Case Study 2

Case Study 2

This document includes our initial audience research for 'Home', and a case study I compiled on Gabrielle Aplin's official music video for the song.

Who?  The song is by Gabrielle Aplin, hence why she is the protagonist in the music video.

Age? The target audience age group for this video is young people - it is about finding where your home is and knowing that that is where you belong. However, the song in itself is suitable for any audience, as is the music video as older generations can look back on it as something they used to relate to and younger generations can either relate to it, or if they are too young find the visuals and melody interesting.

Other types of media consumption? Other types of media that our audience consume are; movies, magazines, social media, radio and television programmes/ television adverts. Youth culture in particular comes into contact with social media posts, articles, comments and advertisements. An issue with this is sites such as Facebook use cookies and some personal information about you to see what you 'like' on their site so that they can suggest other things for you to 'like'; at times, such as during in election campaigns, this can have bad influences because if you happen to be left wing and you 'like' left wing stuff on Facebook then Facebook will show you more left wing things and you may think that there doesn't seem to be enough about right wing policies or that everyone else seems to think left wing too, when really this is usually not the case. 

Who do they identify themselves with? Gabrielle Aplin identifies herself with her record labels - Never Fade, Parlophone, BA1 Records, and Warner Bros - whereas youth culture tend to identify themselves with artists, sportsmen and crazes that strike their interest, for example memes are very popular at the moment - they take snippets of media or cartoons etc and loop them to create a comedic, silent clip.

How much do they consume? According to Nielsen 2016 reports: 'The entire music industry posted a 3.1% increase in overall volume, with total album consumption reaching 560.7 million units.' 

Who do they consume it with? Youth culture, and others, can now consume music by themselves a lot more easily through streaming sites such as YouTube and Spotify, however they can also share music a lot more easily as well - also through streaming sites, and through group calls meaning that they can listen to the same thing at the same time.

The effect it is having on them and the effect they have on it? Different music genres appeal to different people, different age groups, and satisfy various gratifications. For example, I think that people would listen to Gabrielle Aplin's 'Home' if they were feeling happy - in order to make them feel comfortable, nostalgic - in order to cast them back to a childhood memory perhaps, or if they were feeling sorrowful and were missing home and wanted an exterior expression to reflect that. 

More detail about the Aplin's official, original music video for 'Home'

What Themes and Ideas are portrayed? Themes and ideas that are presented in the original ‘Home’ music video are loss, hope, and nostalgia. The video seems to be about self-realisation and finding a home but the lyrics of the song can be interpreted in different ways by different age groups, for example it could be about someone remembering returning from a trip they had.

How did the promote their text to their audience? The release and music video of a single, 'The Power of Love', from her debut album 'English Rain' was a form of publicity for her other songs. Posters, social media updates and the fact that her cover of 'The Power of Love' was on an advert for also promoted her and her music.

What platforms did they use? Social media platforms such as Facebook pages and Tumblr promoted the video widely so that a larger audience range would be aware of the upcoming feature film.

For example, these were posted on the web to show the cover for the song, and album: - 

Identify your core audience – Our core audience is teenagers, as we have a story involving to characters grow-up into teenagers. We feel that the age group of 12-18 is most suitable for our music video as they can engage with the story more, many people at this age are emotionally figuring out who they are and where they belong and so the song, and our music video, links/will link well with this.

Identify your broader audience – Our broader audience would involve adults, especially older adults as those we spoke to often like nostalgic pieces as they are peaceful but can remind them of vibrant memories. Even though the narrative involves young children growing into teenagers, adults could engage with a similar memory of their youth and it could trigger a sense of nostalgia for the wider audience. 

Collect feedback from your audience that will affect your text using: 

• Surveys/Polls
• A questionnaire

Decide who this will effect/change your ancillary texts and if they are the right platforms for your target audience: Our narrative production is aimed at teenagers and young adults, as they can relate to the young characters well, and so our ancillary texts will also be aimed at this target audience. The magazine articles, we will individually create, are an effective choice because many teenagers – especially and stereotypically females – read magazines, therefore many will have access to a advertisement, review and promotion of ‘Home’. In addition, the DVD covers (which mine's main image will also be my cover for the single) is a significant ancillary text as it will promote our music video well and to both genders because the vast majority of young adults listen to and buy/source music. Both of these platforms will promote our music video to not only our target audience, but to a wider market.