Secondary Research

Correlation Between Music Video Success and Single Sales:

This is a graph of results I collated in Excel. I looked at iTunes for single downloads and 4Music for Music Video downloads to see the correlation between the success of the actual single and it's music video. I chose iTunes because my initial questionnaire results showed that the majority used this to download and purchase singles over all other choices. I then chose 4Music for the music videos as the majority again from my initial questionnaire said this is where they are most likely to view music videos. I also collected results from the 'hits' received for the videos on YouTube and I looked for a correlation between the three results to determine whether the music video can have an effect on the success of the song or the musician.

Results collected: 8th November 2013

The numbers along the X-axis represent the ten singles I have evaluated, based on the Singles Chart Position.
1. Look Right Through (MK Remix) - Storm Queen
2. Move - Little Mix
3. I See Fire - Ed Sheeran
4. Royals - Lorde
5. Story of My Life - One Direction
6. Counting Stars - OneRepublic
7. Afterglow - Wilkinson
8. Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat (feat. Beardyman) [Calvin Harris Remix] - Fatboy Slim & Riva Starr
9. Wrecking Ball - Miley Cyrus
10. Hold On, We're Going Home (feat. Majid Jordan) - Drake

The numbers up the Y-axis represents the rating of 1-10 I then gave each song based on the two other categories: YouTube hits and 4Music Video Chart position, with 1 being the highest and 10 being the lowest.

The results which are of most importance to me here are the middle songs, as these have more correlation between the three different categories more-so than the songs at the top and the bottom of the iTunes top 10 chart. Songs 4, 5, 6 and 7 all have their peaks quite close together on the graph above, suggesting that for every purchase of the song, the video has also been watched at least once. This may also suggest with these songs in particular, the more that the video is watched, the more the song will sell, or in reverse, the more the song sells, the more inclined consumers may be to watch the video, and in future weeks, these songs may well just rise in the charts.

However, at the start of this week (11.11.13), the chart position has changed more drastically, but this arguably is due to the release of various brand new songs this week.

Royals - Lorde has now dropped from #4 to #6
Story of My Life - One Direction has now dropped from #5 to #9
Counting Stars - OneRepublic is no longer in the iTunes top 10
Afterglow - Wilkinson is no longer in the iTunes top 10.

When new songs are released, they are marketed in a way to ensure that the surge of sales come at the introduction stage. A song's release is much like any other product and follows the product lifecycle:

The development stage is where the research comes into place, and where the song will also be produced. The record label will decide when the song is going to be released and how - which is where the music video comes into place.
Introduction - the music video and the song will be released, and then sales will see a rapid growth. Maturity is where the song levels out in the charts, sales won't decrease dramatically, nor will they increase dramatically, until when people decide they've had enough of the song, or a new song is released, when it reaches the decline stage.

John Lewis Example:
The release of a new song is vital, especially in terms of marketing. The video and the release for a song is crucial for drawing in sales and capturing the target audience. One of the biggest examples of a well-marketed new-release song from this week's chart (11.11.13) is Lily Allen's cover of Keane's Somewhere Only We Know, which shot straight up to #2 replacing Little Mix's song Move. Although not a music video as such, the songs released for the John Lewis Christmas adverts all do relatively well in the charts because the videos for them are so successful. The 2013 Christmas advert debuted during the ad-break for Saturday's X Factor, as this audience is a prime target for the advert. The footage then used for the advert has been designed and created specifically to connect with the target audience; using techniques to sympathise with the audience and tug on the heart-strings. From this example, I have really learnt that a successful and memorable video means for more single sales. In the table below, I have complied a list of the last six John Lewis Christmas adverts, the success of the video in terms of YouTube hits and the success of the single. The later years clearly are having more success due to the increase and development of media and technology, as for example, YouTube is becoming increasingly more popular, and they can also be shared via other formats of social media through the click of a button such as Twitter and Facebook. Therefore, the use of media and technology is vitally important in my 'release' of my music video, as they are key to gaining views and sales in the music industry.

On the 12th of November, 2012, The Metro stated that;