INDEPENDENT RESEARCH

By Casey Phillips

Why use promo’s? Promo’s are useful and they can be created by anyone. Social networking sites are the most common path people use these days to promote their work. Social sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Even just using social site, the site can be useful to gain viewers and interest which may lead to bigger success. Promos can also go viral and dominate social network sites, suggesting that mainstream artists can get recognition and become mainstream for example Shawn Mendes became a singer through an IPhone App called Vine, after a few months and gained thousands of viewers, he became a YouTuber sensation and got a record label not long after. He has now produced 2 albums this year called Handwritten and The Shawn Mendes EP.

  Relevance of promos now and who makes them? Big bands or independents?There isn’t any specific reason or people who makes promo’s. Promo’s can be made by anyone who has a camera with bright ideas and is dedicated to what they want to do. When it comes to making promo’s, it wont help you make a living off it however it is for anyone to use and whenever. However its unpredictable to whether it’ll become successful or not. Successful promos from big bands tends to be shared viral throughout social websites such as YouTube. Also they are able to advertise easily and to be mentioned within music websites and radios.

Well known promo directors – who are they and what makes their promos good?There are many successful directors around the world who creates promo. Two successful promo directors called Maxim Bohichik and Alex Bergman are duo directors who created BB Gun Films and have been working as a pair since 2008. They have been directing music promos for a wide range of successful artists such as Swedish House Mafia, Kid Cudi, Chris Brown etc. However they have also created commercials for successful brands such as Nike, Converse and Speedo's.

MTV VS Viral?MTV is a entertainment channel where they broadcast non-stop music but also comedies 24 hours. play music videos guided by television personalities known as "video jockeys," or VJs. The network's current target audience is teenagers and young adults, with programming consisting mainly of original reality, comedy and drama programming and some off-network syndicated programs and films, along with limited music video programming in off-peak time periods. MTV is known for showing successful music videos from artists that have already been established. However, nowadays we have new media and now viral videos are becoming artists in the music industry due to the population and power of sharing around social media. Therefore this suggests that any talented artist can become successful in the music industry.

How has digital technology opened up the opportunity for more people to make their own promos?

New media is a main reason to why digital technology is opened with so many opportunities. Digital technology is opened many opportunities to people who create their own videos through social media or anyone who wants to start. It’s common of people creating their own content and uploading it on to social media (e.g. YouTube). An example, Since Justin Bieber is such a mega-star, many people don’t realize that he got his start in Ontario, Canada, by uploading videos to YouTube of himself performing R&B songs. Seven months and ten thousand views later, Bieber attracted the attention of his future manager, Scooter Braun, who got him his first record deal. At age 13, Bieber signed a contract with R&B singer Usher’s label, and to date, Bieber has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide.

Advantages of promos for sales/profit.

Advantages of Promos; Anybody can create an promo with any camera. As long as they have a useful, well-

thought idea about what they would like to create in their promo that appeals to viewers. Best advantage for sales and profit is to upload it onto YouTube because it’s a website which has become successful and also successful artists were picked up from YouTube.

Another advantage is viewers may like the design or style of the video and this could result the viewer to like the song; therefore sales could increase by viewers buying the song from shops or even iTunes. After this step, this could result to successful profit therefore the artist is able to use that profit to create a new promo for the viewers.

Future of promos.I think promo’s will become more popular as the years go by because the difference of technology and digital media has improved massively and also increased. Therefore they are able to use this technology to create one however the increase of improvements on the new technology has moved quickly therefore it could take over the methods of creating a promo and therefore promo’s could decrease.