Research Into Music Channels & Target Audience

M U S I C   C H A N N E L S 

Various music channels have target audiences, which the music they play is designed for. The music industry are able to decide which channels they wish artists within there record label would appeal most too. A great exaple of this is MTV and a variety of other music channels which we will look closer at.

Mtv's target audience is the youth 12 to 24 year old, this age group are the majority of the music industries audience as these people watch music channels most. MTVs knowledge of this allows them to target specific playlists that appeal to young people who are interested in mainstream music. This means that the changing nature of the music industry has to keep the audience who veiw  MTV up to date with current trends and show the audience what is poplar and what they should listen too. MTV are able to be manipulated by the industry and the audience are targeted for new artists trying to make it big, as songs that appeal to a wide audience are played allowing them to become more popular and earn MTV more money. The channel primerily plays chart music, which is very current and changes frequently. Artists that feature regularly are people such as Ed Sheeran, Rihanna and Nicki Minaj as they are in the charts often. The channel is used as a form of branding by having a vast array of sister channels such as MTV rocks, MTV base and many more. The logo appeals to the audience because it is bright edgy and cool looking which appeals to a younger audience.  The font is also bold and big so has more of an impact and over the years has become reputable and easily recognisable.

Another Example of a music channel with a specific audience is VH1. This is primarily aimed at people in their early twenties to mid fourties as their music ranges from pop and chart music to music that was popular thoughtout the 90's and even the 80's. The brand of Vh1 appeals to the audience becuase what they play is more predictable and features a variety of classic songs which appeal to the target audience. playlists from the 90's and 80s are easy to market as the audience are garenteed to enjoy it. This earns the music channel more money and makes it more of a success with the chosen artist. The channel has a range of hours that play specific music for that hour such as 90s hour. Modern artists are also featured such as Kanye West and beyonce These two artists are constantly in the charts with their new singles being played a lot when they are first brought out. However well known 80's rock bands such as bon jovi and guns and roses are also played. These were very popular during the 1980's meaning the range of music played on VH1 is vast. other artists include guns n roses and the rolling stones. These two groups were loved across the world in the 80s and this would appeal to the older audiences. This channel is a part of the MTV family and therefore both channels which help each other with advertising and promotion. The logo that VH1 uses is contempory as the colours are soft and relaxed. This would then appeal to the audience range as it has a comfortable yet stylish look. This appeals to an older audience who arent looking to be shocked and drawn in. The logo looks reliable which also appeals to the audience as they would wish to veiw more retro music they know they will enjoy. 

The box television target audience is around 11-21 they primarily play music that is exclusive. This young audience therefore wants to watch this music as they are avid fans who would keep up to date on social media and would love to see  exclusive screenings of the music videos, therefore they audience would want to be the first ones to see the new music and their videos. The target audience are also able to be influenced by Box televisions playlists, which would show simular music to Rita Ora therefore new artists within this genre are made successful as producsers of box know what there target audience enjoy listening to and are able to influence there audience.Examples of artists that regularly played on this channel are Justin Bieber, One direction and Rita Ora. These artists appeal more to a younger audience therefore box features them regullarly. This channel sisters channels include channel4, film4 and more4. The sister’s channels would then show off the box channel to get more viewers, which would make more profit for this channel. As the logo is in black and white the colours contrast well. The logo stands out to the target audience as it is in graffiti type music and it is bold as it stands out from other colour logos. It is a logo that appears grimey and more contempory for a younger auience. Box television appeals to the younger audience as the colours are cool and classic aswell as looking cutting edge and fun which fits in with the music they are playing which is essensially mainstream and pop.

KERRANG appeals to an audience of older rock fans as well as younger teenage metal and rock fans aged between 12 upwards. this target audience are passionate and may possibly buy the Kerrang magazine which shows artists featured on the Tv channel. This audience veiw the channel and magazine as a way of life and wish to live the rockstyle and be fully emeresed in everything the channel and magazine have to offer. Kerrang regularly plays a mixture of classic rock songs from the 80's by bands such as the Black Stone Cherries and Metalica aswell as showing more modern rock and metal bands such as My chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy and slipknot. The kerrang radio channel ‘would typically target the older generation, rockers and punks. This would be evident form the music that is being played on the show; it has a broad range of rock including all its sub-dramas. During the daytime it plays more pop punk and current metal from up and coming artists. This allows a more mainstream crowd to be drawn into the channel as bands such as Paramore appear in Kerrang frequently aswell as being featured in the charts. It aims to promote new artists to make fans of the rock world be able to recognise them and want to listen to more of their music. The channel has been known to promote many UK artists including Enter Shikari, young guns, me and you at six and deaf Havana who all regularly get played on the station. The ‘Kerrang’ logo would appeal to their target audience as it is in the design of a typical heavy metal and punky design. The logo would appeal to the audience as it stands out and is different to any other music channels logo that I have looked at. The logo is black bold and appears edgy therefore appeals to rock fans who+ would like the look of it therefore it would result in them listening to their radio channel.

The radio channel kiss target audience would be a young audience, from around 14 – 21 as they play mainstream chart music. This audience are able to view the channel and look out for the latest and most popular music that is out. However recently kiss has introduced 'kisstory', which is an hour a day of old, time hit music. This would therefore appeal to a larger and older audience; therefore they would have an increased age range. Ranging from 14- 40, this would increase their popularity, which would mean they would make more profit for the station. The music that the channel plays varies, as it is normally chart-based music during the main part of the day. However, during kisstory it is more of old school chart hits from the 1990s-2005. The station has thought of ways they can increase their popularity and they have done this by introducing kisstory. The main music they specialize in is hip-hop, urban and electro dance music. Artists that are regular played on the station include Drake, Justin Timberlake and Rihanna. The kiss station has sister stations that promote there station and promote the other stations, the sister channels are the hit radio station and heat radio. The form of branding that kiss has is contemporary look, therefore people would like it as it has a chilled out look. The blue makes the radio station seem relaxed.

To sumarise the music industry and music channels know exactly how to market the music which they play to their targeted audience. To make these channels more successful they also are able to create playlists featuring new artist which are targeted to a specific audience who they know will appeal to the tastes of their audience. Artists brand themselves within the music industry therefor the music channels have a direct impact on who the artist will appeal to thus choosing there target audience. Advertisments on these channels are also effective, e.g. rock magazines on Kerrang would be more successful as the fans of kerrang would be more interested in rock music then the audience of a more mainstream music channel such as kiss.