The target audience of my music video would typically be fans of indie music, more specifically to bands like Cults, in the noise pop genre. These listeners would also be attracted to music videos which did not necessarily show performance or even the artists – a notable trait in music videos by bands such as ‘Crystal Fighters’, ‘Boy & Bear’ and ‘Chad Valley’. This audience would typically fit within the 16-20s age range.
Without continuous audience feedback over the process of the products, it would be difficult to ascertain whether those you are targeting find your work appealing or not. Thus it helps to improve products and display development and the ability to improve.
The internet has proved to be a useful way of collating audience feedback over a variety of methods. Prior to creating my ancillary tasks of the magazine advert and digipak covers, I was eager to discover what my target audience would feel towards products which did not necessarily depict the artist. I also wanted to know how the concept of my music video would be received by audience members. Thus, I decided to create a poll of questions on my blog site on Blogger.com. I discovered from my survey, that 55% of my test subjects would rather a music video was visually striking than anything else – this then supported my trajectory - as I was aiming for a visual piece rather than a special effect extravaganza or solely a narrative piece. 77% of my target audience also displayed an appeal for music videos with a narrative – however a small majority did display a greater appeal towards a narrative that involved the artist – thus I made an artistic choice against the majority of audience preference as my music video does not display the musical artist within it. 66% agreed that it was not important to see the artist on the digipak and magazine advert which provided me with the ‘all clear’, as it were, to create the ancillary tasks without the artist’s presence. I also learnt that the majority of those feeding back on my blog fell under my target audience, albeit from the younger end (77%).
Having completed the music video, I was compelled to create a version with filters on to enhance the visual appearance, though was uncertain of its effectiveness. I decided the best way to test its effectiveness was to screen it to a small selection of people - one occasion was recorded. This involved screening both videos alongside each other and having a discussion afterwards about which one my test subject preferred. I was careful to choose a test subject who fell under my audience age range and who also listened to some forms of indie music. It was unanimously decided that the music video without filters was better and thus I selected that version as the final and official version. The filtered version was deemed ‘of little effect’ and ‘over-produced’ and it was agreed the original version had enough visuals and mise en scene to create a mystical feel. I also conducted an interview with two of my class peers, after screening the video to them. I asked them questions on the effectiveness of all my products and whether there was a coherent ‘house theme’. Their response was generally very positive, though faults were also highlighted. The interview was then placed on my blog alongside all other mediums of audience feedback.
Filming vox pops was anther useful way of ascertaining whether there was serious need for improvement or not. After my video was screened to my peers, three were selected to provide an opinion on tape. I also filmed the ‘screening night’ of my music video as part of audience feedback from the cast and crew involved in my music video. They provided their views on not only the finished product but my ability to direct them.
Internet social media was also an invaluable source of audience feedback. I utilised Facebook chat – an instant messaging service to garner information of how to improve my ancillary tasks. Response was therefore instantaneous and made use of limited time. I also posted the YouTube link of my music video to Facebook to see how effective my video was to a large number of my target audience. The video link gathered Facebook comments and likes which was a useful indicator of approval. I also managed to get one of my peers to broadcast my music video on their tumblr page so that I could reach a wider internet audience – the feedback was positive and praised the ‘magical’ feel of the video.
I hosted my music on the video-sharing site vimeo, as well as YouTube. Using YouTube statistics is also a good way to see the post-production audience response to the music video. Stats show that the video has been viewed by 453 people and there are currently 6 likes, with 1 comment which was from an unknown YouTube user. They provided feedback that the video was ‘good’ but would work well with more special effects. It is interesting to note that 53% of my audience are male, with 47% being female, meaning a higher male viewership. A vast amount of viewers have come from an embedded player – presumably the Facebook link, whilst there is a high level of viewers via Mobile apps. There is a high number of viewers from the 13-17, 18-24 and 45-54 age groups, meaning my video has reached my target audience.
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