My chosen genre of music is Britpop, and the four bands I will be analysing from this are Suede, Pulp, Space, and Oasis. The other 4 bands I will be analysing are from a similar musical background though not quite Britpop and will be Keane, Stereophonics, Radiohead, and Bloc Party.
Suede are an ongoing English rock band that formed in 1989 and reached their prime during the Britpop era of music with songs such as Beautiful Ones, Trash, and Animal Nitrate. They formed in London with lead singer Brett Anderson.
The song Beautiful Ones looks at the lives of those who are young and restless, and appeals in the Britpop genre with the target audience of the working class by looking at youthful teen experiences that aren’t defined by class. Lead singer Brett Anderson describes it as 'A celebration of the madness of our lives.'
The song opens with one of the best guitar riffs that could open a Britpop song, and all the members are shown performing together in black and white. This contrasts with the rest of the music video, where the lyrics are shown visually in colour. This could be a representation of the colourful youth they lived compared to their adult life. The video is a crossover of both a performance and a narrative.
Alongside the lyrics there are visuals with the words of the lyrics displayed. 'Drag' is aline likely referring to drag queens who alter their appearance and could be a link to the title of the song. The song could also represent being youthful and having to hide your identity, or doing the same in adulthood.
As the song comes to an end the lyrics 'La la la' are repeated continuously with visuals to go alongside it, sometimes with the word hidden within it, and makes the video overall a more entertaining watch and shows the creative elements that were considered behind the scenes.
As a part of their marketing, Suede signed with BMG, a record label with other bands such as Simple Minds, Alice in Chains, The Rolling Stones, and Blondie.
The band was quick to go on tour with their new album and went around the biggest cities for touring around England, meaning they could connect closer with their audience. This would also reach their target audience under the Britpop genre, and they didn't play in the biggest venues in these areas meaning the tickets were likely more affordable and appealing to the working class convention under this genre of music.
The poster also says they would be joined by special guests so not only would this appeal to fans of the band Suede, but those who are fans of the special guests appearing would also want to come along.
Celebrating their 25th anniversary of the release of the album, Suede went on tour with Manic Street Preachers, another band that was also very popular in the Britpop industry. This form of marketing is a success for both bands as it brings in fans from both ends, and there will be a strong middle fanbase who are fans of both bands due to the similar style of music released by both bands or going to see both will lead those fans of only one of these bands into listening to the other.
The tour also began in America which reaches out to a wider audience and gives them an opportunity to play in places they haven't before in front of fans who have never gotten the chance to see them live. While this may not work under the Britpop gene, it could still work for those Americans who have discovered his type of music, as the Britpop genre did see a recent wave of popularity through social media.
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