This document discusses using YouTube to research secondary audiences for music. It analyzes subscriber counts, view counts, likes, and comments on videos by Vance Joy and Lana Del Rey to understand how different audiences engage with different types of indie music. Comments show fans connecting over shared interpretations of themes and relating personally to the artists. Official websites and fan sites further allow connection between artists and fans.

1. SECONDARY AUDIENCE
RESEARCH
By Oliwia

3. One of the places I went to
as part of my secondary
audience research was
Youtube. The reason for
this is because it’s a really
easy way to find out about
the relationship people
have with music/ music
videos by looking at the
amount of subscribers,
likes and comments the
artist/music video has.
18,945 are currently subscribing
to the official Vance Joy Youtube
Channel, for a recently upcoming
indie artist that’s quite a large
number- suggests that this type
of music is favoured by quite a
large number of people The video already has 934,077
previews- maybe not as many
as Miley Cyrus or other
mainstream artists but this
suggests that it is one that’s
watched quite often/ by the
majority
The amount of likes the video has got
also suggests the positive reaction
people had to the music/the music
video. This piece of data suggests that
most of the people that have seen it,
have enjoyed listening to the music/
watching the music video- with only 82
dislikes in contrast to 6,290 likes

4. This gives us
an idea of
what type of
audience the
music/ video
might attract.
Youtube
comments
are hence
useful, as
they inform
us
producers/dir
ectors on
how other
audiences
can be
attracted-especially
if
there are
similarities of
form and
content; this
is shown in
the comment
below, where
the song is
compared to
Ed Sheerans
music
The opinion of ‘Lauren Sabino’ is challenged
by the user below. Instead of agreeing, the
opinion is challenged and the music is
compared to ‘The Lumineers’- attracting yet
another fan-base and broadening the
amount of people that will listen to the
music/ watch the music video. Furthermore
Youtube commentary, allows people to
connect by either agreeing or disagreeing
with each other- this is supported by the
reply button as well as the ‘thumbs up’ and
‘thumbs down’
The amount of people that view this
music video is again broadened by
having other medias incorparate it into
their own. With the help of Youtube
comment; such as the one offered by ‘
KINGS KROSS KTK’ we discover that
his way of finding out about this
genre/ type of music is through games
such as ‘FIFA 15’- played by many
boys as well as some men- another
way of consuming indie music
This shows that indie music can be used in main stream media such
as popular games, available on devices such as PS3 and Xbox etc-suggests
it’s not only consumed by going to ‘small gigs’

5. Youtube also allows fans to express the way they’re feeling about the
video and share their feelings as well as interpretations. A good example
is shown by account user ‘MyFairDiva’ where she has decided to express
her interpretation of the music video and seed potential
interpretations/ideas into other peoples minds- once again a way of
connecting. By having such a deep understanding/ emotional attachment
to the music and its video, we can see what a great impact the artist has
on the way the fan thinks and interprets life. The issues covered by the
video (which are briefly highlighted by the girl) suggest a shared opinion
(by the artist as well as fans) on certain matters such ‘abuse’ . The
artist’s use of the ‘polar bear’ is also appreciated as it has ‘softened’ the
‘uncomfortable realities’- showing that what goes into the video, reflects
to some extent, the personality of the artist that will be absorbed by the
fans. The content of the video is chosen well, considering the sensitivity
of the audiences.

7. Many artists, major as well as niche ones, have official websites that allow
the fans to be that one step closer to the star/stars. The website allows the
fan base to have this more intimate relationship with the performer and
keep them constantly updated.
On the Vance Joy official website, there's many ways to
connect and share through the use of other medias;
such as Twitter, Instagram etc- distributing
products/news and broadening the awareness of others
about this artist
The site is a combination of all the other social medias- eg instagram, twitter, youtube etc. it includes
exclusive photos, videos and even keeps us up to date with the news and tour dates
There's even a store button, where any merchandise or in this case
music/album can be bought. This gives it this authentic feel as it’s as if the
product is being sold directly from the artist! This website is a good
alternative for those that don’t have/ don’t like buying from iTunes or those
that would like to be that one step closer to the artists and support them, by
buying their merchandise.

8. After the store button is
clicked, we are directly sent
to the ‘Amazon’ page where
the artist’s album is
displayed. This also allows
us to see what type of
relationship there is between
the audience and the music.
The reviews below display
what type of people listen to
Vance Joy and what they
think about the product-released
album.
Amazon reviews let
people express their
opinions, criticisms and
state their preference;
including matters about
tracks/collaborations,
which is good feedback
for the artist as to how
to improve his music

10. Similarly to official sites, fan pages such as the one below ‘fanpop’
can be created by dedicated fans for fans. These type of sites, allow
fans to come together and share their passion- not only indirectly
connecting with the artist but also with their fellow peers

11. Fan Site Polls
On this specific fan site, polls were created on matters that involve
the artist. The photo above shows some of the questions asked with
percentages of the answers. It gives us a slight idea of what people
prefer when it comes to song choice and image.

14. In comparison to Vance Joy, Lana has a
enormous number of subscribers- her ‘Video
Games’ video has made her extremely
famous and from being a niche artist she
became quite viral- with 2,735,099
subscribing to her channel suggesting her
great fan base
Once again the video has many views,
hitting a decent 69,394,151 views-suggesting
the videos popularity
With a dominating
310,780 likes against the
11,099 dislikes, this data
suggests that a majority
enjoyed this video- liked
this type of ‘Tumblr like’/
DIY video- suggests that
her fans look more at the
music and the effort put
into the production rather
than the fancy, expensive
videos with complex
ideas/editing

15. This suggests that Lana's fans are very much about the music and what goes in it- a
opinion shared by many indie music listeners. This fan has a firm belief of how indie
music should sound like and based on this comment it seems Lana Del Rey appropriately
fits this set of beliefs of what is expected from this type of music.
The lyrics as well as the video clearly matter to the fans as they can
relate to them – this strengthens the bond between the audience and
musician.
This agrees with John Stewart’s theory that a music video is made to
emphasize an aspirational lifestyle for the audience – something they
can work towards.

16. The fan feels connected to the artist on a personal level as if the
relationship extends beyond a musician-fan one.
The music is believed to be reaching out to wider audiences, as some
believe that it can relate to different groups in society.
In this sense the audience feels like they can be supported through the
music