cw1:NSFW
The Case Study.
Artistic leadership encompasses elements of entrepreneurship, creativity and management.
Records labels in the millennial era are now more than ever multifaceted. They are not only responsible for the distribution of music and artists’ work but are also behind some of the most well-established club nights, events and festivals all over the world.
Defected Records is one the most respected and biggest brands in global dance music. it was founded in London by Simon Dunmore in 1999. It was launched in the wake of Dunmore’s career as a highly respected and accredited A&R in dance music. The company hosts a back catalogue of underground house records such as “Finally” by Kings of Tomorrow, “Can’t Get Enough” by Soulsearcher, as well as more recently CamelPhat’s Grammy Award-winning “Cola” (Griffiths, 2021). There are over 120 Defected club events and festivals across the world, with more than 300K annual attendees (Resident Advisor, 2021).
During this pandemic, records labels adapted to the COVID-19 restrictions that have put a stop to large gatherings. UK Label Defected Records is a leading example of such change and was one of the first to experiment with digital live music events. On the 20th March 2020, the label hosted a ground-breaking 12-hour virtual festival from an empty Ministry of Sound. The festival was broadcast on Facebook Live and reached over 6 million people, 13 million impressions and 1.4million engagements (Creative Review, 2021). Streaming and broadcasting music is not new to the music scene. Pre-recorded and live shows from brands such as Boiler Room that date back to 2011, are at the core of the brands’ identity (Boiler Room, 2021). However, Defected’s Virtual Festival has been noted as the most ambitious and successful musical digital experience to date, after breaking Facebook records and adding 2.6m followers to their social media following (Griffiths, 2021). Head of Digital – Entertainment at The 7 Stars, Jim Stannard, stated “Defected Virtual Festival really set the standard for LIVE – finding a perfect balance of entertainment and connectivity that audiences are craving at this time” (Creative Review, 2021).
Many labels, event organisers, and DJ’s alike have now followed suit, appealing to an at-home audience within the restrictions of COVID-19 and I plan to do the same during my performance using my own artistic leadership and contemporary performance practice. I will live-stream a performance of my montage techniques which incorporate; pre-recorded music-mixes, experimental film and visual art, original music production and spoken-word.
The Performance.
My performance will be an alternative take on a Defected Record live-stream, showcasing my experimentation as a music producer and film maker to exhibit a track which, will be available to pre-order after the launch of the proposed event on the 22nd April. It will engage with the audience by presenting my aesthetics as an artist and leader in black queer expression. I will bring the audience into my creative process by documentary-style film and performance-based techniques. One of the aims of the performance is to offer a contribution to New Queer Cinema. As Michele Aron suggests, “the most striking effect of New Queer Cinema has been its intervention into this process of disavowal so intrinsic to mainstream spectatorship” (Aaron, 2004). As a queer artist I feel it important to continue to challenge, adapt and experiment with the systems of white heteronormativity.
I plan to incorporate interactivity by offering the further action of being able to purchase and consume a physical copy of the musical material presented.
As part of the evening, I will also jointly present interview style curated film, in which the audience is offered a deeper insight into the work we do and have done, the artists we are, and the social context our work addresses. The intention of this interview is to create curiosity within the audience, which they will then be able to explore by interacting in a live Q&A about our practice and performance.
I am also using this event to showcase promotional material for my own label Importedrecords.wtf in which on which my track will be released. Importedrecords.wtf is a sister brand to my current brand SK!NT. Importedrecords.wtf will focus more specifically (but not exclusively) on Black Queer Artists, Art and expression (skiint, 2021).
Then / Now / Where.
Due to the current pandemic, I feel my work will be best situated online until there are clearer guidelines in regard to the opening of art venues. By focusing on an online presence, I can build up a new following before being able to present my work in the physical with the use of installations and live-art. It will also be a great way to experiment with installations, projection and how this translates into film and within broadcasting and live streaming.
The engagement and social-media-following can be gained from the successful execution of an innovative idea, as in the case of the Defected Virtual Festival, which led to further sponsorship possibilities, greater engagement and brand awareness (Stewart, 2020). Therefore, not only am I taking inspiration from their event, but also as a business model to raise my brand awareness and artistic outputs. Being able to connect with international audiences with minimal cost, will hopefully lead to me creating works that can transverse borders.
Within black culture in particular, there seems to still be problems and systems which oppress my counterparts across the globe. Although the practicalities may differ, restrictions are prevalent. A study from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights found “Race-related violence, discriminatory police profiling, and discrimination in the search for jobs and housing were commonplace for many,” (BBC, 2018). After building up a bigger portfolio and network of creatives, I would like to present my work in Amsterdam and Paris. I believe my work can help and target more specific communities within these two cities, practically, due to location and also my own experience of living, working and visiting those locations.
Spaces, art galleries and venues across Europe which can facilitate stage, sound and art installations, such as the Grande Halle de la Villette would be ideal locations to present my work due to the nature of how I envisage my curated art.
Process.
My ideal process would include each person within the collaboration taking ownership and artistic leadership of an aspect of the event, in addition to their own performance. For example, due to my film background I would take leadership of the curated interview element. How I envision this working is that within the event, there are three separate spaces in the online environment in which users can visit before and after the scheduled main performance of each artist. There would however still be collaboration by facilitating how and what the interviewed artist would want to address. As well as having a set of structured questions in which the artists involved would answer to create a sense of coherency, I would also facilitate the collaboration of the artist’s own vision and distinctive input to the interview process. The process would also include the help of other artists involved. Although I would be taking charge of managing the production of the interview, due to the nature of the project, the use of other artists to help in the production of my own interview also plays a crucial part of the process. Therefore, just as they would be included in the process of both mind and their own interview, I would hope to be facilitated and involved in the aspects and creation of their contributed elements.
List of equipment.
ACID Pro 10, Reason, - Digital Audio Workstation
Adobe Creative Cloud
Home Environment, Local Studios, and Software on MacBook and PC
UEL Studio, Recording, Dance and Video Editing Suites
Microsoft Teams
Abstract.
NSFW
References.
Aaron, M., 2004. New Queer Cinema: A Critical Reader. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
BBC, 2018. Racism against black people in EU 'widespread and entrenched'. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-46369046
[Accessed 11 04 2021].
Boiler Room, 2021. Boiler Room - Live Performances. [Online]
Available at: https://boilerroom.tv/format/live-performances/16
[Accessed 11 04 2021].
Creative Review, 2021. Great Work: Defected Records' Virtual Music Festival. [Online]
Available at: https://www.creativereview.co.uk/great-work-defected-records-virtual-music-festival
[Accessed 2021 04 2021].
Griffiths, S., 2021. How record company Defected defeated the pandemic. [Online]
Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/f5b17ed0-01f0-4179-82d0-b50c98f437a7
[Accessed 11 04 2021].
Resident Advisor, 2021. Defected Records. [Online]
Available at: https://ra.co/labels/45
[Accessed 11 04 2021].
skiint, 2021. skiint. [Online]
Available at: www.facebook.com/skiint
[Accessed 11 04 2021].
Stewart, R., 2020. The beat goes on for Defected's virtual festival post-lockdown, but sponsors can wait. [Online]
Available at: https://www.thedrum.com/news/2020/04/17/the-beat-goes-defecteds-virtual-festival-post-lockdown-sponsors-can-wait
[Accessed 11 04 2021].
