Evaluation on Graded Unit 2

For my graded unit 2 I had an objective to reach for each section of the core units. I did however make modifications to my original objectives. I had based my graded unit 2 presentation on the topic of a record label that I had set up to release my own music and other acts, I called my record label Starry-Eyed Records. Within this presentation I had incorporated the 14 core units that we had been taught during the course of the HNC and HND Music Business classes. As far as the objectives that I had set out to achieve, I feel like I did tick all the boxes however there were some modifications made from my plan to my presentation and some of my changes worked better than others. For a start I had to change my original plan of including a PPL membership due to the time scale. The same problem arose for my plan to discuss in depth the funding for touring and also my section including the CVs and PDPs. I also planned to create a merchandising contract but felt that I could give enough information on a slide instead. Apart from those reasons I feel like there were not many modifications made and I reached the objectives of the 14 core units for my presentation. 

Looking back on my graded unit 2 I feel like it is definitely something to be proud of. I feel like I did do enough research and I worked really hard to try and put it together. I would say that a good point of having a plan was that I could look back on it whenever I needed to remember what I was doing. I wrote it in a way that whenever I was unsure about what I was going to be doing next, the information I required was there and easy to see instead of having to search through it.  The SWOT analysis helped me as well as every time I looked at my plan, I would notice the fact that I got an A in last years graded unit so it spurred me on to really try to work hard at this. Also having my weakness there of getting stressed helped to calm me down so I could improve. However in saying this I do not feel like I completed my log book to the extent that I could have. I had internet issues at home which made me have to manually write a logbook and upload it at a later date. I also did not enjoy seeing the ‘Threats’ section of the SWOT analysis as it made them apparent to me and that worried me more. The GANTT chart basically didn’t exist to me, I completely forgot about it has changed massively as you will see in the attached files. The logbook however is a good thing to see how well I was coming along which also spurred me on to finish it. 

I overall am happy with my presentation. I feel like I showed my knowledge of the industry well but my main strength I feel was the marketing figures and market research that I carried out on myself as a YouTube artist. I feel like the figures and facts made it a lot more interesting and made the whole situation roll smoothly and tie together well. In saying this, my figures when it came to my budgets was not so good. I had not put the budgets together at a reasonable amount and it was made very clear to the panel I hadn’t been too careful in creating the budgets. Also another weakness I would say is silly basic knowledge that I by passed about collection societies made it seem as if I hadn’t paid attention and brought the standard of my presentation down a notch.

 In conclusion, I am overall feeling fairly positive about the presentation. I feel like if I had put a bit more time into this it would have been more put together and I would recommend to anyone doing this to go through both their portfolio pieces and presentations with a fine tooth comb to ensure that everything matches up well and no mistakes were made before you actually present your Graded Unit 2 in front of a panel. I would also highly recommend that you should really prepare yourself of every single piece of knowledge possible in relation to your presentation in order for the interview with the panel afterwards to go smoothly as the panel did not let anything wrong pass and there were a lot of questions asked which I was not prepared for. I wish I had spent more time focusing on what questions I could be asked about instead of practising my presentation which I already knew as I really feel like the interview after really let down everything I had been working on over the past months. In saying this I am proud of all the hard work I did put into this presentation and portfolio pieces and I am happy in the way in which my presentation was put across.

Feelings towards the presentation

As of right now it is half 12 the day before the exam and I am feeling fairly ok about the presentation, just silly things like messing up words and rushing through stuff is on my mind however I am nervous about the interview after as I am an anxious person and usually when I'm under pressure. I'm confident in the work that I have carried out though. I'm just scared in case I am asked a simple question and I try to make it more complicated than it is and get confused.
I have all day and night to prepare for it so hopefully I will be more confident.

Updates to pieces

After showing my lecturer my presentation I was told to remove the CV and PDP slides altogether and just briefly speak about the portfolio pieces once handed to the interviewers. I am a lot happier about this as I feel like that is a massive chunk that I don't have to rush through now.

Week 14 - Recording Contract

I have produced a recording contract for this piece. I used the template of what I used last year for Graded Unit but have updated it to make it more relevant to my presentation right now. I gave the definition of it and also discussed with the clauses were in my recording contract.
As I feel like contracts are something we have spoken a lot about during the course of two years that I feel like I know a lot about what they entail and due to this I am fairly confident with this.

Week 13 - CV & PDP

For this I used a lot more slides than I had hoped. I have also created actual pieces for this to hand out and discuss along with my presentation. I have gone into great detail of how to write a proper CV and PDP in order to get a job within the music industry. I have tried to cut down this section but I feel like I would be deleting relevant information if I were to remove some slides.
I am unsure about this section as of right now.

Week 12 - Digital Marketing & Era

For this topic I felt like creating a digital marketing plan may be too much information and I felt like I could cover the class by discussing it. I spoke about how marketing online is more relevant these days with more and more people online. I also discussed how you would go about doing so.

I feel happy with what I have done for this.

Week 11 - Communications Plan

I really struggled to find what I had done for this in previous classes. I eventually found a powerpoint that I had created and have decided that I feel like the information is enough to both cover on a slide as well as printing out the previous presentation from the previous class.I kept the information to one slide as I didn't want to over do it as I was handing out the previous presentation but I feel like I have showcased enough information to cover in this presentation. 
I overall feel happy with the information I have provided for this topic.

Week 10 - Touring and Key Participants

For this I created a budget for touring ensuring that I would cover all costs. I also explained how I feel the retained profits from adverts and being a partner on youtube will benefit money wise also a loan will be needed for the costs which will be paid back after the tour is finished. I also described a bit about touring and who the key participants are within touring.

I am not as confident in this as others and I feel like I will need a bit more practice when learning my presentation.

Week 7 - MCPS & PRS Memberships

For this I felt that it was important to print out the form from the MCPS to fully show how the memberships are created. I also made it clear why I would create a membership with them. Furthermore in the presentation I showed all the steps to applying online for the PRS and stated why I should do that.
I feel fairly confident about this as I feel like I have covered enough.

Week 6 - Negotiations 1&2

I only took one week to put together both negotiations as I felt like it isn't something I could have gone into depth about without parts being irrelevant to my presentation. I included the negotiation I had done from last year and updated it with the strategy that I used and why I used it.

I feel like I have covered enough here and therefore am fairly confident about this piece.

Week 5 - Marketing Strategy

For this piece I have actually created a portfolio piece. I had one similar from last year which I have updated for this year. I took only one week to create this as there wasn't much to change and when it came to writing about it in the presentation I tried to be as brief as possible but also remembering what is in it.

I feel ok about this section, the only thing I would be worried about is if I forget parts of the strategy to speak about.

Week 3&4 Press Pack

I spent a bit of time going back to HNC music business course work trying to find my information of my press pack that I did the previous year. I stuck to that press pack from last year as I felt like it was a good press pack to include into my presentation.

I ensured in my slides had enough information for me to remember to speak about but not too much information that I was reading it off the board.

I felt pretty alright with this but the reason I took two weeks to complete it was that I was ill and I only wanted to do small bits at a time so I wasn't losing concentration.

Week 2 & 3 - Merchandising Agreement

For this I had to conduct a bit of research to see what clauses tend to be in this type of contract/agreement.
After searching online I noticed the problem that nothing music industry related came up so I had to stick to my notes in which I had copied down from a presentation that my lecturer had showed us.
There was what I felt just enough information to cover the Music Law 2 topic.
I picked out a couple clauses and related them to a merchandise contract that I would create for an act and related it also to my recording contract.

Even though there were a couple problems relating to my online research I felt like I still have covered enough for that topic.

Week One - Key Technologies

I wrote this piece pretty fast as I had already done research on this for another class. I tried to showcase my knowledge by discussing how key technologies are used in the music industry. I already knew that the adverts for Facebook was £350 for a lifetime budget through themselves and that Youtube's advertising was £400 for a lifetime budget through themselves. Both of these link up with google adsense in which I have an account for my YouTube channel. 

Also I thought that by adding in the use of a Big Cartel site for merchandising showed other ways in which the music industry could take advantage of the high number of people on the internet now. 

I felt like this was a fairly easy piece to put across and ensuring that I refer to myself throughout it should go well.

Internet Issues

Once again my internet has broken which has made me have to hand write this log book to write an upload at a later date. This explains why the upload dates are all the same.