What have you learned from your audience feedback? - Question 3

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Audience feedback was a vital element of my production process, as it allowed me find out what was going well in my products and also what I needed to improve on. Moreover, it ensured that I was creating high quality and visually pleasing products that appealed to my target audience.

The primary target audience for my products are male and females of the ages 16-25. My primary demographic is BC1 and C2. I feel that this is appropriate demographic as it is mainly middle class, lower middle class and skilled working class that listen to drum and bass. It would be unlikely that a grade A (upper middleclass) such as a lawyer or accountant would listen to this genre due to the stereotype’s it carries i.e. drug/alcohol use. People of demographic BC1 and C2 are heavily stereotyped with the use of substances and alcohol in their everyday lives, thus making them the appropriate target audience for my products which are heavily revolved around this usage.  I also have a secondary audience, which consists of both females and males aged from 12 to 35. The demographic for my secondary audience would include AD and E. This again is down to the stereotypes of the genre; as aforementioned an upper middle class person would most likely not listen to drum and bass, however, it could be possible that a percentage of that demographic do enjoy the genre.

 

To continue, I chose my primary target audience based on the genre of the song. ‘Afterglow’ by Wilkinson which comes under the genre of Drum and Bass. Drum and Bass, is similar to the genre of Dance and is usually associated with clubs, festivals, raves and parties. The target audience of male and females aged 16-25 regularly attend places such as clubs and festivals which play Drum and Bass. The genre is also heavily associated with intoxication, whether that be through the method of using illegal drugs and alcohol. This age group is well associated with heavy drinking and drug use, this being the reason my products, particularly my music video was based heavily on my protagonist drinking, and the effect that this had on her mind and physical state. I also feel that my target audience will primarily be individualistic. Drum and Bass, even though stems from the genre of Dance which is very mainstream at this current time; is a very new and different type of music. Individualists are interested in new, un-tried things such as music. They also are determined to be different and not to follow the crowd. Even though the genre of Drum and Bass is becoming more prominent in today’s society, it takes a specific audience to actually listen to it and like it, thus showings its individualistic tendencies in comparison to say the genre of pop which would attract mainstreamers and conformers and also aspirers who consider social status important and want to fit into the crowd. My target audience will include all races and ethnicities however I feel my music video will attract predominately those who are classed as white British and Irish. This is due to the stereotype of those who are of other races, such those who are Black and Asian for example, who tend to listen to other genres of music such as Hip-Hop and RnB. Moreover, those who are white are more associated with binge drinking, drug intake and also attending dance festivals than those who are of other races, implying they are more likely to be able to relate to my protagonists position. However, this assumption is based on media stereotype and does not apply to everybody.

 

I feel that my products follow Blumler and Katz Uses and Gratifications Theory. My music video more specifically will allow the audience to identify with the protagonists thoughts, behaviours and even find reinforcement for their own personal values, due to the fact they can relate to my protagonist and my protagonists situation as they too would have been in a similar situation or know someone who has from drinking too much, as this target audience are heavily related with binge drinking. Moreover, my audience can gain entertainment from my music video, allowing them to escape from their own issues and problems in their lives. My music video could also allow the audience to release their emotions through the connection they can make with the protagonist, thus making them feel like they are not alone. Moreover, my music video, digipak and magazine advert will allow my target audience to socially interact with others. My product could potentially be a conversation starter and even develop into a conversation topic for peer groups, allowing them to create connections and relationships with others. Lastly, my music video could provide information for those in my target audience, but more importantly for those who do not come under my target audience. The narrative of a young women drinking herself into a state because of personal issues such as loneliness could inform maybe an older audience of the struggles that young people face in this generation, particularly with the problem of trying to fit in with others and how they deal with the stress of everyday life, such as unemployment.   

 

When it came down to it, I made sure that I gathered audience feedback for all of my products. A way of generating feedback came from the use of social networking sites. Sites such as Facebook and twitter allowed me to post my products on my profile and publicize then to my target audience. Both male and females in this age group are well known for their use and love of social networking sites to connect with friends and other people around the globe. As I knew that a lot of my target audience had profiles on Facebook and Twitter I felt it appropriate to post the products on there. Alongside my music video, I also created a survey on a website called surveymonkey.com, which allowed me to come up with ten questions I felt it important to ask. I asked questions like ‘Rate how professional my music video looks out of 10’ and also ‘Please rate each element of my music video’ and then listed, Lighting, Editing, Narrative, Performance and Mise-en-scene’. These types of questions allowed me to collect quantitate data, which was easy and quick to analyse. From these questions I received positive feedback about my music video, for example my lighting and narrative, which was classed as being ‘successful’.  I also asked questions that would collect qualitative data such as ‘How does my music video relate to the genre’ and ‘how could my music video be improved’. This meant that my target audience could elaborate on how they felt about my music video and give detailed answers, thus allowing me to understand what I needed to change. For some of the feedback however, I did take into account but did not act on it. For example, someone suggested that to improve my music video ‘I should change the costume of my protagonist’. I did not act upon this as my narrative was about my protagonist over one night, which means that a change of costume would cause confusion in the narrative. A downfall of survey monkey however was that it did not gather a lot of feedback, I only had around 15 responses from a mixture of both male and female all in the age range of 16-25 and so felt I needed to undertake other methods of collecting audience feedback.

 

Another example of a way I collected audience feedback was through the use of group interviews. I was able to play my music video to my classmates and they gave me feedback verbally and in written format. I filmed this group session so I was able to relate back to it when changing aspects of my music video. I also asked people face to face what they thought of my products and then took down notes. Speaking to someone allowed me to collect rich qualitative date as my target audience were able to elaborate on their answers and reasoning’s. In terms of audience feedback for my ancillary tasks i.e. magazine advert and digipak, I did a one on one interview with a few people and asked them what they thought about my products. I received some positive and negative feedback. Before even beginning to create my digipak and magazine advert, I asked my class mates what they thought of a ‘purple and white’ house style. I showed them the pictures I was planning on using and what they thought of the saturation I had placed on the images. I received a positive response from my target audience and so felt that in using the purple and white house style and the images my ancillary products would impress the target audience, and give them what they wanted. Later on, I interviewed my target audience due to concerns with my second draft. My target audience stated that the back of my digipak needed some work i.e. adding more tracks and maybe another image. I agreed with this and so, when it came to making my third draft of my digipak I made the changes. In interviewing my target audience I was able to cater for what they wanted, thus making my ancillary tasks meet the needs of my target audience.

 

 

The most successful method of gaining audience feedback for me was talking to my target audience face to face, whether that is one on one or as a group. I felt that this method allowed me to ask productive questions to my audience and receive detailed and precise answers on what they wanted to see in my products. This was down to the fact they were able to elaborate on their answers and visually point out to me what they felt was a success and what needed to be changed. Even though publicizing my products with a survey on social networking sites was useful in collecting quantitative data, I felt that it wasn’t helpful in collecting qualitative date due to the fact my target audience gave brief answers. Also, due to the anonymity of the survey I was not able to ask the people what they ‘meant by this?’ This Meant that I was left with answers that I did not understand, meaning the feedback they gave was not helpful in improving my tasks, which was particularly a problem due to the fact I did not receive as many responses as I would of hoped for in the first place.

Overall, audience feedback has been a crucial process in producing my products. This is because it has allowed me to gain an insight into what my target audience (male and females aged 16-25) want in a drum and bass music video, magazine advert and also digipak.  This meant I was able to tailor and create my products to suit the needs of my audience.