text for moodboard:

We narrowed down the fonts to the two that we all agreed we liked the most. We used the printed font as a template and covered it in silver glitter glue and then placed them on the mood board to see which one fit the aesthetic. We decided upon the second one since it was more artistic and fit the style of the artist that we have created.

Mood-Board Text:

1
2
3
4
5

After placing and photographing them all. We came to the conclusion that the best suited two were number 3 and 4 since the sizing and font was more complementary to the mood-board.

Ideas for Mood-board:

This is the mind map that we created to bring together our ideas for our music video and to decide the name for our artist. The name we decided upon was Raina as it seemed to fit the authentic and alternative image that we wanted to create for her. The word Raina translates to Queen in French.



These are some of the fonts that we liked for our mood board. However, we need to try to narrow this down to just one font. The range that we have will become useful when editing our music video because we can use some of these within it.

Our Music Video Choice:

For our music video we have chose the song 'Disparate youth' by Santigold. The reason behind this is because it is a song that as a group we all agreed on since it fit the idea and genre that we all initially wanted. The song will be easy to work with since it has a moderate pace and a nice rhythm to it.  In addition, The idea for the style of music we have in mind is very different to the original one. Therefore, there is no chance of our one mimicking the video that already exists.

Artists relation to the 'Culture Theory'

One Direction:

One Direction conform to the Adorno and Horkeimer culture theory since they were a mainstream band that was formed on the X-Factor. The band was sculpted by the show in order to fit the music industry and appeal to the public. Their music style is similar to the likes of 5 Seconds Of Summer, The vamps and Union J. Therefore, they lack in individuality and a unique sound since their songs and albums were created to fit into the current popular sound within the industry and to sell to a wide audience. 

Eminem:

Eminem doesn't conform to the theory since his music cannot be easily replicated by other artists, despite there being other rappers and musicians that have similar style none of them share the same qualities and attributes as Eminem does. Eminem didn't have the same support as artists that are discovered through talent competitions. Therefore, he had a lot more freedom to explore his own sound and he had to work a lot harder to get into the successful position that he's in today.

The Culture industry:

The culture industry:

Adorno and Horkeimer adopted the term 'culture industry' to argue that the way in which cultural items were being produced was analogous to how the industries manufactured vast quantities of consumer goods.
Adorno and Horkheimer argued that the culture industry exhibited an 'assembly line' character which could be observed in the synthetic planned method of turning out its products.

The X-Factor machine:

-Adorno and Horkeimer linked the idea of the 'culture industry' to a model of 'mass culture' in which cultural production had become a routine , standardised repetitive operation that produced undemanding cultural commodities which in turn resulted in a type of consumption that was also standardised, distracted and passive.

Who's in control

- Adorno and Horkeimer's view of cultural production has with some justification, often been portrayed as the pessimistic lament of 'cultural' lists who were dismayed at what they perceived to be the homogeneity and vulgarity of 'mass' taste, and who were concerned that the potential for artistic creativity in music literature and painting had been co-opted and corrupted by the production methods and administrative regimes of the industrial capitalism.
-The capitalist corporation seems to enjoy an almost omnipotent form of domination and both the consumers and the creative artists are not separate from but are directly connected to this system of production.
-Adorno and Horkheimer stressed the structures of economic ownership and control of the means through which cultural products are produced and argued that this directly shapes the activities of creative artists and consumers.
-They argued that the 'culture industry' operated in the same way as other manufacturing industries.
-The metaphor of the 'assembly line; was used to stress the repetitive and routine character of cultural production. All work had become formalised and products were made according to rationalised organisational procedures that were established for the sole purpose of making money.

Standardization:

-Adorno and Horkeimer argued that all products produced by the culture industry exhibited standardised features.
-The argument here is that there is nothing spontaneous about the process of cultural production, it has become a routine operation that can be carried out in an office by the application of specific formulae.
-Adorno noted that songs which became successful often over time were referred to as 'standards' a category that clearly drew attention to their formulaic character. From the 'plan' to the details, songs were based around repetitive sequences and frequently recurring refrains. This was done for quite calculated commercial reasons, so that the song would imprint itself on the mind of the listener and then provoke a purchase for Adorno, the production of brit songs had become a mechanical and manipulative operation motivated purely by commercial gain.

Pseudo individuality:

Adorno and Horkheimer were also critical of what they referred to as pseudo individuality. By this they meant the way that the culture industry assembled products that made claims to 'originality' but which when examined more critically exhibited little more than superficial differences.
- Adorno and Horkeimer evoked the image of the lock and key - an item that is mass produced in millions, whose uniqueness lies in only very minor modification.

Major Vs Independent:

The 4 Major Labels are:


-Sony-BMG
-Universal Music Group
-EMI
-Warner Music Group. 

Sony-BMG subsidiaries:

-Columbia
-Arista
- Epic
-Provident
-RCA

Universal Music Group subsidiaries:

-Interscope records
-Def Jam Recordings
-Republic Records
-Island Records
-Polydor Records
-Mercury Records
-Virgin Records

EMI subsidaries:

-EMI Music Publishing
-Minos EMI
-Gold Typhoon
-EMI Blackwood Music Inc.
-Jobete Music
-Rover Music N.V

Warner Music Group subsidiaries:

-Atlantic Records
-Warner Bros. Records
-Parlophone
-Warner/ Chappell Music
- Rhino Entertainment
-Reprise Records

Independent Record Labels:

-Rhymesayers Entertainment.
-4AD
-Matador Records.
-Mad Decent.
-XL Recordings
-Sub Pop Records
-Jagjaguwar.

Major Labels:

 Major labels have a large budget. Therefore, they can provide the artist with more money then and indie label. This means the artist can have high quality recordings of their songs, lots of money into the production of the music, Major Distribution of the singles and albums, successful well shot Music Videos, Pro-Photography for album covers and magazine shoots, Pro-Advertising of their products and Merchandise.

However, it all comes at a price because When an artists sign onto a major Label, they own that artist for the duration of the contract. They will have complete creative control over the music and the image. They will tell them where and when to be somewhere and if you want to make this work. Furthermore, they will own your music forever or until you or someone else buys the ownership ‘rights’ to your songs. A major label invests all that time and money into  an artist because they believe they could get a bigger return on investment. Which  means that they are in debt to the label.  Having said that, there is money to be made for the artist if they do well. 

Independent Labels:

 Indie labels are usually genuine-honest fans of the bands/artists that they sign. They truly enjoy the music on a personal level and therefore they have more personal passion and drive in promoting the music.  Indie labels usually have smaller amounts of bands/artists means that the artist gets a lot more attention and more communication access with the label to talk and plan Furthermore, because they are smaller, there are benefits that come with a personal close-working business relationship. The artist will have a lot more input into the overall planning stages and so forth and the relationship can be less rigid and more personable.

The types of Indie label contracts can vary greatly. Some contracts resemble Major label contracts on a smaller scale and Some are simply Distribution and Promotion deals. A lot depends on the label and the band/artist and the situation. One advantage for bands/artists is that Indie label contracts usually give the artist most of the creative control concerning their music. There might be some quality-production requirements or some other minimum requirements but the song writing usually stays in the artist’s control. Also, another major plus is that the contracts usually give the artists back the ‘ownership rights’ to their music/album after a short period of time determined in the negations.

Due to the Smaller size of the label it tends to equal smaller budgets which means there are limitations to what an Indie label can do. Therefore the artist is less likely to have high production of their music and much investment into the distribution of it unless they can afford to pay for it themselves. It will be harder for the musician to  make contacts with famous successful producers and other successful artists that they are wanting to collaborate with. In addition to this without the financial support it becomes largely more difficult to get the music noticed.