After sending out my questionnaire to a group of 30 people - equally mixed aged 16-30 - I have red my results and have begun planning some sort of basis as to how my music video will begin.
Q1. How often do you watch music videos?
It is clear that the majority of people do watch music videos at least once a week, already narrowing down my choice of target audience and helping me focus on those who will mostly watch my product. Most of the younger participants aged 16-24 years responded confirming they watch videos daily/weekly rather than older people aged 25 years+ which provides a more focused target audience and who may be interested in my product.
Q2. What genre of music do you usually listen to?
This was a very stereotypical response which showed the majority of the group select mainstream music i.e. Hip Hop, R&B and Pop, which is something the participants aged 16-24 years chose against the elder people whom responded with Soul and Indie. By selecting one of the popular genres, I would be conforming to the popular tastes of modern music and, personally, I wish to provide a different alternative of music for the target audience to listen to that has been out-dated for a decade. This encourages a usage of something the total opposite of what the audience prefer i.e. Soul, as they wouldn't expect it and would be able to glimpse into another genre of music.
Q3. What do you enjoy most in a music video?
In popular modern music, a song with a message or meaning has a valid importance and allows the audience to be able to connect with the artist in some form or another. By adding a visual representation of the song makes it more successful and the participants have confirmed this. This perfectly fits with the genre of Soul as it is considered as 'music with a personality' which it allows the director to play on the emotions of the artist throughout the clip. Not many females aged 18-24 years wanted to see anything comical whilst not many males aged 16-24 years wanted to see anything serious whilst some from different genders and age did, surprisingly, want to see a live performance of the song. The focus upon meaning and live performance helps outline a strong narrative for the video that would amplify the genre characteristics of that of Soul, R&B and Pop.
Q4. Do you think music videos boost the song's success?
A large amount of people, the majority females aged 16-20 years, agreed that music videos do boost the song's success in the long run whilst a quarter of the results said no (majority males aged 16-26 years) and a small group of people whom haven't watched a video in a while selected unsure. This portrays a far more narrow selection of who my target audience will be, females aged 16-20 years illustrating a far bigger interest in the song enough to watch the music video than the rest of the participants.
Q5. Do you think that the music video should reflect the lyrics?
The results provide a clear show that the majority of the participants felt that the lyrics and the music video should intertwine, all different ages and gender. However, some females aged 20-30 years felt that it all was dependent on the song being used, a surprising result where I had anticipated a little amount of response and for it to come from males. This would be well suited for the genre of Pop and Hip Hop because they are most focused on visuals and having close ups of the artist's face. This is certainly something to question further with my target audience as it could lead on to them making the decision for me once I select and play the song.
Q6.What do you believe it takes to make a music video successful?
This was an open-ended question so I ended up with a varying amount of results from the participants that I have categorised into 3 groups:
A Clear Vision
Some have said that a good music video needs to have a clear vision right from the beginning and needs precise planning and work ethic to be successful, showing they believe most focus should come from behind-the-scenes to create the overall image. This is an all round definite as all directors and crew work behind-the-scenes to create the right visuals, making it relevant to all genres.
A Narrative That Reflects The Song Emotionally
Most agreed with the idea of a storyline that grabs their attention emotionally and makes them feel something for the song and/or artist. This was always a brilliant route to take with the genre Soul and having the confirmation by the participants themselves provides the platform to create something like this.
Something Controversial
Although strange, this was said by the oldest participants partaking in the questionnaire whom had even provided names like Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke, evidently showing that even those of an older age whom don't listen to their music have heard of them due to their controversial videos and/or performances. This would fit best with the Hip Hop, Pop and R&B genres as they stereotypically produce the most controversial music videos although Soul does have that open barrier to having the opportunity to do so as it is a genre that speaks about an artist's true emotions.
This is a very interesting response as most selected to go with the controversial route rather than something creative and with emotion, showing how popular controversy has become within our culture and society.
Q7. Would you prefer to a music video that conforms to a basic, typical style; is controversial in any way or portrays something raw with emotion? Why?
Again, the audience have selected controversial as something they would prefer to see in a music video rather than something basic/typical and raw with emotion. This is proving to show a pattern of what is popular in modern society and the idea that they want more of it. After seeing these answers more often in the results, I am forming the idea to subvert modern day music and create something new and unique for the audience to listen to, perhaps researching into genres that are out-dated within this society. Most females aged 16-20 years had selected controversial, whom showed to idolise a controversial star themselves such as Miley Cyrus, so I wish to provide a new alternative for them to see and acknowledge instead.
Q8. What do you expect from a narrative in a music video?
This was an open-ended question where I ended up with only 2 similar results from the participants:
Something thrilling for the audience
Most of the males aged 16-24 years responded with a similar response to this which I had expected as slow, melodic music is stereotypically not something they would prefer to listen to but a narrative with something exciting involved would grab their attention long enough to listen to the song. This is complimentary to the genres Hip Hop and Rap where this sort of vision would fit in with the beat.
Something relevant to the song/lyrics
The rest of the participants, females aged 16-30 years, agreed that the song and the visuals must be linked in some form or another. They spoke of the lyrics being heavily reflected in the music video is very important for the artist to give a visual for the audience to look at. This is much more complimentary to Soul, Indie and Pop music where meaning is significant.
Q9. Do you prefer a music video that focuses on the artist or on the visuals and/or underlining meaning? Why?
This was an interesting response from the participants as, although there hadn't been this option, some had chosen to respond with 'Both'. This is actually very complimentary to the genre Soul as both genders aged 18-30 years agreed that both are significant for the music video, soul being an emotional and visual representation of the artist themselves. Only females aged 16-18 years prefered to focus on the artist whereas males aged 16-20 years prefered to focus on the visuals.
Q10. When do you think it is appropriate to use a dance routine?
The results were already clear from the beginning as dance routines are typically associated with fast-paced and hard-hitting beats like Hip Hop and Pop. Almost all of the participants, mixed genders aged 16-30 years, said this but one person gave an alternative of dance music. It's clear that a dance routine wouldn't be appropriate for slow, melodic music such as Soul and Indie where a narrative or live performance would be more suited.
