Commodification and Synergy – Their use in combining our

media productsBy Michael Scotney

Commodification is a term used to describe the transformation of people (or sometimes products, services and ideas) into commodities or objects of trade.

Definition of Commodification

Synergy refers to the interaction or co-operation of two or more entities to produce a combined effect that is greater than the sum of the separate effects.

Definition of Synergy

In terms of the music industry, commodification refers to the artists creative ideas (their music) and themselves being turned into objects that can be traded.

So in the late 19th century, artists’ ideas (music) was turned into sheet music and sold for the first time to the public, hence a commodity.

This has continued in the ideas of artists being turned into objects for trade with the help of record companies and retailers (synergy) for profit.

Commodification and music

Music videos inherently commodify the song because they can be bought from retailers or the bands websites. They also promote the song being bought in audio format from retailers/bands’ websites and so promote commodification also.

They also are said to commodify the artist in creating a star image and positive meta-narrative that cause the person to be of commercial value. They portray the star in such a way that the person is profitable through the songs they produce, posters, TV appearances, advertisements merchandise etc with their face on it.

Commodification and music videos

So in music videos, the directors can look to commodify the artist through extensive use of screen time, close ups and overall positive imagery. This increases their star image amongst the audience and so makes them more profitable

An example is ‘Britney Spears – Oops I did it again’ which even has the YouTube thumbnail as a close up of the artist which increases star image and commodifies. Britney performs centrally in the music video and is featured in majority screen time with a range of extreme close ups, close ups, long shots etc to show her image. This commodifies her as gains value as the audience recognises her and forms a connection which then can drive sales (commodification of music).

Music Video Commodification Examples

Synergy in music often refers to the cooperation and interaction between the artist and the record company to produce a combined result that is greater than their separate effects. This normally involves the record company being able to provide better tools or opportunities for the artist who can then refine their sound better, get more publicity and be more successful.

Examples of the benefits of synergy include higher quality music videos, useful resources, radio and film airplay, better distribution etc.

Synergy and music

An example of synergy in the music industry for a music video is Michael Jackson – ‘Thriller’. The record company combined with MTV music video channel to fund the $500,000 budget and recruit famous director John Landis. This synergy clearly produced a result greater than the sum of its parts, with the sales of the music video at over 9 millions units and listed in Guinness World Records as ‘the most successful music video’. It helped drive album sales with ‘Thriller’ becoming the most sold album of all time and propelled Michael Jackson to ultimate stardom with the star image brought by the music video synergy.

Synergy in music videos examples

In our music video, we commodified our band members through the use of a performance section where we filmed them performing which increased their star image. We increased the effect of this with close ups, long screen time for them and near the start we included a slow motion close up of each of the band members to introduce them to the audience and gain recognition for their appearance which again follows the star image theory and so makes them more profitable as the audiences’ awareness of their image is increased hence making them more commodified.

We also included a narrative with the lead singer acting as the protagonist who is featured throughout the narrative. Therefore, the audience builds a closer affinity and awareness of the singer. Because of this, they are more likely to want to follow the band which can increase sales and his appearance becomes more valuable and hence commodification as this appearance helps sales.

How we used commodification across our media texts

In our digipak and poster, we use the logo (branding) of the Demon Hunter skull which turns the band into an object of trade because using the logo increases the value of the artist as a brand and not a artist as they were creatively known. Therefore, they are commercialised and commodified as the logo representing them can be used to sell albums, merchandise, gigs etc. The fact that we include this branding centrally in large size in the most important eye space of both texts strengthens the effect of the commodification.

How we used commodification across our media texts

Synergy played a crucial role in our digipak and poster media texts. We used synergy in transferring and also using the demon skull logo that we created for our digipak front cover onto the poster. This was very effective in my opinion in creating an integrated and professional design that strengthens both of the texts beyond what they would be separately and hence is synergy.

How we used synergy combined in our media texts

Another way we used synergy to combine and link our media texts was the music video to the digipak and poster. From the performance section, we use the costume that the band performs in to be photographed for the inside panels of the digipak. The synergy this creates strengthens the image of the band members and hence their star image.

Another example of synergy was the narrative section of the music video in using the ruined house location. We also transferred this location to the digipak shoot in taking the demon skull photograph there as well as the aforementioned band photo where the destroyed location is visible. This synergy both strengthens the concept of the apocalyptic song and music video narrative but also strengthens the link of the metal genre conventions across the texts which is important to our target audience.

How we used synergy combined in our media texts

In terms of commodification, we have targeted our audience through the Demon skull logo that clearly meets the target audience expectations of Demon Hunter fans, as well as fans of the genre due to the grittiness and grungy nature of the image. How the logo targets the audience makes the commodification stronger so the band become more of a profitable product.

In terms of synergy, we have targeted our audience is linking the concepts and imagery as well as design features across the media texts so that the audience can themselves make that link and therefore find more value in the products which is a crucial concept.

How we targeted our audience through these concepts

In evaluation, I believe that the concepts of both commodification and synergy were important elements that had an important influence on our project and progressed it.

Commodification is very important in music videos which we conformed to using the previously explained techniques, which I feel has definitely been successful in realising the marketing purpose of the music video

Synergy has been important in creatively progressing our work beyond what we could have created individually and so you can see that, in evaluation, both of these concepts were very relevant in our project.

Evaluation