Friday, 13 September 2013

Exploring Target audience- Quantitative Research

 Exploring Target audience- Quantitative Research

Developing on my previous research on Daft Punk fans and my potential audience I once again produced a survey via survey monkey and published it on the same thread on the Daft Punk fan club forum hoping to attract the same or similar audience as previously. Unfortunately, I only managed to attract 16 of the original 29 asked so some of my results may be skewed

Below are my results from the survey
  1. What is your gender?

     

    To improve on my previous investigation into a potential audience, when asked what is you gender 80% of those asked answered Male whereas only 3% replied as female, therefore possibly disputing my previous idea that my potential audience would make up a balanced share of male and female, however it must be emphasised that I only managed to attract 16 of the original group asked on the forum.
  2.   How old are you?

    The purpose of this question was to confirm if this was in fact the same or similar age demographic I was targeting for my media text. When asked about their age everyone replied with the 15-24 age range which I believe would be both the type of audience attracted to Daft Punks music based on my previous research as well as the age demographic appropriate for the consumption of my video if I were to choose Daft Punk fans as a Target audience.

 3. What is your favourite type of music genre?


 
The question above was asked to investigate what other genre of music my potential audience would consume on the assumption that there favourite would be of course electronic based on the fact that my audience I've found are on the dedicated Daft Punk fan club which is dedicated to Daft Punks music and various forms of electric music. Voted on top was Electronic music as expected with 60% of the vote share. Coming in second was Dance music a similar genre to Electronic music but with more of an emphasis to dancing and fast paced beats, attracting 50% of vote share. Finally, the third most popular choice of genre was alternative music  attracting 43.75% of vote share. Because alternative music is such a broad genre in of itself discovering anything new about how my audience consumes music may prove to be difficult however this should not be a complete problem since it was third choice.The significance of Electronic and Dance music being the two top chosen genres could possibly mean that my chosen artist and song will be consumed by this potential audience. This information is based on my artist profile for my chosen song in which my artist has stated that he works mainly in French house and Nu disco; Nu disco a style which blends the use of electronic sounds and styles with a more dance related beat. This could mean that my artists work  could appeal to both of the most popular choices on this survey in terms of the music my audience tends to consume.

4. How do you normally Consume music?


When asked about how my potential audience consumes music, one would expect nowadays that said primary consumption would source from download or digital based means such as streaming on websites such as youtube. The purpose of this question was to investigate if one were to release my chosen song which platform will it be consumed the most and also if I were to release my music video for my audience to consume which distribution platform would be most appropriate. The option to download music gained the most amount of votes with 43.75%  of those asked selecting this option. In second came streaming with 31.25% of votes and surprisingly TV came in last with no one claiming to consume or listen to music via the television. I find this evidence quite significant as it means that if somehow I were to air my music video on a medium that is primarily visual based I will attract little to no audience. This may also reflect the "social network savvy-ness" of my potential audience as mention in my previous research; i.e one could assume that potential audience consume a lot of social networking sites perhaps they have little time to consume television or in fact social networking sites such as you tube have possibly replaced TV for them as a visual medium. When thinking how these results affect my music video one could suggest releasing it on two platforms in order to attract said audience. One being youtube a site which allows for those to both stream music and consume videos which would be an appropriate choice since streaming is the second most popular choice on the list. In order to attract the audience who mainly consume music via download I have found that it is indeed possible to release music videos accompanying songs on iTunes a popular distributor of digital music downloads. To distribute music on said site I have found that one would have to partner up with an established distributor; one distributor mentioned which helps with unsigned artists was CD baby which would allow the distribution of independent music the largest music download sites such as iTunes, Amazon music and spotify thus allowing the song and possibly video based on what I have learn't from iTunes to capture said "download" audience.


5&6 What is your favourite music video and what type of music video would be appropriate for a techno/electronic/house genre?


When asked what type of music video my audience would consider there favourite type of music video style 50% of said audience chose Narrative based and coming in second was concept based music videos gaining around 31.25% of votes. This would mean in order to pursue and appeal to said audience one would have to contain some sort of narrative theme to their video. I originally believed that a concept based video would best suit they style of my chosen artists song however this graph would prove that if I were to indeed attract this audience some narrative styles will need to be adapted into it even if this is being something as simple as representing an equilibrium, disruption and new equilibrium to my production. On the other hand, I wanted to see if my thoughts on electric based music such as techno and house being best suited for concept based videos would be valid based on some of my previous music video research. When asked about would concept based videos best suit this style of music concept videos gained majority of the vote attracting 68.75% of votes thus giving my initial thoughts some reinforcement as well as considering pushing more narrative styles in my music video to capture this audience whilst keeping the type of music video appropriate to the song.

7.What type of artist does this song remind you of?


The question above was asked to gain a better understanding of the type of song I have chosen to produce a music video for. By gaining a better understanding of the type of genre the song sounds like as well as other artists the song is similar to this would allow me to broaden my research as well as broaden my range of potential audiences which can be done by looking at the audiences of the similar artists recommended and finding what could appeal to them and attempt to adapt this information into my video. The same could be said about finding out what similar genre could link with my chosen song allowing me to take genre conventions from other similar genres to appeal to the fans of that said genre. Before posting this question, I wanted my chosen audience to hopefully say it reminds them of Daft Punk in order to validate my pursuit of this audience.

Among my responses I received 5 replies commenting that the song reminded them of Daft Punk or groups that a member of Daft Punk has been involved with (Le Knight Club and Stardust).This then provides me further evidence I need to justify my pursuit to target Daft Punk fans as potential audience for my video if the song backing up the visual reminds them of an artist they are fond of.

Other artists recommended such as Breakbot, Eric Prydz, Basement Jaxx etc. were mainly french DJ's and French house or house artists meaning the style of my song closely links within the house genre thus it would be appropriate to investigate appealing to said audience. Furthermore, these names of artists now allow me to analyse their  potential audiences and gain a better understanding of who my media product could appeal to.

8.Would you listen/download to the full song if made available to you?



Out of the 16 people asked if they would consume the song, I have chosen 50% of those either have said yes or have expressed some enthusiasm towards the track. The purpose of this question was to further investigate if the Daft Punk audience would be a suitable choice for my music video. Since half of those asked have offered positive feedback towards the song as well as an extra answer commenting "It's good but it's not precisely my taste in music" , this may prove that perhaps the Daft Punk fan demographic may still be possible to attract but not as simple as I simply believed. On the other hand, this should not be too much of a problem since due to results of the previous question I can still investigate other artist's audiences and reflect on who my product would appeal to. For the time being, the Daft Punk audience may remain as my primary audience until since there was an equal amount of positive and negative feedback amongst said group.

9. How much significance does a music video have on your view on the artist?


This particular question was asked whether a good music video would entice my chosen audience to consume the music product it was promoting. The top rated choice was a moderate amount, meaning that my audience does take in a fact the quality of the music video could affect what they think of the song, however for this audience it seems that the music behind the video plays a much larger role than the visuals.  On the other hand perhaps my question "How much significance does a music video have on your view on the artist" may have been worded wrong and need to be re-worked. I was primarily focusing on whether a good music video would equal to audience support of a song, however  looking back this question may give off the effect that what I am possibly asking is does a good music video equal to a good song or good artist which means these may be skewed and prove to be quite unreliable.


10. What is your favourite music video

The question above was produced in order to further understand what music videos appeal to my audience. The idea is by understanding a trend in music videos that they choose I may be able to incorporate or perhaps I may have themes already in video planning that would attract this audience. To go in details trends or themes that could be found would be sci-fi elements or comical music videos based on my previous research on this audience.

Videos which were named

When looking through the selection of music videos one notices a trend between the majority of them with videos; I feel that a lot of them are either concept based or feature fantastical themes or feature abstract filters or effects to emphasise the visuals of the video. Videos such as Delta heavy, Da funk, Around the world, I'm not Alone and On and On, feature abstract visuals such stop motion toys, anthropomorphic dogs, dancing robots, mad scientists and scientists and women in cages and flying meat which convey concept based music video conventions leading to little plot and relying on strange imagery to entice its audiences. Whereas videos such as I am Walrus, take on me and Tribute although not exactly concept based feature similar surreal moments such as men in hippo outfits or comics coming to life or encounters with Devils. The same can also be applied to summertime madness which features imagery of the artist consumed by smoke overlaid against a vintage filter and also pursuit of happiness with its use of slow motion contrasted with real time within the same shot to convey a distorted atmosphere. In addition Ali Bomaye features shots within a sci-fi setting around 2:14 we can see sci-fi conventions such as neon lights and flying cars in the background which may possibly reflect the idea that my chosen audience is attracted to sci-fi themes and aesthetics.

To summarise this point perhaps based on the majority of the videos featuring fantastical elements it may seem what attracts my audience in terms of music videos are videos which focus less on the representation of real life and offer a sense of escapism or wonder to said audience. This may possibly reflect the idea that my audience are possibly made up of reformers one trait which is described as a reformer trait is that, "All rigid restrictions are irksome to you, be they hierarchies and bureaucracies, accepted ideas, roles, rules and routines – or tight collars and small windows."

In this context one could interpret this as saying that rigid restrictions bothering them could be applied to realism in music video in a similar way. Perhaps showing just what is real to this audience represents restriction and structure; more of the same whereas abstract and fantastical themes may show these rules being broken and show something new. Among my written answers many replies complimented the videos creativity, complexity but most significantly how "different" it was. This may further reflect my idea that this  majority of this audience are attracted to something different offered to them in life to be reflected on screen.

Conclusion

From further research according to these results may audience may be made up of a more male audience however this may still not be 100% reliable, 16- 24 years of age,  and are attracted to narrative based videos yet believe electronic based music mainly suits concept imagery. Additionally my chosen song my be able to attract another audience of house fans and has an equal chance to either be dismissed or consumed by my chosen audience. Moreover,depending on how the question was interpreted my audience may feel that the song should play a larger part in the consumption the song itself rather than how good the music video is for the song. Finally when thinking about what appeals to my audience in terms of what they see in a music video from my research it seems that fantastical elements and a sense of "uniqueness" captures this audience's interest possibly due to the fact that this audience may be made up of reformers. 

When applying this knowledge to my own media product it would be apparent that I would need to adopt more of a sense of narrative to my work as well pushing a surrealist quality to the work. Furthermore, if I were to actually host the video on a platform for this audience to consume the easiest and cost effective option whilst still gaining a large share of this audience would be releasing it on you tube based on my "how do you normally consume music question ?" whereas attempting to release it on itunes via CD baby although I would be attracting the larger "download" audience share it would cost money and thus  due to budget reasons the you tube option seems much easier and simpler.

 


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