Throughout the duration of my master’s degree at Toronto Metropolitan University, I was required to complete a major research project that had both written and visual media components. I worked with Dr. Kathleen Pirrie Adams on this project, whose background is in media theory, curatorial studies, and music museums. My second reader was Salman Rana whose background is in entertainment law.
The first phase of this project was focused on research. I read several articles and reports which focused on transmedia, physical/online communities, marketing, and music media. Over this period, Dr. Adams and I refined my thesis to “how does the use of transmedia marketing in music promotion animate or convene communities?”. I used a case study methodology and opted to analyze the conversation, convention, and content surrounding Childish Gambino’s Because the Internet, Beyonce’s Lemonade, and Ye’s Donda. I was also given the opportunity to interview professor Skye Paine from the YouTube channel Professor Skye’s Record Review as well as Camden Ostrander, who co-wrote the season of the Spotify-owned podcast Dissect on Because the Internet and Swimming/Circles.
In addition to excelling in my graduate program and obtaining my Master’s degree, I wanted to discover the marketing value of transmedia promotion in the music industry and cause others to consider what new album experiences could look like in the digital age.
For the first portion of this project, I need to do a lot of research about the history of the album, the changes in the music industry after the advent of the internet, and what the precedent for transmedia storytelling in the music industry is. I then will need to research my selected case studies (Because the Internet by Childish Gambino, Lemonade by Beyoncé, and Donda by Kanye West) to look at the effect of their marketing on their fans. I can then use this research as the basis for the creative component of my thesis which will take the form of an in-person exhibition on Toronto Metropolitan University campus. Afterwards, I will defend my thesis with my advisors.
I have utilized my classes and their associated projects to pool several academic sources for an annotated bibliography as a starting place for my research. I have also identified key fan community leaders and scholars who I will utilize and interview for the project if they accept. I will focus on the real-world impacts on these fan communities which can be proved by research and/or observation within existing digital communities and platforms (e.g. Reddit, YouTube, etc.).
After completing the first draft of my paper, I then worked with Dr. Adams to create concepts for an exhibition which would take place on Toronto Metropolitan University campus. I found that these album storyworlds became rallying points for their fan communities which got them involved in tangible ways, strengthened bonds within the community, and generated stronger brand loyalty to the artist. This also resulted in commercial success for the artist.
The concept for the exhibition was to be a creative and physical representation of the studied albums’ significance and meaning. As such, this exhibition displayed a fan’s view of transmedia stories created by prominent musicians. The desire was that, through my own engagement and recreation of key images and pieces from these rollouts, it would cause visitors to reflection on their own relationship to the album and music/art in general. I spent months creating and purchasing materials for my recreations, as well as filming video content and designing promotional/display elements for the gallery space. The space itself also needed a lot of fixing up (as it was in the process of being converted into a gallery when I was scheduled to use it) which meant a week’s worth of preparation, set-up, and renovation was required in partnership with Toronto Metropolitan University staff.
An opening ceremony for the exhibition was held on June 15, 2022 for the TMU staff who were connected to the project in some way. A closing ceremony was held on June 18, 2022 to commemorate the end of the experience. These days were the busiest and saw up to 24 guests in a day. Coincidentally, I finished the takedown of the project on June 21, 2022 which was the anniversary of the original release of the 12-inch, 33-1/3 vinyl record and thus, the beginning of the album itself.
Throughout the exhibition, I routinely conversed with visitors to record their experience in the gallery space. Each seemed to want to understand the placement and meaning of the items in the gallery, however, the ones who accepted the personalized nature of the work often came to their own interesting and equally valid interpretations which highlighted the intended experience of the exhibition. A video walkthrough of the space can be accessed here.
Several visitors told me that they had never experienced music in the way that they had within the gallery and that it was a profoundly moving or meditative experience. As a result, I considered the gallery a success. My defense was also successful and I was granted my Master of Arts degree in Media Production at my commencement in October 2022.
This project has truly helped to merge my passions for music, digital media, and storytelling. If you would like to learn more about my research and the exhibition creation process, you can download my thesis paper in full here.
