Research and evaluate the institutional context of your artist.

Our artist Affie, singing the song “Party animal remix- Mikill Pane” comes under the genre of Grime. Afiie is a young artist, who isn’t well known so a minor record company would be most appropriate, targeting the Hip Hop/ Grime genre. Finding a record company which will take on Affie is most important as we need a company which will not only sign him but also support and promote his songs and himself.  Having done some research on grim labels, I looked on grimepedia to see the range of grime record labels on offer.

Many which came under this title were-

Firstly I like the sound of –

Eskibeat Recordings

In 2004, Eskibeat Recordings was formed by Wiley to bring young grime artists into the spotlight as well as release his own music under the label. Eskibeat is a minor record label in the music industry  but due to the fact it was formed by Wiley in the grime genre it is a mjor record company.

Eskibeat Recordings is collective of grime producers, and established by CEO Wiley. There has been much confusion about what exactly comprises Eskibeat Recordings, with many artists, mostly MCs, joining and leaving the collective before any recordings or releases were made. However, there have been moves to revitalize Eskibeat, with the label selling T-Shirts and releasing material, including Wiley's EP Grime Wave.

The members of Eskibeat are thought to consist of the following:

Wiley

Bless Beats

Maniac

J.J.

Ice Kid

Furious

Chipmunk

Little D

Maveric

Suge

Hardsy

Due to the fact that the members of Eskibeat are well known, especially Wiley, Maveric and Chipmunk this will help promotion for Affie and its important the record company can place Affie into the right genre.

Also the genre of this recording company is-

Music - Rap & Hip Hop. Which will help attract different audiences with similar music interests, therefore allowing grime music interest a wider range of audiences.

It is a risk to be taken due to the fact that there has been some confusion on what exactly comprises Eskibeat but I think it’s a risk worth taking due to its reputation and well known image it has created. This is clearly identified due to the artists they have founded and signed, from the list above. 

The target audience-

Our target audience would be aimed at a niche market and range from 18- 28. Our market is niche because the genre of Grime music is not as popular as genres such as pop. Therefore by targeting a niche market we are advertising the genre to an audience that we know will enjoy the music. Because an audience has already been built after Dizzee Rascal and Wiley brought the grime genre to the mainstream audience between 2003- 2004 we know that we have an existing audience. Although it was brought to the attention of the mainstream media Grime / dance is still considered as ‘Underground Music’.

On the Jictar scale our target audience is under the categories of-

A- higher management/administration/professional

B-middle management/administration/professional.

C1-supervisory/clerical/juniour management.

 

We would use a physiographic segmentation- under the teenage VALS (various attitudes, values, beliefs and lifestyle choices). Our target audience would be categorised as-:

- rebels

-trendies

-drop-outs

-innovators

We believe our target audience would be from a black, urban, working class community.