Copyright is a main type of intellectual property, which includes a trademark of design. Intellectual property allows a person to own things they create in the same way as something physically being owned. It is the right to prevent others from copying or reproducing someone's work. The law that governs copyright in the UK is called the Copyright, designs and patents act 1988.
Once an original work is fixed in a tangible medium, the creator has the rights of the song and the rights to allow people to use it. The owner of a copyright in the music industry has the exclusive rights to do the following things. They can reproduce and distribute the work and copies of the song to make changes to it and sell it to the public domain. They can also preform the work publically and display the work as their own.
Copyright owners of songs (but not owners of sound recording copyrights) control the rights
to have their song preformed publically. Performance of a song generally means playing it in
a nightclub or live venue, on the radio, on television, in commercial establishments, elevators or anywhere else where music is heard publicly.
This song we are using is not our own so we have to get permission from the original creators in order to use it and so that our song and music video doesn't get taken down by the creators. Additionally, I had to ask for permission for it so i am able to upload and use it to show the exam board and my media class, and to publicly put on YouTube. Furthermore, i had to apply for copyright so that if i uploaded my work it wouldn't keep getting taken down because it will have taken me a lot of time to create and I don't want to receive a fine from the record label or change my whole project and video. Firstly we had to research Gabrielle Aplin's producers, record labels etc. in order to find out who we were contacting and where we could find them. We done this by accessing her Wikipedia page to find her record label where we then eventually went on to their website and found their contact email. We also found the producer of the song Panic Cord and this is the person we contacted directly for permission to use this song. We also accessed her social media accounts such as her Facebook and twitter page where we found links to peoples emails and phone numbers such as her producers, record labels main offices and who to contact in certain circumstances and different events. We did not receive feedback from the producer of the song panic cord or from Gabrille Aplins record label so we will have to send another email to the same people in order to get permission and make it clear to the record label that we need to use their work.
A target audience is a group of people that an artists intends on marketing their song or service to and the group of people that it is aimed at. Music artists have different target audiences based on the genre and nature of the music and who is best suited for, for example pop artists such as One Direction would have an target audience for girls and teenagers aged 10-19. These target audiences become clear to artists through market research and what groups of people find the song the most popular and have an interest in their music. This is affected through marketing and advertising of things such as songs, albums or tours and the songs and music videos for the artist and the conventions of that genre and artists character that their target audience can relate to. The purpose of an target audience is that when a media product is being planned or created, one of the most important questions the creators have to consider is 'who are our target audience' and 'dos this have an target audience we can make the product best suited for. If not their is no target market or audience that will buy the songs or listen to the artist and the artist will not be a success with no real direction therefore their will be no point in making the media product. For our research we asked 40 people to fill out a questionnaire based on questions related to our planning for our own music video and questions on the indie genre and put our answers into pie charts in order to find out the most popular ones and our target audiences preferences. We also created 5 vox pops, video questionnaires, of people answering our questions in order to take on board their feedback and to get an understanding as to what audiences prefer and expect from existing indie artists and from the indie genre as a whole. This research was carried out in order to get a clear understanding as to what is deemed suitable and relevant in terms of conventions, camera and editing techniques and other media elements when creating our music video and to get an understanding as to what our audiences prefer and want so we can make it as successful as we can and as relatable to our audience as we can. We asked a total of 40 people to complete our questionnaire so that we could get more opinions and answers for our questions and in order to get a wider spread of answers to make our answers more clear as it will bring out which techniques and things we could include are most popular as our research was carried out from a number of different people. This is better for us when creating our video as if it was only completed by small amount of people then the answers may not suit the general preferences or interests of our target audience or a mainstream audience and it would just suit that small minority. We will use our results from the questionnaires in our music videos as we will find out which answers are the most popular and include them in our video in the best and most relevant possible way. For example, if musical instruments was the most popular answer for our iconography question then we will add a performance element into our video with the artist playing the guitar or a piano, depending on the style of our song and video. This will also be the same case for our other questions, including our open questions where audiences elaborated on their answers. For this we will have a clearer and more in depth question therefore giving us exact ideas to include in our video rather then generalising and just including one popular answer occasionally.
For our first question in the and pie chart in our questionnaire, we aced audiences how old they were and what gender they are, in order to put everyone into different categories and genders in order to first of all find out the most common age and gender for our target audience and to find out some of the gender differences and the preferences of each. This allowed us to have an understanding and knowledge of what sort of conventions and techniques we could include in order to make our video as suitable as possible and it gave us a clear starter for identifying out target audience as the most important thing about our audience is their age and gender. Firstly, we found out that the most common age of our audiences was the 17-25 bracket with 40% of people questioned being within that age bracket. Our research also showed that only 3% of people were over the age of 46 and that our second most popular age was just older then our target audience with 30% being aged between 26-35. This means that our video will have to be adolescent friendly and we will have to have age restrictions in some aspects of out videos or warnings as some of our target audience are not yet 18. This gives us some limitations and restrictions when creating our video as we may not be able to or may have to hold back when creating and planning the relationship concept of our video and some of the dark stuff such that is involved so we do not upset our audience and keep it suitable. However, we also need to keep in mind the conventions of indie music videos and most indie music videos we have watched or taken inspiration from often have a deep and meaningful message in them about sexuality, depression etc, therefore we need to ensure that our audience are of age to watch and listen to this sort of thing to give us the freedom to create what we can't, whilst ensuring it is conventional to the indie genre.
We then asked our target audience carrying out our questionnaire whether they like the indie genre. The purpose of this was to find out how popular the indie genre is amongst people within our target audience age and whether there was any point or purpose into creating a indie music video as we need to make sure if it would be successful or popular enough before going ahead with the process of planning it and creating it. It was a simple closed question on our questionnaire and our results showed that 90% of people questioned answered that they do like the indie genre, in comparison to the 10% of people who said they don't. This vague question and answers we got allowed us to go ahead with the same target audience and same planning for our own indie music video as we have a established audience who know and like the genre giving it more chance of being successful. Our figures also show that it statically should be popular, given that we create a good, conventional video. However, because this wasn't an open question i can't analyse why 10% of people don't like the indie genre which i could take on board and adapt my music video to suit a wider target audience. Although, because this isn't the case i will keep my music video conventional so that it appeals to the indie target audience.
Another question that would help form the basis of my music video is 'what conventions do you expect to find in an indie music video?'. This was our first open question included in our questionnaire and its purpose was for us to find out what sort of conventions and micro-elements our target audience expects to see in an indie music video for us to take on board and include in our own music video. Our results showed that the highest rated convention people expect to see in indie music videos was the use of iconography and in this case, musical instruments. This is something I have planned to use in my own video with the girl in our narrative playing an guitar as part of the performance element and to give it a conventional feel. Our results from our questionnaire has now made this plan a reality as I now know it will be a successful, conventional and popular part of my video. The 2nd favourite convention was 27% of people answering for 'love narratives' which i will take on board through using a couples relationship as the narrative. I am considering using a couple in real life so that the chemistry is there and it doesn't look fake. 23% of people then said that quirky costumes would be a good convention to include into a indie music video. This is something that could be used well in our narrative as our narrative includes lots of different scenes where a boy and girl in our relationship are out reminiscing on past experiences and times they've had together so we can include a number of different costumes and items of clothing to match the theme of the scene and nature and feel of the video. Finally, 20% of people voted for close up shots which is also a popular choice when questioning people on cinematography later in our questionnaire. Although the least popular choice, this is still something we can use a number of times in our video as it is conventional, easy to use and a good way of adding dramatic effect or emphasis on a shot or moment.
We then asked our target audience what style of music video do they prefer when watching a music video and why. The answers for this question were either a performance, concept or narrative element and the purpose of this was to find out what was the best way to structure our video and if we could include all three at times and what was suitable for each one, hence making it one of our open questions. 30% said that the narrative is their favourite style because it allows the artist to tell a story, which will keep them engaged and be able to build a relationship with the artist better. I will definitely take the narrative style on board because i have seen myself that the indie genre uses a narrative to help tell the story of the artists past and to give a representation to how they are feeling. The target audience also stated that they like the concept style because it empowers them, with 23% of people answering for this. I really think this is a good point to take on board because empowering the audience conveyed a positive message and links society to the indie genre. I will try and include a concept along the lines of although you want to look out for someone else don't loose yourself along the way as this will help the audience to relate to an emotion they have felt in a relationship. I will also include the performance element even though it only rated 18% for performance to show that the artist is talented and 17% because performance shows the artist plays their own instrument. Having the artist singing and playing an instrument makes the music video and lyrics more personal as well as helping the audience to see the artists talent and emotions through what she is singing.
The next question we asked was what are your favourite camera and editing techniques and why. This was our most in depth answer for our questionnaire and an open question so we could get an idea to the certain micro elements audiences would like to see and expect to see in indie music videos. The highest rated answer at 23% is point of view as it gives the audience an understanding of the artists perspective. I will take this on board because when analysing the indie genre I also noticed a lot of point of view shots as it makes the narrative more personal to the artist so that the audience can relate to the artists life. I will use this shot a number of times in my video as it can be used to relate to a number of different meanings and scenes and it is also a good way of creating dramatic effect when necessary. The second highest percentage was 18%, which was a long shot to establish the narrative as long shots show both the foreground and background so make it easier for the audience to see the whole of the artist and the location that they are in. This helps to create a conventional and natural feel to the video as the audience are able to see the artist for their true self and indie music videos tend to be quite simple with their settings with nothing to over the top or expensive to use. At 17% is a blurred effect because the audience believe it shows them how the artist is feeling because its like the artist trying to blur out the past. This will help us in creating our music video because it helps to create added effect and emotion and is representation of the artists emotions and how she is really feeling. 15% said that a shot reverse shot is their favourite camera technique because it helps show the relationship between the characters. Due to this I will take this idea on-board because the narrative I want to create it about a couple so this will help the audience relate and build a relationship with the couple in my music video. The editing style montage was rated 10% because its more engaging and will go along to the beat of the song and close ups to show the artists emotions also rated 10% so I will take these on board to as i want the audience to be able to build a relationship with the artist to feel more connected to the song and the narrative. I will also attempt to use the green screen in my music video for shots that may be hard for us to film in real life due to complications with settings, micro elements etc, as long as the shot still looks realistic and relevant to our video, as 7% voted for the use of green screen.
An open question that was asked was 'what costume and iconography works best in an indie music video and why?' This was asked to find out what the audience think is conventional and then what I can take on board to include in my own music video. One of our most popular answers was the use of fairy lights which 23% of people voted for as fairy lights are low budget and so are indie music videos. This makes the video more personalised and the audience can relate to this type of iconography because it recognisable and creates that warm feeling like at Christmas when these type of lights make an appearance. The most popular answer for this question was that the costume should be edgy because it matches the narrative. I will take this on board for my own video as it will prove to be the most popular convention and dress my artist in quirky, edgy clothing such as flowery, summer dresses, boots and baggy jumpers as these are all conventional with the indie genre. Another element of iconography that the audience expect to see if flowers because the narrative tends to be about love. I will take this on board by including in my own video a scene where the boy in the relationship picks flowers for the girl to show his love and at the end when they are breaking i will include a close up shot of dead flowers to symbolise their love has died.
We then asked our audience, what do they like about our artist Gabrielle Aplin and why. This allowed us to have an understanding as to what makes Aplins so popular and successful and whatever was answered about her we could match with our own artist to almost copy and imitate Aplins character and way of preforming in order to make our own video as relatable and conventional as possible. This pie chart shows that out of those forty people asked that 33% like her because she writes her own songs because this will make her music personal to her. Our second most popular answer was that 30% of people said that her style of indie was very unique. This meant our artist has her own identity and style that we can use to give our video something different. From this analysis i will take on board making the music video personal to the artists style so that the target audience will still believe she has created it making my music video fit the audience and look professional. Another element i will take on board is to keep her style of indie running through the video, which is very girlie and innocent compared to other indie artists that are more grunge style. I want to take on her style because the audience have stated it is unique which is a reason why they like her, however only 20% of people voted for this making it the least popular but just as important to us in having an understanding into our target audiences opinion on Aplin.
We then asked our target audience what lighting techniques work best in indie style music videos to get a concept of the most popular micro element and how they will work. Our most popular answer was 30% of people who felt natural lighting works best in indie music videos because it is simplistic. This is something that we relate to indie music videos as artists are often simple and not over the top in their production of their videos and it something that we can use in our own video as it is easy to use and do for our setting as most of it is filmed in natural day light due to our narrative. The second highest rated was natural lighting because you can see the artist clearly. This will also be taken on board because the audience won't no my artist well so natural lighting will show them clearly to help the audience to relate to the artist. Not only will i use natural lighting but i will use all of the elements of lighting that the audience have stated to make the music video interesting. 23% of people also said high key lighting because it creates a warm atmosphere. This will help us when creating our video as it brings more attention and chemistry to my on screen couple and makes the relationship and video seem warmer and more loving, supporting our narrative and concept of the video. In contrast, I will also use low key lighting and flashes of colour such as fire or fireworks to show the anger in the relationship at times of break up or sadness.
Lastly, we asked our target audience what narratives would they like and expect to see in a indie music video. This is a major part of our video as it allows us to plan the structure and purpose of our video. The highest percentage was a relationship narrative at 37% so i will definitely take this on board when creating my own video as this will engage the audience with my video and make it conventional to the genre. Other answers included 25% of people voting for break ups or dark pasts, which are both elements we could tie in with our love story narrative, however, I will make the breakup over addiction such as alcohol or drug abuse because 13% stated that is a narrative they expect for the indie genre and it relates back to the convention that indie narratives always have a bad twist. This has taught me that I could create a narrative where the couple are loved up at the beginning to help the audience relate and then they break up to shock the audience.
Target audience Questionare
The concept of youth sub-culture is where a group of people who are united through a common value system and tastes such as clothes, music or politics have their own beliefs and preferences. They are positioned outside of the mainstream and often go against what is deemed popular. The theory that I have chosen to apply to my questionnaire and music video is the CCCS (Centre for contempary cultural studies) views. They believe that all sub cultures come from one big culture, the reaction to mainstream. Sub cultures go against the mainstream and my music video will offer many conventions and rateable moments that a mainstream audience can apply themselves with in order to make it as popular and successful as I can. The CCCS generalises rather then specifying and do not take into account the fact that teens will often move between sub cultures or that adults can appear to conform for most of the working week, but re enter the subculture at specific times, meaning anyone could like my own music video. Much like the CCC's approach, I feel that pop stars or any artist are constructed to appeal to specific markets with specific values and the audience are so unpredictable in their likes and dislikes that I can not generalise a specific target audience but instead make my video open and relatable to a wide audience for every chance of success, whilst maintaining that it is conventional and suitable to everyone and the indie genre. I will include this theory as I believe this theory matches best with my own opinions and what I believe in and I will be able to apply it to my own work as I will work on my own values, which I believe is important for the indie genre because it is seen as a sub culture compared to the mainstream pop and rap.
Vox pops are interviews with members of the public, which are usually recorded through a media device. The questions from my questionnaire are asked in vox pops to be able to understand what the audience want and expect to see in the indie music video genre I am creating. The open questions are useful for vox pops because the answers can be analysed as the person being interviewed is able to elaborate on their answers. The purpose of the vox pops are to record what the audience say and then to be able to analyse what they say at any time because I can watch it back and understand different parts of their answer. Also It gives me a more detailed answer to my questions because they are speaking instead of having to write down an answer so it is on the spot and what their initial ideas are. I created 5 different vox pops so I got a lot of different answers and am able to include a lot of ideas into my music video rather then just the same thing. They are beneficial because you can see the speaker as they talk so can understand what they are saying more clearly and they are beneficial because it gives longer answers to the questions.
