Music Channels are television channels that allow
the audience to listen to their favorite artists and watch the music videos
that partner these. It can increase the popularity of musical artists through
reaching a wider target audience and can introduce new music to the audience.
MTV
MTV is an example of a music channel and the
audience that they target is 12-30 year olds. Within this age range are 18-25
year olds, who will be in to the club and dance scene, and most likely into
going out on the weekends. In order to appeal to this audience the channel
plays music that is likely to be heard in clubs and this includes dance and
club anthems. By playing this mainstream style of music it is engaging people
of this age range and encouraging them to listen to their music channel. The
mainstream music that is played on the channel includes artists like Eminem,
Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus and Beyonce. The channel does not solely
rely on MTV to attract its audience as MTV also owns a series of other channels.
These include MTV Hits and MTV Jams, as well as Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and
Nicktoons. These other channels, partnered with the MTV magazine, means that
MTV is a globally recognized brand appealing to numerous audiences. This ranges
from kids who watch Nickelodeon and Nicktoons, up to the adults who are more
likely to listen to VH1 classics, which plays older more dated songs. The logo
appeals to the audience as the TV part of the logo is written in a graffiti
style, which appeals to the young audience of MTV. The use of black and white
appeals to the audience as is simplistic and plain and is easily
recognizable. This again has contributed to the success of MTV in becoming a
well known brand.
KISS TV
Another example of a music channel is KISS TV.
Their target audience is slightly older than that of MTV and aims its music at
15-34 year olds. Like MTV however, this includes people who are likely to be
into the club and dance scene and are likely to want to listen to current,
dance and club anthem music. This is reflected in the current mainstream choice
of artists which regular feature on the channel. Rudimental, Chase and Status,
Calvin Harris and Avicci are a few examples of the type of artists that appear
on the channel. Kiss use their radio channel to further appeal to their young
audience, and the partnership of the TV channel and the radio station means
that they are a more recognizable brand. They use different radio stations and
TV channels like KISSTORY, which makes sure that the older listeners are also
well catered for by playing old school songs, which are more familiar to those
at the higher end of their target audience. The blue logo is something which
stands out more than KERRANG and MTV for example as it is quite bright and eye
catching. The use of the blue means the audience cannot miss it and this has
helped Kiss become such a large Music channel and radio station.
KERRANG
KERRANG
Unlike the channels I have looked at, Kerrang is
focused more on the Rock Genre. It is similar to Kiss in its target audience of
15-34 year olds. The channel promotes many unknown rock bands, which can help
their popularity and increase their status. In addition to this it also plays classic
old school rock such as Metallica, as well as more modern rock groups such as
My Chemical Romance. By playing both new and old rock songs, it means that there
is a wider variety of music being exhibited to the audience, which can attract
listeners as they know there is the opportunity to listen and discover new
music. The Kerrang magazine is another opportunity for the discovery of new artists as well as information about the rock genre itself with interviews and pictures of artists. This again attracts the audience as they can further their knowledge of new artists whilst also getting an insight into their favourite artists as well. The logo appeals to rock fans as the colouring is dark which is conventional to the genre. The white writing on a black background helps the channel name stand out, making it a more recognisable brand.
VIVA
The music channel VIVA, is one that is owned by MTV. The target audience of this channel is teenagers who MTV felt were relatively un catered for by other channels. This is specifically 15-17 year olds. Although much of the music played on the channel is similar to that on KISS and MTV there is a more youthful image presented through the material and interviews in-between the songs. Artists like Justin Bieber and Rihanna keep the channel current, making the audience more inclined to tune in. The logo is bright and engaging and the eye catching colours, help to attract a youthful audience, whilst also providing a clear contrast to the likes of Kerrang and MTV, whose dark logos seemingly aim to attract an older more mature range of viewers. By catering for a more niche audience the viewing figures will be significantly lower than a major channel, however by using VIVA to target this audience it means MTV have more dominance in the music channel world, by covering more bases than just the one channel would.
AKA
The music channel AKA is owned by Sky and has a target audience of 15-25. The youthful audience is targeted through the use of urban, grime and hip-hop music. This is a genre of music specifically listened to by younger people, which is reflected in the type of viewers of this channel. Wretch 32, Devlin and N-Dubz are a few of the artists that feature regularly on the station. The logo is has a bold back AKA logo shown with a cartoon man in red leaning on the sign. The man leaning on the AKA sign has baggy trousers and a cap on which suggests he may be rebellious and youthful, like many of the viewers of this channel.
After analysing 5 different music channels, it is clear that there is a wide variety of music channels, aiming themselves at a wide variety of ages and covering a wide variety of genres. I think that there is a such a large variety of music channels, because there are so many different preferences and tastes that need to be catered for in the music industry. I think it is important for a channel to target a particular audience because when this is done correctly, as shown by MTV, there is room for large amounts of growth into the radio industry and also with the introduction of magazines, the brand can become globalised and well recognised. I think MTV is broken into different channels like base, dance, rock and classic in order to appeal to numerous target audiences and try and gain a large market share and dominate the music channel industry. With my own production being based a mainstream song, it showed that like MTV, a station who plays similar music, we will have to target a large audience.
VIVA
The music channel VIVA, is one that is owned by MTV. The target audience of this channel is teenagers who MTV felt were relatively un catered for by other channels. This is specifically 15-17 year olds. Although much of the music played on the channel is similar to that on KISS and MTV there is a more youthful image presented through the material and interviews in-between the songs. Artists like Justin Bieber and Rihanna keep the channel current, making the audience more inclined to tune in. The logo is bright and engaging and the eye catching colours, help to attract a youthful audience, whilst also providing a clear contrast to the likes of Kerrang and MTV, whose dark logos seemingly aim to attract an older more mature range of viewers. By catering for a more niche audience the viewing figures will be significantly lower than a major channel, however by using VIVA to target this audience it means MTV have more dominance in the music channel world, by covering more bases than just the one channel would.
AKA
The music channel AKA is owned by Sky and has a target audience of 15-25. The youthful audience is targeted through the use of urban, grime and hip-hop music. This is a genre of music specifically listened to by younger people, which is reflected in the type of viewers of this channel. Wretch 32, Devlin and N-Dubz are a few of the artists that feature regularly on the station. The logo is has a bold back AKA logo shown with a cartoon man in red leaning on the sign. The man leaning on the AKA sign has baggy trousers and a cap on which suggests he may be rebellious and youthful, like many of the viewers of this channel.
After analysing 5 different music channels, it is clear that there is a wide variety of music channels, aiming themselves at a wide variety of ages and covering a wide variety of genres. I think that there is a such a large variety of music channels, because there are so many different preferences and tastes that need to be catered for in the music industry. I think it is important for a channel to target a particular audience because when this is done correctly, as shown by MTV, there is room for large amounts of growth into the radio industry and also with the introduction of magazines, the brand can become globalised and well recognised. I think MTV is broken into different channels like base, dance, rock and classic in order to appeal to numerous target audiences and try and gain a large market share and dominate the music channel industry. With my own production being based a mainstream song, it showed that like MTV, a station who plays similar music, we will have to target a large audience.
