1.Lady Gaga Born This Way Released - 23/4/2011

2. Born This Way is the second studio album by American singer- songwriter Lady Gaga, released on May 23, 2011, by Interscope Records. The album is a follow-up to her internationally-successful albums The Fame (2008) and The Fame Monster (2009). Interscope Records, Inc. is an American record label owned and founded by Jimmy Iovine and Giorgio Saravia in 1989. It is based in Santa Monica, California and operates as one third of Universal Music Group's Interscope Geffen A&M. The label is home to around 150 artists. Key Point: Major Label/Worldwide Distribution Record Label 3. Musically, Born This Way is a synthpop and dance-pop album that has influences of pop music from the 1980s. Lyrically, the album still visualises Gaga's love of fame in general whilst also dealing with subjects such as sexuality, religion, freedom, feminism, and individualism. Key Point: Popular aspirations for modern audiences 4. Promotional Tour: Gaga embarked on promotional tours and live performances for Born This Way and its accompanying singles in Europe, Asia and North America. Live performances of the album's lead single began on February 13, 2011, at the 53rd Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Six days later on The Monster Ball Tour in Atlantic City, Gaga performed "Born This Way" as a second encore, using the same general attire and choreography as the Grammy performance. Key Point: World wide marketing strategy 5. Promotion: TV Performances (2011) Key Point: High profile programmes 6. Born This Way debuted in the top five spots of every major market, including the Billboard 200. In the United States, Born This Way sold 1.108 million copies in its first week the largest first-week album sales in five years; an estimated 440,000 copies were sold on Amazon in two days of its first week at a price of 99 cents. In November 2011, Born This Way and the remix album Born This Way: The Remix were packaged in the compilation album Born This Way: The Collection. Key Point: Sales/Chart Position/Repackaging 7. Industry AudienceReleases CRASH/Uses & Grats Label/Internet/CD or Vinyl? Artists/Genre/Style/ AO1 Demonstrate knowledge & understanding of media concepts, contexts and critical debates = 20 marks 3 X Key points for each Text 8. Meanings? Responses? Audience Social/Cultural/Political = 10 marks AO2 Apply knowledge & understanding of how meanings and responses are created 9. Lady Gaga & Social Media Lady Gaga is the definition of an influencer offline and online; her music, fashion sense, and passion for social causes have spread around the world in only a few short years. Social Media is Going Gaga Lady Gaga Facebook Fan Page Followers 46,608,220 @Lady Gaga Twitter Followers 18,198,577 Lady Gaga Google+ Followers 20,852 (only 4 days after signing up) 10. Lady Gaga & Media 11. Exam Guidance & Questions POINT: Make points that directly answer the question (regarding key music industry issues). EXAMPLE: Refer in detail to examples of: releases/chart positions/videos/marketing strategies/ways the audience access releases etc, that support your points(be specific & detailed). EXPLAIN: Discuss/debate the key issues raised and reflect upon the implications for the music industry & the audience (give your own views also). 12. B3. How successful have your chosen texts been for their industry? (30) Responses may be dependent on how the candidate defines success. Please be open-minded here and engage with candidates' definitions success does not necessarily imply commercial success. Some candidates may suggest that (some of) their chosen texts were not successful - this is acceptable but please look for coherence in the argument. Points covered may make reference to such general points as: commercial/financial success awards critical reviews audience appreciation e.g. niche, fans etc Continued over: 13. Responses to this question are likely to be heavily dependent on the texts selected and need to be linked closely to them. The following are some generic points candidates might make for each of the industries. The lists are not intended to be prescriptive. MUSIC: sales downloads concert sales awards critical reviews influence 14. Awards "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich" was released in the form of a promotional single. The Fame has won multiple awards since its release. It was nominated for a total of six Grammy Awards at the 52nd Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. It won the Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album and the Best Dance Recording for the single "Poker Face". It also won Best International Album at the 2010 BRIT Awards. In 2013, Rolling Stone named The Fame as one of the "100 Greatest Debut Albums of All-Time". 15. How does Lady Gaga embrace technology to enhance her Fame? Bad Romance has 360 million Youtube views Lady Gaga is the most downloaded artist ever 20 million singles downloaded 54000 questions asked on a 3 and a half day opportunity via her YouTube channel Lady Gaga embraces technology to form a relationship with fans. 16. Marketing experts reckon 'Born This Way' star makes a third of her cash through social media site. Lady Gaga earns $30 million (18.9 million) through her Twitter account. The Wall Street Journal claims that the 'Born This Way' star has built up such a strong relationship with her followers on the social media site that it is worth one third of the reported $90 million (56.9 million) that she made last year. Marketing manager John Bonini, who works for Impact Branding & Design, claimed that the publicity and direct connection the singer has developed with her admirers through the site helps boost her earning potential, as well as ensuring that her fanbase purchase her music rather than download it illegally. He added "She really engages them and re-tweets stuff they say as if she was one of them". 17. Parasocial interaction (or para-social relationship) is a term used by social scientists to describe one-sided, "parasocial" interpersonal relationships in which one party knows a great deal about the other, but the other does not. The most common form of such relationships are one-sided relations between celebrities and audience or fans. A Parasocial interaction seems to be required to enable a singer to turn into a pop star. Us as an audience with our on demand, instant technology want access into anything, whenever we want. Shows like the X factor pay attention to this desire and provide 12-14 weeks of us getting to know the winner. We need to gain aspiration and self esteem from an exotic lifestyle. 18. 5.) How has this fan/artist relationship evolved over the past few years? It's much more personal, intimate and revealing. Fans know so much about their idols. The interesting thing is that it doesn't seem to have spoiled the fantasy or dampened their fanaticism. If anything, it seems to only fan the flames of their passion for the celebs. As they say, information is power, and I think fans feel empowered to know so much and become that much more interested in their favorite stars. 9.) How important is a celeb's social media to their overall image and career? We saw Miley Cyrus quit Twitter, only to return a year later. Why? If you 19. B4. How global is the appeal of your three main texts? (30) Some chosen texts may not have global appeal candidates may argue that they are essentially British in theme, tone, distribution etc this is wholly acceptable and must be marked on merit. Many texts, however, do have global appeal and points covered may include: Type of product Theme, narrative, genre Use of stars, celebrities Distribution and marketing Internet Audience factors links to theory (e.g. Uses and Gratifications, audience pleasures). 20. WAFFLE AND PADDING: Dont make a great essay Dont use superfluous words, phrases or sentences. If a sentence means the same thing with a word taken out, take it out. The same applies to whole phrases and sentences within the wider context of a paragraph. Using words and phrases which dont add anything to what youre saying will mean that your examiners will conclude that (a) you dont have enough to say to meet the required essay length, and that (b) you are trying to hide this by means of a slow, repetitive and boring writing style. Which is not clever. 21. The left hand column contains 250% more words than the right-hand column, but it contains 0% more information. 22. The left hand column contains 250% more words than the right-hand column, but it contains 0% more information. Examiners spot this kind of thing. Furthermore, by not inflating the essay with space- filling nonsense, the writer of the right-hand column has got room to show their understanding of the subject by expanding on further points: what did Dyke do? Why might he be seen as power-crazed, or weak? How has he demonstrated his personal power? In other words, there is more room for lots of analysis, which, as seen, is good news. 23. B3. How effectively were your three main texts marketed?[30] Candidates have the option to argue either way on this question and differently for all three texts. Please look for logical argument with relevant points used to back-up ideas. Lower grade candidates may just discuss how their texts were marketed. Higher grade candidates need to engage with the effectively part of the question. For all candidates expect some description/factual knowledge of the campaigns. Evidence to suggest texts were marketed effectively may include points on: Style, frequency, scope/extent of campaign Audience up-take (e.g. viewing figures, sales) Audience discussion/feedback. Continued over: 24. The following are some generic points candidates might make in relation into how texts were marketed for each of the industries. How effectively is for the candidates to discuss. The lists are not intended to be prescriptive. MUSIC: Band/performer websites exposure magazines, celebrity endorsement etc fan sites music press articles social networking sites Videos/Tours itunes etc. 25. Total = 30 marks A Grade Exam Response 26. A2 Media Studies Music: Industry & Audience Radiohead: The King of Limbs (2011) Lady Gaga: Born This Way (2011) Nirvana: Nevermind (1991) 27. 3 Differing Texts 1. Different Genres: How would you define the genre for each artist? 2. Different Audiences: How would you categorise each audience? 3. Different Conventions: What type of conventions are associated with each artists work (visual/musical)? 4. Different Production Models (Industry): How are the production models, labels, formats and methods of release different? 5. What does this tell us about how the music industry functions? 28. Answers 1. Different Genres: - Nirvana = Metal/Grunge 2. Different Audiences (Dominant): - - Male/Long hair/Scruffy 3. Different Conventions: Loud/Male/Group/Heavy 4. Different Production Models (Industry): Research how music is distributed and is accessed by audiences via downloads/CDs/youtube etc. 5. What does this tell us about how the music industry functions nowadays?