Music Marketing

• Talk about the processes of picking the song and why
• The start of brainstorming

    We were tasked with making a music video. There are several different steps we had to follow in the 3-week span of this project. First, we had to pick our genre from the file that we were emailed. Once we got the file we listened to all the songs we were given. This was one of the hardest parts of the whole project since the songs were all so good and I like a lot of genres. We ended up going with the ska-punk genre since we felt like it went with the vibe of the group the best. This song ended up being 9th at Pine, by Less Than Jake. This song starts off with a sort of beach vibe that goes into the punk element of the song that really gets exposed after the first drop.  After we picked the genre we needed to start brainstorming the band in general. 

    The most important thing we needed to do was come up with a name. So being the brilliant, creative brains we are, we used a random word generator and got two words that sound like a punk band, and so Freight Patrol was created. Next, we needed a marketing plan for Freight Patrol to ascend to the top of the charts. We started to do our research on similar bands in the genre and the labels they are signed to. During this time, we were required to create a Music Research Chart which was perfect since this would have been the next step anyway. We decided to have our two case studies on Interscope Records and Warner Music Group, which both have signed very successful punk bands. While making our chart we also researched their marketing and distribution plans.

    After we had everything we needed, we started to create our storyboard for the music video. We listened to the song on repeat to try to get a sense of the emotions the band is trying to portray. Once we got the vibe, we started to discuss and plan our video; the process was very difficult for the group since I was out with an injured foot. Although we had this minor hiccup, we came out of it with a fantastic idea. The video will start off slow and speed up towards the end just like the song. 

    Once we finished that, we could finally start on the presentation preparation. We started by making a PowerPoint, but since we didn't like the templates we decided to go with Canva. Canva had the perfect templates and resources we wanted to make our presentation as cool and as pretty as possible. We did our research and studied the PowerPoint over and over again. Just like that, we were ready to present and rock it. When we presented, we were all super confident ... until it was our turn to speak. We stumbled on our words and forgot what to say a bit. That was from the nerves getting to us. But I guess that's normal.

    Aspects of this project that will be helpful in my Cambridge project would be the video, storyboard, four case studies, and Canva slide show. I chose these because these are the parts of the project that were the hardest to complete, and most likely to be required in the portfolio.

    Although our presentation didn't go as calmly as expected, our music video and knowledge of the genre were all spot on and were shown through question-and-answer time and our PowerPoint. We all enjoyed this project that tested our time management, creative thinking, and ability to work as a team which I believe are characteristics that will become very valuable in the future.