Research into Television Music Channels - Miss Georgiou

Introduction

Television music channels have become popular as the years have gone past. People watch them for entertainment and the enjoyment of watching the music video itself as well as listening to their music. Music videos allow the audience to witness and engage with the artist and understand their story.

MTV

The target audience for MTV is 13021 year olds. For an example i looked at todays schedule of music.  Today, MTV have broadcasted "Maroon 5 brand new vid!" "hits from the brits! Top 20" and "Jess Glynes party tunes". All of these would appeal to under 21 year olds as they are all popular with the younger targeted audience. The content of all of these genre's and songs are happy and up-beat and generally don't include any violence or explicit behaviour. These are all fairly new releases and are popular with the audience. The current releases are shown at different times under different titles- "the official UK top 20" and "the official UK download chart" The current day hits are shown regularly on MTV to keep their target audience engaged.

Viacom media networks owns MTV and is a division of a media conglomerate viacom that oversees the operations of many television channels. Viacom media networks also owns Nickelodeon, Comedy central and VH1.  It is an advantage for MTV to be owned by a large company as they have access to a large budget, allowing them to spend freely on things such as new songs on the channels, updates, all to keep their target audience attracted and entertained. Also, globalisation. Being owned by a large company means they are known world-wide and are the most popular music channel globally.

The logo appeals to the target audience for many reasons. The logo includes a simple choice of colours, just simply black and white. This means that it is memorable and doesn't stand out as much, although this doesn't affect MTV as they are still well-known and the as their is no colours it doesn't distract the audience from the video playing as it is in the corner all the time on the screen. The '"M" is in bold which means its the audience, and is in a graffiti style, which appeals to a younger audience more than an older audience. Graffiti relates the younger audience to the channel more as they are more rebellious and find this more attractive and current. 

PLANET POP

Planet pop is a british music television channel, previously known as WTF - (weekly top 40). Planet pop has been broadcasting on television since 2010.
The target audience for this television music channel is young adult audience between the ages of 16-24.
For this music channel i looked at todays listings. "Buzzin! The most tweeted 20", "The weekend warm up" and "Jason Derulo, face the music".  The first listing, connects to the target audience of 16-24 year olds, as this range of audience are the ones that use social networking aka. twitter the most, to communicate with friends or music channel such as this one. The idea is for viewers to tweet them, naming a song that they like and feel should be played on the most "tweeted top 40". This helps to engage with the audience and make them feel like they are involved. The below picture shows the scheduled timetable for today:

Universal Music owner of channel AKA launched the new channel 'Planet pop' in 2010. Although, this channel is also linked in with Channel 4, as it is run by the executive Simon Sadler.

The main genre played on planet pop is "pop", linking into the name. Massive R&B and pop songs will be played on the channel.  Although the owner of "planet pop" isn't very well-known, the television channel has still done well. The listings shown are from a friday listing linking to the listing of "the weekend warm up" shows that the target audience of 16+ will get hit as this is the age group that listen to these channels at this time. Also Jason Derulo is popular and releases up-beat and up-to-date music in this era, meaning the audience of 16+ again is hit and means more viewings on the channel. 

The logo for "planet pop" is colourful and represents the name in many different ways. The word "planet" in the title is represented through the globe picture behind the name. The globe is bright blue, with objects coming off of it e.g. a smart phone, trainers and speakers. These all link into the fact that the target audience is looking for an interesting logo to pick the channel to watch and the smart phone shows that is accessible by the audience. Within the logo there is also a planet next to it on the right, trying to create the fact "planet pop" is the biggest and most popular.

KERRANG!


Kerrang is the worlds biggest selling weekly rock magazine and well-known music channel. I looked at todays schedule. "rock zombies: 25 british biters", "The weekends rock videos" and "rock hard all night". This music channel airs rock music, with an audience of 16+. The magazine has been published from 1981 but the music video since 2000. In March 2012, Kerrang announced a new rock chart for the UK which is based upon airplay across Kerrang! Radio, Kerrang TV and sales figures from the Official Charts Company. All of these would appeal to the age of 16-30 year olds, as they play a mixture of songs from various artists. Kerrang is a music channel that is specific for people that enjoy listening to rock music. Most of the songs include depressing lyrics although with an element of up-beat soundtrack from the instruments in the background e.g. drums.

Kerrang was published by Bauer Media group. They are a large European-based media company, headquartered in Hamburg. They have a portfolio of more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products, and 50 radio and TV stations around the world. Kerrang is a brand that specialises in Rock Music. It originally began as a magazine, and then a radio station was launched. A kerrang TV channel also exists, all of its programme content is music videos, the majority of which is opened scheduled, for the text requests from their playlist. This is all owned by Bauer Media Group and have created a large development within Kerrang!. The picture on the left shows a chart list from a radio presenter who will be playing these songs from Kerrang Radio station on the weekend.

CLUBLAND TV

Clubland generally plays club, dance and the top hits of the week music. Clubland was launched in 2008, the channel became very popular but now in 2015 is only available on SKY channels and available to stream on smart phones and tablets, for easy access to music. Successful artists are played on Clubland TV, such as David Guetta a well known pop artist around the world and especially the UK. For more information on Clubland TV i looked at todays broadcasting to help me gather information on what would be playing and how this relates to the channel itself. The screenshot below shows this:


On todays listing is includes '"100% new and improved", "mid morning mashup" and "David Guetta - 60 minutes". All of these listings are relatable to the channel as they are using catchy titles and well-known artists to promote their music channel, which works well. "mid-morning mashup" shows to the audience that a variety of music is going to be played in this time period and not just one artist, meaning they will be entertained and enjoy it more. From looking at this listings for today i feel that Clubland TV has a target audience of 16-25 as it is promoting to a younger audience for the type of music that is being played, e.g. new releases which teenagers and young adults enjoy. These listings are broadcasted from 4 o'clock onwards. This catches the eye of the target audience as this is the time that people arrive home from work, college etc and like to enjoy music, as well as this listing being taken from a friday night schedule when people are driving home from work and want to get into the mood of going out, which links back to the name of the title "club".

The logo also appeals to the target audience as it appears to show through the use of strobe lights, which connects to the name of "club", which teenagers and young adults can relate too. The size of the font is large, which make its easy to recognise and understand. The simple colours also mean this does not distract the audience from the music video being played and is just a logo that is seen in the corner, which also attracts people to watch this channel as there is not something bold and large covering the corner of the screen.

All around the world productions own Clubland TV swell as owning Planet Pop, which i have also analysed and Channel AKA, also popular. They are very successful with their music videos and are well known for owning these three. This success has lead them to making a lot of money and fame within the music industry.

AKA

AKA, is a British music channel owned by All around the world productions. This music channel has a focus on urban, crime and hip-hop music. This music channel has helped to make artists such as Tinie Tempah and N-Dubz famous and well-known in the UK.  AKA had a previous ownership with Clubland TV, which could explain the similarities in the two channels as they are both successful and play very similar music.
For extra research i looked at the listings for today, to help me see what they play and what this includes. The screenshot below shows this:



On todays listings is shows for different titles of music that they will be playing. "hashtag, throwback", "sickest new sounds" and "drake & friends the dopest 50". The first title relates to twitter, meaning this channel has relation so social networking, meaning the audience can go on twitter, also connecting to the younger audience who use twitter to contact with friends and music channels such as AKA. Furthermore, The last title which includes Drake means the audience can relate to Drake the word "dopest" is a word that Drake uses, meaning the audience can connect and relate to what type of songs are going to be played.

The parent company of of Fizz TV and Channel U went into voluntary liquidation in February 2009, before being brought by Mushroom TV. When being brought by Mushroom TV the aim was to rebrand and start fresh, which took place later on in 2009. The fresh start allowed the audience to be more entrained and and allowed them to express their thoughts and views through a vote. This was a success and bonus as it allowed the audience to feel in control, meaning they became connected with the channel.  I feel that the target audience of AKA is 18+, as it includes grime music which could mean explicit language towards the audience, and shouldn't be heard by a younger audience.

The logo of AKA, just includes simple colours; black and red. The red shows a boy to be leaning against the logo, with a cap on and baggy clothing, relating to the element of grime and pop, which connects to the younger/adult audience of dancing and dancing (hip-hop). The black is simple and dosent make a large statement, which is a good thing as the audience want a music channel that they can watch without being distracted by the Logo, and black relates to grime as its dark and mysterious.

Conclusion
By researching into individual music channels i feel that each have allowed me to look at the different music and genres they play, why they play it and how it attracts the target audience. From researching into 5 different channels i feel that MTV is the most successful as it has a very wide audience, plays a lot of different music and is well-known not just in the UK but worldwide which connects to the wider audience. Although, from looking at how audiences are targeted, i feel i now know what audience i am going to aim at for my music video and why, i feel for my music video i will maybe use the target audience of 16-25 as is is a large age group, although i have found out that this age group enjoy similar music, especially new releases and hip-hop/pop genre.

Furthermore, analysing logo's has also given me feedback and information on what works well and what docent, for instance i now know that a simple but realistic logo attracts the audience as it doesn't stand out to the audience but is still recognisable to the audience, also doesn't get in the way of the music video being played.

I feel that this post has helped me to elaborate on my ideas and thoughts on music videos and how they are shown through television music channels, and how this is a positive. I feel that from my research i am looking at the genre of pop. The genre of pop has a wide target audience of people from the age of 16 onwards, and nearly all of teenagers enjoy it. From looking at individual music channels and the songs they play it is evident that pop is globally favourited and enjoyed. Also from looking at the top 40, i saw that most of the songs in the top 10 have the genre of pop. I feel that for me to use the genre of pop within my music video i will have to research carefully into what song i am going to use for the reason of it being to popular or being hard to relate too. 

History of a music video - Miss Georgiou

History of a music video

People can can consume music videos in various different ways. Although over the years this has changed for many reasons, due to things such as the internet and how YouTube is now used to listen to music and how television has know become more known than when things such as MTV first became a music channel. Music videos are so important that if a song doesn't have one then the song is rarely played, especially if the artist isn't very well-known.  

MTV is the first way that music videos were watched, and launched in 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by television personalities known as "video jockeys". The original target audience was aimed at young adults, but is now aimed at teenagers and adolescents. MTV is American television channel but the British audience also found it attractive to and soon became popular. The first song to be aired on MTV was "video killed the radio star" by 'The Buggles'. Rod Stewart had the highest number of appearances on the music channel, and the first ever video played being The Buggles "Video Killed The Radio Star". MTV allows artists to show there songs that are made on a public television channel. Although MTV also have a website that has come along recently, which didn't exist years ago which is a bonus as its easy access to music videos.

From the broadcast of music videos on MTV and them becoming popular, other ways soon became known such as YouTube, which allows you to search songs from various artists, but not only from the artist themselves but from the public who may have made re-makes of the song. YouTube began when three former YouTube employees started to create a video-sharing website on which users could upload, share and view videos with either creating an account or not. The most watched video on YouTube is from a artist named "PSY", with the song Gangnam Style. This song was first released in July 2012 and ever since has received 2,358,236,122. This artist isn't well known so the reason for this video being the most viewed is because of its signature dance moves and was noticed by Prime Minister David Cameron and U.S president Barack Obama. In comparison to a well known artist such as 'Justin Bieber' who is popular globally and has the second most viewed video on YouTube. Although this is for different reasons, as he has a target audience of teenagers who are the ones that watch YouTube and music videos the most, especially teenage girls. YouTube has helped to allow any type of audience to watch/listen to music videos at any time and with easy access, and has developed a lot over the years. When youtube was first created it was mainly for watching television programmes, series, and allowed people to upload there own songs sung by themselves, or make lyric videos for their peers to enjoy. Artists now upload their official videos to youtube as they know its a popular well-known global site where any one can access without any account being made. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8r-tXRLazs

The picture on the left shows the different amount of budgets spent on music videos. The well known artist Michael Jackson is at the top of this chart with his song release in 1995. The song 'Scream' was also sung with another artist; Janet Jackson, his sister. This song cost $7,000,000. This is because the scene was a spaceship, which was actually made for the music video, not just background scenery. The music video below shows the song 'Scream' from YouTube. The special effects in this music video are at a very high standard, and this is why it became very popular in 1995 and still is now. The larger amount of money spent on a music video means that the higher standard that it will be produced at, and Michael and Janet where very clever on how they spent their money. This music video has not many special effects as a whole and all shot in black and white which may make the audience wonder how the money was actually spent.  All of the songs and artists shown on here are well known and popular and the budgets spent show how much thought and consideration has gone into making their music video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P4A1K4lXDo

Smart phones have come along way over the years, from being simply to call and text, and now being able to access the internet anytime, anywhere as well as downloading apps and extras. Now there is easy access to the internet, it means YouTube and other music channels can be played frequently. YouTube has its own app on most smart phones, allowing you to log in and listen to your own music or search any song using the search bar. Having the access to music videos on your phone means its easier and a lot quicker then using your laptop or computer at home or public place. Easy access to there internet also allows a quick search onto google on where a song is on the chart, or how much money its made, who produced it etc. This is good for the artist as websites such as wikepedia allow you to search any artist and see there background history, all the songs they have made and what year.

A lot of things change the ways that music videos at listened and watched, and are now more accessible and can be used by anyone. They are easy to listen to, whether it's from the television or Internet. Apps such as twitter and Facebook lets you share music videos from YouTube using a direct link, meaning followers and friends on your page can enjoy the music too. With these applications you can also see artists official pages, allowing you to see new posts about their social life or new releases in the charts.

Special effects have developed a lot over the coming years, and have meant that music videos can be more adventurous with what they show, by using things such as green screens to create certain effects or higher definition. For my research of technology development and special effects I looked at a music video called Shift k3y - touch. When researching special effects on the internet, this video seemed to be very popular and included some interesting effects. The link below shows the video on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KtYYHKEGDc. Within the first few seconds on the music video, colourful strobe lighting is used, which creates the effect that he is in a club-like scene. The effects in this video are harsh and are used in a lot of detail. The video demonstrates low-key lighting and neon colours on his body parts, e.g. hands. The reason for this being used may be so the audience can relate to the scene he is in or the narrative he is trying to express to the audience. Graphics being used in a music video also means a younger audience can relate as this is more popular by a younger audience.

This research has helped me to discover how music videos have become more popular over the years, and researching the history has helped my find out why, and also helping me for the planning of my own music video. I have learnt that in order to attract your chosen target audience you have to move with times of technology. Also, looking at budgets for music videos has allowed me to see why the ones with the higher budgets were more successful and popular, this also may be linked to the artist themselves or the song they are singing about (narrative).  The narrative/story that is being told in a song can really help attract the audiences attention and create a relationship with the artist, which is why when I create my music video I will conduct a lot of research into narratives of songs first to make sure I catch my intended audience for the right reasons. This piece of research has also helped me to realise that most music videos made in this century are aimed at the target audience of 14-30 year olds, as they use conventions that relate to that age group.

I feel that this post will help me when creating my own music video as i can now see how certain aspects have developed over the years and how this can affect how a music video is seen. I feel that i will use special effects within my music video, as they have recently become very popular and made a stand on how they are very popular with the audience, especially in the pop genre. Also, technology. When creating a music video it is important that you aim at the right target audience, mobile phones and the internet means a wider audience can be met, unlike years ago when mobile phones were just for calling and texting. I feel that overall this history research has shown me an understanding of what the importance of television and other main points and i feel that this will make my music video successful. 

What is a music video? - Miss Miller

WHAT IS A MUSIC VIDEO?

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings.

A music video promotes a song which in turn promotes an album. Each song is sold individually but once the artist has released enough, an album is released, promoting all the songs again. The aim is also to sell an image of the artist and to generate money for the record company. When selling the image of themselves the artist will set a certain mood in their video by attaching the song to certain/past experience, this may involves things such as previous love affairs. The concept of selling artists through artists through image is carried by the record companies. Music videos can help promote a band or artist long after the single or album has been released. Some artists are remembered years later solely because of a memorable music video.

There are three different style of music videos; performance, narrative, concept. Performance is the style demonstrated through the singing and dancing of the artist, narrative is telling the audience a story through the lyrics or the music video itself or the music displaying it and concept is selling an idea/theme or ideology, which means there is often a meaning behind the video. Some music videos contain a mixture of the different styles and some contain only one style. 

The artist that i will be analysing is JLS, a boy band who won the Xfactor in 2008.The song that i will be analysing is 'Beat Again' as i feel is holds conventions of the dance genre. 

JLS are a group of four, who have been creating songs since they won the Xfactor. They are well known for creating a well known single for children in need 2010. The single was called "love you more" and was the groups fourth UK number one. As of 2013, they are the sixteenth richest reality TV stars in the UK, with an estimated fortune of 6million for each member.

JLS have a reputation of creating pop and dance genre songs. There most known music videos include; "beat again", "do you feel what I feel" and "everybody in love", and have created singles with other popular artists such as 'Tinie Tempah' and 'LuvBug'. JLS are known for having previous relationships and break-ups, which is why I feel all of their songs including the above (beat again) have some relation to telling story about a relationship and how they felt. There music videos allow the audience to relate to each of them, giving the audience an insight to their lives.

The song that I am analysing "beat again", portrays the style of performance and narrative. Both styles are mixed together throughout the music video. This music video has a purpose to entertain the audience as well as sing an emotional story to the background music of dance-pop. The genre of this music video is pop. 

The picture on the left demonstrates the use of strobe lighting through the use of a long shot. Strobe lighting is often used in the dance genre as it creates an effect that they are in a club-like scene, whilst dancing and singing for the audience. This screenshot is the opening scene to the music video and clearly shows them starting a dance routine, another convention of the dance genre. The music video includes scenes of JLS dancing to the song in front of blue, red, yellow, and green light all of which represent each member of the boy-band. Strobe-lighting also adds to the effect of the music video as it attracts and engages the audience, as it catches their eye instead of just having a normal plain background. This may also take the focus off the band themselves, which is unconventional as normally within a pop video the focus is straight on them, although this is relatable to the club like scene. The silhouette features conform to the dance genre as it shows to the audience a shadow of what the artists are doing, although meaning the audience cant see the emotions they are expressing, meaning a relationship is created between the two as they are looking and listening closer for there emotions and feelings being sent out.

The picture on the left demonstrates JLS through the micro-element cinematography. A mid-shot shows the boys doing dance routine of them pumping their heart with their hands. This is the style of narrative and performance, as they are telling a story and relating to the lyrics at the same time as dancing and singing. This camera shot allows the audience to see specifically what the artists are doing and what emotions they are expressing towards the audience. This style of dancing and up-beat music would appeal to a teenage audience as it includes aspects of a party scene, dancing and a lively, energetic atmosphere, which teenagers and young adults like listening/watching. The dance choreography involves moves revolving around heartbeats, alluding to the title "beat again".

All the artists within the music video are wearing the same outfit which connects to the micro-element MES. This is shown from a long shot at the beginning of the music video showing their full body appearance. This allures the audience to feel more engaged with the character's and represents them as a team, rather than individuals singing together, also telling the audience a narrative that they are strong and work together, although each character is shown differently through their colours; red, yellow, blue and green. This promotes them as individual characters, and not just as a group. Them having there own colours means they can be recognised easily and be seen to do there own things, and there names may even be replaced with there colour names. This also works well with outfits and when performing in concerts there coloured light will hover over them. This is relatable to a music video as they can be easily recognised and coloured lighting is a convention of a pop music video.

JLS follow all the conventions of the dance genre, as well as boy-bands. This includes them wearing co-ordinating outfits, representing them as a group and in a club like scene which is commonly seen as they have room to dance and sing towards the audience.The artists within this music video are wearing quite causal clouting which is jeans and a dark navy top and an scarf for an accessory. The dark clothing connects to the club like theme, and the strobe lighting makes them stand out more on stage as there dark clothing matches the flooring and black background. 

This music video appeals to the target audience of teenagers. The target audience would range from the ages of 8-16 as they do not use explicit language they may affect younger children. The conventions will be able to be noticed by this age of target audience as they frequently watch music videos on the internet and youtube. Girls especially find JLS attractive to listen to as there music is up-beat and conventional to the pop genre, as there lyrics within this music video are about their love lives and how they have been affected by heart break. There lyrics are understandable and relatable and have a dance type tune that will attract there specific target audience. The positioning of the characters show that they are always huddled in a group together. the micro-element mise-en-scene shows that the positioning of the characters shows they are united and hold a strong connection between the four of them. This shows that there is a strong bond between the four of them and there friendship is quite close. This also links in to the fact that they all know about each others love life and how they heartbroken from all different girls. Although the fact that the song is about love and no girls are promoting themselves sexually is un conventional of this genre. Within a pop music video with the reference to love and heartbreak a story is usually shown to the audience, although all we see within this music video is them dancing and singing towards the camera. We see the use of long-shots through cinematography shown a lot as we can see there full body image and the stage they are performing on. 

An editing technique which is used within this music video is a technique called wipe. At the start of the music video the technique wipe is used several times to open the scene and introduce the 4 characters from the band. The wipe technique almost shows that a new picture is being taken every time to show a new scene. Every time this happens a new position of the characters is shown giving the audience a new perspective to look at, keeping them entertained. This editing technique is used to catch the audiences eye as it happens very fast and makes the audience look to see what is happening and what has changed every time. This is also done at the beginning when they are not singing yet, just the background beat is being played so this is acting as an introduction of the music video as they are showing themselves before they start singing there song. 
Conventions of the dance genre, commonly include dancing, strobe lighting, bright colours, women dancing and wearing minimal clothing UV paint and drinking. This music video conforms to some of these conventions of the dance genre but not them all. The different uses of conventions shows this music video wants to stand out, and reach a wider audience apart from their target audience, which can lead to a larger success for the artists together. The conventions that they didn't form to, may relate to the fact that they are in a club like setting, meaning things such as UV paint is not promoted and wouldn't be conventionally seen.

Overall i feel that from analysing this music video i have learnt that the target audience is very important. If the video doesn't appeal to the audience, it can determine how successful the song will be. The target audience are supposed to be guaranteed viewers for the video which makes it crucial for the correct conventions and features within to appeal to them. Conventions need to be generic and consistent throughout not only to appeal to the target audience, but also to make sure that the correct genre of music is identified. Music videos are very effective in the way that they allow audiences to create a relationship with the artist when otherwise the only way of seeing them perform would be live on television or on a programme performing. A narrative, concept of performance music video allowed the personality of the artist t come across which i don't think is important just for the audience but also for the artist and the way in which they promote themselves.