Lo1 (final major project)
- 1. How Media Producers Define Their Target Audience: I am conducting research on music video media producers and how they define their target audience through research. Quantitative Research: Music video producers would use this method for all types of information, but this information would mainly be very numeric, factual, calculated and would insists of a larger number of participants. Using these method producers can find out all kinds of information about their target audience such as, the gender and age range of music video observers and which music video genre is most popular amongst the public, by constructing such data as, questionnaire, surveys, polls and closed questions etc. In contrast to qualitative research, quantitative research will allow me to carry out research and find answers on a larger scale. Due to the fact that this research technique is broader and allows cooperation by the numbers, I will be able to statistic and opinions by a lot of other people. Using such data as closed questions, survey or even looking at statistics online, I can then figure out how large my audience is, how I can gain more audience, where or how the majority of my audience are viewing music videos, and watch music genre are music videos most effective for. Qualitative Research: Qualitative research is extremely useful to music video producers, as the detailed, renewed and unique feedback they receive from this method allows them to create a successful music video a lot easier, as they can gain more insightful information such as, what their audience wants to see and why they like what they like, music video producers construct a lot of different data in this research technique such as observations, open question interviews and focus groups. During the production of my music video, I can create all kinds of qualitative research methods such as forum rooms, one-to-one interviews and focus groups, as all these methods of research will effectively allow me to gain personal opinion and information of my audience that may be, unnoticeable and under the radar (such as, what they like, what they don’t like, what they believe can is necessary for improvement etc.) as this research method, focuses specifically on each participating individual (as appose to other forms of research such as quantitative research, that relay on making estimations and calculated statistics), I can therefore use the results of this type of research to know my target audience better and make sure that my music video fulfils their needs and desires as much as possible as that is the key to any successful project.
- 2. Socio- economic Status Research: In the music video industry, socio-economic research would mainly be carried out measured by the genre of the song, for example (music videos like N-dubz ‘Everyday of my life are perfect for and target audience, who are known as the lower-class audience, but this hip- hop/grime, themed music video wouldn’t be successful if it was aimed to upper-class individuals as they cannot relate to the song or the visuals, such as clothing, dancing, and scenery). In my opinion this research technique is useless and irrelevant to a music video producer because what sells the music video is the connection or contrast between the visuals and music, but mainly the music. This means that the genre of your song would then categorise your target audience automatically e.g. (upper class and lower class individuals are known to have a difference within their music preference, as grime and hip hop music would be aimed and consumed more by the lower class individuals). I also believe that this research technique becomes ineffective when dealing with a younger audience as musicpreference with younger individuals is not really defined by their social classes. Demographics: Demographics diagrams are very efficient way media producers can chart their research results and explore different audience categories, which is an upgrade from socio-economic status research as they can break down the three social classes (lower, middle and upper class) into a lot more groups allowing them to have a more larger yet more accurate target audience profile. For example, if a music video producer was to produce a music video for a charitable track, socio-economic research would help determine which social class the music video would reach out to the most (which ideally would be the middle-class and upper-class individuals, but with demographics a larger audience can be found, such as charity and/or community workers, political workers. Due to the fact that demographics is more in-depth and precise then socio-economic research, this research technique would help me improve my understanding of my audience in a larger scale, thus allowing me to combine detailed information about each individual and accurate numerical information to create statistics and percentages. Psychographics Similar to demographics, psychographic research would be used by a media producer for graphed, comprehensive yet detailed results from the audience research. Psychographics are based on the characteristics and behaviour of audiences, which would give a media producer an even denser understanding of their target audience, as people’s personalities and characteristics usually, indicate our interests and disinterests for example, a young teenage girl going through puberty, commonly has a lot of emotions, and probably spends a lot of time listen to songs that relate to her adolescent emotions (songs about heartbreak or crushes), therefore she would most likely be interested in music videos that consist of these themes or narratives. Although Psychographic research can help you understand your audience, it’s not the most reliable source of research as some of it can be stereotypical and imprecise as everyone is different.
- 3. Psychographics research would be very handy for me as a major part of music videos is music, and a people’s personality and behaviour usually defines the type of music they listen to, thus the music videos they watch and love. Geo-demographics: In relation to music video production, the producers of the music video would use geo- demographics to determine where-about in the country/world their music is going to sell judging up the economic state of a certain area and financial income of the majority of individuals within the area, for example a music video for a commercially successful artist such as Adele would be aimed mainly to individuals that live in areas of London such as south/west as they generate a larger income, thus most likely to spend more money on a product. Geo-demographic research would be a helpful form of research for me as it will allow me to determine where exactly in the locations of my target audience my product would sell the most, and also allow me to figure out numeric and financial aspects such as budget and number quality of the product. Size: Using the previous forms of research, music video producers can then determine the size of their audience, this can either be a large audience (this is usually mainstream artists with music videos that are accessible to a larger audience and distributed by major companies, such as Beyoncé or Justin Timberlake) or niche (these are usually independent artists or uncharted songs, that might not be as commercially available or known such as Jhene Aiko or Jessie Ware).