Fan Base Research

In order to be able to gain the fan base i would like, and to promote appropriately towards this, i need to look into other bands/artists who have a similar fan base to mine.

What am i looking for?

• How they promote themselves
• Their particular image
• Their genre of music
• Past music videos
• How they involve themselves with the fans E.g through the media 

MY FAN BASE AIM;

My target audience is roughly from age 14 up to young adults (early 20's). in order to do this i need to find out whats 'in' and whats appropriate and what this age range likes in this generation of things. Also to be able to entice and keep personal and relate to this diverse age range. i have to appeal to 15 year olds as-well-as fans who are 21. 

I dont want the genre of my Artist to just fit into the 'pop' area of the industry. I want to add in an indie element to fit into the indie pop. I feel this will widen my fan base and make it more diverse.

I can already tell from the ideas i have, that my artists is going to appeal more the the female popularity, however i don't want to isolate myself to just girls, i do want to try and reach out to the male society, and to not completely block that element out. 

Demographics; 

Age: 15 to 25
Sex: 75% female- 15% male
Background: Prominently middle class
Occupation: Largely students
Race: Mostly caucasian

RESEARCH

'Rizzle Kicks' 

Rizzle kicks are an english hip-hop duo from Brighton. There debut album 'Stereo typical' was released october 2011, and have sold over 1million singles and 600,000 albums in the UK. There fan base consists of a similar age range that i am aiming for. 

Their past music videos have been mainly about showing them as people and what sort of act they are. Their former music video's have shown they are down to earth people who don't take themselves to seriously and enjoy what they do and make the most of it.

'The 1975'

The 1975 are an English, Manchester-based alternative rock/indie band from Wilmslow in Cheshire. The Group consists of 4 young adult males. They have released four EP;s and released their first debut album in september 2013, which went straight to the top of the charts. 

Their image is very quirky, indie-hipster. Their not the average pretty boy band. Their faces isn't what promotes them as a band, it's their music and overall style.

The reason why 1975 interest me is because they are not a pop band with loads of small girls chasing after them. They are an alternative band, however they managed to make it to number one in the charts which is very unconventional, meaning their fan base is of a variety and quite diverse. With my artist i'm aiming to dive into the same fan category as these three artists/band. 

 "James Arthur"

James Arthur is a british singer and musician who won the ninth series of The X Factor in 2012. His debut single, "impossible", was released after the final and debuted at number one on the UK singles chart in it's first week of release. He is solo artist, whose music is pop  but with an edgy feel. He, like Rizzle Kicks and The 1975, writes his own songs. I like this element of these artists/bands because it creates originality and a more personal feel between fans and the artists because the song they are hearing is relating to the artist most of the time.  

James Arthurs image is very similar to how i my Artist is going to present themselves. This look is very popular with the girl at the moment, so this is a good way to bring fans in before the music element kicks in.

  PROMOTION

These three artists/band/duos all promote themselves and have presented themselves through radio stations such as Radio one, and performed on radio live lounge. This is a very in- piece of media in this generation, and a lot of well established artists as well as some alternative not as well known artists. Its a good place to get seen for your talent. I would definitely follow in their footsteps, and promote get my Artist involved within areas such as Radio Live lounge. 

Biggest influence
Ed Sheeran as an artist is a big influence when thinking about my artist and what sort of crowd he would fit into and how he would choose to present himself to his fans. When doing my research i realised 'The A team' Ed Sheeran's first single and music video is a really good example to discuss because it matches what i want to achieve exactly. This music video is a narrative and represents the
lyrics beautiful and very effectively. This is exactly what i want my music video to do, not to show the artist as a shining star but to enforce the meaning and message of the song, and to promote the artists for his skilled song writing and messages portrayed which Ed Sheeran is known for being extremely talented in doing so.

During research of this particular music video i found out it was actually nominated for a Grammy, which shows the effect this video had on the public/the fans of Ed Sheeran and the popularity of his choice of music video convention.