Hardware and
content
1.
How
long did it take to record their latest album?
It took Lil Wayne 5 years to record Tha
Carter V. Through the process of recording, he told his audience that the album
was all about growth, and also that this may be his final album. This may lead
to his audience recommending his album to other friends and family who may
consider his music. This expands his music because of the curiosity that is
audience feel as the album is released to the public. As they wait, it
increases the albums value as they aren’t able to get more of Lil
Wayne’s music as he proclaims that it is the last one that he is going to
release.
2.
Where
was their last album recorded (studio/ bedroom/ on tour etc)?
Lil Wayne recorded Tha Carter V in a
studio, with the majority of his albums recorded in a studio.
3.
How
many tracks on each of their last two album releases?
Free Weezy was one of the two albums that
Lil Wayne recently recorded, it contents 16 tracks within the album. Also I am
not a human being ii is another recent album that Lil Wayne released. It
contains 15 tracks within the album, which is almost similar to the other
album.
4.
How
many singles were released from each if their last two albums?
One of
Lil Wayne’s latest albums is Free Weezy, which has a track list of 15 songs, among
them there are 8 singles. These singles all have a different purpose to the
album, some are similar but most of them tell a different story. Lil Wayne’s
other album that he also released recently is Tha Carter V, which has a track
list of 16, among these tracks there are 6 singles.
5. What formats were their last two albums
released on? (CD, digital download, vinyl, deluxe album)
Both his
recent album was released on CD but today, everything is commonly released
online through either iTunes or other applications. The way the market
distribute their music today is gradually changing throughout the years. This
changes the way the music industry markets their product to their audience.
6. Have your artist ever enabled user
generated content?
The hit
show on HBO “Ballers” had featured a track from Lil Wayne’s 2010 hit “right
above it” this was considered an efficient way of marketing his music by using
cross media convergence. Releasing their music across different platforms
allows his target audience to widen, thus expanding his revenue.
7. Has their music ever been used to
promote a new piece of hardware?
Lil Wayne
released “Go Dj” on the play station 2 game Midnight Club 3. This song was well
recognised because of how it was marketed, Lil Wayne’s music featuring on a
video game is an example of cross media convergence.
8. Have they used a new piece of hardware
in the production of their music?
Lil Wayne hasn’t promoted any new piece of
hardware at all.
9.
Have
tacks been pre-released or exclusively available on artist’s apps?
Lil Wayne released an app called Squvd Up,
which features under the album The Carter iii, this is an efficient way of
promoting his product by releasing it onto another platform.
10.
Has
any of their music ever been repackaged because of the new piece of hardware?
None of
Lil Wayne’s music has ever been repackaged due to the new release of
hardware that could potentially affect the way he distributes music.
11.
Have
any of their videos or other promotional material featured product placement of
hardware?
Lil Wayne also featured in an advert which
promotes the new piece of hardware that Samsung released (Samsung Galaxy S7),
this video was sponsored by Samsung by allowing Lil Wayne to feature on the
video to market their new piece of hardware to the public.
Audience
behaviour and consumption
1. What were the total sales of their last
two albums?
The total sales for “free Weezy” was estimated at 10 million dollars.
2. How did they chart in
3. A) The UK: Lil Wayne’s “Free Weezy”
charted top 10 in the UK as it was first released on July 4th.
4. B) the US: Lil Wayne charted 28th
in the US for his free Weezy album, when it was released on July 4th
5. What percentage of sales for their last
two albums were:
A) CD sales: 40%
B) Vinyl sales: 3%
C) streamed/e.g. Spotify: 25%
D) Downloaded: 32%
4. What is the estimated number
of illegal downloads in their last two albums?
Free
Weezy was estimated at 10 million downloads online. Tha Carter V also received
14 million downloads and streams online. This shows the change in the way people
access their music in many different ways, one of them being the most common
(online downloads). There are some downloads that were taken online from
pirated websites. These websites break the copyright law. It is very difficult
to prevent the artist’s audience to access free music online where they can
easily find it.
