Focus Group - Questionnaire

Now that my First Draft Cut is completed, I can show my video to my focus group. My focus group was established from people who completed physical questionnaires and those who I got in touch with after they filled in the online form.

I have a focus group of 6 people, 3 males and 3 females, of varying ages from 14 upwards.
I will also include two responses from two adults, as although my primary target audience is young people who can identify with the representation in my product and the issues it deals with, the artist still appeals to older audiences.

These are the questions I will ask my focus group in a questionnaire:

1) Name/age/gender
2) What are you first impressions of the music video? Does it suit the song?
3) Did you follow the story? If so, state a brief outline of what happens.
4) Was there any area where you did not follow the story? State if applicable.
5) Do you feel that the visuals create a direct link to the lyrics and represent any issues?

Now, more in-depth questions:
6) Is the split between the two narratives noticeable and clear? If not, how can I improve this?
7) Does the pace of the editing match the song? Is there any section you found too slow or too fast?
8) Did a particular shot stand out to you? If so, why?
9) Please list any shots you feel are unnecessary.
10) Did you notice the intertextual features (links to other media) in the man's room? Please state
11) How does the video portray Britishness or typical British values in a shot or idea?
12) Any other thoughts? Please state

I will be sending emails or messages to my focus group with a link to the unlisted video of the First Cut Draft on YouTube as well as the Questionnaire on a Word Document attached.
My focus group is:
- Elisha Jacobs (18)
- Ria Hopwood (16)
- Rebecca Lawler (16)
- Jack Osborne (17)
- Daniel Hampton (18)
- Max Hopwood (14)
plus Gerry Attoe and Dean Ward (adults), TBC indicating I am yet to hear back from them saying they will complete a questionnaire.
I will be sending out the links in the coming days, so if necessary I can obtain any extra shots whilst filming the final shots left to complete the few gaps left to finish the video.

Below is a screenshot of my questionnaire as it will appear to my focus group. Most of the focus group I will be able to give this to in person as they will be able to watch the video collectively, but others will not, as they live outside the immediate area, and so they will email a completed version back to me.

Audience Research - Online Survey Analysis

Online Survey Analysis

For my Audience Research, I produced an online survey using the website "SurveyMonkey", with 9 questions that would help me get a better idea of what my audience expects from a music video and hence what they would want to see in my video.

My audience profile informed me as to how to go about my audience research. I found that my artist appealed to both younger generations and adults, but more so younger, teenage audiences. Knowing that I would be doing an online survey and a physical questionnaire, I sent out the link to the survey on my Personal Twitter and Facebook pages several times, where it would reach an audience roughly the same age as me, and hence fitting my audience profile. To account for the older audiences, my Dad's business "Wet Dog", a clothes shop in the coastal town of Cromer, also tweeted out the link to the survey. The business account has more followers and a greater reach than my account and helped to get more people to see the survey. The survey itself focuses on peoples music habits, what they listen to, how they listen to it, etc. and then moves on to expectations of a video and expectations of the Artist.

Question 1 and 2

 The first two questions help to form the basis of my questionnaire, age and gender. From my audience profile I found that my artist appealed to both males and females almost equally, probably more in favor of males due to lyrical content of him singing about relationship issues and love that would be about females. Also, as discussed above, the ages do differ, but predominantly my artist appeals to young adults/teenagers and then some adults also. By distributing the link on the two accounts I managed to gain some representation of different demographics. 78% of those who completed the survey were 17 or 18, around my age, and I myself fit the audience profile well as I like the artist. There was a 52:48 (nearest %) split between males and females so I managed to get an equal voice from both genders, which is makes responses more beneficial to me as I can make my video more appealing to both genders if opinions are shared.

Question 3

For the third question, I asked what my audiences favorite genres were. I included a wide range of genres, but was also careful to not include so many genres, or specific genres that were not relevant to my artist/audience profile. From my profile, I established Rock, Acoustic, Pop Punk and Post-Hardcore as the four genres that my audience were most engaged with, from their Twitter pages and bios. 3 genres tied as the most favoured, on 58%- Indie, Rock and Acoustic, closely followed by Singer/Songwriter. My artist, Abandoning Sunday, fits three of these four genres, showing the link between the demographics of the audience and their musical tastes, i.e. what the more favored genres are of today. For example, "Pop" ranks quite low, with about 25% saying they listen to modern pop music- what is more popular are sub-genres such as Pop Punk, which has recently regained popularity, and is one the other genres that my audience profile includes. Metal and Post Hardcore, arguably more niche genres, proved least popular, although I know from my audience profile that some people who listen to my artist do like this genre. However my audience is far from a metal act and this graph shows that the new album, which features more rock and acoustic based tracks, will appeal to my audience, as will the track I have been assigned for my music video.

Question 4

Next I asked how my audience consumed music. A sign of the times of the music industry at present is that Digital Downloads are most popular. This is actually quite interesting as all of my artists EPs and Albums have been exclusively digital downloads, and downloads are exceeding CD sales. Next is YouTube, where 68% of those surveyed say they use YouTube for music- this is where my video will be released, and Music Channels only achieved 32%, showing that my audience are used to viewing music videos on YouTube and that this is the more common platform, as everyone can access it or post things to it.

Question 5

This question was aimed to split my audience. Those who attended lots of live concerts could possibly be better for a focus group as they will probably be more passionate about music, whereas those who don't attend many account for the other side of this argument and what those who don't go to concerts think, and their interests. I found from my audience profile that my audience lead a variety of lifestyles and this question helps to account for this.

Question 6

For this question I inserted an image of my artist, Abandoning Sunday, and asked the respondents what they would expect this artist to be like, style-wise, and the impression they get of the artist.

Although this question did have some slightly jokey answers (see top and bottom answer above), but on the whole the respondents did acknowledge that this artist fit into the genre of rock, singer songwriter and acoustic, from his appearance in the image. Hence, I would use similar costumes and locations to convey the same things the respondents picked out, such as the "deep lyrics" and stylish clothing. Below is another selection of answers, all of whom said that they expected the artist to be acoustic or singer/songwriter, one drawing singer/songwriter Ben Howard as a likeness.

Question 7

For the next question I wanted my audience to actually listen to Abandoning Sunday, so I linked his newest single, "In Your Dreams". Falling under rock, the track is a guitar driven love song and has a homemade music video of Michael and the band playing. Including this question makes use of the fact that on my online survey the respondents are using the internet and can easily access YouTube, whereas the likelihood of me playing a song to people in public is very unlikely. 

From the question I found another split - 2 respondents straight up said they didn't like the track! The more popular answer was "Okay" (26%), although I must consider the fact that some respondents may have been too lazy to actually go and watch the video and click this answer as default. However 53% of respondents said they either liked it, really liked it or loved it, meaning that my audience profile matches up with the people that I have targeted through distributing my survey.

Question 8

For the penultimate question I asked which type of video my audience preferred, and hoped that by this stage the previous questions would've helped to establish this as a concrete answer I can develop my video from. However, I was hoping that performance wouldn't be the most popular, as the logistics of getting my artist in the video would be impossible, and upon hearing the song I would be using, titled "Real Talk", I was glad that Narrative came out as the top response, at 47%, shortly followed by a concept. Hence, I will make my video a narrative, and could perhaps include some conceptual motif, such as the effect that music has on people. 

Question 9

For the last question I wanted the respondents to help give me an insight into what I should include in my video, so I asked what people's favourite music video was and why, and what makes a good video. On the whole I received good feed back from this question.

Although it's more than likely the person saying their favorite video is to Basshunter is joking, the other responses here are still good. I know the video to Mallory Knox "Beggars" and the intertextual reference to Clockwork Orange and this is something this respondent highlighted so intertextual references, when they work well, are wanted. Ultimately it was said that the video should capture the mood of the song, both above for Dan Croll "Home" and below for Madness "House of Fun" (the demographic difference showing there), or a video that tells a story behind the lyrics that is perhaps not as prominent from just listening to the song - something I can incorporate in my video.

Audience Research - Music Video Survey & Questionnaire

As part of my audience research, I have constructed two surveys for my target audience to complete, regarding their personal music habits. The first, an online survey on website SurveyMonkey, will be able to reach a broad audience and as people can view it at home, it focuses more on the artist and aspects of music videos rather than lifestyle.

The survey can be completed here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/N5BRYPS

In the survey, I ask the following questions:
1) How old are you?
2) What is your gender?
3) What are your favourite musical genres?
4) How do you consume music?
5) How often do you attend musical performances?
6)

Here is an image of the artist I will be working with, Abandoning Sunday. What would you expect this artist to be like, style-wise? What impression do you get of the artist?

7) Have a listen to this track by Abandoning Sunday. How would you rate this song?

8) What type of music video do you prefer?

9) In your opinion, what makes a good music video? What is your favourite video and why?

Questions 1 and 2 help me to identify who it is completing my survey. From my audience profile I found my artist appeals to teenagers, young adults and adults alike, and both genders.

Questions 3, 4 and 5 are quantitative, closed questions, where I can see my audiences habits regarding music. If they attend lots of concerts, they are passionate about music, and their opinion may be more valued, and could form a good part of a focus group, especially if they select any of the four genres I identified in my Audience Profile (Rock, Acoustic, Pop Punk, Hardcore) as genres that are common interests for my artists fan base.

I decided to use an image question as it could be important when constructing magazine advertisements and getting a good image, as well as for digipaks, and it also helps the audience get an understanding for my artist. Question 7 is unique to the online survey as I can't show people the music video on the street.

Questions 8 and 9 will help me understand what my audience expects of my music video, or what they will enjoy in it, helping me on a commercial level.

The physical questionnaire will contain additional questions (and not Question 7).

These are:

- List three of your hobbies - this will help me understand the lifestyle of my audience, and perhaps what intertextual references will be beneficial to include.

- Who is your favourite artist at the moment? - Hopefully due to my placement when conducting the questionnaire, I will get relevant people answering my survey with the right music taste to help me, and this question will help me identify who will be more relevant, like the genre question.

- If you are willing to be a part of future research and form part of a focus group, what is your preferred contact detail? - Self-explanatory, to see who is willing to form my focus group.

Audience Research

To start my audience research into who I will be aiming my productions towards, I investigated the typical audience profiles of people who enjoy or will enjoy the music of my artist, Abandoning Sunday.

On his website, Thomas (Abandoning Sunday) lists his musical influences to include bands such as Jimmy Eat World, Yellowcard, The Goo Goo Dolls, The Killers and The Icarus Account. As these bands are listed as influences, Thomas' musical style will bare some resemblance, and hence I could list some fans of these bands as part of my target audience and get them to participate in some questionnaires so I can determine how to make my productions more appealing to them.

Abandoning Sunday is very active on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I looked through some of the bands followers on Twitter and determined the types of people who listen to my artist - I learned that in fact the band appeal to a wide audience, mainly of ages 13 upwards to young adult, and some older listeners who may be more familiar with the bands influences (Jimmy Eat World & Yellowcard have been about for over a decade).

From the younger fans "bios" on Twitter, I can gain an understanding of the other bands that fans listen to. Interestingly, when Abandoning Sunday is mentioned, he is amongst bands of different genres entirely- namely bands such as Bring Me The Horizon, Pierce The Veil and Sleeping With Sirens, who are typical of the more hardcore, bordering "emo" genre- perhaps due to the somewhat sad nature of the lyrics. Furthermore, fans of post-hardcore bands such as Architects, While She Sleeps and Counterparts  are following my artist, and the musical styles of these bands and Abandoning Sunday could not be more different. In other cases, fans have listed other favourite acts in their bios as pop punk bands such as The Story So Far, Blink-182 and A Day To Remember as well as rock bands like You Me At Six and Green Day. I list Abandoning Sunday as similar to Deaf Havana, Lonely the Brave, The Script and You Me At Six - showing that the band are accessible to fans of various genres, and it will be interesting to see how hardcore, pop punk and rock fans views combine/differ in questionnaires.

Other interests from my audience include singer/songwriters, perhaps more in favour of the acoustic side of the band, and a lot of his followers are gamers or small YouTubers who upload content to the website, and a few skaters. The band hence also appeals to a variety of lifestyles, for instance skating is seen as synonymous with the pop punk genre, among others, but that doesn't mean that all skaters have to listen to a certain music taste.

The older audiences don't give much away in their biographies on the Social Networking site Twitter but from Facebook, mainly older audiences appear to have seen him play live in small house gigs or in pubs, as that is where he plays the majority of his concerts in America, and most of the comments "You were great today in []" come from people in their twenties or upwards. Hence, when I am getting my study group for questionnaires, it will include:

- Fans of different music genres: Acoustic, Pop Punk, Hardcore, Rock
- A mixture of teenagers, young adults and over 18s
- People of different lifestyles: Working, Studying, different interests.

In these questionnaires, I will look to see which aspects of music videos my audience prefers in this genre, and which styles of digipak appeal to them more at first glance, as well as other aspects that will be vital to the production of my pieces.

Welcome to my new Blog!

Hello! This is my new blog for A2 Media studies, where I will be posting all my updates with regards to my coursework. I will be focusing on music videos, digipak production and other pieces to form a promotional package for an unsigned artist.

Firstly, here is a playlist of my 5 favourite music videos, as choosing just one was a tough decision!

The first is "Elevated" by State Champs. The video shows the band performing live and features cameos from lots of other artists on the same record label [Pure Noise]. I've chosen it as the video perfectly encompasses the atmosphere and culture associated with the pop-punk genre, and the video matches the upbeat, motivating lyrics, of finding where you belong and having a good time whilst you're there. Also it's ridiculously catchy.

The second is an acoustic track called "Drown" by Front Porch Step. I chose it as it is one of my favourite ever songs, and the simplicity of the video and lonely location enhances the power of the emotional lyrics. The track is widely renowned as one of the saddest songs in the genre, with raw emotion, "melancholy, tragedy, hopelessness and desperation" - but it tells Jake's story of heartbreak with passion.

Thirdly, Modern Baseball's "Your Graduation" is a narrative and performance based video that uniquely captures the tone and message of the music through a somewhat different style of narrative to represent a dysfunctional relationship at college. The video sees a different perspective of the performance style, where it is not played at a show but instead incorporated into the narrative- making for a very "fun-to-watch" video.

Mayday Parade's "Oh Well, Oh Well" is another one of my favourite songs but the video is very abstract, and is in the structure of a animated comic strip to detail the narrative. Being one of the most played songs on my iTunes (which should be considered a huge achievement), I feel the video leaves enough open to the imagination as to what the song means to an individual, but also creates a unique tale of two fictional characters in a battle for love, one of whom is based on lead singer Derek.

Lastly, Neck Deep's pop-punk anthem "A Part of Me" propelled them into stardom, with over a million views on the video now, which utilises location and narrative to match the meaningful and heartfelt lyrics. Relatively simplistic, the video relies on the act and the lyrics to convey the meaning of the song, which is done well in the picturesque setting.

As you can see my music taste is quite varied, and I'm open to and enjoy all forms and genres of music, it's my passion- hence, I'm looking forward to working with a talented artist/band that I could promote, and into exploring each of these genres through research and analysis.

I hope you enjoy my selection of tracks and I will continue to update this blog over the next year!
(My previous blog from AS level can be found here)

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