Music Marketing

                                   Alternative Rock

  The genre that preceded this revamped, modern trend, Rock, was all about emerging in artistry with newer ideas, writing songs and making performances that express "the human condition", and created devoted fans with a love for this newfound expression of the vulnerabilities of life. Alternative rock soon emerged after, while Rock bent societal constructs of what was deemed "acceptable" behavior which appealed to younger audiences, Alternative rock broke them entirely. The idea of something being alternative often makes us think of shattering artistic boundaries and stepping out of the confines of what is expected of us, and this genre does just that by taking it a step further and breaking rules of the singular Rock genre, though sticking to the genre's roots, now many more sub genres branch off and create a much more diverse audience than ever before.

Current Marketing Trends in Alternative Rock

  A major part of current trends in the marketing of a band to their desired audience are the use of social media platforms. Here, the distribution of their products for sale can be advertised through virtually any means, to a wide array of diverse audiences, predominantly adolescent and young adults with Gen Z and Millennials taking up the majority. Which for bands and artists within this genre, is really helpful as alternative rock is more modern and appeals to younger audiences, usually making these two generations their biggest consumers. Among these platforms, the most popular are Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.  Popular alternative-indie rock band The 1975 illustrates this example well with using social media to promote typewriter style letters with hints about what is to come for the upcoming album. This created fan engagement online with theories and ideas that would spread around the fanbase rapidly, dipping into the feeds of people who may have not originally belonged to the band's fanbase, and gained a lot of traction for their pending release. Another way they created fan engagement with theories was by completely deleting their social media altogether. It may seem counter-productive but in turn spread potential theories like wildfire, rumors that the band was breaking up, or that there was a new record in the works, kept fans consistently on their feet with keeping up to date on the band's status. Finally, they ended their campaign with a series of pop-up shops that sold new merchandise, such as shirts and vinyls for their album, all of which were said to embody their social media presence at the time of its release.

                                                        Case Study #1: The 1975

  

  Another trend that is consistent throughout the marketing of this genre is live performances to promote themselves and their products, particularly at festivals that host alternative genres that are really popular amongst their common target audiences such as Vans Warped Tour, III Points, Riptide Music Festival, and many more across the country. Often times it is cheaper for these artists to perform at venues that host multiple artists, as they don't have to purchase extra equipment and the majority of said equipment is provided for them. In turn, they profit having not spent as much money as if they were to have their own event, and ticket sales raise money for them, even in the future, because fans who are attracted to these events for one artist in particular may find themselves as new fans for the newer artist performing, gaining them positive attention. One example of using these festivals for promotional marketing purposes is the early 2000s alternative rock band, The Killers. In 2019, they performed live at the Riptide Music Festival to promote their sixth studio album, which also happened to be the band's first performance in two years. This really gained the group a profit, not only did it attract new fans of their latest album that would air on radio from the hosts of this particular festival, but it brought in their oldest fans too. They were able to capitalize off of both their modern, young target audience, and off of nostalgia and together they are a powerful combination.

                                                      Case Study #2: The Killers

How we Chose to Develop the Brand of our Band

  My group and I's band chose the name BLKHONEYMOON, a short and easily memorable name, written in a way we believe works well with the overall look, aesthetic, and sound of the genre. Speaking of aesthetics, we use this heavily and consistently throughout our branding. Much like the name of our band, we wanted something that would be just as simplistic while being artistic simultaneously, something that would appeal to our target audience, Gen Z and Millennials.  

  To do this, we chose a bold font for our band logo, dark colors with pink accents. We drew inspiration of this from the aforementioned, The 1975. In the band's debut title album, they chose a dark, minimalistic look, which had a dark background with a white neon sign framing their band's name, which was also neon and white. In their second studio album, I like it when you sleep for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it, they chose to maintain the same iconic imagery with the embellishment of their name, however this time the once black background is white and the frame surrounding the band's name as well as the band's name itself are neon pink. These two album covers gained a lot of popularity among young audiences, blending in with the popularized aesthetic on social media at the times of their release, but simultaneously standing out just enough in it's simplistic yet artistic imagery to make a name for themselves within the past decade.

  For more information on our process, click the link  to our Google Slides presentation here:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/15HqPda3qrLXmrNoiuVSYcclExIMP8r7kah-g9mp37d8/edit?usp=sharing

Our Marketing Products

We chose to go a more traditional route with our marketing products and merchandise, while still giving our audience a wide variety of options within each product. In total, we have a variety of shirts and hoodies, pins and stickers, album vinyls, and limited edition collaboration with Doc Martens, a popular shoe brand worldwide and even more popular within the fanbase of alternative music and style. Below are some samples of what our products look like and their prices (also available in our 

powerpoint):

What I learned about marketing and development of a marketing campaign

  Important things I have learned about marketing in this music genre and industry are the importance of accessibility, diversity, and making your community feel like a tight-knit one, and knowing your audience.

  Through accessibility, the use of social media platforms, streaming services, and websites are vital to modern day profiting.

  Social media platforms, such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, provide an easily accessible way for a broad range of potential fans and audience members all over the world. Here, marketing is made easy, with the ability to post promotional tweets, posts, and stories, link websites for the band, tickets, and other merchandise, and the ability to interact with your audience through forums, comments and likes truly make this a hub for the band to connect to a diverse world of people who have been there since the beginning, and for potential new people to call fans.

   Streaming services, such as Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, and Souncloud are taking over in the way people consume the music form of media. Again, it feeds into the easily accessible factor that people want, and apps like Spotify for Artists can give a feel for where you stand in popularity both locally and internationally.

  Finally, knowing your audience may just be the most important thing above all else. Before you can even use certain techniques, know your audience. Know who you are aiming to target in a sea of potential consumers. Are they older generations or newer generations? What are the trends within said generation? What way are they most likely to view the way you put yourself out there? And how will you draw them into becoming a dedicated fan who views your shows and purchases your products?