Jakey Quinn

Understanding My Audience

A music video should be interesting and entertaining as well as appealing to the

target audience of which the music video is based upon.

From the research I have done I have deduced that the genre of Pop is the most
popular out of all music genres. I know this as the top five most played songs on
YouTube happen to all come from the pop genre. I believe this is because songs
from this genre are designed to stick in peoples heads more than other genres,
which is why people choose to listen to them as they are always thinking about
some part or some lyric of that song. As the songs seem to follow current trends
to appeal to the target audience more than they would if they did not follow
current trends as people may not like the music as they have no interest in
whatever it is based off.

The top 5 most played songs consist of:

Gangnam Style by PSY - 2.743 billion

See You Again by Wiz Khalifa - 2.371 billion
Sorry by Justin Bieber - 2.188 billion
Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars - 2.142 billion
Blank Space by Tayler Swift - 1.931 billion

Together these 5 music videos hold over 10 billion views on YouTube alone, this
does not factor in how many times the song could have been listened to on the
radio or how many times the music video could have been shown on music video
channels. YouTube being the main source of music videos for my target audience
therefore we can see that pop music is very popular among my primary target
audience, this target audience being teenagers between 14 and 19.

Music videos are designed for people of a young age, children, teenagers and
young adults about the age of 14 and 19. This is because this age range is the
most influenced by video as they have access to music video channels and
YouTube which is their primary source. Therefore the music videos are used to
get them interested in the actual music. Music is designed for people older than
this as adults do not need a visual simulate to be interested in something
whereas most people under the age of 21 do. Adults can just sit back and enjoy
music therefore music videos are not completely designed for their viewing.
YouTube is used for music video viewing more than television channels due to the
fact that YouTube allows the audience to decide what they want to watch, instead
of what the television channel decides to play, which allows them to have
freedom and more choice, YouTube is also used more as it is free and it available
on almost every internet connected device in the world, which allows it to be
accessible and portable as people can watch from anywhere at any time. Music
videos are purposely relatable to teens as it allows them to follow trends, which
leads to them being able to dress and look like the artists of the music video if
they attend a concert of the artist and it music videos can also be used to
advertise these converts which primarily allow the audience to know about them
so they are able to attend.
Jakey Quinn

My target audience is the same consisting of teenagers between the ages of 14

and 19, this is because the indie genre is also moderately popular with this
target audience as well as the fact I am from this target audience so it allows me
to make a suitable video for the audience. The reason I am aiming for people 14
and above is because I have never come across a 13-year-old listening to
alternative music. They do not seem to have an interest in it as they just follow
the crowd and the crowd always goes towards the pop genre. My intended target
audience consists of both male and female genders as they both equally like
alternative music and I will be making my music video with both genders
included therefore they will be able to relate with the characters in the music
video.

Psychographics are the study of personalitys, values, opinions, interests,

attitudes and lifestyles. The psychographics for my target audience is teenagers
of which are aged between 14 and 19, the people aged between 14 and 16 are
not known for being employed; they are known for being in education. Therefore,
they have more time to watch music videos as they do not have responsibilities
of which come from employment, therefore they are able to waste this time
doing so. This is also as teenagers prefer to use YouTube as it allows them
unlimited access to all music whereas music channels provide limited access,
and it is easier to access for a teenager than it is for older people as they may
not know how to use YouTube in terms of viewing, they may prefer to listen to a
CD release of the song instead of watching the video of it, or watching it on
television instead of on line. Most teenagers follow current trends as it is
teenagers that create most trends in terms of popular music and clothing but the
people of which I will be making my music video for seem to wear different
clothing as they are different to the main crowd. Alternate even. Teenagers
within this bracket are more argumentative than others, and feel the need to be
powered by others attention. However the ones aged over and 16 and below 19
are different in these aspects for example teenagers within this bracket are more
likely to have a part time job as they have most likely received their first set of
exam certificates of which makes them employable by a wide range of
employers. They come across as less argumentative because they have matured
and learned how to respect other views or try to help towards them. They do
however continue to follow the trends of their demographic but this is common
across all groups. And lastly as a whole they no longer feel the need for attention
as they have learned that is not what life is about and they have grown up to
enjoy them.

Even though most people now go to YouTube when they want to watch music
videos as it is a free and portable service as you are able to access it from
anywhere at any time unlike TV channels of which you need to be viewing on a
television. Television channels of which showcase music videos still exist, these
consist of 4Music, The Box, Box Hits and MTV Music. These channels exist still as
it allows people to find new music videos as with YouTube most of the time you
are looking for a specific music video however with music channels you are
unable to control what you watch therefore it is a good way to find new music
videos.
Jakey Quinn

Below is a table of which I will analyse the results of which I obtained from my
target audience questionnaire, in order to allow me to know what they want to
see within music videos of the Alternative genre.

Questionnaire Analysis
From the chart seen to the left, it is
shown that my results from my
questionnaire are equal between the
two genders therefore my results will
consist of balanced responses This is
good as I will be aiming at both male
and female genres as they both
equally like the alternative genre
which means the following opinions
become relevant.

Age To the right you can see my age

graph, of which you can see that 12
out of the 19 people who filled out my
age question were within my target
audience this is good as this means
my questionnaire is filled with the
opinions of the people of which I am
aiming on making my music video for.
Jakey Quinn

From my questionnaire I was able to

find out, that the type of music video
of which my audience like to see is
one of which includes both narrative
and performance, this being a
mixture. This is good as my music
video shall also feature both a
narrative and a performance making
it a mixture as well, which is
important as this is the type of which
my target audience likes the most.

From the graph to the left, we can see

that my target audience are split as
half of them enjoy symbolic based
and the other half enjoy thematic
based videos, this is both a good and
a bad thing as I will be including both
within my music video this is good as
it means I will be catering for more of
the target audience and thus making
it so my music video appeals more.

To the left, you can see that the

people within my target audience like
music videos of which follow an
amplifying pace in terms of narrative,
amplifying consisting of both
Disjunctive and Illustrative. This is
good as my music video will be
amplifying, therefore I would be
catering for all my target audience.
Jakey Quinn

The graph to the left, shows that the

genre rock is the most popular
amongst my audience. This is good
as the sub-genre of alternative I am
expressing is alternative rock this
means that even though my music
video is an alternative video, it should
be enjoyed by all. The alternative
genre however is seen to be a tied
second favourite along with pop
music. So by this I may include some
convention from both genres in order
to make my music video appeal to
more of an audience.
To the left, you can see that my
audience believe that the music video
for a song can affect their overall
opinion of the song. This is important
to me as it means that if I end up
making a bad video for the song,
then people will not enjoy the song as
much as they used to, but this can
also be good as my music video may
allow for peoples opinion of the song
to improve, which is what my initial
aim was to do that.

Below I have included the most

detailed responses.

One of my audience said that the

video allows them to understand the
song more than the lyrics; this is
good as I should be able to make the
lyrics clearly understandable.

This is good as I would like people to

think of my music video whenever
they hear the song, therefore I need
my music video to be good as it will
be thought about constantly due to it
being one of the most popular songs
from the band.
These three opinions allow us to see
that the audience enjoy music videos
because it allows them to see the
concept of the song from another
perception or it can allow them to
Jakey Quinn

understand the context of the song

more than just hearing it, as the
video would include visuals aid to the
lyrics unlike the music, of which is
just made up of lyrics, this is good for
me as I now know that the audience
enjoy this, which is important as I
shall be trying to showcase the song
of my music video through another
perception.
Some of my target audience like to
see CGI elements within music videos
as they believe it adds to the overall
experience as long as the CGI does
not ruin the song or concept. This
being said my audience believe that
music videos do not need to have CGI
in order to be good. They like a
mixture of CGI and real elements
whether it was being the narrative or
the band performing. This question
was not done as a multiple choice so I
was able to see what people actual
had to say about the topic of CGI.
My target audience like the fact that
they are able to relate to elements of
the music video this is because it
allows them to feel more engaged
with the music video, however some
people within my target audience do
not like to be able to relate to music
videos this Is because they like to see
things from a different perception to
what the music video is trying to
show.
The video being relatable allows for
the audience to understand the
concept of the video and the lyrics of
the song more.

My Target Audience

My target audience is primarily teenagers of which are aged between 14 and 19,
it consists of both the male and female genders as they both enjoy the
alternative genre equally.
Jakey Quinn

I have chosen this target audience because both genders like the genre equally
as much as the others and the age range as I have found to be popular with
people of which are aged between 14 and 19 as they tend to follow the music
video based from the alternative genre and alternative bands on social media
websites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. I am also choosing this target
audience as I will be using people of which fit into the demographic themselves
as this allows my music video to be more relatable.

My music video will be aiming for an age rating of 15 as people of the age of 14
will no doubt still have access to this content and this makes it legally available
for the majority of my target audience because if I were to aim for a higher rating
most of would not be old enough to watch it, this also means I will have a larger
audience as it is the younger people of my target audience of which like the
genre the most. They will be represented in my music video via the use of
actors, costumes and body language as I will make sure to make my actors
behave like the demographic this is so the target audience can relate more to
the characters in the music video and the music video. Also, I will be
representing males as the target in a breakup as within my demographic it is
normally the guy that breaks up with the girl but in my music video. The girl will
be breaking up with the boy of which can be seen as PG due to being a slightly
mature concept however I have said 15 as the concept itself is experienced by
people within my target audience therefore it allows for them to relate more to
the video and feel more included during their viewing experience

I will be including cast member of which come from the same demographic of my
target audience as this will allow the characters to be able to relate to the target
audience and the target audience can relate to the characters which will also
mean the demographic to be well represented, this will be done via using
locations of which associate with the target audience, having costumes of which
follow current trends and using props for example phones of which the target
audience are seen with example; iPhones. This will appeal to my audience as
during my research they stated that being able to relate with the video makes
the video a more entertaining and more engaging experience overall.

Conclusion

The song of which I am making my music video for is the alternative rock genre.
My music video should hopefully fall into this same genre if I follow the codes
and convention of the genre correctly. I may include some codes and conventions
from other genres such as on trend costumes as it allows for more people to
enjoy the video and relate to it, which overall widens the audience for my music
video.

Like I have said, I will be following the codes and conventions of the alternative
genre, for example alternative music videos initially have small budgets; I will be
using this convention as my music video is not a professional piece of work and
the budget for it is quite close to nothing, therefore the things I include like my
location will be somewhere of which is free of charge to use. However, I will be
Jakey Quinn

challenging the convention of performance based videos, as my music even

though it will feature performance elements, it will be more of a narrative.

The use of on trend costumes will also be challenged within my piece of work
due to the fact the actors of which I will be using where clothes of which is more
on trend, for the simple fact my demographic tend to follow trends more than
any other. I will however be using a variety of props that will be relatable to the
target audience within my video. This is due to the fact it is low budget and I may
not be able to use specific props for the purpose. My music video will also follow
the code and convention of simple editing, not so much out of choice but just out
of my own level of skill with the editing software of which I will be using.

In my music video I will be representing my target audience in a variety of ways

for example the idea of a weak male, of which is unable to cope with a breakup,
as the song is about a guy and a girl who have recently broke up, but the girl
may or may not come back so the video is about what happens while she is
gone. I will also be representing the idea that other peoples do not notice
peoples emotions as when the guy is seen with his friends he looks upset but
they do not notice. As the guy, will be shown as a singer and as the drummer of
the band, the artist will be shown to be a kind of sad person.

I will be making a video of which consist of both narrative and performance

elements, this being a mixture but also it will be a symbolic piece of work as the
lyrics within the song will link to the music video. I believe a music video like the
one I am going to produce would be featured on TV channels such as the
Alternative channel and the Indie channel. YouTube also is in all honesty the
worlds biggest music video channel as it is the place where people now primarily
search for music videos as YouTube allows viewers to have complete control over
the content. As they get to choose what they watch whereas with music videos
you only get to watch the music videos they put on.