A2 Media ResearchQuestionnaire

Analysis Jack Humpherson

Introduction

In order to create a music video and digipak which audiences will enjoy the most, I must first understand what it is that audiences enjoy so I can emulate this and incorporate popular aspects into my own work. In order to do this I created a questionnaire which to give to people in and out of College. This questionnaire contained questions covering a range of topics including building a rough idea of the respondents’ identity, finding out what types of songs they enjoy, what their opinion of the music genre is and what they would like to see in music and one digipak.

I wanted to gather a large amount of results from a range of places so I used different mediums so that different audiences could be reached. One method I used was simply printed versions of the questions which could be given to people around the college such as students and staff. I also created an identical questionnaire on the website ‘Survey Monkey’. I then posted the URL link from this on various social media site where it could then be completed by a range of people separate from the college.

Question One - What gender are you? Please mark you answer.

The first question of the questionnaire asked the answerer their gender. This question was asked in order to gather a rough idea of what gender my music video and digipak should be targeted towards (if any) as different genders often want different themes and styles. The three options I gave were male, female and other (in order to remove any issue from only providing two genders).

For the most part, the answers were what I as expecting. I was expecting about an even number of male and female answerers; Eight people answered male, nine answered female and three answered other. The fact that three people answered ‘other’ was quite a surprise. For those who chose ‘other’ I will assume they have no preference with being any gender which does add difficulty when deciding how this affects my digipak/music video.

Since the male/female ratio was more or less even, I know that my music video and digipak will not need to appeal to a specific genre in order to be successful. From this information I will make sure that my final piece does not lean towards a certain gender or else half of the audience will not find it as likeable .

male40%

female45%

other15%

What gender are you?

Question TwoWhat age group are you in? Please mark your answer.

Question two asked the answerer what age group they are. In this way I could decide what age I should target my music video and digipak at since differently aged people enjoy different things. The age ranges were younger than 10, 11 to 13, 14 to 16, 17 to 19 and older than 20. I tried to make the age groups close together because it would give me a more accurate idea of the age ranges as oppose to larger ranges e.g. 10 to 20 years old.

The results I received were what I would have expected. As the results showed that 60% of people were within the age range of 17-29 making it the largest demographic. Bellow that were older than 20 with 30% of people and 11 - 15 and 14 – 15 both with 5% of answers. Bellow 10 years old a had no person answering. I expected these answers since most of my questionnaires were in a college but was surprised how many answered over 20. I will assume that these results came from outside of the college via the online survey.

From these results I can see that people aged seventeen to nineteen are my target audience meaning I will try to focus my digipak and music videos on a teenage demographic. I could do this by following more modern conventions and codes found of more recent media. However, since a significant portion of my audience is over 20, I may also want to incorporate some more classic conventions so my products still appeals to them such as colours with connotations of old like brown or more classic instruments

Younger than 1011 to 1314 to 1617 to 19Older than 20

Question ThreeWhat occupational class are you in? Please mark your answer.

The third question asked what occupational group the individual would consider themselves in. The options I gave were; A, B, C1, C2, D and E. This way I could use the results to work out my audiences occupational group and from here try to find their interests.

The results I got were not surprising. The results I gathered were that those in the E class are a majority with 75% whereas B and C1 are bellow with 10%, D with 5% and A and C2 with 0%. Since the results from the previous question showed that a majority of my audience is aged 17 to 19, it is not surprising that many of them fall in the E category because I can assume many are students.

From these results I will ensure my products are focused towards students so will need to involve topics more appealing to teenagers such as being a students or family matters.

B10%

C110% D

5%

E75%

What Occupational Class Are You?

Question FourWhich statement would you say you best identify with? Please mark your answer.Question four of the questionnaire was used to determine what type of person different people would say they were. To determine this I gave the individual seven different statements from which they must pick which best describes them. The statements were the following:

I’m a mainstreamer. I seek security and tend to be a conformistI’m an aspirer. I seek status and I am often materialistic and oriented to appearance.I’m a succeeded. I seek control and often have strong goals and am confident.I am resigned. I seek survival and am interested in the past and tradition.I am an explorer. I seek discovery and enjoy individualism, adventure and experience. I am a struggler. I seek escape and am alienated and disorganised. I am a reformer. I seek enlightenment and enjoy freedom from restrictions for personal growth.

The results showed that a majority of people identity themselves most with either a struggler or a mainstreamer. As 37% identified as a struggler and 26% identified as a mainstreamer. This was unexpected as I though less would choose struggler and more would choose mainstreamer. Particularly since most teenagers strive to fit in.

I will incorporate these results into my own pieces by trying to create a music video and digipak which use many familiar conventions in order to appeal to the mainstreamers but also more unique ideas in order to appeal to the strugglers.

mainstreamer26%

succeeder11%

resigned5%

explorer11%

struggler37%

reformer11%

What Statement Would You Identify With Most?

Question FiveHow would you rate metal as a music genre out of ten? (Ten highest, one lowest)

Since I am planning on creating a music video and digipak for a metal band I thought it would to good to get a grasp on the public’s opinion on the metal music genre. This way, if they do not like the genre, I can incorporate aspects of other music genre so my products still appeal. I did this by asking what they though of the genre out of ten.

From my results I found that my questionnaire's audience has a wide range of opinions on the metal music genre. Though using trend-lines we can see that the interest starts to peak around 8-6 not to mention that a majority of answerers rated the genre eight out of ten. This surprised me as I was expecting answers to be less diverse. I feel that I have limited my self however by not gauging the audiences opinions of other genres.

I will use these answers in my own project by taking heavy influence by other metal music videos since I know that it would appeal to a larger section of my audience. However, since the answers were so ranged, I will also try to incorporate aspects from other genre so that it still appeals to other audiences.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

0

2

1

2

2

3

3

4

1

2

What would you rate the music genre out of 10?

answers Polynomial (answers)

Question Six ‘A’Name three of your favourite songs, please give band name.The sixth question of my questionnaire was used to find out what song the audience liked. This way I can see what style of music, conventions and general tends are enjoyed by the audience. The question asked the audience to name three of their favourite songs.

Following the previous question, I was not surprised by the general tastes in music people gave as they corresponded to the ratio of people who enjoyed Metal. A majority of people named metal songs by bands such as Avenged Sevenfold and My Chemical Romance. Though some did pick other genres of songs by artists such as Nirvana and Bon Jovi.

Since I am creating a metal genre of digipak and music video, I can watch music video and research digipak by the metal bands named as this will give me inspiration behind what metal fans want from the products.

Question Six ‘B’Why do you like this song?

The second part to question six asked the answerer why they enjoy these songs. I asked this question so that maybe I could incorporate what made them enjoy the band’s into my own music video and digipak.

There was a range in answers to why they enjoyed these songs. Some of the most reoccurring answers were because the songs had a catchy beat, escapism and that they enjoyed the lyrics. This didn’t surprise me since these are the type of answers I’d expect when asked why do you enjoy a song.

In my own products, I can try to incorporate this into my pieces by emulating some of their favourite songs. I can also use the answer of ‘I enjoy the lyrics’ by providing a lyric book inside the Digipak.

Question Seven ‘A’What would you like to see in a music video?

The seventh question asks what the audience would want to see in a music video since I thought it was the easiest way to get an idea of what would be most effective in my final music video. I left the question open I believed it would allow the answerer to give a range of answers.

Common answers to the question were not much of a surprise as I felt they were predictable, however this may be useful as it means it could be easy to act upon. The reoccurring answers I got for question seven were that audiences enjoy seeing a performance, the people from the band itself and that audiences also enjoy a narrative in their music video.

I believe that these aspect could be easy to act upon because it means that I need to create a narrative genre music video by adding some form of story within the video but I must also include aspect of a performance style genre such footage of someone playing instruments.

Question Seven ‘B’Why would you like to see this?

The second part two question seven asked why they would like to see their answer to part A in a music video. This way I might be able to understand why someone would enjoy seeing this and try to incorporate it in my own music video so it can be enjoyed by a larger audience.

The responses I received were pretty much what I expected as I felt the responses were generic but I also believe that they will be easy to act upon. The most commonly reoccurring answer was that people enjoyed a performance in their music video because they enjoyed seeing their favorited musician. Another common answer was that people enjoyed narratives in music video because they felt that music video stories were interesting.

I can incorporate this into my own music video by creating a narrative in my music video which would appeal to people aged 17 to 19 since that is my target age range. I will also need to include sections of performance in order to appeal to those who enjoy seeing performances.

Question Eight ‘A’What would you like to see inside a digipak?

Question eight of my digipak asked the answerers what people would enjoy seeing inside of a digipak. This way I can incorporate their answers in my own final piece. I believe this will make my own digipak more appealing and professional seeming.

A recurring answer for this question was that people would really like to see a lyric booklet or at least some form of printed song lyrics. Another common answer is people like to have exclusives for deals on websites, merchandise or upcoming events. I expected this sort of answer because people will enjoy free deals but also because those are the types of insert find in conventional digipaks.

Using these results I now know that my target audience would enjoy inserts inside of their digipaks. I will add offers and lyric booklets into my own digipak since they are named inserts that my answers gave as examples.

Question Eight ‘B’Why would you like to see this?

The second part to question eight asked answer why they would want to see their previous answer in a digipak. This way I can focus my own digipak’s features on also creating this opinion so that when I create my final product, it will appeal to a larger audience.

I believe that my answers for this question we not very useful as I don’t think they gave me any more information that I could use I my own digipak. The main reason that people gave for enjoying insets in their digipaks were answers along the lines of ‘I like free things’ and ‘I like the song lyrics’ . I can’t see this helping me any more than just emphasising that people enjoy inserts in their digipaks.

As mentioned before I will use this question by inserting offers to merchandise and upcoming events and a lyric booklet. This way the audience will be able to read the lyrics to the songs as well as have their ‘free things’ from the promotions.

Question Nine ‘A’What would you like to see on the casing of a digipak?

Question nine on my questionnaire what they would to see o the casing of a digipak, unlike the last question which asked for what’s inside a digipak. This question will hopeful help me in gathering inspiration as to what to put on the packaging for my digipak.

I believe that the answers I received for this are very useful as many of the aspects that the audience wanted I believe will be easily achievable. Many of the answers given were that people enjoy seeing images of the band who made the album. Another popular answer was that people would enjoy seeing the tracks which are included on the CD. One answer was that they wanted interesting concepts. I’d say this was an anomaly since very few people put it but I’d say that it is a valid answer which I will try to include in my own piece.

I will use these answers in my own piece by trying to incorporate the enjoyed aspects in y own digipak design. I can include images of the band as well as a track list. I can incorporate the ‘interesting concept’ answers by designing the image of the musician surrounded by interesting visuals.

Question Nine ‘B’Why would you like to see this?

The second part to question nine asks why they would enjoy seeing their previous answer on the casing of a digipak. This way I might be able to understand why someone would enjoy seeing this and try to incorporate it in my own digipak design.

The most common answer for this question was that people liked the way that the image of the band informs them about the band and that the track list informs them about the CD they have purchased. I didn't expect these results. I expected more of my answers to say because they enjoyed images of the band but there was only one of that answer making it an anomaly.

From these results I will say that my audience wants their digipaks to be informative on the cover whether this be informative about the band or the music being sold. I will incorporate this by putting lots of information on my digipak. This information could even be information about the musician's history.

Question TenWhat colours would you most associate with the metal genre?

Question ten was another closed question which asked the answerer what colour or colours they would most associate with the metal genre. The answerer were able to mark more than one colour though were not required to. From these answers I was hoping to be able to get an idea of what colour to use in my music video and digipak.

I believe that the results from the questionnaire on this question are clear. Most people strongly believe that the colours black, grey and red all have connotations the metal genres. From the chart, I think it’s fair to say that the few who put blue and yellow can be classed as anomalies.

I will use these results in my final pieces by trying to incorporate these three colours in my digipaks and music videos. The red may be useful since I am planning to create a nihilist music video so the red can be used in blood as blood can be considered shocking. I must also keep the colours consistent in order to have a clear house style running across all three products.

Black

Grey

Red

Green

Yellow

Blue

Other

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

What colour do you most associate with the metal genre?

Tally

Question ElevenCan you name two metal music videos?

Question eleven whether they can name two metal music videos. This way I can view popular music videos and use them as inspiration as my own to see if I can mimic its success.

I felt that my answers to this were some of the less useful as many people did not even answer. Unhelpful answer aside, some of the completed answer did provide useful sources of inspiration. The two most quoted music videos were from the bands Avenged Sevenfold and The Used. A common factor between these two music videos is the use of performances. I will incorporate this into my own in order to emulate their style.

From this information I will watch the videos and in my own try to emulate their style including dark colour scheme and unsettling and shocking theme. From this, my music video should seem like a professional music video as well as containing many of the codes and conventions found in music videos.

Question Twelve Is there any digipaks for albums you can name?

The final question asked the individual if they could name any digipaks. I asked this question in order to get a similar reason as the previous question. I can find popular examples and use them as inspiration in the creation of my own digipaks.

The answers were not as I expected since very few people wrote an answer. A recurring digipaks which were mentioned however were digipaks by ACDC and All time Low.

From these results I will try to emulate the digipak’s dark colour scheme as well as some of the darker themes of some of the digipaks.

Conclusion

In conclusion to this questionnaire analysis. My target audience is aged 17 to 19, has an equal portion of men and women, is mostly students, enjoys unique music product but also enjoys convention, and is quite a fan of the metal music genre.

This target audience enjoys many popular metal music artists such as The Used and Avenged Sevenfold, Enjoys seeing their favorited artists perform in the video as well as on the digipak cover but also enjoys narrative in their music videos. Also on the cover of the music video the audience would like to see the colours black, red and grey. Inside the digipak my target audience wants to see inserts such as offers and lyric booklets.

male40%

female45%

other15%

What gender are you?

Younger than 1011 to 1314 to 1617 to 19Older than 20

B10% C1

10%D

5%

E75%

What Occupational Class Are You?

mainstreamer26%

succeeder11%

resigned5%explorer

11%

struggler37%

reformer11%

What Statement Would You Identify With Most?

13579

02

122

33

41

2

What would you rate the music genre out of 10?

answers Polynomial (answers)

Black

Grey

Red

Green

Yellow

Blue

Other

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

What colour do you most associate with the metal genre?

Tally