2. 'Muse'- 'The Resistance' Album release notes. Shown is the Television advert for the new 'Muse' album, the advert was shown on music channels as well as other channels at popular times (such as in the evening on 'Channel 4'). It starts with the Band logo on screen, over the album cover so to create an image the audience will recognise. Then the album title appears as the background appears to zoom out, this will get the attention of fans. The music playing is a single by the band, released earlier in the year, the single reached the charts and so a lot of people will recognise it again getting the attention of Fans of the band. The advert then shows images in a similar art style to the album artwork, connoting themes similar to the lyrical content of the album and marketing campaign (One man standing against a giant structure with his arm raised in a powerful rock pose-connoting the resistance linking to the album title while also referencing to the genre of the music to appeal to the Target audience who may not already know the band, (However with such a large band a lot of the marketing relies on the band logo and the already established image of the band.) The other image shown is a seemingly powerful eye watching everything with a figure staggering back from it, representing the idea of power of government-a theme within the album- but also the power of the band re-enforcing the genre of (alternative) Rock.) This is re-enforced with quotes from reviews shown complementing the album in the same font as the album title, again referencing to the album art so the audience will recognise it. A voice over comes in describing the album as "the most exciting album of the year" to again appeal to the audience directly telling them it good. before zooming out in what seems to be a circle to show the full album Artwork against an abstract background (for the first time in the advert putting the focus on the album now the background has stopped moving with the release day shown and said to put emphasis on it.
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4. Both the bands MySpace and website have various adverts and links to different information about the new album or most recent single ('Uprising' released a week before the album as is convention to raise awareness and increase interest in the new album), Showing the new album artwork on links again referencing to it and getting the fans to know the image. With links to websites that allow you to order it, as well as links to reviews about the new album so anyone interested can easily check an independent review, also are promotional offers prompting people to join the resistance-a tagline that plays on the album title and appeals to the target audience of rock music by seeming rebellious and offering a downloadable track as a taster to encourage people to buy the album and sign up for their mailing lists- this downloadable track was however not available for download until it had been "found" as a publicity stunt the song was split onto 6 USB stick hidden in different major cities around the world, the song wasn't available for download until these USB sticks had been found by fans and uploaded to the bands website. This allowed for the fans to get involved and participate with the release of the single again helping to increase public interest before the album was released.
5. There is also an online campaign with adverts on Social networking websites and also Instant Message services as these are things predominantly teenagers use and a lot of the target audience are teens for rock music, the campaign includes adverts for the new single as well as any information about the single will mention the album and try to promote that too as is the marketing purpose of singles, to be a taste of and act as a catalyst for the audiences' interest in a new album release.
6. On top of this promotion the band also received Media attention from Music publications. For example 'Q' on the month of the album release had Muse as the cover story with the lead singer on the cover, and the back cover was the Print advert for the new album (simply featuring the album art and name, band logo, release date and website address). The feature in the magazine interviewed a couple of the band members, focusing on Matt Bellamy the front man, talking about his personality and how it relates to his ideas for the new album content, the magazine chose to label Bellamy as "Out of Control" however this was not really done in a negative light as it fits with the rock star persona. The magazine also joined the band during a recording session and wrote about how the band work and the composition of the album, with Bellamy speaking of his influences. This appeals to fans of Muse who want to feel more involved with the band and more 'in the know' (Uses and Gratifications Theory) for both personal interest, the voyeuristic value of written description, and for Social context, knowing something about a band others may not to appear interesting.
7. Muse also appeared on 'Later with Jools Holland' the week of the album release playing several songs off the new album, and also had a BBC special about the band aired in the same week, these Television appearances serve to get the name out there, people will see it in the listings or perhaps hear a new song on a show and assume they are releasing new material as is usually the case when bands make more televised appearances. They also made an appearance at the MTV video music awards, playing a single from their new album the day before the album was released. They also Started touring around the time of the album release with gigs dates from early September (the month of the album release) into January in a large number of different venues around the world, This allows them to play the music to fans, increase awareness and advertise their new album. Below I've included interviews of the band about their new album release, and various TV or radio appearances all help to raise awareness and promote their new album.
8. Shown here is the album front and back cover and a photo of the special edition which includes many versions of the songs on USB, a making of DVD an art print and the vinyl version of the album. Here I've included the Video for Muse's first single off their new album it uses a lot of symbolism that links to the song and advertising campaign all in an effort to increase interest in the new album release.
