Music Channel

The Music Factory

TMF is one of MTVs many branches of music channels. TMF is devoted to pop music and is an extremely popular channel as it is part of the freeview package. TMF is one of the main MTV channels which doesn't just braodcast music:

Here are a couple of programmes I have selected from their daily schedule. There is a huge range of programmes to reach a wide audience from children's TV, to music videos, to reality TV, to celebrity programmes. There are lots of programmes where thea udience are encouraged to be interactive, for example 'love match' where you text in you and your partner's name and TMF 'predict' whether you'll be a longlasting match.

MUSIC
1:00 - Big Ones & New Ones
The freshest videos on the box can be found right here!

KIDS
7:00 - Go Diego Go!
Diego is an action-adventure hero with an intense love of animals. He invites preschoolers to help him race to the rescue with a host of gadgets & vehicles including his transforming Rescue Pack!
7:30 - Dora The Explorer
Join Dora and her best friend, a monkey named Boots, in another exciting adventure.

MUSIC
9:00 - Ultimate 20 21st Century Videos

CELEBS
13:00 - Cribs
Welcome to Cribs, the most exciting way to peep into the homes of your favourite celebrities without getting slapped with a restraining order.

REALITY/CELEBS/PRANKS
13:30 - Punk'd
Sketch comedy show featuring Ashton Kutcher playing practical jokes on unsuspecting celebrities. Friends, family and a host of extras get involved in the Candid Camera-style pranks.

REALITY
14:00 - Laguna Beach: The Real O.C.
LC and the girls decide it's about time that all of the college kids from Laguna have a barbeque get together at her house. Meanwhile, Kristen is treated to a brand new car.

REALITY/AUDIENCE INTERACTIVITY
14:30 - Date My Mom UK
The weird dating show that has 1 hot batchelor dating three yummy mummies to discover everything they can about their daughters before making a final choice comes to the UK....

CELEBS
18:30 - Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica
The Newlyweds Vacation: Nick, Jessica, Drew, and Lea go skiing. Nick has problems skiing.

MUSIC
19:00 - The Official Download Chart
We take a look at the official biggest downloads of the moment.

CELEBS
20:00 - Celebrity Fashion Disasters...
...All Access: Good fashion choices? That's easy. But we're here to talk about the other side of fashion - the choices that are usually only whispered about behind people's backs.

AUDIENCE INTERACTIVITY
21:00 - Awesomely Wacky Families
Think your family is wacky? Your relatives have nothing on these dysfunctional families. Join us as we visit the Jacksons, the Osbournes, the Bushes, the Clintons, the Windsors and more.

It's clear to see that for an artist to be broadcast on TMF they would have to be nationally popular. That doesn't necessarily mean pop artists, but bands and soloists who have national appeal, for example, the arctic monkeys aren't a pop band, but they have taken the nation by storm. Furthermore, TMF places such emphasis on celebrity culture, that an artist would have to be very involved on the a-list scene and would have to have an appealing image.

Independent Record Label

Moshi Moshi Records

Moshi Moshi Records is a small London-based independent record label that has released music by bands such as The Rakes, Bloc Party and Hot Chip. It was formed in 2001 as a hobby by a group of friends who wanted an opportunity to work on the music they liked, outside the mainstream world of their major-label day jobs. In 2006 they released a compilation album of the best songs they’ve released in the five years they’ve been a record label.

Artists:

Alterkicks
Architecture in Helsinki
Au Revoir Simone
Best Fwends
Bloc Party
Blue Foundation
Break bot
Dananananakroyd
Dntel
Fans of Kate
Foreign Born
The Grates
Hot Chip
Hot Club de Paris
Ingo Star Cruiser
J Xaverre
Junk Boy
Kate Nash
Lo-Fi-Fnk
The Mae Shi
Mates of State
Matt and Kim
Matt Harding
New Rhodes
Pedro v Kathryn Williams
The Rakes
Rat:att:agg
Roland Shanks
Slow Club
Sukpatch
Tilly and the Wall
Unsound
Yeti
Zan Lyons

Independent Record Label

Rough Trade Records

Rough Trade Records started out as an independent record label based in London. It grew out of the Rough Trade shop in 1978 and also went into the distribution business. It then became independent from the shop in 1982. It went bankrupt in 1991 ruining quite a few smaller record labels that they owed money to. It was then relaunched in 2000. Rough Trade is known for specialising in European post-punk and other alternative rock. BMG (a big record company who are in allegiance with Sony) bought them out in 2002.

In 2006 Rough Trade went on to create 'rough trade digital' an online shop where you can pay to download good 'indie' music. It was set up to compete with the growing demand for downloadable tracks, but also to promote the importance of paying for downloads, instead of illegally downloading.

Artists:
1990s
Aberfeldy
Antony & The Johnsons
Arcade Fire
A.R.E. WeaponsVirginia
Astley
Babyshambles
Beachwood Sparks
Bell Orchestré
Belle & Sebastian
Brakes
British Sea Power
Basia Bulat
Jarvis Cocker
Cornershop
The Decemberists
Delays
Detroit Cobras
Dr. Dog Cara
DillonBaxter
Dury
Eastern Lane
Equation
The Fiery Furnaces
Adam Green
Hal
The Hidden Cameras
Islands
Lavender Diamond Jeffrey Lewis
Jenny Lewis
The Libertines
The Long Blondes
LowThe Mescalitas
The Moldy Peaches
Oneida
Phantom Buffalo
Queen Adreena
Eddi Reader
Relaxed Muscle
Alasdair Roberts
Royal City Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
Scissors For Lefty
Scritti Politti
The Strokes
Sufjan Stevens
Sun Kil Moon
Super Furry Animals
Emiliana Torrini
The Tyde
The Unicorns
The Veils

Although Rough Trade is no longer an independent record label, it still acts as one, in order to retain its 'image'. Therefore, people still see the label as being, cool, new, innovative and original and so are more inclined to buy records from its artists.

My Track Ideas

Tracks

• Takin' Over - Ralph Robles, 3:03

Rough treatment for the video: tying in with the idea of people in costumes doing silly things this would be great. The latin theme could induce behavious such as monkeys shaking their bums and tums in funny latino skirts. 'The land of boogaloo' deffo ties in with the madness and animalness that would be invoked. Great breaks in the music for dance routines, loads of different instruments, no vocals.

• Freakshow - Krafty Kuts, 4:12

Rough Treatment for the video: again could tie in with the themes we have, probably too techno. Freaks. Nina can have angels devils fat people and dwarfs!

• Bass Phenomenon - Krafty Kuts, 4:03

Really deep voice saying 'Bass phenomenon' will be wicked to completely juxtapose with a skinny white boy or a moneky or whatever. The fast pace is great for narrative, especially for a chase, with people jumping on cars, hidhing behind walls, escaping from starsky and hutch-type characters.

• Brown Boxes - The Spinto Band, 2:28

About a guy leaving behind all the commotion at his house as he's breaking up with his girlfriend. To make this quirky there are a series of ideas we could pick from: the guy's being kicked out because he's different because he's a monkey and no one else is. OR it could be based around a kind of Goldilocks-style story, where the couple (dressed as bears) are arguing over porridge or something silly and he leaves and he's really cute and fluffy (the music is quite nursery-rhyme-ish). AND I had the idea of funny creatures coming out of the boxes doing silly things. AND we can esily include the band playing funny instruments weirdly in the background. A definate narrative idea.

• Convenience - BOB, 3:33

Great if we wanted to do a happy, cute video with a boy singing about the girl he likes as she goes about on her motorbike, lots of shots of her hair flowing, her smiling lots, lots of slow mo, her dancing around in cute dresses.

• Love is the only law - Pondlife, 3:19

Not really the right song but ska is a good genre we could work from, very lively lots of instruments.

• Skinny Girls - The Fratellis, 2:18

The set up of a perfect narrative - a guy wakes up with three girls in his room. The girls are very weird, superficial, cabaret-type characters who wear loads of make-up and mad dresses, highly attractive. In comparison, we have this guy who could be a monkey or a complete geek or something and he's really shocked as they drag him around, feed him cornflakes and beer, dress him up, take him to a party (someone dancing stupidly in a club in a costume!). We can definately include the rest of the band: they could just be dotted around in different shots randomly, like in the background pretending to be tramps or something, like the E4 men who are just really funny. And they could be animals too. This track is really fast-paced, so needs to have loads of energy and attack with potential for extremely impressive cinematography and editing skills.

• Oh Pretty Woman, Roy Orbison, 2:58

The video would be about a guy or a group trying to woo a woman. Plenty of scopography, intimate shots panning up the sexy woman's legs etc. Their attempts could failing a lot, plenty of them trying to serenade her. Wouldn't really fit with what we want to do, too slow and cheesy probably. But its pretty amazing this song doesn't already have a video!

Close analysis of one album cover

Image: iconic image of bassist Paul Simonon smashing up his guitar at The Palladium in New York City - which was at the time the 'Mecca' of punk and new wave music. This has been later voted the greatest rock n roll photograph of all time.

Although we appear to be close to the key figure, the image is still a long shot, and the rest of the band are out of focus - but still visible - in the background. The wires on stage are present in the image which conveys the fact that this is a live performance, proving how much of a spontaneous and impulsive moment the photographer has captured. This moment reflects the rebellious nature of 'The Clash', a band renowned for their passionately political opinions - left wing, anti-monarchy and anti-aristocracy. Furthermore, they're influence stirred up the public as it drew upon contemporary political issues, especially amongst the working classes (for example, their song 'career opportunities' expressed their discontent about the alienation of low-paid, production line style employment and the lack of alternatives.) Therefore, this picture perfectly encapsulates this sense of uprising and rebellion that the Clash's punk movement was actively spreading.

The cover conforms to conventions, with the band name and album title framing the central image. The text is pink and green, in a quite bubbly, slightly jokey-style font, apparently replicating an old Elvis Presley album. It directly contrasts with the black and white image, making the album look much more contemporary and exciting. The text here is in a reasonably large font, to grab the audience's attention and to immediately promote the album. The spine repeats the name and album title also naming the production company and showing the reference number - essential institutional information.

The back cover once again uses a large font, the same style as on the front cover, to name the band and album title. Underneath this is a list of each band member and their role:

"MICK JONES: GUITARS, VOCALS
JOE STRUMMER: VOCALS, RHYTHM GUITAR
PAUL SIMONON: BASS, VOCALS
TOPPER HEADON: DRUMS, PERCUSSION"

This gives a sense of introducing the band, which is essential in selling an album. Underneath this is a list of tracks and their titles. This is a conventional album cover feature, as it informs the consumer of the tracks, and is also a tool for recognition - when the potential buyer of the album reads the back, if singles they know and like appear in the track listing, they are more likely to trust that the rest of the album will be good. This album has 19 tracks. The back cover also includes two more photographs of the band performing live, one of Joe Strummer on guitar with the crowd cheering behind him, and one of Mick Jones and Topper Headon performing around the drum kit. These images once again establish the band as being musical and instrument-based, and anchors their genre of music - they are clearly not a cheesy pop band. Like the front cover, the images on the back are in black and white, keeping the theme and style continuous. More institutional information is included here - 'Columbia records' and their logo, the reference number, the copyright laws statement and symbol, and Sony Music Entertainment is named.

The inner sleeve of my version of the album is probably different to the original as it is a 25th anniversary addition, nonetheless it is apparent that the theme of black and white images, bright green and pink block colours is still used. A font is also used inside which is in the style of scrawly handwriting, giving a sense that the band were quite messy, arty, spontaneous and down-to-earth.

Overall, the cover gives a sense of an underground, independent band. However, this is just where the band had originally emmerged from - at this point, The Clash were huge stars who had even broken America, however they still held onto the 'small indie punk rock band' image. Furthermore, knwoing the huge scale of 'Columbia Records' productions and the importance of Sony in the music industry, it is clear that they are aiming for a huge, much more mainstream audience than you'd originally expect.

Album Covers

From top (left to right):

• Bjork - Post (1995)
• Dido - Life for rent (2003)
• Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous (1978)
• The Beatles - Abbey Road (1969)
• Destiny's Child - Number 1's (2005)
• Razorlight - self titled (2006)
• I am Kloot - self titled (2003)
• The eels - electro-shock blues (1998)
• Massive Attack - blue lines (1991)

I've grouped them according to the style/main image.

* The 1st row all have an image of a singular person. The women are both solo artists, and although Thin Lizzy is a band, their album cover predominantly shows their lead singer/guitarist.

* The second row all use images which show a whole band. Both the Beatles and Razorlight use the whole band in one image, Destiny's Child places three seperated photographs next to one another.

* The 3rd row however, is using graphics to represent the band and the album. The I am Kloot album has used simply the name of the band in bold writing, The eels have used what appears like a hand-drawn picture, and Massive Attack have adapted a well-known symbol.

It'd also be interesting if i categorised chronologically. (Differences and similarities between 1960s and 2000s)

Typical Features an album cover has:

Front:
• Main image
• Name of artist
• Title of album
• Band logo? Title in a recognisable style of the artist

Back (i.e. the sleeve)
• Track list
• Special Features
• Another predominant image underneath the text

Institutional information:
• Price
• Barcode
• Record Label
• Year of publishing
• Copyright
• Individual track writers, composers, engineers, producers
• A reference number
• Band members
• Guest performers

Spine:
• Name of artist
• Title of album
• Record label
• Reference number

Inserts:
• Further institutional information for each individual track
• Song lyrics
• Photographs of artist
• Thank Yous

Purposes of an album cover:
To protect the album
To advertise the contents
Using the artistic design to reflect the creative intentions of artists
To reflect the principles, attitudes etc of record label
To stand out, to be interesting and eye-catching
To boost sales, enhance profit

Spike Jonze

Spike Jonze - just a bit of research:

Has worked in advertising, films and television, has also done some acting. best known for his music videos:

Music videos
"High in High School" by Chainsaw Kittens (1992)
"100%" by Sonic Youth (1992)
"Cannonball" by The Breeders (1993)
"Country At War" by X (1993)
"Daughters of the Kaos" by Luscious Jackson (1993)
"Hang On" by Teenage Fanclub (1993)
"Time For Livin'" by the Beastie Boys (1993)
"All About Eve" by Marxman (1994)
"Buddy Holly" by Weezer (1994)
"Ditch Digger" by Rocket From the Crypt (1994)
"Divine Hammer" by The Breeders (1994)
"Feel the Pain" by Dinosaur Jr. (1994)
"I Can't Stop Smiling" by Velocity Girl (1994)
"If I Only Had a Brain" by MC 900 Ft. Jesus (1994)
"Old Timer" by That Dog (1994)
"Ricky's Theme" by Beastie Boys (1994)
"Sabotage" by Beastie Boys (1994) (also writer)
"Sure Shot" by Beastie Boys (1994)
"Undone (The Sweater Song)" by Weezer (1994)
"California" by Wax (1995)
"Car Song" by Elastica (1995)
"Crush with Eyeliner" by R.E.M. (1995)
"Freedom of '76" by Ween (1995)
"It's Oh So Quiet" by Björk (1995)
"The Diamond Sea" by Sonic Youth (1995)
"Who Is Next?" by Wax (1995)
"Drop" by The Pharcyde (1996)
"Da Funk" by Daft Punk (1997)
"Electrolite" by R.E.M. (1997)
"Elektrobank" by The Chemical Brothers (1997)
"It's All About the Benjamins (rock version)" by Puff Daddy (1997)
"Liberty Calls" by Mike Watt (1997)
"Shady Lane" by Pavement (1997)
"Sky's The Limit" by Notorious B.I.G. (1997)
"Home (Sean Lennon song)" by Sean Lennon (1998)
"Praise You" by Fatboy Slim (1998) - award winning
"Root Down" (version 2) by Beastie Boys (1998)
"The Rockafeller Skank" (version 1) by Fatboy Slim (1998)
"Weapon of Choice" by Fatboy Slim (2000)
"What's Up, Fatlip?" by Fatlip (2000)
"Wonderboy" by Tenacious D (2000)
"Island in the Sun" (Version 2) by Weezer (2002)
"It's in Our Hands" by Björk (2002)
"Big Brat" by Phantom Planet (2003)
"Get Back" by Ludacris (2004)
"Y Control" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2004)
"Triumph of a Heart" by Björk (2005)
" Blessed Evening" by Foetus (2005)

His work is known to be wildly creative and eccentric, he is a cult figure amongst many movie or music fans, made his name in 1994 with his Beastie Boys video, but prefers to stay completely out of the limelight. his real name is Adam Spiegel.