Research into Music Channels - Miss Georgiou

What is the purpose of music channels? - Music channels have been on our televisions since

MTV 

Target audience consists of teenagers aged from 15-21

Plays chart popular music with varied genres

Incorporates artists including singers and groups such as Beyonce, Jason Derulo or David Guetta. They are all predominantly artists from the dance music genre which appeals to the teenage lifestyle. They are renowned artists that teenagers look up to and use as inspirations. This results in that the popularity of the channel itself increasing as fans use it as a platform to watch their idols.

MTV is owned by Viacom media networks. It is a large company owning a series of channels including other channels such as Nickelodeon, comedy central and VH1. This is done to make MTV a more mainstream music channel appealing to a large widespread audience. It results in the channel becoming more accessible to an audience as it is marketed and accessed around the world.

Examples of programmes within the channel consists of shows such as 'one direction: official top 10' or 'official UK top 20'. This all links in with the teenage target audience as they are both examples of chart music and pop music which appeals to the younger target audience who are seen listening to this music regularly on the radio or through records.

Finally, the logo itself furthermore links in with appealing to the target audience of teenagers and young adults. This is due to it being a bold, outgoing and informal. Through the use of both a graffiti font and font resembling a building, MTV presents the urban lifestyle which links to the popular dance and pop genres often played and the exciting lifestyle of artists appearing on the channel.

Magic TV 

Target audience consisting of middle aged adults

Plays older music, including a variety of relaxing genres

The channel includes artists such as Lionel Richie, Adele, Gary Barlow and Tom Jones. They are a mix of older artists with relaxed singers aimed to appeal to an older, more mature target audience. These artists, predominantly belonging to the soul music genre, are selected to appeal to the relaxed and laid back lifestyle of a mature adult.

Magic TV is owned by 'the Box Plus Network'. This is a very large company owning a large variety of music channels including examples such as 4music, Heat, Kerrang and Kiss TV. Much like MTV this is also done to make the channel more main stream, attracting a wide target audience and again making it accessible to people on a international level.

Examples of programmes shown on Magic TV consists of things like 'the best of the 90s', 'nothing like Gary Barlow' or 'nothing like Sam Smith'. This all links towards the middle aged target audience as the two artists are both part of the relaxed soul genre which is popular within this age group and is expected from the channel itself. Another programme is 'the best of the 90s', this also appeals to their target audience as it dates back to the era when they enjoyed music the most; therefore showing some of there favourite artists and genres.

Additionally the logo itself is also created to appeal to the selected target audience. The blue, flowing font links in with the sea and water which is a relaxing image incorporated with the relaxed music they play.

 4music

A wide Target Audience consisting of all genders; however, most likely to be younger aged including both young adults and teenagers

This is mainly influenced by the music they play, much like MTV they tend to play popular chart music with varied genres. However this often links to the pop/dance genres as this is often seen high in the charts due to a large teenage fan bases.

Differently to MTV, 4music does not play programmes linked with only one artist. Instead, the channel plays chart music programmes from the music app 'spotify'. This often results in the pop, dance and hip hop music being played regularly on the channel, it therefore helps attract the younger target audience who incorporate these genres into their lifestyle. 

4music is owned by 'The Box Plus Network'; much like the other 2 channels this is a very large company owning a series of channels consisting of Kiss TV, the Heat and Kerrang. This again allows them to access a mainstream audience, therefore increasing their viewings.The types of music videos that the conglomerate company owns tend to play chart music that is popular with a young target audience. This young influential target audience is also targeted by 4music,this means they can gain more viewings as they already have easy access to their specific audience. 

Examples of shows seen on 4music consists of programmes such as 'This Week's Fresh Music Top 20', 'The Friday Hotmix!' or 'UKHOT40'. This selection consists mostly of chart shows showing the different artists popular in the UK and within different genres. This mostly includes the dance and pop genres which are seen to be the most popular in the UK. The channels plays this chart music in order to appeal to the younger target audience.

The 4music channel logo is also used to appeal to the younger target audience with it's outgoing pink colours. 

AKA 
This has a far smaller target audience consisting of younger adults and teenagers who are very interested in and enjoy the rap/grime genres.

The channel appeals to this target audience through playing various young, talented, up and coming grime artists. They may not be as popular as other artists, therefore narrowing its target audience.

Formally known as channel U, AKA was created in 2003 and has helped break through artists such as Tinchy Stryder, Tinie Tempah, Dizzee Rascal, Chipmunk, Wretch 32, Devlin and N-Dubz. They are all now well respected and talented artists within the grime and rap genres with large fan bases spanning globally. These fans are the specific young grime and rap fans that AKA aims to appeal to.

After being sold by the company Mushroom TV ,who were forced into liquidation, channel AKA was taken over by All around the world productions. This is a record label based in the UK who created a TV channel in 2008 called Clubland TV. It has grown since creating planet pop TV, greatest hits and more recently taking over the AKA channel. The company itself benefits the channel as it is associated with various other similar music channels that appeal to a similar, younger target audience; this results in AKA gaining access to their selected target audience. Also, through marketing on each channel, both AKA and Clubland,     the two channels can influence teenagers into listening to both grime and dance genres. Therefore widening the size of their audience. 

Examples of programmes seen on AKA consists of shows such as 'grime- the 20 sickest', 'UK vs USA #BangersOnly' or 'AKA'S Weekend Turn Up'. This shows clear intensions of the channel trying to reach out to their target audience. This is seen through the grime and rap genre based programmes but mainly through the use of colloquial British slang with words such as 'sickest', 'bangers' and 'turn up', This appeals to the younger, British fans of the grime genre as it is often part of their every day dialect.

The logo for the channel also helps appeal to this target audience of younger, grime/rap fans. This is done through the conventional presentation of a rap artist with a flat cap and baggy clothing, leaning casually against the large font saying 'AKA'. This is highlighted in red within the logo and emphasises the genre of which the channel is based upon.

Clubland TV

Target Audience of teenagers and young adults aged 15-25

Plays popular chart music; predominantly pop, dance and house genres

Includes various artists such as Avicii, Rudimental, Disclosure and Calvin Harris. This mostly consists of DJs or pop artists selected to appeal to their selected younger target audience. They create a party atmosphere which is linked to teenagers and younger adults who are generally seen going to parties, clubs and bars where this music is often played. The artists played are also very popular globally and specifically in the UK meaning that the channel has a very widespread, mainstream target audience.

Much like AKA, Clubland TV is also owned by the record label 'All around the world productions'. This has similar benefits to Clubland TV as it does to AKA. With the company owning various other music channels aimed towards the younger target audience, the channel is able to gain easy access to their target audience. Additionally, Clubland TV was the first channel created by the record label in 2008. This results in it being the main channel owned by the company, meaning it is well known and can gain more viewings.

The channel consists of various programmes such as 'Thursday is the new Friday', '#BreakfastBangers' or Top 30 dance hits'. They are all created in order to appeal to the channels selected target audience. The programme titles link to the party lifestyle and the weekend night life of which appeals to the younger audience who live for the weekend party lifestyle. It also shows clear indications that the channel focuses around the 'dance' genre; this is very popular within the younger age groups as it again links with the party lifestyle.  

Furthermore, the logo also helps attract this younger, outgoing target audience. The font itself resembles the lights within a club of which the favoured dance and house music is often seen played. 

Most music channels, specifically MTV, have channels divided into separate genres. This is often done in order to attract a wide spread, mainstream target audience; they are the able to attract fans of all types of genres and musics. This results in the channels being able to gain more viewings and therefore make more money. Music channels can be very useful when appealing yo a target audience. Different fans of various genres and music will focus on different television channels. Artists often aim to get their music played on a specific music channel in order to attract their selected target audience. The main thing I have taken away from my research into music channels is the ways in which various artists aim to find and attract their target audiences. This is specifically seen through the variety of music channels, ranging from MTV to Magic TV, aiming to appeal to differing audiences. 
I have chosen to make a video based upon the dance genre. This decision has been influenced by my research into the different music channels.

What is a music video - Miss Miller

Music Video Purposes

A music video is a visual aid created to be played alongside certain songs in order to accompany them in helping with promotion of the song itself and benefits to the audience.

For the institution the main use and benefit of a music video is its promotional values. As a song is released usually it is done so simultaneously with the music video. This is done specifically for marketing benefits. Music videos can be accessed mostly for free on various different platforms around the world, most frequently through YouTube. This accessibility often means that the song is viewed and listened to on a large scale meaning that an institution can increase its popularity, selling more records and making more revenue. Additionally, a commodity that also helps build a hype around a music video or song is social networks. The increase in the usage of social networks allows artists to go viral as songs or videos are shared globally, again allowing an institution to appeal to a wider audience and furthermore sell more records.

Another key purpose of the music video is for an artist to develop an image for themselves. They can show their personality through a series of videos in link with their songs, they can develop an image for themselves in order to sell themselves to an audience or more importantly they can show there level of performance, linking themselves to the genre through dances and plots. This helps them appeal to their target audience through making themselves accessible to viewers on a personal level. Attracting a target audience is also a vital purpose for a music video as it helps create a large fan base of which promotes the film through word of mouth and means that more people are likely to buy tracks from the artist or pay to watch and listen to them.

What can be seen as the most important benefit and purpose of a music video is its ability to help create a theme, meaning or narrative behind a song. The video accompanying a song often clarifies what the song is about r what it represents. The music video is a key way of portraying the story behind the lyrics within a song from it either having a deep meaningful theme to it developing comic element. Allowing the audience to see the meaning behind a certain song or artist can allow the to furthermore understand it; this can result in them relating to the artist or song which leads to more overall entertainment and engagement for the audience. It additionally has great benefits to the institution as well as it creates a marketable element to the song, adding to the fan base and allowing them to sell more tracks and make furthermore revenue from the song or artist.

There are three different styles of music videos that differ within the various music genres; this consists of performance, narrative and concept. Performance consists of the artists either singing, dancing or playing an instrument in order to show their talent within the video. Narrative shows a story behind the song, emphasising what the song is about and developing a greater understanding of the song. Finally, concept shows a theme to the song or an idea seen portrayed throughout the video. These styles are incorporated into every music video.

Music Video Analysis

The music video that I have selected to analyse is the 'Party Rock anthem' song by 'LMFAO'. It is from the dance music genre and is aimed at younger adults from both genders. It is seen to comply to the conventions of the dance genre and typical music videos as a whole.

There are many conventions and purposes seen throughout the video:

One purpose is to comply to the theme of a fun  party lifestyle in order to meet the conventions of the stereotypical dance genre. This is seen to be achieved through the use of plot; the song itself is made out to have created a party fever taking over the world with 'shuffling' zombies. This results in the video showing large party like phenomena on the urban streets. A shot that clearly shows this party theme running throughout the clip is seen at the start of the video. It is a low angle showing a man dressed in bright colours with urban clothing and glasses jumping on the top of a car and shouting "party rock!". This reckless behaviour, plus links to the city and an urban theme adds the party lifestyle and appeals to fans of the dance genre which typically shows party themed fun.

The artists also aim to create a narrative running alongside the song itself, this is done to meet the conventions of the typical music video by adding the narrative style to the clip. This is mostly achieved by plot; the idea is that the song itself has creating a party fever throughout the world and that people can't stop 'shuffling' to the music. The two artists have to survive the comical apocalypse through joining in with the addicting partying and dancing.  This is mainly done to maintain the viewers attention as they want to see the outcome of the video and witness the effect of the addicting 'party rock anthem'. An outline of the plot is clarified towards the start of the sequence through sound and specifically diegetic dialogue. A man trying to survive the 'shuffling' apocalypse warns the two artists by saying " ever since that song came out they been 'shuffling'. By saying this he is relating to the shuffling zombies and his panicked voice shows the danger of song and the addicting shuffling. This is done to create a comic element to the clip and present the party theme creating fun, amusing entertainment for the younger teenage target audience. This use of narrative is often done to create a meaning to the song, in this case it shows the light hearted effect of the song being easy to party to.

The two main artists also aim to show their own personalities within the video, emphasising their fun party lifestyle, their light hearted sense of humour and their performance element with dances running throughout the video. The comic element of the video created through the absurd and eccentric plot demonstrates their light hearted sense of humour of which an audience can relate to due to them seen not to take themselves seriously and to enjoy their party lifestyle. However a factor of the video that is also used to show the artists image and personality is the use of mise en scene and specifically costume. The characters within the clip are all seen wearing bright colours and modern clothing with quirky patterns on them, similar to the artists themselves. This presents them as being outgoing and fun; it shows them as being trend setters and elaborates upon the theme of a party lifestyle. This is a convention of the dance genre and is done to furthermore relate to its target audience as teenagers are often seen to follow this relaxed, fun party lifestyle.

This research is highly beneficial to the creation of my own music video. The video I analysed helped greatly as it gave a clear indication of how to connect with a selected target audience through the use of plot and characterisation. It also clarified how to effectively use the various styles often seen in a music video to great effect, building an image and a narrative around a certain song and artist. Music videos are vital additions to songs. They benefit the artist as they can express an image to an audience building up a larger fan base, it helps the institution due to them being a large marketing platform, plus it benefits the audience as they can see the themes and ideas behind a song increasing the overall entertainment. Finally, the analysis of my selected video has also had some influence upon the genre that I may like to focus upon for my music video; I felt that the dance genre had a lot of flexibility with the various styles and themes that you could include, therefore pushing me towards picking a song from this selected genre.