Target audience research

Analysing the audience's feedback

My questionnaire is comprised of 10 questions that cover a range of topics, including finding out more about the person answering the questions, such as age and gender. This will help me find out what the people in my target group like and look for in music videos, therefore allowing me to create something that will appeal to them the most. Other questions elaborate on their viewing habits and preferences for certain effects and style.

Question 1) How old are you?

The age groups that I selected were: under 15, 15-21, 22-30 and 30+. This is because 15-21 is the target age group that my music video will be aimed at, and so it is important to get the majority of the data from in this range (and 60% of the respondents were from within it), but also it is interesting to gather results from outside it as well in order to see how the opinions and preferences differed from that of the target demographic.

Q2) What is your gender? 

90% of the respondents were female which again suits my needs as the target audience will mostly be girls.

Q3) How often do you watch music videos?

I found that younger people watched more videos than older people. For the two participants who were over 30, they answered "very occasionally" whereas everyone else said that they watched them a lot more frequently. 30% of people watched music videos more than once a day and the same amount watched a few every week. These results coupled with the fact that no one said that they never watch music videos shows that music videos are a key part in young people's consumption of music and that attention has to be paid to their content.

Question 4) What genre of music appeals to you the most?

There was quite a range in music genre taste amongst the respondents, with the majority of people being fans of the same type of mainstream music including indie, pop and rock.

Q5) Where do you watch music videos?

It is clear that YouTube is the predominant platform on which music videos are viewed. This is most likely due to the extremely quick and accessible way of using the website as well as because most young people spend more time on the internet and less in front of the TV. However, the two people who were over 30 said that they mostly watch music videos on the TV, which shows that there is still an audience (usually of older people) who watch them on platforms other than social media.

Q6) What type of music video do you prefer?

70% of the responses were in favour of a more varied form of video. The options of performance, narrative, concept and studio were each appealing in their own right to audience, but the two options that proved most popular on their own were narrative (20%) and performance (10%). It stands to reason then that the respondents that prefer a mix would have favoured these options as well, and so a combination of narrative and performance is what I will base the style of my music video on.

Q7) Do you prefer to see music videos filmed in more than one location?

It is clear that audiences like to see a variety of locations in the video, and this will especially work well with the combination of performance and narrative. Narrative stories most often take place in a few different locations so as to more obviously tell a story or a progression, as well as add visual interest and keep audiences engaged.

Q8) Do you listen to electropop music?

80% of the respondents listen to and are familiar with electropop music. This is relevant information to have as electropop is my chosen genre, and therefore I need to know if my target demographic (in terms of age and gender) are interested in it. The data suggests that they are, as the 10% "No" and 10% "Unfamiliar" responses were from the 30+ demographic and the affirmative was from the younger ranges. Audiences familiar with the genre will therefore have more informed opinions about what they should expect in electropop music videos and what they want to see when watching more.

Q9) What would you most like to see in a music video? (multiple options)

This was an open question where people could tick as many boxes as they wanted, and so this was about seeing which ideas were the favoured the least and most as opposed to previous questions that just asked them to select one answer that was a reflection of their primary view. The results show that the most popular elements to include were an interesting colour palette and cinematic shots, with 90% of respondents liking the idea of these visual inclusions. The least popular was animation effects with only 20% of people wanting to see this. However, the other options were also quite popular, with transition shots receiving a 70% favourability rate and non-linear storyline receiving 50%.

Q10) Is it important to you that the video and the music fit together?

This question was designed to see what the audience's opinions about the relationship between visuals and music were, and if this plays a major role in whether or not they enjoy the video as a whole. 50% said that it was important that they fit together, showing that a significant portion of the audience want there to be some kind of link while 30% didn't mind either way. The 20% who think that a purposeful choice to disconnect the two would be a positive was interesting however, as they came from different age groups and therefore showed that this type of larger style preference depends completely on the person rather than the demographic that they are part of. As the results are quite varied, I will consider a combination of ideas but will have a predominant focus on relating visuals and music as the majority of the audience would find this more suitable.