Uses of Digital Technology:
Marketing: Adele - Only has music videos for major singles she has produced, all very similar due to being quite dark and minimal with her being the main focus. Done online interviews with various newspapers and magazines, such as, Vogue, Vanity Fair and Billboard as well as on chat shows such as 'Alan Carr Chatty Man' and Saturday Night Live which are then uploaded onto Youtube. Doesn't really use social media unless she's promoting her work or about issues like Grenfell, doesn't show her personal life very much despite having over 60M followers on Twitter and Instagram combined and doesn't follow anyone.
Stormzy - Has many music videos with them all being very different and individual to fit in with the song. Early on music videos mainly focus on him, however his recent videos feature various people from different walks of life to show equality and importance. Has done many interviews for magazines, such as NME, Vogue and Fader. He also does many online videos with MTV, Capital FM and Noisey. Heavily uses social media and shows his personal life often as well as the promotion of his work and particularly of political issues like Grenfell and often speaks about Theresa May and politicians. He has almost 2M on Instagram and heavily uses Snapchat to interact with his fans.
Ed Sheeran - Only has music videos for major singles he has produced, early on videos rarely featured himself but recently his videos have featured mainly him and one other person normally being a woman to fit in with the songs he makes which are predominantly about love, all have a high production value. Has done many interviews throughout his career with magazines and newspapers, such as, Rolling Stone, GQ and Billboard as well as being on chat shows like Celebrity juice and The Graham Norton Show which is on Youtube as well. He had a short break in between albums from social media but came back after the release of his album but doesn't use Twitter much despite having over 20M followers and only really posts about promoting his work and of pictures he posted on Instagram where he has almost 23M followers and posts quite actively on there with pictures from his tour.
All three artists have many online reviews from critics and fans as well as blogs and other social media accounts dedicated solely to them.
Live Events and Use of Non Digital Technology:
Adele - Will do a tour after the release of an album and doesn't to festivals due to the nature of her songs. She has occasionally played the acoustic guitar onstage and as well as producing CD's and digital versions of her work she also produced Vinyl's of her recent album 25.
Stormzy - Does a tour after album releases and lots of festivals and live gigs, including his own festival in Ibiza called 'Merky Festival'. He has done acoustic version of songs at award shows and chat shows, etc. He produced CD's and Vinyl records of his album Gang Signs and Prayer.
Ed Sheeran - Does a tour after every album release and started off doing Festivals at Glastonbury and still does now as well as establishing himself doing live gigs which he still occasionally does as well. Uses acoustic instruments constantly on stage, mainly acoustic guitar. Every album he has made has not only been in CD form but also in Vinyl as well.
Elements That Cause or Influence the Production of the Texts:
Adele - Signed to XL Recordings, Columbia Records and Universal Music Group and has a high production value and budget due to her success from early on. She is expected to make quite slow, sad music about heartbreak and when she branches out of that she gets positive feedback. Linked with the film industry due to making the soundtrack for Skyfall which in turn promoted her as well as promoting the film as well. Marketing techniques include TV adverts, posters and billboards, interviews and social media. Digital technology isn't really a big thing for her or her image. Audience is mainly older women and always have positive feedback with her work and her image in general.
Stormzy - Signed to independent label Merky Records and Atlantic Records UK. Has quite a high budget compared to his older work due to his recent success and becoming more mainstream. He is expected to stay within the genre of grime but has recently branched out in Gospel and R&B music on his album as well but did have a positive feedback to the new style and managed to reach a wider audience other than his original audience of a young mainly male audience. Went into the film industry by producing a song and appearing in the movie brotherhood which in turn gave him more attention. Marketing techniques include, TV adverts, Billboards and posters around the country and particularly social media. Digital technology is a big thing for him as thats how he interacts and gets his work out to the world.
Ed Sheeran - Signed to Asylum Records, Atlantic Records, Warner Music Group and now has a very high production value an budget due to his constant success. He is expected to make quite slow songs about heartbreak but recently moved into more upbeat songs that got very positive feedback. He has made songs for various movie soundtracks such as, The Fault in our Stars and The Hobbit and well as being featured on TV shows like Family Guy and commonly chat shows like The Graham Norton Show. Marketing techniques are featured everywhere from billboards to social media and TV adverts. His audience is a variety of different people now due to him making different music compared to his early stuff but would still have a predominantly young audience. Much like Adele, digital technology is as much of a big thing for him except for Instagram where he posts tour photos to promote the tour and his recent work more.
Marketing:
Adele - short clips of 'Hello' were put as ads on Youtube videos and TV adverts. Interviews on TV will be advertised all week, especially during the evening. The soundtrack to Skyfall also helped her image get bigger due to James Bond being a massive franchise for years. Social media used to promote the album, music videos and tours. Reviews normally always very positive for all her work.
Stormzy - Music videos are constantly featured as ads on Youtube and on frequently shown on MTV. Brotherhood helped his image as it was part of a big film collection and showed the audience he could do more than just rap. Heavily uses social media to promote his work and his image as well as upcoming events and often gets his friends from the music industry to tweet about his work or himself to get a wider audience. Now that he is fairly mainstream and makes various genres of music he gets positive feedback from his audience and the press.
Ed Sheeran - Music videos shown constantly on MTV and as ads on Youtube as well as ads on TV when they want to promote well known singles off the album. Interviews will be advertised on TV and on social media due to his fame and persona. Him having songs in movies brings more views to the movie due to his fame and likability. Social media is used to mainly promote his tour and songs that he's featured on or any upcoming work he has to excite his fanbase. Reviews have remained positive throughout his career.
Elements That Make up the Success of the Artists:
All three artists have financial success, with Adele earning the most then Ed Sheeran and then Stormzy.
They also all have creative success as they all come up with there own concepts, ideas and lyrics that have become extremely successful.
They have a certain level of independence, Stormzy would have the most due to being on his own independent label. They all have a massive influence on their audience and have managed to help many people, such as, Adele and Stormzy being big advocates to try and help the families from the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Stormzy has such a big influence he created a Twitter petition and so many people signed it that it got recognised by parliament to be taken seriously and make a change.
Regulation of the Music Industry Affecting the Artists:
Most self regulated. All artists music is copyrighted.
Stormzy has had the most censored and radio edited songs due to using strong language a lot because of the nature of grime. Ed Sheeran has also had a few radio edited songs due to some strong language.
Illegal downloads are still a big issue for all the artists, less so with Stormzy as he often uploads his music onto various platforms such as Soundcloud which is free.
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