Research ; Institution and Branding - Music Marketing Campaigns

The first artist I will be looking at is Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys by My Chemical Romance, which is an album that was marketed around a certain story line.

The setting for this album is the dystopian future (the setting being California in 2019). The band members are "Killjoys" - gang members who fight against the evil corporation "BL INDustries" and its various soldiers "Draculoids" and "Exterminators".

The album is a concept album around this story line, which means that all of the songs relate to a certain aspect of the diegesis. 

This music video establishes the setting and the characters. It is the first track of the album and depicts the landscape as a fun, colorful place where the gang roam and do as they please, being bandits. However, the story ends on a cliffhanger, which is resolved in the next music video released by the band.

This music video is instantly darker. The mood and tone of the video show the other side of the microcosm the band have created. The story line is completed in this video, although the ending is tragic.    


The band, in creating this fictional world, have increased the interest levels of the public and their target audiences. Through various advertisements, from TV to posters, the album has been marketed as more of a film than an album.

  

Using a story world that spreads through various formats of the album helps create familiarity with the characters and the setting. For example, the child on the poster is also in the two videos for the album. This creates a public awareness about the album, and something more than just songs to listen to; a story line to follow/research, characters to look up to, and a back world to immerse themselves in.

The band have given themselves an image of rebellious, anarchistic, and energetic to try and appeal to teenage audience. This, added with the exuberant colors, create an image that is easy for expressive young teenagers to associate with.

In creating this band image, My Chemical Romance have stepped away from their traditional "Emo" band image, widening their audience as their music grows.

Bands such as Green Day with their most recent studio album 21st Century Breakdown have also created a number of links in their music. For example, the couple on the cover of the album appear in the video for "21 Guns".

---- Jamie.