Music Videos
What are the research techniques that would be used to find out about music videos?
Secondary and Quantitative research- Looking online at production budgets of past music videos by looking at available information on websites
One piece of information that is important to look at when planning a music video is the kinds of production budgets that there are for how much a music video costs these days. This would allow the producers of the music video to know what kinds of locations, effects, dancers, costumes and possibly stunts that they will be able to carry out and whether or not they will be able to re-shoot anything. This kind of information can be found online in different places. It essentially lets producers know what is and isn't viable when filming something. It can also be an indicator of the scale of a production. The first music video to cost over $1 million was Michael Jackson's Thriller as for the time it was technologically more advanced than previous videos and would've involved the use of heavy prosthetics and make up all of which weren't cheap. All of this would've been drawn up in a production budget.
Pros
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Allows you to plan ahead of time how the music video is going to made
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Allows you to know if something is viable as this will depend on the size of a budget that there is
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Give producers the ability to do things professionally as they can plan out each stage specifically and according to the budget
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Information is readily available as the information can be found online
Cons
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Just because a budget has been planned out and makes things seem viable in the pre-production stage, once production starts and gets further along things could change meaning more money might have to be spent or the producers might not be able to afford to do certain things
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Production might be more difficult than it looks on paper and therefore will be more expensive
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Information might be outdated or incorrect
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Depending on the source of the information it might not be reliable or valid information
Audience and Qualitative Research- Test screening a rough cut of the music to the people who green-lit the music video/fans of the artist
This could occur after the first edit of the music video has been made in order to find out how an actual audience will react to the video. It can mean changing things after the fact and going back and doing re-shoots in order to ensure the quality of the overall product is good and up to the expected standards of music videos. Typically this is done more often with Films and TV shows, we have seen how test screenings have affected films like Star Wars: Rogue One and Suicide Squad however it could be a useful method of collecting information regarding music videos in order to ensure it does the song and the artist justice.
Pros
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An audience is able to tell you if anything might need to be changed. By telling someone what they do/don't like about it, the producers will have a clear idea of what works and what doesn't.
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Rather than just assume what the audience wants, the producers get actual feedback
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It's beneficial for audiences due to the fact that they can actually give their opinion on things rather than have to keep their opinon to themselves. It means there are clearer channels of communication between the fans and the producers
Cons
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A test screening won't show the final product and therefore the feedback received isn't always valid especially if the producers know something has to be tweaked
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Just because one audience reacts one way, it doesn't mean all audiences might react the same way
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Sometimes audiences can be very divided in opinion over something, since a test screening is supposed to aid in helping the final product it can make it hard to come to a final conclusion of what course of action to take or how to solve any problems
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Depending on whether or not the audience are professionals or the public, this can divide opinion even further
Primary and Market Research- Focus groups with the fans of an artist that the music video is being made for
A focus group could be arranged with fans of the specific artist in order to discuss the music video is being made. This could be done to find out specifically what the fans would like to see out of a music video as well as discussing what things the fans would typically expect out of a video from that artist. This would help in giving the producers inspiration of what to include within the music video and it should contain a large demographic of people in to get a wide variety of ideas.
Pros
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A wider demographic allows for different kinds of representation to occur
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You can find out what it is that different demographics of people like
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Get a realistic idea of what the fans actually want instead of assuming what they want
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Speaking to the actual target audience rather than the general public means ideas are more focused and specific to them
Cons
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A small focus group might not be a large enough representation of the overall target audience
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Depending on where the focus group is finding people, not all demographics might always be covered. Likewise if an artist appeals to a specific minority or sex then it might be hard to find different people from different backgrounds.
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Likewise if the artist appeals to a large group of people this might make it harder to come to a conclusion about an idea
Secondary Research- Looking at legal information to find out what kind of things the music video can and cannot show as well as what kinds of things might affect age rating on the video. It would also be useful to look at laws like copyright as well as any legislation that might effect production.
This is very important to make sure the actual content of the music video that is being produced is suitable for the target audience and the intended places that the video is going to be shown. Information like this is usually available online and also record labels or whoever the video is being produced for will usually have their own set of rules as to what they can and can't allow to be shown. Some websites such as YouTube for example have specific terms and services that will influence the kind of content that is allowed to be shown. There are two useful places containing information about the kinds of things that can and cannot be shown in music videos. This gov.uk page outlines the measures it is taking towards protecting young, impressionable people from age inappropriate videos- https://www.gov.uk/government/news/action-to-protect-children-from-viewing-age-inappropriate-music-videos-online - As well as this the government are working with an organisation called BBFC (British board of film classification) who are a regulatory body that provide the age ratings for the UK- http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/online-music-videos -There are other laws regarding advertising and product placement that have to be adhered to and some research into this would have occur also. All of this ensures that the music video is suitable and won't get you into any legal trouble.
Pros
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Lets the producers know what kind of things they are and aren't allowed to show so that they can plan beforehand and ensure that what they are actually showing won't be banned or restricted from being shown
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Some rules or laws might have some kind of tax or a fine attached it. A budget might have to be adjusted accordingly and plan for this kind of thing
Cons
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Laws/Legislation is usually very generalised and won't always plan for specific situations that the video makers have in mind and therefore it might make the process of approving something a lot longer
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It might change the original plans that the producers of a video
Quantitative Analysis- Looking at the possible outlets for where the music video will be shown to see the audience sizes and possible projected return of investments (whether it be on places like the musicians website, music TV channels, on their YouTube page, vevo channel etc)
This will show the producers how worth it is to actually make the video because they will want their content to be seen as well as the musician. It will be useful to find out the website traffic for the musicians website as well as the subscriber counts on the respected YouTube channels that the video will be published on. This will be an indication of how well the video will do as well as it might be an indication of how many more people might buy a song or album because they have seen the music video. As well as this music videos can contain product placement meaning the more people who see a music video the more the artist will be paid for this. As well as this whenever a music video is shown on a TV channel the artist will earn royalties from this. It is important to look at the different outlets audience sizes as well as the potential return of investments in order to find out how worth it is to make the music video.
Pros
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Gives an idea of the best outlets to release the music video on
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Lets the videos producers know how worth it making the video is
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Gives the producers of the video an idea of whether or not their content is going to be seen
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Information is readily available online so it is easy to get an idea of how many people are going to see it
Cons
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Just because these are projected/potential views or return on investment doesn't actually mean that this is what they will actually be
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There could be issues with YouTube at the time of release meaning it is harder for people to see
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If there is an age rating on the music video it could limit the potential amount of people that see it and therefore limit the possible amount of money that could be made
