Audience viewing habits

These days it has become extremely easy and massively available for everyone to watch and enjoy music. 

There are many ways in which people can watch music videos of all different sorts and genres. The internet, You can view music videos through many different websites, the main one obviously being the official websites of the artist/band of the song their listening to. 

There are also websites such as Youtube and Vimeo. 

You could also watch music videos on television as there are now many channels dedicated to certain music genres, these channels include MTV, AKA, Scuzz, Kerrang and many more.

Channel AKA is a Free-To-Air music channel, owned by All Around the World Productions, available through Sky within the UK and Ireland on channel 385. It is a music channel, focusing on playing upcoming UK urban/grime/hip-hop music and this would be the channel that the audience of our music video would watch as it features the exact type of videos we are creating. Channel AKA is a significant outlet not only for established artists, but also for those who are just starting out. Its material "includes crude productions shot with handheld digital video cameras," and helps new musicians attract attention and build a fan base.

Another way to watch music videos would be on smart phones and other technology such as iPads and iPods etc.

Audience theories

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - The theory that there are 5 layers of needs that all humans share; physiological (food, sleep,shelter), security, social, esteem and self actualisation.

Hypodermic Syringe Theory - The theory that media messages can be injected into the system like a drug, and influence people to behave in a certain way, e.g. seeing a 'cool' rapper being aggressive in a video could influence a male audience who identifies with him to behave similarly.

Desensitisation Theory - The theory that repeated exposure to certain messages can influence audiences to accept them, e.g. continued exposure to music videos that sexualise women through their clothing can influence ordinary women to believe that this is a 'normal' way to dress.

Two-step flow Theory - The theory that in society there are opinion leaders, who are influential in being able to shape the opinions and attitudes of people.

Uses and Gratifications - The theory that audiences use media texts to fulfil certain basic needs and pleasures, such as personal relationships, personal identification, diversion/escapism and surveillance.

Diversion - escape from everyday problems and routine.

Personal Relationships - using the media for emotional and other interaction, eg) substituting soap operas for family life

Personal Identity - finding yourself reflected in texts, learning behaviour and values from texts

Surveillance - Information which could be useful for living eg) weather reports, financial news, holiday bargains

Analysis of music video survey results

This is the analysis of the music video questionnaire...

More than 80% of people said that music videos are important. This means people are constantly looking for new features and styles of music videos, because people are always interested into looking at new music videos. This is a good sign for our video because it means they will be interested with the style of our videos.

Over 50% of people who answered said that they would rather view a music video containing a narrative rather than a music preformance. The lyrics of our song itself is a story being told through the artist in this case Ed Sheeran & P Money are telling a story of hardships of life, The track is very personal and i think this is the best way to get the messages across.

Codes and conventions of a music video

Camera

- Close up shots of the lead singer and their instruments such as guitar.

- Short cuts in time to the beat of the song.

- Long tracking shots of the full band.


Sound

-Fade outs/ins.

-Can use distorted effects to blur in or out some lyrics.

-Auto-tuning modern day pop songs and even
other genres now use auto-tuning.

Mise en scene

- The narrative depends on the genre.

- If pop its normally based on love, sex or break-ups.

- If rock/alternative there is usually more band shots rather than a story to the video.

- Product Placement in music videos (for example putting Redbull in a music video with a lot of dancing)



Editing

-Quick cuts and cross cutting for up-beat fast paced, mainly pop songs.

-Slow mo shots for example rock or alternative.

-Fade out's are used in slow songs.

-Sometimes certain lyrics appear on the videos.

-Cuts in time to the beat.

Theorists - Dyer, Todorov, Propp and Levi Strauss

Todorov -

The theorist who studied narratives and came up with the theory that all narratives have an equilibrium, a disruption, a quest and a return to the equilibrium.

Propp -

The theorist who identified that narratives tend to contain identifiable character roles, such as the hero, mentor, villain and a helper.

Levi Strauss -

The theorist who said all narratives are made up of binary opposites. The use of opposites offers a comparison and helps to exaggerate features, examples.. dark vs light, warmth vs cold, etc.

Dyer -

Dyer was the theorist who studied celebs and concluded that stars are an image and not a real person, a cultural construction, a commodity, both extraordinary and ordinary. An example of one of these stars would be Lady Gaga.

Audience Research (Survey)

This is the survey i have created to have a better understanding of my audience and how they feel about music videos.
This will fundamentally be my audience research for my music video. I have asked these questions in my survey to find out certain factors which will affect our music video.
These factors i have chosen to find out are How people watch music videos on? Why do they watch music videos? What is their favourite genre? Do they listen to urban music? etc...

If you could take the time to answer the questionnaire that would be a major help to me and my group, thank you.

Click here to answer the survey..

Research into record labels

A record label is a trademark which is related to the marketing of an artist or bands through the use of videos and records. 

They are involved in the production, manufacture, distribution, promotion, marketing and copyright enforcement. 

They also conduct talent scouting and development of new artists and maintains contracts with recording artists and their managers.

The three big record labels since 2012 are;

• Universal Music Group 
• Sony Music Entertainment
• Warner Music Group

Also a number of artists use independent record labels. Independent record labels is a record label without the funding of a major record label. Independent record labels often release their music to a small audience of devoted fans not depending on huge sales and success therefore giving the artist more freedom and a more enjoyable life as a music artist with more time to themselves.