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I would've liked to discuss what the group's opinions on what they like to see in a digipack and magazine advert but we had significant time constraints. Despite this I found the focus group incredibly helpful and I know some of the points made will definitely assist me when I plan out my own music video. But, many of the things the group suggested were contradictory which as a result gives me little direction. For example, it was said that the group wanted easy watching from a music video and something that they didn't have to pay too much attention to, yet they also said that they want something always occurring on screen. In spite of this, I think carrying out this focus group was the most useful method of gathering audience feedback and learning about their views on music videos directly from them.

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One participant mentioned how sometimes "the music videos can put you off of the song". To ensure I didn't do this in my music video I asked the group what they didn't like to see in a music video. The group mentioned a few things that they also disliked about music video, these were the key points made:

An irrelevant story line, something which the entire group agreed with. They made the point that sometimes a video could be distracting to the actual song and that instead the visuals had to amplify the music, and therefore follow Goodwin's conventions.

Something that the majority of the group weren't particularly keen on seeing in a music video was dancing. Luckily for me, this was also something that I didn't want to include in my music video as normally the dancing in music videos is done in a way that objectifies the female dancers and stays true to Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory as I saw when I looked at Hannah Lux Davis' music videos.

A point that reoccurred throughout the discussion is that audiences do not like to see "boring" visuals. One participant said how they "I don't like it when they're just stood there and they're singing". This suggests to me how that the visuals have to be interesting even if the focus is on the lip syncing otherwise the audience may lose interest.

Another point that was mentioned was that some audiences do not like too much CGI or special effects as its too cinematic and distracts from the song. However, this was an individual point so it is hard to generalise for this dislike.

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When we asked the group what they like to gain from a music video, with Blumler and Katz's 'Uses and Gratifications' theory in mind, the majority of the participants replied nonchalantly and didn't discuss anything they wanted to gain from videos other than pure entertainment. This could be because we may have not explained the question clearly or the group was made up of 'mainstreamers' (Young and Rubicam's 'Cross Cultural Consumer Characteristics' theory) whose sole purpose for watching music videos is gaining entertainment.

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When asked if they just watch music videos for the actual music rather than the video itself they all agreed and said they watch them for the sole purpose of listening to the music, one participant mentioned how "If I ever put a music video on it's literally just like on another tab on my computer whilst I'm doing homework" which supports this thought.

The participants made fairly general points about what they like to see in a music video. Some of the points that reoccurred were:

Relevant visuals that relate to the music and lyrics. One participant said that 'You want to be able to understand the music' which suggests to me that the focus of my music video should be enhancing the lyrics and music with the visuals of the video, thus conforming to Goodwin's conventions. One participant also made a good point in saying, when speaking about the visuals of a music video, 'If it's irrelevant it's not doing the justice of a music video' and another mentioned how "the focus should be entirely on the song', which again suggests to me that the focus should be on the music itself

Some members of the group discussed how they like to see the artist themselves and potentially learn more about them, thus fulfilling the 'gaining knowledge' part of Blumler and Katz's 'Uses and Gratifications' theory.

Most of the participants agreed that they like to see effective use of lighting in a music video, a particular preference being 'strobe' lighting. This is something that I was considering including in my music video before we carried out the focus group so it was good to hear that potential audiences want to see this type of technique used.

A point that was made several times throughout the discussion was that audiences like to see a music video that is 'realistic' that are filmed in real locations. This was surprising as I expected for the majority of audiences to want to see something out of the norm and unusual. I was expecting the audiences to discuss watching music videos as a 'diversion' to their everyday life, which is something Blumler and Katz discuss as a requirement that audiences want from a media text.

Another thing that was discussed was that when the group was asked about lip syncing in a music video they said that they "don't really notice it" and and that they only really liked seeing this technique used if it was well done and not overly noticeable. One participant mentioned how "most of them do it" which shows me how lip syncing is considered a convention of music videos by both creator and audience. This tells me that when I'm creating my own music videos I should include lip syncing but to ensure that it is done really well and my standards are high. This will be something I will need to consider greatly when choosing my actors as I will have to select actors that are either experiences with lip syncing or I know will be capable of performing this technique well.

As well as this, the group all agreed on the point that a music video had to be easy watching and isn't something that you should have to pay too much attention to. When creating my own music video I will try to adhere to this desire of potential audience members and create a minimalist but interesting music video.

Furthermore, another prominent point that was made is that there should always be something happening in the music video; "as long as they're doing something" is a point that one participant made which suggests that the visuals of the music of a video have to be interesting throughout the entirety of the song.

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When discussing what audience's like to see in the visuals of a music group I think the focus group opened up an informative discussion on the subject which helped me learn a lot. I learnt that some audience's "sometimes watch the music videos for the people who are in it". This comment made by one of the participants suggested to me that yet again the enjoyment of a music video is dependent on the artist the audience member likes. I was not surprised by this comment as it is common for people who like a specific artists to only watch the music videos because they want to see them. For example a One Direction fan would watch the music video to their latest single 'History' not only because they like the song but also because they want to see the people who they support and adore.

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This focus group was also helpful in helping me establish the means of how audience's watch music videos. One member of the group told me that "on the music app on my phone I get the videos as well" which showed me how watching music videos through internal phone apps is common amongst their age group and how this is sometimes the most common way of watching music videos. Other ways of watching music videos that were mentioned are "music channels" on TV and Youtube. However one did say that "you don't particularly go on YouTube to watch a music video", which suggests that music videos to a lot of audiences are a non-nonchalant thing.

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The first bit of notable feedback I got from the focus group was that them watching music videos was completely dependent on the type of music they listen to as an individual. The majority said they enjoyed watching music videos for 'pop' music more, however, one participant did say they enjoyed 'rock' music videos more. This shows me that maybe pop music videos are more successful in general compared to other music genres. This could be because that music genre has the biggest audience following which is 'Mainstreamers' according to Young and Rubicam's 'Cross Cultural Consumer Characterisation' theory, therefore these music videos would statistically be more successful than most.

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I decided to carry out a focus group because we thought that it would be more insightful into what our potential audience want to see in a music video than a survey on its own would be. It turned out to be a really successful way of gathering information about audience's desires and will help me create a music video that will actually appeal to audiences rather than staying exactly true to the conventions discussed by theorists. I decided to run the focus group with a group of people aged 14-16 as I thought these were the people that are more likely to watch music videos more than any other age group because of their frequent use of social media and the internet. I included a mix of girls and boys in order to see whether the gender of the audience had any effect on what they enjoy in a music video, which turned out to be very little difference.