The Music Industry!

Understanding The Music Industry 

So to understand the music industry, we need to look at all the industrial trends, some target audiences, and the marketing strategies that today's musicians use. When we talk about industry trends, we talk about what's actually happening in the music industry now. So, Cambridge wants us to show that our work reflects a contemporary music industry, not just an outdated one.

The first thing to look at is the shift to digital and streaming platforms. There are platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music that dominate music consumption, and artists now rely on streams, shares, and algorithms. Music videos are now often released on YouTube as short clips on TikTok and Instagram Reels as well. 

The way we can utilize this is by making our video visually engaging within the first 5-10 seconds or having moments that are suitable for short-form clipping in our music video. That way, when that clip is extracted and posted, it can be engaging to the audience as well.

Media & Viral Culture

Now, let's get into the details of the social media and viral cultures. Artists are often discovered on social media now, and the TikTok trends can launch their careers. Fans expect relatability and behind-the-scenes access as well. Therefore, releasing behind-the-scenes videos and creating trendy content that is both relatable and engaging will be a top-notch trick.

For our application, our social media page should have casual posts as well, and there can be teasers, authentic captions that we will be using in a sense of direct connection with the artist.

Independent Artists

Then come the independent artists. These independent artists have their own DIY culture. Everything is do-it-yourself. They self-produce, and they are more self-promoted. So, they have smaller budgets, but the branding is very strong. There is also detailed emphasis on aesthetic consistency. In our application, we can use this by framing our package as an emerging or independent artist. This justifies some minimalistic visuals, intimate settings, and raw emotions as well.

Genre Blending

There is this other technique, which is used in the music industry a lot, which is called genre hybridization. In our words or simple vocabulary, we call it a blending of genres. Many artists now blend their genres, for example, using pop and indie music, R&B, and any other alternative music together. This allows originality, and it is also a very niche approach. How we can utilize this is by following a core genre and slightly challenging it to stand out. This way, we will also be a part of this technique and appeal more to the niche audience.

The Target Audience & Consumption Habits

Then comes the target audience. Who is Our Music actually for? Cambridge basically expects us to clearly define the audience and not just say it is for everyone. We need to have demographics, which are the basic facts. We should be able to state the ages. For example, let's suppose that we are talking about the teens and the young ages, we can mention 16 to 25. The gender can be male, female, or both. That needs to be mentioned. That needs to be stated. We also need to state the social class and the education level.

The industry of today focuses on media consumption habits. It knows that the audience now uses phones more than TV, and engages a lot with Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. And it prefers short and frequent content. So they try and justify short promotional clips, have a strong Instagram feed, and use the game of visual storytelling. This keeps the audience hooked and gets the artist promoted, without wasting time on long and lengthy content.

Psychographics

Most music videos consider the audience's values. This technique is sometimes called psychographics, basically the lifestyle and values, and it is important for higher bands. But specifically, we need to consider the interests of the audience in terms of music, fashion, or maybe self-expression. Then their values, which would include authenticity, individuality, and all these concepts. And then the emotional needs of the audience too, whether they relate to our music or they find it as an escape. So, relatability and escapism are also a part of psychographics.

Marketing Strategies

Then we have the marketing strategies, how music is promoted in the industry. According to our advanced portfolio, we are going to look at where our Digipack and social media page become industry-relevant. 

Cross-media Promotion 

The music industry strictly follows it. Basically, we need to have the same artist image across our music video, our Digipack, and our social media. Cambridge loves the word synergy, so we need to focus on the promotional package demonstrating synergy across platforms. 

Common Strategies

Social media marketing is very famous, so the common strategies are usually having countdown posts, teaser clips, using hashtags, and having release day or date announcements. Our page should look like a real promotional campaign, not just random posts.

Brand Identity

Artists are treated as brands. They have their own visual style, their color palette, their costume. They have this built-in personality that the audience loves.

The Physical & Digital Blend

 Even in the digital age, Digipacks exist as collectibles or merchandise, and the audience loves them. They go all for it. They reinforce artist identity. So this shows that understanding of consumer culture is very important, and fans want a tangible connection too.

Teasers & Exclusivity

We can produce BTS content and create intimacy and also use limited previews because they build hype. Then, we can justify it by using rehearsal shots, studio images, and cryptic captions.