Introduction
Television’s ability to present a video, audio and motion is proving to be one of the most common and modern powerful means of delivering information to larger audience or mass audience today (Ofcom, 2008). Davis (2007) describes it as a “Trojan Horse that surprises many audiences”. On the other hand, some people would consider it a time waster means of getting information with lots of fun, but little concentration for commercials (Davis, 2007, p.883).
However, the two perceptions do contradict the emerging trends in TV commercial marketing, especially with the musical backgrounds or the use of music programs. Television can be used to increase market penetration, especially if the program associated with such a product becomes popular. According to Ofcom (2008), music on television can be used to attract direction, gather attention, and reach big masses for marketing purposes among other commercial intentions. No wonder the industry revenue in the UK has been increasing on yearly basis, with 2008 seeing growth of 1.3% to hit £11.2bn (Ofcom, 2008). Despite such growth, the total net revenue from advertising was down by 3%, ostensibly as a result of global recession (Ofcom, 2008).
Again, the music genres are seen as part of the promotional programs, giving room for many companies to choose on what they would prefer in line with the type of audience. The changing nature of the music industry has presented a new challenge to the new program producers: breaking into the limelight and drawing a good number of audiences to attract many companies yearning for such arenas. The popular pop and rock culture seem to work best for advertisers who want to reach a larger audience. This is largely because pop is arguably the biggest crowd puller in the UK.
Rationale
The marketing and advertising industry has been revolutionized in many ways as evidenced by the emergence of internet. These changes have been observed as internet has presented a lot of avenues for modern and mercurial advertising. The challenge to the mainstream media like television therefore is in the ability of the producers and program designers to come up with cutting-edge advertising methods that include appropriate and attractive programs to draw the attention of the target audience hugely. The question to be asked is whether the music advertising programs benefit the audience.
Statement of research question
Popular musical culture presents a theoretical link that determines not only the ability to produce and consume but also the unending possibility for successful marketing and advertising. In reality, there is an upsurge of reality television shows, with the new ability to draw more audiences like never before hence the probability of more success in the industry.
Aim and objectives
This project aims to establish a new music program, predominantly with pop music in a reality television show to push the advertising agenda forward.
The following are the objectives of the research:
- To learn how to formulate and implement advertising and marketing plans for the successful marketing and promotion of the band
- To identify the specific steps that can be used to run a reality television show and boost advertising revenues.
Theoretical Framework
Live with Music will be a reality TV show that exposes the pop music to the audience. The program will carry on with both established record labels as well as independent labels. In the recent past, independent labels have made a name for drawing huge crowds in their live performances, giving a proof that they have a huge influence in the society just like established record labels. For example, Arctic Monkeys (Domino) is ruling the billboard chart with their Favourite Worst Nightmare album (Salmon, 2007). Other independent labels such as Block Party (Wichita), Kaiser Chiefs (B unique), Maximo Park have also experienced immeasurable success in the music industry with their diehard fans (Salmon, 2007). Celebrities are known to reflect both sides of the society, the moral ambassadors and the negative image of the society (Eliashberg, Hui & Zhang, 2007).
They are known to influence the way the general society behaves as many of them would emulate as a whole or in part what their celebrity heroes do, both in private and public. Did you know that we normally take celebrities to have more worth than ourselves? We would rather take a designer clothe done by a celebrity than the one by an unknown designer. In this case, quality is pushed aside to pave way for prestige of associating with a renowned celebrity/ designer.
In this perspective, it is important to note the increased use of television viewing as a result of increased application of creative programs such as those in reality TV shows. Furthermore, the music industry has presented a new form of challenge as well as befits to the advertising industry. A combination of creative pieces in the ad productions and alluring programs like music is what a successful music program is made of. The critical decisions to be made are subject to careful analysis of the budgeting criteria.
It will be of much importance if the new music program leads us to a structured process of drawing and implementing appropriate advertising plan for our clients who would want nothing less than above average considering the competitive nature of the advertising industry and competing programs. It is my passion in music combined with the intellectual knowledge of contemporary management issues related to popular culture and music that will be used to establish a popular advertising avenue. To achieve the noble task of building a stronger brand of Live with Music, it is my wish and belief that the proposal proceeds to help me realize my dream- to see Live with Music hold an important position in the television programs with continuous culture of success and prosperity.
Brief Literature Review
In most cases, entertainment TV programs have put in place room for the analysis of the contents of the music they play, to ensure that it goes in line with their culture (Chatman, 1978). Chatman (1978) says that the content analysis will determine whether the show will attract many audiences or become a flop. Davis (2007) says that analysis of content is a recognized qualitative technique, which historians have applied in their analysis as well as study of literature recorded including films and television programs.
With the increased use of technology, music can be obtained from all quarters, thereby increasing the possibility that some viewers would be having a lot of knowledge on the music being analyzed that they would need more and more details of the record and artists they love or like. It is possible to argue that no sector has been transformed in the last decade like music, thanks to the digital technology.
Traditionally, Independent record labels are not getting much publicity as compared to their established counterparts. These new bands’ efforts to rush to present their new demo tracks to the recording companies with high hope of making a kill out of their creative works is considered to be as a result of the culture of quick success that some musicians or record companies have got (Davis, 2007). Despite all these efforts, the successes have not matched the high expectations, hence proving counterproductive as many artists do not manage to contain the hype that was characteristics of their first release (Salmon, 2007).
Historically and as expected, these disappointments created the many independent labels, which have tried to penetrate the market with their music records with no attachments to the mainstream recording companies. This need for publicity by the artists, especially the upcoming ones is the idea behind the proposed show that is needed to boost their marketability as well as increase the demand for advertising opportunities.
Methodology
The show hosts would be involved in the analysis of the music and the musicians, their lives, both professional and personal lives as compared to their levels of success. In other words, it would examine and analyze the professionalism of the artists, their day to day activities and their hidden personal lives that the public would be interested to know as the rumors have been known to drive the music industry and celebrity lives.
Other than playing the pop and rock music, Live with Music would also host artists, both independent and established at different sessions to interview them, giving the viewers opportunity to ask questions and comments on their music and lives. In other words, it would be an opportunity for interactive show merged into the music session plus thorough analysis. Additionally, the show would be engaging other people, especially the fans who would be chosen randomly, after some random selection and interviews before the show.
The show would run as follows: daily, the show would feature a minimum of two celebrity singers, an upcoming artist vs. an established artist. The first 15 minutes of the show, their daily life would be featured through the cameras so that the viewers would be in a position to glance at their daily routine, from the moment they are awake to the go to bed. It would be interesting to reveal how people whose lives are assumed to be unique and odd live ordinary lives like we do, probably the difference would be how they run their daily lives between home and production studios, and handle the public perception as they meet people outside duty or performance.
The host of the show would be Tom Brumpton, freelance public relations professional, a journalist and a seasoned Radio Show Host whose experience would be critical handling the task. Currently, as a co-host of Extreme To Serene Radio, Tom is has a lot of experience in the behind the scene (radio) talk show that would be critical in this program (Linketh.com, 2009). Because Tom is also a specialist in entertainment, business, media and marketing, the general idea of the show is to make room for new edge of advertising opportunities.
The Show Schedule and the Target Audience
Live with Music would be made to take care of the need of the both adults and teenagers at the same time. That is, it would be the viewing needs of both adult and teenagers, who normally embrace music as part of their culture. In this case, it is an entertainment, informative as well as educative program that is designed to catch the attention of wide range of viewers. The proposed show will run for one and a half hours during the weekends, from 9.00 to 10.30 pm. This is to ensure that only teenagers and adults get the opportunity to watch and participate in the show, while children would be presumably asleep to prevent them from encountering any offensive actions and behaviors.
In this program, the intention is to have TV station that is known to have hosted some of the entertainment reality shows that had drawn huge audiences. Thus the choice of 4music, with its wide screen television network capability. After being launched in 2008, the first popular show to be hosted was the Davina and Steve’s 20 Big Ones (Linketh.com, 2009). It was followed by another popular show in the Big Brother Live. These shows drew huge number of viewers and fans, subsequently attracting a huge number of advertising companies.
According to Linketh.com (2009), the possibility of defining the future of television advertising business is dependent on the popularity of the program and the cultural orientation of the audience. How the popular culture can determine the success of a television show, and more specifically a music show with artists hosted in the analysis. Popular cultures influence what is to be produced and consumed (Chatman, 1978). The performance indicator is the ability to present an integrated approach to advertising, albeit without compromising the entertainment aspect of the show (Eliashberg, Hui & Zhang, 2007).
The Show Personnel
- The Show Host: He/she is charge of the show as a whole. In this case, the host will take the responsibility of inviting the artists of choice, organising the schedule for their appearances and ensuring that the overall show runs smoothly. In summary, the show host is more of the overall manager both behind the scene and in front of the cameras.
- Backline Technician: responsible for all of the instrumentation, equipment and the stage set. Work very closely with host to make sure that all the technical areas are in perfect working condition and must help if equipment fails during a show.
- Production Manager: arrange and administer the technical requirements and staff for a show. Also plays the role of coordinating the activities of both the station staff and the visiting artists, hence must have an overview of the entire production.
Evaluation and Control
To ensure viewers get value for their time, a review of the program will be carried out on regular basis, making the viewers part of the review and evaluation process. Increasing the participation will be paramount as it will be the attraction for more advertising companies. This will be evaluated by following the number of people who purchase the albums reviewed, hence resulting with a tentative outcome with the popularity of the show. This will also help us analyze the strength of the fan base. At the same time, the number of callers will be recorded and a form of survey will be conducted by our team to ensure the new callers are noted for our evaluation purposes. From this show, we expect the number participants to increase exponentially.
Reference List
Chatman, S. (1978) Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. New York, Cornell University Press.
Davis, M.B. (2007) Doing a Successful Research Project. Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillian.
Eliashberg, J., Hui, S.K & Zhang J (2007) From Storyline to Box Office: A New Approach for Green-Lighting Movie Scripts. Management Science, 53 (6), 881-894.
Linketh. (2009) Tom Brumpton summery and career highlights. Web.
Salmon, R. (2007) Starting your own record Label: Marketing your music in a digital world. Web.
Ofcom, 2008. The communication market: Key market development in television. Web.