is just a few main messages I feel overall comes from this album. “Daddy lessons” follows on well from my last point. This song goes back to her past and her childhood roots. Singing about her Dad as he is one of the most important men in her live and the main driving force as an artist. Helping her in her career and making her a strong black independent woman as a parent. The song implies that he may have done so in harsh ways or more of a tough love than normal as she mentions “Oh, my daddy said shoot.” It’s said that Beyoncé believes in “Like farther like sun” and uses this analogy almost with the thought of if she can forgive her Dad then she can forgive her husband, as she has made a recurring theme of similarities between fathers and husbands. As fond in “Daddy” “I want my unborn son to be like my daddy, I want my husband to be like my Daddy.” The song itself (Daddy lessons) has lyric of what her farther said to her “when trouble comes in town and men like me come around, oh my daddy said shoot.” (Pitchfork.com, 2017) Beyoncé work with even her childhood friends on this album, Ingrid a Houston rapper who co-wrote “Love brought.” (Pitchfork.com, 2017) Kanye West’s collaborator Mike Dean provied this track with the synth line and great bass section. “Sandcastles” is a song that simplifies things as Beyoncé still can’t help but love Jay. Even to the fact that it was simply Beyoncé and her voice as a raw ballad, made the song a nice break form complicity. (Pitchfork.com, 2017) To finish “Forward” I think is a song that shows that Beyoncé can move on successfully no matter what may stand in her way or get her down she will be known as one of the best.

#MD4314 #MusicCulture

Catherine Msuya

23/05/17

Polyphonic me

Final Live Perfromance (Hello)

#MD4312 #PolyphonicMe

Module task 5- Evaluation

Catherine Msuya

19/05/17

Polyphonic me

Module task 5

Evaluation

With my performance we used the Push drum pad, two vocal mics, acoustic guitar, and keyboard. The vocal mics were linked with Ableton Live, and so was the Push pad but the keyboard and acoustic guitar was not. This is in terms of effects and control. The concept behind our work was to build up our cover song using the basics and mixing it in our own way. We used the song hello by Adele. With harmonies and our own beat and structure our cover was made.

With the YouTube references I made for my task 3 proposal write up. There was a man who used the Push pad and built up the whole song using just this and a vocal mic. We thought that with this if we can use little and make of it what we can it could work. With little time this was what was best.

On the vocals we used a compressor on both mics. The drums we set up, we only used a small section of the pad to make it easier to remember what is what and where. Michael set up a high hat, bass drum, snare, sub bass, and reverse crash. He had small parts to fill in the build-up to the course as this is a grand song.

I think the outcome of our overall final performance was good. Our vocals were well sung and controlled. To improve we could have organised what we were doing faster at an earlier date and certain members should have been more alert of what’s going on in different accessions, and more care of the work should have been applied. If we had better motivation for everyone I feel that we would have had a better outcome. With that said we manged to get ourselves together and work with what we had to a good level.

Referenced Youtube links.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACOqErYFgRI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8NzzvdaTyA

#MD4312 #PolyphonicMe

Catherine Msuya

22/05/17

Polyphonic me

Module Task 4 - Developmental Performance

#MD4312 #PolyphonicMe

Catherine Msuya

19/05/17

Polyphonic me

Module Task 1

Session view sketch

#MD4312 #PolyphonicMe

Catherine Msuya 19/05/17 Polyphonic me Module Task 2 Using the Looper

#MD4312 #PolyphonicMe

Catherine Msuya

19/05/17

Polyphonic me

Module task 3

Performance proposal

For my performance I will be working with Sabrina and Michel. We thought about our talents and what we can play. Sabrina is good on vocals and keys, and Mike is good on drums. I can sing and play the acoustic guitar, so we worked with what we had. I found a YouTube video that demonstrates using the drum push pad and layering it including vocals. This alongside another video that gave us the idea of covering Hello by Adele. With this we came up with our own mix, taking on the approach of using the push pad and the sound of the second video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACOqErYFgRI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8NzzvdaTyA

#MD4312 #PolyphonicMe

Plug and Play Studio song task - “Oh Child”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EajPwnh_xg&feature=youtu.be

Catherine Msuya

Plug and Play

Music studio and song writing task

“Oh child” - Song title

10/05/17

For this task I worked with Dan, Bart, and Marie. My song writing class helped me realise that playing around with the structure of the song is best to make my work unique. Taking this on we thought hard about the story behind the lyrics and Dan came up with the idea of writing a song that was based around the idea of a child who is going down the wrong path in life. Doing drugs and so on, due to the wrong people he surrounds himself with. The chorus is from the point of view of an angel watching over the child. The Angel is trying to help show the child see his bad ways by questioning his life choices to make him think. The verse that is raped is the Father’s point of view of the situation wishing that his kids don’t make the same mistakes. The sung verse is still of the angle here again but singing about years later on, reviewing where the child is now grown up. The bridge is the Mum’s views also same as the father’s, but sorter and encouraging as it should be for this part of the song.

The arrangement of the song we ended up with was chorus, rap verse, chorus, sung verse, bridge, and chorus again to finish. We used Cm, Gm, Bmj7, Fm, for the chorus sounded great so we he built around these chords by using Cm, Bmj7, Cm, Bm7, Ab, Bmj7, Cm, for the verse and Cm, Bmaj7, Ab, Bmj7 for the bridge. We used the drums, acoustic guitar, bass, and 3 vocals.

When recording the studio sessions helped me think about what’s the best mic and technique to use. We agreed that the Glyn John technique was best for the drums and using the Shure SM57, and two C 414 B-XLS mics. As for the vocals we used C 414 B- XLS mic. Once the drums were recorded we realised that we couldn’t use it as the drummer was good but free styled too much to then add another instrument would be difficult. So we changed this through using a drum full song loop that we then edited and cut to fit our track and this also lead to editing the vocals and even re-recording to make everything fit around the new drums. This was one of the biggest things that I learnt from this task, is to double check is the recording is right to move on to work on even if it sounds good is it still workable.

When it came to mixing and mastering, I had to cancel out all the tracks that I didn’t need any more first so I was left with one or two copies of one track to then edit. I added EQ’s and compressors, reverb and delay. Using the EQ, HPF and LPF helped block out all the unnecessary noise on the track.

#MD4311 #MD4311 PlugandPlay

Catherine Msuya

Music Visual write up

MD4313

5/5/17

LOVE - Music video

For this task I planned to record my original song “Love” in the class recording booth. This was hard at first as I had not used it until now and needed a little help, but once I got started it was great. I had to play the guitar to remember what the tempo to then create a beat. Then the next thing to do was to actually record the guitar then vocals then harmonies.

Once the track was edited I started to brain storm and think of scene ideas. I remembered to play around with angels and thought back to the lyrics to see what would work. The first time round was hard to find a place where I felt comfortable enough to perform and the day I first started to record was a cold windy day anyway. This made it hard to get into the performance and concentrate. I solved the problem by showing my first few videos I did have to the teacher and getting some advice then acting on it but rerecording some scenes and it gave me more/ better ideas of location. I also had a good look at Rosie’s video for this task and it reminded me that multi-cam would be great for this assessment. I booked out the Canon Legria HF G25, Samsung galaxy S7 edge, Hawaii P10, and the Mojo kit with the camera stand (IPhone, Tripod, Tall stand.) I used theses cameras as they are easy to get and carry. One phone was mine, one was my friends, and another from the Uni. All rated some of the best phone cameras to use. The Hawaii P10 even has editing features on there to use before software editing on the computer.

I ended up using some over head shots, side shots and front facing shots. I then used Adobe Premiere Pro to edit and added better tittles than what’s found on Premiere Pro by using Filmora. I first placed my mp3 song down then the videos where downloaded to then use one by one to added and edit in the correct/best fitting place.

On Premiere Pro is where I did most of my edits. I put videos in order and synced my mouth movements to the track I recorded. I used the the basic edit functions and a few more effects. I wanted to flip my film to be seen on the other side so I watched a YouTube video of how to do this and it was through video effects, distort, the transform plug in and changing the width to -100. To add a video on top of another all I had to do was reduce the top video capacity levels. I had a play around the video transitions as well to give my video more of a flow by using the “Dip to white” and “Cross zoom” effect and more. The colour effects helped me with lighting and making the video look more of one piece from one camera. Towards the end of my editing process I added a title I case the other software I was planning to use didn’t allow it (Filmora.) To finish it off I downloaded off google images a black border layer to make the video have more of a movie/ professional finished look to it.

#MD4313 #CatM #musicvisuals #LOVE

It’s too late

Task 5 & 6 Music Visual class.

This was a video made using multiple cameras in the studio, guitar and vocals. We placed the cameras in different angles and pressed record. To make it clear from each recording where the start was we got Bart to clap his hand. This made it easy to the edit later. I then used Adobe Premiere Pro CC 15 to edit the content from each camera to fit as best as i could.

#MD4313 #It'sTooLate #Task5&6

(St 4) Catherine Msuya Plug and Play Song writing task Yousemes (St 4) 4/5/17

Pop songs are easy to define as they tend to follow a certain pattern, or structure that build the song. Certain chords are used that can be noticed in many other Pop songs, showing that they work most/best for this genre of music. Chord progression I, V, VI, & IV. To then try make your song different you would play around with the strumming pattern, changing the order of the chords progression, and the key. This way the structure will be designed to keep giving your listener something new and still keeping them engaged, with something familiar. Catchy and effective, memorable and can add variation to your liking. Another pattern is within the sections of the song. Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, and finishes with the chorus again. This is common and over used in my opinion but it goes back to the chorus enough times to remind the listener the main focus of the song. The bridge great for the peruse of diversity in melodic contrast. The song airplanes, used the pattern of chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, and outro finish. They changed it up by playing around with the structure of the song and using a rapper for the verses. The outro has aspects of past used lyrics but cut sort to finish the song off. The outro is a mix of the rapper adlibbing and the singer singing “oh..” which brings everything that was separate together for a good finish. The song uses, Em, C, G, and D for verses and Am, F, C, G for the chorus with capo in the 2nd threats. The song also has certain words that have been constantly repeated throughout the song which are important. The title of the song Airplanes, wish, right now and so on were repeated. This is typical of pop songs as the aim is to be catchy.

#MD4311 #Yousemes

Catherine Msuya Love story Song writing (St 2) cut up task. 4/5/17

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristen-rocco/a-valentines-love-story_b_9112922.html

He confessed his love for me,

Stunned in all my disbelief,

March 2014,

Our first date met at NC State,

Looked into my eyes, kissed me goodnight

Whispered three little words

Overwhelming happiness

The feeling of acceptance

Everyday love story

Rush back to me, and I know exactly what you’re thinking, this our time…

Fear of the unknown, amazing moments, as our love grows

Every day love story, people say I’m lucky

Some of the cut up words we used:

“Staci accepted”

“Feeling sick”

“Their first date”

“Lifestyle grew”

“Overwhelming not to discuss”

“Dos Taquitos, anyway”

“She confessed that she”

“March 22, 2014 first date”

“Stunned, she nodded her”

“Amazing moments of that day rush back to me”

#MD4311 #CutUpTask

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