Research into music channels and target audiences

Music Channels-George Hoy

MTV's target audience is the youth aged from 12-24 years; this is because the music is based around current music that is being produced. The music that is being played on MTV is chart music as this is what the younger viewers want to watch, they want to see and listen to the newest music that is available. MTV provide this kind of music that the target audience wants. The regular artists that play on MTV are Ed Sheeran, Rita Ora and Rhianna. Examples of their songs that are played regularly are Lego house, hot right now and stay. MTV use their branding for their advantage to gain more viewers as they have a programme channel, which plays shows such as Geordie shore, and pimp my ride. The channels that they own include children’s television channels such as nickelodeon and they have comedy channels such as comedy central. They have these channels in order to create a bigger income for the ownership. The MTV logo would appeal to audience as the black and white colours contrast well and therefore they are bold. The ‘TV’ sign is done in a graffiti type of front to make it appeals to the audience. The log would be able to be easily recognised by the audience and therefore it is a good logo to use for their brand.

 The target audience for VH1 is people in their early twenties to mid fifties as their music ranges from radio and chart based much like MTV to early and late era based music. For example they may play music from the 90s for an hour, and then play chart music, it varies. The music that is chart based, regular artists that are played include Kayne West and Beyoncé. These two artists are constantly in the charts with their new singles being played a lot when they are first brought out. However 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 with 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 the look that everyone could like. 

The box television target audience is around 11-21 as they play music that is exclusive. The audience would want to watch this music as they play world and country exclusive screenings of the music videos, therefore they audience would want to be the first ones to see the new music and their videos. Examples of artists that regularly played on this channel are Justin bieber, one direction and Rita Ora. As this artists are for the younger audiences it would appeal to the target audiences as there are loads of hardcore fans that will follow this artists and groups all around the world. Therefore they will want to see their music videos first. 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 would stand 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 tells you what it is rather than a flashy logo.

The radio channel ‘scuzz’ 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. 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 sister channels of Scuzz include chart show tv, chart show dance and true entertainment. This would show that scuzz would use these channels to promote their music channel and promote the up and coming artists they show on their music channel. The ‘SCUZZ’ log 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 has a stand out appeal and the rockers 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 young aging from around 14 – 21 as they play chart music. However recently kiss has introduced kisstory, which is an hour a day of old, time hit music. This would therefore appeal to an 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.

In conclusion, this research has taught me the music channels that have their favorite artists and genre. Also it has allowed me to identify what target audience i would want to use for my music video and what radio station play the music i am considering. It has allowed me to see the station that will suits the music i am considering and their target audience, so i have an idea who our target audience should be.