Market and Distribution Research

I have been researching into the ways that music and videos are distributed and the artists are promoted.
One of the main ways they are distributed is through the artists website and the Music Channels such as MTV. The reason why Music channels are a main distributor to the audience is that they attract the fans who then go on to buy the videos off places like ITunes.

The following are ways that music videos are viewed and distributed and a way of bringing in the fans: 

• TV adverts - these generally are advertising genreal merchandise of the artists which makes the fans investigate further on the interenet into the offers, which leads them to stumble across new videos and music.
• Fan Email and Band Profiles- sign ups for example on the artists website you can sign up to receive emails about new releases and details of the band and therefore receive emails when they release new music videos. Band profiles such as Facebook pages and blogs keep the fans informed of the latest new releases and products.
• Magazine and Newspaper Articles - in music magazines such as NME often their will be articles written about bands latest releases and therefore those that read the magazines and articles who are fans will look further into the releases. Also this is a way for the genral public to be aware of what is going on in the music industry for example the recent release of Take That tickets and the problems which went on with the purchase of tickets.
• Virus Videos/ Viral Marketing - this is a marketing technique that uses pre-existing social networks to produce awareness of bands and artists as well as other things. They tend to take the form of video clips, interactive flash games, images, brandable software and other forms. This is another technique that is used by some artists to target music fans and it tends to be used more on the music websites.
• Website recommendations - These are good for fans as it allows for them to see new releases from the bands and artists. An example of a website recommendation is from Amazon. If you have been searching on amazon and looking at artists and their merchandise then if you have an account with amazon they will email you and tell you of other products that related to your searches. This is a way of fans being able to keep up to date with the artists products.
• YouTube adverts and recommendations - On YouTube when you watch a video, once it is finished, a screen comes up saying other videos you may be interested in/you may want to watch. This is another way for artists to build views on the web as people will move from one video to another.
• ITunes -  The Itunes store recognises the type of music you listen too and purchase and on the homepage of the itunes store will tell you what you may like to purchase. This is another way for fans to access their favourite artsits and benefits the artists from the sales it makes.
• Buses - In big cities, there is genreally buses used to advertise concerts and new releases so this again is another way for artists to make the public and their fans aware of the new releases.
• Other - Websites like google and facebook tend to advertise on side bars and some artists will advertise here to make the most out of a mass audience.