Unit 3- Assignment 2- Task 2- Primary Research

Task 2A

This is a link to the questionnaire that Harrison and I have made in order to gather quantitive date for our music video, digipak and magazine album advert
https://goo.gl/forms/6lVo2tT5DCWlGNLE2

Task 2B

As a group Harrison and I decided on an internet forum for research on music videos for Imagine Dragons (our chosen artist), Interviews for information about digipaks and a focus group for information about music magazine album adverts. We decided that I would carry out the Internet forum, Harrison would carry out the interviews and together we would carry out the focus group.


Internet Forum for Imagine Dragons Music Videos (my research)
This is an internet forum that I participated in. I created a thread on the forum website Reddit where users can create posts and people can respond to them. For my research I asked what peoples favourite Imagine Dragons music videos were and why, hoping to get an insight into why people like some of their music videos- https://www.reddit.com/r/imaginedragons/comments/5bmft1/what_are_you_favourite_imagine_dragons_music/

This was the question that I posted:

These are some of the answers I received in response:

Focus Group for Music Magazine Album Adverts (group research)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ycKRFtqoGY&feature=youtu.be


Interview for Digipaks (Harrison's research)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBv3MLaGb4o

Unit 3- Assignment 2- Task 1 Secondary Research

Task 1A

1. The Top 30 Most viewed Music Videos of all time- http://edm.com/articles/2016/1/9/most-viewed-music-videos-of-all-time

This link shows the top 30 most viewed music videos of all time in order from 1st to 30th. From this we can see that PSY- Gangnam Style is the most viewed music video of all time with about 2.6 billion views.

2. YouTube Statistics- http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/youtube-statistics/4/

This website shows specific YouTube statistics including where some of the YouTube viewership figures specifically come from. The screenshot below from this website shows that as of September 2014 38% of YouTube Views came from music videos.

3. YouTube Music Channel- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-9-kyTW8ZkZNDHQJ6FgpwQ/featured

The official description for this YouTube Channel is "YouTube's music destination featuring top tracks and popular hits from a variety of genres. This channel was generated automatically by YouTubes video discovery system". Essentially this channel is the central hub for Music Videos on YouTube with the channel having about 96 million subscribers. The channel showcases the most popular songs/music videos in the current day, whilst songs are popular, and is essentially made up of videos from other channels (Like a band/artists VEVO).

4. Gangnam Style- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0

Gangnam style is not only the most viewed music video of all time but is also the most viewed video on YouTube. It has around 2.6 billion views with the follow up song 'Gentlemen' also with 1 billion views. 

5. The top ten list- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/0/most-watched-youtube-videos-of-all-time/

In terms of the top ten most watched YouTube videos of all time as of October 2016 music videos are there 9 out of 10 times all of which have accumulated over 1 billion views. This shows that some of the most popular videos online are music videos whether that be for watching or even just listening purposes.

6. VEVO- http://hq.vevo.com/advertising/?lang=gb

Vevo is a video website owned by Universal Music group, Sony Music entertainment and Warner music group that shares/hosts music videos. They also have an official YouTube page. The website has huge traffic with over"16 billion views worldwide for 6 consecutive months" which shows how popular a platform this is for music videos.

7. Imagine Dragons VEVO Page- https://www.youtube.com/user/ImagineDragonsVEVO/featured

The imagine dragons VEVO page shows how many subscribers and channel views there have been which can give an idea of how popular the channel is for this band. The channel has nearly 5 million subscribers and has accumulated nearly 2 billion views overall which shows that if this band wants to showcase their music videos then this is one place to do it. Each music video released on this channel also accumulates hundreds of millions of views.

8. Imagine Dragons- Radioactive- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktvTqknDobU

The most viewed imagine dragons YouTube music video is 'Radioactive' which has over 600 million views. Almost all of those views either would have come from an already existing fan base or would have been recommended to others on YouTube itself.

9. Vimeo- https://vimeo.com/categories/music

Although smaller in comparison to something like VEVO, Vimeo has its own community of people and its own audience. It is a good place for smaller artists to share music and the channel nearly has 100,000 followers with some of the music videos accumulating tens of thousands of views.

Task 1B

1. Opinions of 20 Album covers- http://www.nme.com/list/surreal-album-covers-20-of-the-best-1283

This article gives background to and opinions on a number of different album covers and how they reflect the message of the songs/album overall. The writer has their own impression of what the album covers are trying to say

2. "The worst album covers of 2013"- http://www.idolator.com/7498696/worst-album-covers-2013

This article is giving opinions about what they didn't think quite worked for a number of album covers through out 2013. Despite it being negative it is still useful in showing album creators what not to do

3. TIME Magazine's panel of experts review album covers-http://entertainment.time.com/2013/03/19/rock-and-an-art-place-our-experts-review-9-new-album-covers/slide/intro-slide/

Time magazine used a panel of experts to look at analyse the artwork for famous albums that came out around March 2013. The experts give their opinion on what the artwork is saying and how it makes them feel as well as how it reflects the artist.

4. The painter of the Imagine Dragons 'Smoke and Mirror' album Artwork gives his thoughts- http://getmusicasia.com/2015/03/09/imagine-dragons-on-the-artworks-of-tim-cantor-the-story-behind-smoke-mirrors-artwork-video-interview/

Here the painter of the different pieces of artwork for Imagine Dragons 'Smoke and mirrors' album gives us an insight into how he was feeling when he made that artwork and explains the story behind each cover. This shows us the emotional impact that album artwork can have on someone or how influential music can be.

5. This article is looking at the Gangnam style from a socio-political point of view and how it reflected South Korean culture and life- http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/08/gangnam-style-dissected-the-subversive-message-within-south-koreas-music-video-sensation/261462/

Within the article the messages behind the video are discussed in terms of how well it reflected and represented South Korea. Sub-text is explored by looking at what the video was saying about South Koreas Economy 

6. Buzzfeed article about some of their favourite 2015 music videos- https://www.buzzfeed.com/sydneyscott/25-music-videos-that-were-on-repeat

In this Buzzfeed article the writer is discussing their favourite 25 music videos from 2015 that seemed to be very popular amongst the public. She gives a brief description of the video as well as her thoughts and opinions on it.

7. General Views about musics videos and why they're important- https://medium.com/@pulsefilms/why-music-videos-are-still-so-important-views-from-inside-the-industry-ebaa7d4758d2#.tjb1xd8x5

Within this article there is a discussion about the importance of music videos within the industry. It gives general views as to what makes them important and how they aid the creative process of the artist. This article is useful as it helps also in outlining what does and doesn't work within a music video.

8. Reddit thread discussing Imagine Dragons 'Radioactive'- https://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/15zs4a/imagine_dragons_radioactive/

This Reddit thread (Online forum) is discussing Radioactive by Imagine Dragons with some of the comments posted being about the music video. Fans of the band are discussing whether or not they like the video and why and some discussing what it's meaning is. 

9. Reddit thread discussing Imagine Dragons Album Artwork- https://www.reddit.com/r/imaginedragons/comments/4t7v1i/favorite_imagine_dragons_albumep_art/

Within this thread (forum) Imagine Dragons fans are discussing some of their favourite  artwork that has been produced for Imagine Dragons albums and EPs. 

10. Reaction to a Kings of Leon advert-  https://a2mediarossjenner.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/analysis-of-two-magazine-covers/

Within this post, someone is responding to an advert for a new album that they have seen. The person has analysed the advert and given their thoughts and opinion on what the advert is actually saying to them in terms of how it is coming across.

11. Response to music magazine album adverts in NME- http://laurenmedia2.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/research-and-planning-nme-magazine.html

This link shows a few responses that one student had to a number of different adverts within an issue of NME magazine. She talks about what works with the adverts and what conventions make them appealing.

Unit 3 Research Techniques- Assignment 1

http://dongould18.wixsite.com/researchtechniques

Unit 3- What is a Digipak?

A digipak is the booklet that comes with a CD

It contains:

• Images
• Lyrics
• Production credits
• Company credits
• Cover
• Personal Messages (Sometimes, not always)
• Credits
• Barcode
• Official website Links
• Photographer credits
• Fan Club address and contact details

Unit 3 Research Techniques- Practice Assignment

This is a link to my practice assignment

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_4lfFO92DuxRUVxTmlPSkI3dDg/view?usp=sharing

UNIT 3- Research Techniques- Introduction Lessons

Types of Research

Why do companies need to spend so much money on research?

• So it is done well
• They need to pay the right people to do the job
• Media products are expensive to produce
• They need to make sure it will attract the right audience
• They need to make sure an audience will react in the right way
• To ensure the product can be completed in the required time and within budget

Primary Research- Primary research is research you go about doing yourself. It can involve physically collecting data through interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, postal surveys, phone surveys, customer interviews, technology views or observations.

Pros

• Reliable as the research has been done yourself
• The methods allow for a lot information to be collected in a short amount of time
• New first hand information 

Cons

• Might only get a small demographic of people
• People who don't want to take part, Limited response
• Expensive, requires money, time and human resources

Secondary Research- Collecting information based upon research that other people have done. This can involve reading statistics online, looking at history or finding information in books/online. This information is publicly/readily available

Internal Secondary Sources:

• Financial Statements
• Company reports
• Files
• Letters
• Customers
• Phone Calls with information already discovered

External Secondary Sources:

• Trade associations
• Reference materials
• Internet
• Government publications
• Newspapers

Pros

• Secondary research is usually cheap to obtain
• Quick to obtain (through the internet)
• Takes little effort or preparation to get

Cons

• Outdated or irrelevant
• Information cannot be verified by you so it might not be reliable
• Information might not be exactly what you are looking for

Quantitive Research- When numerical data is applied to a piece of research. It would use statistics and percentages  to examine relationships or trends about certain topics or brands. Some examples of Quantitive research can be:

• Box office figures
• Programme Ratings
• Scores given on websites
• Readership figures
• Number of hits/Website traffic
• Sales

For Example:

Box Office Figures for the Spiderman Films http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=spiderman.htm

Casey Neistat's Subscriber Count on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/caseyneistat/featured

Maze Runner Scorch Trials IMDb rating http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4046784/

Statistics for my blog

Number of reviews for a camera on amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BYOY9AS/ref=s9_ri_gw_g421_i2_r?ie=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=A53FAT65PKMDCGGM70YG&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=eb75bbc8-ec67-4cc7-b8ee-ed953890db75&pf_rd_i=desktop&th=1

Pros of Quantitive

• Good for people who made/own the product as they can use their numbers for personal use
• Can help when showing the popularity of something
• Gives a visually accurate representation

Cons

• Just a number- Won't tell you the whole story. Just because a film has high viewing figures or a big box office doesn't mean it was good it just means a lot of people went to see it
• Numbers change e.g. when numbers are adjusted to compensate for something else or when they rounded

Qualitative Research- Qualitative research is used to uncover trends in thoughts, attitudes, behaviour and opinions. It is based upon peoples response to a product.

• Film Reviews
• Game reviews
• Music Reviews
• Can be from a number of sources:
• Websites
• Newspapers
• Forums
• Done through peoples responses/discussion

Pros

• Get a wide variety of opinions from various sources
• Allows you to find out opinions from different demographics

Cons

• Opinion based rather than fact- just because people have an opinion doesn't make it true
• Might not be valid information because people aren't giving facts which could affect the results

Market Research- Market research is looking at information in trends of consumer activities and needs. It can be gathered by looking at things such as buyer behaviour or the popularity of brands. Market research can be completed through:

• Surveys
• Interviews
• Focus Groups
• Internet research of other products or peoples opinions

Examples:

Pro

• Allows people to give their opinion 
• Allows for a large demographic of people to give an opinion
• Can help in how you might make a product as people might tell you something that will allow you to change the idea for the better

Con

• People aren't always so enthusiastic to help when people are completing market research
• People might give answers that are lacking in detail which can make it harder for you to get a clear result
• Some people could have give incorrect information due to the fact that they too have little time and are just trying to get through the questionnaire as quickly as possible.

Production Research- Part of market research where specific characteristics of a good or service that will satisfy a specific need are identified. The person researching has to look at the production process in order to make their own product in the best way possible e.g. someone shooting an advert looking at how other adverts are made.

Examples:

Pros

• Allows you to plan ahead of time how you are going to make a product
• Gives you a time frames
• Allows you to know if something is viable
• Gives you the ability to do everything professionally as it is planned ahead and thought out beforehand

Con

• Just because something seems viable in the production phase once it gets to the marketing and selling phase it might be useful or go off the way the producers think it will
• Something can change that might make production difficult
• The production of the product might not be viable just because it looks so on paper

Audience Research- Studies the characteristics of a specific target audience including demographic, Listening/Viewing/Reading habits, programme preferences/taste and overall to find out the size of an audience for various different outlets.

Pros

• You get the audiences actual feedback so therefore you are able to change things on actual information rather than things you think you know
• It allows the audience to actually give their feedback rather than just having to keep their opinions to themselves or stopping there from being any actual channels of communication

Cons

• Sometimes audiences can be so divided it can be hard to get a clear idea of what it is they exactly want or what the best solution would be to solve any problems
• Everyone has different listening/viewing/reading habits
• Audiences might have more than one habit so it might be hard to get information for just one that doesn't conflict with the others

UNIT 57 PHOTOGRAPHY- Assignment 3 RESUBMISSION- Evaluation

This is a link to the resubmission for my Evaluation

(The title for the last section got seperated from the actual text so keep scrolling down)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_4lfFO92DuxQXdPaHVnWVJHV1k/view?usp=sharing