Music Video Questionnaire Analysis

Rianne Addo

My Music Video Questionnaire

In order to gain more information on music videos, my group and I decided to conduct a questionnaire based on music videos. This questionnaire was sent electronically to 10 people aged 16-20. The results from the questionnaire not only allowed me to achieve a greater understanding of the interests of the target audience, but also aided me in knowing what was suitable for a music video targeted at this audience.

1. What is your gender?

Male 4 40%

Female 6 60%

This shows that 6/10 females completed the questionnaire and 4/10 males completed the questionnaire. Although more females completed the questionnaire, the difference between the genders is not great, therefore analysis of information received from this questionnaire can be based on both genders.

2. What is your age?16-20 9 100%

21-25 0 0%

26-30 0 0%

31+ 0 0%

Although 10 people completed the questionnaire, one participant did not want to reveal their age. Nonetheless, the majority of the participants fell into the aged 16-20 category. This allows generalisation between results and patterns found with this age range, and to focus on this category as my target audience.

3. What is your occupation?

Student (Sixth Form) 8 89%

Student (College) 1 11%

Student (University) 0 0%

Working (Part-Time) 0 0%

Working (Full-Time) 0 0%

Other 0 0%

These results show that 9 participants are students, and one participant did not want to reveal their occupation. Again, as the vast majority of participants are students, I can generalise the results to students who are aged 16-20. As I am a student aged 16-20, I may be able to relate to the participants interests and taste in music, making the production of the music video relatively easier as opposed to producing a music video in which I am totally unaware of their interests. Arguably, this allows the music video to have more scope, as I am able to manipulate with features of a music video, with still adhering to the target audience’s preferences.

4. What is/are your favourite genres?Hip-Hop 8 22%

R&B 8 22%

Pop 1 3%

Rock 2 5%

Grime 1 3%

Dubstep 1 3%

Reggae 3 8%

Acoustic 2 5%

Jazz 3 8%

Soul 2 5%

Rap 3 8%

Heavy-Metal 0 0%

Classical 1 3%

Other 2 5%

Out of all 10 participants, 22% of individuals liked Hip-Hop and another 22% of people favoured R&B. From these results, I can conclude that students of ages 16-20 consider Hip-Hop and R&B as their preferred genres. In contemporary music, Hip-Hop and R&B crossover a lot, so again this allows me to branch out of the stereotypical Hip-Hop genre and also include some conventions of R&B without subverting the interests of my target audience and without allowing the R&B conventions to outweigh the Hip-Hop conventions. In addition to this, as my song for the music video carries a few Jazz and Soul vibes, the results reassure that my target audience will still listen to the song, as 8% like Jazz and 5% like soul, showing that although it is not the most favourite genre amongst my target audience, it is still relevant to my target audience.

5. Do you watch music videos?

These results show that the vast majority of my target audience watch music, whereas only 10% don’t watch music videos. This adheres to the dominant representation associated with students aged 16-20, whereby they are social, as music videos provides them with a topic of conversation with their friends and peers e.g. “Have you watched Eminem’s new music video, it’s really cool”. This also reassures the extent to which I can be adventurous but still adhere to the conventions of a music video, as nearly all my participants watch music videos- showing that it is a popular activity amongst my target audience.

Yes 9 90%

No 1 10%

6. How often do you watch music videos?

Every day 2 20%

Few times a week 3 30%

Once a week 1 10%

Once a month 4 40%

Never 0 0%

Other 0 0%

The majority of my target audience watch music videos quite frequently, as the ‘once a month’ category is the most popular with 40% of participants falling into this category. This is shortly followed by the ‘few times a week’ category at 30%. This suggests that music videos contribute to the lives of students aged 16-20, as they watch music videos almost religiously.

7. How do you watch music videos?On the internet

9 90%

On TV 0 0%

Other 1 10%

90% of my target audience who were questioned watch music videos on the internet, whereas 1 participant from my target audience who was questioned watches it on the internet and on TV. This shows that my target audience are parallel to the advancements of technology, whereby music videos on the internet are easily assessable, as opposed to waiting for it to come on the television. This allows me to notice that my target audience like the internet, implying that they are advanced technologically wise, therefore this aspect of them may be able to be incorporated in the music video.

8. Do music videos play a vital role in your experience/pleasure of the

song?

Yes 5 50%

No 5 50%

9. Why? ^

•“If a song's good, a song's good. A video can help to tell a story but that's it.”•“The lyrics mean more than the video.”•“because I can understand what the artists lyrics mean without a video”•“The song is about how it sounds”

What the participants said on reasons why music videos don’t play vital role:

What the participants said on reasons why music videos do play a vital role:

•“You're able to understand what the song means to the artist. You also get a better illustration of the song.”•“Its lets me as the audience to understand what message the artist is trying to send.”•“depends on whether I like it or not”•“sometimes they give a good insight into the background of the song i.e. The meaning of the lyrics or what they were inspired by.”•“Because you will associate the music with the visuals and if the visuals are sub standard then it may affect your perception of the song.”

The results were even (50% each) as 5 people said that music videos play a vital in their experience/pleasure of the song, whereas 5 individuals said that music videos don’t play a vital role in their experience/pleasure of the song. Reasons for why people think music videos play a vital role were that it helps with the illustration of the song, the message of the song, and allows us to associate the music with the visuals. These results allow me to make the narrative of the music video impactful as this mode of a music video appears to be very appealing to the individuals who think that music videos play a vital role to the song. Reasons for why people think that music videos don’t play a vital role were that the lyrics and sound mean more than the video. This suggests that this part of my target audience need more than just an ordinary narrative to help the music video play a vital role to their experience of the song. This can be achieved by making the lyrics meaningful through the narrative and performance modes of the music video.

10. What do you expect to see in a music video?

Descriptions of what my participants would expect to see in a music video

“a story, something original and different”

“Something that fits the song.”“I like music videos with some form of a story line, I also like music videos where the artist is performing to masses of crowds, filmed and used for the music video.”

“The artist dancing or singing with things in the background that relate to the song.”

“Nothing in particular, the visuals have to be captivating and maybe original.”

“something that make sense with the music and something interesting..”

“A narrative/story”

“The artist in a narrative or a images that are somehow relevant to the topic/lyrics of the song”

“A storyline that makes sense but is out of the ordinary or a storyline that the audience can relate to and will help them understand the meaning of the song.”

“I expect to see a story and/or a performance from the artist.”

- The main trend with these descriptions is that the music videos need a narrative/story. This allows me to take this into consideration and incorporate a narrative into the music video, perhaps being the main mode of my music video. Other trends seen with most descriptions is that music videos need to be unique and relevant to the lyrics of the song. This adheres to the conventions of a music video, whereby audiences want to see something that makes sense and something that will set the difference between one music video to another. This ensures that I follow the regular conventions of a music video, and therefore allowing me to manipulate the narrative and performance parts of my music video(where something unique can be incorporated).

11. What do you expect to see in a hip-hop music video?

- All of these descriptions adhere to the conventions of hip-hop music videos, whereby the main conventions are luxurious items, girls being objectified, and dancing. As I am limited to the items I can use for my music video, I may have to compromise in order to adhere to the Hip-Hop genre, as my song is of the Hip-Hop genre. One participant said that they need to see aspects of real life, therefore a sense of empathy being displayed in my music video may also be fitting to the genre.

“a proper hard music video.. gangsta one or like a fun one/ Rap”

“DANCING!!!”“The artist performing his/her/their song.”

“Females prancing around males.”

“Expensive cars, rappers, dancing women, a party scene”“The rappers wearing gold chains or expensive clothes with expensive cars (sometimes). The females who are in the video are dressed inappropriately (sometimes). Or just a performance from the rapper.”

“If it's a good video then I don't expect to see no hoes, boasting about money etc unless it's helping to set the scene or isn't serious or something. I expect to see some real life stuff”

“Dancing”

“hoes. big booties. sagging pants. juju. guns. rappers leaning on cars they can't afford. objectified women. city landscape. money cars girls etc..”

Descriptions of what my participants would expect to see in a hip-hop music video

12. What is your favourite music video and why?

“Tyler, The Creator - She (ft Frank Ocean) - There was a narrative that suited the story of the song. Furthermore the visuals represented the essence of the

characters (e.g. when TTC is riding his bike and the movement of the camera is chaotic) The story within a story element was also appealing.” – This shows that a narrative mode of a music video is also very important, and as this was seen as a convention of a music video, it allows me to manipulate my narrative, in order to

make the music video unique.

“50 cent (in da club and 21 questions.) it got more pain init and a hard story..”- ‘Hard’ is a colloquial term for good, which means that this

participants take narrative into consideration when watching a music video. As this is what the participant looks out for, I believe that I should make the narrative unique, as it sets the music video apart

from others.

“Mirror by Justin Timberlake. I enjoyed the story he illustrated in the music video.”- This shows that a narrative mode of a

music video is also very important, and as this was seen as a convention of a music video, it allows me to manipulate my

narrative, in order to make the music video unique.

”french montana only if for a night because I like the way how they mixed two shots at once and I like the colours”- It is obvious that this participant takes technical elements of a music video into consideration, therefore parts of the technical elements my music video can be handled in which the audiences response will be surprised as a opposed to confused.

“Kanye West - Power as it breaks convention and just reminds me of a moving painting, the use of heavy religious imagery is not typical in the genre of music videos thus making it stand-out”-

This participant likes aspects of the video that sets it apart from others. This shows that an unique element is necessary in the

production and planning of a music video, which can be manipulated in the conceptual mode of a music video.

“Maverick sabre- I need. It's a unique music video because it doesn't seem as edited as other music videos and has fewer special effects.” -This participant likes aspects of the video that sets it apart from others. This shows that an unique element is necessary in the production and planning of a music video, which can be manipulated in the conceptual

mode of a music video.

“Avicii - Wake me Up It's out of the ordinary but it's something I could personally relate to and it matches the lyrics”- This participant likes seeing some sort of empathy in the video, which can be incorporated in the narrative of my music video.

“Right now, I'd say J Cole-Crooked Smile, because I really like him as an artist, the song's amazing and the video helps to tell his story.”- This allows me to manipulate the narrative aspect of the video, as a trend amongst the participants answers is that a narrative is the most important aspect in a music video. As the video I am constructing is from the artist’s first album, this participant makes it clear that there should be a relationship between the artist and the viewer, which can be incorporated by making the artist reveal his personality through Mise-en-scene

and lyrics.

What participants said

“There are many but if I had to pick one then Arctic Monkeys - R U Mine? because although it looks

slightly amateur I like the use of the camera.”- It is obvious that this participant takes technical

elements of a music video into consideration, therefore parts of the technical elements my music

video can be handled in which the audiences response will be surprised as a opposed to

confused.

”Rihanna- Man Down - has an interesting story”- This allows me to manipulate the narrative aspect of the video, as a

trend amongst the participants answers is that a narrative is the most important aspect in a music video.