8 gravesportfolio

8 Graves Portfolio Piece
By: Mikayla Bergquistp,Sam Fudens, Daejaunte Marshall-Valerio,
Geraldine Vargas Cantres

Portfolio Piece
FOUNDATION
1. List the names of each member of your group.
● Mikayla Bergquistp
● Sam Fudens
● Daejaunte Marshall-Valerio
● Geraldine Vargas Cantres
2. Review the artist requirements in FSO and select an independent artist based on
the given criteria. Provide the artist’s name and primary website.
Artist Name: 8 Graves
Website: www.8graves.com
3. Identify one well-known artist that is similar to your artist and that would likely
share a target audience. Answer the questions in the “TARGET AUDIENCE” section
below for your artist’s audience based on research into the well-known artist that you
have identified.
Bryce Fox is an artist that is very similar to 8 Graves. This type of music is the
alternative/rock/grunge electronic type of music.
a. Potential research methods:
i. Facebook Audience Insights
(https://www.facebook.com/ads/audience-insights/)
ii. Search the profile of the well-known
artist you identified and find a post with more than 50 engaged users
(likes, comments, reactions). Determine demographic and psychographic
data below from the “About” section of public profiles of the engaged
users.
I used Facebook targeted ads to find specific targeted locations
TARGET AUDIENCE
4. Target Audience - Demographics:
a. 8 Graves is primarily going to have fans of 18-24. They are going to be 50/50
male and female and their income is between 20k-50k a year. They are also
going to be mixed ethnicity but primarily caucasian. Their family life will be either
young parents but mostly college students/young adults.

5.Target Audience- Psychographics:
i. Hobbies/Lifestyle Choices: Theses fans like to take pictures for social
media and going with friends to local concerts for artists like Bryce Fox.
ii. Clothing/Accessory Brands: The clothing brands that theses fans enjoy
wearing are Urban Outfitters, where they can find skinny jeans, vinyls, beanies
and band t-shirts. Journeys, for boots like Doc Martins and skate shoes like
Vans. Tillys, here fans can find the ripped jeans of their dreams and the jean
shorts of their hearts.
iii. Food/Restaurant Preferences: Theses fans like grabbing quick bites to
eat from places that serve cheap and fast food.
iv. Other Artists: Theses fans also like to listen to artists like Bryce Fox,
Bohnes and grandson.
v. Movies and TV Shows: They like watching TV Shows like Cloak &
Dagger, Lucifer and Mindhunter.
6. Target Audience – Description
a. 8 Graves target audience are prominently college aged males and females
who like to go out with friends, take pictures to post on social media and enjoy
going out to concerts. They are typically in an indie style of dressing, shopping at
stores like urban outfitters, journeys and tillys; They also enjoy watching shows
like mind hunter, cloak & dagger and Lucifer.
7. Target Audience- Geographic:
a. Hometown:New York, NY
i. City 1: New York, NY
Example and source: Mercury Lounge Just announced. (n.d.). Retrieved December 02, 2019,
from http://www.mercuryeastpresents.com/mercurylounge
ii. City 2: Brooklyn, NY
Example and source: Rough Trade NYC Rough trade NYC. (n.d.). Retrieved December 02,
2019, from https://www.roughtradenyc.com/shows/rough-trade-nyc

iii. City 3: Boonton, NJ
Example and source: Boontunes BoonTunes - BOONTON Township, nj. (n.d.). Retrieved
December 02, 2019, from https://www.yelp.com/biz/boontunes-boonton-township
iv. City 4: Cambridge, MA
Example and source: Middle East FAQ. (2019, November 30). Retrieved December 02, 2019,
from https://www.mideastoffers.com/faq
v. City 5: Philadelphia, PA
Example and source: Voltage Lounge About. (n.d.). Retrieved December 02, 2019, from
http://voltagelounge.com/about/
8.
Casual alternative in 2019: Grunge FASHION, hipster fashion. (2019, April 26).
Retrieved December 02, 2019, from
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/373165519114665079/?lp=true

Girls indie indie style outfit favim.com 3625410. (n.d.). Retrieved December 02, 2019,
from https://file.army/i/Ma94WU
GETTING TO KNOWTHE ARTIST:
Discuss the questions sections below thoroughly with your group in regards to your artist, then
answer them in writing.
Choose at least 3 talents out of the list below that apply to your chosen artist and write 4
sentences describing each talent. (Total of 12 sentences) Please elaborate and provide
specific details.
1. Singing /Rapping
2. Songwriting
3. Live performance
(Examples: Can they sing live? Perform with a band? Play an instrument or multiple
instruments on stage? Etc.)
4. Stage presence
(Examples: Describe their performance style. Do they command the audience’s
attention? Are they animated and entertaining or broody and contemplative?)
5. Instruments played
6. Choreography
Choose at least 3 elements of experience that apply to your chosen artist and write 4
sentences describing each element of experience. (Total of 12 sentences) Please
elaborate and provide specific details.
1. Recording
2. Touring/Booking Themselves
3. Co-writing
4. Merchandise
5. Sponsorships
6. Publicity
Singing
The artist we chose, 8 Graves, is a very talented duo. While their singing isn’t as technically
challenging as some groups, you can tell by listening to their songs that their singer is talented.
Although the singing isn’t as technically challenging, Brent Carpentier, the singer, has been able
to achieve some technical milestones. Including, if you listen to their most popular song on
Spotify, Bury Me Low, you can hear Brent using his chest voice in a falsetto range. This makes
him sound more powerful even when hitting the higher notes that tend to make male singers
sound less masculine. This type of technical ability is part of what makes the singing in 8
Graves music high quality.

Songwriting
Brent Carpenter and Nick Goncalves work together to write relatable and rich music. Many of
their songs are very catchy and will likely get stuck in your head. You can see an obvious
increase in quality of the songwriting over the past five years and you can hear how their music
has matured. They tend to write from personal experiences and hardships which creates a high
level of relatability in their music. One example of this is in their song Bury me Low the lines, “If
I die today, it won’t be so bad. I can escape all the nightmares I’ve had.” They both have
experienced depression and this is extremely relatable for anyone who has also gone through it
or are currently going through it. These highly relatable lyrics makes for more passionate music
and performances.
Live Performance
Singing is easy when you have as many tries in the studio as you need and someone behind
the scenes making you sound good. It is a whole new ball game performing live. From the
minimal live performance videos I could find of 8 Graves I was able to tell that Brent is able to
achieve the same standard of vocals in their live performances as the recordings do. In one of
the concert videos I found you can hear the people recording talking and can hear them say,
“This is […] epic.” In the live performances Brent seems to have a very good stage presence
that engages the audience while Nick seems to be almost off to the side. The only criticism I
have for 8 Graves’ performances is that Nick needs to have a better stage presence. However,
the two concert videos I’m basing this judgement on is from 2016 so this information could be
out of date and they could have improved on this since.
Recording
Since 2015, when 8 Graves was created and released their debut, they have released four Eps
and eleven singles. On Spotify they have raked in 18.1 million streams during their nearly five
years together. Their most recent Ep they have released was put out on October 30, only 33
days ago. Through my research I have come to the conclusion that 8 Graves does not tend to
sell physical copies of their music and rely solely on streaming services for their music. It is
unclear if they might offer their music at their live shows but without attending one of their
concerts there is no way of knowing.
Co-writing
On Spotify there are a total of four songs that they have co-written or been featured on. The
collaborations however were probably not as fruitful as they would have hoped resulting in only
408,786 streams in total for the four songs. While these are still great numbers, most of their
pieces they do on their own bring in much greater numbers. This is likely due to a lack of
marketing for the collaboration on their part. Either way these collaborations with other artists
likely expanded their fanbase, even if by a miniscule amount, by reaching the audiences of the
other artists.
Publicity

Over the years 8 Graves has been featured on many articles including ones with Alternative
Press, Yahoo Music, Earmilk, This Song Slaps, and Surviving the Golden Age. They have also
had articles published on AWAL’s website and Pop Culture Daily. In these articles they talk a
lot about their journey and how they came together as a duo. They also talk a lot about their
personal stories and struggles with mental health which shows that they really want to stand for
and support others who struggle with this in the same way. This publicity helps fans see them
as human and helps anyone who is struggling mentally relate to them. This is a good way to
create a better connection with your fanbase.
AWAL. (2018, January 19). My Journey: 8 Graves. Retrieved from
https://www.awal.com/blog/my-journey-8-graves.
(2016, February 6). Retrieved December 2, 2019, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV_H3H97qig.
Bio: 8 Graves. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2019, from https://www.8graves.com/bio.
ARTIST SWOT ANALYSIS:
To evaluate your chosen artist, write 4 sentences describing each element of a SWOT
analysis. (Total of 16 sentences) Please provide a minimum of 2 specific examples of
each category and give specific details.
A. Strengths One of their biggest strengths is their live performances. They are able to
thoroughly engage with the crowd and excite them.Their vocals are always performed live and
they don’t use the background vocals which leads to a more intimate experience. They also
have great quality personalities to compliment their emotional music and promote their band.
They always express gratuity to their fans which is important.
B. Weaknesses One area they can improve tremendously on is social media outreach. They
accumulate many streams, but they have under 7,000 followers. This is not a lot at all for a band
of their caliber. Another weakness is their merch. There is not a lot to choose from on their
website, whereas other bands have pages full of merch to pick from, from vinyls to coffee mugs.
C. Opportunities Indie music festivals would be a great opportunity for this band. Festivals such
as The Pitchfork Music Festival or Desert Daze gives them the opportunity to perform in front of
thousands. Interviews would another special opportunity for them. As long as they promote it
an interview can help them gain exposure, and help their audience understand them better.
D. Threats Threats to this band are all the various artists in their genre. There are many indie
artists with much more popularity in their field. There are also a lot of bands coming up like they
are with the same target audience and similar sounds. They have to find what makes them
unique and special to seperate from these threats in their industry.
ACTION ITEMS:

Read this article regarding potential revenue sources for an independent artist: -
http://ambitious.com/10-ways-to-make-money-as-a-musician-in-a-
world-of-digital-sales-and-streaming/
For each of the 2 strengths identified in the SWOT analysis, brainstorm a list of 3
potential revenue sources for the artist. (Total of 6)
STRENGTH 1 – Potential Revenue Sources
1. Sponsorships from streaming services/other brands
2. Endorsing companies in their music videos
3. Writing music for other artist/bands
STRENGTH 2 – Potential Revenue Sources
1. Royalties from streams from all platforms
2. Concert Tickets
3. Merchandise
For each of the 2 weaknesses identified in the SWOT analysis, brainstorm a list of 2
potential ways to improve or fix the issue/circumstance. (Total of 4)
WEAKNESS 1 – Potential Solution
1. Higher quality photos
2. More Social media engagement
WEAKNESS 2 – Potential Solution
1. Create more clothing for their brand
2. Add more items with their logo to their website to expand options
1-Year Goals - SAM
1. Revenue Generating Goal: Album and Shows
a. Give two specific sentences describing the goal:
The one-year goal would be to have the artist release an album. The idea is to gain
exposure by creating new music and then after this is completed we have a
thorough base to get the rest of the goals completed. The first thing an artist needs
is music. The first year will be used to create music. The details of the album will
include 8-10 songs that are well written and produced. The album needs to be
recorded in a studio that is high-quality and with a produce that fits the artists
vision for the music. Ideally this comes from
b. Elaborate on why you believe this time frame is attainable and realistic (Be
thorough).

I think the making of an album could be done in I would say that if the artist takes
1 year to work on the album, we can be sure they will be fully done with it and the
music will be a high-quality sound released as their first album. This is a good
goal to start with because once the album is done all that needs to happen is they
need to promote it. The album will be the selling point of the artist and if the
album is high quality with enough songs, it could be the thing that makes the
artist’s career skyrocket.
c. Set a date prior to your goal deadline when you will review the progress of
this goal. Describe how you will determine whether or not the artist is on track to
complete the goal on time:
At the 6 month point I would like that all the songs are written and the producer is
set up so that the songs can begin to get recorded.
2. Content Creation Goal: Content Creation
The artist needs to have a constant flow of content able to be produced so that it
can help the artist grow a fanbase and keep the fans and turn them into superfans.
They content needs to be high quality targeted ads, delivered in an appealing way
based on the artists personal brand.
thorough).
This timeline is very realistic because you are giving the artist ample amount of
time to release the album and be able to do a couple of shows that will allow
exposure. If I was going to set this timeline for the artist, I would say this is a very
realistic timeline.
The date I would set to review the progress is 6 months from the beginning. I
would say that halfway through the first goal is a good time to check on the
progress, that way we can see what the artist has done and how they are going to
get into the next stage of the goal.
3. Audience Growth Goal: Increase Instagram Following

The main target here would be to use the album release as part of the goal to gain
exposure for the artist. We could say growing their Instagram following is an
important part of the process so I would say they should try to grow it around 5k
for the year, throughout the making of the album. (such as posting short videos of
the making of the album, short snippets of new music, etc.)
thorough).
If this artist is having multiple shows for 6 months, they are getting exposure to
thousands of people. On average, if 20% of these people follow the artist on
Instagram, plus any followers/fans gained from releasing the album, it allows the
artist to gain these many followers and it will be beneficial for the artist.
We should be checking in monthly for this goal to monitor their progress and
make adjustments if needed. The date for the first major “check-in” could be three
months after the initiation of the creation of the album. That way, we can see
where the album is in terms of writing, how many songs have been written, how
many there is left, etc.
6-Month Goals [Mikayla]
1. Revenue Generating Goal: Merchandise
The six month goal will be to expand and revamp the merchandise that they have
available. Currently they only have two shirts, one hoodie, and a hat with all of
the same basic design and at the six month mark we will be releasing a new and
improved line of merchandise.
thorough).
I think that a six month timeline is a realistic timeline for this new revenue goal
because we would first have to spend some time with a graphic designer and 8

Graves designing the new merchandise. Then, we would have to shop around a
little bit to find the right place to actually manufacture the merchandise and lastly
we would also have to wait for the products to be made.
We would want to check in three months prior to the six month goal mark. If the
six month mark is June 15, 2020 then we would want to be checking in at
February 15, 2020. At this time the artist should have the designs for the new
merchandise and should be putting in their order in at this time.
2. Content Creation Goal: Social Media
The six month content creation goal should be to have more consistent social
media posts. Currently they don’t post consistently on any of their social media.
While they do post occasionally it would be better if they posted on a consistent
basis. Ideally, 8 Graves would be posting at minimum once a week on Twitter,
Instagram, and Facebook.
thorough).
I think that this is an achievable time frame because this gives them plenty of time
to learn how to post consistently and figure out what works for them as far as
what days to post.
We’d need to check every month till we reach six months at least once a month. If
the beginning of our six months is March 1, 2020, then need to check in third
week of that month for progress and repeat for the following months after. This is
until we reach our six month mark which should be August 1, 2020.
3. Audience Growth Goal: Fan Engagement

The six month audience growth goal would be to engage with fans more on the
platforms they use. This could also be in person engagement if in the right setting,
in order to have already existing fans spread this among their friends to expand
our audience and fan base.
thorough).
Six months is an attainable and realistic amount of time to achieve this audience
growth. All this is about is getting the fans to understand and grow with the artist.
It’s about forming a bond with the fans. This can be achieved in six months.
This should be checked on every other month to ensure fan engagement is being
made progressively over the six months.
3-Month Goals
1. Revenue Generating Goal: Subscription
The three month goal would be to create a subscription for a monthly fee built
into the artist website to access additional content, like having early access to
ticket sales or a music video or music. At the end of the three months, would be
when we’d launch, working out any bugs that may occur before hand.
thorough).
I believe that three months is attainable and realistic amount of time for this
revenue stream. First, because we’d need to determine what exactly we’d like to
give early access to. Secondly, we have to add it into the already existing artist
website without it being obnoxious to visitors of the website or distract from
anything else on the website.

January 18, 2020
2. Content Creation Goal: Music Video
They will release a music video for a new single they made. It will be shot in New
York and marketed through Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram, and a paid blog
site. It will also be promoted by Complex Magazine with a paid promotion. This
is a good fit for the band since they make popular music.
thorough).
Their song is already made and the video can be completed in less than twenty
days.
Feb 12, 2020
3. Audience Growth Goal: Gain 1,050 followers on Instagram
They will gain followers by running polls on their Instagram story every day
leading to more fan interaction. They will also start to go live when they make
music for the next three months to attraction more attention and showcase their
talent.
thorough).
I believe since they have thousands of followers already their statistics will rise
quickly with the more content they release. The more they post the more their
fans can share which means more views and followers.

February 28, 2020

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