Targeting and Defining an Audience

Defining The Audience:

As Mass

For many reasons, Media producers and Institutions like to consider audiences in groups. This is particularly true of advertisers, who have led the way in targeting groups of consumers. Producers and Institutions quickly identified that there was not just one audience or one market, the audience can be segmented and marketed into different ways depending on the way they have been defined.  Some obvious ways to classify audiences are age, gender, race and location. However, you can also classify audiences by their class: A:  Upper Middle Class 
Top Management, Bankers, Lawyers, Doctors and other professionals.
B: Middle Class 
Middle Management, Teachers, many "creatives" like Graphic Designers.
C1: Lower Middle Class
Office supervisors, Junior managers, Nurses, Specialist Clerical Staff etc.
D: Skilled Working Class
Skilled workers, tradespersons (White collar)
E: People at lowest level of incomeUnemployed, Students, Pensioners, Casual Workers.
(Information Source: Audience Research Booklett)


Primary Research: Questionnaire
To the right is the exact questionnaire i handed out, i asked for the person's "Occupation" so i could match it up with their class because most people aren't aware of their class.I'm going to print out 50 simple, straight to the point questionnaires and hand them out to a variety of different people of all ages, races, genders with different occupations.
  

Questionnaire Conclusion: I found no correlation between class and what style of music Video was preferred. However, i did find that students (class E) aged between 12-25 circled more than one music video style on the questionnaire except Folk, Jazz and Country whereas several people (mostly class B) aged 50+ only circled one particular style of music Video which was generally Rock, Country and Jazz. This shows me that the older generation prefer mostly one specific type of music compared to the younger generation who likes a mixture and variations of music videos.According to this theory, we all have different uses for the media and we also make choices over what we want to watch. This means when we encounter a media text, its not just some kind of mindless entertainment- we are indeed expected to get something from it; some kind of gratification. In this model the person has the power to select a media text that best suits them and what their need is. 

The four kinds of Gratification that have been identified are:

• Information: When we want to find out about society and the world- satisfying our own curiosity about what is happening around the world. This would fit into when watching the News or watching Documentaries, they give us a sense that we are learning.
• Personal Identity: This is when we are wanting to look for models in the Media for our behaviour. For example, we may identify with characters we see on a soap like in "Coronation Street". These characters help us to decide if we agree with other characters actions and even the own character's actions. Also if the particular character succeeds in something then we feel better about ourselves. For example that warm, happy feeling at the end of a programme when a character triumphs.
• Integration and Social Interaction: This is when we use the media in order to to find out more about the circumstances of other people, watching a show helps us to empathise and sympathise with the lives of others and maybe even of the characters in a programme as friends even though we might feel a little embarrassed admitting it! Also television programmes help us to get on with our own lives and maybe even talking about it with friends. 
• Entertainment: When sometimes we may just use the media simply for enjoyment, relaxation or to fill time.

(Information Source: Audience Research Booklett)The Uses and Gratifications Theory is extremely important when creating a Media text. When it comes to Information, I need to put something on the Digipak/Magazine that makes the consumer want to watch my Music Video. For example if the look of the digipak was very funky and interesting, the person might want to have a look at the music video. Personal Identity is also essential, filming someone who is "healthy", attractive and in some cases a real person (not been edited to be made look skinnier/prettier) makes that person want to be like them and look like them. You don't want someone looking un-healthy and un-attractive on the front cover as this could set a bad example to the targeted audiences and people wouldn't want to buy it. Integration and Social Interaction is important in the process of creating a Music Video even just simply having the main image on the Poster/digipak looking into the camera would make the consumer feel drawn to the artist and are instantly interested in watching the Music Video. If the person was looking down, the audience wouldn't be able to connect with what the Poster Advertisement is all about. Entertainment is again very very essential when designing and producing a Music Video, the advertisements needs to be eyecatching and something they've never seen before- possibly unconventional as there are so many bands/artists out in the Industry who are very similar.Consumer Habits

To allow the questionnaire results to be consumed easily, i have constructed it into a bar chart (to the right) displaying which music Videos were most popular within certain age groups. The bar chart shows that people within my age (the dark blue bar) favoured Hip-Hop, RnB and Indie Music Videos the most. Because of this i am considering making my Music Video One of these genres. I am interested in targeting people of my age and upwards because i know what the lifestyles and interests of people my age are all about and i know what they can relate to. This bar chart has helped my view my questionnaire results more clearly which is alot helpful.

Defining The Audience
As People:

Uses And Gratifications Theory

Consumer habits is the study of when, why how and where people do or don't buy a product. 


When would you watch a Music Video?
When it comes to Music Videos people would normally watch them at any time of the day, either in the morning at before school/work , or during the day or at night time when having a meal or a gathering with drinks instead of the radio. Overall it is in the person's power when wanting to watch a music video. You could also watch them in retail shops, i know for a fact in "Footlocker", they play music videos on small TVs around the shop.


Why would you watch a Music Video? 
When studying why people would watch a music video there are several reasons, maybe to watch their favourite music idols performing on screen, they could also watch music videos to try and copy dance moves for example. People also watch music videos as a more interesting way rather than the radio, it could also be to see what the band/ artist is wearing to try and copy their style as they could look up to thast person.

How would you watch a Music Video?
When watching a music video some people like to watch each individual second so they don't miss a thing. However, people who are in a rush might just watch the first 30 seconds for a peak and then have to rush off out. People who also have sky+ could also watch it and keep rewinding it to listen to their favourite part.

Where would you watch a Music Video?

You could watch a music magazine on T.V, on the internet via "Youtube", at shops, at home, on a Phone like the "IPhone" for example.  

In my opinion, people's taste in music is classless. However, to find this out i am going to put together a general Music Video Questionnaire to find out if there is any connection between people's: age, gender, race and class with what their favourite style of music video is. This will help me identify my audience for my Music Video and if there is any connection between the class of the person to what type of music style they enjoy the most. 

Music Labels, Channels & Producers

Researching Into The Music Industry
Music Labels

Popular Worldwide Music labels:

EMI Music is one of the world’s leading music companies, home to some of the most successful and best known recording artists, Artists on EMI labels include: Lily Allen,  The Beatles, Beastie Boys, Coldplay, Gorillaz, David Guetta, Iron Maiden, Massive Attack, Kylie Minogue, Katy Perry, Pink Floyd, Sir Simon Rattle, Snoop Dogg, Tinie Tempah, Thirty Seconds To Mars, KT Tunstall and Robbie Williams.

Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom. UK artists such as artists such as Take That, Girls Aloud, Cheryl Cole, La Roux, Duffy, Klaxons, Delphic, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, The Saturdays, James Morrison, Kaiser Chiefs,Boyzone, Alphabeat, The Courteeners, S Club 7, S Club 8, Rachel Stevens and Ellie Goulding are under Polydor record label.

Def Jam Recordings is an American record label, focused primarily on hip hop and urban music, owned by Universal Music Group. n the UK, the label takes on the name Def Jam UK. Artists such as: BigBoi, Ghostface Killa, Jerimih, Justin Bieber, LLCoolJ, Ludacris, Rihanna and Kanye West are just a few successfull RnB/Hp-Hop aritsts under the Label. 

Young Money Entertainment is an American record label founded by rapper Lil Wayne. The label is an imprint of Cash Money Records and is distributed by Universal Republic Records. Current acts include Lil Wayne, Drake, T-Pain Nicki Minaj, Bow Wow, Mack Maine, Lil Chuckee and Shanell aka SnL. The label has released five #1 albums. They were Tha Carter III, Tha Carter IV, and I Am Not a Human Being by Lil Wayne, Thank Me Later by Drake, and Pink Friday by Nicki Minaj.

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. Artists include: J.Cole, Beyonce, Sean Garret, 3 6 Mafia, Willow Smith, Alexia Jordan, Cher, Destiny's Child, Katy B and Wyclef Jean. 

4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records, and is still active today. It now forms part of the Beggars Group, along with Matador Records, Rough Trade Records and XL Recordings.4AD current recording artists include Ariel Pink, The Big Pink, Blonde Redhead, Bon Iver,Camera Obscura, Deerhunter, Gang Gang Dance, The National, Scott Walker, St Vincent,Twin Shadow, tUnE-yArDs, and Zomby.

Heavenly Records is a London-based record label, distributed by EMI. Founded by Jeff Barrett, Heavenly  Records managed many successful indie bands of the time including Happy Mondays, Heavenly Recordings' first releases were 7" and 12" singles for bands Barrett had discovered. The label's early releases included singles and albums by acts such as Flowered Up, Saint Etienne, East Village and Manic Street Preachers. 

679 is the London based label with an independent ethos that continually invests in exciting new music and talent. They represent an eclectic mix of artists from The Streets and Plan B to The Mystery Jets and The Rifles to King Creosote and The Earlies. 679 is responsible for commissioning a number of creative promos including the stop motion video for Plan B, No Good. Always looking to innovate , the label regularly use new film makers to remix and re-interpret existing promos for further usage.






Logo Design
Overall, i have noticed quite a significant common design between the Label Logo's, all

• Square in shape.
• Use minimal colour.
• Mostly black and white.
• Use a maximum of two colours, normally primary colours or just black & white.
• Simple design, nothing too fancy.

Music TV Channels

Music television is a type of television programming which focuses predominantly on playing music videos from bands, usually on dedicated television channels broadcasting on satellite or cable. Music TVs may host their own shows charts, award prizes. Examples are: VIVA, Magic, MTV, Kerrang TV, Smash Hits, Channel AKA & Clubland TV.

I am slightly leaning more towards broadcasting my own music video via MTV, i am selecting this Channel in particular because i think it plays more up to date top 50 top songs which appeals to the younger generation, my target audience. I think if it was to be broad casted by Magic it wouldn't get as much attention rather it being on MTV; which overall is a bigger more successful conglomerate.

Music Producers

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording (i.e. "production") of an artist's music. A producer has many roles that may include, but are not limited to, gathering ideas for the project, selecting songs and/or musicians, coaching the artist and musicians in the studio, controlling the recording sessions, and supervising the entire process through mixing and mastering. Producers also often take on a wider entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules, and negotiations.
Today, the recording industry has two kinds of producers: executive producer and music producer; they have different roles. While an executive producer oversees a project's finances, a music producer oversees the creation of the music.

My Own Record Label .
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion, and enforcement of copyright protection of sound recordings and music videos. The term "record label" derives from the circular label in the centre of a vinyl record which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information.

For my music video, the Record Label name needs to be something that represents me as the creator of the video, i wanted to inco-operate my name into the Label along with something relating to the music industry like "music" or "recordz", to the right i conducted a quick and brief brainstorm into names. My favourite name which stood out to me the most was "CJM Recordings." This is the name i am definitely going to use.

I then began to experiment with the logo design, i wanted 

something conventional and simple which i definitely think i achieved,  I was aiming for something conventional because i didn't want to over complicate the logo because it is what the audience are going to recognise over and over again and i didn't want it to be over the top. After i settled with my favourite design which was number 1, i began to design the small logo on Photoshop.

Final Record Label Logo
This is the final Logo design, i am very pleased with the final outcome. I didn't want to include alot of colour into it as i think it would look over-tryed.