Stars on Symphony

With podcasts facing a major decrease in listenership nowadays, Symphony 924 had reached out to the team seeking help in attracting a wider and especially younger audience. 

1st problem: Low listenership    

• Solution: To reach out to younger audiences 

During the initial stage, our utmost priority was to first understand the current landscape of the classical music scene in Singapore, so that the team can gain deeper understanding on how to better market and plan for quality content that may cater to younger audiences. 

2nd problem: Youths finding classical music unappealing

• Solution: To break down stereotypes of classical music amongst the public while keeping the authenticity and core of Symphony 924

Through the team’s survey gainings and data provided by Symphony 924 on audience demographics, the team managed to get a clear picture of the local classical music consumption rate amongst youths as well as the mass public. The team had planned and conceptualised video contents that may expose the youths to classical music in a more intriguing and entertaining manner. The final shortlisted videos include a concept video of  “A day in the life of (artist’s name) ”, and an interview video of “Introducing Kids/Newbies to Classical Music with (artist’s name)”. Details regarding each video consisting of scripts, artists assigned, visual guide and storyboard was done and passed on to Symphony 924 for the execution process.

Eunice Goh Yee Yu

• Team Leader
• Checking meeting minutes
• Platform + Social Media Research (Tiktok)
• Artists Research and Selection (Established Artists)
• Video Contents Storyboard + Scripts (Interview video)

Sutrina Jelita Rose

• Platform + Social Media Research (FB & IG)
• Artists Research and Selection (Established Artists)
• Video Contents Storyboard + Scripts (Interview video)
• Email Drafting for Artists

Xena Giam Ci Hui

• Artists Research
• Video conceptualisation + skeleton
• Platform + Social Media Research (YouTube)
• Artists Research and Selection (Aspiring Artists)
• Video Contents Storyboard + Scripts (Concept video)

Lim Ying Xuan

• Record meeting sessions with industry partners
• Artists Research
• Artists Liaison
• Artists Research and Selection (Established Artists)
• Video Contents Storyboard + Scripts (Interview video)

Nur Shafinah Binte Azman

• Secretary
• Platform + Social Media Research (Tiktok)
• Artists Research and Selection (Aspiring Artists)
• Rebrand Guide
• Video Contents Storyboard + Scripts (Concept video)

Nursyafiqah Sedik

• Logo + Brand Guide Design
• Platform + Social Media Research (YouTube)
• Artists Research and Selection (Aspiring Artists)
• Video Contents Storyboard + Scripts (Concept video)

Siti Nurlisa

• Video conceptualisation + skeleton
• Platform + Social Media Research (YouTube)
• Artists Research and Selection (Aspiring Artists)
• Video Contents Storyboard + Scripts(Concept video)

• To provide comprehensive research on potential artists that Symphony 924 may collaborate with and reach out to the shortlisted candidates
• To plan and conceptualise video contents  for Symphony 924 that may cater to younger audiences while keeping the authenticity and core of Symphony 924
• To make classical music more accessible and welcoming to the masses, at the same time providing a platform for artists to reach out to a wider audience

Two respective budgets were provided by Symphony 924 initially for the project. The first being the Media Production Grant by IMDA, and another budget without.

We were given some guidelines to work with the budget, to keep within that amount stated in their budget for each item, especially the agreed amount for Poco Productions and allocate the artist fees for the different tiered artists. 

The team came up with the video content and social media strategies. The accuracy of Symphony 924's current budget was further evaluated. Identifying some gaps in the proposed budget, the proposed to purchase a social media manager subscription, Hootsuite, to ease their workload. Items added into the budget sheet includes:

• Copyright/performance rights fees
• Score Loan fees
• Marketing Manager
• Sponsored Ads fees
• Graphic Designing fees
• Artists Remuneration

Graphic designing fees were factored in the budget as well, because we noticed the need for a professional graphic designer to upkeep Symphony 924’s branding and social media content creation. The team further allocated an honorarium amount that will be fair for each artist, including their performance fees. 

There was an overall increase of about $7000 from the initial budget. This is due to the unchangeable amount for certain items approved by Mediacorp in the initial budget.

Phase 1: Conceptualisation & Ideation

• Division of roles 
  • Team Leader
  • Secretary 
  • Artist Research team: Team members from this group were tasked to research potential local artists who are classically trained that would be a good fit for this project.
    • Crafting a survey to understand the target audience’s wants and needs
    • Research on potential artists for the show
  • Social Media team: Our team members research on Symphony 924’s social media platform and analyses their statistics
    • Research on Symphony924 Youtube, Facebook, Instagram etc
• Deck Proposal: 
  • Aim: To include our findings during our research process, where we interviewed our target audience to have a better understanding of their thoughts on classical music
  • Timeline & Deliverables
  • Proposed Content & Artist
  • Proposed Budget
  • Proposed Brand guide

Phase 2: Planning and Research

• Artist research, Justification & Pitch presentation (5 emerging artists & 5 established artists)
  • Social Media Analytics
  • Platform feature
  • Concert coverage
• Research and Draft the content of on different concept videos and interview videos (10 concept and 6 interview videos)

Phase 3: Execution 

• Artist Liaison
  • Drafting out email templates for each artists
  • Sending out emails to artists on behalf of Symphony 924
  • Conducting the first round of interviews with artists with Symphony 924. Mainly to discuss on the project and their availability to commit. 
• Storyboarding
  • A detailed storyboard of each video which includes:
    • Duration of video
    • Angles on each video and duration 
    • Detailed content of each portion of the video
• Logo design
  • Second round of logo designs made
  • Over 6 different designs were made
• Scriptwriting
  • Finalised videos requires a script to help with its flow
  • Sample questions were created to fit the context of each video
  • Introduction, Questions and Follow up questions - created to fit the video content

Phase 4: Handover

• Cleaning up each document files and folders in preparation for handover
• Internal meetings between the team and Symphony 924 to go over final deliverables and final outcomes

In order to carry out the project, the team looked to carry out empirical research by conducting a survey to understand audience consumption on classical music. We also researched social media platforms and potential artists for SoS. 

Survey

The target audience identified were people between the ages of 18 to 45, who rarely or occasionally listen to Symphony 924. They also listen to classical music and/or support the Singaporean classical music scene. The target audience are also dedicated consumers of social media content. The survey was then carried out through Google Forms. 

The objective of the survey was to:

• Identify characteristics of the target audience
• Gain understanding of classical music consumption habits by the target audience
• Explore potential platforms and content directions

Social media platform research

The team carried out research for Symphony 924’s existing social media platforms. These platforms were:

• Facebook
• YouTube
• Instagram

The research was thorough as it investigated:

• The number of followers for each platform
• The number of likes per post on each platform
• The frequency of posting
• The type of content that was posted
• The number of shares each post per platform garnered 

Artist research

As Symphony 924 aims to feature various artists as part of their SoS campaign, the team conducted research on potential artists that would be suitable for SoS’s video content. The result of the team’s artist research was to determine the best possible artists of Symphony 924’s choosing to be shortlisted for Sounds on Symphony.

The team also looked at videos of past performances that could provide the team and Symphony 924 a sampling of their music and performance style to further justify their suitability for SoS. Interview videos on the other hand aided the team and Symphony 924 in determining the kind of video content that the artist would be most appropriate for. Additionally, we also focused on the artists’ social media presence and popularity to support the SoS campaign in garnering audiences. 

The artist research examined the following:

• Which social media platforms they have an account on
• The number of followers and subscribers for each platform
• Past performances and interviews that are archived online
• Other social media accounts that they were featured in (e.g. Esplanade, The Straits Times, etc) which could include a mix of interview videos and past performances

The data collected from the project methodology would then assist the team in formulating a variety of content most appropriate for Symphony 924’s channels.

Survey

The survey received a total of 109 respondents between the ages 18 to 45 years old. Majority of the respondents are young adults, which could be due to a limited reach only within our age group.The key findings and insights of the survey are as follows: 

• Most of the respondents have a low exposure to classical music
• Respondents generally favour video podcasts over normal podcasts
• YouTube is the most popular platform to consume content with longer time spent on the platform. 

Social media platform research

Beyond the survey conducted, the team researched on the various social media platforms and contents that Symphony 924 can leverage on to help promote Stars on Symphony. The research insights of each platform are as follows: 

1. TikTok

• No existing account under this platform. 
• SoS trailers and relative content posted to gain recognition
• Unique and relevant

2. Instagram & Facebook 

• 1,304 Followers & 15,293 Followers respectively
• Low engagement
• Lacking regularity and proper curation
• Video contents averages at 1,079 views on Facebook
• Personalised posts receive higher engagement 
• Leverage on personalised and video contents as well as promotional functions to garner more profile views, engagement and followers.

3. YouTube

• Existing dormant YouTube account since 2014 
• Low viewership and minimal description of video
• Social media accounts are not linked to YouTube page resulting in low traction
• Methods to rebuild the page:
  • Intriguing thumbnails to attract clicks
  • Provide a brief description of their videos 
  • Link their social media platforms
  • Build a complete profile with a display picture and a thorough About page

Artist research

The team identified capable and credible artists who have strong social media presence and popularity to support the campaign in garnering audiences. As such, we have identified the following artists:

• Chloe Chua
• Orkestra Sri Temasek
• Renee Yadav
• Lorong Boys
• Lauren Yeoh

“Stars on Symphony” is a project whereby the station will be featuring 5 to 6 artists or music groups from genres such as western/ ethnic classical music, western/ ethnic classical crossover music and/or musical theatre as the Stars on Symphony. The station will be working with these artists to create content that will make classical music and the arts accessible to the masses, and provide recording opportunities for these artists to record and create up to approximately 15 to 20 tracks worth of music in total.The content and music tracks created will then be aired on not only Symphony 92.4FM platforms, but also other Mediacorp content platforms to promote the artists and their music to the masses. This would eventually culminate into a Stars on Symphony live concert, featuring the selected artists performing live at the Victoria Concert Hall.

Symphony 92.4FM hopes to make classical music and the various art forms they features (i.e. ethnic classical, classical crossover and musical theatre) accessible to audiences by promoting artists practicing the said art forms through fun and interesting content as well. Through this, the podcast station hope to build up the station’s brand as the platform that connects audiences with the arts in an accessible way.

Upon embarking on this project with Symphony 924, the expected deliverables are to create 1 set of both concept and interview videos. The themes are as follows:

1. A day in the life of (artist name)

A day in the life of (artist name) would serve as the interview video as the five featured artist would get the opportunity to have their own individual content. This set of interview videos aim to connect the artists with the audiences and get a chance to have a peek on what goes on behind the scenes of a classical musician. 

2. Introducing Classical Music to Newbies/Children.

Introducing Classical Music to Newbies/Children serves as a concept video whereby the five SOS artists would be answering questions from children/newbies who are not familiar with the classical music scene. The set of questions asked by the children/newbies are at random to spur on spontaneous reaction whilst at the same time, provide light-hearted infotainment to the audience. 

—————

Together with the both concept and interview videos, elaborated moodboards, storyboards and scripts are also created to equip the third party, Poco Productions, with information that they would require to shoot these set of contents. The team presented the 5 artists schedules and their availability for ease of Poco Productions and Symphony 924 to coordinate. 

Aside from the conceptualisation of contents, the team created a set of logos for the branding of Stars On Symphony with the aim of a fresh, vibrant but classy feel to it. These set of logos are at the discretion of Mediacorp and Symphony 924 to choose and decide.

Brand guide : a fresh identity for SOS in order to help them appear more attractive and modern to the younger audiences. Two shades of colours, being a vibrant blue and a cool grey were proposed to accompany the shade of blue for the brand to appear as more trendy and youthful.

Mood board: which consisted of the branding direction of some companies utilising a similar shade of blue to present how the colour looks on collaterals. It also serves as a visual direction for how SOS’ content could look. 

Social Media Prototypes: Proposed colours were applied on one of the team's content pillars to show Symphony 924 how it roughly would look, specifically on their content.