Sohel's Evaluation

In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

There are many conventions that different media products tend to use, these conventions are usually dependant on the genre and style of the media product. Conventions is what the audience expects to see, keeping this in mind we had chosen our music genre that we were going to produce a music video for. To decide the music genre we had researched different genres as well as watched the music videos to get an idea of the types of convention the audience is expecting to see. The music genre that we had chosen was ‘Grime’ and after researching we had discovered one of the pioneers in the grime scene, Wiley. For this reason we had chosen Wiley as he is a very grime based type artist which means that our media product should keep to the conventions of this genre.

The track that we had chosen was Wiley – Mike Lowery, this is because when listening to the track it has very strong grime roots, from the beat to the flow of the artists vocals and the lyrics. All three of these combined together had given us a strong grime track than when compared to other grime artists that we had looked at. The other grime artists that we had looked at were artists such as Skepta, Devlin and the up and coming P Money. All of these three artists have a very grime themed base in their lyrics but had their own uniqueness, for e.g. these uniqueness could have been the flow of their vocals, the topics that they chose to talk about and the way that they had presented themselves in their music videos. From the research we had discovered that whilst Skepta, Devlin and P Money were all grime artists there music theme was sort of different, this was a problem as different themes meant that there were also different conventions. After consideration and other research on other artists we had chosen Wiley’s Mike Lowery as it suited the conventions perfectly.

There are different ways that our media product uses the conventions of real media products, the numbers on the images refer to the conventions of real media products that our media product uses:

1.    The way that our media product uses the convention of real media products is by establishing a mood at the beginning of the music video by using short, quick yet powerful establishing shots of the music instruments/hardware. This convention is a typical convention which is establishing the artists view at the beginning of the sequence by using establishing shots, this kind of convention can be seen in other music videos such as Ja Rules New York track which has establishing shots of New York. Although Ja Rules New York track is not a grime track the establishing shot convention is not limited to only one genre of the music industry but rather a convention of music videos in general.

2.    Not only did we use the conventions of music videos in general, we had also used the conventions of the grime genre’s music videos. This convention is where we can see a performance of the artist in the studio where he is reciting his lyrics in to the microphone. The reason that we had used this is because the audience expects to see some form of performance which can be done through lip synching. Since grime uses a heavy amount of lip synching we had decided to film our product in the studio as this way we can keep to grime conventions where heavy lip synching is used as well as sticking to the conventions where the audience would get to see a performance by the artist in the music video.

6.    In this scene we had used the conventions of a grime music video where there is a lot of camera shots as well as movements and jump cuts. We had used this convention to give the music video a grime effect on the audience, we had used jump cuts, close ups, mid shots, tracking, panning etc. to use this convention in our media product. Also the tempo of the beat is fast as is expected from a grime track, which means that so must the editing in terms of speed; this is to give a synchronised feeling of the music video with the visuals and sound.

In our media product we also had developed on conventions of real media products, this can be seen from the shots of our music video, the number on the images refer to the development of real media products conventions:

5. The way that we had developed this convention from a real media product is through the way that music videos are starting to become a balance with visuals of the artists and the performance/lip synching from the artist. Most music videos tend to have scenes where the artist is heard but visually is not seen lip synching, these sort of music videos have become popular and as a result is now a convention for the audience. The way that we had developed this is by having the artist express themselves with their action in the music video, in our case we had decided to give the audience a performance of the artist by showing them the artist at work (writing his lyrics).

7. Our media product also develops on the visual conventions of real media products, the way that this is done is that usually real media products will use close up’s of the artists facial expression to show or express a form of mood to the audience. The way that our media product develops on this convention is that not only is the artists facial expression captured to set off a mood for the audience but is also in a black and white colour scheme, by enhancing the visuals of the artist with a black and white colour scheme we have set the feelings of the music video to be sort of a moody music video where the artists emotions are captivated fully in the visuals.

8. Not only does our media product use conventions of real media products but it also develops on these conventions, the way that our media product develops on conventional media products is how the end of the music video ends. This is because audiences expect to see something happen visually at the end of a music video, something like an outro to the music video so that the audience knows that it is the end. The way that our media product develops this convention is by ending the music video with the artist cutting the camera out, this is so that the audience knows that it is the end of the music video.

Our media product also challenges the forms and conventions of a real media product, this is because there are some scenes that the audience may not see in a grime type music video. The numbers on the images refer to the way that our media product challenges the forms and conventions of real media product:

3. The way that this challenges the forms and conventions of a real grime type music video is because the audience wouldn’t expect to see a clip off the internet; although they may expect some form of voyeurism in the music video they may not have expected voyeurism from an internet clip. This scene brings something fresh and new in to the grime type music videos and shows that grime can expand their music videos in terms of voyeurism and other media platforms being used in the music video.

4. The way that our media product challenges the conventional forms of a grime based media product is by using intertextuality in our music video, this is done by placing a well known music product, beats headphones by dr. dre, in our music video. When looking at music videos of the grime genre, there is little to no intertextuality done when producing a music video, we had challenged this form and convention by placing something which is well known in to our music video, something that is relevant to music, by doing this we had achieved a more musical approach to the artist as beats by dr. dre is a well known product for listening to music.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

The combination of our main product and our ancillary text is effective as everything in terms of the design and visuals stays constant to the music video. The combination that we had decided to use is to make the design of our poster as well as CD album cover and back to remain constant with the visuals of the music video. The reason that we had decided to do this is because the music video will hopefully be viewed by a mass amount of people, this means that a mass amount of people can familiarise the visuals of the music video with the album as well as posters and instantly recognise the ancillary texts with our media product. This will hopefully result in audiences that liked the music video to take notice of our ancillary texts and to take it a step further by purchasing the album.

The images of our album cover is similar to our media product, the black and white album cover shows the black and white colour aspects of our music product. This was done so that when audiences remember the colour aspect of our media product they can then familiarise it with the album cover which can cause customer awareness of our media product. Also by making the album cover and the music video similar in terms of the visuals used, it can create more promotion for the artist as it creates collective identity similar to a slogan where the customer can relate a slogan to a product.

The poster is designed to promote the artists CD, we had created 2 posters, one promoting the release date and the other to promote that it has been released in stores. The 1^st poster was designed with images of the artist, this was to show who the poster is promoting as well as to create customer awareness for that customer, we had also used various images of the artist in the poster so that we can get the audience to familiarise with them as much as possible so that when the album is released the audience will be able to recognise the media product. We had also had the release date in a bold, large and visible text so that the market has knowledge of when the product will be released. In the 2^nd poster we had designed it to promote the fact that the CD is out, this was done by creating a huge, visible and bold text so that it can catch the markets eye and let them know it had been released. Also to catch the artists eye we had made the background of the poster plain white so the focus is on the poster. We also had the image of the artist on a book, this was to create a literal image of the albums title ‘100% publishing’, the reason we had decided to create a literal image is so that it is relevant to the artists CD.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

When we had finished editing and finalising our music video, we had uploaded it on a video hosting website which was Youtube, we had also posted it up on social networking sites such as Facebook. From both websites we had received positive feedback. We also had a showcase of our music video in our classroom where positive comments were made verbally.

From this I have learnt that our music product was a success in portraying the grime genre as well as our media product being successful in using, developing and challenging the forms and conventions of the grime genre. Although when challenging the forms and conventions of grime we were worried that it may not meet the expectations of the grime genre, however we were happy with the results of our media product as we had still gained positive feedback from several grime fans.

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Candidate Name: Sohel Uddin Ahmed
Candidate Number: 1204
Centre Number: 12350

Christopher's Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My media product challenges and uses current forms and conventions of real media products. The chosen genre was Grime which is a popular urban genre within the UK. The decision of this genre was taken from our audience feedback on their favourite genre. In the feedback the popular genres were Grime, Hip hop and rap. Within our group we had to decide between the three and we chose Grime because it is a genre that we have listened to a lot and have good depth of knowledge about how the music makes you feel, characteristics as well as the usual conventions.

The chosen song was Wiley- Mike Lowery. We chose this song because it felt like a very deep grime song to us. It had a grime heavy beat which was complemented by the lyrics. The song came about from our Grime research. We looked at various different grime videos but in particular gritty and dark. We researched the videos Skepta - Mike Lowery, Devlin - Marching through the fog and P Money - Slang Like This. The Skepta and Devlin videos used all the elements of a grime genre but added something new in terms of the actual video. In the Skepta video the artist takes to role of a torturer which looks very similar to a horror film. Whereas the Devlin video used the theme of confrontation and overcoming battles outside and within. Again this uses various well known grime elements such as Mise-en-scene and clothing. Meanwhile the P Money video was completely different in the form that it used a much more lighter grime flow and beat and we chose this video to see how it compared to the Skepta and Devlin videos in terms of feedback. 

To challenge and develop the music video I had to do research on grime artists themselves. This was done by analysing their lyrics and analysing their actions in their music videos. To grime artists their music means a lot to them. They are passionate about what they say and what it means. Different artists have different motivations about what they say, for example Devlin's lyrics are about the hardships he's faced in his life and this draws comparisons to Eminem. Whereas other grime artists like Wiley, Skepta and P Money all take their music very seriously and only say lyrics they think is relevant. 

To challenge the conventions of Grime we had to develop an idea that stayed conventional but done something different but remained 'grimey'. Typical Grime videos use an urban backdrop and has the artist walking round an estate or somewhere you'd associate with being urban. To change this idea I thought that the video should take place in a music studio. This portrays to the audience that the artist is committed to his music and trying to breakthrough as the shows how hard the artist is working. The second part of the video was to have it in an outside environment but not a typical urban environment. We achieved this by using different scenes that looked typical of another genre whilst using some scenes that involved graffiti which of course is urban.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

The combination of the music video, CD cover and Magazine ad really work well to promote the artist. It looks very typical of the grime genre in terms of mise-en-scene and costume. The CD works well with the video because the headphones on top of the equalizer represent the commitment the artist has to his music and this is shown in the video too as the main artist is saying his lyrics with passion and fire. The magazine ad is also intended to portray this too with the different shots of the artist 'spitting bars'. 

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

I have learnt that our music video was very successful in portraying the grime genre. I posted it on social networking sites Facebook and Twitter and got feedback as well as feedback from YouTube. 

From the feedback we received we were very happy with the outcome of the video and how the using unconventional elements works well for the grime genre.

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

The Music Video - Wiley - Mike Lowery // Final cut // HD

Timeline

Inital ideas - Wiley - Mike Lowery

The main idea for Wiley - Mike Lowery was to have half the song in a music production studio and the other half outside. The first half would consist of one of our group members lip syncing the lyrics to the song as if he were recording the song there and then in a music studio. The aim was to have three different shots and have then cut after every 3 seconds to each of the three shots. Other shots that were in consideration were equipment shots to establish the setting, these included shots of a keyboard, music equalizer, speakers and a beat box. Another consideration was to make the video have a black and white tone and the idea was to make some of the video back and white or all of the video black and white. This helps establish the mood of the song and helps with natural lighting as there are only two colours.

The second part of the song was looking to have scenes that were different to the studio production scenes but maintain the same mood in the form of lip syncing and artist vibe. Most of the scenes have the artist in many different locations saying the lyrics whilst other scenes show the star image motif in the form of close-ups or mid shots.

The idea in general has many typical themes of the grime genre but also does things that are different. Rather than sticking to an estate backdrop the studio element displays the artists commitment to his music and shows the passion in his movement and facial gestures.

Magazine advertisement

 

Album cover - Wiley - 100% Publishing

Front

Back

Lyrics analysis - Wiley - Mike Lowery

Verse 1:
I like this flow so bro I'll say so much that I do one
And it's just like when man a man heard where's my brother on road it was a new one
I might be known as a MC stroke producer causing confusion
Anytime you hear anybody trying to be king don't believe the illusion
I'm gonna do it how I know they can't do it even if they can't do it I do it like its a light jog
If you are in the music game and you happen to know my name then you're in the right job
If I never gave birth to the scene then you'll be a cameraman behind tripods
Whoever don't like me then runway, we don't need to have dialogue
See I got a good heart like Malcolm X, but if I run up on a man I ain't preaching
I've been stabbed 21 times could have seen death quicker but no I'm still breathing
Some man had one beef and a next beef and their acting like they go boxing
I just said SYM to a spitter three times with a killi I knocked him
When I say I lock a man's ear off I'm not at all talking about radio
If I'm gonna kill a sound boy it's better that I do it than say so
And if they wanna see a blood bath, they will if not, then maybe they'll lay low
Bring another wave round, make you see the colours of a spark like a rainbow

Verse 2:
I got people from all walks of life thinking Wiley's on a mad ting
But they don't know I speak my mind, when I speak not for the reaction
Call me a keyboard warrior because I might hit him in the head with a keyboard
Funny when a man says, physically we ain't equal
I like that, it gives me a platform to climb I spread my wings like an eagle
I grew up in London, that place there is full of the wickedest people
Certain times you see a idiat who rolls in a badman vehicle
Call that a lookalike, that boys life is sweeter than treacle
You wanna know why I'm so hated? because I don't give a damn when I get irate
And when it comes to it my fans might burn you out like MySpace
When I make countless songs, and I do good work with locals that I rate
So if I'm attached to the club scene like a wired up studio why hate?
When it comes to the ladies I swipe like a thief in the night no black gloves
I want a peng ting with big bumper, slim waistline and fat jugs
Lets get hyper tonight let me show you what that does
This drunken vibe is covering my head in a place like a hat does
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"I like this flow so bro I'll say so much that I do one" since Skepta was the first person and original person to make the Mike Lowery track, Wiley is trying to say that he had heard Skepta's verion and liked the "flow" and so had decided to make his own version.

"And it's just like when man a man heard where's my brother on road it was a new one" - In this sentence Wiley is referring to his previous work "where's my brother" and how it was original by stating that it was "a new one" also what Wiley is trying to say is that Skepta's Mike Lowery was like his "where's my brother" orginal and new.

"I might be known as a MC stroke producer causing confusion" - This line refers to Wiley as an artist in general. Because he founded the Grime scene and was known as one of the best MC's he's recently been producing songs for other artists, then changing and producing songs and music videos, hence why he say's "causing confusion".

"Anytime you hear anybody trying to be king don't believe the illusion" - This line refers to Wiley's self image as the best MC and is basically saying if some other artist is saying he's better than him or the king of the genre not to believe it.

"If you are in the music game and you happen to know my name then you're in the right job" - This line refers to Wiley's status within the Grime scene as it's founder.

"Whoever don't like me then runway, we don't need to have dialogue" - What Wiley is trying to portray in this sentence is that those people that dislike him as an artist or as a person doesnt really faze him but just not to talk to him or about him.

"See I got a good heart like Malcolm X, but if I run up on a man I ain't preaching" - In this line Wiley uses clever and witty wordplay to make a point. The way this is done is by Wiley referring to Malcolm X who is a well known preacher, by referring to Malcolm X, Wiley then refers to what Malcom X does and says if he was to argue with someone he's not "preaching" meaning he wont talk but will take action.

"Some man had one beef and a next beef and their acting like they go boxing" - What Wiley means in this sentence is about what other artists or people are trying to imply about their self-image after they have had one or two fights.


"If I never gave birth to the scene then you'll be a cameraman behind tripods" - Since Wiley is seen as a pioneer of the grime scene as well as one of the artists to push the genre forward, in this line he is trying to say that if it wasn't for him creating opportunities in the grime genre then the grime artists today would of had a different career path.

"If I'm gonna kill a sound boy it's better that I do it than say so" - What Wiley means is that if he was to do something he wouldnt mention it but take action since to Wiley, actions speak louder than words.

"And if they wanna see a blood bath, they will if not, then maybe they'll lay low" - Wiley describes something which is gory "blood bath" that people wouldnt want to go through, this is more of a threat by Wiley to those who anger him, and if those who are angering him dont want to see a "blood bath" then they should stop being of an annoyance to Wiley.

"I got people from all walks of life thinking Wiley's on a mad ting" - This line refers to Wileys current music direction within the scene.

"But they don't know I speak my mind, when I speak not for the reaction" - The reason that Wiley mentions this is because sometimes people make assumptions that Wiley say's things in his music or other forms of media just to spark a reaction but this sentence clears that assumption up by Wiley saying he is just saying whats on his mind and how he feels about it.

"Funny when a man says, physically we ain't equal, I like that, it gives me a platform to climb I spread my wings like an eagle" - Wiley uses this in his lyrics because a lot of people challenge him but he see's it as a method to expand and develop his skills.

"Certain times you see a idiat who rolls in a badman vehicle, Call that a lookalike, that boys life is sweeter than treacle" - Wiley states this in his lyrics because of what he see's is going on in society today, what he is trying to mention is that a lot of people are trying to become what they are not to impress others and are actually the opposite of what they are trying to show.

"You wanna know why I'm so hated? because I don't give a damn when I get irate" - Irate means to show extreme anger or feelings, so by implementing this term in to his own lyrics Wiley is trying to explain why some people hate him either as an artist or as a person.

"And when it comes to it my fans might burn you out like MySpace" - Since the MySpace 'hype' is over and the trend has moved on to facebook, Wiley is trying to represent the other artists work as 'MySpace' and saying that his fans will finish the other artists 'hype'.

"When I make countless songs, and I do good work with locals that I rate" - This line refers to Wiley's recent disagreement with his producer, this line is used by Wiley to let us know that he knows what he is doing.

"So if I'm attached to the club scene like a wired up studio, why hate?" - Wiley is asking this question to those that envy the fact that he is being paid alot of attention and treated importantly by many people as well as clubs.

"When it comes to the ladies I swipe like a thief in the night no black gloves" - Wiley uses metaphors to tell the audience how ladies are attracted to him and how he takes them with him after the club or event is over.

"I want a peng ting with big bumper, slim waistline and fat jugs" - In this line Wiley is reffering to the sort of woman he seeks or desires.

"This drunken vibe is covering my head in a place like a hat does" - In this line Wiley is trying to say how being drunk takes over his mind and how his mind and body works.

Record Label Research

Music Institute (record label) Research

Finding the correct media institute or record label for our music product would be an essential part of our media products venture; this is because if the correct institute or record label is chosen then the artist as well as the media product can be marketed properly and much more efficiently. Choosing the correct record label can also help us to maximise our views as well as to maximise the amount of target audience being reached out to, this is because different record labels specialise in different fields for e.g. A&E records specialises in developing artists that produce work in the rock genre and therefore can reach more rock audiences than XL Recordings which can be seen as more of a hip-hop label.

Since our media product is of the grime genre we will be researching different record labels to try and find out which record label would be best for us.

Def Jam

Def Jam recordings is an American based record label which is owned by universal music group. This record label focuses more on the hip-hop genre which has produced many popular and well known artists such as Kanye West, Young Jeezy and other artists. Although the record label is American, Def Jam could be a potential record label which can help distribute and popularise our media product, though it is American Def Jam has signed British artists in the past, these British artists were popular artists such as N-Dubz. By looking at the fact that Def Jam has signed British artists before, it tells us that it is not impossible for our media product which is British to be taken on board this record label. However although Def Jam are popular and do have a significant amount of consumers at their disposal it will not fit our requirements as most of their audiences are fans of the hip-hop genre as well as most of their artists being from the hip-hop background. This means that Def Jam may not have enough resources or sufficient experience when dealing with the grime genre and therefore may not have the time and effort to help our media products in development.

Boy Better Know

Boy Better Know is an independent grime record label which is based in the U.K. mainly in London and has produced successful artists such as JME, Skepta and Wiley. Although they are successful artists they are also the runners of the Boy Better Know record label. Boy Better Know is an ideal record label to produce our media product seeing as they focus mainly if not then entirely on grime which means that they can give us their time and knowledge as well as their focus and experience on distributing our media product. Although Boy Better Know is an ideal record label for our media product Boy Better Know wouldn’t have any room for expansion in to other areas of genre’s such as collaborations etc. also because Boy Better Know is new and recent record label they do not have as much market share as record companies that have been in the business for longer than they have, or as the same amount of experience which means that our media product may not get the correct marketing.

XL Recordings

XL recordings is another British independent record label which works with various artists from various genres such as Giggs, Gorillaz, the prodigy and more. XL recordings has been producing and working with artists since 1989 which means that XL has a lot of experience as well as contacts with in the music industry which is very valuable to an up and coming artist. Also because XL has been running since 1989 their marketing tactics as well as market share and experience can be viewed as an important asset in to distributing a successful media product seeing as they have many doors of opportunities that are already open which means that there would be little or no complications when dealing with our media product.

The record label that we have chosen to go for would have to be the Boy Better Know record label. This is because the record label is mainly if not entirely focused in to the grime genre which means that their market share should be grime fans. The reason that this is important is because XL and Def Jam may have a considerable amount of market share but only a small percentage of that market share may be grime. Also for a new and recent record label Boy Better Know has produced millions of views online which shows that for a new and recent record label they still have a lot to learn meaning they have so much more potential. Going with Boy Better Know would be the best choice since if Boy Better Know realise their potential and can grasp their potential then they can easily become one of the leading record labels and therefore being part of this would help our media product to be recognised.

Denotations and Connotations Analysis - Nas - One Mic

Denotations: (What you see)	Connotations: (What it means)
P.O.V of car driving along the road	At the beginning and near the end of the music video a P.O.V of what seems to be of the driver of the vehicle is shown driving in one direction, this could represent that the artist is on the right path on the ‘road to success’.
Buildings lights effects	The lights of the buildings are seen fluctuating with the beat, when the tempo of the beat is changed the tempo of the lights fluctuating is also changed, this is to give a visual with the sound of the track.
Artist in empty room	The artist being shown by himself in an empty room can represent that he wants to lead a simple and humble life, as well as wanting to be alone which could be linked with the word ‘one’ from the tracks title.
Musical equipment in empty room	The artist shows musical equipment in his empty room, there is not a lot of equipment but ‘one mic’ ‘one’ set of speakers and ‘one’ artist which could again represent the track title.
Police vehicle and sirens	Police is a typical convention in Hip-Hop videos which is shown negatively, the artist has made use of this convention and shows the job role of the police officer and what he does.
Group of men running from law	The group of men running from the police can represent what the artist had to go through as well as the circumstances some people in society have to live with.
Glass bottle is smashed	The glass bottle being smashed in the ground shows a visual link with the artists lyrics when he says ‘Bus stop glass bursts, a fiend drops his Heineken’, when this sentence is said the artist is referring to a gun being put to use, the audience that understand this sentence is then given an ironic glass bottle being smashed on the floor as to represent the end of a life.
Image of Jesus	The image of Jesus could have been used to represent the artist’s faith.
Riots	The riots that go on in the music video between villagers and the local authority can represent the artists inner balance which they are trying to portray as being unstable as the lyrics and the way they are said are more aggressive and seem to have a deeper meaning for the artist.
P.O.V of rock being thrown	The P.O.V of the rock being thrown can represent the aggression and the lyrical flow of the artist’s style.
Artist stands up in empty room	The artist stands up from a seating position at the start of the last verse; this could have been done to show the artist being ready to perform his last verse, it could also have been used as a visual to introduce the powerful lyrical content of the last verse.

Denotations and Connotations Analysis - Kano - Signs in life

Denotations: (What you see)	Connotations: (What it means)
Flats, Council Estate	The artist has maybe done this to show where he is from; this is also done to give it a grime theme as most grime themes are associated with council estates, flats or in any type of urban area.
Home-Studio with live performance	The artist has done this to show what he does or has done to build up his music career.
Pictures of London	The artist has maybe done this to show where he is from; this is also done to give it a grime theme as most grime themes are associated with council estates, flats or in any type of urban area.
Gangs of youths	The artist has done this to show what kind of social life he lives in or is representing, also when looking at the grime genre a convention we may see is a gang of youths behaving in an antisocial behaviour.
Night time – Evening	The artist has gone for a video where it is produced in the evening during dark hours, this could have been done to give the music video a more sinister atmosphere as well as a more grime based theme seeing as grime could be seen as a sub-genre of heavy metal which is conventionally associated with dark themes.
Images of cars, jewellery, money etc.	The artist has done this to show a visual link with the lyrics, also when analysing why a gang of youths act in a certain way, the motive behind there behaviour could be for these reasons.
Road signs	Visual link with the sound/lyrics, road signs are also used by the artist in the music video so that the audience can associate the road signs with the track title ‘Signs in life’ also when looking at this denotation carefully the signs that are shown is something that someone may see everyday in their life or have seen during any part of their lives.
Images of prison	Artist has used this as this is where most people may end up, especially youths that are involved in gangs like the ones that the artists are representing.
News	The artist shows bad news for e.g. in the video there is a police sign which reads out ‘fatal incident’, this is to show that there is not always good news where he is from.
Stolen Car	Visual link with what the artist is talking about, this is to give the video a more realistic theme to be associated with the lyrics
Image of infant putting up his middle finger	This can represent some issues faced in society, how antisocial behaviour is being passed down to younger generations.
Black or dark clothing	This is to go with the atmosphere of the theme as well as being a typical colour or theme a group of youths will wear. It is also conventional clothing that is linked with grime.
Religious Signs	The artist would like to portray a religious side of his music video, where religion also indicates ‘signs in life’, also because religion guides a lot of people and the term ‘signs’ can mean an indication or direction for a person to follow, the artist is trying to convey an image where it shows double meaning.
Images of police vehicles	These are the sort of things that you will see in a typical London urban area as crime rates are high which means there is a lot of trouble with the police.
Bright and occupied room in an unoccupied flat being used as a studio	This could tell us that the artist is secluded from trouble as he is trying to build on his music career, also it can mean that the artist is trying to convey the problems that he faces outside of the studio.

Questionnaire Results & Analysis

Questionnaire (results out of 30)

  

1. What is your gender?

This chart shows us that we had chosen 50% males and 50% females to carry out our survey.

  

2. What is your age group?

Looking at the age group it can show us that the least age group that filled out the questionnaire was 21+ and also may have a completely different taste in music as they are from a different generation.

3. Do you listen to music?

This chart shows us that a majority of the people do listen to music whilst there is still a small gap of people that do not.

4. If yes how often do you listen to music?

The chart shows us that again the majority of people listen to music regularly therefore suggesting that the majority of people are in to the music culture.

5. What genre do you prefer to listen to? 

When looking at the results, the results tell us that the majority of people would prefer to listen to grime, this is not surprising as grime is a dominant genre of music in the U.K. After grime the results tell us that Hip-Hop would be a second choice for audiences to listen to in the U.K as Hip-Hop is more global and mainstream.

7. Do you purchase any of the artists albums, mix tapes etc?

The results tell us that a majority of the audience do purchase albums and mix tapes, this shows that with the right marketing tactics an album can be mass produced as we know the majority of people will purchase the album, although this is the case we would also need to have a pricing strategy as to maximise profits.

8. How much would you spend on an album?

The chart shows that the target audience wouldn’t want to spend too much on an album or mix tape, although other factors can come in to play such as if the artist is well known the price may be higher, if the price is worth the CD etc. Since a majority of the people said they would spend £3 or less it will be a good idea to mass produce so that there will be a better chance of breaking even, the more we sell the closer to breaking even and making profit we become.

9. Where do you purchase or get your albums from?

Since a lot of the target audience said that they purchase their albums and mix tapes from the internet it will be a good idea to put the album up for sale online, this would also be better as a more wider range of audience is available as well as a mass of potential consumers. Also putting up the album or mix tape online is relatively cheap or sometimes free which means we can then again maximise profit for the artist.

10. Do you watch an artists music video?

This question was asked so that we can find out whether a music video will produce views or not, by clarifying that a majority of people do watch an artists music video we know that views can be gained, although views can be gained it is sometimes difficult in to getting people to watch something that they haven’t seen before and therefore has to be unique to catch the audiences eye.

11. Where do you watch these music videos?

The best places to put up our music video would be television and the internet this is because both these media outlets reaches a mass of target audiences as well as potential audiences that can give a boost to a music videos views. Views can be gained through a television by choosing the right institute to showcase our music video for e.g. a very grime theme based music channel would be channel A.K.A where we may want our media product to be showcased. Also with the correct viral marketing we can further increase boosts of views if our media product.

12. Does an artist’s music video influence you to purchase their albums?

Since a majority of the people said yes, producing our media product up to standards would be necessary, this is so that we can try to reach as much of the target audience as possible, the more we reach the more consumers for our media product.

Initial Ideas

Questionnaire - Questions and justifications

Questionnaire - Questions and justifications

1. What is your gender?

The reason that we are asking this is because when analysing the questionnaires we would like to find out which gender associates with what genre, artist etc. more. 

2. Please specify your age group

The reason that we want to know the age group is that we can again further break down which group likes what, this is called segmentation, by segmenting the audience we would be able to target specific groups.

3. Do you listen to music?

The reason that we would want to know this is because some people may not be interested in music, by identifying who does not listen to music we can save time and money by not having to target out media product at them.

4. If yes, how often do you listen to music?

The reason that this is important to know is because we can again save time and money by targeting our media product at those who are heavily involved in listening to music as well as those who listen to music occasionally.

5. What genre do you prefer to listen to?

This is an important question to ask, the reason that we would be asking this is so that we can find out which is the popular choice for which groups.

6. Who would be your favourite artist in this genre?

We would like to know who is the favourite artist in the genre the target audience have chosen, this is so that we can find out which artist is more associated with which genre.

7. Do you purchase any of the artists albums, mix tapes etc.?

This information would be important so that we can find out how many people purchase the albums, this is so that we can then have a think about whether or not an album should be mass produced since if not a lot of people purchase the album then it would be a waste of time and money as well as the artists effort.

8. How much would you spend on an album?

This is an important factor to think about when it comes to distributing the albums, knowing how much a person would spend on an album helps us to create pricing strategies.

9. Where do you purchase or get your albums from?

We would need to know this so that when marketing and distributing our media products we would know where the main income will come from as well as to know where we should focus our marketing on.

10. Do you watch an artist’s music video?

This question is so that we know whether people watch music videos or not as well as to know whether out music videos will get any views or not.

11. Where do you watch these music videos?

The reason that we are asking this is because there are different methods of watching a music video, this means that we would like to know which kind of method of watching a music video is popular so that we can consider the options of how to get our media product out there.

12. Does an artist’s music video influence you to purchase their albums?

The reason that we would like to know whether an artist’s music video influences the target audience, is so that we can know whether a music video can give our artist a boost of increase in sales.

13. What kind of things would you like to see in a music video?

The answer for this question would be where the person will have a chance to give their own opinion, this is so that when producing the music video we can look at these opinions and use them to create a brainstorm of ideas to use in the media production.