Dionne Bromfield - Investigating the Chain

I decided I would extend my research in to what could be described as the 'chain' of the music industry by interviewing someone at a different level. Before coming to Hurtwood, I was lucky enough to train at the Sylvia Young Theatre School where I met Dionne Bromfield. Dionne is an enormously talented, young soul singer and also the God-daughter of the late Amy Whinehouse. However, Dionne has achieved success in the industry in her own right both during her time at the school and furthermore after she graduated.  She became one of the key presenters for popular CBBC show Friday Download, had various singles from her two albums to date feature in the UK charts and also collaborated with Tinchy Strider to create the official 2012 London Olympic track. 

Due to knowing her relatively well while at school together I was able to contact Dionne, now 18, via Facebook. She gladly agreed to let me interview her regarding a few aspects of her professional life. Ever since remembering that I had this contact, I knew it would be hugely interesting to learn about the industry from the perspective of someone who sits at the most public and of course integral part of the 'chain'. These were my questions;

1. Having emerged as an artist in an era where the music industry is heavily weighted towards digital technology, with the introduction of things such as iTunes, is it noticeable to you as the artist when producing and selling music? And do you think this has changed a lot in comparison to artists who have come before you?

Dione; "I think every artist realises you can't just put an album out and it will sell as much as it did 10 years ago, because iTunes wasn't so in your face as it is now. When you know you want to buy an album on iTunes, you can just go and buy the tracks you like and not the whole album. Thats sad for the artist as we put so much time into creating something close to our hearts which sometimes doesn't get the credit it deserves or chart success due to people just picking the tracks they want to get. Artists before me used to have albums as hard copies in stores. It does leave a massive dent on the music industry and makes me think what could happen in say another 10 years time."

2. How much creative influence are you granted in terms of your marketing as a music artist? Do you make a lot of your own choices?

Dionne; "I'm very hands on with marketing! Most artists have an image of how they see themselves and I'm one of them. I will sit with my stylist and do a mood board of what I want my 'look' to be for the certain stage I'm at with my music. I will have meetings with my managers and also my marketing manager who is the person who can pull everything together. I tell them what I want everything to be like and they will go and hopefully get a package together of what the finished 'product' should be like."

3. Talk me through the process of producing your music video 'Ouch'. Did you have influence on the concept of the video, your performance and look in the video? Furthermore, how did you go about securing established young actors such as Chloe Moretz and Robert Sheehan? Were you consulted before these decisions were made?

Dionne; "I actually didn't have a massive say in that particular video as 'Ouch' was a theme tune for the film Demons Never Die, so the film company already had the idea. Style wise I got to choose what I wanted and as the film was a UK slasher film I knew it had to be dark. Getting Chloe in the video was actually very strange. She had seen me perform at V Festival in the summer of 2011, which was three months before the video. She tried to get in contact with me as she turned out to be a fan of my music. Chloe started talking about me on the radio on the radio and how she wanted to get in contact with me. A friend of mine happens to work at Choice FM who got us in touch. We went out to dinner and got on really well, I said she should be in my video. She was totally up for it and the next day came and did a cameo!

Robert was an actor from the film Demons Never Die and we thought we should try to keep the story line of the film running through the video so it didn't seem a million miles away."

4. In terms of music production, are you offered a free licence to create what you want when writing and in the studio or are you lead in a certain direction?

Dionne; "I believe music is the one thing that everyone can connect with. I write all my own music as I think its the best way to get out what you're trying to say. I'm in a lucky position where I've been able to write whatever I want and to do the music I love to do. At the end of the day, you as the artist have to go on stage and perform these tracks and if you don't connect with them then they have no meaning to you."

5. What are the positives and negatives of working in the music industry?

Dionne; "There are so many highs and lows in the music industry. For me, I love performing so to be given the opportunity to perform is a massive high. Also being able to travel and meet so many different  people, some who I find hero's. There can be loads of different low points. When you work in the public eye you put yourself up for people to throw abusive comments at you which can really make you feel like rubbish! Sometimes you can also find people will start to use you for things. But that hasn't happened to me yet, I've just seen it with mates in the industry."

6. Do you personally feel that having obvious talent doesn't always equate to success in the industry?

Dionne; "Its not always about having talent. It's about having the 'IT' factor which is down to various things such as looks, personality, like-ability. Obviously if you have a fantastic voice then that will help you a lot! But if labels or managers think they can't sell you due to lack of personality then they won't take that risk."

In conclusion, I found it great how Dionne let me into the true workings of her music career. For such a young person, she seems to have a really firm understanding of how the business works and I found her comments on the downsides of iTunes very interesting as I had never thought of those album issues prior to this. It was reassuring to know how much of an impact she has on her own public image and the way she is presented, yet also openly refers to herself as a 'product' as well as an artist. I was given the impression that she normally has control over her own music videos whereas 'Ouch' was an exception due to the ties with the feature film. I can now also understand how technological developments in terms of social networking can also have a detrimental affect on music artists with the abusive comments via things like Twitter that Dionne mentioned. In her final answer, she was very frank about the commercial aspects and how difficult it is for talented people to receive support from labels. This is common knowledge but it is good to know that she appreciates those facts. Thankfully, Dionne hasn't slipped through the net in that respect and I wish her well with her continuing career.

'Rapture'/Tom - Investigating the Chain

Considering that the music industry is such a colossal entity, it is no surprise that a chain of organisations and people operate within it to make it what it is. I was particularly interested in the lower sector of this chain by looking at the operation of local record stores and the people who work there. I chose to respond to my summer holiday research task by creating a filmed interview with a lovely man named Tom from my local record store in Whitney, just outside of Oxford. The store has been in Whitney for as long as I can remember. It is a small, character-full music store with a wide variety of genre on display. I was keen to know the way in which the noticeable changes in the music industry over the last decade has affected stores like this and possibly even Tom as an individual. I wanted to know whether it had altered his perspective on the industry and whether the advent of certain technology is proving to be a threat to this personal buying experience, especially considering the well documented administration of music giant HMV.

 

Tom has worked a Rapture for the best part of 10 years so I felt confident that I was talking to someone who really understood the challenges of making a living through the music industry. Something that I found both surprising and reassuring from my chat with Tom is that record shops such as Rapture, despite not being as depended on as they once were, are still able to compete economically and find themselves "busy". Tom hailed the resurgence of the vinyl, a speculation that I completely understand. I believe the fact that todays young generation appear to be obsessed with all that is 'vintage'/'retro' has a large impact on the continuing success of shops like this, with alternative teenagers keen to seek out a sound with musical heritage and historic acclaim. One could argue that this is not for the love of the music or the style of delivery, but actually for that said individual to look 'cool' in front of his piers. However, I believe a record shop owner would take this over closure any day as long as people are buying the music. Furthermore, Tom seems to have a degree of optimism regarding the interest of the youths rightly claiming "If your a fan, your a fan".