R+P Post 17: My chosen track

Our chosen track is Red Planet by Little Mix:

Red planet was written by Autumn Rowe, Tionne Watkins (also known by her stage name T-Boz), and Jon Levine (from left to right below).

The song was released on 19th of November 2012 as the 10th track on Little Mix's album 'DNA' and produced by Jon Levine (above).

Little Mix is a British girl group who first performed on X Factor, winning the eighth series. They debuted with their DNA album which was released in the United Kingdom via Syco Music. The album was co-written by Little Mix who have stated that they were involved with the development of the album as much as possible. The album is a mix of pop and RnB records with elements of pop rock. Their songs' lyrics promote empowerment and explore relationships as well as heartbreak. Little Mix has become very popular in the US with their albums lead single 'Wings' gaining fame in Canada, Belgium, New Zealand, the US and other countries.

This song is copyrighted so we had to send an email seeking permission to use it for our A-level project. The email is down below.

Here's a list of what I like and dislike about the track we've chosen.

R+P Post 16: My band or artist

Our band D4MES will be a four girl team who are between the ages of 18 and 20. We've grown up in London where we met each other as friends and discovered the same passion for singing and performing.

• Dames - a British title given to a woman with a knight rank. We aren't literally dames but the defnition gives us a classy edge and British identity. By adding the number 4 we've made it more fun and street.
• "We're street but we're prestige street. We're classy but it's 2015, we're fresh-breaking negative stereotypes of these north London streets" (Monigal)
• D4MES - British Pop RnB girl group of four formed in 2015.
• We all grew up in London, went to the same secondary school and became friends after discovering each other's passion for music
• Our look will be urban, street and chic
• We signed signed with Soho Records after a talent scouting manager saw us performing at a gig in North London.

Profiles

Inspirations for our identity and image

Dance on my own - MO

What I liked about MO was their band image and song style. They're very street which is conveyed by their trendy casual but sporty outfits. They are a diverse group and their songs promote female empowerment like Red Planet does. This video is a performance based one so they can be seen dancing but they don't really have a routine they just have fun and look cool doing simple moves.

R+P Post 15: My Record Label

Our record label will be called Soho Records. The name has an urban city street vibe to it which will reflect D4MES identity as singers who grew up in London.

• It is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group (UMG)
• It will be based in Soho, London
• It will have been formed in 2012 so it is fairly new and small with only 12 artists signed to us but who are doing well in the UK charts.
• We seek out young British artists who have the potential to flourish in the mainstream music industry and expand their career. Genres include pop, RnB and EDM
• Although Soho records is still a small company, we like to focus on each artist's success and try to create a friendly, free and relaxed atmosphere which aims to bring out and develop each artist's creativity.
• D4MES, our first ever girl band and latest signing is planning to hit the charts with their debut single Red Planet. We hope that they become very popular with the UK audience and hopefully also with international audiences in the future.

R+P Post 14: My Target Audience

Core target audience

• Girls and young women

We're a girl band so we our music would appeal largely to females especially as we promote female empowerment. There has been a boom of female artists in the last five years who have become very well known and popular. Examples include Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Iggy Izalea, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Adele and girl bands such as Little Mix and Fifth Harmony. These women are known for being strong individuals so I'd like our band to give off the same vibe and create a similar star identity.

Secondary target audience

• Pop and RnB fans

This can be fans of both genders but fans of RnB will be skewed towards the younger generations (10-30) since it was more recently found and developed.

In general, we will be targeting mass audiences with a mainstream approach as our music will be of two of the most popular genres at the moment Pop and RnB. Although our audience may be largely female - they are our core audience as we want to promote female empowerment.