New Media

Word Gets Around on the Underground
'Tribal Man Skank' and the majority of all other UK Funky House products are Underground music. So in order for artists to produce and circulate their music to their target audience the must advertise effectively. Advertising is the best way for UK Funky to become popular as it isn't mainstream at the moment.


Youtube
When 'Tribal Man Skank' was created Tribal Magz uploaded a tutorial video onto Youtube so that Funky House lovers would be up to date with the new tune and (dance) skank. This tutorial not only gives instructions for the new skank but also creates a bond between Tribal Magz and his fans because of the indoor settings and his friendly approach. After uploading the video he copies and pastes the video link to his fan page and other musicians to 'spread the word'.

Tribal Man Skank Tutorial by Tribal Magz

(click here) to view video.

Facebook

Facebook is the networking site where most Funky House lovers dwell to find out about raves, gigs, comedy shows and frequent updates on the underground life of UK Funky House. Artists put links on their Facebook pages, fan pages and other musicians pages to make their track popular, before they place a price on their track. It is done in this order because a vast majority of the target audience don't want to pay to listen to Funky House tracks. However doesn't hinder the success of artists because they are paid to perform at raves, gigs and comedy shows. Promoters then organise and set up invitations on Facebook, with full information on the location, transport, artists, DJs and the name of the raves.

Facebook Adaptation

I adopted Tribal Magz technique of advertising 'Tribal Man Skank' on Youtube by uploading my music video on to Facebook. I selected a still which I thought would be appealing to my audience and created a note explaining the reason why I uploaded my video and I also asked for positive feedback. I tagged eleven people who I thought fitted my target audience, so that the video would circulate around that network. Out of the eleven people who I tagged into the video nine had selected the 'Like' feature. This tells me that the majority of my selected target audience find my music video appealing. It's meets the standards of a UK FUNKY HOUSE genre.

Music video notes and feedback

Tribal Magz' Facebook fan page

An example of a Funky House event- Ice Skating

Flyers

After raves, gigs and comedy shows promoters hand out flyers to inform the Funk House lovers of the upcoming events. These flyers are very colourful and attractive, with pictures of UK Funky House artists, pretty women and DJs. To get maximum attendance to these events, flyer sometimes entitle the a discount on admittance or even a free give away of from t-shirts, champagne, CD's and many more.

Some Funky House events, click the names to see the flyers.

Fab Fresh and Funky

The Good Bad and Funky

Twice as Nice

Wonky

Hyper Active's Birthday Bash

Deconstructing Myself!!!

As the only female sibling living amongst an older and younger brother, my interests vary from a wide spectrum of things from; athletics, modelling, poetry, football, Motor GP, Eastenders, Waterloo Road, computer/games and mobile phones.

On the sporty side of things, my interest is athletics because I'm a 400m runner. So I tend to engage myself in such areas by reading the news papers, watching the news and looking at videos on YouTube. However my initial interest is expanded by my older brother who loves cars preferably 'Porsche and Mercedes' any vehicle that generates speed and power enough to give him a thrill of his lifetime. He spends hours watching Felipe Massa racing lap by lap without feeling a bit tedious. When I sit with him, he explains the techniques and pure talent of the drivers and the great risks which they take every time they step foot into their fast cars. As an athlete i appreciate that they have to put in massive amounts of training and dedication in order to achieve their goals of being world champions. Which do too so that I can be a top 400m runner.

Where soaps are concerned, my little brother lives within the screen of our huge television. He announces the time at which these soaps begin and end he also makes sure that my eyes are glued to the screen and that I'm deadly silent. I always wonder about his enthusiasm and his undivided attention to these soaps, until he simply explained it to me. His reasons are that his college hours are long and he needs something to amuse him and he fancies on of the young actresses from 'Eastenders'. He said that he also finds it interesting how the media can exaggerate a simple stereo type and make them stand out in situations which they wouldn't mostly.

Technology wise, its a massive competition between the three of us, to see who's got the phone with the best features and who can maintain it longer. It might seem very childish but i love a challenge, especially when i win. The boys don't seem to take care of their phones very well as they always lose them. Keeping up with technology isn't just a competition under neath my roof but also at my 6Th form. I find myself staring, wishing and wanting every new phone i see on the T-Mobile bill boards at the train stations or at the bus stops. Having a high tech phone has made me more aware of the advertisements in the metro. I saw a deal on the new Blackberry which is cheaper that my current price plan. I'm not too amused by that at all.

Modelling and poetry are both things that Ive enjoyed as a young girl and i still do them in my spare time. However my best friend keeps me in form and up to date with gossip and some of her life stories which i write about sometimes. I always get phone calls from her about the latest high heels and the mini dresses which we can both buy to create a scene. Dressing up excites me a lot so I look out for new dresses and shoes on the Internet and sometimes magazines if I'm up for it.

Target Group For Tribal Man Skank

THE FUNKY HOUSE CRAZE!!!

I was doing some more research for my 'Tribal Man Skank albulm cover and I came across this website.This website highlights the popular Funky House tunes. They state the reasons why some songs are popular and why some are not so popular. To my surprise, Tribal Man Skank by Funkin Kofi B isn't up there. However, this site is very useful as it demonstrates, the vibe of young people and their interest in these songs and dances.

Who are they and where are they from?

Teenage boys and girls, who listen to Underground sounds and beats, have had a hard week of intense studying and exmas enjoy the raving scene. They like dancing and learning new and versatile dance moves (choreography), they are one of my target groups. These teenaged boys and girls are grouped respectedly; 13-17 , these teenagers can be found at family gatherings or a friend's house party or rented hall party. Teenagers from the ages of 18-19 can typically be found is a club in the well known West London, East London, South West London and North London which isn't as popular as the rest. As a notable amount of the top list Funky House artists are Afircans, their fans, my tartget group are also African. However due to the high enery and good vibes Caribbeans, Asians, Europeans and Somalians are also taking part and listening to Funky House right here in the UK.

My target group are under great peer pressure from their peer-groups as it is essential to know the lyrics of the song and most importantly the dance moves. Knowing the dance moves creates a great feeling of belonging to for my target group as they dance (skank) in unison. It is special and exclusive to Funky House lovers as it isn't mainstream.

If Funky House isn't Mainstream how does the craze circulate?

As Funky House is rated as underground music, it is circulated through word of mouth, handing out flyers, invitation on the favourite Facebook. Facebook is one of the fastest-growing and best-known sites for socialising on the Internet today. Promoters would organise events: raves, gigs and house parties which will include the details of the where abouts of the event. How to get there and most importantly the popular Fukny House artists.

Popular Funky House Dance Moves and Music Videos

Head Shoulders Knees and Toez- KIG Famimily

Tribal Skank- Fr3e UK

Migrane Skank- Gracious K

Preparation for Cd covers!

I've been looking at various Cd covers by a wide range of artists. Ive noticed that the ceses are all one general size (5''x 5.5''). The front cover generally has the title of the track and the name of the artist. The inner covers are different based on the genre of music, the artists ideas and the title of the album. I have also realised that the back cover is used mainly for the tracks on the disk.
The layout of Cd covers are all deliberatlely setup to capture a specific audience. For example the Klye Monogue's 'FEVER' Cd case is quite simple; it's white with a little signature of hers. If she wasn't a famous artist she would'nt be able to affort to make her case so simple because it would not stand out and almost boring.

For the first inner cover of my Cd case I will use a plain black background and create a photo montage of the dancers. Beneath this I will have in a bright and colourful font SKANK, DANCE, BUBBLE!!! I have chosen these words because they are some of the lyrics of the track and it also emphasizes what the FUNKY theme is all about.

This is an example of a digi pack which has inspired me.

My Album Cover

I will use the bold and red font that the album cover above has used because it is bright and stands out. The red font will make the perfect link to the dancers costumes in my music video 'Tribal Man Skank'. I like the way in which the entire album has been composed, the front cover has a photograph of men in black and white. This links to the white font of the text on the black background of one of the inner covers. The red font on the front cover also links to the middle cover.

When i'm creating my album cover I will use the colours, red and white for my fonts becuase I've used the same colours in my music video. When advertising my product my target group 'teenage boys and girls' will be able to establish that the UK Funky House genre.