Branding and The Music Industry

Adele

&

MGMT

ADELE. Over the last year soul singer Adele has

branded herself through her appearance, music videos and album artwork.

Her image connotes a strong independent women who is very normal, quite sombre and serious. This is shown through her dark clothing and eye makeup and also her many emotive saddening songs from her two hit albums.

Album ArtworkAdele has linked her albums together with their names and the album artwork. Low key lighting has been used which creates a sophisticated but serious appearance. Her first album cover ’19’ features an extreme close up of her eye and nose with a black background. Side lighting is used so only one side of her face is visible. This matches her dark and personal music. Her most recent album ’21’ features similar artwork. This time her whole face is showing however she is looking down with an emotionless expression. The image is shot in black and white which adds to her serious emotive brand image.

VIDEOS Adele – Someone like you http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=hLQl3WQQoQ0&ob=av2e This song was taken from Adele’s most recent

album ‘21’. The video really matches her album covers and brand image. The whole video is shot in black and white like the images on the front of her albums. This creates the general mood of the video which is solemn and sedate. Throughout the video Adele remains very relaxed and supports a sad, emotional expression on her face. She is wearing a long black coat and black/grey eye makeup. This gives the artist a very serious feel and all these aspects combine to form her brand image. The video only features her for the whole 4 minutes there are no other characters or actors. This is unusual for music videos however it parallels the mood of the song and focuses the whole thing on her. It is all shot on location on an empty street in Paris and features slow paced editing. The cinematography used are mainly close ups and medium shots, there are also quite a few point of view shots which are all common in popular music videos.

Adele – Make you feel my love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0put0_a--Ng She has used the same micro elements in this

video as she has in ‘someone like you.’ This song is from her first album ‘19’ It is all film in low key lighting and shows her with her usual dark eye make up and downcast expressions reinstating her serious solemn brand image. She is the only person featuring in the video like before reinstating her lonely, independent woman image. It is a studio based video set in a flat however that is where the entire song in based similar to ‘Someone like you’ which was all based on one street. The fact she's decided to base it in what's meant to be her flat, shows that she is trying to portray herself as a normal person who lives in the same type of accommodation and goes through the same relationship problems as everyone else. The cinematography used are mainly extreme close ups (matching her album artwork) and medium shots. Both popular shots in pop music videos as the main aim is to promote the artist.

VIDEOS

Like Adele MGMT have branded themselves over the last few years using their music videos, album art work and unusual costume design.

Their genre of music is indie, electronic, alternative rock which also adds to their unusual, mystical, mysterious and strange brand image.

As you can see all of their albums since 2008 have featured brightly coloured and unusual images. Their first album uses lively colours such as yellows, blues, and greens which are then passed on to the second album ‘Electric Feel’ featuring a large creature made up of the same colours. These colours suggest that the music will be upbeat and interesting, it also emphasises the artists vibrancy and quirkiness. The images shown on the album covers are all unusual patterns mainly surrounding weird looking animals. One of them however shows the two artists stood in front of a sunset, both wearing strange costumes and face paint. This really shows the audience their true brand image of being different to all other artists currently competing with them. They are individual, unique and relaxed yet vibrant at the same time.

Album Artwork

VIDEOSMGMT – Time to pretend

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9dSYgd5Elk

This video matches one of the album covers on the previous slide. It is an alternative video (like the band) as it has no narrative to it breaking the rules of a typical music video. The video begins with the artist and a group of people on a beach at sunset. They’re all wearing brightly colored clothing and unusual hats and masks. The rest of the video is mainly made up of close ups, medium and long shots of the band in front of colorful vibrant backgrounds. Both artists feature throughout the video as the ‘protagonists’ surrounded by extras. They are both dressed in unusual outfits paralleling their brand image of being individual and different.

VIDEOSMGMT – Electric Feelhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmZexg8sxyk

This video is set in a mystical rainforest. It features both artists in the rainforest surrounded by people again like before dressed in brightly colored outfits with unusual face paints, hats and scarves. As you can see this has become a regular part of their videos. The mise-en-scene and the location are part of their brand image of being vibrant, different and mysterious. It would be difficult to say this was a ‘typical’ music video, although it does have a mild narrative. There is a party in the forest and mgmt are playing their music. They then decide to pull the moon from the sky and slice it open revealing a bright, vibrant liquid. They all cover themselves in this liquid and the party continues. There are no theories present for example Todorov because there is an equilibrium however no disruption occurs. The strange narrative and non-typical theme also combine to form their mystical, different and unusual brand image. Unlike Adele who has chosen a dark color scheme and solo videos, MGMT have decided to use their mise-en-scene, extras, locations and bright colors to form their overall image.