Creating a digital artefact sounds like a daunting task but once you realise that ‘digital artefact’ just means - create something online, it doesn’t seem so daunting. But then again choosing what to do is not easy. It helped to have the experience of people who’ve done it before to draw on and when I watched some of the videos the main message I got was to do something that you’re interested in. This is primarily how I chose my idea.
Initially I considered some ideas to do with social issues, or something to do with the Tokyo Olympics but in the end I chose to create an artefact centred around local Australian music because that’s a real interest for me.
The idea to do local Australian music as the subject for my Digital Artefact sprouted from a research based assessment I had done for my HSC where my idea was to interview and write about local Indigenous musicians and how their Indigenous heritage and traditions inspires their music. My thought processes behind choosing to do a blog website was that I could write and interview young local musicians in a similar way except I would be focusing on the artist's as individuals and their stories and also their experience as young local creatives in the midst of a global pandemic.
Personally, I really enjoy going to see live music and I especially like small venues and less well known artists. I follow the artists on Instagram and usually I find out about their gigs in this way.This means that when I get to the gig I feel like I’m sharing the experience with a bunch of people just like me, like we’re all in on a little secret.
That’s kind of the idea of my artefact, to create and share content about new artists, that’s personal. I want users to feel like it's coming from someone like them who just enjoys the music and the experience of live music. I investigated music trends and other music blog posts, and the reality is that while there is certainly a big audience, there's also a lot of music blogs. Some of them are pretty big operations with a lot of content and a slick look.
But I think there is still an opening for something like my blog that can connect with a smaller group of fans who are following some less well known artists. I want to connect with these users who are also young Australians because I think, like me, they also enjoy the feeling of connecting to a local band or artist and the sense of intimacy and connection you experience when you listen to their music, go to their shows and support them. That’s why direct interviews with the musicians is a key part of my blog. I really enjoy that I can connect with them on instagram and talk to them over a phone interview. I think my users will relate to that feeling.
My main artefact is my blog post and the second medium is through Instagram. Instagram is important for my artefact, as it's the way I stay connected with the musicians I like. I also use instagram to connect directly with the musicians as I can direct message them. But, I believe that uploading my work through Instagram allows for the correct audience to be reached which are young people who are interested in listening to new young local artists.
I also have come up with ideas recently on how I can use Instagram in an artistic form instead of just a way to promote my blog site. Which is that I had the idea of making my own magazine type pieces where I can introduce new artists, give reviews of artists or just share my views on certain musical related issues.
Since coming up with the idea and concept for my Digital Artefact, I have interviewed two local Australian musicians. The first being Nick Ward who is a 20 year old musician from Sydney mainly writing Indie-Pop ballads about his sense of self and a 16 year old Indigenous musician from Wollongong called Aodhan who also falls into the Indie-Pop genre of music, writing songs on love and break up songs. Since posting these pieces, I’ve had a number of views on the blog posts, and I’ve added 62 followers to the Instagram account attached to the blog. What I’m most excited about however, are a couple of musicians that are just starting out who are following on Instagram. I’m planning to reach out to them, find out a bit about them and maybe I can interview them as a feature for my blog.
For the project as the semester continues I plan to interview more people in the music industry at first interviewing as many musicians and artists that are local as I can and then expanding this to include other industry professionals such as music producers to show their creative or productive process has been affected during the pandemic or people that manage music festivals to find out how they started out, also how the pandemic has affected them and their sales and radio hosts/presenters, I also want to write some more opinions pieces about songs, albums or artists that I listen to or that are in the news or even writing about my experience going to the gigs of different artists and the vibes, or aesthetics of the venue. For my project I also need to keep working on developing my Instagram page and it’s engagement through posting more images, tagging the artist in the post, including hashtags underneath in the caption and promoting them in posts as well.I’m also thinking about how I can frame my presence to get traction with my users. I’m starting to think that I can focus on and promote a local to Wollongong, or local to Sydney angle. I want to differentiate from other music blogs so I think if I find a way to re-frame the blog, perhaps as something like a ‘who is releasing music near you…’ might engage local users.
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