Research into music channels and target audience

I chose to analyse different music channels in order to gain more understanding in how they appeal to different audiences.

The first music channel i am going to be analysing is MTV. MTV's target audience consist of 12-24 year olds, this is evident through the programmes and music which is broad casted on the music channel. Programmes include reality TV shows such as 'Geordie shore' and 'Teen mom' and plays mainly chart music such as the top 40 in order to relate to their audience as young teen/adults can relate the the programmes as they are based on real life and the music because it is in the charts. Examples of artist who appear on MTV are:
-Rhianna
-Justin Bieber
-Jessie J
-Will.i.am
-Chris Brown
who all have similar target audiences to the channel as a whole.

The MTV logo helps their audience identify MTV as a brand. MTV is a brand because it has a number of international sister channels such as Comedy Central, VH1, Nickelodeon. Therefor their logo helps them advertise the brand of MTV on the other channels and allow it to be recognised by audience. The logo appeals to MTV's audience because it is clear and bold, the white and black contrast and font comes across as modern, appealing the audience as they are 12-24 years of age and are surrounded by modern technology ect.

As well as MTV the main channel there are also other broken down channels from MTV, These include MTV dance, base, hits, rocks and classics. MTV already appeals to a wider audience however some people may have specific preferences only wanting to hear the music they like, therefor MTV have supplied this. These channels may attract more audience in a way as the audience know they are getting what the want for example someone isn't going to watch MTV rock and hear hip hop. MTV could also do this as they know their brand is big enough that people will watch the other channels. I feel MTV have done this to attract more audience and make them feel although MTV cares about the individuals tastes.

                             

The next music channel i chose to analyse was BOX television, who target audiences from the age of 18 to 25. The music channel plays a wide variety of music genres allowing it to appeal to a wider audience as more genres attract more music tastes. Genres played on the music channel include rnb, hip-hop, pop, house, dance and urban music. The channel also broadcasts shows like the top 40 which attracts younger audiences as it is generally recent music which is targeted towards them anyway. BOX television also attracts audiences through releasing new upcoming music, once the audience know they can find the newest songs on the channel they return. Examples of artists who appear regularly on the music channel BOX television are:
-Rita Ora
-Bruno Mars
-Stooshe
-Rihanna
-Jay Z

BOX Television is used as a form of branding through its competitions and events as well as the channels in itself and its logo. The logo is bold and simply helping brand the music channel as modern and stylish which appeals to its target audience of 18-25 year olds. The letters within the logo are also shaped to represent a box which the audience may think is clever leading them to remembering the logo.

                  

The third music channel i analysed was VH1. The music channel aims to attract audiences between the ages of 25-45. This is because the wide variety of music it chooses to play which ranges back from the 80's to current music. VH1 plays this type of music as it will attract and appeal to the audience they are targeting. The music will appeal the audience as 80's music belongs to the older target audience era. After that the older target audience would have grown up and been surrounded by any music after that. As for the younger half, the music played would appeal to them as they would enjoy the more recent music as well as the 80's as their parents have probably played it to them throughout their childhood. Examples of artists who feature on the channel on a regular basis are:
-Madona
-Micheal Jackson
-Take That
-Whiteney Houston
-Kings of Leon

The music channel is used as a form of branding through the VH1 logo. The logo represents the 80's music displayed through its bright colours which were popular in the 80's however uses the font and box to make it stand out. It also helps the logo appear more modern in order to appeal to the younger audience who are in their mid 20's, as well as the older audience who will like the bright colours used as it takes them back to their era.

         

Scuzz is the next music channel i analysed. Although scuzz had a similar target audience to the other music channels (18-30), it targeted more of a niche market. Rather than playing chart music which is very general to the public preference Scuzz decides to play mainly heavy metal and rock music. This may appeal the their audience as they know they can watch the channel and hear what they want to hear rather than hearing all genres and some songs you like. It also appeals to the audiences as the channel plays many sub-genres of rock and metal which aren't very popular and therefor do not get played much. Examples of artists who feature on the channel which you may not here in mainstream music that appears on the chart are:
-You And Me At Six
-Paramore
-The Killers
-Slipknot
-Young Guns

The logo again helps brand the channel as it is edgy, bold, made up of dark colours such as grey and looks like rock! Image wise the logo follows some conventions of rock: dark colours, edgy ect therefor it helps attract an their target audience of rock and metal lovers as when they see the logo they assume that is is associated with rock and think it is cool.

               

The final music channel i have chose to analyse is Kiss. The channel again have a younger audience of 15-25. The channel plays music belonging to lots of different genres such as hip hop, rnb, deep house, grime, garage and pop. As the channel plays such a wide variety a larger audience is attracted to the channel, alot of the music played belonging to the genres are also in the chart which attracts many people as chart music is decided by the sales and amount of views by the public. However i feel such a variety may divert audience who prefer once genre for example listeners who enjoy dance might rather watch MTV dance so they do not have to listen to genres they do not like. Examples of Artist who appear in the channel are:
-Calvin Harris
-Tinie Tempa
-Ellie Golding
-Jessie J
-Duke Demont

Kiss brands itself as a channel delivering the latest music to its audience as well as songs which are classics of their genre for example an rnb classic would be 'Shaggy- It wasn't me'. The channels logo is diverse which represent the wide range of audience that it attracts.  It is very colourful appealing the eye, it is also cleverly designed as the K is made to look like it is eating the rest of the letters helping the audience remember the logo.

It is important for music channels to appeal to a certain audience as it means they know what artist to play and what programmes to screen without them being rejected by the audience and to gain as many views as possible. It is also important for music channels to target a certain target audience so they can make money as company's come to them to advertise their products which will also have to appeal to their audience in order to be successful.

From analysing music channels i feel there are lots of variety because there are so many audiences to appeal to, and although multiple amount of music channels may play the same type of music they are just as successful as those who specialise in specific genres. I learnt that most music channels target audiences who are teenagers/young adults and broadcast more recent songs who are sung by recent artists like Rihanna and Calvin Harris. This shows me that recent music appeals more to the age group of 15-24 as it is what the music play to attract the audience and has led me to the decision that i will also target the same age group and create a recent and modern music video which will appeal to them. I decided this as if i was to broadcast my music video i would be able to ask popular music channels such as kiss, mtv and box to play my music video as they have the same target audience as me and i would be able to attract my audience more easier than creating a music video to a heavy metal song which would not get played on the more popular channels.