Audience Research

The audience of a music video depends totally on the artist/group, song, and the genre.

If the music video was for a rock song, the audience would have to enjoy rock music firstly, and enjoy the artist. If the artist was a band, such as Kings of Leon, the majority of the audience would be male. This is because all band members are male, and a lot of the songs are from a male's point of view. Because of this a male audience can connect to the band easier, and are more likely to listen to their music. The age group would range from young teenagers, aged 14, to young adults, around aged 24. This is because of the content of the songs and what the band are about. The song "sex is on fire", is a prime example of why they may not appeal to an older generation. An older age group may not find it appealing and I don't think they would find it too appropriate. Therefore a music video of the rock genre would more than likely be targeting a male audience, aged 14 to 24.

If the music video was for a pop song, the audience would be totally different. Because of the conventions, such as being colourful, fun, uses a narrative, includes a dance routine, the audience are more likely to be females as this is what females stereotypically enjoy. If the music video was for Lady Gaga for example, this would attract a female audience. The reason for this is that she is female. A male audience would'nt be able to connect with her as much, and also because her songs are more upbeat, females would have fun singing along to it. Also, the audience would range from around 12 to 24. Again this is because the artist is young herself. Because the artist is Lady Gaga, I don't think an older generation would appreciate her music and videos. She wears extreme outfits that perhaps would put an older generation off, but would be the gossip of the targetted audience, for example students. This supports that a music video for a pop song would be aimed at young females, aged 12 to 24.

If the music video was for an indie song, then the audience would obviously be an indie music fan. I think this genre is for both genders, as it's conventions are aimed at neither just males or females. The videos for indie songs use effects such as black and white, set a calm atmosphere, often use a narrative, and sometimes involve performance. These are features that a mixtue of genders would enjoy. Also, there are a huge variety of both female and male artists that belong to an indie genre. For example, Scouting for Girls, is a male band, but appeals to all. For instance, I enjoy their music myself and also I feel I can relate to them. The song "Heartbeat" is used on one of my favourite films for example, called 'Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging', a film targeted at females. The age range would be between age 10 to 20. I say this because I think a lot of indie songs feature teenage experiences, again like "Heartbeat"

If the video was for a dance song the audience would need to enjoy dance music. It would target an audience who are quite extreme and like to party, as the music of dance genre is usually played in clubs or at parties. Because a convention of the dance music vido is to have half naked females dancing in it, you would think that the main target audience would be males, but the majority of people that listen to dance music is females. Most dance artists are female, for example Cascada. As a female aritst it means that a female audience can connect with her, and because of the 'half-nakedness' in the videos, I think females can again relate to her. When females go to parties or clubs, this is the kind of thing they would wear, and so I think females would find an artist like this more appealing. The age group would be from around 15 to 25. My reason is that this is the age range of students, are the most likely social group to go out to a party or go clubbing. An older generation wouldn't do as they are working and have a family to look after, and a younger generation are simply not old enough.





BECAUSE I AM DOING A MUSIC VIDEO THAT FEATURES A POP SONG, I NEED TO FIND OUT WHAT AN AUDIENCE WOULD EXPECT FROM A VIDEO LIKE THIS. I WILL ASK:

What is your age group?
- 10-16
- 17-24
- 25 or over

Are you
- male
-female

What kind of colour scheme would you expect to see in a pop music video?
- dull (black and white)
- bright
- mainly one colour (example red)

Who would you expect to see in a pop music video?
- female artist
- male artist
- pop group
- any of the above

Who is your favourite pop group at the moment?

Would you expect a narrative from a pop video?
- yes
- no

I will ask 10 poeople this questionnaire and record my results, applying them to my video.


What is your age group?
- 10-16
- 17-24
- 25 or over

Are you
- male
-female

What kind of colour scheme would you expect to see in a pop music video?
- dull (black and white)
- bright
- mainly one colour (example red)

Who would you expect to see in a pop music video?
- female artist
- male artist
- pop group
- any of the above

Who is your favourite pop group/artist at the moment?
Eliza Doolittle
The Saturdays
Train Maroon 5
Katy Perry
Pixie Lott
KT Tunstall
Katy Perry
Ke$ha
Lady Gaga

Would you expect a narrative from a pop video?
- yes
- no

WHAT DID I LEARN FROM MY QUESTIONNAIRE? By asking 10 people, both male and female, with a variety of ages, I learnt that it is essential to make my pop video bright and colourful. Everyone I asked voted that they would expect a pop video to be brightly coloured, not dull (black and white) or mainly one colour. This follows the conventions of a pop music video. Because it wasn't just one age group, or one gender that voted for bright colours, and it was everyone, it tells me I must make it bright in order to attract a range of audience. A variety of choices were picked in the next question. I asked who the audience would expect to see in a pop music video, some answered female artist, one person answered a pop group, but the majority of people answered any. This tells me that I can use any artist, and I don't have to base my video on one certain thing. I can use either a male artist, a female artist or pop group. I also figured that there are many artists in the public eye at the moment. I think using one of these artists would make my video more appealing, and my target audience can connect to it easily. It also helps because I can research into what videos the artists have done already to get influences and ideas on what the audience would find appealing to watch. A majority of people said they did not expect to see a narrative, only one person said they would expect to see one. From this I understand that music videos no longer need to have a narrative. Their purpose is to simply look good, and so I intend to do this with the video I am going to produce.