Audience Research
Primarily 16-25 year old middle market audience that likes to be style-conscious
Age
I will focus my target demographic on 16-25 year olds, as the brief states. Around 41% of teenagers say they feel pressured to fit in. This idea is commonly associated with younger teens (12-16), who are more vulnerable to social pressure and wanting to feel “cool”. However, as you grow older into your late teens and early 20s, you build in independence and self-discovery, with experiences such as college, gap years and university helping to build character, often drifting away from trends and social norms of fitting in. Therefore, this age group of 16-25 year olds often have more personal, self-expressive styles which is usually reflected in the media they interact with- instead of following trending media cultures, they look more towards “underground” artists, movies and fashion choices, these often being older artists/films/styles as the appreciation for art and media grows. Additionally, to satisfy this brief, I will include actors in my music video that are within this age range so that my audience can feel a sense of relatability and familiarity with it.
Gender
My music video will be targeted towards both males and females as The Beatles have a fairly neutral fanbase consisting of both men and women, unlike stereotypical girl and boy bands. I'm planning the 2 main characters of my music video to be a heterosexual couple, so this will apply to both males and females, as oppose to homosexual couples where one gender may be targeted more than the other.
Interests
The song 'Something' was made in the late 60s and so requires my young audience to have a cultural awareness and appreciation for older music as this typically does not reflect what is commonly heard in the music industry today. With modern bands and artists dominating today's music scene, often being of pop or rap genres, older artists, like The Beatles, often become lost and aren’t paid any attention to by those who don't actively seek them out. Therefore, like the brief states, I will focus my target demographic on “style-conscious” people who deliberately listen to and value this music in which today's youths aren’t commonly associated with. This awareness is usually brought out through the listening habits of parents or older relatives who pass down this love of “vintage rock n roll” onto them, or through indie trends and aesthetics where young people reverse the progressive evolution of style, and instead look back on old trends, trying to emulate them in a sort of post-modernist fashion.
Class
I will not specifically focus my music video on one particular class, as I want my it to be accessible and applicable to as many people as possible. In today’s advanced technological world, most people have access to online media with countless opportunity of discovery of different genres and styles, as opposed to past decades where physical media was harder to get a hold of, leaving the more middle and upper class citizens to access it. Because of this, there should be a shared cultural competency of a wide range of media, specifically music, across all classes, so I will aim to target an ABC1 demographic where those of higher classes should be more drawn towards merchandise I can promote on my website. As well as this, I’m planning the concept and narrative of my music video to be fairly simple and straightforward as to not overcomplicate it, making those of lower classes (who potentially haven’t received the highest quality education) to still easily understand and appreciate my music video.
What do I expect them to engage in (pop culture)?
With most 16-25 year olds having an online presence, I expect them to keep with to date with trends, as well as following content creators with a similar style to them. As mentioned above, I will target my musical video towards those who have an awareness and appreciation for older media and music, and so this audience should engage with content creators with a similar “vintage” style to them, using platforms such as Spotify/HMV, Netflix and Vinted to access older music/vinyls, indie films and unique clothing, all of which is commonly associated with my demographic. My audience will engage in pop culture to expand their knowledge of this past media, and take inspiration from images and videos they see, contributing to their self-expression through fashion or music.
