As the first step in learning case studies, we learned about one of the main media areas: music. We were assigned a sub-genre of music (in my group's case, rock) to research individually, because while it was assigned as a group, the research had to be done independently in order to have multiple case studies. Each member of the group chose a publishing/distribution music company and chose 2 artists/bands that are under that company. After choosing, we need to research that company's history and the artists' history, brand identity, target audiences, and their digital and non-digital forms of marketing and distribution.
For my company I chose Sony Music Publishing because it is ranked the #1global music publisher and is the reason for many artists' maintained success since hitting their peak stardom, making them experts in their field. For my case studies, I chose the bands Tame impala and 5 Seconds Of Summer. I felt they both had very distinct and aesthetics and branding that they would make good examples of clear brand identities and effective marketing. It definitely took extensive time and focus to find the desired content for my research, and I would actually venture to say that AI made it slightly more difficult. As I tried searching for sources to find credible evidence, google would give me AI summaries without sources, making it harder to find valid facts with valid evidence to back it up. I also felt like I had many different examples for each section and couldn't tell what was the most valid evidence to use for my notes.
I did find Tame Impala easier to research because their brand is so pronounced and evident, so marketing strategies were clear and prominent both online and physically as well. Tame impala stands out due to their abstract, psychedelic image, which makes them easy to identify, but hard to make mainstream. The special thing about them was their ability to appeal to both niche and mainstream audiences, which was unordinary for an artist of their genre, although they do blend and mix multiple genres in their music (helped them out when it came to catering to multiple audiences). 5SOS (5 seconds of summer) was more stereotypical marketing due to the boyband brand, but what was special about them was their shift from a boyband to a mature, pop-punk band. The tactics used for boybands are very calculated, and their shift from catering to young teenage girls to more broad audiences was very smart and beneficial for maintaining their relevance as a group.
Overall, I found this first half of the project very interesting as I do want to pursue a career in entertainment, and researching about marketing strategies in the industry has been so insightful to take mental note of as I progress in building my own brand. I hope I can apply what I've learned in not only future projects in this class, but in real-world situations when I get older as well.
Pictures of research chart (couldn't copy link for some reason)
