Week 2 Task: What music means to me: Analysis

1) When, where, who with and how do you listen to music?

• Most people listened to music on TV on programmes such as top of the pops when they were younger or when they got older at gigs and festivals.
• Experiences that we remember are things like making dance routines with friends (for girls) and many boys enjoyed learning to play the guitar after seeing their role models in music videos.
• Friends and family have had huge impacts on most of us. I was influenced by my brother's taste in music and still am now.
• Advances in technology have meant that it is much easier to access music such as online or on the many different music channels available.

2) What pleasures do you get from listening to music?

• Enjoying the atmosphere at live events such as gigs or festivals.
• Social pleasures such as listening to music that friends like when we're with them.
• Actively choosing music - knowing that we might be listening to something that our friend's don't know yet.
• Inspiring friend's choices and being confident in our own taste.

3) Do lifestyles affect music consumption? (Do you listen to different music at different times?)

• My routine consists of listening to music on my iTunes when I get ready for school or work in the morning, listening to my iPod on the journey, listening to music when getting ready for nights out with friends and dancing to music when I go out. Music definitely has a big impact on my life and I can't go anywhere with my mp3 at least.
• Everyone enjoys live gigs and having fun with friends.
• Music is great for easy listening on journeys or just passing time at home and relaxing/distracting yourself.
• Nearly everyone listens to different music when in different moods.

4) What inspired your choices?

• Friends and family: when I was young, it was hard to make my own choices so I listened to a lot of the music my brother showed me or the CDs he gave me. However now I'm older and we have such easy access to all types of music, I can listen to anything.
• Most people likes music that focused on the artist, with good memories associated. Some people liked bands that had a certain image and were disappointed when that image changed or they seemed to sell out.
• Age: as we get older, we develop our own tastes and make our own choices. When I was younger I was restricted to the radio (what other people chose) and the CDs that I was bought or given. However, now we have the internet with sites like YouTube and I'm able to download off of programmes like Torrents or iTunes so we are much more free to make choices.
• Patterns such as gender: girls seemed to prefer singing and dancing along whereas boys liked to impersonate iconic males, playing instruments like the drums or guitar.
• Britishness: many people admired the artists, especially when representing Britain as we can feel a connection to them.

5) How is this work relevant to your coursework?

• This task shows the importance of connecting the music to a target audience, especially emotions which can really make the audience identify with the song and remember it.
• It can be hard to connect videos to emotions and memories but this can be very important in appealing to the audience.
• Taste is crucial - age of audience and identity of the band is something to think about. We need to connect to the right audience.
• Recognising who the audience is what they need/want from the video will be crucial.