A2 Media Studies

1. GeorginaGilbey
A2 Media Studies
THE IMPORTANCE OF AUDIENCE FEEDBACK IN MEDIA
INDUSTRIES
CASE STUDY 1 – MUSIC – HALLELUJAH MONEY BY GORILLAZ
(Link)
Hallelujah Money by Gorillaz (featuring
BenjaminClementine) isasongreleasedon
the 19th
January 2017. It sparkeda lot of
controversyandas the band’sfirstcomeback
insix years,fansseemedtoeitherlove itor
hate it. The commentsectiononYouTube
was particularlydivided:
The main argumentseemstobe that “true”fans of the band are accepting andthat the song waswell-
constructedart that communicatedthe political turmoilof Americaatthe time,while olderfanswere
expectinganothermainstreamcharts-toppersuchas Feel Good Inc.,arguablytheirmostwell-known
song. Conversely,othersarguedthatthe songwasn’tskilful orenjoyable,regardlessof itssubject
matter,and that the vocalsand instrumentalssimplyclashed. Discussionswere heatedonalmostevery
social mediaplatform,resultinginthe YouTube uploadbeingunlisted(itcanonlybe foundbyhavingthe
specificlink andwill notappearinsearchengines). Thisshowsthatespeciallyinthe musicindustry,
audience feedbackcanbe pivotal andseriouslyaffect the waya piece of mediaisperceived.

2. GeorginaGilbey
A2 Media Studies
CASE STUDY 2 – FILM – THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
Anotherexampleof the importance of audiencefeedbacktoensure the qualityof amediaproductis
how The Dark KnightRises teamreportedlyhadtomake anothercut of the filmafterthere were
multiple concernsraisedaboutnotbeingable tounderstandthe antagonistBane’svoiceduringatest
screening.Eventhen,the filmitself receivedverymixedreviews (andstill gotcommentsregardingnot
beingable tounderstandBane andevenBatman,as bothcharacters spoke undera mask),evidenton
the popularfilminformation&reviewsite IMDB(InternetMovie DataBase):
These tworeviewsare obviouslyverydifferentinopinion,asthe firstgives1/10 stars and the othera
full 10/10. Clearly,the qualityof the filmwashighlydebated,withsomecondemningitentirelyand
otherspraisingitsstoryand “huge production”. Nevertheless,itshowsthatlisteningtoyourtarget
audience andwhattheywantis imperativetoa film’ssuccess,andahighbudgetwon’tnecessarilykeep
it afloat(asevidencedbymanymainstreamfilmsthatmayhave grossedhighly,butreceive verylow
reviews).
Throughoutmyown trailerproductionItriedto seekfeedback inasimilarway toimprove onmy work,
and I am nowat a stage where the trailerisfinished,butIneedsome final feedbacktoexplore the
successesandlimitationsof myproducts(the magazine coverandposteras well asthe trailer).Todo
this,I will be conductingasurveyandsome more researchintomy targetaudience.