Promo-

Investigation
By Ellie Brown
 Introduction to the brief:
When we were introduced to the brief, we were told that our client was
Eighteen Promotions. They are a new music promoter formed after a
rebrand and who are looking for content such as market and promotion
of young freelance artists, bands and fresh talent at new and upcoming
venues in the Northeast. They are looking to generate interest and ticket
sales to promote new up and coming artists and musicians.
We were asked to produce a package of a mix of print and video
promotional material. This requires campaign to include a range of
audio-visual, audio and digital print outcomes. This could include:
• Music video
• Showreel
• Advertising/promotional material- posters or an album cover designs
• Website design
• Podcast with a cover design
 Our primary target audience is 16–25-year-olds. Methods of
promotion that may appeal to this target audience is quick and
snappy pieces. This could include promotions on social media
as this generation is very involved in social media and content
creation on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. Other
ideas could include posters, album covers or radio
interviews/podcasts.
My initial thoughts when I received the brief was to do an
interview whether that be as part of a podcast or a radio
interview with the band. I think this would allow the band to
share their future ideas and current music and tell their
audience a bit about themselves. Alongside that, I think I will
make a poster or collaborate with them to create an album
cover designs to put up as a promotion for them. I think this
would appeal to my target audience as it is quick to look at
while also providing all the information people would need to
look further into them.
 Methods of promoting:
Audio-Visual- Music video:
Another suggestion our client, Eighteen
Productions, gave was a music video. Having
created a music video in the past, I know an
advantage is that you can capture all sides of the
band and while also including their music to further
advertise them through a music video. A selling
point is that it can promote the band's music as it
would be on the background of the video and can
promote any music if posted on the most popular
social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok,
Spotify and YouTube.
 Audio-Visual- Showreel:
A showreel is a good promotional method as it
shows the band and their rare talent. Using a
showreel of their performance attracts the target
audience as watching concerts and performances
over video or live is a widely used way to
showcase a performance and attract attention and
promote the band while also showing clips of
other performances or behind the scenes. A
selling point of a showreel is it allows the target
audience to see their real talent.
 Audio-Visual- Social Media Tease:
A social media tease is a good method of
promotion with the target audience as 16–21-
year-olds are very active on social media. It is
good for attracting an audience as it draws an
audience in without giving all information
leaving them wanting more. The advantaged of
a social media tease is that it attracts all ages and
leaves them wanting to find out more and can
attract back their current fans while also
generating new ones. A selling point of a social
media tease is that it gives the artist an audience
that will come back to find out more.
Audio- Podcast/radio interview:
A podcast was another good suggestion. I think an
advantage of an interview is it will really allow the
band to get across their music and themselves and
what they entail as a band. It allows them to promote
their online image of what they are about while also
showing their funny and personal side. I am also
keen to do a podcast because I want to develop my
skills in audio including podcasts and radio shows. In
the wider promotional campaign, it is beneficial
because it can be streamed on many social media
platforms online and be promoted around very easily
with modern day social media and technology.
 Digital print (visual)- Album covers:
When given the brief, our client included some ideas
that we could do for print and video material. One of
them ideas was album covers for the print promotional
material. I like this idea because an album cover is
typically associated with music which is an automatic
link to the band. Advantages of creating an album cover
is I can get very creative on different designs that could
become a signature for the band. A selling point for
album covers are if they associated with a typical
features of a genre, it could attract that target audience
into listening to that album and the band's music.
 Digital print (visual)- Poster:
I think a poster would be a good promotional
method as it is quick to look at to see if you are
interested while also being able to give all
information that is needed to look into the band
and see what their music is like. For my target
audience, it is an ideal selling point because 16-
to 25-year-olds are known for short attention
spans and bright and colourful things catching
their attention therefore a poster is a good option
to consider.
 Digital print (visual)- Flyer
A flyer can be a good promotional technique
because they can be handed out in large quantities
in large crowds, so it is good, quick and easy
promotion. Flyers can be very colorful while
giving all the information needed about any gig or
new songs or albums coming up. The selling point
of flyers compared to a poster is that it can be
handed out for people to look at straight away and
always have access to the information
whereas fans cannot take a poster with them and
may forget or loose the information to look further
into it.
 Client
Research:
Red Remedy:
Red Remedy are a band in , Sunderland, who recorded and released their first 2 songs in 2023,
‘WAIT’ and ‘Catalina’. Their band consists of Maddy (vocalist), Zach (lead guitarist), Dean
(guitarist), Kyle (drummer) and Jack (bass). All members are inspired by different big artists which
influences their style of music and how they want the bands songs to sound. They have a wide span
of social media presence with streaming their music on Apple Music and Spotify, with over 1700
monthly listeners on Spotify, while promoting on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and
YouTube on their upcoming gigs and new releases. The genre of their band is alternative/indies-
rock music. This is shown in their 2 songs released to date ‘WAIT’ released on June 30 th and
‘Catalina’ on September 30th. They have played at The Ship Isis in Sunderland most recently on the
4th of October and are next playing at Independent on the 28 th of October. Previously, they’ve done
marketing and advertising through articles with sites like ‘Narc’ while also getting reviewed on
websites like ‘MGM’ and a podcast episode with ‘ThisIsTheMusic’. When playing live their typical
audience is Young adults as they aspire most to their genre of music alongside the relatability of
similar ages.
 Social Media Platforms: Social
Streaming platforms: media
Spotif
Facebook
:
y

Instagram

TikTok

YouTube Music
Videos:

Catalina
Apple
music
WAIT
 Pretty Velvet:
Pretty Velvet is a band which was formed in Sunderland who have released 2 songs, ‘Desperado El
Dorado’ and ‘Gunmental hearts’. Their bands front woman, Lees, is a brilliant singer and songwriter
alongside the electric guitarists the PV boys. Pretty Velvet have a large social media presence having
immediate links to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok. On these platforms they post about their
new releases, performances and gigs and small clips of practices and recordings. While their music is
also streamed on Spotify and Apple Music, with nearly 200 monthly listeners on Spotify while also
uploading their songs onto YouTube too. Their genre is rock and roll as shown in their Instagram bio
and reflected in their songs ‘Desperado El Dorado’ released on the 18 th of August 2023 and ‘Gunmental
hearts’ released on the 14th of April 2023. They have performances book at
Independent in Sunderland on October 27 th as well as many more at that venue and other gigs at The
Bunker in Sunderland, with gigs being on in December and March. For past marketing campaigns they
seem to promote their gigs and music on their social media as that is where they put links to find all their
ticket links, interviews and gigs while also participating on podcasts before too. Their typical audience
is Young Adults as they play at a lot of bars and restaurants and with being a new and upcoming band
that age group likes to listen to the music they have to offer.
 Social Media Platforms: Social
Media:
Streaming platforms:
Spotif
y
Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube Music
Video:
Desperado
El Dorado

Apple
music
 Codes and conventions:
Audio-Visual- 'Of Monsters and Men'
music video:
The 'Of Monsters and Men' music video for their song 'Little Talks', tells the
narrative of the 4 men in the band going on adventures through life with their
guardian angel following them and destroying any threat they come across. At
the end of the video, we see a big monster looking figure, which you can assume
is the ruler of all the guardian angels, greeting the 4 men indicating they have
reached the end of their adventure (life). The cinematography of this video is
brilliant with the camera constantly following the men by using a tracking shot as
they travel in the air or on their boat. There is a lot of different shot sizes as well
with a close up and a pan across all the men's faces and a tilt upwards on the
monster at the end. This engaged the audience as it can give the impression like
they are there and part of the video as well. The editing of this video also
contributes to the video as they have made the men all black and white while
making the angels and monsters rainbow colours. This shows how there is more
to their lives then the plain black and white if you look at the bigger picture.
The overall, setting, costume and makeup and facial expressions give the video a
mystical theme however the men bring it back down to earth which gives the video
a mixed feeling of imagination. The video clearly suits in well with the bands
identity because video reflects the band name 'Of Monster and Men' showing both,
to associate the video to their brand. This attracts the audience back to their music
if they have listened previously as it is familiar. The bands target audience for their
reoccurring theme would probably be young ages of early to late teenagers who are
aspirers or explorers as it is heavy music with a fun sort of music video with the
mystical side of it. The repetition of the theme would also appeal audiences to
come back again to listen to their new music. The genre of 'Of Monster and Men',
indie-rock, has typical conventions including having a deep meaning behind their
music videos and using typical close-up shots and medium shots. This link to the
theory of Andrew Goodwin's theory that the video also links to the lyrics or the
music of the song which the song Little Talks links to the performance in the music
video of telling a story about life.
 Audio- Rolling Stones Podcast:
This podcast is very ranged as the Rolling Stones senior writer, Brian Hiatt, interviews music
artists from across the ages and many different genres in every episode, ranging from Drake to
Nirvana to Robbie Robertson. The podcast is very well scripted with the questions being very
interesting with them being tailored to the fan's interests. Determining from this, I think the age
range very wide but is mostly between 25-35 because there are some old legends however pop
artists from the 2000’s era. The social grade of people who listen to this podcast can also be
very ranged as the older pop artists can be listened to by the social grade E who would also fit
in the demographic resigned as older people tend to stick to their one way of doing things and
rarely changing it while younger people who are in the social grade C1 and C2 could also listen
too. Younger people tend to fit into the mainstreamer with the people who just follow the
trends while you get the ones who set the trends who are aspirers. In this podcast, there is no
cinematography or mise-en-scene during a podcast as they do not post videos of the
interviews.
 The color scheme on the gives the podcast a fun and cheerful feel with the bright colors of red and yellow in
the podcast cover. This is eye-catching and attracts an audience to watch it when looking through the list of
podcast because it stands out to them. The layout of the design is very bold with the podcast name over the
whole cover without leaving room for other information. This makes the cover be easy and quick to look at
while also knowing the podcast name to look it up further. This postproduction work with the cover really
gets the podcast out there and make it attractive and appealing to an audience which also helps with the
audience's interaction to be able to make rate the podcast on Spotify after they have listened to an episode
which as currently accumulated an average of 4.5 stars while also being able to be listened to on Apple
podcasts as well as other podcast websites and radio players. The theory of Clay Shirky backs this up because
saying that when consuming media in the past we were a passive audience consuming content however we
can now be an active audience and interact with the media we listen too.
The overall message of this podcast is to educate people about the backgrounds of different artists behind their
music. This podcast is very broad and can be for everyone as it features so many different artists from all
genres and ages.
 Digital print (visual)- Arctic Monkeys poster:
An example of a digital print is the Arctic monkey's poster
promoting their album, ‘AM’. The target audience for this poster
would be between 25–40-year-old. The demographic for the target
audience would have a social grade of C1 or C2 and below. The
average citizen would listen to them, a typical mainstreamer, a
person who follows the trend, and an explorer as a typical
explorer is a younger person looking for new things. The band
choose to not put the band on the poster and not use
cinematography or mise-en-scene, giving the impression that the
band is mysterious and to get an impression of them you should
listen to their music. The written text has been used to
communicate meaning through the logo as it is the known Artic
Monkey logo which is shown all their logo and music which
automatically distinguishes the band as the Arctic Monkeys.
The layout and design of the poster is very top heavy will their information, logo and
album name all based around the top, with the soundwaves front and center making
that be the first thing you see and nothing along the bottom. You can see some digital
effects used to make the soundwaves have a shadow behind them giving a reflective
effect. This allows the poster not reveal everything at once making you stop and look
at the other information bundled at the top. The color scheme also doesn’t reveal a
lot being black and white and this could be to encourage you to listen to their music
since you don’t know much about it which can make a viewer curious. The logo
placement is also interesting as it not front and center however it is not hard to find
the logo, if it was the audience could lose interest. With the poster being so basic and
not having a lot going on it fits in with the genre of Indie Rock which is known to
low budget and more basic which fits Steve Neale's theory that genre changes over
time, but some still matches patterns or rules.
This poster gives the overall message of a mysterious new album. It makes the
audience want to listen to it and know more especially as a mainstreamer since it is
so popular.
Audience research: Who are your favorite
artist/artists?
Survey: • Fleetwood Mac
• Abba
• Black Keys and Johnny
Cash
• Kanye West

Why do you listen to music?

• It is calming
• Because music is positive
• Distraction and mood
changer
• Sounds good
 Analysis of survey:
From my survey I gathered information from my target audience about types of music they listen too,
how they find it and how often they listen to music which everyone in the survey put every day
because they find it 'calming', 'positive' and a good 'distraction and mood changer'. Across rough
percentages, the majority listen to rock while also including indie, pop and alternative music which is
also shown in the survey's favorite bands e.g., Fleetwood Mac and Abba. This shows that my band
would be highly attractive to the aimed target audience. Pretty Velvet is presented on a lot of social
media such as Instagram and streamed on Spotify and YouTube which from my survey are proven to be
the most popular way to find artists and bands and the most popular platforms to listen to music on too.
The survey also told me half of the people like to listen to music at night and most like to go to watch
artists live. This tells me I should promote Pretty Velvet's nighttime gigs, the most, to my target
audience as this would appeal to them the most. Finally, I asked what would attract them to find and
listen to new music. The responses I got were audio-visually they would prefer to watch a music video
over a showreel, with audio it is even between a social media tease and a podcast and visually no one
wanted a flyer while posters and social media tease were even like audio too. These results contribute
to what I will pick to promote them.
 Focus group:
Once I gathered all my information from my survey and analysed it all to get some
sort of idea about my target audience, we all went into focus groups. A focus group
is where you do a one on one or group interview with your target audience. In a
group, I interviewed four other students from college who fit into the target audience
of 16-21. I asked each one personally which products they view and consume the
most whether that be a music video or podcast, poster or viewing an album cover.
Most of them had similar answers to my survey saying they would look at music
videos, social media teases (because they spend a lot of their screentime on social
media platforms) and podcasts the most. I also asked them where do they consume
these products most being on Instagram, Spotify and YouTube and the majority
agreed on nighttime, but some did say on a morning when they first wake up.
 Audience
Profile Poster:
 Vision Board:
When making my vison board I found these bits of existing
media which inspired my own ideas for my project. For my
music video the band requested to have an all-white
background with just raw footage of them playing the song
or for the showreel I thought of loads of different angles I
could do to capture the band. For the podcast I imagined us
in an audio room then me creating a podcast cover such as
the Bon Jovi one but with the band's ideas contributed too
and for the poster, I imaged either promoting their latest
song or next upcoming gig which would differentiate what
the poster would look like.
 Client Meeting:
Preparations:
To prepare for our client meeting I made some notes in
the note's app on my phone, so they were free to access
while in the meeting. My questions entailed things that
I would need to know when I was making plans for my
products in the pre-production phase such as certain
styles they want to include, their typical music, logos to
associate them with and ideas for questions for
the podcast such as how they formed as a band.
Underneath my questions I also added my own ideas on
products I wanted to create and how I wanted to do it to
tell them which was flexible to adapt to their ideas too.
 In the meeting, the whole class sat down to listen to a bit about
both bands. Pretty Velvet's lead singer, Lees, and their lead
guitarist, Tommy, were there and told us about the band's latest
song, 'Desperado El Dorado', all their band members who could
not make it to the meeting and what they have done in the

Evaluation: past. Afterwards, Red Remedy told us about them and who their
band members were. After a few questions were asked by
myself and others we split up to talk to the bands in smaller
groups to get more detail about what they do. I sat with Pretty
Velvet and learnt a bit more about their past material. In the past
they have done a podcast which they really enjoyed as they
enjoyed giving their fans a glimpse of the behind the scenes of
their music and them as individuals and confirmed they would
do it again. In their latest music video, they were telling us how
it was narrative based so for their next song 'Viper Queen' they
would just like a plain white background to enhance them
performing the song. They also said that the music video would
be perfect to take small promotional clips from to post on their
socials to promote the new song. They also agreed on our idea
that if we create a poster, it would be perfect to promote new
music and gigs on their socials too. Throughout the group
meeting they were showing us clips of their past music,
upcoming songs and previous promotional material involving
snakes whilst we gave out ideas on how we could build on
them. At the end we created a group chat with the whole group
in so we could arrange dates and find out about gigs, etc.
 Final Ideas:
Music video or Showreel: Podcast/podcast cover: Poster:
I haven't decided if I want to do a • Do a group podcast with other • Use potential shots from the
music video or a showreel, but I am classmates or on my own audio-visual to include as a
preferring a showreel right now (depends on what gets background
arranged) to get a range of • Inquire with the band if they
Showreel:
questions from all of us so we want a poster to put on their
• Include footage from their
gig, behind the scenes and can interview them from all socials to promote new music
previous shot footage that they angles or their latest gig (preferably
have • Ask a mix of serious new music so it can be used
• Include text of their songs questions, such as how they long term)
in between formed as a band and their • Include their font and logo
upcoming music and • Make the background image a
inspiration alongside funny video if I can so be promoted
Music video:
• All white background
questions like funny behind the as a video too for different
• Wide range of cameras angles scenes moments social medias like TikTok
• Raw video of them playing
their new song 'Viper Queen'
Project Rationale: (link)
Professional practice:
Treatment sheet: