1b – Audience

I am going to discuss audience in relation to my advanced portfolio which was a music video to the Little Comet’s song ‘One night in October’.

The target audience for our indie band was individuals aged between 16 and 24 who are interested in this particular genre of music. As initial research I produced an audience profile to help generate some ideas about what our target audience prefer and like in other indie bands. This way we could use these conventions and adapt them into something new and more modern. This feedback came in very useful as it helped with making decisions on band names, style, and the representation of them as a whole. It was important to consider the hypodermic needle model when thinking about how we were going to involve our audience. With this model the experiences of the individual are not relevant to the reception of the text. The audience is manipulated by the creators of the text. We used this technique by dressing our band members in a stylish way which will encourage fans and the target audience to imitate them.  Injecting ideas directly into the audience’s minds are crucial so that they do not lose interest throughout the video. We both thought that if we make the genre as clear as we could by addressing it directly to our target audience, they would gain enjoyment from spotting the common indie conventions that we had taken from other inspirational videos. This way our target audience would compare our video to other videos that fit into the same genre which is what we were hoping to achieve.  From the feedback that we gained after finishing the final video, we found that our target audience mostly enjoyed the humour and fun aspect because of the acting which complemented the genre of the song itself. The feedback also showed us that the audience liked the anticipation of waiting for the predictable features and getting involved in the video. The band is mainly targeted at teenage fans based on the genre that they fit into. They appeal to this category of audience because they can be seen as role models because of their recognisable style, they love having fun, they make eye contact with the camera involving the audience and also the song choice allows teenagers to relate to the lyrics because of the story it tells. The band is extremely modern and fit into the current music industry which makes them very likable to this particular audience. Because the band is of a similar age to the target audience that we set, they have a lot in common so they are easy to relate to.

Reception theories also had to be considered which claims that audiences are not always passive due to negotiation and opposition. This particular theory states that texts are not passively accepted by the audience but interprets meanings of text based on cultural background and life experiences. This shows how the target audience of our band can relate to the lyrics of the song. This therefore creates a relationship to the text and the reader. Publicity is also a key factor to consider as we wanted to create a hype for the band before the creating the final music video. We did this by using Facebook and Twitter and getting regular feedback whilst letting fans know our progress on the video. This way we were using a viral advertising technique by getting fans to spread the word about our new indie band. This stage was crucial as the band and the video would not have been as successful as they were without this support from the start as fans were intrigued to know about the progress that they were making. The uses and gratification theory was also considered which involves diversity, personal relationships and identity. These three factors are relevant to my advanced portfolio as the song includes lyrics about a troubled relationship so that the audience can relate to these lyrics to possibly get them through personal problems. Diversity was also a factor as the band tried to be different but still fit into the indie genre. It is hard for bands to be original in the current music industry because the genres are so diverse and are mutating all of the time. Identity is simply the band’s sense of who they are as they are very laid back and just want to have fun. This particular theory states subjective experiences underlie attachment drive and behaviour. This shows the audience examine what they see in the video then apply it to their own living experiences. The audience feedback that we received throughout the process helped us identify what was successful and what could be improved on. This way we could see whether or not we were meeting our target audience’s needs or not.  The theorist Stuart Hall claimed that texts are encoded by the producer and decoded by the reader. The audience therefore uses their imagination to make their own interpretation of what they see. As my advanced portfolio was only a band performance, it is hard for the audience to be imaginative as they can only see the band members and their instruments. If the video was illustrative, this would have been more relevant. From the positive feedback that we received from our audience, we have finally achieved the good reaction we were hoping for.