Music Campaign

Kings of Convenience

What is a music campaign?
A music campaign is a strategy used by music artists and bands which helps them to promote themselves through their album, website, music video and sometimes their concerts. Music Campaigns are often used as a marketing and advertising tool and their sole purpose is to make people aware of the music artist and create a demand for them which will therefore bring in the record company and the artist a lot of money.

What genre is the band/artist?

Kings of convenience are an indie folk-pop duo who create music within the indie, folk and pop genre. They are predominantly known for their delicate tunes, calming voices, and intricate and subtle guitar melodies.

Who do you think is the target audience and why?

I believe that their target audience would be teenagers and young adults as that is who I believe their music and they would mainly attract. I think that their individual style in terms of their look as a band in addition to their calming, tranquil and indie music would be attractive to a younger audience. However, their sound is also quite mature and so I would say that their target audience would probably be young adults and teenagers. 

Does the band/artist have a USP and if so what is it?

In addition to their quirky look and style as artists I believe that their unique selling point is probably the fact that the duo compose as well as sing their music which makes them write organic according to Keith Negus’ theory.  This means that an audience is more likely to be able to connect with them and their music due to the fact that they wrote it as well as sing it as it means that the music and the lyrics come from the heart and therefore this will have an impact on an audience. I believe that fact that the compose and as well as sing their own songs is Kings of Convenience’s unique selling point. 

How do the three products link together?

In my opinion, the three products all link together because they provide a mysterious image for the band and make them appear vintage, unknown and in a way a mystery. The album, website and music video all provide a peaceful, serene, simplistic vibe through the use of the muted colours, vintage looking images and the fact that in all three products the main focus is on the music rather than the members of the band. Additionally, the three products link together as they give the same impression of what the band is like and provide similar genre conventions in the sense that the band is indie, chilled, laid back and that they are down to earth and genuine which again provides an organic vibe.

What is similar across all three products?

The products all share the same font for the band’s name making their products appear synced and united. The font used is quite bold and clear yet understated and not too large and it doesn’t overshadow the album artwork or the rest of the content of the website.  In addition, the colour scheme in the three products is the same as they use muted colours which create a vintage vibe to the products which adds to the indie and folk genre. The three products are similar in a way that they are designed in a minimalistic and simplistic way which puts an emphasis on the music rather than the members of the band.

What is the ideology of the band/artist?

From my point of view, the ideology of the band is that the important thing is the music that they are creating and not what the members of the band are like in terms of appearance. Their dominant ideology is that they are promoting their music and their creation and not their appearance or themselves and individuals. This works harmoniously with the additionally ideology which is that they compose and sing their own material which makes them more genuine and relatable for an audience and it also allows the audience to connect with the lyrics in their songs as due to the fact that they are written by the members of the band it makes the lyrics more meaningful and I makes the members of the band appear genuine and real which adds to Negus’ theory of them being organic. 

What is Dyer’s star theory and how has your artist constructed this?

Richard Dyer’s star theory states that there are some common values of music stardom including youthfulness, originality, creativity and talent, and success against the odds. The term ‘star’ refers to the semi-mythological set of meanings constructed around music performers in order to sell the performer to a large and loyal audience. Dyer’s theory states that it helps if their image contains a USP which in the case of Kings of Convenience it is the fact that they both compose and sing their own songs.

Kings of Convenience have constructed Dyer’s idea of the star as an ideology. This is what the band represents and believe in, they could make this fit the target audience to gain a larger audience. In my opinion, the dominant ideology of Kings of convenience is that they place more importance and emphasis on their music rather than their look and appearance and this works harmoniously with their USP.

However, fundamentally the star image is incoherent; it is incomplete and open and this is because Dyer says that this is due to the fact that it is based upon two key paradoxes; paradox 1 – the star must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer and paradox 2 is that the star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer. 

What is Keith Negus organic or synthetic theory and how does it apply?

Keith Negus’ organic or synthetic theory says that all products come under one of these two categories. Synthetic means that the band has been constructed by the music industry and they are under the control of the industry and this provides them with a fake, unrealistic and constructed image. Whereas in contrast organic means that the artist or band is individual, unique, relatable for an audience and they are more genuine and truthful. Keith Negus’ organic or synthetic theory applies to Kings of Convenience as they are organic due to the fact that they are individual, unique and they provide a genuine, relatable and truthful image for their audience and this is reflected in the three products of their music campaign.

What is different between the products? Why do you think this difference is there?

The difference between the three products of Kings of Convenience’s music campaign is the fact that the products use different images and pictures despite them conveying the same vibe for the audience. I believe that this difference is there in order to provide something new and fresh for an audience and it also provides variety and keeps the audience engaged and intrigued with their products. Additionally, the products use a different font as the title of the album is in a different font to the options to click on the homepage of their website. This is done in order to make the products different from each other which therefore attracts an audience as it mean that the band are open to experimenting and that they are creating new things and keeping up a fresh and current image to fit that of their target audience.

Do you believe this to be a successful campaign? If so why?
In my opinion, this is a successful campaign due to the fact that the main elements of all three products tie in together giving the band a uniformed look and giving them an image which fits with their ideology and the genre of music that they create. Additionally, I believe that the products of their music campaign will attract their target audience due to the fact that all three products convey a peaceful, tranquil, serene and mysterious vibe which will entice an audience making them want to buy the album therefore making the campaign successful. Overall, I believe that Kings of Convenience’s music campaign is successful as it fits in with Negus’ theory of them being organic, Dyer’s theory of them being youthful, original and creative as well as using their ideology to contrast a star image and finally I believe that their unique selling point also aids them in creating a successful music campaign.