EXTENDED PROJECT
To What Extent Have Independent Labels Changed the Music Industry?
REBECCA REES AIM OF EXTENDED PROJECT
EPQ REQUIREMENT
There are four types of project you can choose to carry out; • Write a dissertation • Produce and artefact, such as a sculpture or DVD • Develop and showcase a performance, such as a sport, drama piece • Conduct an investigation or field study
MY PROJECT
- show great evaluation
- visual learner (writing my opinions and objective conclusions down) PROJECT THEME WHY DID I CHOSE TO FOCUS ON THE MUSIC INDUSTRY?
• I will be studying a degree in music business and marketing at University in 2017
• Independent labels offer more diverse perspectives than major labels
• I am familiar with underground music, my interest lies in the setting up of new bands
• Extended my knowledge for my coursework in my English Language and Media Studies A levels TITLES WORKING TITLE(S):
(Please see SHEET 1)
FINAL TITLE: To What Extent Have Independent Labels Changed the Music Industry? A contextual study featuring; Creation Records, Sony Records and Communion Records
WHY I CHOSE THE TITLE I DID:
• More specific • Covered previous titles as chapters in my discussion • Contextual studies equally dispersed; taken from start, middle and end of discussion PROJECT PROPOSAL
• Initial research: found the first established independent record label
• Further research: devised new chronological discussion points
DISCUSSION POINTS FORMED:
• First success of independent UK record labels Featuring Heavenly Records and Creation Records • Battle of Label Success Featuring Sony Records • Why independent labels no longer only recognise alternative, underground, sub-genre music? An insight into Britpop • What caused the rebirth of success for independent labels? • Expansion of ownership of independent record labels Featuring Communion Records • Todays digital age and future of labels TIME MANAGEMENT
BEING TIME EFFICIENT AND SELECTIVE
At the start of the project I split up my course to dedicate different time periods to different sections of my planning, research and dissertation. My Activity Log on my blog (rrepq.wordpress.com) will show this.
• Project planning. (1 week)
• Research. (5 weeks)
• Development of arguments. (6 weeks)
• Other sections of the project. (2 weeks)
• Editing. (3 weeks)
• Presentation. (1 week) TIME MANAGEMENT PLANNING OF TIME AND DEADLINES
DISSERTATION
• Abstract (February)
• Introduction. (January)
• Literature Review. (November)
• Discussion. (December)
• Conclusion. (January)
• Bibliography. (November) BLOG
rrepq.wordpress.com
• Weekly updates
• Constant evaluation of what was and wasn’t going well
• Place to store all ongoing work RESEARCH WHAT SOURCES DID I USE?
PRIMARY (Please see Sheet 2) • Online interview with University lecturers
SECONDARY • Documentaries • Books • Articles
WEAKNESSES:
• Finding direct relevance
• Very opinionated and subjective pieces found FINDINGS CONCLUSIONS WHAT DID I FIND?
FIRST SUCCESS OF UK INDEPENDENT LABELS
• Featuring Creation records and Heavenly records
• Influence of acid house and rave culture
• A new ‘DIY’ movement discovered nationally and connected via the indie labels FINDINGS CONCLUSIONS WHAT DID I FIND?
BATTLE OF LABEL SUCCESS
• Bad business ethic and attitude of artists causing independent labels to become bankrupt
• How major labels such as Sony saved these labels financially but killed ‘indie’ ethos
• Similar pattern happening across the country led to collapse of most established independent labels FINDINGS CONCLUSIONS WHAT DID I FIND?
WHY INDEPENDENT LABELS NO LONGER ONLY COVER SUB-GENRE, ALTERNATIVE AND UNDERGROUND MUSIC
• Era of Britpop saw indie become mainstream and commercialised
• The American grunge scene motivated the establishment of indie bands across all genres as they desperately tried to gain success FINDINGS CONCLUSIONS WHAT DID I FIND?
THE SUCCESS OF THE REBIRTH OF INDEPENDENT LABELS
• Rough Trade opening in America
• Bands themselves, such as The Libertines, brought back the ‘indie’ ethos
• Social media and interaction with fans built up independent platforms due to them being free and widely accessible FINDINGS CONCLUSIONS WHAT DID I FIND?
EXPANSION OF OWNERSHIP OF INDEPENDENT LABELS
• Jack Whites Third Man Records becoming more than a record label and more about an experience
• Bands and artists look for music they want to hear and believe in, with knowledge of the industry and early career
• Experience of relationships with managers FINDINGS CONCLUSIONS WHAT DID I FIND?
TODAYS DIGITAL AGE AND THE FUTURE OF LABELS
• DIY approach
• Independent labels are the gateways which obsess over the music, found on streaming sites and make it become noticed
• Digital platforms just make it easier for the artists to be heard by labels without having to put on gigs like Oasis or The Libertines did in the past. DISSERTATION EVAULATION OF FINDINGS
• What I expected
• Independent labels seen as more positive
• Did not expect the passionate response from bands
• Good how I could incorporate a lot of quotes and references into discussion EVALUATION OF OVERALL PROJECT
TO WHAT EXTENT DID I ACHIEVE WHAT I SET OUT TO DO?
• Managed to be selective with title and investigation
• I completed a large volume of writing and response
• Came to conclusions from industry experts which I also had belief in, this confirmed my knowledge and own expertise EVALUATION OF OVERALL PROJECT
HOW WELL DID I PERFORM AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE PROJECT?
• It took me a while to settle on a title
• I performed well with literature review
• I worked hard on discussion which required commitment and time ( 2 full rewrites)
• I could have worked harder with research in the earlier stages EVALUATION OF OVERALL PROJECT
WHAT SKILLS HAVE I LEARNT ABOUT RESEARCH AND WRITING A DISSERTATION?
• Time management
• Being self critical
• Writing in passive voice EVALUATION OF OVERALL PROJECT
WHAT PROBLEMS DID I HAVE TO OVERCOME?
• Finding academic sources I overcame this by contacting university lecturers
• Marking of work and deadlines Overcame this by asking peers to mark my work and keeping in communication with teachers to extend deadlines
• Keeping within the word count I overcame this by using my blog to document further research and knowledge EVALUATION OF OVERALL PROJECT
WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME AND WHY?
• Take more time to find a past project of the same topic as mine to see how I cold make my introduction and abstract more engaging
• More primary research
• Focus on a product and how this is affected, rather than a business (that is almost within another business) EVALUATION OF DISSERTATION
• Series of drafts, improvement time and constant deadlines
• Peer marking
• Research was emotive, bias, opinionated and showed huge enthusiasm = hard to not show that in my writing
• Led to my work reflecting my research
• I acknowledge my writing can be fairly narrative
• Lots of bands were used for synergy
• Lots of discussion points used to demonstrate reoccurring patterns in the industry EDITING MY DISSERTATION
• Word count of final draft = 2500 words over
• Final word count of submission = 6582
• Used blog to demonstrate further understanding and analysis after cutting this out main dissertation
• Reduced number of case studies and examples
• Created an appendix QUESTIONS