Audience research analysis(Surveys)

By Abbi, Holly, Charlie and Joni.

MUSIC VIDEO- Audience research.

As shown, almost 70% of the participants were female. This could be slightly biased as the survey was sent out to other students, friends and family therefore the gender ratio within those social groups could be imbalanced, as it was based on who we knew- therefore this won’t accurately reflect the larger population. So this must be considered. To improve the structure of this question, we could’ve opened it up to a larger audience by including the option of Transgender and/or ‘prefer not to say’.

100% of the audience identified as between the ages of 15-24. This is a more accurate representation of the larger population as the younger generations have grown up with music videos and are more likely to have the time to watch music videos compared to older generations who have more responsibilities and less time to offer to watching music videos. Furthermore if they haven’t grown up with music videos it is unlikely that they’d seek to spend any spare time watching them today.

Younger target audience means that the video will have to remain current and applicable to them and in some ways reflect their lifestyle.

Almost 70% of participants preferred a narrative based music video. Although we cannot accurately distinguish which gender prefers which, its safe to make the assumption based on previous results that it was the girls who preferred a narrative and the boys a performance. Yet we can’t be certain. Using these results a mix of narrative and performance will be used within the video to acquire to the tastes of the target audience. Yes, performance did receive significantly less votes but there is still a significant percentage of almost 40% who prefer performance. Thus, it must be considered when it comes to production. The question’s layout has been executed well as it gives a definition of performance and narrative so that the target audience can answer the question without hesitation over language.

Again the results of the question reflect those of previous questions. The majority preferred the artists to star in the video. This applies to Goodwin’s theory as star persona is identified as a convention of a great music video. In the production of our music video, we will use the artists to back up our research and theories within media. We will also use actors who will work to build the narrative aspect of the video.

Smart phones over the previous years have taken over and changed the way we view moving image. Its influence is apparent from the results of this question as its current and appeals to a young target audience. Taking this information the video will only be available on mobile devices which includes the tablet allowing us to directly reach our target audience. Furthermore, in reality distribution companies save money by only distributing on platforms that each target audience utilises. This question could be better if we left an option to define ‘Other’ as that now means we have potentially missed out on reaching some of our target audience on the devices they utilise to watch music videos. This isn’t good as it means we have lost views on the video.

It could be said that the audience chose this response as one tool the music/film industry uses to provide an escapism for the audience members. However this doesn’t necessarily mean viewers want to be transported into an alien world for example. The video could be inspired by present time reality except it lacks the mundane, boring or frustrating problems of preparing for exams at school, falling out with friends or doing homework etc. Plus there is only a slight difference in percentage (around 13%) between resemblance of real life and not. So some aspects of reality that are appealing e.g. being with friends, laughing or watching tv etc, could be included within the video.

The results from this question aren’t as promising as we’d want them to be as the majority of the audience said that they watch music videos ‘Every few weeks’. This could mean that the audience aren’t as interested in watching a video as they are at listening to a song. However, it could instead reveal how frequently music videos are published and distributed to the public, so for example music videos could have a trend of being released every month. For the purposes of our project we will aim to release the video at either the start or the end of the month so that we can see it progress in viewing throughout the month as according to our research the videos will gain more views as the weeks progress.

Results show how the target audience prefer music videos to be around 3-4 mins long. This follows convention as that is typically how long music videos tend to be as they’re equivalent to the length of the song. Saying this it would mean that 2 mins would just be too short for the song. The option of having a video over 5 mins was put into place as today some music videos have almost turned into borderline-short films with beginning prologue scenes and endings without the song playing if the narrative continues past the song length. As shown this was completely unfavoured by our target audience therefore we will not be considering it as an appropriate length for our music video.

Every member of the target audience wanted to feel a positive emotion within themselves after watching the video. In particular they wanted to feel empowered which tells us that the narrative within the video needs to cause the audience to embody this emotion. Some responded with ‘Other’ and wrote that they wanted to feel uplifted and energetic which are similar emotions.

CD’S- Audience research.

The following research was conducted to see what the target audience would like when it comes to the artists CD and Digipak.

In this questionnaire there was a higher response rate (19) in comparison to the music video questionnaire (13). However this didn’t change the gender of the majority, as it is still female.

When it comes to the design of this album the front cover will have an artistic design instead of band image. Although band image did only fall short of one participant’s vote an artistic design will instead be utilised. In the alternative genre an artistic design is often used as a form of artistic expression, this differs from the mainstream band imagery as this genre focuses more on their own music and art rather than fame or personality.

Expectedly the audience preferred a consistent theme throughout the artists albums. This is conventional as artists such as Ed Sheeran, Catfish and the bottlemen and Drake etc. have done this. Having a theme aids with artist familiarity and is visually appealing.

Overwhelmingly 90% of the audience would want the lyrics to be included in a digipak. Lyrics in a digipak allows the audience to learn the songs on the album quicker so that they can sing, rap or talk along for example. Therefore the lyrics to the song will be included in our digipak.

The response from this question shows that a mixture of bright and pastel colours would be best for the covers on the CD. This does reflect the gender of the target audience as traditionally girls tend to prefer bright or pastels however general. Using brighter colours is more likely to draw in the naked eye. Dark colours and grayscale is great for adding mystery and dimension but those colours used heavily are traditionally seen in Rock, Rap and Screamo album covers.

The audience were given the opportunity to give a written response and the majority agreed that online content should be included within the digipak. This reflects the age of the target audience, as it is a young one. They have the ability to utilise E-media efficiently as the everchanging technology they have grown up with predominantly uses the internet and so they have learnt to navigate it. Online content could include things such as a websites and social media links for example….

…The screenshot to the left continues to show the responses to Q6. Some audience members express that they enjoy ‘memes…behind the scenes and downloads’ as part of online content. We could take this and apply it to our Digipak as we now have examples of what they’d like to see as online content.