Initial audience research (16-17 years of both genders)

What do you look for in a music video?

Most people out of the twenty I asked said they prefer a narrative video with a performance element to it in order to keep the video interesting; allowing them to connect to the song (lyrics/artists). People said that they expect to see attractive people within  music videos (whether this is the artist or the actors within the video). Although people looked for a performance/narrative based video several suggested that too strong a narrative can distract from the video (lyrics) and be 'too hard' to watch.

More female people suggested that they look for the artists style within the video-through the use of costume and make-up (becoming a big part of their appeal to the video/the artist). Male interviewees suggested that they wanted the lyrics to be a main part of the music video and wished to have a sense of the artists 'presence' through their personality being shown through the video and them actually being in the video themselves (performing/being part of the narrative).

What are the main features of a music video?

The main features that the interviewees wanted didn't vary very much-all expecting the same features from a music video. The majority thought the artists performing with a strong sense of narrative or performance to the video; believing that the artists being present or performing in videos being one of the key features of music videos in general. 

The majority of females said that they believed that the artist's style/personality should be shown through the video (through their performance/narrative and their clothing/style/make-up). Whereas most of the males suggested that having 'attractive people' within the video (most of them preferring male artists probably being the main reason for this assumption).  

Current favourite genre, artist and music video?

The people I asked suggested:

• Festival (happy.up-beat) music-their favourite artist being the Arctic Monkeys and Calvin Harris
• Rock and rap music-their favourite artist being Guns and Roses, Jay Z and Kanye West 
• One person suggested that at the moment The 1975 were their Favorited artist
• Milky Chance and Ed Sheeran liking acoustic/guitar music 
• Many people suggested that indie music was their favourite genre; liking artists such as Ellie Goulding, Lana Del Rey and Hime (group band)  
• A artist that people like a lot is Wilkinson and Calvin Harris (preferring more dance styled music)  
• A large selection of individuals I asked said they found concept-based videos a lot more interesting than narrative; believing they were more 'fun' to watch (visually interesting)-they felt that they were the videos that they 'remembered after' and stood out 

The individuals I questioned stated that the following were a few of their current favourite music videos:  

  

 

 

When looking at a group of twenty late teen's (16-17) favourite music videos (as a collective) you can see that narrative and performance videos are very popular (e.g. Lana Del Rey- Ride and The Arctic Monkeys- Why Do You Only Call  Me When Your High). A few peoples also suggested they liked more creative videos (being slightly odd-for example Awolnation-Sail). A lot of the videos feature the artists performing or being within the video through performing or acting) apart from Awolnation-Sail. This is because they are known (as a brand/band) as rather 'strange' having very weird videos (this linking back to them as being very 'weird). A few of the people that preferred concept-based videos suggested this was because they found it a lot more interesting to watch than narrative music videos; fitting with the genres of music they preferred (e.g. Dance, Dubstep type music)

Do you enjoy music videos that follow a clear narrative/story that is relevant to the song and its lyrics?

After getting my survey back I discovered that the majority of people felt that a clear narrative was a good way to enhance a music video. However, some people tended to express that as well as the narrative, they enjoy some form of entertainment (is almost necessary to be included)

>      ‘They help understand the song’

>      ‘It shows the artist’s vision, meaning of the song’

>      ‘I think they are good because they give a sense of relevance to the viewer, listener’

>      ‘This is my favourite type of music video because it gives meaning to the song and artist’

These are quotes taken from the survey (when being able to add a comment about their personal opinion) reflect that people within my age group (who I will be targeting my video at) like a sense of narrative and think it adds to the overall effect of the ‘meaning’ of the video.

Do you like artist’s that try to differentiate themselves through their music videos (have a sense of individuality)?

Concept music videos have very mixed views from the range of people that took the survey. A selection of responses have been included, which reflects the controversial nature of this style of music video. Many people said that it allows the video to become more memorable, but not always for the right reasons so it could be difficult to create a music video like this that a large range of individuals would appreciate, enjoy to watch.

>      ‘Stand out from other videos, but aren’t always suitable for all people to watch’

>      ‘Are either really good or very bad’

>      ‘There is too much focus on being eccentric and not the actual music itself’

>      ‘It can show the creative side of the artist’

>      ‘I’m not keen and don’t really like artists trying to be something they’re not’

What do you most like to see in a music video of your choice?

Asking this question allowed me to get an idea of what people would like to see in a music video, most people liking a comical aspect to the video or a sense of a narrative story, something which I will incorporate/consider when producing my own music video

>      ‘Dramatic setting’

>      ‘A narrative story’

>      ‘Relevance to the music, song’

>      ‘Something funny, comedy is really good’

>      ‘A bit of the band playing and live sets from real gigs’