Planning: Band/Artist

Planning: Band/Artist

We have decided the name the band Something Else, because it is simple, short and easy to remember, therefore appealing to our laid back teenage target audience. Other pop rock bands I have researched have similar short names, for example Green Day, blink-182 and No Doubt. It also has connotations of originality.

There are three members of the band: a guitarist/vocalist, a bassist and a drummer. We chose to use these instruments as through research we found that they are conventional to the pop rock music genre, and therefore the audience would recognise the band and the music genre they fall under. They are particularly conventional to rock music, as the simplicity of the three instruments connotes musical credibility by distancing themselves from electronically produced popular music. Also, this simplicity connotes a sense of freedom and ‘raw talent’, and will therefore appeal to the target demographic of 15-17 year olds.

Upon first planning our band, we agreed to have three male band members in order to conform to the typical gender of the artists within the genre. However, after looking back over my research I found female lead singers are often found too, for example in the bands No Doubt and Paramore. As a group we then decided to challenge conventions about female artists in bands, and have decided that both the drummer and bassist will be female. From a feminist perspective, we are challenging stereotypes of female pop artists by distancing our band members from the image obsessed stereotypes, and by giving them musical credibility as musicians in the band. We aim to appeal to the young, modern female members of the audience by providing more relatable and admirable role models.

The age of the band members will range from 17-21. It is important that the band members be young so that the audience can relate to them; when researching comparable products I found that pop rock artists never glamourise their lifestyle and always try to identify with their teenage target audience by connoting that they are on the ‘same level’ as them. To this end, the videos depict relatable situations and characters, as well as members of the band, so that the audience can empathise with the artists and characters involved.