The focus group viewed and discussed three music videos: Arctic Monkeys' "I bet that you look good on the dance floor" featuring only live performance; Bastille's "Things we lost in the fire" containing only narrative; and OneRepublic's "Counting stars" with a mixture of both. Participants generally favored OneRepublic's video for its variety, but found its storylines difficult to follow at times. Bastille's video was praised for its atmosphere and themes, though some elements were deemed irrelevant. Arctic Monkeys' live-only video was straightforward but could have benefited from additional visual elements. Overall, the group agreed the best videos include both narrative and live performance.

1. MARKET RESEARCH
FOCUS GROUP VIDEO

2. The aim of this focus group was to gain the opinion of what three young
people thought of 3 different music videos. These were the videos they
viewed:
- Arctic Monkeys – I bet that you look good on the dance floor
This video contains only footage of a live performance.
- Bastille – Things we lost in the fire
This video contains only narrative.
- OneRepublic – Counting stars
This video contains a mixture of both live performance and narrative

3. ONEREPUBLIC – COUNTING STARS
• The participants liked how varied this video was. With three different storylines and
“comedic elements”, this video is definitely interesting. One participant liked how this
video also showed the artist actually performing the song, rather than just a narrative.
Our participants favoured the mixture of live performance and narrative.
• The variety of this video may also be viewed negatively, with participants not fully
understanding the message behind the video or what was going on. Some of the trivial
elements, like the crocodile, seemed irrelevant and all the different storylines may be
difficult to follow.

4. BASTILLE – THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE
• The participants liked the structure of the song, including the smooth transitions and the
way the cutting rate changes to the pace of the song. The song begins slowly and
tension builds with the music. The use of the lighting was commented on and how it was
used to create the correct atmosphere for the “dark themes” the band is portraying.
• As many of the Bastille videos are created so the viewer can create their own
interpretation of the song, some of the storylines are sometimes confusing and not fully
understood. One participant said that some parts of the video felt “irrelevant” and
another said the cutting rate could have been faster throughout the whole song. This
suggests that some viewers would prefer clarity within a music video to explain the
meaning behind the song.

5. ARCTIC MONKEYS – I BET THAT YOU LOOK
GOOD ON THE DANCE FLOOR
• The participants liked this live performance video as there was nothing irrelevant shown
in the video and simply showed the band performing the song in the way they want to.
One participant described the video as “straight to the point”. They told us the video had
a lot of personality and shows the bands ability to perform live.
• As this was just a live performance, there was not a lot to criticise about the video. The
participants did add that this could be viewed as a little bit boring, and could be made
more interesting with varying the video with a narrative. One participant said that their
were not many close up shots of the band members, and could’ve been made better
with a variety of more shots.

6. CONCLUSION
• 2/3 participants preferred Bastille’s music video, because they enjoyed the “abstract
ideas” and “dark themes” .
• One participant liked the Arctic Monkey’s video the most as it felt the most authentic, but
another participant claimed that the other two videos just felt more professional.
• One participant pointed out that the Arctic Monkey’s video shows the band as a whole,
whereas Bastille’s music video only really shows the singer and doesn’t represent the
band.
• Overall, the group agreed that a music video should include both narrative and footage
of the band performing, but too much live performance could be boring to watch.