Survey

In Media we made a survey about what people would like and expect to see in a 'Soft Rock' music video. We did this by signing up to http://www.surveymonkey.com/ and creating our very own 10 questioned survey. Since we could only do a 10 questioned survey (unless we upgraded) we decided not to include the questions, are you a 'male or female' or age group options. However, what we needed to find out was what our audience as a whole wanted and expected in a music video and whether they listened to soft rock or hard rock more. But we did make sure that we sent it only to people who are 16 plus and are both male and female. Our survey can be seen from here http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/M6LLRKW

From our findings we found out that people expected to see abandoned streets, dark and wild customes in a soft rock music video. They werent to keen on whether the actors looked their age however, did say they would expect to see both the actor and artist in the music video. Also, they preferred the music video to have a storyline and a hidden meaning. When asked about what they were more likely to watch and listen to they picked options that reflected on soft rock.

Therefore, taking this into account we can either take their opinion on how a soft rock video should look like or go the opposite way and change certain bits. If we decided to take their opinion on how it should look like it could be boring as it's what they would expect to see. However, if we decide to change certain things then it might keep them more interested in watching the video as it's something they do not expect to see.

Copyright letter

Target Audience Profile

What music they listen to?
They would most probably listen to rock, pop, heavy mental, indie when it comes down to favourite music genres. These genres would most be appealing to them because of the lyrics - it might relate to them in some kind of way or maybe simply the loud noises. Their favourite artist could be The Pretty Reckless, whose music is mostly about life challenges and emotions but also has loud instruments. For example, their song 'Just Tonight' could be seen as a girl who is in a bad relationship which can relate to many young teenage or even adults.
The Pretty Reckless - Just Tonight

What they do at weekends?
During the weekends when they have free leisure time, they like to play instruments, for example their guitars. They mostly do this for about 1 hour or more with friends at a friends house. Also, they like to go to a skate park and hang out with friends or skate board - learning new skills and showing off the old. And if there are bands playing at a local pub they are most likely to go and check out the music and hang out with friends as they enjoy a drink or two.

What breakfast cereal they would choose? 
Their favourite cereal is Crunchy Nuts.

What mode of transport?
If they arent in a hurry they will normally travel by skateboards and bicycles as it is their favourite form of transport. However, if they are needing to get somewhere on time they will take a bus or train.

Where/how they live? 
They live in the borough of Camden, Noth London in a 3 bedroom flat they share with their mum and younger sister. Both their bedrooms consist of black with a hint of white wall painting, posters of favourite artists and a single bed. She also has a dog named Maddie.

Their favourite drink?
Their favourite drink are WKD and Redbull.

Their favourite TV shows?
Their favourite TV shows are Jackass and Family Guy. They find the too shows extremely funny, really cool and exciting and believe everyone should watch it.

Their favourite vegetables? 
Their favourite vegetables to eat are spinach, sweetcorn and brussel sprouts since their mother always tells them it's good for them.

What sport they watch/play?
They don't watch a lot of sports but their favourite sport to watch is Tennis. They believe Rafael Nadal is an amazing tennis player. And they also like a bit of badminton.

Who would be their ideal partner? 
They have a huge crush on Synyster Gates. They think he's a brilliant guitar player and are a fan of his tattoos.

Where they go on holiday?
They do not go on holiday a lot unless it's to see family who live in Germany.

What resturants they go to? 
They aren't big fans of restaurants but the last restaurant they went to was TGI for a friends get together.

What political party they would vote for?

They are not interested in politics in the slightest.

Music Video Survey

For Media I have been asked to create a survery for my music video. My target group are those who are 16 and over. By doing this survery, it will help me to understand what my target group want and expect to see in a music video and will ensure that I satisfy your needs.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/M6LLRKW

Copyright

Johnathan Coulton a singer song writer based in Brooklyn refers to his music as an experiment in new ways in which content will be distrubuted and disseminated as a result of the internet. In his own words is that, ‘I give away music because I want to make music, and I can’t make music unless I make money, and I won’t make any money unless I get heard, and I won’t get heard unless I give away music.' Jonathan Coulton has all of his music available to stream to stream on his website, as well as many of the songs available for free download. Customers are then able to buy the song and can also make donations via paypal or amazon. Jonathan says that some of his songs have been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times, 45% of his income in 2007 was from paid digital downloads. He believes that most of his success is because he was able to give away free music and allowing his music to be used in music videos made by fans and posted on Youtube which some has recieved high views. Fans have also created cover versions of his songs, artwork, dances, plays, card games and even guitar instructional videos. This has enabled him to getting free publicity, Coulton believes.

This case study's argument is for music copyrights as it shows that giving music out for free helps spreads the word faster and gets the artist more noticed. It shows that by giving free money doesn't always results in poor outcomes instead more profit is made if music is given alway as it will ensure that his voice will be heard. Many may argue that this means artists could lose out in a lot of profit if music is given out for free, however this case study shows that making more profit can also be the case as it shows that his music has also been downloaded many times. Having given out his free music this has enabled fans to create music videos, cover versions, artworks and many more which has helped in getting his music out there more, ensuring a bigger audience.

I also agree with this method and think that it is a clever and better way of getting music out to fans. By having his music out there for free encourages more people to listen to it which gets him out there. It also helps as fans can then use his music to create music videos, cover versions and so on. Therefore, giving him a worldwide audience which then can lead to more profit as people from different places/county download his song. However, I do believe there is negative side to this. That being he could lose out on profit since he is giving his music out for free which might prevent people from buying it. But as proven by Coulton, free music could also be seen as positive.

Here is evidence of how worldwide he has gotten (the views) by giving out his music for free:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxNmeMklFk8

Influential Music Videos

1. Michael Jackson - Ghost                                         

I believe this music video will influence a change in the way horror music videos are made. In previous music videos such as Michael Jackson - Thriller and Backstreet Boys - Everybody, both have a similar beginning to Michael Jackson - Ghost - where there is a short introduction of the characters before the music begins. Throughout this music video we see the same conventions we see in all three videos such as, scary costumes and dance routines. Both Thriller and Everybody introduced the artist(s) scary side by different shot types however, in Ghost, the director decided to show the audience the transformation of Michael Jackson, from being a normal human being into his scary character. Thanks to technology being enhanced this created  a better effect on getting the audience scared and making it more enjoyable. In the video we can see Michael pulling his bottom lip, ripping off his skin, turning into a skeleton, and a tall giant. The dance routines are more enjoyable as we watch people doing back flips off walls, going through pilers, and walking on walls - rather than seeing them all in one place doing the same dance routine. Overall this music video is unique and the skills used to make this will influence others to follow the same directions.

2. Michael Jackson - Speed Demon
This music video is also influencial as there is animation included. Rather than the whole music video being animated or realistic it has both aspects it in. We see humans mixing with animated characters which I believe was not seen a lot before this music video was released. The use of the director doing this instead of one or the other was to make it more fun, entertaining and unique - something that people will stop to watch as it is different from others. Even though we don't see Michael transforming into his animated character we still understand that he has and at the end we then see human Michael with animated Michael, which I believe is amazing. Overall this music videos use of a unique way of using animation has influenced over music videos to do the same.

3. Pink - Family Portrait

I believe family portrait is influential because the way the story is told through the music video is creative and different. Instead of seeing the basics of the artist singing the words to their song as the story plays out, the director of family portrait decided to put the artist Pink in the background instead of being the main focus. I believe this was an intelligent thing to do as it sends a deeper message out to the viewers. As some people normally believe that young children hardly understand what goes around them in a violent or dysfunctional household, or even feel hurt, upset or angry, this music videos reveals to us that children do understand and are even more upset by it than adults. Therefore, by having the young girl being the main focus and singing the words helps put the message across.

4. Lady Gaga - You And I
You&I is an influential music video because instead of following the typical conventions of what you would see in a song about love, it's more creative and interesting. The video doesn't have one scene of where we see the love between two people, instead there is a use of multiple clever scenes to reveal this. Even though there are different scenes and costumes used it all reflects on the lyrics.

5. Christina Aguilera - Oh Mother
This music video will inspire artist who decide to have a music video where they are singing at a live performance to add some sort of footage in their music video to make it more entertaining and engaging, especially when it comes to an emotional song - this helps the viewers to become more attached and empathize. For example, Adele's Someone Like You could be seen as a boring music video since it is just her  singing on a stage which lacks any sort of entertainment and leaves it down to the lyrics to tell the story. However, in Oh Mother, the director decided to use background footage which corresponds with the lyrics to give viewers a better understanding and makes it more interesting.