Digipak Research

Digipak's can mean a lot to some fans, take the video below...
They can offer unique merchandise and hidden tracks, and the design is key to how successful a digipak can be.

I found a blog called "sandman-chronicles.blogspot.com". The blogger is a design artist who has worked on CD/Digipak designs for Mika and Bat For Lashes. On the right is a design from his blog. I really like the CD design, it is bright and colourful and suited to Mika's style and his bubbly and up beat songs.

This digipak is simpler than the Mika one but is relevant to the band's image and is also a clever advertising technique as it continues the secretive image of the band, and moreover, the characters are what we relate to the band members. I like the way in which the digipak is constructed, with the sides folding into the middle. The images also convey the multiple characters within the band and the main focus is on the characterisations.

Lastly, this digipak appears to be a different genre and therefore imagery and tone than the other two I've displayed. However, I think the artistic imagery is very nice and gives whatever band this is, a more serious feel and gives their music a more darker or sincere tone. This digipak has a contrasting layout to The Gorillaz's digipak, it seems taller and wider and opens like a book. There is sufficient information on the side panels and no doubt there will probably be further information in the sides of the digipak.

Fandom

Unlike fans of Justin Bieber...



... Indie music fans seem to be a bit more relaxed and there is less hype and sense of "fandom" amongst them...

“Wearing jeans with Converse high tops, a retro tee, a skinny tie, and a linen blazer is one way an indie can up the fashion stakes.”

Instead of crying fans and car chasing madness- Indie fans look to fashion to bring about a sense of dedication to their music brand.

For example, http://bobnbee.com/en/ is a site used by an Indie fashion blogger in New York, it advertises new styles and also introduces new bands.

I think that Indie fandom is centred around image and lifestyle rather than obsessing or following around the actual band themself because most Indie bands are niche and unknown and the mainstream successful ones like Kings of Leon do things like spark controversy within their own fan group...

"Kings of Leon caused minor controversy at the 2009 Reading Festival when Caleb Followill tried to get the crowd going by asking, "I thought this was supposed to be the loudest crowd in the world?" Picking up on a perceived hostility towards the band, he announced "we know you're sick of Kings of Leon, so for all those who don't give a fuck about us, I understand. But we've worked fucking hard to get here. So anyone that has anything to say to us, fuck you. We're the goddamn Kings of Leon." The band later smashed their guitars in anger and made rude gestures before leaving the stage."
(http://www.nme.com/news/nme/47008)

Indie bands, like the Kings of Leon, don't perfect their image as much as stars like Justin Bieber, who has a large fanbase of teenage girls, because they simply don't need or want to. When I saw Kings of Leon at the V festival last year, they were a good hour late to the stage and the crowd were drunk and annoyed but by the time they got on and played "Use Somebody" nobody really cared anymore because we were there for the music and the music only- not for the band members or any individual.

With Indie fans, I guess the nearest they get to some form of "fandom" is the festivals. Huge gatherings of teenagers dressed in indie style, living up to the lifestyle those clothes demand of them- the drink, the smoke, the music, the dancing etc.

However, fandom is when a fan becomes obsessive and the object of that affection is a celebrity- who is usually completely unattainable. And that fandom works both ways as celebrities such as Lady GaGa reach out to fans in turn, making the fans feel wanted and complete. These sort of artists, GaGa and Bieber, give into their publicity and exposure and they increase their own fandom.

Indie artists work from the inside-out, they rely on word of mouth, they don't really care that much about their fans- supposedly they are in this business for the music they produce, and so, their fans should be too.



Who pioneered Indie music?

“Indie is something intangible, something at the aesthetic core of good music. Whatever you call it, the music keeps getting better, the number of ears keeps getting bigger, and indie rock remains an evolving genre that still challenges everyone’s expectations of what it can do and who it can reach." (Source: www.snmag.com)

Independent music or famously known as ‘Indie’ music, is used as the term to describe the independence of music from major commercial record labels. These groups are mostly autonomous, self made and more precisely are pioneers. The people from this "Indie" class do everything on their own in recording, publishing and performances. Indie groups are usually not interested in taking help of any big names from Music Industry.
The history of Indie Music dates long back in 1960′s. The format of the music then was pop, rock and roll and a slight dash of R&B. The lyrics of the songs was inspired by peace, love and anti-war thoughts.

There immerged some bands like "Velvet Underground". This was the band which could be considered as a real "Indie" band. They did everything regarding their album all on their own and created a difference in traditional music.

In the era of 1970 more experimented music originated. There were numerous groups which tried diversity in music and immerged as music bands. One more new form of music aroused during this period named as "Progressive Rock". The music was distinct from hard rock of Beatles and soft music in 1960′s. Indie music took a stiff growth in 1980s. In this period a new form of music immerged known as "alternative music", which was a group formed out of distortion of garage bands. This was the base of electronic instrumental era that took place in 1990.

The general style of indie music is credited to the early 1980s in the United Kingdom.

First Indie bands 1980s:

In the United States, the term "indie rock" was particularly associated with the abrasive, distortion-heavy sounds of Hüsker Dü, Sonic Youth, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Dinosaur Jr., Pixies and The Replacements. R.E.M. is often associated with the college rock movement of the 1980s.

In the United Kingdom, indie pop artists such as Aztec Camera, Josef K, and Orange Juice emerged in the 1980s. The Smiths have been seen as the defining British indie-rock band of the '80s.

A number of prominent indie rock record labels were founded during the 1980s. These include Washington, DC's Dischord Records in 1980, Seattle's Sub Pop Records in 1986 and New York City's Matador Records and Durham, North Carolina's Merge Records in 1989. Chicago's Touch and Go Records was founded as a fanzine in 1979 and began to release records during the 1980s

(Source: Wikipedia)

Cultural Imperialism: Media’s representation of Women

I wanted to investigate the theme of our music video further, and so I scoured the internet for articles and information on the idea of media dominating our ideologies, and the ideologies of our society... I have created a post in the form of quotes, images, ideas and general snippets from the web...

"The concept of media and cultural imperialism was made prominent by a number of Latin American thinkers including Antonio Pasquali, Luis Ramiro Beltran, Fernando Reyes Matta, and Mario Kaplun."

"Adherents of the media imperialism tradition held that a small group of Western countries not only controlled the international media trade but used it to transmit their particular cultural and economic values, particularly individualism and consumerism, to large numbers of developing nations around the world."

(Source: Cultural imperialism: a critical introduction By John Tomlinson)

We all know the stereotypes...

... the femme fatale, the supermom, the sex kitten, the nasty corporate climber. Whatever the role, television, film and popular magazines are full of images of women and girls who are typically white, desperately thin, and made up to the hilt—even after slaying a gang of vampires or dressing down a Greek phalanx.

Many would agree that some strides have been made in how the media portray women in film, television and magazines, and that the last 20 years has also seen a growth in the presence and influence of women in media behind the scenes. Nevertheless, female stereotypes continue to thrive in the media we consume every day.This section of the site provides a snapshot of the issues around the media’s portrayal of women and girls—from effects on body image and self-identity to

ramifications in sports and politics. It looks at the economic interests behind the objectification and eroticization of females by the media as well as efforts to counter negative stereotyping. And it provides the latest articles and studies that explore the ways in which media both limit and empower women and girls in society.

Source: http://www.mediaawareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/women_and_girls/

Body Image and Advertising:

"The average woman sees 400 to 600 advertisements per day and by the time she is 17 years old, she has received over 250,000 commercial messages through the media. Only 9% of commercials have a direct statement about beauty, but many more implicitly emphasize the importance of beauty--particularly those that target women and girls. One study of Saturday morning toy commercials found that 50% of commercials aimed at girls spoke about physical attractiveness, while none of the commercials aimed at boys referred to appearance."

“Advertisements emphasize thinness as a standard for female beauty, and the bodies idealized in the media are frequently atypical of normal, healthy women. In fact, today's fashion models weigh 23% less than the average female, and a young woman between the ages of 18-34 has a 7% chance of being as slim as a catwalk model and a 1% chance of being as thin as a supermodel. However, 69% of girls in one study said that magazine models influence their idea of the perfect body shape, and the pervasive acceptance of this unrealistic body type creates an impractical standard for the majority of women.”

“Some researchers believe that advertisers purposely normalize unrealistically thin bodies, in order to create an unattainable desire that can drive product consumption...”

“...Considering that the diet industry alone generates $33 billion in revenue, advertisers have been successful with their marketing strategy.”

(Source: http://www.healthyplace.com/eating-disorders/main/eating-disorders-body-image-and-advertising/menu-id-58/)

Media influences on body size estimation in anorexia and bulimia.

An experimental study.

K Hamilton and G Waller.

Department of General Practice, University of Aberdeen.

"Anorexic and bulimic women overestimate their body sizes substantially more than comparison women, but little is known about the factors that influence this overestimation. This study examined the influence of media portrayal of idealized female bodies in women's fashion magazines. Comparison women were not affected by the nature of the photographs that they saw, but eating-disordered women were--they overestimated more when they had seen the pictures of women than when they saw photographs of neutral objects."
(Source: http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/abstract/162/6/837)

The Indie Music Quiz

I found this quiz in one of the articles I mentioned in a previous post.

(Source: http://www.cracked.com/funny-1677-indie-music/)

Research

Research: Feminism in Contemporary Music

The scene of Pop and RnB music has been filled with talented female artists, and it is a truth that the majority of them were acknowledged for their youthful looks and passivity towards males. This can be observed in various media texts, but especially in music videos where they construct their image and usually emphasize, amplify the meaning of their songs.




 Britney Spears, 'Hit me baby one more time'

 

Britney Spears 'Hit me baby one more time' is an example of this. As she grew into a woman, she begun to sing songs which do enpower women in a way, but let's start from the very beginning. The lyrics to her single 'Hit me baby one more time' convey nothing but female passivity and submission towards males. The lyrics reflect on the subject of relationships and break ups; and it is implied that a woman can not be independent, she needs a boyfriend in order to be happy. The video to this song does not only convey the lyrics but it also portrays another message; the viewer is encouraged to believe that education is not important, as the video begins with the artist Britney Spears sitting in a class, not doing any work as she daydreams away about her boyfriend. So the overall message in this is utterly negative, it weakens women as it puts them in a position of submission. It simply connotes that it is essential for a young girl to have a boyfriend, but it is not important for her to focus on her education.

'My loneliness is killing me(...)When I'm not with you I lose my mind'

'Oh baby baby the reason I breath is you'

Taylor Swift, 'White Horse'

Another female artist whose work is similar to Britney Spears, is Taylor Swift. Her songs consists of the same themes; such as love and relationships. Swift doesn't seem to bring something new and different to her audience. The majority of her works are utterly conventional and stereotypical. Her songs convey female passivity, she always seems to put herself in the role of the weak victim in her songs, who is always suffering and is treated badly.




Fortunately, the music scenario seems to be evolving as new female artists are blossoming and showing the talented, strong and powerful women that they are, consequently enpowering other women through their songs.
P!nk has been one of the most successful female artists in the music industry since 2001, though she does sing love songs that are considered stereotypical, the majority of her songs are 'feel good songs', they convey a positive message and more importantly they enpower and strenghten women. Pink does bring original music to her audience, she has shown she does not only own powerful vocals, but also the ability to stand out from the crowd and create art that truly makes the difference. 'U + Ur hand' conveys the opposite of Spears 'Hit me baby one more time', in fact it conveys that women are not men's sex objects, it also implies that women do not need men to be happy.

"Wanna dance by myself, guess you're outta luck
Don't touch, back up, I'm not the one, uh buh-bye!

Listen up it's just not happenin'
You can say what you want to your boyfriends
Just let me have my fun tonight, alright?

I'm not here for your entertainment
You don't really want to mess with me tonight
Just stop and take a second
I was fine before you walked into my life

Cause you know it's over
Before it began (...)"

 

Pink has released an endless amount of songs with strong meanings behind. Her song 'So what?' which reflects on her divorce, is one example of how she approaches the theme of break ups differently than most females in pop music. Unlike the stereotypical break up songs, 'So What' is an up beat track which also comes along with optimistic and enpowering lyrics, the visuals of its music video only emphasize this as it's humorous from beginning until the end.

Find below the link to Pink's music video 'So What'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XKZh3vWeGc



Feminism Icon Poster

Picture taken from her music video 'Raise your glass',
which highlights the fact that Pink has feminist perspectives in her music.

It can also be argued that Kesha is also a feminist icon. If not all of her songs, the majority of them do bring a sense of equality towards men, as she adressess them in a way that is stereotypical and socially acceptable for male artists to adress females, usually in HipHop and RnB songs. She makes the difference as she is one of the few female artists who constantly portrays men as her sex objects in her songs, as well as depicting herself as a independent and strong woman, who is free sexually to do what she wants, without caring how society may see and judge her simply because she is a female, it is clear in her work that Kesha's aim is for sexual liberation just like other feminists.

The lyrics to the song 'Blah Blah Blah' are a good example, the song is both humorous and quite explicit as she basically conveys that she wants the boy to stop talking as all she wants from him is sex. Is quite comical as it challenges stereotypes, it is seen as normal for pop male singers to make these kind of statements, whereas is not seen as normal or acceptable for a woman to say such things; Kesha is gradually breaking that notion of females being less sexual than men in her songs and strengthening women.

In her song 'Tik Tok' she says the following: 'And Now, the dudes are lining up cause they hear we got swagger' This verse is one of the key ones in this song. It is interesting as she made use of the word 'Swagger' which is associated with confidence, with personality, instead of looks or their sex appeal, which would be the stereotypical words used in pop culture, specially when referring to females. Therefore, Kesha has feminist perspectives in her music.