The document discusses the target audience for music products related to the drum and bass genre. The primary target audience is identified as males and females aged 16-25 from socioeconomic classes BC1 and C2 who regularly attend clubs and festivals and listen to drum and bass music. Feedback was gathered from this audience through surveys on social media and interviews to better understand how to improve the products and ensure they appeal to the target demographic. Speaking to the audience directly provided the most useful feedback through qualitative answers.
1. Audience feedback wasa vital element of my
production process, as it allowed me findout 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.
2. 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
3. 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.
Ifeel 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,
4. 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
5. 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.
6. 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
7. 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 beena crucial process
in producing my products. This is because it has
8. 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.