Tuesday 1 May 2012

Small Town America

What kinds of music do Small Town America produce?
 Small Town America are every specific in the kind of music they produce. The genre of music they produce is mainly punk rock, punk, new wave and indie rock. They only believe in producing music they personally like to listen to and therefore accept the fact that they don't produce mainstream chart/pop, and therefore have a certain audience to appeal to.

What strategies do they use to promote and distribute their music?
The main strategy Small Town America uses to promote and distribute their music is through their website, which is used as an online store for each artist that is on the label. The website gives them the opportunity to promote music by constant updates through the news section for up and coming tracks from previous artists, or new artists breaking through. They also offer previews of the tracks before a customer chooses to purchase the music. It also offers different ways of purchasing the music through different formats, as they have CD's, Vinyl's and digital downloads, therefore targets a wider range of audience to suit their demands. Each of their artists have a short description about their type of music and similar sounds, as a result targeting and attracting the right audience.

Who is the audience?
There isn't a specific audience for Small Town America, but instead anyone who is interested in any of the variety of genres they produce. Due to being an indie label, their audience wouldn't be as vast as a Major record labels, so their audience would be someone who is more into the niche market, rather than the mainstream chart/pop market. Small Town America's music reaches a wider audience due to them also being linked with the indie record label "Richter Collective".

What is the relationship between Small Town America and the mainstream music industry?
There's no clear relationship between Small Town America and the mainstream music industry, because Small Town America targets their distribution at niche audiences rather than the mainstream audiences. Small Town America also chose to keep their music mainly within their website, which is just another way in which they differ from the mainstream music industry. However, one similarity between the mainstream and Small Town America is that they are keeping up with technology and allowing digital downloads to be purchased, which is just to keep up with modern trends.

What ways do Small Town America audiences consume Small Town America Music?
Small Town America's audience mainly consume Small Town America's music digitally via their own online music story they set-up, ww.independentmusic.com. This store cuts out the middle man, basically meaning that the artist gets all the money and not the distributer etc. Small Town America audiences also consume music via buying concert tickets and physical copies of the music at concerts/gigs. Small Town America have said that they make most of their profit through touring bands, such as As I watch you from Afar.

How would you describe the relationship between Small Town America and their audience?
Small Town America have a personal relationship with their audience and purposefully set out to recommend certain music to them based upon their interests. They offer deals for their audience and special offers as well to keep them interested and help them feel like they really do play a major part, therefore rewarding them for staying with their artists.

What is Small Town America's attitude to file sharing?
Small Town America accept the fact file sharing is just a matter of life and there isn't much they can do about it. Although they do special promotion deals and offers for their audience to try and make them feel like they are apart of something if they buy the music, therefore hoping to cut down on file sharing. Although they also see file sharing as a way of people hearing about their music and also take pride in people wanting to listen to their music.

What ways do Small Town America differ from a major record label? 
There are many different ways in which Small Town America differ from a major record label. A major way in which they differ is Small Town America allow their bands independence and control, which maybe ultimately more profitable. They also care less about the aesthetics of the band, and more with the way the band conceives their career. The way they distribute their music is also very different from major record labels, as their website allows you to sample the music before you actually purchase it, whereas a 'Big 4' label such as Universal wouldn't even consider this kind of approach.

No comments:

Post a Comment