Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.

Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.

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DescriptionThis written work is accompanied by an audio CD and accompanying design and packaging materials, on file at the Barrett Thesis Library. The work details the process of recording an original audio CD and developing a marketing plan, including the building of a personal brand, strategies, tactics, and environment analysis.
ContributorsHoal, Lauren Elizabeth (Author) / Russell, Timothy (Thesis director) / Eaton, John (Committee member) / Rigsby, Clarke (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description

Releasing music 20 years ago looks a lot different than releasing music today, and it is still ever-changing. Artists can make music in their bedrooms and release it independently by simply uploading it online. These artists can use social media to market their music themselves. But with it being so

Releasing music 20 years ago looks a lot different than releasing music today, and it is still ever-changing. Artists can make music in their bedrooms and release it independently by simply uploading it online. These artists can use social media to market their music themselves. But with it being so easy for new and small artists to put out a song it begs the question: in this customer era of marketing, how can new and small artists use co-creational marketing strategies, such as themes of nostalgia and hidden messages, to differentiate themselves? This project seeks to answer that question. In this partial creative project and partial research project, I tasked myself with writing and producing a song myself, then using that work to test these different marketing strategies. I distributed a survey where participants would listen to the song and then decide which of two visuals they preferred for a cover, merchandise item, and social media feed. Each set of visuals had one with a nostalgic theme and one that utilized hidden messages. This project discusses the importance of social media in an independent artist’s career and marketing efforts, as well as discusses customer-centric marketing and co-creation marketing strategies through nostalgia and hidden messages. I found success in a nostalgic strategy and interest in hidden messages. This research sets the stage for testing similar strategies by collaborating with other artists and their work in the hopes of creating guidance for independent artists when marketing their releases.

ContributorsSmith, Samantha (Author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Costa, Jorge (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / The Sidney Poitier New American Film School (Contributor)
Created2023-05
ContributorsSmith, Samantha (Author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Costa, Jorge (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / The Sidney Poitier New American Film School (Contributor)
Created2023-05
ContributorsSmith, Samantha (Author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Costa, Jorge (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / The Sidney Poitier New American Film School (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
Releasing music 20 years ago looks a lot different than releasing music today, and it is still ever-changing. Artists can make music in their bedrooms and release it independently by simply uploading it online. These artists can use social media to market their music themselves. But with it being so

Releasing music 20 years ago looks a lot different than releasing music today, and it is still ever-changing. Artists can make music in their bedrooms and release it independently by simply uploading it online. These artists can use social media to market their music themselves. But with it being so easy for new and small artists to put out a song it begs the question: in this customer era of marketing, how can new and small artists use co-creational marketing strategies, such as themes of nostalgia and hidden messages, to differentiate themselves? This project seeks to answer that question. In this partial creative project and partial research project, I tasked myself with writing and producing a song myself, then using that work to test these different marketing strategies. I distributed a survey where participants would listen to the song and then decide which of two visuals they preferred for a cover, merchandise item, and social media feed. Each set of visuals had one with a nostalgic theme and one that utilized hidden messages. This project discusses the importance of social media in an independent artist’s career and marketing efforts, as well as discusses customer-centric marketing and co-creation marketing strategies through nostalgia and hidden messages. I found success in a nostalgic strategy and interest in hidden messages. This research sets the stage for testing similar strategies by collaborating with other artists and their work in the hopes of creating guidance for independent artists when marketing their releases.
ContributorsSmith, Samantha (Author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Costa, Jorge (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / The Sidney Poitier New American Film School (Contributor)
Created2023-05
ContributorsSmith, Samantha (Author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Costa, Jorge (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / The Sidney Poitier New American Film School (Contributor)
Created2023-05
ContributorsSmith, Samantha (Author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Costa, Jorge (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / The Sidney Poitier New American Film School (Contributor)
Created2023-05
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Description
The pace at which technology advances beats many marketers’ responses; in the music industry, technological advancements have driven the changes in music consumption and music marketing, which has created a need for a different marketing approach. Specifically, the digitalization of music has changed the way it is consumed—consumers now have

The pace at which technology advances beats many marketers’ responses; in the music industry, technological advancements have driven the changes in music consumption and music marketing, which has created a need for a different marketing approach. Specifically, the digitalization of music has changed the way it is consumed—consumers now have access to digital music libraries with millions of songs directly on their phones, making streaming the driver of today’s music consumption—and social media has played an important role in the need for changes in music marketing. Additionally, the consumers behind this shift from buying physical albums to streaming music are millennials and Gen Z. For this reason, both groups were focused on in this research.
For decades, the music industry followed a structured business model that relied on the sale of albums in order for musicians and record labels to see revenues. Due to the rise of streaming services and changes in consumer behavior, this is no longer the case. Aldo Cundari argues that because of these changes, we are in the Customer Era of marketing, where marketers must use customer-centricity in order to drive consumers to want to engage with brands, as we now face informed and empowered consumers. Taking this theory and Vargo and Lusch’s argument that marketing is now service-centered—where consumers should be a part of the production process through co-creation of value, relationships, and customization of offerings—requires an analysis of the drivers of digital streaming and approaching them through a value-adding approach, finding the right channel of distribution, determining potential brand advocates, and assessing their preferences and behavior.
This paper first examines the history of music consumption, assesses today’s consumption, the shift from buying to streaming, and uncovers the indirect relationship between music and social media. I find that millennials and Generation Z are the drivers behind streaming, so primary research via a questionnaire is conducted to further evaluate their preferences and what they value in order to recommend customer-centric marketing strategies for music marketing. It was found that today’s consumer is a heavy social media user, integrates his/her social media and music consumption, and that the best channel of distribution is Instagram. To allow the consumer to co-create value, I found that the use of brand advocates and organic influencer marketing (through playlists and sponsored posts) is needed in the dynamic of today’s music industry.
ContributorsArteaga, Maria Jesus (Author) / Eaton, John (Thesis director) / Olsen, Douglas (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
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Description
Our goal for the project was to formulate a reliable promotion strategy that, when implemented, will help future independent artists successfully get discovered and build an engaged following of their own. To do this, we set out to create moments of discovery - the moment when a listener decides they

Our goal for the project was to formulate a reliable promotion strategy that, when implemented, will help future independent artists successfully get discovered and build an engaged following of their own. To do this, we set out to create moments of discovery - the moment when a listener decides they have a particular affinity for an artist or song. In an effort to find a better and more dependable process for independent artists to be discovered, we tested our theories on Apollo Bravo, an innovative, Alternative/Electronic passion project, created by two of our group members, Max Fees, and Cole Kinerk.

We found that traditional means of exposure offer little insight into an artist's growing audience and can pose several challenges when measuring their efficacy and return on investment. Through these channels, artists can spend thousands of dollars promoting themselves to disinterested individuals while learning very little about their audience in the process. If only there was a reliable method for artists to introduce themselves to the people most likely to enjoy what they have to offer…

By harnessing the power of Facebook’s audience targeting machine learning ad platform, artists have an opportunity like never before to:
1) Find an audience without compromise
2) Study and engage with said audience
3) Find millions more listeners who, based on their Facebook data, resemble their growing fanbase.
Furthermore, the more time and money artists are willing to invest in their ad campaigns, the more opportunities they create for Facebook’s machine learning algorithms to learn and optimize, thus targeting more desirable listeners more efficiently

Though access to new listeners is at an all time high, finding this audience requires strategy. In the context of driving results and creating an audience - honing one’s skills as a marketer is just as important as it is honing their skills as an artist. Before all else, artists must identify their genre and differentiating factors. A firm understanding of positioning and value proposition is necessary to inform one’s targeting, content and copy development strategies.

By harnessing the power of targeted advertising, machine learning, and brand strategy any artist can find and develop an engaged following. Furthermore, these powerful advertising platforms let independent artists circumvent the top-down system that the music industry has operated on since its inception. No longer do artists have to find a label or sign away their next five years to be successful. Through digital advertising and a small amount of ad spend, any artist can find the
right listener, a listener waiting to fall in love with their music.
ContributorsKinerk, Cole B (Co-author) / Fees, Max (Co-author) / Patrick, Angela (Co-author) / Hass, Mark (Thesis director) / Patrick, Brad (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12