Because my artist is a mixture between acoustic, folk and alternative its difficult to find an actual conventional character for this.
I think that the sort of audience who my artist is aimed at is the kind of people who wear casual clothing, for example a plain t shirt or jumper with jeans/trousers/shorts I dont think that this type of audience care a lot about what they look like however they dont go too outrageous. I think that this audience like to think they are more 'hippy' or 'skater' rather than the other conventional tribes. I think that this audience like to go to festivals such as: Glastonbury or Hop Farm festival. I think that the acoustic and alternative fan are normally on the go. The folk fan is more likely to be some sort of vegetarian or vegan.
Hairstyles for folk, acoustic and alternative are not very important to the genre here are examples: This is the folk singer/musician Neil Young, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation. He clearly has no interest in style and his hair is long and matted however this is normally how folk singers are recognised; for their hippy look.
Ian Curtis the songwriter and singer for the alternative band Joy division. His fashion is more rock based and his hair style is simple. Although he is more contemporary than Neil Young he still has no interest in the fashion of his era.
There are not really any typical aspects to the genres of my artist. I also think that folk, acoustic and alternative fans and artists do not show any generic aspects to show people which kind of genre music fan they are I think that the only way they show this is through their lifestyle choices.
Nick Drake An English folk singer-songwriter and musician. Nick Drake's public profile remained low before his death and it has only been since the mid 1980's when people realised how influential his music was/is. Who is their audience and how do they appeal to their audience? Nick Drakes audience are those of the 'hippie culture', and some are also likely to be alone and unhappy - the same position as what Drake was in while writing his songs as his lyrics reflected his emotions. Although since researching up on Nick Drake's fans a lot have said that when they are in that state of mind they listen to his albums to bring themselves back. Nick Drakes audience is more middle-aged working or middle class people rather than the younger generation. Nick Drake died long before he was recognised so he did not manage to land himself any big gigs. However, he did sign to island records and released his debut album "Five Leaves Left". There are now fansites made for Nick Drake - http://www.nickdrake.com/ Nick Drake was very secretive and no footage of him exists he was only ever captured in stills. This makes it hard to understand how he appealed to his audience or even if he appealed atall while most of Drakes lifetime he relied on word of mouth. Most musicians/singers appeal to their audience by their fashion, although Drake doesn't look like the typical 'star' this is how he appeared to gain fans with his unique style of clothing as he has somewhat been frozen in time there are still people today who dress as Nick Drake did. Lots of musicians respect Nick Drake for his inimitable way of producing his music for example his song River man is noted for its 5/4 time and use of prosody.
A Stranger Among Us Documentray - Nick Drake. Part 1
This is the first part of a documentary of Nick Drake.
Nick Drake didnt interact with people very much therefore he didnt have much of an audience. However, the fact that there is no footage of him makes people of this day in age more interested in him and interested in his life as to why he was so idle. In his song Fruit Tree his lyrics are "safe in your place deep in the earth, thats when they'll know what you were truly worth, forgotten while you're here"
Fans of Nick Drake may also like:
Bob Dylan
Niel Young
Paul Weller
Janis Joplin
Eels An American alternative band formed by the singer/songwriter Mark Everett, better known as E. Other members rotate frequently. Who is their audience and how do they appeal to them? The eels music is a mixture of alternative, rock and lo-fi. This gives them a wider range of audiences; from the 'indie' kind of style and the 'rock' kind of style. The eels correlate with their audience with their fashion which is generic for their type of genre - plain clothing, no bright colours, mostly dull colours like green, black, white, denim etc. The eels come across as the sort of 'lazy boy' type of people who smoke and drink and dont care about current issues, this is similar to their typical audience.
E interview on an Australian TV show. 2003. Part1.
This interview is very ironic and E is clearly being sarcastic with a lot of the things he says. I cant work out if its because he doesn't like the interviewer or he may have been told what to say, either way I think he plays it well by not grinning or smiling throughout. E from the eels is arrogant in himself, this may be the cause of his success as most successful people will agree with me that you have to be arrogant to be successful otherwise there is no place for you. For the younger viewers of this television programme who dont know who The Eels are, this can be very misleading and give a bad impression about the band, but to be honest; I dont think the eels care about this aspect as they have reliable fans and a lot of fans anyway.
This is the album cover of daisies of the galaxy 2000. It appears that none of the eels album covers actually show the band all together - a few just have E but most of them are more arty. This album cover seems to be the most colourful and the most illustrated one, this sort of reflects the songs from this album as they're more cheerful for example their most known one from this album is Mr. E's beautiful blues as it was featured on the film 'Road Trip'.
This is the latest cd cover for the eels (2010) for their album tomorrow morning. This album cover is rather tranquil and shows a more peaceful representation of their genre/songs. I really like this album cover and I think its affective. However it's not very generic but I think that works well.
What can you learn from this artist about how to appeal to their audience? The fact that E barley interacts with the audience at gigs and live shows makes it difficult to learn from the band, however in the long run it is mostly mainstream artists who like to interact with their audience at gigs. The eels do world wide tours and shows and have recently opened an official website for their fans http://www.eelstheband.com/ Their fans are clearly important to them.
Fans of the eels may also like:
Blur
The Verve
Supergrass
Radiohead
RX Bandits
Finley Quaye A British musician. Grew up influenced by jazz musicians such as Pete King and Ronnie Scott. He won the 1997 Mobo Award for best reggae act and the 1998 BRIT award for best male solo artist.Who is their audience and how do they appeal to their audience? Finley Quaye appeals to a multicultural audience. The obvious influences are from reggae and acoustic folk. These genres together give a unique and interesting sound that is easily distinguished. The combination of folk and reggae broadens his potential audience as each are very different in style but share various musical similarities such as the chilled tempo and use of samples and effects. Finley appeals to his audience by maintainig a contemporary image. He also follows the trend of successfull mainstream musicians as he conforms to the expectations of a typical pop star.
How do they interact with their audience? Finley Quaye interacts with his audience with the lyrics he sings which are mostly about nature and love; they are things that all kinds of people of all ages can connect with. Finley Quaye doesn't have a fan site or an official website as of yet. However he is currently touring the UK and is scheduled to do many festivals through the summer.
CD Covers Maverick a strike 1997. This was the album that made Finley Quaye. His first album. The front cover is a close up of his own face, the font is done in a digital kind of style which enhances the fact that he's a new addition to the music scene.
Finley Quayes second album Vanguard. Again a picture of himself on the front cover. Looks as though he is really trying to sell himself as an artist. The font looks almost psychedellic - opposite to his style of music.
Much more than much love (2004). The whole cd cover is simple, which I think is affective. However I think that this cover looks more like a single cd cover rather than an album cover.
Finley Quaye - Even After All
Finley Quayes music video for his song Even after all. Lots of references to nature as the seasons turn while he maintains sitting on the bench. The video shows the artist throughout this shows how Finley Quaye is trying to make it as a 'popstar'. Many close up shots of his face and close up shots of parts of his body. The black and white effect make the video authentic and sort of dream like with cuts to rain drops and leaves flying in slow motion. The video begins and ends in the same place which I also think is very affective.
Folk music is a term for musical folklore and is, as the name implies, the music of the people.
Originated in the 19th century however some of the earliest folk songs rose from slave fields. Folk is considered more of a tradition than entertainment.
Folk music has been the music of the working class. Folk songs range in subject matter from war, civil rights, work, economic hardship and love.
The 20th century brought folk music back as workers struggled and struck for child labor laws and the eight-hour working day. Workers would gather round in churches, halls and living rooms to learn songs which helped them through the rough work environment; these songs described hardship but were however full of hope.
In the 1960's folk music became incresingly more popular with the likes of artists such as: Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Niel Young whose work dealt with anything from love, war, work and play.
The folk singers work resonates with people of all walks of life and their legacy is astounding.
The time of tribes is now! “Today, social existence is conducted through fragmented tribal groupings, organized around the catchwords, brand-names and sound-bites of consumer culture”. The proliferation of the digital media has granted people the ability to divulge in thousands of media forms thus giving people the flexibility of media to join their perfect niche audience. “Modern tribes are not permanent groups, but shifting and always changing. Membership of these tribes is not permanent”, due to the fluidity of the technology and the convergence of different Medias. “Urban tribes are micro groups of people who share common interests in metropolitan areas” this is because social new to working sites grants people the ability to find people of similar interests to locate each other and arrange meetings. Creating hundreds of small independent groups of people sharing a common interest.
I have chosen alternative/acoustic for my genre for my music video. From researching the two genres i have realised that the genre 'Alternative' has a bit more of a rock style to their music and 'Acoustic' is more peaceful however many acoustic bands come off as more 'geeky' and 'hippy' to the rest of the genres.
This is the folk singer/musician Neil Young, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation. He clearly has no interest in style and his hair is long and matted however this is normally how folk singers are recognised; for their hippy look.
This is the folk singer/musician Neil Young, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation. He clearly has no interest in style and his hair is long and matted however this is normally how folk singers are recognised; for their hippy look.
