Jake Bugg – Cross media case study

Background• Jake Bugg (born Jacob Edwin Kennedy; 28 February 1994) is an

English singer-songwriter. His self-titled debut album, largely co-written with songwriters Iain Archer, Matt Prime and Crispin Hunt, was released in late 2012 and reached number one in the UK albums chart.

• Bugg was born in Nottingham, to musical parents who separated when he was young. His father, whose last name was Bugg, was a nurse and his mother worked in sales, both having previously made recordings. He grew up in the Clifton council estate of Nottingham and started playing guitar at the age of 12 after being introduced to the instrument by his uncle Mark.

• Bugg was chosen by the BBC to appear on their "Introducing" stage at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival aged 17, and because of this was given a contract by Mercury Records.[3] His songs were then placed on various BBC Radio play lists and one of them, "Country Song", was used in a national TV beer commercial for Greene King IPA.

The home page of the Jake Bugg website has a video playing in the background which is the center of attention. The video shows him in a situation where it seems he is just starting out with the music industry.

The homepage shows his new album that is out, and gives information for where it can be bought.

The homepage of the website itself is very basic, where the prominent element that is shown is the music video playing in the background. This shows the importance of the music and that appearance is not the main aspect.

There is also a toolbar which allows you to navigate the website to view other things, such as different videos.

There is a news page which allows you to be updated with new events that he has been involved with, giving the fans a look into his lifestyle as an artist.

Another page, ‘gigs’ also adopts the same simple background as other pages, also with information for audiences.

The photos page has links which directs you to to different pages of more photos. Again, this allows the fans to see more into what he is like. The point that there is few also implies the fact that he is a new artist.

Album Artwork

The album artwork itself is quite basic, and the colours portray a old fashioned feel towards the album. The album artwork enforces his genre of indie folk. The close up on the front also allows the viewer to see who he is, as he is a new artist and not yet well known by people. It shows that he is trying to get his face shown and also indicates that he is of a young age. The folk like album and his young face implies he is a unique and vintage artist.

Advertisement by MTV Website

On the mtv website they have advertised Jake Bugg and influenced people to watch him. The advertisement is a positive influence as it evokes the point that he is young and unique, and not your average 19 year old as he has a much older sound for his age. The comparison to other artists would also influence people to listen to him if they were also interested in the similar kind of sound that he has adopted.

Jake Bugg – Broken

The first part of the music video shows other people playing on stage in a pub, firstly indicating the folk genre for Jake Bugg.

There is a shot to the rest of the people in the bar who have no reaction towards the previous people playing, and they seem quite arrogant and ignorant towards them.

When Jake Bugg goes on stage it reinforces the importance of music for him, as he sings live; this makes him appear as an organic artist.

There is another shot of the people in the bar, who start to fight making Jake Bugg stop playing. This reinforces peoples attitudes, but he continues to play.

The close up shot of him playing the guitar reinforces the idea of being organic, but also implies that he plays his own music too.

This focus pull shot indicates that no one is really looking at him singing.

The focus pull on the man highlights him and implies that he has begun to notice him playing. This shot of the woman swaying to the music also

indicates that she too has noticed him.

There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. The lyrics are ‘still my heart beats for you’ and then the camera cuts to the shot of the girl, indicating a problem between the artist and the girl.

The shot of the man again, this time tapping his fingers, shows that he is again interested in the song. It could also imply that he can relate to the song for his own situation.

Another shot of a fight between two men and a woman also relates to the lyrics of being ‘broken’ This shot shows that Jake Bugg’s song is uniting people together.

One of the end shot shows the girl again. This reinforces that there could be some sort of relationship between them and her facial expression links to the lyrics of being ‘broken’

Conclusion

Jake Bugg is still a new artist but I think all of the above concludes that he is a unique artist that has taken on a folk type outlook for his appearance and his music.

His website and music video also portray him to be an organic artist where the sole purpose of his career is to make music, and not about the way he looks.