Audience Research: Target Audience Profile

This mindmap reflects what I believe our target audience to be like; what television channels they like, what their personality is like, what type of music they listen to, etc.

http://www.findyourtribe.co.uk/ is website in which you can answer a questionnaire and find out what "tribe" or stereotype you belong to; more often than not, you are part of one stereotype, yet have elements of other stereotypes.

I completed the questionnaire on http://www.findyourtribe.co.uk/ as a member of my audience and what I believe they would like, especially in terms of wanting to be individual. The result was "Hipster" who is someone that is ahead of the rest of the population in terms of creativity (such as music, arts). I agree with this stereotype to a certain degree because the audience for our genre, would have a sense of individuality, however there are other ideas that contrast what I believe our audience to be like; for instance, the not using social networking sites and finding completely new music/art/clothing all the time. The indie/pop genre, although being alternative and individual, like to belong and I don't believe they would stray and become too alternative because they want individualism, not isolation.

Due to indie/pop genre being a subculture, http://www.findyourtribe.co.uk/ didn't incorporate the fact that I was answering the questionnaire from a subgenre point of view rather than overhead genre; there were certain questions where there were two options that I would've chosen, however I was only able to choose one of the options and had to decide whether I was the indie or the pop side of the subculture. The individualism of the "Hipster" doesn't reflect the conformist nature of the pop genre, which makes it seem as though "Hipster" is more relevant to the indie side of the genre. "Hipster" showed elements of a "Craft Kid" which is someone who makes things and changes clothing and bags to make them unique. This doesn't reflect the pop genre either, because of the unique/alternative nature of standing out and essentially being isolated isn't relevant to the conformist pop genre.

http://www.findyourtribe.co.uk/ reflected one side of my subgenre more strongly, than the other half, however, I believe that the indie side of the genre is more dominant than the pop half, because of how the band dress and style their hair.

Research into the potential target audience

Using a small group of participants, that were with the in the demographic 16-25years, in education and an aspirational demographic; I composed a questionnaire comprising of twelve questions, in order to find out how audiences consumer theire music, and how and where they find out about new artists. The focus group I used consisted of seven femalesand seven males, using the social networking site http://www.facebook.co.uk/ and was published October 2009.I had planned to have an equal number of male and females within the focus group answering the questionnaire in order to achieve a fair equilibrium between the genders; however only four females and three males answered the questionnaire - which alothought isn't too uneven doesn't necessarily give a fair view from the male sector of the audience especially. The questionnaires were filled out by friends on Facebook and then returned via comments at the bottom of the notes page.

The primary purpose of this research was to see how people purchased their music; whether it was using internet downloads or as hard copies from music retail stores. In addition, I wanted to find out how participants found out about new music and new artists. The research will assist my year 13 music video production as it has helped me understand the audience better and respond to their views appropriately and through the research it has assisted me on how to investigate different areas of the music industry. Through asking the focus group I can promote my artist in a way that is relevent and appropriate to the audience.

Evaluation

This graph represents the participants response when they answered "are you more likely to listen to the Radio or watch a music channel (mtv, kerrang, etc) or neither?" Although, this graph does show clear answers to the question, all it states is that five participants listen to the radio and two would rather watch a music video; it doesn't reveal who answered what (gender, race, etc) it just shows what the focus group answered.

I wanted to see if the choice was affected by gender; whether male participants preferred listening to the radio compared with the female participants or vice versa. In order to do this I created another graph that not only shows what was answered but who answered them. I though this would give more detail and a wider understanding about my focus group. I realised that although there is who answered the question and what their answer was, there isn't anything indicating why they answered what they did; to achieve very detailed information, that would've been a greater help, the question should've written with more depth - for instance: "Are you more liked to listen to the radio or watch a music video or neither? Why is this?" Some participants within the focus group did expand on their answer, for example: one female participant mentioned it is "easier to multitask" when listening to the radio.

Through my research I have found that female participants were more likely to listen to the radio, compared with the male participants, and that the male participants would prefer to watch a music video; for reasons such as "I like to see the band perform." This suggests that visuals help the male audience understand the music better - perhaps because the visuals may be linked to the song. I would have to research this in more detail in order to find whether this is true, also using a larger focus group would have achieved more definitive, detailed answers.

It can be seen from both graphs that music is a large aspect of people's lives; whether the audience consume through music channels, radio, personal music devices (iPod's, mp3 players) as none of the participants within the focus group responded to the question with "neither." Although it was a small focus group (as I didn't receive all the questionnaires back) music appears to influence the audience through some form of media text: perhaps if the focus groupd was larger, there would have been participants that aren't likely to do either; this would have created more comprehensive information. As I didn't include other forms of consuming music (iPod's, mp3 players) there was, perhaps, a lack of choice. I did choose to keep the options to a minimum as there appear to be the main ways in which music is broadcast publically; also applying the information to the production of my music video, I felt it was easier wth fewer options as the uses of personal devices didn't seem relevent to the question.

I also wanted to see whether the participants linked themselves to the music industry in other ways, for example through music magazines: "do you purchase music magazines and if so, why?" Compared with the previous question there is more detail and this enabled me to find out, not only what participants answered but why they answered what they did. Research into this particular area of the music industry will not only help me with the production of my music video, but also the planning of my print productions as I will be able to take into account whether there is a consumer area for music magazines (in which there would be advertisments) and therefore could research the types of texts that are seen within these magazines.

It can be seen from this graph that the female participants would regularly buy a music magazine or consider buying compared with the male participants.

Although this graph shows which gender buys the music magazines it doesn't show why the participants chose to show this; in order to have a more in-depth response, I created a new graph.

This graph shows the reasons why people purchase the magazines and from the graph it can be seen that the majority of participants purchase them to find out about bands - whether it is their favourite or new talent. I didn't include the participants' gender within this graph, because I didn't think it relevent; why they have brought the magazine didn't appear to have a link to a gender and seemed unnescessary data. Surprisingly only one participant uses the magazine to find out about tours and gig information; I expected this to be more, however since the rise of new technology there are easier and cheaper way to find out about gigs; for example by looking on http://www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk/ different gigs and a variety of venues across the city and the county can be found, for free, and as well as being to see when a band is playing the tickets can also be purchased online. I was suprised that more participants read the magazines to keep up with the music industry and the changes that happen, compared with participants finding out gig information. I didn't expect many participants in the focus group to have this response, however I realised which participants had the "industry" response: one female participant works on the radio and attends gigs more than once a month and the male participant and is heavily influenced by his band, plays an instrument and also attends gigs more than once a month - from their profiles their interest is in not only their favourite band's music but the industry as a whole; this correlates with their response.

This research was particularly aimed at a slightly alternative audience, although I did include participants that, perhaps, would listen to more mainstream music; this was done to have a broader variety of responses. From the research I have found that the participants are fairly involved with what is happening in the music industry, through magazines and the internet. This links well with our production because the band that we've chosen is a small, alternative band that are well known on the local norwich music scene.

3. What have learned from your audience research?

The sample group I chose was mainly C2/C1 category and are in higher education and planning to go onto study at degree level, which suggests they are aspirational and independent which links well the audience that I associate Blighters with. I found this out due to the audience research I did previously. I used the social networking site, www.facebook.com to find out what consumers thought of my music video productions and print productions.

However, I used it mainly as an aid, because I asked certain participants to answer the questionnaire and sent them the link to the questionnaire; I mainly asked consumers individually, because the participants I tagged in the questionnaire didn’t respond as quickly as I wanted. All of the participants in the focus group I asked were in the demographic 16-20 years. This was because I felt the appropriate demographic for our band’s genre was young people.

This graph shows the gender of the participants I asked; the majority being female. Although, the band members are all male and may create a sense of aspiration for the male consumers; I think that male consumers may appear threatened by an all male band which is why I believe that Blighters are aimed more towards female consumers. From Blighters myspace page, the majority of their friends are other bands or female fans, which strengthens the idea that females are more the target audience then male consumers. However, according to the graph below the majority of consumers asked liked the video for different reasons, and the two participants that disliked the genre, liked other aspects of the video. Although, this graph isn’t gender specific, I think we would have been able to see whether female or male consumers preferred this song, because the previous graph just states how many of each gender participated in the questionnaire. I have found that by using a strong narrative I was able to keep the focus groups attention because they enjoyed the strong “enjoyable” narrative. Many participants liked the mixture of the performance shots and narrative, because they felt it kept the pace up and made the video more exciting. The main reason I think the audience liked the narrative was because we’re so exposed to it on music channels; many videos have a strong narrative and many don’t have a mixture of performance shots, thus relying heavily on narrative, which is something that I felt made this video stand out more and gave the audience something fresh to watch.

The aspects of the music video that the two participants disliked was the genre, and it was a personal preference idea rather than a problem with the video itself; the participants didn’t like the genre of the music video, however this didn’t prevent them from enjoying the narrative and composition of the shots.

In terms of my print productions, the majority of participants said they would purchase the album because of the advert or album, as the terms “are strong” and they flow well together. The participants preferred the simplicity of the advert and album cover than they would’ve done if it was more colourful and busier (in terms of information). I learnt that by keeping my advert simple, I was able to appeal to a broader audience, because they weren’t overwhelmed by information or colours.

Summer Investigation: Implications for the music industry and my own production

Through my research I have realised that the music industry have a long way to go and in order to win the battle against the illegal downloads, they need to take to the consumers and work with them so there is a compromise;it seems that the music industry realise that illegal downloading is happening, however it is as though they don't want to understand the implications for the companies. When speaking with a band, they said that the implications for the music industry were huge because unsigned bands (as themselves) were finding it hard to get signed because the record companies could only take a certain percentage of new talent on each year. Another reason was, that people were getting their music for free, so although they were getting a reputation on the music scene they weren't receiving any royalties for their music. Illegal downloading is also accredited for the breaking up of bands, because they can't see the point of making music if they're not receiving royalties and sometimes unless they are a big mainstream band they're dropped by their record label which again leads to the end of the band.

Unsigned bands have started giving their music away for free because audiences expect to have free music; this suggests the idea that the music industry have stopped selling music and have started selling lifestyles. Unsigned bands are making their money from their gigs and from selling their merchandise; audiences are able to wear the band logo's, this is turn can create a sense of belonging, because the consumer can feel part of the fan base and have something in common with a vast amount of other audience members.

For my year 13 project, I marketed the band similarly to how contemporary bands are marketed; the idea of selling a lifestyle rather than the music is highlighted through my products as I have targeted a young audience who are in education because of the theme of school that flows between my digipak and music video. Using performance shots, of not only the artist but also the gig audience, shows the consumers the tone and atmosphere of the band and sells Blighters as a live act. Through the exposure of the artist throughout my three products I have been able to familiarise them with the audience and create a strong fanbase because the audience can feel engaged and attached with the band.

Summer Investigation: Findings & Conclusion

From my focus group I have found that it is equally weighted in terms of whether or not the participants downloaded illegally. However, due to the small focus group this cannot be seen as a true representation of what consumers actually do. The graph also doesn't tell us whether the male or females are more like to illegally download, however I don't believe this to be entirely relevent. Although the focus group was small, the opinions of the participants can be taken to account; one participant said they illegally downloaded because "music is too expensive" which can be agreed to in a certain degree. In Asda a CD can be brought for £6.99, however when in a music store such as HMV the same CD cost £13.99; we know that Asda doesn't make it's money from music, but why is that there isn't just a difference of a few pence, but rather alot of pounds.

However, from this graph we can see that each participant doesn't just use one type of media in which to consume music. From the graph we can see that the two most popular ways of consuming music for the majority are completely legal: the radio and iTunes. However, it is perhaps worrying to see that illegal downloads are on par with CD's and Vinyl which suggests that hard copies of music are struggling against new techonologies - is this because of the cost of music or because music on the internet is more convenient and accessible? On iTunes some music can be brought for as little as 19p, this type of price is viable for a CD so is the reason that hard copies are struggling? Many consumers I asked said that although expensive, they often preferred a hard copy of the music when they could afford because they could touch it and if felt as though they'd actually brought something, rather than it just saving directly to their hard drive.

Summer Investigation: Research

In order to research my topic I used different types of media. Using questionnaires and internet research I was able to see what the internet community and a small focus group thought of illegal downloads.

I used the social networking site www.facebook.com because I thought that this would reach a larger number of consumers and that collecting information would be easier. However, I don't think this was an appropriate method to use, because it is only possible to get results if people read the questionnaire and answer it, whereas if the target group answer them in person you have the answers instantaneously. Although there were problems with remote research on the internet, the collection of data was easier because I received emails when a user had responded to the questionnaire. This made the collection of data easier and gave me access to a wider demographic, but narrowed the respondents down to those under the age of 25years as I only had access to people on my friends list on "facebook" which the majority are under 25years. Another issue with using a social networking site was that, because of the lack of response, there was only a small focus group; however it was equally spilt between male and female, which was helpful because it appeared more of a balanced arguments and I was able to see what each gender believed. The small number of participants, however made it difficult to have substantial agreements/disagreements because it was only a small number of participants opinions; in order to see the bigger picture it would have been better if more consumers had participated.

However, through internet research I was able to use the opinions of people that were over the age of 25 and have experience in the area of music; for instance, I was able to read articles from The Guardian and Daily Times. Through using two different types of research through the same channel (the internet) I was able to receive opinions from both over 25's and under 25's and also people with experience and without; however their opinions all met a similar idea, that illegal downloads are big problem, but the price of music certainly isn't deterring consumers from doing it.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and convetions of real media products?

My media texts have been created around genre and through researching music videos of a similar genre and that use similar ideas to those of my original ideas.