Research into Target Audience Members

I handed out some questionnaires to members of my target audience. I asked questions on music purchasing habits, so I could advertise appropriately on my band website; social networking habits, so I could create accounts for my band on social networking websites being used frequently by my target audience; and the way in which they dressed, as in my genre, the dress sense of the audience members is very often almost identical to that of the band members or artist.

My research into my audience verified my earlier analysis of the image of different bands/artists, as it seems as though the plan, smart, and dark image is prevalent amongst my target audience. For example, 100% of the people I questioned said they wore/liked skinny jeans/trousers, a fit which can be seen to represent a slightly 'dark' image as it was worn by punks of the 60s, who, like members of the Indie target audience, rejected the worth of popular and 'mainstream' music in favour of an alternative sound. Additionally, 75% said they wore/liked plain button-down shirts. This shows that the plain, smart, and dark image is prevalent amongst the fans of bands and artists within the Indie genre, as well as the bands and artists themselves. This gives evidence to support my earlier comment regarding the "monkey see, monkey do" attitude of the fans in relation to the bands and artists within the Indie genre.

I intend to create a Facebook page for my band - to be linked to the band website - as it arguably the most common form of social networking, with 100% of people I questioned having an account on it. I also intend to put my music video on Youtube, as, although only 50% of the people I questioned had a Youtube account, most people use Youtube frequently to search for videos anyway, regardless of whether they have an account or not. As 75% of the people I questioned said they had a Twitter account, I am also going to consider creating a Twitter account for my band. Furthermore, quite a few bands within my genre - Napoleon in Rags, The Maccabees, Frankie & the Heartstrings, Bombay Bicycle Club - have Twitter accounts.