Music Channels

There are many different music channels that target many diverse kinds of demographic of which the most common are listed below:

MTV:  They target adolescents and young adults with an age range of between 14-26, by broadcasting reality and scripted television programs, such as Geordie Shore which appeals to this young audience as they are inspired and look up to them. 

This TV Station plays mainstream music, which is usually very popular, subsequently high in the charts; as to maintain their  reputation. This genre of music they know will appeal to their target audience as chart and popular music is what they listen to within that age group.

Only very popular artists feature on MTV on a regular basis, for instance Beyonce, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Jay-Z and Coldplay.

To expand their target audience MTV owns many sister channels such as Comedy central and Nickelodeon along with many reality programmes. This has enabled them to reach a much wider audience, for example:

·       With the ownership of Nickelodeon they can now target a much younger demographic of 0-13 year olds 

·       Comedy Central allows them to target an audience who are  more interested in comedy/movies rather than music and reality shows. Although I believe that the demographic age range would be really comparable to MTV's.

The logo which logo is quite dark as only black and white are used, this is used to symbolise the teenage years; as they are predominantly represented as troubled and miserable. (At the same time) The quite modern and funky font which connotes youth does appeal to MTV’s target audience as the text used resembles graffiti.

Vh1's targets a wider range audience, largely adolescents and young adults ranging between the ages of (15-25) as they are most likely to play chart music. But sometimes they set targets for a niche audience by playing “The Greatest 80’s songs”. 

Unlike MTV, Vh1 does not have a precise type of genre of music that they play, as they target a wider range of demographic, although they mainly play chart music for their 15-25 year old audiences they have set up a sound for their niche audience with 70’s, 80’s and 90’s music.

The artists that are often seen on their channels are very similar to that of MTV’s such as; Beyonce, Chris Brown and Rihanna, but also artist like Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson are usually featured on their channels targeting a niche demographic.

Vh1 broadcast, music related programmes such as “Behind the Music” and “I love the”... These kinds of programmes help them to appeal to a wider range audience; such as realty show viewers.  Sister channels in the Vh1 range; such as Soul 7 Classic, target only a precise demographic.

Their this logo is very colourful, which connotes happiness and fun; these colours represent the different age groups that Vh1 targets. The bright pink, blue and yellows connotes the era of the hippies where youth, fun, peace and freedom were the main concepts; these colours relate back to that time as they are associated with the young and funky music that they broadcast. This appeals to the audience as the colours are eye-catching but also because of the creative font and style.

Box television; who own many different channels such as “the Box” & “4music”  target a diverse demographic; for example:

·       4music; Targets adolescents and young adults between the ages of 16-26, as they are most likely to amuse themselves with music from this range of pop and chart. This group is more inclined to play R&B and mainstream music, often comparable to other channels who target the same demographic.

Artists such as Rihanna, Chris Brown and Beyonce more often than not feature on these channels, being without a doubt among the most popular, they are used to attract their target demographic.

Not unlike other channels they also own many sister channels, such as:

 Kiss, Heat, Magic & Smash Hits; they all target a different demographic, expanding their box television audience range.

The black and white colours, similar to MTV’s logo, do not target a precise audience, but the square font, represents the old square style television. This logo appeals to different audiences, as it is modern but also quite smart.

Scuzz; Is owned by CSC Media, along with Bliss, Chart Show TV and Flava. Scuzz is a music channel which plays heavy metal, hard rock, punk, death-core and death metal; this means that they target their audience on the genre of music they listen to rather than age range. However if they intended to target an age group it would be between 17-30 year olds.

However artist like “Enter Shikari”, “Young Guns”, “You Me At Six”, “Deaf Havana” and “Lower Than Atlantis” usually feature on this channel.

The logo is dark and edgy, and the usage of grey helps with its association in regards to the genre of music which the station plays. Appealing to their audience through well related genre the sharp edges connote rebellious characteristics which can be linked to rock and its audience.Kiss on the other hand, which is owned by Bauer Radio, targets adolescents and young adults within the age range of 14-26 whom we assume current music is most like to appeal to. The genre of music usually played on this channel is “Hip-hop”, “R&B”, “Urban” and “Electric Dance” which are very commonly listened to by the targeted audience. “Rihanna”, “Chris Brown” and many other current artists usually feature on this channel as they appeal their target audience, as many 14 to 16 year olds tend to look up to these artists. 

Different audiences are targeted by Magic 105.4 and Heat Radio; their Sister channels like, allowing Bauer radio to target a wider audience. Kiss also broadcast on DAB digital radio, Freeview, Sky and Talktalk TV enabling them to reach wider audiences. Their logo is really simple, by using a unisex colours such as light purple and white, both boys and girls are represented, allowing for the logo to appeal to both genders so and the use of different shapes, forms a contrast between girls and boys; The curvy and rounded writing which is soft and gentle is more likely to be associated with girls, whilst the sharp and more pointy edged shape will appeal more to boys.

In conclusion MTV is one of the biggest music channels, if not the biggest; as it owns many different stations; thus ensuring that their appeal is to a wider audience; as every channel targets a different segment of the music market. With these different genres of music such as; rock, base, dance and classic, it has enabled them to target the whole market.
This is a technique used to increase their viewings and spreading the risk factor, ensuring that they remain one of the biggest music channels worldwide.Music channels are important in appealing to a target audience as they all specialize in a specific genre. This is to ensure that people who are interested in certain genres can find the music channel that relates better to them and of which plays all the music they favour.

The variety of music channels are to cater to the diversity of listeners, covering from: age to race to genre. This is to ensure that all listeners have a channel which appeals to them and their style of music.  

My analysis reveals that all channels target a different demographic; using logos that will appeal to their intended audience. Doing everything they can to attract their target demographic.
These will help with my own production as I would associate my music video with MTV as they mainly play mainstream, which means genres such as pop and dance as they are the most popular.
As MTV targets teenagers I do believe that this would be the right channel for my music video as we are also targeting the same demographic.