Audience Research

Target audiences for music videos in general have adapted over time. The demand for more to be produced over the years has become a must for artists and thus with more competition the content of the videos have began to challenge the original, live performance style. They are now based around post modern content that reflects today's society and thus this changes the target audience.
As society has altered, so have the expectations within music videos to reflect the stereotypes of society, which affects the age of target audiences. For example, an older generation will not be as familiar and engaged with the current youth portrayed in many music videos and therefore will find them less appealing and in some cases offensive. This is because of the sexual content and drug/alcohol abuse has become a popular issue within music videos as it has become more acceptable.
Discounting the actual genre of music, there is always an audience that is targeted through the videos, ideologies, trends and lifestyles of an artist. However with the release of more and more niche genres it has also created more concentrated audiences who particularly like a differing sound. This again separates general audiences into more specific/targeted audiences.

LIIAR Concepts

As learnt from AS, it is vital I consider 5 key elements when undertaking the task of a production.

Firstly, language. The way in which my music video attempts to communicate an idea to my audience. Media language produces differing responses and reactions in different people. The language can be portrayed in many forms - it can either be written, non-verbal, verbal or visual. I anticipate the latter - visual will be the strongest communicator in the case of music videos via the form of camera angles, shots, mis en scene etc. Music videos tend to be mainly diagetic, with the odd non-diagetic piece of sound supporting a narrative.

Secondly, Ideology. The set of ideas the institution - so in this case the record company and artist chose to represent. This ideology aims to shape the views of the audience. Differing artists have very contrasting ideologies and the genre of music can often be a clue. For example a rock n roll star in he John Lennon mould - promoting peace and love is distinctly recognisable from that of a rap artist such as Eminem whom openly discusses violence in a positive manner. Within society there are certain values and beliefs that are described as 'dominant' ideologies.
The majority of people within society often agree with these.. thus the music videos may decide to follow or challenge those ideologies.

Next is the Institution. Those in charge of producing media texts. When considering the music industry it is record labels that produce, distribute and market in order to sell as much as possible. There are many roles within this area of work. For example, directors, editors and indeed the songwriters themselves.

Penultimately, and vitally the Audience - the people that consume the product. Music videos are produced in a certain way to cater for music channels and the internet to target a specific audience. Pop music is generally regarded as mainstream music - it is familiar and catering to the mass majority. This is in contrast to, for example a heavy metal band in the Metallica mould - whom cater to a specific niche, and thus adjust there sales pitch accordingly.

Finally, Representation. Used within media texts to construct meaning about the world. The most common form of representation in music videos is the use of certain social groups - shown either in a positive or negative light. In addition, stereotypes are often used to promote familiarity with audiences. Again, these use of representations often differ depending on the genre of music. Rap artists are often represented as rich, powerful and associated with the social group of gangsters. A fine example of a contrast would be slipknot whom wear masks to create an intimidating appearance - as opposed to the attractive one which rap stars attempt to capture.

Textual Analysis (3)

Work - Ciara ft Missy Elliot

An RnB genre of video, it is typical of other RnB music videos, however it also challenges the typical genre characteristics of most RnB music videos.
The majority of RnB videos are often located in cities which are expensive to live. It is also generic for the artists in this genre to be clad in expensive clothing and jewellery and in the driving seat of desirable cars. Showing the artist is rich, successful and an example to their target audience. RnB artists such as Chris Brown, Rhianna, and Beyonce include these generic features in their music videos. Ciara has been known to use these conventions of RnB in her previous videos but she has contradicted these conventions in this particular video.

To enable the audience to become involved in the diagesis of the music video (work/building site) there is an introductory scene before the music has started to establish the location and display typical props such scaffolding, cement mixers, dusty scenery , cranes, pneumatic drills, fork lift trucks etc. The video is simple in the way that only one location is been used, which is a building/work site. This does not follow the typical conventions of an RnB music video, thus it shows her individuality as an artist. There is a range of shots to show different job roles around the work site and contradicts the stereotypical views of the audience by replacing traditional male roles with women. Use of diagetic sound also creates realism within the music video with sounds of machinery which the audience would associate with that particular, industrial environment.

The song is called 'Work' and the location immediately amplifies the lyrics as it is a building/work site. The women are wearing elements of a construction site uniform with gloves, jeans complete with rips, white tops but more feminine and sexualised. This mis en scene creates a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals as the word work is emphasised through a work location, uniformed clothing and the props of machinery used on a construction site. The chorus 'you better work' is enhanced with fast, strenuous dance choreography by Ciara and her backing dancers which relates to the hard work and stamina she puts in when carrying out the dance. The lyrics on the bridge of the song also says 'walk that walk' which she illustrates herself by walking and strutting with attitude in the video. There is also a shot of her swinging on a crane with the sunlight above her 'which amplifies the lyrics 'the spotlight is on you' through the sun and the low angled camera shot of her to make her role dominant.
In addition I can gather a few inter textual references as an audience which I can familiarise with in this video. I can sense an image relating to Charlie’s angels when she is wearing a revealing boiler suit and her being in a work environment as they are always on missions in strange locations. I think she uses this to show that she is an independent, strong woman just like the women in Charlie’s angels. Her change in costume to create different images for herself can also be closely linked to Charlie’s angels too as they constantly go under cover with different identities.

Textual Analysis (2)

The Enemy - It's Not Okay

The opening of the video is in black and white and you can see a male figure and face from a side set back angle in which he flings his arms wide and that's when the beat to the music kicks in. We then get a medium close up of the drummer playing as he is opening the beat to the song with this instrument. The instruments the band are using are white and silver this makes them stand out from the black background and the light reflects off the instruments. The band are wearing a full black outfit this blends in but enhances there faces.
Next, is a wide shot in which we can see the band spread out along a stage with their instruments as they all join in the opening beat to the song along with the drummer. The camera shot has a slight tilt as though you are looking at the band from a lower point alike seeing them on stage and it establishes there status. A close-up of the drummer is used but is in utter darkness so we cant see any facial features apart from his drums through the light reflection this is a clever visual effect.
Later a wide establishing shot is used as we can get to establish the environment which looks on bear ground as we can see lit up building in the distant background. The use of lightening is used behind the band where we see a big ball like of light which helps to establish the bands whereabouts and what they are actually doing. With the next beat the camera tracks across to the right where we get a slightly closer view of the band and also its dimmer for a second as the artists back is blocking the light. This causes excitement visually through lightening and the fact the change of angles adds creativity and makes the video more interesting.
A variety of extreme close ups, medium shots, close up and wide shots are used within a further sequence to add camera creativity and different angles so you can see all sides and aspects of the band. The same lightning is used in these sequences which enables they band to stand out from the black background.

Textual Analysis (1)

The Beatles' 'Ticket To Ride' music video is an abstract production with occasional performance, The action in the video bears no relation to the lyrics and does not follow any narrative. It follows the convention of many music videos by concentrating on audience gratification. The audience are happy seeing the artists as well as hearing the song.
The video portrays a band in an unusual location.. a snowy mountain. Where they create humour by doing various things in the snow, for example making snow angles.
In places the bands actions have been increased in pace or slowed down to fit the pace of the song, i.e when they are being chased by the train - this is important so that the two medias fit. Various shots have been used to keep it interesting, a long shot being the most predominant used so that we can see their actions. Naturally, this shot is appropriate to skiing so that we can see when they fall over and thus add to the humour. When the rare element of performance comes is featured we have close ups so that we can see them sing and identify with the lyrics. Musical notes bouncing across the screen add to the playful effect.. and in addition the use of a depth of field to make the band drift in and out of focus.
I felt it was an appropriate video to look at due to it being a very early music video which set lots of the conventions for modern music videos. Moreover, Oasis admit to having many influences both lyrically and musically derived from The Beatles.

The History of The Music Video

A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a piece of music. Music videos represent a crucial part of the music industry, as they further promote the artists by entertaining and impressing the audience with their appearance and talents.
It is regarded that the first ever music video was produced by the Warner Brothers in 1926. They created a series of short musical films which were known as 'spooney melodies' which lasted around six minutes long and involved footage of the performer singing with additional background and art animation.

However music videos first truly came onto the scene when the programme MTV (music television) was launched on 1st august 1981 in the USA. The first music video ever to be played was 'video killed the radio star' by the the Buggles. The video pulsated out from television screens across the US and welcomed the beginning of the original non-stop music video channel. Its launch also marked a change of era in promotion and cosumption and the expression "MTV generation" was created. Even in the Chinese music industry, they relate to music videos as MTV's, as it was responsible for making the music video popular.

Ever since, MTV demanded more videos and therefore the music video became an important role in the careers of music artists. It had branched out from pop, and become a multi-million dollar business which was owned by viacom. MTV, since its launch has spread into 324 million homes and over the last thirty years there has been an increase in the competition of other music channels due to its world wide success.


CSC Media Group(Chart Show Channels) for example which was launched on the 16th September 2002, operates several different music channels on Sky television. These channels include Bliss, Chart Show TV, Flaunt, Flava, NME TV, Scuzz and The Vault. These are dedicated to different genres such as rock chart, urban chart and download chart.
Music over the years of course has progressed in quality too. Due to the new technology which is available today, music videos today are more capturing and entertaining. The majority of videos today are within a low budget too in comparison to some of the earlier music videos. This is because more special effects can be created afterwards on editing suites and the green screen is a popular way of imposing location backgrounds behind the artists instead of actual travelling to that location.

Brief

To complete a promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

A website homepage for the band;

A cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package)

A magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package)