Target Audience

Mumford and Sons are a relatively new band on the mainstream music scene but there rise to fame has been immense. This summer they have performed on the main stages of many of the biggest UK festivals such as Reading & Leeds, Glastonbury, Bestival and T In The Park. Their popularity is shown with the 463,755 fans they have on their official facebook page.



To get a better idea of their fanbase, I looked further into the facebook fan page and the people who are on it. Doing this will allow me to spot trends between different fans and their interests.

Beth James - London - 17 - The Wanted, Kings of Leon, Mcfly
Paul Brazell - South Carolina, USA - 19 - Coldplay, Brandon Flowers, The Fray
Chloe Solomon - Bristol - 16 - Passion Pit, Darwin Deez, Klaxons
Neyland Mason - Tazewell, Tennessee, - 18 - Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blink 182, MGMT
Christ Frost - Nottingham - 28 - Stereophonics, The Libertines, John Lennon

From this small sample of data it is clear that their fanbase is fairly young. From the bands they like we can see that there is a massive trend with indie and rock bands/artists, although the bands all come into separate sub genres within this. The Folk music Mumford produce is new to the mainstream scene and this may be why many rock fans are liking the new alternative that has come into the market.

One magazine they have featured on the cover of is 'NME Magazine'.



NME is an indie rock magazine and we can gather alot of information about potential Mumford fans from the NME readership demographic. I did some research on nrs.co.uk to find out about this. The estimated readership is 325,000 in the UK. Most of those readers come from the ABC1 band, 218,000, showing most of readers are of the upper class.This could in relation to the Mumford band members who have all come from very priviliged backgrounds. Almost 3/4 of the readers are also male which shows that they may be the main audience of the band.

Copyright Permission

Copyright is there to stop people using someone elses work and making money from it. In relation to the music industry, this could be a song name, video, or song lyrics by a band. The label this band is signed to will make sure their work is copyrighted so only they can use the material and make money from it.

Song Choice

The song we have decided to produce a video for is 'Awake My Soul' by 'Mumford & Sons'. We had already thought about what kind of video we wanted to create and we needed a song to fit the mood. We liked the mellow vibe from 'Awake My Soul' and with there being no current video for it, it seemed like the perfect choice.

Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2RKb3VNAOo
Lyrics:

How fickle my heart
and how woozy my eyes
I struggle to find
any truth in your lies
And now my heart stumbles
on things I don't know
This weakness I feel
I must finally show

Lend me your hand
and we'll conquer them all
But lend me your heart
and I'll just let you fall
Lend me your eyes
I can change what you see
But your soul you must keep,
totally free
Har har, har har, har har, har har

In these bodies we will live,
in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love,
you invest your life
In these bodies we will live,
in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love,
you invest your life

Awake my soul, awake my soul
Awake my soul
You were made to meet your maker
Awake my soul, awake my soul
Awake my soul
You were made to meet your maker
You were made to meet your maker

Music videos explored...

The 4 music videos analysed will be from different genres to show how each varying genre/band link the music to the story within the video. The genres I have chosen are Punk, Alternative Rock, Pop and Hip-Hop.

Linkin Park - What I've Done - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sgycukafqQ&ob=av2n

From the name of the track we can gather that the songs meaning is about the actions of the band, the audience, or general society - this can be interpreted by the person listening/viewing.
The opening moments of the video set the theme of the video and instantly links the track name/lyrics with the goings on in the video. In these opening scenes there are many clips of things seen as wrong in the world. Example of these clips are war, rare animals, natural disasters, global warming, poverty and racism. These clips appear throughout the video and the narrative that the human race is destroying and ruining our earth is clear. Linkin Park have a relatively young fan base so the message within the video could be aimed at the younger generations who can help the 'future' of earth as it is something the band clearly feel strongly about. It represents the human race negatively with no footage showing the good things being done and only disorder and inequality.

Kanye West - Through The Wire - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvb-1wjAtk4

The song is of the Hip-Hop genre and is about a near fatal crash that Kanye West was involved in. He required surgery to wire his jaw shut and recorded this song just days later. The video takes the audience through the story and shows clips of West in hospital and news pieces about the accident. It is presented with each clip being shown on a polaroid clipped onto a pinboard to show how the story has been put together and that West has been on a 'journey' with his ordeal. The audience would be any of his fans in this early point in his career and the video features a lot of personal footage to help these fans relate to Kanye and know him better. The video represents Kanye as a strong person and a fighter to have been carried on rapping through the accident. This may be an attempt to get sympathy from fans as it shows his love for what he does despite what he has been through.

Gallows - In The Belly Of A Shark -http://www.youtube.com/watchv=6hvF3mDOmSo&feature=channel

This song is from the Punk genre and is relatively unnoticed in comparison to mainstream genres such as Pop. Gallows are a down to earth band and most of their music has strong meanings be it personal or on a wide-scale, for example, against the government. Their personality shows in this video in the way it is made and how they act in it. The graphic used to accompany the moving pictures is that of a traditional reel of film which is visible at various moment. There are also blemishes throughout with replicates cheap film and this shows the audience that the video isnt a high budget one like you'll see in the charts. Their performance is very aggressive and the whole band are always moving, 'thrashing' their guitars and jumping about. The lead singer stares into the camera at times and is really powerful with his strong vocals. The audience for this video would be quite small as the genre hasnt got much of a following if you take into account all music fans.

Katy Perry - California Gurls - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwE-SLnLkqY

This song is mainstream pop and has been very successful in the charts of late. It is a very 'girly' video with bright colours and theme of 'candy' running throughout the video as Katy walks through a fantasy world filled with sweets. It is all very feminine

and the obvious audience would be girls. It represents Katy as very fun and puts across the stereotype that girls love these colours and all the candy coming to life etc.

Introduction

The coursework this year involves working in a group to produce a music video using any given track of our choice. The video will be made to go with the chosen song's mood and style like it is done by professionals working in this part of the industry. However, the group will have freedom to do what they like and decisions will be explained in this blog with detailed reasoning.

This blog is a follow on from the AS blog I created (sdcmediaasmattjones.blogspot.com) and will feature all aspects in the process of creating our music video.