The Music Press: Audience

The Audience
The audience is the people who consume

(read) the text (website or magazine). The same person is not likely to consume Metal Hammer and We Love Pop. Each text is usually aimed at a different audience group: a different target audience. Institutions use demographics to help them define their target audience. They usually have a very clear idea of who they are aiming at. On the next slide, read their own descriptions of their typical target audience.

How do texts define their audience?

Kerrang! Jim, 22, lives and breathes rock music. It

informs his choice of friends, his hobbies, leisure time, attitudes, fashion sense and lifestyle
The Word He is a very high-earning ABC1 male

aged between 30 and 55. Our research shows that 44% of Word's readership earn over 50,000 and 11% earn over 100,000
Classic Rock a loyal following of 35+ affluent,

informed, influential men, many of whom are entering a lifestyle when they are regaining their wallets, freedom and teen spirit

Watch
The Kerrang! editor talking about their

audience in Clip 1 Who Does What (5.306.09), and The Kerrang! News editor talking about their audience in Clip 1 Who Does What (13.00 14.17, end)

Demographic profiling
A demographic profile usually has lots of facts about people, to help

divide into different audience groups, so texts can be targeted at them more successfully.
Profile yourself

- Gender - Class

- Age - Appearance / style

- Ethnicity

What music press texts (magazines and websites) do you consume

(read)?
Do you think this is typical for your demographic profile?

Remember demographic profiling is very broad it doesnt capture individuality; it tends to rely on stereotypes (i.e. pre-teen girls are seen as the main target audience for boy bands)

Use demographic profiling to define the target audience

Metal Hammer
The TYPICAL reader will be:

We Love Pop
The TYPICAL reader will be:

Gender? Age group? Ethnicity? Class? Appearance /style? Favourite bands? Favourite clothes shops? Other interests?

Gender? Age group? Ethnicity? Class? Appearance / style? Favourite bands? Favourite clothes shops? Other interests?

Watch
Discussion of the target audience in Clip 10

The Word (all, 0.00 7.04)

Youth Culture
Many young people use music to define

themselves, to fit into social groups and subcultures: emos, geeks, gangstas, skaters, metallers etc.
What music you like is often connected to your

look and style, your values and beliefs, your life aims and goals.
The Music Press uses this to help sell its

products as a lifestyle. They dont just write about bands, they sell a whole way of life.

Ideology and Values

Each genre of music has a different set of ideology and values

(ways you think and feel about people and the world).
Each genre of music has its own sub-culture which supports this

ideology. For example, you wouldnt expect someone who is into hip-hop / rap music to have the same attitudes, values, beliefs and approach to life as someone who is into classical music. ideology that appeals to its target audience.

Each Music Press text (website / magazine) reflects a certain

BUT: this is dealing with stereotypes and broad definitions. There might be occasional rare individuals who like both rap and classical music; ideologies and values can overlap and change; but on the whole, each genre of music appeals to different types of people, who have different ideologies.

Ideology and sub-cultures / genres

Match the values with the music genre and its typical audience /

sub-culture (again, this is stereotyping, but this is often how texts position themselves) Values / beliefs Subculture / music genre Poetry is cool EMO Looking pretty is important Guns are cool Making money is important GANGSTA RAP Men are more important than women Being different is cool Women are equal to men Falling in love is important POP Big cars are cool

Case Study 1
Look at this magazine front cover.
http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/music/metalhammer-magazineback-issues/metal-hammer-aug-12/

Create a demographic profile for its target

audience or typical reader. Explore the ideology by thinking about: What lifestyle, style, behaviour etc does it promote? What does it suggest is important? What ideologies and values does it support? HOW is this magazine trying to appeal to this typical reader / target audience?

Case Study 2
Use this link, or use a website home page you

are familiar with. http://www.thegirlsare.com/

Create a demographic profile for its target

audience or typical reader.

Explore the ideology by thinking about: What

lifestyle, style, behaviour etc does it promote? What does it suggest is important? What ideologies and values does it support?
HOW is this website trying to appeal to this

typical reader / target audience?

Create a text for a target audience

Choose a specific target audience. Define the

group using demographic profiling. Base it on yourself, or choose a niche group no other Music Press texts seem to appeal to (i.e. black British girls into feminist hip-hop). Define the groups typical values and beliefs. Note down the typical: age / gender / ethnicity / class / interests / values and attitudes / style and appearance of this group. Create the ideal magazine / homepage for this target audience group. Sketch it out. Add annotations which explain how and why it appeals to this group.

How influential is the Music Press?

Can the Music Press make or break bands? YouTube, MySpace, Bandspaces are all used by artists to get exposure without relying on the big labels or the mainstream music press. Remember Alex Days Christmas hit single Forever Yours? It sold over 50,000 in a week, thanks to social networking sites, with no support from a record label or the Music Press. On the other hand, the success of groups like One Direction seems entirely due to Music Press coverage and promotion by a big record label. Do you think the Music Press influences its

audience to like or dislike certain bands / artists? Can the Music Press make someone successful?

Watch
Clip 4 The Influence of the Music Press (0.00

end, 6.08).

Active audiences use the Music Press

The active audience theory suggests that rather than just being influenced, the audience use the texts they consume to fulfil needs or desires.

Blumler and Katz identified four needs that media products can satisfy for the audience.

Information the Music Press can provide information about favourite and new bands, new releases, tour dates, where to buy products and so on. Entertainment the Music Press can provide interest, fun and entertainment, a few minutes away from the realities of life, through news and gossip, quizzes, videos and so on. Personal identity: the Music Press can provide role models and comparisons for the audiences sense of self. Readers may get ideas for their look, style, and attitude. Personal companionship: the Music Press, especially online, can provide opportunities to interact with other fans, to feel like you belong to a community, and it can provide topics for conversations with your friends, allowing you to interact better with your peers.

Watch
What needs are fulfilled, in Clip 5 Advertising

(0.00 0.32)

Active audiences
Look at this text. How might it fulfil different

needs for the audience?

http://echoesmagazine.co.uk/

Do different titles satisfy different

needs? Do some titles focus more on information than entertainment, or some focus more on personal relationships than information? Do the best titles satisfy all four needs?

Plan a homepage or a front cover to fulfil the audiences needs

Sketch out either a home page or a front cover of a

new magazine or website, or use the one you made last time.
Make sure it includes something to appeal to each

of the four needs (information e.g. band / record / festival

news; entertainment e.g. quizzes, videos, interesting articles; personal identity e.g. style pages, interviews with role models, merchandise to buy; personal companionship e.g. opportunities to chat and interact with the stars, with other fans).

Label and annotate your sketch showing how this

text satisfies the needs of your audience group.

Summary
Explain these terms:

Target audience Demographic profiling Ideology and values Active audience Four needs