Evaluation Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Feedback is important to artists to ensure that they bring out the right media products that will help sell their music. If someone likes a music video, or takes interest in a magazine ad, or digipak, they be more inclined to buy the product than if they just heard the music. If artists, or their team, were to ignore feedback, they may not sell as well because they would not be selling something that intrigues people and makes them want to buy it.

Target Audience

We decided our target audience for our media products was from the ages of 14 – 30, and so we tried to get as much feedback from this age group as we could. We got two respondents from this age group, one being the artist of the song and one being an 18 year old female. We also decided to get feedback from people of other ages, to compare and contrast and to see if we picked the right target audience age range. These two respondents were aged 62 and 63, and so were about 30 years out of our age range, and we have learned that this age range was not right for our target audience, which so far confirms our first thoughts. Both 60 year old respondents said if they saw the digipak in shops, they would not immediately be inclined to buy the product, the 63 year old respondent (respondent 2) saying ‘because it’s promoting an image of a younger audience’. Respondent 2 also said that she would be compelled to buy the album, from looking at the magazine advert, if she was thinking of buying for a younger person than herself. This confirms that we chose near enough the right age range in our target audience, which means there may be more chance of sales to this audience.

Music Video

From our feedback, we have found out that from watching the music video, people can see that it’s a pop music video. An 18 year old respondent (Respondent 1) said she thought it was pop due to the bright colours. This means that people who enjoy pop music videos may want to buy the song or buy/watch the music video which increases the artist’s sales.

We also found out that our camera shots were good, especially our beginning camera shots. Our 62 year old respondent (respondent 3) told us that he liked that everything was in focus, and both respondent 1 and 2 said they like our beginning shots, respondent 1 saying that it fits the song very well and respondent 2 saying that it’s very atmospheric. Respondent 2 also liked the angles of when Chelsea was lying down on the field.

The majority of people liked the editing when the flowers gradually wilted and then started to blossom again, with respondent 1 and 2 saying that it’s some of their favourite parts. Respondent 1, 2 and 3 all said they liked that part, respondent 2 adding that it ‘represented a love that is over and maybe a chance to start again’ and respondent 1 later saying ‘its symbolic of their love’. Respondent 1 also said ‘the editing goes to the beat of the song so that makes the music video even more enjoyable to watch’. This shows that the way you edit is important when editing music videos together. If the watcher enjoys the music video, they may want to buy the song. Respondent 3 liked that the lip syncing was very good, and even liked the parts where Chelsea is singing due to this. This shows that when editing, you should make sure the song and the lip syncing are put in sync together. I’ve also seen on other music video comments on YouTube that people complain when lip syncing is off, such as on Little Mix’s music video, Touch.

Respondent 1 liked the mise-en-scene because it seemed ‘natural’ as there was no ‘ridiculous costumes or a setting that was irrelevant to the song being sung’. Respondent 2 thought that the props (such as flowers) helped to tell the story. This shows that having props when doing a music video with a narrative, that props are important to show the story. The story needs to be understood otherwise people may be put off of the music video and so may be put off of buying the song. Respondent 3 gave some negative feedback, saying ‘the inside scenery could have been done with better background, for example, it could have been done on something better than a kitchen worktop’. This was a surprise because we thought that the kitchen worktop would have been a good place to film the flowers, as that was where we thought Chelsea would have placed them in the music video. This shows that maybe some more thought should have went into where we should have placed the flowers.

Respondent 2 said her least favourite part was where Chelsea was drinking from a wine bottle, as it looked unrealistic and thought that it would have been better in a wine glass. I wasn’t very surprised by this comment as it didn’t look very real and I would do it differently. Respondent 1 said she didn’t like the part where Chelsea was running around on the field as she didn’t understand the point of it. I was surprised by this comment as, when doing research, I found that a lot of music videos had parts where the artist breaks the narrative, which is what this was.

Digipak

Respondent 3 us that what he liked about the CD cover was that the background made Chelsea stand out as the background was a different colour than she was (as there was green grass behind her and she was wearing a blue/purple top). He also said he liked that the title stood out well as it was across dark colours and it itself was white. Respondent’s 1 and 2 also liked how clear the name is written on the cover, respondent 1 saying that it’s ‘noticeable’. This is an important part of the CD cover as the title needs to be able to be read, otherwise they may not know who or what the CD is for. Although, if this wasn’t the case, then because of the strong link to the music video, people should be able to guess what the song/CD this was. Respondent 1 commented on the fact that the rose Chelsea is holding on the front cover is from the music video, which is good because it shows that the video is very clearly linked with the digipak from this. Respondent 2 said she likes the angle in which Chelsea is looking because she is not looking into the camera.

Respondent 1 was the only one to comment with some negative feedback about the front cover. She said she didn’t like that the colours were ‘dull’ as she expected it to have ‘brighter colours’. This may have been due to the fact that we made some colour correction in the music video to make it a little brighter, as it was a bit of a dull day outside. Maybe we should have thought to brighten up the pictures as well, and not just clips from the music video.

Respondent 1 was the only one to definitely say yes to buying the digipak, saying that she liked that it had an insert with lyrics on it and that it has an ‘interesting front cover’. This is very understandable as the target audience was for about 14 – 30 and respondent 1 was the only one to be in that age bracket, as respondent’s 2 and 3 were in their 60’s. Despite this, respondent 2 said she would ‘still be intrigued as it’s very eye catching’, but not actually buy it due to it promoting to a younger audience. Respondent 3 said he would not buy the digipak from looking at it unless he actually knew the song, but the cover would make him want to buy it more if he did know it.

All respondents said they thought the design of the digipak was as they expected. Respondent’s 1 and 2 both commented on the fact that the colour pink, and the rose was present, giving them the assumption that the song was about love.

Both respondent’s 2 and 3 said they liked that the lyrics of the song are included on the inserts, respondent 3 adding that it makes it easier to sing along. All respondent’s mentioned the acknowledgements, respondent 1 saying she liked the font used and respondent 2 saying that she liked it because ‘it shows gratitude for everyone involved in the making of it’.

There was mostly praise for the back cover of our digipak, with respondent 1 saying that she thought the logos and barcode were placed in a good place, and that she liked the pink/grey gradient, and respondent 2 also saying she likes the logos as they ‘stand out’. Unfortunately there was not all positive comments as respondent 1 said she didn’t like the track list due to it not being ‘very exciting as it’s just there on the side’, but then adding she does like the font. Maybe if we would have placed the track list in the middle of the cover, instead of on the side, it maybe would’ve looked better and less boring.
 

Magazine Adverts

All respondent’s mentioned they liked that there are logos of places where you can find the song. This is good because it means people may actually notice the logos and then go looking for the song on these websites and apps. Respondent 1 also said that she likes how the pictures of Chelsea are relating to the music video, adding that ‘that’s what people memorise the most, so it gets people attention’. This shows that linking the adverts to the music video may be useful, as people may recognise it and then it may remind them to buy the song, or may make them want to watch the music video again. Respondent 2 said she likes that it says ‘out now’ as it shows that it’s a new release.

Respondent 3 didn’t like the landscape advert too much as Chelsea isn’t very clearly shown on the background picture. Maybe we should have used a clearer picture, or a picture of her close up. We mostly used this picture because it matches with the theme of nature very well, which helps it to link to our other media products. Respondent 1 didn’t like the positioning of the CD cover and ‘Out Now’, adding that it ‘should be more in the centre as it makes it more noticeable’. This may have been useful, to put it into the centre and maybe make it bigger, to clearly show what the poster was advertising.

Respondent’s 1 and 2 both said they prefer the landscape advert, whereas respondent 3 said he prefers the portrait advert. Respondent 3’s reasoning for this was that the landscape one ‘is not clear enough and does not look like an advert.’ He also said he doesn’t like that it’s bright on one side, and dark on the other. Respondent 2 disagreed with this, saying she liked the landscape one because of the sun shining through the trees (which is the reason for one side brighter and one side darker). Respondent 1 prefers the landscape advert as the ‘mise-en-scene is much nicer’.

Respondent 1 said only the landscape one would compel her to buy the album, as the portrait advert ‘looks like an advertisement for clothes if you don’t notice the album’. This shows that maybe we should’ve made the CD cover bigger and more in centre of the picture. Also, maybe we should have edited the photo a bit nicer. Respondent’s 2 and 3 said it probably wouldn’t compel them to buy the album, respondent 2 saying that it would only compel her to buy for someone younger than herself and respondent 3 saying that only the song itself would compel him to buy the song.

 

All three respondent’s said that the media product’s link together because Chelsea is clearly in all of them. This shows that it is important for the artist to be in all the media products. Also, both respondent 1 and 2 said that the greenery and nature also links them together well. Respondent 1 added that she likes that they aren’t all exactly the same as it would ‘make it all boring’.