Research: Audience Identification

Audience Identification

Introduction.

The audience is the group of individuals or an individual who may consume media such as TV, Magazine's music and books. The audience can be used to describe for various different media such as Books, Newspapers and Film etc. This is used to define the group and what certain groups of people may be interested in regards to genre or hobbies. Before companies can start production they must identify their key audience since it helps them ensure that they know who they trying to attract otherwise the company won’t make money moreover different audiences have different expectations and they will need to be satisfied.

How might some audiences be categorised?

Audiences are usually categorised on several important factors such as Genres, hobbies, income, interests and social class. This is done because people have various different tastes or different social backgrounds and will affect what media they will listen to. Music and music videos aren’t no exceptions there are certain expectations in various different genres and the artist needs to target his audience who have the same ideologies and is likely to listen to that audience as well as satisfying their fan base.

Audience categories are usually divvied by income

Audiences are usually divided by categories according to a stereotypical income. This is usually the basis for the categories for marketing purpose to see who has the disposable income which can be spent on advertising and promotions that are used in films.

Advantages and disadvantages of categorising audiences

Advantages

One of the main advantages of categorising is a target audience. Moreover, it shows what groups of people are more likely to see the film and how to appeal to them with Mise en scene, cinematography and soundtracks. You can use information that you gather to encourage companies for product placement to various media outlets or can advertise other products such as cars, foods and fashion, for example, shoes.

Disadvantages

One of the main issues with classifying audiences into limited groups is that people are different. They maybe have the same job, however, they may have a different background or cultural differences, therefore they may not have the same interests. Also, categories used don’t factor in disposable income, since sometimes people may have jobs in management and therefore have more disposable income.

Different genres have different audiences…

Pop | Both Genders, between ages 15-30. This would appeal to a large audience and won’t include any ethnicity. This would-be categories C1, C2, D & E

Rock | Males, between 28 and 50. This wouldn’t appeal to more audiences who wanted music that was against the ideals of the establishment. This would appeal to people with a white ethnic background or from a working-class background. This would-be categories C1, C2, D & E

Classical | Both Genders, Anyone. Classical is considered a niche genre, however, there isn’t any predetermined aged or ethnicity because it can entirely depend on the song rather than the genre. It is likely to appeal to a wide variety of audiences.

R&B | Females, between 18 -25. This would appeal to younger audiences from any background. Because of the connotations in the music videos and the impact on the audience. It’s more like to appeal to students and working class people

Audience reactions - The reactions from the audience will depend on how they consume the media and the audience thoughts about the actual media itself.

Audience Engagement – This describes how the audience interact and reacts to the music video.

Audience Expectations – These are general ideas that audience may have about what may happen and they should both live up to those expectations also they can play with or even shatter those expectations as well.

Audience Foreknowledge – This is what an audience thinks they may know about the song.

Audience Identification – This is when the artist needs to identify their audience. And how the audience needs to connect to a particular music video and/or artist and how they feelings towards it.

In relation to Hebdige, Dyer and Goodwin

• Audience Engagement – This refers to Hebdige’s theory that people will have different reactions, views and background reactions to the media text. Whether its music or a video suggesting that the power is with the audience on the how to choose to engage or like a product.
• Audience Expectations – This links to Goodwin’s theory since different audiences will have a variety of expectations on certain pieces of media and genre. Such as mainstream culture in which the audience include set characteristics and convections and these features should be met to the audience expectations.
• Audience Identification – This is referring to Dyer's theory on the relationship between the audiences. Dyer's theory states how the artist is constructed on how the audience must view the artist as ordinary so that they can identify with them and relate to them, and extra ordinary to show how they can view them as an iconic figure. An example of this is Jennifer Lawrence wearing a jumper and a see-through skirt at the premiere for her film Passengers.

Conclusion

Audience identification is important since you need to identify who may be interested and therefore who’s likely to watch the music video. So while planning the music video I need to do some research and find out the demographics of the audience that I want to target. Once I have got my initial ideas and find out what the key audience is that I need to attract, then research about audience identification, I will include questionnaires into the target audience likes and dislikes and the Mise en scene and pop i.e. current popular culture. Currently, the music videos I am looking at are for the pop genre and may attract people who may look at the mainstream audience.

Research: Star Image

Star Image

What is Star image?

Star image is a way of the artists is portrayed to an audience. This can be done in various ways such as the way they look, the way behaves and the way they dressed. It is important that the star image and how its portrayed otherwise the artist won’t be successful since they may not attract at large audience compared to another who has a successful star image. Moreover, a successful star image means that mainstream audience is more likely to resonate and they are more likely to be remembered making that artist more successful.

How can music videos help boost an artist’s career?

Makes the artist more popular.

The main one is if the music video is successful he would be well known and more popular. Making the artist more famous within the music industry along with audiences of mainstream music.

Entices a larger audience.

A music videos helps when it comes to showing off the artist to a wider audience. Without a music video an artist is unable to reach a larger audience without having to spend more money on advertising. For example, if a music video is uploaded to a platform such as YouTube it helps promote the artists as well as attract a larger a music video.

Music videos promotes the artists image

Music videos can be also used in such a way to promote the artist image to the audience. This is means that the audience can recognize the uniqueness of that artist because the way she promotes herself also it means that she also won’t be ignored “because the audience may think that she’s another artist in an overcrowded industry in regards of mainstream music” or superstars since they are above the rest. For example, Michel Jackson 

Music videos are more memorable than the music

Most music videos are tends to be remember over the actual music themselves for example thriller was remembered because of the various techniques it used from movies. The music video itself was more of a short video. Another example of this would-be Miley Cyrus wrecking ball. Well mostly remembered for Miley Cyrus singing from the wrecking ball. 

The style of the artist is more likely to be remembered. 

If the artist was controversial with her music videos such as Madonna and Miley Cyrus they are remembered.

The changes of star images throughout time.

Below I will be discussing about three artist’s changes throughout time and why they changed.

Miley Cyrus

2003 – 2009 

She auditions for the Disney channel series Hannah Montana when she was 11. She was auditioned the main character lead however got lead role. The series started in march 2006 and was an instant success. She was also labelled an “teen idol” while she was working with Disney she released several singles also worked on several films. When Hannah Montana was cancelled, she tried to portray a mature image. 

2010-2012 

In 2010 she tried to transition into a mature image by focusing on films. She stared in The Last Song (2010) it was a box office fit had a negative critically reception. Also during this same she released her third studio album. Can’t be Tamed. 

2013-2014 

In another attempt to portray a more mature image, Miley hired Larry Rudolph as her manager who has worked with artists such as Britney spears moreover she has signed a recording contract with RCA Records. During this time, Miley Cyrus twerked at the VMAs as well as Wrecking ball, Miley Cyrus had a more mature image but was also critical reception for it. 

2015 – currently 

By now she’s is working on her 5th studio album as well as working with films such as The Night before (2015) and A very Murray Christmas. Also, she was the host at the MTV Video music awards and gave a surprise performance of her new song “Dooo it”. In 2016 she was confirmed to be a judge of the eleventh season of The Voice and then in September she stared in Crisis in six scenes a TV series by woody Allan created for Amazon studios. In late 2016 she also announced that she was getting married to Liam Hemsworth. 

Justin Bieber

2008 – 2010

Justin Bieber career started off when Scooter Braun accidently clicked on one of Justin Bieber songs by accident. This led to him to tracking him down. Bieber was signed to Raymond Braun Media Group or (RMBG) which was a joint venture between Braun and Usher.

2010-2011

Justin Bieber released several different albums and several different singles during this time. Which reached to the top 10 in several different countries. On the 23^rd June 2010 Bieber also went on his first world tour. Meanwhile during that year, he was also found to be most searched for celebrity on the Internet. However also has the large like to dislike ratio on YouTube. Also in 2010 Justin Bieber hit puberty and his voice deepened also bibber guess stared in CBS show CSI which aired on September 23, 2010.

Kyle Minogue

1985-1989

·         Her first appearance in the entertainment industry as a lead role was for the TV Show the Henderson Kids. Dropped out of the show for season two and decided to peruse a role in the music industry.

·         During this time, she was a sweetheart of television.

·         During this time, none of the music didn’t have sexual connotations or based around hard-core relationships.

·         Her lyrics weren’t provocative and it was her early stages of her career

1990-1994

·         Kyle Minogue third album “rhythm of love” was released on in 1990 and she described at as more mature

·         Then music that she produced from that album onwards has been focused for a more mature audience. Therefore, her target audience changed again to focus on a more mature audience.

·         She released more albums during this time and she stared in the Vicar of DIberly during this time and the music she produced started to attracted more males to her music rather than females.

1995-1999

·         The songs she produced started to get more provocative at the time and became more intimidating as well.

·         During this period, she released more albums however her audience was also changing

·         She was also had another relationship French photographer Stéphane Sednaoui. He then encouraged her creativity and she also got inspiration from various artists such as Bjork, U2 and Shirley Manston.

Star image

Justin Bieber – Is portrayed in both in a positive and negative manor. His sexy image and persona shows that he’s every young girl dream and makes him popular with teenage audience since a lot of teens and young adults may want to aspire to what he has done. However, his has previously created controversy for himself which has a negative impact on him.

Gwen Stefani - Gwen Stefani is an artist that is portrayed as a role model and conventional however Connotations to the audience. She achieved success in targeting a large audience because she does perform with a variety of artists and target various genres regarding her music videos.

Rihanna – Rihanna is portrayed as a provocative character as well as a bad girl. She has experimented with music videos on various occasions tried to express herself on many different occasions this include wearing tight, skimpy outfits and colourful. However, she has achieved success especially with teenage female audience because of her independence and her feminist views. However, her views have changed over the years.

Star image: sexual reasons, political reasons, moral reasons and social reasons

Sexual reasons – Some artists may use music videos may express their feelings or thoughts about their sexuality or their relationships. For example

Political reasons – Artist may use music videos to advocate political issues a very good example is anything by pussy riot. Since all their music videos have been about political reasons including about the Russian president: Vladimir Putin

Moral reasons – Artist may use music videos to advocate and express moral reasons on issues and their personal thoughts about various subjects, and why they are important and why the audience should be concerned.

Social reasons – Various artists has expressed social reason in their music videos. This is include to show their personal lifestyle choices or their choices they have made.

Conclusion

Star image sends out an important message to the audience about the star and helps the audience make decisions about the star. A good star image may appeal to the mass audience however if there was a dramatic change to someone star image then there may be a negative impact to the star. Because they may change and some of the audience may no longer appeal to that artist which was seen in the cases of Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus. In the music video production, I will need to ensure that the artist is portrayed in a way to ensure that it follows general convictions that is seen in a star image. Therefore, I should ensure that I follow dyers and Goodwin’s theory. With the music, I’m choosing I need to ensure that the music I chose doesn’t change the artist star image dramatically because since as proven with in this blog post may have dramatic impacts on the audience. Because of the context of the music video we looking at. The music video will need to focus on social and moral reasons since the context of the music video.

Research: Intertextuality

Intertextual reference

Introduction.

Intertextuality is when something is referenced to another source of media. In music videos intertextuality is used to refer to other things in media. This may include past events, famous people, films, animations. There are various reasons why artists include intertextual references in their music videos this is because they may want to provoke a reaction from the audience and cause discussion. This could be both a positive or negative reaction and may have historical and political influence.

Examples of Intertextuality

Formation -  Beyonce

The intertextual references that ‘Formation’ by Beyoncé is referring to is the town of New Orleans, past and present. The Images used in the music videos shows the old grand Plantation houses which are usually seen in the south of the US. These houses would have been used by the slave owners. Moreover, the music video refers to slavery and the recent floods in that city and shows the contrast of the new condos/apartments that have been flooded that belong to the working/middle class.

Gorillaz – feel good inc.

The intertextual references that are in ‘Feel Good Inc.’ refers to cartoon animation and also to comic strips as well as several references that are seen in Anime. Unlike formation this music video refers to the animation in context of the relationship between the song and the visuals. Rather than in the lyrics itself.

Pussy Riot – Mother of God, Drive Putin Away

The references in Mother of God, Drive Putin Away were clearly shown from the outset it refers to the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia with various images and scenes showing to take the mick out of both of the Russian leader and the Russian orthodox church. The point of the music video and the use intertextuality was to provoke discussion as well as used a satirical and protest against Russian president.

Advantages of intertextuality

There are various reasons why to bring intertextuality into a music video. This includes portray personal opinions to the audience or to help the audience to understand the point of the music video by bringing something from popular culture. This is, of course, depending on the context of the music video or why intertextuality is being used. For example, Fat boy slim and Moby both used historical recordings blues songs from the 1920 & the 1930s to contrast to their own style. May provoke an audience reaction which may be vital for the artist. Another advantage of intertextuality is that it may be more entertain or more ironic because of the references.

Disadvantages of intertextuality

They are disadvantages of using intertextual references if they are used badly or in a way that may have a negative impact on the audience. First, it could be offensive to the audience I have either used badly or that it is offensive and shouldn’t be associated with the artist or that music video. Another reason why there is a disadvantage of using intertextuality in music videos is when it comes to personal opinions. This depends on the artist opinion however at sometimes using intertextuality in a negative way or to influence an opinion may provoke a negative reaction. This may include various members of the audience maybe agreeing to that view or that view isn’t taken too kindly and the artist receives criticism from its audience and from various artists. Using intertextuality on certain music videos maybe seen as controversial depending on the context and references made. 

Conclusion

This will be depending on the context of the music video, however, yes, I would like to use intertextuality in my music video. This is used to show historical context or may to show a reaction of another art form. Using intertextual references would require additional work to ensure that it is used effective within the music videos and used correctly would ensure that a point has been made and provoke a reaction from the audience. I also rather not use negative references especially if against other artists or considered offensive therefore I will need to ensure the references I choose would be suitable for the music video.

Research: Dyer’s ‘Star Theory’

Star Theory.

What is star theory?

Star Theory is a theory around what makes a star and how singers sell their music to mainstream or a about what makes someone a star. However, star theory is how a star is made.
niche audience as well as a loyal audience. The theory relates to mainstream music, however, can be applied to niche audiences as well. Star images are constructed to promote someone as well as make more money and to gain more audience to watch the music video. The theory differs from the concept of star image which is

Who is Richard Dyer and what is his theory?

Richard Dyer was born in 1945 and is the theorist behind star theory. He said the following about Star Theory:
Star theory is "incoherent, incomplete and 'open' this is because
“The star must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer to identify with and aspire to be.”
“The star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer.''
There are four elements to be recognised as a star;
Stars and Constructions
Industry and Audience
Ideology and Culture
Character and Personality.

What is a difference between a performer and a pop star?

A performer is when a talented individual or group who perform songs does it in an entertaining way
. Although they may not be as popular or famous compared to other performers. However, a pop star is when the performer starts getting a large fan base and promoted by management to the point where they are recognisable by large amounts of people because of their behaviour or their talent. However, a pop star isn’t just someone who talented enough to gain a large amount of audience, it is also a person who has a lasting impact on the music industry.

Stars as constructions

One of Dyer's ideas is that stars be constructions of the music industry or an artificial idea of a pop star. An example of this idea being applied is to shows like X-factor and Pop Idol. These shows have a major effect on the music industry since the music industry can and will influence these contestants’ which then may be seen as construction. Another example of this would be Justin Bieber. Several years ago, Justin Bieber started off his career with YouTube videos and his singing was good enough for him to get over a million hits on each video which led to him being picked up by a music label which then led to his success. This came at a cost since his attitude and personality has changed a lot and he has got himself in various amounts of trouble as well as caused a large amount of controversy such as getting trouble with fans for being late, drug abuse and got himself in serious trouble with the police. All his music is also based on his life or popular culture.

Industry and audience

Another of Dyer's ideas about pop stars is how the music industry affects the audience as well as the connections between the industry and audience. As I mentioned previously where I talked about constructions of how pop stars and shows like X-factor and Pop Idol can influence stars in regards of behaviour and the music they produce. However, it can affect the relationship between audience and the industry. Stars are mainly used as a way of making money from a star’s image and to make a lot of money from the audience. Record companies try to make money by finding out what is currently popular and make sure that the music that the stars are producing are aimed at what is currently popular. Moreover, they may try to attract a larger audience by making music that appeals to different groups.

Ideology and culture

Some artists will have their ideology and/or beliefs included in their music videos or when they talk about it on social media or on talk shows. This is done because the star may want to influence the audience on certain decisions Also it allows the audience to have a connection to the artists. An example of this would be Beyoncé, since in most of her music videos and music are aimed at women and trying to influence them to become more independent and should not be controlled or dependent on men. Most of her fan base and audience is mostly women and it is a good thing when artists try to convince fans and their audience to do the right thing. Another issue is Stars also represent popular culture since most of them will need to keep up with what’s happening currently around the world or at least in the west to stay relevant.

Character and personality

Dyer also talks about how character and personality do influence a star image. It is important that stars have they own character and personality since they don’t want the audience to think that the artists are seemed bland and reparative also important because it helps create a connection between the star and the audience. Also, it provides the audience with the idea of what they should be like or how they should be like. This, however, depends on the star/artist ideology. An example of a unique personality and character would be Miley Cyrus since she has changed a lot since leaving Disney. She has a unique personality which she is known for because of the music videos she has done in the past and how controversial they are.

How much control do artists/bands have on their star image?

This can vary from artist to artist and band to band. Because of various factors such as when they producing the music. Who is the recorded company they are working for; Is the music they are producing mainstream or niche and how did they become popular. Since they are varying amount of controls depending on those circumstances. Most of the time they will have a large amount of control on how they should be portrayed to the public. Music intuitions may instruct the artist on how to improve or adapt their image to meet the target audience expectations or keeping them relevant and how to make sure they are still noticed.

Conclusion

Richard Dyer's theory is important since it talks about what is a star and how an artist’s success can
depend on various factors, such as their image, personality and character and how they are portrayed to the audience. Dyer's theory also explains the role of music institutions on how they influence artists star image as well. Without a star image, the artist maybe is seen as “incomplete” or “lacking in areas.” While researching about Dyer's theory I also thought about how I should represent the artist/band during the music video that I will be making. It depends on the music, however, the artists should be portrayed as a genuine person as well as someone who is relatable to the public. Since I am looking at doing music in the Hip Hop or Rap genre it also needs to be representative of that genre as well. The music video needs to appeal to a larger and mainstream audience, therefore, I should follow the conventions of that genre.

Research: What is a music video

Intro 

A music video is a video that accompanies a song that’s has been released. This is used to promote an
artists or series of artists for their songs. Music videos are usually used to market the song to the audience by adding a video to sell to the audience. In other cases, they have been used to highlight issues that the artist is trying promote via the song. Most music videos can be seen on music channels for example "MTV" however most of them can be seen via the very popular video service, YouTube. A Music video usually helps makes the song a success which helps in marketing the video towards the audience.

What is the purpose of a music video?

There are many different purposes for a music video, however, this can depend on the video and the song artist and the context of the music. Below are some points about different music videos along with some examples.

• To help the Singers/artists to sell the songs/album. - This was one of the main reasons why because if people like both the video and the song. They will buy the song because of the video since it may rememberable
• To Entertain. - To entertain audiences who are listening to the music by visualising the song. This helps in attracting audiences since the audience maybe showing other people to listen
• To Promote Artists/Bands. - This is the main purpose of the music video since they are designed to help promote an artist or band latest song or album.

• To Promote a film or products - Some music videos do this because it helps advertise a film and brings additional income for a film or for a product.
• To Create Hype - This happens quite frequently especially when artists and bands are using music videos to create hype towards for their new album that they are releasing.
• To Breakthrough an artist onto the music scene. Sometimes music videos are focused on the artist / album talent especially new or upcoming artists/bands. This is used to help the music to attract an audience for that particular artist.

Classic conventions of a music video

They are many different conventions that are used in music videos and target different audience like the songs that are produced alongside with the music video.

Dancing/Performance

This is occurring and is a popular convention of a music video. Usually, the artist would perform to parts of the music videos. However, sometimes they will also have dancers in the background as well.

Narrative

This is when a music video has a clear narrative within the music video and would be in a story format. This will usually follow a clear structure and would have a beginning a middle and an end.
Lip Syncing – Lip syncing is another common convection in a music video. This is when an artist is expected to mouth the words to the song. This would make it look that the artist looks like they are singing in the music video. This would make the music video more effective.

Artist.

This would the person who would be performing. Either the artist would be seen in the music video as well as singing throughout the music video. Or will be only singing the song and actor will be lip syncing the song. Also, this could be multiple featuring in one music videos if they cooperating with each other or as a group. An example of this would be "Sing" by Ed Sheeran in which you see him performing in the music video.

Speical effects and Glamour

Special effects and glamour are another common conventions in music videos. It ensures that the music video looks more appealing towards the audience and it shows it was professionally done as well as more entertaining.

Lip syncing 

Lip syncing another common convention that is seen in the music video especially if the artist is not appearing in that music video and there is actor standing in for the actors. It makes the artist or actors look like they are singing throughout the music video making it more effective.

Editing to match the beat.

This is to ensure that the music video is fluent with the song as well it shows how professional the music video has been done. This has to be done otherwise it may confuse the audience and wouldn't look professional. 

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Synergy

Synergy is important with music video since it gives the artist and/or record label the advantage of having different partnerships with various different forms of media. This would include, radio , TV, Print media, film and the internet. This is done because of it more likely to support the artist in succeeding with the music video and the song. These are well known and popular forms of media which increase the artist popularity.


Examples of synergy used are Radio Adverts, Radio, TV and Print media.
For example Sia - cheap thrills was not only advertised on Radio adverts. such as Capital FM. It was also shown MTV and the music video is available on YouTube.

Audience impact

The impact on a music video depends on the type of genre and the audience reacts to the music.

The impact on a music video depends on the audience opinion on the actual music first of all. This could be a positive or a negative reaction depending on the content that is being played and how the video that is being portrayed. A Positive reaction may result the public might buy the album or the song which could also mean that some of the audience may end up being fans of that artist. However, if there negative reaction to the music video, the audience won't buy the song  which means that audience may perceive the artist negatively.

A music may also provoke an emotional reaction to the audience. This again depends on the context of the song. For example, if the song is meant to be sad or to be depressing this would connotate a negative attitude as a reaction from the audience. However, if the song was more happy or upbeat. This means the audience reaction would be more positive an example of this would be Coldplay Up and Up in which the context of the song and music video is more encouraging.

Technology advancements

They have been various different technology advancements since of the first music video and they have allowed music videos to advance and improve also allows music to be reached to wider audiences. The major one is the internet and the rise of popular sites such as youtube and Vimeo, Which allow users to watch videos on demand this includes music videos. This has allowed artists and music labels to expand their audiences which also means that people from other countries can watch these music videos.

Threats caused by technology advancements

With recent advancements in technology, the music industry is under threat according to some analysts who working for large music labels. Because of the demise of cd sells and the rise of on-demand services such as youtube and Spotify. Which pay less than cd sales, however, reduces the risks of piracy since it's easier to play a song than downloading the song. This means that people may not watch music videos. However, this isn't the case since you can watch music videos via sites like Vimeo and youtube. Another threat to music videos is the demise of music channels such as MTV and 4music which has to run programs alongside more frequently alongside playing the most popular alongside with music videos. This is due to television inability to allow users to pick what music videos they would like to watch, unlike the internet.

The future of music videos

Music videos are still quite popular and will stay and continue to grow. This is because of many different reasons one of them people are able to choose what music videos they can watch. This is because of the launch of two video streaming services Vevo and Youtube. This allowed viewers who would have to wait for the music video to appear television to go online and watch the music video directly. It also means that the artist can get paid directly because most of the ad revenue goes to the artist. This means an artist can earn more money than cd sales of the music videos. It also means that piracy goes down as well since it's more accessible to use YouTube rather going through the process of illegally downloading the music video. Music videos are still influential in terms of the audience since most people will judge a song by watching the music video. More artists are using more techniques that are related to the film which is also making music videos more popular because of the move like influences. However, it may also be in jeopardy because most people are using music streaming services like Spotify and apple music. Which means fewer people may be inclined to watch music videos directly.

Conclusion

Music videos are still important for an artist to succeed. They are various threats to music videos since they are starting to get less popular compared to streaming the music directly from streaming services like Spotify which is becoming more popular. And music channels not being watched compared the use of online video streaming services like YouTube. While researching music videos I was also able to look at various different conventions in music videos. This can help me in making an effective music video.