Market Research

The Current Market:
As is typical of music today the indie/alternative genre is very vast and has a wide range of artists that all vary slightly in their music and style. Whilst researching the current 'market' of music videos for this genre there were certain characteristics that many videos had in common. Being completely new the the process of making a music video I think it would be valuable for us to take on board a lot of the conventions used as we know these have proven popular with the audience we are trying to target. 
One  aspect of the genre that stands out and is a reason for which we chose this genre is that the videos are often fairly simple. The videos often fit into the illustration category with a large performance element and a simple story line. This is something as a group we could achieve because we are limited with equipment and the skill to achieve an overly complicated video. 
Another characteristic often seen is the use of a simple studio with a backdrop. This is used for much of a band's performance and sometimes an entire video. Again this is something that we could achieve as we may not necessarily have the access to other environments, such as a stage or something more elaborate. However, we are not limited to this option and have various other places in which we could film. 



The style of the bands is also something to consider. The mood they set in the videos with lighting or editing is often related to the song, however the clothes worn by the artists are often typical of the band itself. The female artists often wear unusual clothing that reflect there style. For example, Florence and the machine wears unusual hippie style clothing and often clothes out of 'floaty' material. These reflect her as an artist and build her star image. Male bands seem to fall into two categories with this genre, however there are some exceptions. The main two categories are smart and more casual. Some males wear suits in most videos, often tight fitting ones that are deemed fashionable and are often quite brightly coloured. Other bands take a more casual approach wearing jeans and a t shirt. 
Smart Example:


With this genre there can be some more unusual acts that take a more original approach to music videos. Taking  creative risk can be hugely successful but could also completely miss the target audience. If we were to come up with a more unusual idea that we find appeals to the audience we are targeting and is achievable then it is something we would consider doing as the quirkier videos often stand out more in peoples memory, thus being more successful. 
Videos from this genre mainly fit into the illustration category, so this would be the most likely type of video for us to do. However there are videos that represent amplification and disjuncture so if we were to come up with an idea that fitted in to this category then we could take inspiration from them.


As we are creating a video then the artist will need a record label which hypothetically would fund the video. As our budget is minimal for the actual production then it would make sense for us to use an independent record label as this would be the most realistic. After researching independent record labels from the UK, two particular companies seemed to have signed similar to acts to our artists style, these were XL Recordings and Domino Records. XL has signed artists such as The XX and Friendly Fires. Domino's launched the Arctic Monkeys and The Kills. Looking at the websites it seems clear that each video is directed by an individual that the company or artist them self has chosen, rather than a selected team from the company. This has been successful for these artists. Of course as a group we will be producing every part of our music videos ourselves so we know this is not completely unconventional of the real industry.