Censorship - Miss Miller

Within media studies censorship generally refers to the examination of communication media for the purpose of suppressing and controlling what is said or shown in order to keep audiences safe from potentially harmful or offensive content. Censorship is becoming an increasing issue amongst fans and concerned parents worldwide and debate as to whether networks should be able to censor content. Censorship within the music video industry is used to 'protect' audiences by preventing the artist from saying particular things that the network deems inappropriate. When an artists work is being censored, for example a swear word is said you will hear the noise in the bellow YouTube video over the swear word, this is censorship. 

Ofcom is the communications regulator and is responsible for regulating TV, radio sectors, fixed line telecoms, mobiles and postal services, plus the airwaves over which wireless devices operate. Within music videos as well as the other forms of communication media detailed above,they are responsible for protecting audiences from material that they perceive as being harmful or offensive, however there has been debate as to how far they can go in censoring an artists work and some have begun to argue that unnecessary content is being censored for no reason, devaluing an artists work. An popular example example of this would be Chris Brown-Loyal. Where instead of the lyrics "these hoes aint loyal'

"These girls aint loyal" was used as Ofcom viewed the word "hoes" as inappropriate. While there argument for this particular example of censorship may be justified as the audiences listening to this song are young and should not be exposed to this language. There are times however where it issued when its not needed. 

We had a class debate in which we took on roles as the following, artists (Eminem) , the record label, parents both for and against, fans British music channels (MTV/AKA), British radio stations (BBC radio 1/Capital Xtra) and voiced our opinions and concerns about the growing area of debate, censorship. 

Artist- The artist (Eminem) argued that censorship limited how he could express himself through lyrics and visuals on his music video. He says "its unfair that I'm being criticised for the content on my music video, I am just expressing my views and opinions and i think its up to the parents to either trust their kids to not watch me if they don't want there children watching me instead of censorship my work". Eminem is arguing that him and his music are being persecuted against unfairly and believes that parents should trust there children not to act upon the themes and lyrics within the music video. 

Record Label - The Record label maintains that their record sales are not affected by censorship, saying that "We release both a clean version of the song and an original to audiences, so parents are given the ability to purchase the clean version if necessary"  Explicit or music that may be viewed as inappropriate will have the bellow label on it. This then allows parents to easily see if the music they are buying for their kids is appropriate

Parents for- Parents that where for censorship strongly believed that it was an appropriate measure to be taken and that most modern music contains hurtful or inappropriate content that they did not want their children to see. "The music we had when we where kids was so much better than the music our kids listen to today. There is far to much swearing and violence its just not needed and i don't want my children listening or watching it! OfCom is there for a reason, to protect our children !"

Parents against-The parents on the other side however argued that regulating what was being showed and said on music videos was unneeded. They argued that censorship unneeded and that children would still find a way to view then censored versions. They also argued that it was given their children a bad message in that its okay to stop people from expressing themselves. "Censorship is unnecessary. We as parents should be responsible for teaching our children what's wrong and right and censoring music is stopping the artists right to free speech, its just contradictory"

Fans- The fans obviously argued that censorship was unneeded. They said that "In allowing censorship to continue artists are becoming increasing under pressure to produce music witless content that viewers/listeners may perceive as hurtful. "Eminem's music isn't even targeted at a young audience however his music's being persecuted against for content that impressionable young kids may act upon!its up to the parents to stop there kids from watching it ! not go after the artist" 

British music channel MTV- MTV argued that censorship restricted them from playing particular music videos until after the watershed at 21:00. "Censorship restricts us as channels to show particular music until after 9. As well as this being an inconvenience for us as a channel it is also upsetting as we won't be able to show this music to younger viewers who may appreciate Eminem's music as they may be in bed. This music having to be played after this time also shrinks the viewers as many might have gone to sleep therefore less people are watching the channel and the music video". 

 British Radio Station BBC Radio 1- "Censorship has been and continues to be a major problem for us as a radio station, the censoring we have to do over the music when it is being played takes attention away from the actual music, we do our best to make it as unnoticeable as possible however it is still distracting for the viewer and you can't help that the song has lost its edge". BBC Radio 1 believe firmly that censorship's destroying music by taking away its original feel and that it needs to be stopped.

As you can see many people see censorship as a negative and acknowledge that it is damaging the music industry by restricting artists such as Eminem from fully expressing themselves. The majority of people argue that Ofcom should not be able to censor artists as they are withdrawing their right to free speech or alternatively they should be given a restricted among of power in censoring an artists work. 

I would argue that artists should be able to express themselves through there music without being persecuted for material that people could potentially view as offensive or harmful. I believe that it is up to the parents to educate there children and to trust them to not view music that there parents don't want them to. However to an extent. If the music is just swearing and violence with no meaning or thought then these should not be allowed to be created, you either allow it to bevelled censorship free or you don't allow it to be played at all.

I myself will not following the censorship rules within my own video production as i think being constrained by these rules would potentially restrict me from expressing myself fully, i would not be able to emphasise emotions of anger or love as they would be perceived as inappropriate by Ofcom,  and it is through emphasising these emotions i hope to create a more intense and therefore better music video and so complying by these rules would therefore have a negative impact on my music video.

We are still waiting for for a response from Paloma Faith's record label but we understand that they are extremely busy so my group and I are continuing to plan and create our music video for our chosen song.

Digipak analysis - Miss Miller

The purpose of a digipak is to appeal more to the fans, this is done through the lyrics of songs included, higher quality images to portray more meaning and messages to fans to make it more personal and more of a collectible item. Digipaks usually consist of 6 sides to give the buyer a better insight into the artist and their music to make them feel closer to them.

Colours

The colours used in this lana Del Rey album are simple, the colours white, red and blue are used for the background, text and rose picture. These simple colours attract a wider audience as it can appeal to different types of people, also it makes the digipak look exclusive as the colours are basic which makes the digipak seem exclusive to the fans.

Design Layout

The layout of the digipak consists of the album cover on the front to draw attention to the artist as Lana Del Rey is standing in the centre of the picture, also the picture is in full colour whilst the lyrics and song names have a white background, this again draws all the attention to the artist which makes the buyer feel more of a relationship with Lana Del Rey as the digipak also has personal messages for the fans.

Choice of Image 

The image used shows Lana Del Rey standing in the middle of the picture with a colourful background, this makes her seem important and professional and also shows that she is a colourful artist due to the contrast in colour between the picture on the front and the lyrics. Also she is wearing a plain white shirt which makes her relateable to the audience as she is wearing ordinary clothes, this will also increase publicity for Lana Del Rey.

Typography

The writing used on the front of the digipak is plain and bold, this creates a statement and aslo attracts a wider audience as the writing is big and eye catching, also the name of the album is on Lana Del Rey's body which allows the audience to know the album name straight away even if they aren't Lana Del Rey fans already, this creates more publicity for the artist and her music.

Style of Language

The only writing on the digipak is the artist name, album name, song names and song lyrics, this makes Lana Del Rey and her music seem important as there are no funny puns or anything, it is all professional and tidy which appeals more to the audience as the digipak is presented as an exclusive item to have.

Magazine advert analysis - Miss Miller

Paloma Faith advert analysis

A magazine album advert is to attract a wider audience, gain publicity, increase sales, create convergence and benefit the artist and the magazine. This allows the audience to be aware of a new album and encourage them to purchase it. Also because its in a magazine it may attract a different audience as a magazine readers.



Colours

In Paloma Faith's album advert there are a range of colours, the colours gold, red, blue, green, orange, red, purple are all used. This is used to grab the readers eye, the colourful scheme of the advert is eye-catching and will engage readers to listen to Paloma's album, this will promote the artist and her new album and increase her publicity as more people will listen to her new album. Also the background is mostly gold which creates a vintage effect for the album advert, this will entice the reader even more and make her album reach a more vast audience.

Design Layout

The layout of this advert shows the artist (Paloma Faith) positioned central of the cover making her the center of attention, this draws in the reader as the layout looks professional and neat due to the image placement and the positioning of the text which is at the bottom and the artist name in big at the top. This also presents Paloma as a big artist which could also interest more readers in purchasing her new album as this portrays her as a star.

Choice of Image 

The image chosen shows Paloma as 6 different characters with different emotions and costumes, this shows that she can appeal to a wide target audience and change the genre of her music for example some soul songs and some pop songs. This widens the target audience for her album allowing more people to want to buy it increase Paloma's fan base and make her new album appeal to a wider audience.

Typography

The big writing at the top of the album advert that says 'Paloma Faith' is in a large loopy font, this shows that the album is from the soul genre as it isn't modern graffiti or big gold writing, it is simply white and the font is conventional to the soul music genre. This simplistic font and colour makes the album more appealing to the audience as it is clearer and can again appeal to a wider audience as it is a simple font.

Style of Language

The style of language used in this album advert presents the album as professional and premium, this can be seen through the use of the words 'deluxe' and exclusive'. This makes the audience see the album as again, professional due to the words used, this draws the reader in and will make them want to buy the album. Furthermore the typography used will entice the audience as it describes the album as exclusive, this will make the reader want to buy the album as it will have more of a personal feel to them.

Colours

The colours used in Adele's magazine advert are black, grey, white and green. The use of basic, simple colours allows the advert to appeal to a wider audience as the colours dont make the advert fall spcifically into a music genre. This again creates a vintage look and makes the album seem professional due to the basic colours used, this is conventional to the soul music genre as soul music artists do not usually use alot of bright colours as that is more towards the pop genre. The audience will be able to notice that this album is from the soul music genre and want to buy it, this will increase the publicity for this album.

Design Layout

The layout of this advert shows the artist (Adele) on the right hand side of the cover with writing next to her, this allows a new audience from the magazine readers to immediately see Adele and want to buy the album if they are already fans, for new audiences they can see the artist and get an insight to what she is like, for example the picture used in this magazine album advert shows her looking upset and tired which will make people sympathise for her and want to listen to her music. This could intrigue the audience and make them want to buy her album to see more of Adele.

Choice of Image 

The image used in this album cover shows Adele looking down looking sad. This shows that her music will have emotion in them as she is showing emotion through the album image, this also conforms to the soul music genre as the artist looks upset and soul artists usually sing about meaningful subjects such as love, death and relationships, this will make the audience want to buy her album as they would want to hear some of the passionate songs she sings. The images are in black and white which makes them appeal to a wider audience as they do not specify the genre of music she belongs to straight away, this basic look of the pictures shows that Adele is humble and not a flamboyant character like some artists from the pop or rap genre.

Typography

The big writing at the top of the album advert that says 'Adele' is in a large loopy font, this shows that the album is from the soul genre as it isn't modern graffiti or big gold writing, it is simply white. This simplistic font and colour makes the album more appealing to the audience as it is clearer and can again appeal to a wider audience and increase sales for Adele's album. Also the artist name in big writing immediately tells the reader who the artist is, this will make them want to buy the album as it will appeal to soul music fans.

Style of Language

The only large words seen are 'Adele 21' this promotes the album and makes the artist seem like a star as her name is big and in bold whilst the other writing is small, this promotes Adele and her new album as this language will catch the readers eye. Also the words 'available everywhere now' is in green writing, this shows the reader that this is a big album and will make them want to buy it as it is a worldwide album they would want to buy it and be a part of the target audience.

Research into chosen music artist - Miss Georgiou

Paloma Faith

Our group decided to choose Paloma Faith as our artist to make a music video of. We chose Paloma because
her song lyrics are meaningful, this makes it easier for us for make a narrative music video for her song "only love can hurt like this".

Paloma's real name is 'Paloma Faith Bloomfield' and she was born on 21st July 1981; making her 33. She sings music form the pop, soul, jazz and soft rock genre and she is also a songwriter. She also had an acting career when she was younger as she starred in 'Dread', 'The imaginarium of doctor parnassus' and also 'St Trinians' in 2007 showing that she is very talented. She has received three brit award nominations including: British female solo artist and best British album. Her debut album was called 'Do you want the truth or something beautiful?' in 2009 which featured songs such as 'stone cold sober' and 'new york', the album reached number nine in the UK and was later certified double-platinum.

Paloma is signed to RCA records and Epic records. Other artists that are signed for RCA records are: A$AP Rocky, Christina Aguilera, Chris Brown and Justin Timberlake. Other artists that are signed to Epic records are Outkast, Ozzy Osborne, The Fray and Nicole Scherzinger.

This chart shows her album sales from 2009-2014 and Palomas's peak chart positions in other countries.

(From wikipedia)

Paloma Faith - Can't rely on you

In this 'cant rely on you' video Dyer's star theory is applied firstly through the representation of the artist; Paloma Faith. In this video she is presented as glamorous through the use of costumes used, she wears colourful clothing and dark clothing throughout to portray her as two different types of people; a fun, flamboyant character and a serious, professional woman. This allows the video to appeal to a much wider audience as her two persona's open up to a different range of people in her target audience. This will increase the popularity for her video and promote herself as an artist. 

Secondly can the artist be viewed as a product? The way Paloma acts in this music video is dramatic and appealing, this makes the video enjoyable, because Paloma is in the video she can be seen as a product as she is singing the song herself and the audience would want to see that. She is performing to the camera which allows her to be viewed as a product as she stars in her own music video.

In this 'cant rely on you' video Paloma faith is presented as ordinary and extraordinary. Showing Paloma in bed with a male is a very ordinary element to be shown in a music video, especially from the soul genre, the high angle camera shot shows her and a man in bed together simply laying down, this creates a realistic effect on the video which makes it appeal more to the soul genre audience. She is also presented as extraordinary as another high angle cinematography shot shows her being carried naked with a mask on, this subverts the generic conventions of the soul music genre that usually presents female artists as humble and professional. This cinematography and costume choice makes her seem ordinary and extraordinary in the same video through the mise-en-scene elements.

Hegamony is used in this video through the lyrics. This is because socially, people believe that women need a man to rely on and that they should be in a relationship. Conversely Paloma shows the audience a different side as the song title is called 'Can't rely on you' showing that she can't and won't rely on a partner, and she promotes her feelings to the audience through the song. This makes her a role model for the female part of her target audience as they see her as strong and want to be like her making the video appeal more to them.

In this video we can see Goodwin's theory being applied (The demands of the record labels will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work)  through the close-ups in this 'can't rely on you' video. This gives the audience a close view of Paloma and make them feel closer and have a relationship with her through the camera shots, this also allows the audience to identify the artist and it also makes her video performance based swell as narrative style. This will make the video appeal more to the target audience and promote Paloma as an artist.

Goodwin's theory is again shown in this video as the lyrics match the visuals, in the beginning Paloma is with a man and then for the rest of the video she is not with him. This matches with the lyrics 'can't rely on you' as the man is not with her any more making him unreliable. This makes the video more understandable for the audience which is more enjoyable as the video has a story line that matches the lyrics.

Paloma Faith - Picking up the pieces

In this 'picking up the pieces' video Paloma Faith is presented as unhappy and lonely, this can be seen through the cinematography and positioning of characters. During the video there is many mid-shots of Paloma positioned on the bench on her own. This makes her seem lonely as nobody else is in the shot and she is positioned in the middle of the bench looking upset, this makes the audience sympathise for her and makes the video more relatable, this increases the publicity of the video thus promoting Paloma as an artist. Also the close-ups used allows the audience to identify the artist and enjoy the video more, this also appeals to Paloma's fans as they want to see her in her music videos.

Paloma is in the whole music video and is the actress making the music video dramatic and appealing, this makes it enjoyable, just like 'can't rely on you'. Because Paloma is in the video she can be seen as a product as she is singing the song herself and the audience would want to see that as it creates a relationship between Paloma and the audience wqhilst appealing to her fan base, this will allow the audience to build a relationship with Paloma throughout this music video.

Paloma is presented as ordinary and extraordinary in this video. The costumes used presents Paloma as ordinary as they are smart outfits that anybody could wear, this makes her more realistic and more relatable to the audience as she is dressed ordinary.  On the other hand she is presented as extraordinary through the setting because she is is a massive house with butlers which presents her as upper class in 'picking up the pieces'. This makes the audience see her as a role model as she is wealthy in the video and the female audience will aspire to be like her, this makes the video appeal strongly to the target audience.

Goodwin's theory is applied in this video through the close-ups (the demands of the record labels will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work), again many close-ups are used throughout the video to promote Paloma Faith as an artist as it shows the audience a lot of her which increases her publicity, it also allows the audience to identify her and this will promote her as an artist and incrase the publicity for her song 'picking up the pieces'. Also the close ups used allow the audience to see Paloma's emotions whilst singing so the audience will sympathise for her and make the video more appealing.

Research into chosen music genres - Miss Georgiou

I am interested in Paloma Faith's soul music video because the song "only love can hurt like this" is a song that is easy to make a music video to because you can create a narrative to it. The similar artists are Amy Winehouse and Adele.

 Analyse the following points:
1) Analyse a music video and identify the codes and conventions
2) Discuss how mise-en-scene is used
3) Explain what the main camera shots are
4) Explain what the main editing styles are
5) Define the target audience
6) How is the artist represented?
7) What is the style of the music video?
8) How is Goodwin’s theory on music video characteristics used?

Paloma Faith's 'only love can hurt like this' song is from the soul genre, we chose this genre and song because soul songs contain lyrics that allow us to create a conventional narrative music video due to the meaningful lyrics that soul songs, and particularly 'only love can hurt like this' have.


Adele - Someone like you

In this Adele music video soul conventions are portrayed by the use of miss-en-scene. The video consists of the setting of a city whilst the camera focuses on Adele, and there is nobody else around. This shows conveys her loneliness as she is walking on her own, also the video is in black and white which makes it very simplistic and appeal to the audience as it gives a depressing effect. The reflects Adele's emotions whilst she is singing 'someone like you' as she shows her emotions, this gives the audience an insight to Adele's lifestyle and makes them like her more as an Artist. 

Mise-en-scene is also used in this video; the costume Adele is wearing is a long black coat, this is conventional to soul as it is a completely different genre of music compared to the pop music genre where artists wear hardly any clothes to show off they're bodies and gain publicity with flamboyant behaviour. The soul genre has very contrasting costumes suchas Adele's black coat and more appropriate clothing for the older target audience that they present their music to, this means that the video will appeal more to the target audience and conform to the conventions of the soul music genre.

Cinematography is also used in this Adele music video, the use of a tracking shot following Adele through the empty setting, this makes the audience feel as if they are following Adele as she walks along, this makes the video more enjoyable for the audience as they believe that they are a part of the video. Also the way that the camera follows Adele makes it look like the audience are walking next to her from the video's perspective making it more realistic and appealing to the audience. This also portrays Adele as lonely because she doesn't have a partner any more hence the title 'somebody like you', this makes the audience sympathise for her and therefore make the video more relateable and conventional to the soul music genre.

 Also the editing in this video helps to show that the genre is soul. The black and white video mirrors the genre and artist as simplistic, this allows the video to appeal to a wider audience as there is no particular conventions that make the video appeal to a niche audience. This gains publicity for this 'someone like you' video and Adele as an artist as a larger audience can watch her video and possibly like her as an artist and become a fan. Also the black and white theme creates a dull, gloomy setting which reflects Adele's feelings as she is lonely, this is again typical of the soul music genre as the artist's usually sing about relationships and love.

The target audience that the soul genre artist's aim their music towards is 16-40 year olds. Because of the different aged people that listen to soul music are so contrasting, this allows the artists within the genre to focus of making a video for a wider audience than other genres such as rap. Having a wider audience also allows different soul artists to use different music video elements to appeal to different ages of the target audience. Also the vast audience means that the video can include elements that will appeal to young, old, male and female audiences to promote the artists and her music.

Adele is represented as lonely in this someone like you video, the use of dull lighting and her being on her own makes the audience see her as lonely, these mise-en-scene elements help to make Adele's music video conventional to the soul music genre and appeal the the target audience of 16-40 year olds. Also she is represented as independent as she is walking alone, this makes her seem like a role model to the female audience, making the video appeal more to them. This is conventional of the soul music genre as the female artists sing about love and being alone.

The style of this music video is performance, because Adele is being followed by the camera and singing to it this shows us that it is a performance based video. On the other hand it could be partly narrative as it shows Adele walking through an empty setting on her own, making it seem like a story in the video. The performance side of the video makes it appeal more to the audience as it seems like Adele is singing directly to them, and the narrative side of the video will attract a wider audience as it makes the video more exciting to watch.

Amy Winehouse - Back to black

In this soul music video by Amy Winehouse, the mise-en-scene scene elements present the artist in different ways through the use of mise-en-scene, cinematography and editing. The mise-en-scene element of hair and make up makes Amy Winehouse seem different from other artists. Her big eye make-up and big hair draws attention to her throughout the whole video as she is different from the other characters in the video. This makes the audience see Amy Winehouse as a glamorous artist and enjoy her music and music videos and make her seem like a role model to the female side of her audience.

Another mise-en-scene element seen in this 'back to black' music video is setting. The use of the funeral setting throughout the video presents the song as possibly sad, this is typical of the soul genre as soul music videos usually show the artist or actor as either happy and in love, or upset or lonely as you can see in Amy Winehouse's 'back to black' video and Adele's 'someone like you video' which appeals strongly to the target audience as they will sympathise for the artist making the video more appealing.

Cinematography is also used within this 'back to black video' to present Amy Winehouse as a typical soul genre artist. This can be seen through the use of a close up on her face, this shows her perfect eyebrows and elegant eye make-up, this presents her as a classy artist in this video which may not be the case in some of her other videos. This is conventional to the soul genre as soul artist tend to dress well and look professional for their videos compared to the dancing, half dressed pop artist's videos.

The editing in this video, same as in 'someone like you' by Adele is conventional to the soul genre. The whole video being in black and white shows simplicity and originality. This is conventional to the soul music genre as it can be seen and enjoyed by the wide target audience as their are no out of the ordinary elements that would appeal to a niche audience, this increases the publicity for Amy Winehouse and her music and makes her audience engage more to the music video.

The target audience for this 'back to black' video is 16-40 year olds which is the soul genre's target audience. This shows that Amy Winehouse's 'back to black' video is conventional to the soul genre and follows the conventions of a typical soul music video. This also means that the video doesn't have to include any specific age related elements as the age range is very vast which makes it easier for her to promote herself through her music videos.

Amy Winehouse is presented as upset because the video includes scenes from a funeral, this is again typical of the soul genre to present upsetting or depressing feelings throughout artist's videos to show their emotion in the video, which is what is happens in Amy Winehouse's 'back to black' video. This makes the audience sympathise for the artist and make the video appeal strongly to the target audience.

The style of this soul music video is narrative and performance, the narrative shows Amy Winehouse during the scene of a death and funeral which appeals to the audience as they can see her as an emotional artist which may make the music video appeal more to the audience as it more exciting also. The performance side of the video shows Amy Winehouse singing to the camera, this makes her the centre of attention and again allow the music video to appeal to soul music fans as this video is conventional to the soul genre and the audience can identify the artist through the video.

Target audience results - Miss Miller

The target audience that we aimed our music video towards is 16-40 year olds. We made a questionnaire that consisted of 3 closed questions and 7 open questions, we carried out research so that we could find out what our target audience would want to see in a music video so that we could include these elements to make it appeal to them. We asked 40 people these questions so that it would give us an accurate average on what our audience as a whole think should be included in a music video so that we could use these points in our video and make it more successful. 

I recorded four people answering the questions from our questionnaire in order to show proof that our answers for our questionnaires are not false, and to show the different answers some of the people in our target audience have.

Vox Pops:

The questions that we included in our research were:

1. Do you prefer your music videos to be.. performance, narrative or concept?
2. What's your favourite music genre and why?
3. What setting do you prefer the video to be filmed in?
4. What's your favourite music video?
5. What gender do you prefer to see in a music video? male/female/both
6. Who is your favourite artist and why?
7. How old are you?
8. Male or female?
9. What makes a good music video?
10. Do you prefer the artist to be featured in the music video and why?

This shows us that 32% of people prefer to see females in a music video, 18% prefer to see males and 50% would like to see both. This is more popular because it applies to the males and females of our target audience, and it creates a wider audience for our music video because it appeals to both genders. So we will include both male and female actors together in our music video so that our video will appeal directly to our target audience.

From these results we gathered that 35% of our target audience said their favourite music genre is dance, this may be because people prefer to listen to music they can have fun to and enjoy themselves. On the other hand only 13% of people said their favourite genre is country, the statistics may be low because not many people listen to country music any more as it is outdated. 22% of people prefer rap and 30% prefer soul, this may be because the music genres don't apply to all types of people as only certain people listen to the music and different genres appeal to more specific or wider audiences making the results varied.

When we asked what is your favourite music video, the majority of the results showed that Ed Sheeran's was their choice, then second Sam Smith. We believe this can be to our advantage, because the genre of these two artists is also soul, therefore we know that a large section of our audience enjoy listening to soul music and in result we can use the opinions of the people we asked as they fit our target audience. One direction and Katy Perry's came in with the lowest percentages and this would be because they fit into the pop genre, from this we will be careful not to include any conventions that could be misinterpreted as pop. In our music video we will analyse some of the conventions shown in Ed Sheeran's 'sing' video and try to use similar styles in our video.

 

This shows us that the majority of people that answered our questionnaire are female which could have a bias effect on some of the other results as they may have different opinions from the males. This doesn't effect what we will include in our video but it gives us a fair idea of the percentages of who our target audience includes.

From the pie chart we can tell that Beyonce and Ed Sheeran are the most favourite music artists followed by Sam Smith, Paloma Faith and One Direction then Iggy Azalea and Katy Perry. It shows that the artists that are featured in the chart are the most popular, meaning that people conform to what other people say makes a good music artist.

From our results we found out that 75% of the people we asked like to see the artist within the music video, when asked why they revealed that they chose that answer they said that it was because they like to be able to recognise who is singing and can connect to them on a better level when they are featured within the music video. Therefore we will have our artist featuring in our music video throughout, so that the audience can connect with her and become familiar with who she is. This means that we will include our artist in our music video to lease our target audience.

From the results we can see that the biggest age group is 16-20 year olds and the smallest is 46-50. This shows that our target audience will be 16-45 year olds as this covers all three age groups that are most popular and most interested in music and we can aim our music video to appeal directly to our target audience.

This shows that the participants believe dance routines and storylines make a good music video and don't think the lighting, props or setting contribute to a successful music video. This shows that when making our music video we should make sure that we include a dance routine and storyline so that it appeals strongly to our target audience.

When asked which setting was preferred in a music video, the answer with the highest percentage was none with 35%, No background meant that there would be a backdrop, or a plain background that meant the artist/characters would be more in focus of the shot. I believe people chose this option because it would grab there attention the most as it allows them to connect to whoever in on the screen. A close second was Public Location at 28% and then Home at 23%, this helped us decide that when shooting our music video we could go to any location and still fulfil our audiences wants, as they enjoy a variety and surprise when choosing the location of the music video. The home setting also collected a high percentage because it is typically a conventional setting for the soul genre, as it is very personal. 

53% of the people we questioned also said that they prefer the narrative theme the most, therefore we would use a story to convey the deeper meanings of the lyrics, however 35% of people also preferred the performance theme, therefore our music video will feature the artist singing. Our audience enjoy these two concepts because they believe the narration gives them a better understanding of what the artist was trying to portray when writing the lyrics and they like the performance concept so they can give recognition to the artists talents. This is why we are using a narrative style music video.

The Centre for Contemporary Culture Studies has a theory of assuming that all subcultures come from one main culture, and that all the smaller cultures are just reactions from the mainstream. The CCCS generalises when it should be particularising; they don't take into account that teens often change their image. This is evident within my music video, as the participants were mostly in the 16-20 category knew more about the sub culture of soul music than some of other aged participants in our targeted audience, going against the CCCS theory and reinforcing that it is out of date. In this modern era, the mainstream is far harder to identify, some may even suggest that there isn't a mainstream, or if there is it is widely changing. Paloma Faith could be considered as a sub culture within the mainstream, however, this subculture is becoming way more popular which may suggest that the soul genre is rehabilitating from a sub culture to part of the mainstream. Within my video I will follow the CCCS theory, I will portray this through the use of couples and relationships, lonely baths and lonely bed scenes. This shows a clear link between the subculture of couples with the mainstream of relationships, however just to an extent more extreme than normal, reinforcing that all subculture spiral out from the mainstream.