Appendix 4. Independent Survey

Survey conducted in exploration of how musicians use visual stimuli, social media and new technologies to amplify and engage an audience beyond sound.

All responses are appreciated. By answering this survey, you are providing consent to allow me to include responses within my writing. This survey is anonymous.

Q1 How old are you?

Q2 How do you discover new music today?

Evaluation of Results:

(75%) Via. streaming services

This response identifies that today people are more used to turning to digital medias to consume their music in comparison to previously dominating sources such as the radio.

2 responses said within the ‘Other’ option that they find new music through recommendations from friends. This addresses the sharing aspect and community that music creates; music is a very social form of entertainment.

(75%) Via. social media

This is in support of why visual stimuli is important to the way we discover music today in our digital environments as on social media, content is predominantly visual.

Q3 How much of the music you consume do you access digitally? E.g., Using streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube etc.

Evaluation of Results:

(67.5%) of respondents said all of the music they consume is accessed digitally

(30%) said the majority…is accessed digitally

(0%) said none…is accessed digitally

This response identifies that so much of our lives is experienced through digital mediums, it has become the new normal the most common way for music to be enjoyed. With this, the majority of people are exposed and experience to the visual accompaniment

Q4 Are there any musicians that you love that you initially listened to because you were drawn to their visuals before hearing their sound?

Evaluation of Results:

(60%) Said yes

(40%) Said no

Most people have an artist they love through initially being drawn to an artists’ visuals. This links to music discovery and how an audience can be engaged before even hearing the sound

Despite this, a large proportion of people have not, this could suggest that many people overlook the visual accompaniments to sound.

Q5 Do you think strong visual image could help elevate an upcoming musician above their competitors?

Evaluation of Results:

(95%) said yes

The music industry is a competitive market, this addresses how a stronger visual identity might separate or be a contributing factor in why one artist is chosen over another.

In addition, because we consume so much visual content, a stronger visual component is more likely to stand out and catch an audience’s attention.

Q6 When searching for new music, does the visual image* of an artist influence your decision as to whether you take a chance in listening to them or not?

*visual image meaning an album cover, their aesthetic, their social media, how they brand themselves etc.

Evaluation of Results:

(77.5%) said yes

When people are in search for something new, visuals play a significant role in what they choose to explore sonically.

Q7 Are visuals important to you when listening to music?

Evaluation of Results:

(52.5%) said no visuals are not important – I only care about the sound

This insight was predicted, it is recognisable that the primary purpose of music is the sound and the listening experience.

Visuals might encourage us to be more adventurous and try something new however, the basic reason we enjoy music is if we like how it sounds

Q8 If an artist uses social media to push innovative content relating to an album leading up to and during its release, is this something you find interest in and will likely engage with?

Evaluation of Results:

(80%) said yes

Proves there is an expectation and a curiosity which goes beyond the sound itself, people enjoy this extended entertainment and will engage across social platforms as it so easily accessible and present in our day to day lives

Q9 With social media and the amount of time we spend online consuming digital visual content; music today is not solely judged on sound. With the opportunities our digital world provides, listeners expect more immersion and experience from musicians today than previously. Do you agree?

Evaluation:

(90%) agreed

Addresses that social media/technology is a cause for this demand in more exciting content - we see so much online today that artists are expected to go above and beyond and do something so uniquely different. There is an obvious pressure to do something new and wow audiences every time over

Q10 Artists today have the ability to create more innovative and immersive experiences for their listeners; some even build unique universes through social media (+ more) to tell a story to communicate their music further. Is this extension of the music something you would spend time engaging?

Evaluation of Results:

(77.5%) said yes

- New form of entertainment that is still in its emergence, we excited by the storyline, experiencing music in a dynamic way

- We like feeling part of something as it unwraps, it could be compared to watching a gripping tv series

- I want to say something like because this is still a relatively new way for us to experience music, its has that added wow factor as we know this wasn't always the way people could experience music, like its still new

- Previously, a listeners journey would involve buying an album, watching 1 or two music videos, maybe going to a concert if your lucky but the journey kind of stopped at that point - with the platforms music is distributed on today and the type of content we are able to consume, our journey doesn't stop at the end of a tracklist, we get to be experience so much more and are given the choice to wider our understanding of an artists intentions behind a sound

Appendix 5. Email interview with Chasers (Joe Smith, Jake Bishop, Callum King, James Oliver), a Birmingham born and bred Indie band.

Hi all, Thank you again for being involved. I appreciate it.

Hi Chasers! Could you tell me a little bit about who you are?

We are a four piece Indie rock band from Stourbridge area but based in Birmingham. we consist of Jake Bishop on drums, Callum King playing the bass, James Oliver on lead guitar and Joe Michael Smith as lead singer and rhythm Guitar. We've been a band for roughly 5 years now, however we started as a 5 piece band under a different name but have been Chasers as we are now with just the four of us for roughly 3 years.

As musicians, how important to you is your overall aesthetic and visual image? Is this something that is a priority for you?

Our aesthetic and image as a band is arguably equally as important to us as our music is, especially as of the last year. When we first it wasn't that we didn't consider our image and how we present ourselves, but more so that we didn't link our music to our image. Our music is very light and playful and not too serious, at times almost indie pop but when we first started our aim was just to look 'cool'. This consisted of all of us wearing black trousers and then choosing our top halves, which would tend to be black t-shirts/turtle necks and leather and denim jackets. In addition to how we dressed our social media and artworks used to be in black and white with maybe a hint of colour somewhere. We decided after a year of doing this we really need to think about how our music matches our aesthetic and start putting that across in our appearance by wearing more colourful clothing and having our socials more vibrant.

As you’ve evolved as a band so has your branding, is it important to you to experiment with your image and creative identity and if so why? Is this something you enjoy being quite fluid and playful with changing over time?

Following on from our last answer, we do feel now we so have a lot more creative freedom when it comes to our image and that we are open to trying everything now. Where as before we were quite strict on what we wear and what colour schemes we use for social media posts and artworks etc. Giving each of us freedom also allows us to express our own personalities a lot more and help our audience see what we are like as individuals as well as a collective. We felt before when we were more strict on our image we came across as a band rather than a set of individuals and we look almost 'too polished'.

What is your main form of promotion? How do you reach your audience?

Our main form of promotion is social media, specifically Instagram, however we do feel TikTok is now a better platform to promote on we just haven't got involved overly with it yet. In addition, supporting bands who not only have a good following but also have a similar audience to us helps us gain most of our new audience

How important is it for you to be able to interact, connect and communicate with your audience online? Why is this?

It is extremely important to us, we know ourselves that our favourite artists are the ones that you do feel like you know personally and engage with their audiences. A lot of artists we listen to not only do we like their music but we like their personalities as well. This is what we aspire to be like, even if its as simple as Q and A's on Instagram it still helps engage and interact with our audience.

What opportunities do streaming services like Spotify and iTunes provide for independent artists like yourself?

Sadly, for an artist or band our size not a lot. As everyone now uses streaming services there is practically no money for a band of our size from streaming platforms. If you can get on one of Spotify's editorial playlist and the ones they put out that really can help, but sometimes you have to pay for this or pay a distributor to put your music on a playlist, which then because of making next to no money from it doesn't make it sustainable.

Would you consider social media to be an important asset in pushing out promotion and hype around new releases? Without it, how might independent artists be at a disadvantage or face challenges in reaching those wider audiences?

Social media is arguably the most important thing for any artist to grow in the industry now. As I previously mentioned, TikTok as become a great platform for artists to grow and get their music out there. In addition, when we play a gig or someone hears our music the first thing people ask is do you have a social media account and can I follow it, without that it would be almost impossible to find small artists now, especially one's who aren't local to your area.

With social media being a primary space for musicians to promote themselves today, how do you aim to stand out from the crowd? Are you focusing more on attracting and gaining new listeners from live shows or through social media?

We're still trying to find the right answer for that ourselves! However, a healthy balance of the both is what we're trying to achieve. Gigs help to gain a specific audience to our music where as our socials we find helps us gain a much wider audience, but then without social media we probably wouldn't be able to get gigs so they do both work hand in hand with each other. To stand out we really need to find something that no one else is currently doing right now, whether that be the music we make or how we portray ourselves on social media. For example, there's an up and coming artist called Calum Bowie who is a singer songwriter from Scotland. His music in general is fairy straight forward, just him and a guitar, however he records TikTok's of him singing out of his window which gets thousands of views and helped him gain a massive audience. This is the kind of niche thing we are trying to find for ourselves to stand out.

Appendix 6. Interview with Detroit Dyer-Miller, digital artist and creative director. Creative for Internet Money Records.

Detroit works with a plethora of names in the industry such as Don Toliver, Trippie Redd, Central Cee, COIN and more.

Q1 Hi Detroit! Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. Could you tell me a little bit about who you are? How would you describe your creative practice/what you do?

Q2 How did you come to working as a graphic designer in the music sector?

Q3 Do you think with the likes of sharing platforms and social media, there is an expectation for musicians to push more innovative content out to their audience?

Q4 I discovered you work through the work you created for COIN’s universe that is ‘Uncanny Valley’. I am in absolute awe of every detail executed in this project so it’s super exciting getting to chat to you about this. What is it that you are trying to achieve in creating these alternate universes? How does this add to a sonic project?

Q5 You created a 3D asset for each single on the ‘Uncanny Valley’ album. What was the intention behind this? Would you say these additional accessories encourage an audience to stay immersed?

Q6 These characters were displayed on screen in an exhibition in LA. How important is it to you bringing these digital aspects into a physical space for people to enjoy and experience together?

Q7 You’ve created stunning visuals for the likes of big names such as Don Toliver, Trippie Redd, Central Cee, COIN and more. Has there been a project which has stood out to you as a favourite, from the creative direction to the final outcome?

Q8 When looking for new music yourself, how important to you is the overall visual image of a music project? Might this dictate if you choose to take the time to listen or not?

Appendix 7. Email Interview with Jason Bruges, Founder of Jason Bruges Studio. Practice surrounds creating interactive artwork and innovative, immersive experiences.

Q1 Why do you think it is important bringing people together to experience and interact with one of your installations?

Q2 You associated your work similar to theatre, artwork that is performing and coming alive around you. Why do you think it is important to be storytellers in different ways?

Q3 Do you think there has to be an obvious connection to what an installation might symbolise?

Q4 Do you think there is a surge for new, more innovative ways of communicating something today? Variegation Index for example, this type of installation replaces previous + more traditional ways of decorating a space with something much more complex than say a painting (as an example of more common way to visualise something) If so, why might this be?

Q5 How impactful do you think an installation might be in getting people to engage with something else e.g., what the artwork associates to?

Q6 With the installations you create, do you encourage visitors to share their interactions on social media?

Appendix 8. Interview with Jess Webberley, a Birmingham based Musician and Graphic Designer also known as Graywave

Q1 Hi Jess! Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. Could you tell me a little bit about yourself?

Q2 As a musician, how important to you is your overall aesthetic and visual image? Is this something that is a priority for you?

Q3 As a designer yourself, do you create any of your own visuals for Graywave?

Q4 Beyond your sound, is it important to you to experiment with your image and creative identity along the way or is consistency a more desirable avenue for you?

Q5 What is your main form of promotion? How do you reach your audience?

Q6 How important is it for you to be able to interact, connect and communicate with your audience online? Why is this?

Q7 What opportunities do streaming services like Spotify and iTunes provide for independent artists like yourself?

Q8 With social media being a primary space for musicians to promote themselves today, how do you aim to stand out from the crowd? Are you focusing more on attracting and gaining new listeners from live shows or through social media?