FINAL BLOG POST: Graduate Skills & Reflection

The deadline is finally here. I signed up for a work placement with Ninja Tune to engage in street team promotion. Setting up posters, handing out flyers, approaching people and spreading the word out in public about artists and events are the kind of activities I was interested in doing. This would have ticked the boxes for what I was hoping to achieve during this module, however it was not until today that I was invited to join the street team in a poster campaign.

Nonetheless, I have fully engaged with the online promotion, learning as much as possible about viral online marketing and meeting the demands of the label representatives. I have shown enthusiasm, attempted to gain as much exposure for KELIS & Mr Scruff.

This final blog post will be an account of what I have learnt, how valuable the experience was, and what abilities or skills of mine have been improved or tested.

Written Communication 

Because this placement has consisted of online work, I have displayed competence with written communication. I have regularly liaise with representatives of the promotional team via email; keeping contact to maintain a steady flow of work is sent to me, checking for any news regarding street team work and ensuring I am fulfilling goals and meeting their standards as well as requesting assistance or advice when necessary. As a result of clear and coherent communication through formal email I was able to understand and complete any work that was desired by the representative.

Initiative, Analysing & Problem Solving 

I was able to identify some issues with the placement when expressing my interest in street team work early on. Several times I requested work in this field and was informed there was none, as a result I was able to use my initiative to produce alternative ways to meet the demands of the module criteria. This involved regularly checking up for further information regarding street team work as well as attaining other ways to achieve the desired goals.

Personal Planning & Organisation

I set personal targets setting up useful blog and social media pages and constructed them tailored for promotion. I then conducted at least five promotional spots for campaign, returning to update and expand on their success and always capturing evidence with screen shots to report back to NJ promotions. These efforts began small and simple, basically sharing links with little or no response. As a result I began to dedicate more time, adding text with captions or images to entice viewers and making the spot more appealing. Pooling together help from others by sharing the links and raising awareness I was able to greatly expand the number of viewers and exposure. By monitoring progress and assessing which methods where more effective and which less, it was not before I was able to determine the best approach to carrying out Ninja Tune requests.

Summary

While the physical work is yet to come (which will entail more personal planning with devising the best poster locations  and verbal communication) I have managed to practice and improve my written communication with the staff and representatives at the record label as well as potential fans, solve issues such as over-coming the underwhelming amount of work on offer by making the most of the online campaigns and planning a strategy to meet both Ninja Tune and course module requirements.

The placement will continue after the submission of the blog and the most hands-on and demanding aspects of which will be covered in the essay once it is complete.

KELIS Poster and Sticker Campaign

Finally there has been an email alert about an upcoming sticker campaign for the promotion of the new Ninja Tune Release 'FOOD' by KELIS

Sadly this is the last day of the blog before it is submitted and so my work here won't be posted or reported on in time to be included how ever I have requested the posters be mailed to my address so I can begin distribution across Liverpool city centre. I can still include the information, experience and images into my final reflective essay and hopefully more hands on work experience like this will be on offer before the final module deadline!

Finishing Ninja Tune Placement

A month of working online for Ninja Tune has taught me a few things about independent labels, viral marketing, and online promotion however that discussion will be saved for the next post where I will hopefully manage to accurately reflect and evaluate my time there and what skills have been improved or even discovered. This post will be a quick summary and closing statement over what I have done in the final days.

I have continued to promote and share online using a web of social media pages (with help from friends and others) Mr Scruff has proven to attract the biggest response, much to the pleasure of the NT promo reps. who have seemed pleased with my efforts and screen shots etc... I have continued to promote despite feeling I have done enough work to discuss in my essay and presentation. I am hoping that I will hopefully be trusted with more work, opportunities and will be involved in the street team work when some eventually comes around. This is in the hope that it might happen before the essay is due to be submitted as I will then have even more to talk about. I will have more experience which is good for myself and career aspirations but also in the reflective section of this module will have a much easier time. With out any chances to work in a team, communicate with an audience or potential listeners verbally I fear I may not be able to tick all the boxes. In hind sight I should have persisted in applying and hunting a placement, how ever I settled with Ninja Tune promotion and stayed under the impression that more work would be available soon. If not in this blog then it can be discussed later in the final module essay and improve my ability to explore what I have learnt. Perhaps there is still a chance in the placement to conduct some work that will improve the skills I need to gain employment in this particular field of the music industry.

My hopes were to work on the street team and improve the skills relevant to the tasks involved there. I am aware I need to improve my verbal communication and team work abilities. I feel that there has been a missed opportunity to greatly improve these skills and tick all the boxes and requirements of the module. These are areas I feel I could have reflected upon and discussed the most but have had no opportunity to do so. Perhaps in the future I will land a better placement or job in this field as I have realised this is something I am interested in and enjoy. So far the NT promotion representatives seem pleased with my efforts in their email replies. I will continue this work and the upcoming street team work until the final essay submission but will begin searching elsewhere now!

Future Work in Promotions?

As I approach the deadline of this placement with only days left until the end I feel it is time to reflect on my experience so far, as well as speculate the future of a career and simply more work in this field... I have enjoyed the experience, it has been straight forward and easy with its rewards and interesting aspects. Communicating with an independent label's promotion team to co-ordinate places to spread news and updates has given insight into how effectively smaller labels or distribution organisations can use casual chat or blog sites to share information with out spamming or annoying their target audience. I have discovered new and interesting music, while not beneficial to the placement as life long fan of music it has been fun to learn more about what is out there!

My only negative comment is the lack of work on offer. After applying, emailing and calling throughout the first months of the course I finally settled with Ninja Tune. My email was replied to within a day with a request for my address and post code. It was explained that this was so that they can send posters, flyers, leaflets and other items. I was optimistic about this placement, thinking that the quick reply and explanation about both online and street team work would keep me busy with plenty to do and plenty to write about. Also I felt that this was an opportunity to experience how promoters for artists or events operate. A chance for some insight into how they go about doing this. The street team work was the mos exciting prospect of the placement. Unfortunately (as I mentioned in the previous blog) there has been absolutely zero big or physical promotional campaigns and I have had try and prove my worth to the head of the team with my efforts online (which is quite difficult to do considering we a restricted to sharing one link per-artist).

However, despite this I have been in contact with and working for the promotional team of a record label. This kind of experience is still valuable and was definitely a chance understand how they operate, who to approach and what kind of work to look for in the future. I will have better understanding of and will be able to determine what kind of work will be on offer when first contacting a label representative or promoter. Hopefully, this will help me land some work experience at a place where I will be offered more stable, rewarding and hands-on work.

Requesting More Work

While it has been an interesting experience and I feel that I have helped Ninja Tune which is rewarding for both the satisfaction and insight, I also wish that there were opportunities to conduct more physical promotion; Street team work, flyers, making or putting up posters, handing out stickers, team work an operation with other like-minded members of the promotion team etc... In one hand the internet seems like an obvious tool to reach out to a new audience and build a core fan base consisting of people from all across the global. Yet, at the same time so many independent labels, artists or event promoters either depend on the same idea or have no choice but to rely on social media and generic link sharing that music forums, and social media pages are becoming saturated with waves of links, invites or requests. It is becoming difficult to stand out. I have learned that people do not generally respond to such attempts at reaching out and I feel that the street team side of promotion combined with online work would be much more affective

Unfortunately, after several requests to Ninja Tune there was no luck in finding any further work. They continue to send emails about link sharing for their artists, which I have continued to do so, but the only information I have regarding my requests for more challenging work is that they "will be running two HUGE poster/sticker campaigns over the next few weeks for Mr. Scruff 'Friendly Bacteria' and Kelis 'Food'. Will those be of interest to you?" Sadly there has been no further information related to this sticker/ poster campaign but I am still optimistic that something will come up soon!

Trying To Improve

After several days of being briefed on artists, releases or events to promote I have some back-log of work to update. While no innovative ways of spreading the news has been identified by me I have  continued to spread the word via social media as best as possible, using the tools and advice offered by the Ninja Tune I have made an honest attempt to help them in their online viral marketing strategy. This has included:

Producer, painter and a key member of Brainfeeder TEEBS

http://smarturl.it/teebsestaraNPR

The new single from KELIS 'Rumble' 

http://smarturl.it/rumbleyoutube

The 'Rumble' Single remix by BREACH 

http://smarturl.it/rumblebreachukf

KELIS 'Runnin' track remix from the upcoming album FOOD

http://smarturl.it/runninmcdrmxfact

As I continue to for fill Ninja Tune requests I am learning more about the importance of these promotional campaigns for artists or labels on indie labels. While the artist freedom is an obvious drawing point for any serious musician who also needs assistance with exposure these online link sharing methods are simple and cost nothing yet extremely beneficial and affective.

Online Work Update...

Since the last post about my first attempt with working for Mr Scruff's promotion team, I have had several more opportunities from Ninja Tune continue assisting them in their online efforts at spreading the news. 

The responses, likes and shares are slowly gaining traction and I am beginning to draw in a wider pool of resources, including asking friends for assistance, posting youtube links, and embedding links to posts for easier access. This started with Mr Scruff. My efforts here have been print screened and sent to the promotion team. 

The next wave of online promotion will begin shortly now that I have recieved more updates from Sami. I will continue to exercise these practices with future artists while experimenting to find other more possibly effective methods and will update with more information once I have completed the next round campaigning and can report on their success!