Genre research-Cage The Elephant

Cage the Elephant is an American rock band from Bowling Green, Kentucky, that formed in 2006 and relocated to London, England in 2008 before their first album was released. The band Cage The Elephant comes under four sub-genres: alternative rock, blues rock, garage rock and indie rock. Alternative rock is a style of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s. In this instance, the word "alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream rock music. Blues rock is a fusion genre combining elements of blues and rock. It is mostly electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock. Garage rock is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada. Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United States and the United Kingdom in the 1980s.

Research into similar record labels

Ellie and I conducted research into various independent and large (conglomerate) record labels and looked closely at the design of their logos and how they effectively target their audiences. We narrowed down the record labels that we would research by firstly cross referencing all record labels through our chosen genre and bands we have conducted research into in previous blogs. We looked at Modular Recordings which is an Australian record label founded in 1998 by Steve Pavlovic that is currently owned by Universal Music Australia. This makes the record label subsidiary to Universal Music Group which is a large conglomerate that dominates the music industry. Universal Music Group is an American global music corporation that is a subsidiary of the French media conglomerate Vivendi. UMG's global corporate headquarters are in Santa Monica, California. The band Tame Impala is signed to this record label, Tame Impala are an Australian psychedelic rock band founded by Kevin Parker in 2007. Looking at Modular Recordings logo, I firstly noticed the bright and bold colouring. The record label promotes artists who fall into the genre of neo-psychedelia, the 'o' has been adapted into a disco ball which adds to the playfulness and bright colours within the label. 

We then conducted research into other record labels that similar bands were signed to such as the Arctic Monkeys to Domino Records. Domino Recording Company, generally known as Domino, is a British independent record label based in London. The most famous rock band signed to this label would be the Arctic Monkeys a British indie rock band formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield. In addition to these two record labels, we conducted research into Island Records, which is a Jamaican/British/American record label that operates as a division of Universal Music Group. Founded by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall and Leslie Kong in Jamaica founded it in 1959. Blackwell sold the label to PolyGram in 1989. The band Catfish and the Bottlemen are signed to Island records and are a British rock band, formed in Llandudno, Wales in 2007. Their debut album, The Balcony, reached number 10 on the UK Albums Chart and achieved Platinum status on 30 December 2016. Looking at Domino Records, I can see that their logo is simple as to not distract from its primary purpose of advertisement of the record label itself. The long rectangular logo has also been adapted by the record label to fit into a circle shape to appear on a smaller level perhaps for a CD in the corner next to the barcode. 

Lastly, I conducted research into Island Records who the band Catfish and the Bottlemen are signed to. Island Records is a Jamaican/British/American record label that operates as a division of Universal Music Group. It was founded by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall and Leslie Kong in Jamaica in 1959. Blackwell sold the label to PolyGram in 1989. Catfish and the Bottlemen are a British rock band, formed in Llandudno, Wales in 2007. Their debut album, The Balcony, reached number 10 in the UK Albums Chart and achieved Platinum status on 30 December 2016. Looking closely at Island Records logo I can see that the imagery revolving around the ‘island’ aspect of the logo is very important as in every adapted version of their logo the same palm tree representing an island is present. The pale pastel colour of one version of the logo could be used to represent the colour of the sky and the yellow colouring of the smaller logo the sand. The basic logo of course is in block black lettering as all logos start.

When conducting such a vast amount of research into very similar labels I decided to measure the results, comparing the design, composition, colour scheme and overall effectiveness of the record labels logo and found that the label I will take the most inspiration from when designing our own record label will be Modular Records due to the bright and bold colour and composition giving the logo a playful and eye-catching edge on other labels I have looked at. 

Genre research-Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield. The band consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, rhythm/lead guitar), Matt Helpers (drums, vocals), Jamie Cook (lead/rhythm guitar) and Nick O'Malley (bass, backing vocals). Former band member Andy Nicholson (bass guitar, backing vocals) left the band in 2006 shortly after their debut album was released. They have released five studio albums: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006), Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007), Humbug (2009), Suck It and See (2011) and AM (2013), as well as one live album, At the Apollo (2008). Their debut album is the fastest-selling debut album by a band in British chart history, and in 2013, Rolling Stone ranked it the 30th-greatest debut album of all time. The band has won seven Brit Awards, winning both Best British Group and Best British Album three times, and have been nominated for three Grammy Awards. They also won the Mercury Prize in 2006 for their debut album, in addition to receiving nominations in 2007 and 2013. The band have headlined at the Glastonbury Festival twice, in 2007 and again in 2013. Arctic Monkeys were heralded as one of the first bands to come to public attention via the Internet, with commentators suggesting they represented the possibility of a change in the way in which new bands are promoted and marketed. The band come under three genres: Indie rock: Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United States and the United Kingdom in the 1980s. Garage rock: Garage rock is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada. Post punk revival: Post-punk revival is a genre of alternative rock and indie rock that developed in the late 1990s and early 2000s, inspired by the original sounds and aesthetics of garage rock of the 1960s and new wave and post-punk of the 1980s.