Research Into an existing product:
My research from Task one has shown me that Pop music is the most popular genre so I have decided to focus my research on an already existing music video that fits well into the Pop genre. I have decided to use one band and 2 famous artists that are the most popular in the Pop genre according to my secondary research to help me understand why their music videos are so popular and known.
Planning research:
Firstly I will need to understand what bands or artists in this genre are famous or known/liked. Next I will need to find out which videos are liked since they are different. It will be a challenge deciding if a video is good or not seen as different people have different opinions and so I will try to find bands and artists with similar audience who are most likely to have similar opinions to help me complete my research.
Primary Research Needed:
- First I need to decide what audience I need to be looking at in the pop world as it different across all audiences with different ages and different genders. I will be asking people from my school and my family members whether they listen to pop at their age and socioeconomic demographic to help me find out who my audience might be and then I will choose from there.
- Then I will need to make a questionnaire to send out to the people to find out exactly who my audience is and who my target market is and who they think are the best artists/bands within the Pop genre.
- Also adding on I will be doing interviews asking my target market what exactly makes a video good in their opinion in order for me to understand their wants and needs and why they listen or when they listen.
- I will then choose a focus group and do an interview with them where I will show them 3-5 videos and ask them to rank them from best to worst making sure that all the videos are different from each other so I can see what my audience like or prefer.
Secondary Research Needed:
- For my secondary research I will need to look at pop bands and artists so I can ask my target market who they prefer listening to, Whilst doing this I will use the help of the internet but I will ensure the accuracy of my research by taking evidence from trusted sources and avoiding websites such as wikipedia: https://www.wikipedia.org/ as websites such as Wikipedia are not trusted since everyone could add information and it is likely that the information is false and so will give me inaccurate data and instead use websites such as Ones to watch: https://www.onestowatch.com/blog/gnash-joins-loote-for-impassioned-bop-85
ALLMusic: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/loote-mn0003623901/biography
Statista: https://www.statista.com/statistics/253915/favorite-music-genres-in-the-us/
- I will also compare reception from different audiences to verify the results and ensure a non-biased approach. I understand that context will affect the reception of my music video. I need to therefore research the context (time) my music video was released. To do this I will look at newspapers and online blogs or headlines and hashtags to show what was current at the time to see if my music video may have had better or worse reception at the time it was released than today and how the audience may have reacted towards the product differently if it was released at a different time.
- I might also want to do more in-depth research about my target market and what their ages are and their incomes or how much money they spend on music and how much they listen to music so that I can fully understand their interests and so this I will do through both primary and secondary research.
- I will also need to research the 3-5 videos that I will be using in my primary research.
- Once I have selected a band or artist I will want to research 3 videos to get the idea of their style and how it appeals to the target audience and their success like albums, profits, record deals and tour dates
- I will also need to analyse one video that my audience have chosen so I can get an insight of what exactly appeals to my audience in terms of lyrics and style of the song before I evaluate my research.
Completing Research
Primary Research
First I have researched my audiences using research based on my school and my family members to get the widest demographic and really show me who I shall choose as my audience for this market. To do this I did a survey on google forms.
Results:
My survey showed that both genders listened to Pop music and so my audience were equal. I was fortunate enough to get responses from all the ages from 14-16+ so I was able to get into all the areas.
My audience will be focused on 15-18 yr olds. This is smaller than the brackets in my research but I feel this is an audience I can fully research and cater to.
I then focused only on my target audience and sampled 30 people ages 15-18 using another survey. This one focused on bands and artists that are popular within the Pop genre and I also asked what made a good music video or a bad music video (so I can know what to avoid when creating my music video and to reduce the time taken for me to research.
I asked my audience which of the bands or artists they had heard of (found through secondary research presented lower) and which they thought had the best videos.
This survey is not completely accurate or perfect but I wanted to choose an artist to research that was really well known as well as having good videos to access a mass market rather than a niche or limited market. I felt as though that choosing a popular or well-known video would greatly help me as there are a mass market and audience.
Music Video:My target market liked a mix of performance and story most. However, they also commented that they expect high quality production through:
1. Sound, album quality and not live. 2. Performance should be modern and more up-to-date. 3. Costumes/props should be exciting/well made/produced. 4. Good narrative or topic that they relate to, to keep them interested. This shows me that mu audience 15-18 yrs expects a lot from a music video which may be as they come from a more digital age and might be familiar with making their own content on platforms and making things such as videos or online posts and so it is typical that they expect a video to be better as there are so many thousands out there that a band/artist needs to justify their interest in the video. |
Results: The more indie-pop artists such as Billie Eilish were most well-known which demonstrates that this is the genre I need to do more research into.
Other bands and Artists such as Sia, Lady Gaga and Maroon 5 were known but were not mentioned when videos were talked about and discussed. I understand from this that my participants/volunteers may have heard of the band/Artist or a track but not have watched the video themselves which tells me that they are not interested or it doesn't appeal to them so therefore I will not include them in my further research.
A few other artists like Beyonce and Katy Perry were known but fewer knew the videos even if they knew the songs well or liked them. So therefore I have to also eliminate them from this research now.
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Secondary Research
Research into the Pop genre:
Research into popular current Pop artists:
Ranker is known to have a rank order based on viewers- many people love this website/magazine because it allows them to see who are the most listened to and who they would like to vote for. However, this might not be the best option to be using because it might not be reliable or true as certain people/audience could change the rank order which may make the rank order unreliable or untrue. Focusing on just the Pop genre I had gotten this rank order:
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The Billboard Hot 100 is the Music industry standard record chart in the United States (but used around the globe) for songs, published weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales in the US. Being on the HOT 100's Billboard is almost like a validation that the artist has officially made it into the industry. Billboard produces a list of the best 10-100 singles or albums released from artists or bands. Looking at just the Pop chart I have found the following order/rank:
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Target Market Research
Since my target market is 14-19 years old, most of them are in school and a few of them have graduated so their socio-economic demographic is mainly dependent on their parents/guardians. There is a great portion of these teenagers/young adults who get money from their parents or from part-time jobs. Also, since this is tax-free and they don't need to pay every month or so, their main focus is on listening to music and being an important part of the market. According to bbcbitesize.com an average teenager (15) gets 40GBP per week which could almost reach 400GBP per month which would mean that their demographic would be BC1BC2 and that could increase if the family is wealthy or is financially stable and comfortable.
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Teenagers and young adults may buy music for many reasons depending on which psychometric they fit in. Teenagers who are interested in Pop music I think belong to:
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People also like to listen to music to fulfill their needs and so in order to get their attention and appeal to them I must fulfill their needs. I think mainly my audience fit into the Personality Identity section. This may be because the lyrics, text, behaviors and values are reflected in the Pop genre/music.
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Audience summery
Age: 14-19
Gender: Both male and female
BC1BC2 Demographic
Personality Identity
Research For Focus Groups
Using my research, I selected the following Artists because I felt as though they are really the main people in the Pop genre:
- Billie Eilish
- Harry Styles
- Dua Lipa
- Loote
- Ariana Grande
Then I researched their most viewed (and most liked) videos uploaded onto YouTube from these artists. I have tried to make sure that the videos had met the results of the primary research levels and standards of original production with good sound and overall good quality and an original and new, unique storyline to meet my audience's needs. I then chose the following 5 videos to use for my focus groups.
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Brief Research of chosen band: Loote
Loote
I will be looking and researching in an existing product from David Guetta, Brooks & Loote - Better When You're Gone. This is Loote's most viewed and most popular song known.
Brief Research:
I will be researching an existing product from a band called Loote who are still an upcoming band. I will be looking at their song called Better When You're Gone where they feature David Guetta and Brooks. It Premiered in February 7, 2019 and got most of the publicity around February the 23rd where it was 25th on the US billboard and 8th in Belgium.https://www.billboard.com/music/loote/chart-history/DAN/song/1121579
The song became highly anticipated after its premiere at Ultra Korea 2018. “Better when you’re gone” was written by both Emma and Jackson (the two team members of Loote) and David Guetta, the whole idea of the song is talking about how someone could feel better in the absence of someone else. Background:Loote is a band of Jackson Foote and Emma Lov Block. Emma's career began by writing jingles for commercials and children's television networks. In college, she met Jackson in a writing class, and the two began writing songs together. In 2015, they signed to Universal Music Publishing Group through a joint venture with SRP (a record company) as "Loote". Loote is mostly famous for making Pop music which is mainly famous in the US (New york). Overall Loote’s sales have been proven to be much more successful in the US than the Uk and Europe. This is mainly because the music that Loot releases is in the US and so this would mean that they get more publicity and attention from their working place than the rest of Europe and so it makes sense that most of their fans and viewers are also in the US. However, considering that the music video was very modern and new (in other words fresh) there were still many listeners from around the world. It was also proven that most ages that viewed their music video were mainly from 14 to19 year olds which goes to show that most of their music is targeted at youngsters or teenagers. Here are statistics (secondary data) to show how many different ages listen to pop music in general which would give us an insight into the ages that listen to Loote’s music. (https://www.statista.com/statistics/253915/favorite-music-genres-in-the-us/) Loote has had a few concerts and tours in the past. At the moment Loote are touring around Canada and soon will move to the US and go to places such as San Francisco and Boston from around April until May https://www.ticketmaster.com/loote-tickets/artist/2392871. At the moment their tickets cost around $19.91 which is about 7.67 OMR, The prices of their tickets are considered as fairly cheap compared to other bands, however considering that they are still an upcoming band, it is an average price to charge as they are still trying to gather and form as much fans and viewers as possible and most people would not pay as much to see a band that is not so well-known so I think it's a wise decision to price their tickets “cheap”. The music video is quite uncommon as it is a performance music video and does not have a specific storyline in the actual music video as others, it consists of a split screen of the lyrics of the song and pixel images of a girl’s facial features and a shadow of her dancing. It is quite eye-catching as it is an unusual or unique video where it has many bright and primary colours and almost cartoon-looking appearance however, there is a storyline behind the lyrics used. The storyline of their song is considered quite classic and maybe even “basic”. In this song they talk about a guy not treating the girl correctly in their relationship and the girl getting over the guy by drinking and taking drugs and regretting the past. This is considered as a very cliche storyline as it is used in so many songs in the past (and still is), however, still the song was able to be a great hit due to it’s amazing beats and great vocals. The style of the music video is mostly dance and future house (could be tech house or even pop). Most of the listeners and viewers of this music video was around 14-19 so mainly teenages which tells us what ages listen to this type and style of music.The demographics of the audience of this genre or this type of music is mainly from C2-A. The reception of the music video: Most teenagers and youngsters liked it and enjoyed it and thought it was modern and suited them and their style. On the other hand most elders (30+) thought it was “too loud” and thought it would be used in clubs as they prefered calming and relaxing music, however there was a small portion of 28-35 year olds who thought it was quite chilled and liked the flow of the music. This tells us that this style of music is aimed mostly at youngsters and young adults. To support this I have used secondry research from https://edmreviewer.com/2019/02/11/david-guetta-brooks-loote-better-when-youre-gone/ to help me understand what many people think. Also I have looked at the comment sections underneath their video on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OrSxiUHk4E where lots of people liked it and were impressed and others were disappointed. Overall this may not give us the idea of what ages or who liked the song however, it will give us the idea about what people think of this sort of music video and what percentage of them liked it. Alongside, I have used primary where I have texted many of my friends about this song and asked for their opinions (since we cannot meet I was not able to get an interview or a video). Most of my friends who liked the songs were from around the age of 15-17 They liked how upbeat and lively it was. To support this I had a friend who likes dancing and has told me how much they thought it was perfect to dance to. In general most of my friends thought it was quite modern and stylish. So in conclusion, it was really suited and targeted at teenagers and young adults. Comparison to other tracks: Loote has made many other tracks and albums however, I would say that “Better when you’re gone” their best selling song as it has been their 1st song to hit the billboard so far according to https://www.billboard.com/music/loote So overall I would say that this is their best so far. Comparison in genre: Compared to other songs in this genre I would say that “Better when you’re gone” has been the best hit yet in the dance, future and tech house. This is in the perspective or the view of an upcoming band that is still forming, so I would personally say that this is a great hit and was very successful. It may have not changed the future or tech house so much but the fact that they can now be recognisable is considered as a success in itself. Personal Opinion: Personally I never really listen to this genre as it does not suit my style as much, however every now and again I like to listen to tech-house and so on. To me, what I really liked about this song is how it grasps you in the beginning with plain vocals joined by a really cool beat. Also what I really like about this song is how unique it is, as not many music videos are performances and not many performances are good however, this one has exceeded my expectations of performance videos. Overall I think it is a great song and music video and I would listen to it every now and again. |
Close Research of Chosen Artist: Billie Eilish (Main)
Billie Eilish's Music video has been shown and proven to be the most popular with my chosen audience so I have chosen to analyse this video as my existing product.
Basic artist research:
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Video Analysis:
Concept of the video
Video Analysis
Evaluation
- I think what makes this video really successful is how unique it is. Not many videos are performances with no storyline and talks about a topic so common yet so unspoken of. Something that was commonly said about Pop is how the storyline is too basic and too repetitive, Billie in this instance was able to completely remove the storyline which I think really allowed her to relate more with her audiences and make this video and song such a hit.
- What makes Billie as an artist so successful is how unique her songs are and how different they are from the rest of the artists, in terms of lyrics and style and videos. Pop audience have always wanted to see change in the Pop genre and Billie has been able to provide that and therefore has been extremely successful.
- This video really appeals to my target audience as they love seeing change and something different. They can also relate to the meaning behind this song and the idea of feeling so insecure from being constantly under the pressure of being 'perfect' and the standards set and they feel as though they are never good enough and so they start hating themselves to the point where they don't want to be who they are. So this really appeals to them and their age group.
- I think this video would work with tracks, they don't need to have similar ideas or topics, since it is a performance video it would not really matter, however I think if the track was about the same topic of "insecurities" It would definitely work much better.
- I think that the elements of the mise-en-scene, cinematography and the narrative of this video really work together to create the deep meaning behind this video, The whole idea of looking at herself in the mirror and talking to her reflection and almost criticizing herself works really well in showing how she does not want to be herself anymore and feels as though she is not good enough.
- This shows me that the artist knows what exactly her audience is looking for and is able to give them that alongside something new, modern and refreshing.