RESEARCH: SONGS IN CHOSEN GENRE

Musical style and influences of One Republic: Wikipedia

OneRepublic's varied style of music has been described by Ryan Tedder: "We're no respecter of genre. If its a good song or a good artist whether rock, pop, indie or hip hop, they've probably influenced us on some level...nothing's new under the sun, we're a sum of a bunch of parts." They cite The Beatles and U2 as heavier influences on their music. OneRepublic has expressed a desire to move listeners onstage the way U2 does.

Allmusic commented on the band's sound, "...OneRepublic recalls the melodies of the Fray and the vocal acrobatics of Maroon 5's Adam Levine....and often favors cathartic, cranked-up choruses that Chris Martin has yet to tackle."

However, Tedder downplays Coldplay as an influence; "Their influences are our influences. The big difference, though, is that I come from a much wider hip-hop and urban background. I've been producing, writing and performing urban stuff, and I try to bring that into the group because we're not trying to be a British band." Drew Brown also stated: "We aren't all die-hard Coldplay fans, but because of the comparisons, we've done our research, and I'm sure we've got a large handful of common influences."

ROCK GENRE

http://www.allmusic.com/genre/pop-rock-ma0000002613

RESEARCH: GETTING PERMISSION TO USE MUSIC

Music Publisher Contacts

Obtaining permission to use music is sometimes a little more confusing than obtaining permission to use other types of copyrighted works, because there are two different rights in any piece of recorded music: the rights to the song itself, which is what can be written on sheet music, and the rights to the particular recording. The songwriter(s) owns the rights to the song itself, but generally grants those rights to a "music publisher" to administer the rights. A particular recording of the song (what's on the CD) is generally owned by the record company that released the CD. If you want to use a recording of a song, you have to get permission from both the music publisher (to use the song itself) and the record company (to use the recording). Sometimes, people choose to make their own recording of a song. If this is what you want to do, then the only permission you would need to obtain is permission to use the song, which you would obtain from the music publisher(s). Also please be aware that songs can be owned by more than one music publisher. You need to obtain permission from all of the publishers who own copyrights in a song in order to use that song.

The easiest way to find the contact information for a music publisher is through ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. These organizations are called "performing rights societies;" their web site addresses are www.ascap.com, www.bmi.com and www.sesac.com. All songwriters and music publishers have to belong to one of these organizations, but membership is exclusive so each songwriter can be a member of only one of these organizations. If you go to the ASCAP site and you don't find the title you are looking for, chances are the song is represented by either BMI or SESAC. Also some songs are written by more than one songwriter, one of who may be with ASCAP and another with BMI and/or SESAC. Unfortunately, the performing rights societies will only give out the publisher information for the writers they represent. Therefore, if you want to use a song written by writers from different societies, you will need to go to each society's web site to find all of the publisher information. The label on the CD or cassette often indicates which performing rights society represents the writer of a particular song.

RESEARCH: GOOD LIFE BACKGROUND RESEARCH:

Lyrics

The lyrics of "Good Life" tell the story about how the narrator feels blessed because of the places he's travelled to and the experiences he has encountered. If there is any question that the song is autobiographical for OneRepublic, all one needs to do to be sure is check the lyrics:

"To my friends in New York I say hello
My friends in LA they don't know
Where I've been for the past few years or so
Paris, to China to Colorado"

OneRepublic's origins include both Colorado and Los Angeles, but the song focuses more on where the band has travelled to instead of where they have come from. While the meaning of the song is very clear, the song resonates on both a literal and an interpretive level, since anyone can relate to lyrics like "what the hell is there to complain about" at some point in their lives.

Special Delivery

Not only does "Good Life" have lyrics that anyone can relate to, it also has a unique musical delivery that allows the song to stand out on a radio full of same-sounding songs. Lead songwriter and producer Ryan Tedder has a knack for pulling in musical elements not normally found on a mainstream pop song, and he utilizes that knack by layering in drums that give the song a marching feel combined with a haunting whistle. Add in Ryan Tedder's rapping-singing hybrid on the verses, and you have a record that sounds like nothing else out in the pop world at the moment. It's this uniqueness that helps OneRepublic songs endure for months at pop radio instead of weeks, staying on listeners' minds much longer than they would expect.

http://top40.about.com/od/o/fr/one-republic-good-life.htm 

RESEARCH: CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF MUSIC VIDEOS

GOOD LIFE ANALYSIS

It is bright throughout the video which probably means that it is not a depressing song or one which focuses on darker moods. They have given the video an effect which almost makes it look like an older type movie or a video which is being played by an older machine. It gives the video a different feel and mood like how the mood of a picture would be different if it was taken with a sepia tone or another effect.

This was an effect that i had never seen before in a music video before. The original video zooms out into a slide that is being held by a person. The slide consists of the original video. The original video is set in what looks like the countryside whereas the with this effect the background is in a more urban environment. The slide is also passed between a number of different people. There is another effect added in here where the original video in the slide goes at normal pace and at the same time the background goes at a quicker speed.

RESEARCH: FURTHER IDEAS TO EXPLORE IN MY MUSIC VIDEO (STOP FRAME)

Watch from 1:42 min:

I like these effects and ideas and i am strongly considering to use them in my own.

RESEARCH: THE SONG'S PROMOTION

Initially released as a single in November 2010, the song's popularity was increased after its use in various media. Google used the song in its 2010 "in review" video.^[1] The song is featured in the trailers for the films Eat Pray Love and One Day, the film Easy A,^[2] and in the television series Cougar Town, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Rookie Blue and 90210. The group performed the song at the 2011 Teen Choice Awards, 2011 Billboard Music Awards, American Music Awards of 2011, Live with Regis and Kelly, Dancing with the Stars and recently at the 2011 Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade.

In August 2012, "Good Life" was featured in a Honda Summer Clearance Event commercial.

The music video for "Good Life" was released on February 14, 2011. The video shows the band performing the song in a field, shot through a vintage lens. It shows many different symbols and is a bit different from their previous videos. The original video was filmed in a mountain valley located in West Hills, California.

In December 2011, a second music video, filmed entirely at Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort was released. It features the band performing at Cinderella Castle as well as riding on several attractions.^[

RESEARCH: Good life sucess (wikiepedia)

Good Life" is a song by American alternative rock band OneRepublic, taken from their second studio album, Waking Up (2009). The song was written by group members Ryan Tedder, Brent Kutzle, and Eddie Fisher along with group associate Noel Zancanella, with production done by Tedder. Featuring upbeat lyrics describing the travels of its narrator, the song is accompanied by prominent whistles and fast-paced drumming.

The song was released on November 19, 2010 as the album's third single in the United States, and as its overall fourth single. Its popularity was increased by its use in various films and television series and advertisements. The single was a commercial success, peaking at number 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and eventually being certified multi-platinum, as well as reaching the top twenty of other music charts across Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Critical reception of "Good Life" was generally positive.

A remix of the song, featuring American rapper B.o.B, was released to radio stations in June 2011.
The background music of this song was played on a Walt Disney World Resort radio commercial.

MY CHOSEN BRIEF

I have chosen to go along with the music video brief, oppose to the other 14 briefs which involve film trailers and radio. The music video brief involves:
- A music promo video;
- A digipak for the albums release;
- A magazine advertisement for the digipak.

RESEARCH: Definition of a music video:

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/music+video

Music video, videotaped performance of a recorded popular song, usually accompanied by dance or a fragmentary story and sometimes employing concert footage. Typically three to five minutes long, music videos frequently include quick cuts, stylizations, fanciful and often erotic imagery, and computer graphics.

Originally vehicles for promoting singles, most music videos are in the rock idiom. Although many examples of the genre feature the macho rock stars and scantily clad dancers that have become cultural clichés, certain music videos are notable for their cutting-edge techniques and artistic innovations, and some of their directors have achieved auteur status.
The music video form was popularized by the MTV cable network (est. 1981) and began to have wide popularity and influence in the early 1980s. By the 1990s many hundreds of videos, representing a cross-section of musical forms—from traditional to experimental rock, heavy metal to hip hop—were being produced yearly. Although music videos have usually been aimed at a teenage audience, many videos of ballads or "soft rock" songs are now directed at an older group of viewers. Since shortly after their inception, the style and content of music videos have strongly influenced advertising, television, film, and popular culture as a whole.