Audience Profile

Because a music video is essentially a form of marketing, it is important to come up with a target audience and research it in detail so that we know firstly who we're marketing and if we're appealing to them correctly. We are yet to confirm the interests listed in our profile with a sample group of our target audience, though we are currently composing a questionnaire to pose to members of our target audience to see if it's accurate.

Our target audience was originally 18-26 but we changed this after feeling that starting at eighteen limited our audience and excluded a large group.

Mood Board

We constructed a mood board as a visual way to brainstorm our ideas; the aim was that it communicated our image without words. Our female solo artist will be of the alternative pop genre, and so will communicate certain genre characteristics of pop such as fashion and image/appearance in general. However, considering our chosen song is not dance and more alternative, we decided to incorporate a more artistic, indie/alternative element to our artist - who we have named Isla Harris, though we have decided to put more emphasis on her first name and sell that as a commodity, as opposed to her surname.

We printed off the title of our track -- "Youth Knows No Pain" -- in bold font as the title itself is quite a statement and [subtly] mentions our general target audience in the title; young people. We also included a sample of the lyrics.

We included photos of fashion models in order to communicate that clothes will be an important factor in the marketing of our artists, along with physical appearance in general so hair and make-up.

For our digipak more so, we are hoping to include a floral theme, possibly through accessories, so we reflected this in our mood board with a floral background and by including photos from the internet that feature flower accessories.

The collage of London is to reflect where our artist is from, as London could also be a part of the setting for our music video or digipak.

In order to communicate the alternative/vintage vibe of both our artist and our target audience, we included photos of polaroids and reading and camera flares (the hearts).

We used colour (purple, glitter) throughout so that our mood board would stand out but steered away from clashing, vibrant colours to avoid associated with just the dance or pop genre alone.

Digipak Analysis

Considering we're constructing a digipak and not just an album, it is important to learn the codes and conventions of a digipak. Both me and my partner have analyzed genre specific album covers but I researched digipaks in general to see if they had any re-occuring conventions. I found that, like an album, there has to be a colour scheme or theme that links it all together and it is also common to have an additional CD because it sells the digipak more.

Codes and Conventions for Alternative Pop/Pop

Both analyzing alternative pop music videos myself and researching genre characteristics, I found that there were several conventions or characteristics that came up several times.

Though dance routines are more associated with the pop genre, the element of performance is also demonstrated in alternative pop music videos. In all of the music videos I have analysed, the female artists have been dancing yet their movements seems more spontaneous than choreographed. The general focus of the music video is on both the artist's performance and appearance.

Fast cuts and fast editing in general is also common, yet in alternative pop music videos, it is used to disorient or distort the image which is something that I plan to keep in mind when we edit our music video.

Fashion is a huge factor in our genre. It is used to create an artist's image and sometimes reflect the song. What is important to note is that the fashion in pop music is more current trends and very colourful whilst the clothes in alternative pop music videos have more of a edge and are more unusual. For example, if we compare Marina's outfit in 'Hollywood' to Lykke Li's in 'Get Some'.

Similar to pop music videos, alternative pop music videos are more focused on the visuals than any kind of narrative or concept. What differs between the genre and sub-genres is that pop music seems to focus just on the element of performance, where is in alternative pop music videos, whilst the focus is always on the artist, there is something slightly artistic in the background, for example in Oh Land's 'Sun of a Gun', there is the lights and in Lykke Li's 'Get Some', there is the projections behind her. The editing in these videos also help to give some depth within the music videos and adjust the focus from solely the performance.

'Sun of a Gun' - Oh Land

I would certainly say that-- because of the use/appeal of fashion in these music videos and the gender of the artist herself - that the target audience is more female for alternative pop, specifically a target audience of young females. Here is where I found alternative pop and pop music to differ; pop music is either quite a broad audience or, for a female pop artist like Katy Perry, younger teenage girls where is alternative pop tends to have more depth, so their music videos are aimed at a more mature audience, such as 16-20.

Other characteristics we were present in these music videos and that we will have to consider for our music videos are that of Goodwin's, so several close-ups in order to market out artists, references to the notion of looking, and a relationship between the music and/or lyrics and visuals.

Goodwin's Analysis: Oh Land

From previous research, I found that close-ups were common across all genres but voyeuristic/sexual treatment of the female body is more common in pop videos. I wouldn't say the shots of the female in this video is particularly sexual but she is clearly the main focus -- there's nobody else in the video!

Goodwin's Analysis: Lykke Li

 "Get Some" features several fast cuts, a common characteristics for music videos in general. The projections on the wall behind Lykke Li are an intertextual reference to other media forms, the first link to Goodwin's analysis.

Whilst the music video is focused around her performance, what makes it stand out as quite alternative as opposed to pop is not only the projections but the distorted, edgy editing effects on her face. This is something that we would definitely consider for our music video; we don't necessarily want a clear narrative, but we do want an ongoing, edgy concept to communicate the artistic element of our artist, as opposed to just pop. The projections could also be seen as a reference to the notion of looking and Goodwin's analysis of music videos.

There are several close-ups of Lykke Li throughout the video (she is the only physical person in the music video) which helps market/sell her as a product, again supporting Goodwin's analysis. Something that surprised me was the element of performance in the video; Lykke Li dances to the music throughout most of it and I wouldn't necessarily associate alternative pop with dance routines. I think it is important to note that, even if there is an element of dancing in alternative pop videos, it's more performing than an actual choreographed dance routine.

Studying both pop music video and alternative pop music videos has taught me that image is very important across both genres. Lykke Li's outfit is quite revealing and glamourous which continues this theme of fashion and image as a part of an artist's identity, however her outfit is also quite unusual and edgy which links in with the alternative genre.

During the bridge to the song in which the lyrics state, "I'm your prostitute, you gon get some", Lykke Li dances suggestively and motions to her crotch which is not only drawing attention onto the female body [Goodwin's analysis] but linking the visuals and lyrics together.

In terms of filming constraints, I feel as if the concept of this video, so the same location but with several different projections and fast editing to keep it engaging, is definitely something that we would want to use when we film our music video considering it also helps communicate the artistic, edgy element that we want our audience to recieve.

Goodwin's Analysis: Marina and the Diamonds (2)

I decided it would be interesting to compare two music videos from Marina and the Diamonds; one that was more pop as our chosen track is more upbeat, and one more alternative to help us with the artistic element that we want to bring in so that I could identify genre characteristics for both and decide how to evolve them together.

This is the most voyeuristic pop music video I'd analysised; the whole video is constructed to make Marina look vulnerable, unaware that we are watching her doing something so personal [altering her appearance]. This gives the video quite a serious atmostphere and, whilst we don't want our piece to be humourous, the upbeat of track wouldn't fit with something this sombre.

I did like the frequent reference to the notion of looking however, demonstrated through her singing into the mirror. I showed my partner this and we both agreed we want to include a shot similar to this -- maybe at the beginning of the video, our artist getting ready.

MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS - FEAR AND LOATHING

Goodwin's Analysis: Marina and the Diamonds

Though I have previously studied and applied Goodwin's analysis to music videos, we have since created our brief [below] and so established our genre: alternative pop. In preparation for our music video, I applied Goodwin's analysis to music videos only of our chosen genre.

As Marina and the Diamonds was a heavy influence when we created our brief, I decided to apply Goodwin's analysis to her music video.

MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS -  HOLLYWOOD


The first point of Goodwin's analysis that I noticed was present was the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. The single is titled 'Hollywood' and mocks the stereotypical American culture. The music video very clearly reflects this subject of American culture; there are American flags in several of the shots with Marina herself wearing a USA suit and stereotypical American archetypes, such as cheerleaders, jocks, a beauty Queen and famous American celebrities like Marilyn Monroe [intertextual references, another point listed in Goodwin's analysis. This not only demonstrates elements of Goodwin's analysis but also identifies fashion and make-up as an important part of pop music characteristics; it's all about the image.

Another example of link between the lyrics and visuals is that when Marina sings about money, she is seen making the money sign in the mirror ["You'd do anything for a dime"].

The whole video is constructed around Marina, both opening and closing the video with a close-up and featuring several mid shots in which she is positioned in the middle therefore the main focus and the background secondary. This demonstrates demands from the record label -- as stated in Goodwin's analysis -- as the ongoing focus on Marina highlights her as a commodity.

A part of the video features Marina gazing into a mirror and singing, which is a reference to the notion of looking [Goodwin's analysis], and again emphasises her physical appearance. The focus on Marina and her appearance throughout the whole video, like we are watching/following her at a party, links in with Goodwin's theory of voyeuristic treatment of the female body. It again highlights image and physical appearance as key in pop music videos.

Whilst there are no strictly choreographed dance routines -- which is strange for a pop music video -- Marina performs throughout the music video which itself is a characteristic of pop. Pop music videos are more about the performance, than any kind of narrative. This, however, isn't something that we want to take away for our music video. Analysing digipaks and album covers, however, also showed me that fashion [or image] is the focus point for any genre featuring pop, or really for female artists in general, so this is a key characteristic that we will have to focus on in order to communicate genres.

Song Choice

Our chosen song is Youth Knows No Pain by Lykke Li. Lykke Li is a swedish artist of the alternative pop genre and we thought it would be smart to pick an artist that may not be well known so that we're not influenced by any pre existing image.


We chose this song because it's quite upbeat and has a pop sound to it, where is a slower song might be too alternative and make it difficult to create visuals for. The title itself is quite bold and also reflects our target audience: youth. Like pop songs, it is not too deep and intense but it's not about the stereotypical party situation and it doesn't have a strict narrative, giving us more freedom for creating the concept to the music video.

Music Brief

We constructed our music brief to reflect out genre. We want an artistic, alternative element to our artist and so created her singer-songwriter background to reflect this (we wanted to give her some depth instead of the pop oriented talent show route).

This has not only helped develop a clearer image for our artist but also prompted us to consider the demographics and psychographics of our target audience; they will have to be able to connect with our artist and so share a similar lifestyle. 

Album Cover Research

Since we have decided on the alternative pop genre, we put together an analysis of album covers of that genre. It was difficult to find actual digipaks to help demonstrate the code and conventions of digipaks alone so we focused on album packages. Marina and the Diamonds was one of our main inspiration so I focused on her album whilst my partner focused on other artists.

I discovered re-occuring conventions for pop or alternative pop album covers: the main point being a huge focus on the artist's image, mostly focusing on their facial features and hair as opposed to clothes (though they also influence the image).

What stood out during this research was a feature of Marina and the Diamond's album package in which she not only included exclusive photos but also gave jewelry and a compact mirror with her album. Jewelry isn't necessarily something that we would want to include in our digipak but we do want to include something that makes it differ from a CD pack and that we can use as a selling point.

Chosen Genre

Looking through the pre-existing briefs, we realised that the pop genre was what appealed most to us.
As teenage girls, a female star is the most appropriate but we are also the dominant target audience for pop so doing something like rock or country does not appeal to us. However, the pre-existing briefs lent more towards the dance genre and our artist would have to be the epitome of a pop star -- but we want our artist to have more depth than that.

We have been referencing artists like Marina and the Diamonds and Lana Del Rey in our verbal brainstorms; these artists do fall in to the pop genre but also have an element of indie or alternative. Their image is slightly quirky and they appeal to teenagers with a later age range -- like 16-25 -- whilst ultimately still obeying pop genre characteristics in order to be successful. We'd like to reflect this image  in our artist; a female, alternative/indie pop solo artist.