Music Video Audiences

Music is aimed at a variety of people particularly depending on the genre of the music and the age/generation of the artist. The most popular age group for people to watch music videos is teens and young adults in which I believe social media has an impact on this. This age group is most likely to use the internet and come across music videos as its been brought up in this generation. Middle-aged adults/older people are more likely to watch music videos on a TV channel as that's how music videos were watched before when they were growing up. Another point towards music videos being watched by this particular age group of young adults and teens is that most music videos are of the pop genre and this genre contains a lot of artists who's target audience is of this for example Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and One Direction. Pop means popular, making this the most common music genre.

In a general perspective, music videos are aimed at anyone. They are promotional tools/devices used to promote the artist and their music so overall they can earn money. Therefore they want to attract a broad audience so music videos are often made so they can be watched and accessed by anyone. However, each artist will have a particular demographic group that they will appeal to most so they can create a fan base from. They often need to be specific to their audience because everyone has different opinions on what sort of artist and music they like, so they cater their music videos to suit their target audience. The sort of demographic group pop artists appeal to are young adults and teenagers. For example Ariana Grande is young and creates upbeat music that young girls would most likely listen too and she also acts as part of a role model to teenagers. Therefore she is targeting that specific demographic to create a fan base. However because she creates pop music, it can be easily accessed by anyone so a lot of older people will listen to her too creating a more broad audience for her.

Genre has a big impact on audiences because people will not very interested in the artist if they weren't into their style music. Pop music is most common in teens but a lot of adults and young children listen to it too because it doesn't have a very specific style. The pop genre is about standing out and being unique so the music is often all quite different to each other. However with specific genres like reggae or rock the music is all very similar so people like most of the songs or the genre as a whole. Pop music is also the most commonly played genre on radio stations which is why people can easily access it and listen to it.

Genres and their demographic groups;

Jazz/blues - males aged 45-54

Pop - females aged 14-21

Rock - males aged 20-35

Hip hop - young adults

Rap - young adults and teens

Classical/opera/orchestra - aged 41-60

Disco/house - 17 - 25 year olds

Country - 45 year olds more likely female than male

An example of a music video that is aimed at teens specifically is 'Year 3000' by Busted. The music video contains animation (cartoons), bright colours, casual clothing, video games and a teenage boy styled bedroom making it very comical and specific to a young age group. The song is upbeat and the visuals link to the lyrics. There is an intextual reference to the film 'Back to the Future' drawing in the target audience for the film as well. Its very imaginative making the music video appeal to a young audience.

An example of a music video that appeals to a much older audience is 'I'd do Anything for Love' by Meat Loaf. The artist is older and has quite an old fashioned style towards music so this would more likely appeal to an older audience. The music video has a classic 'Beauty and the Beast' theme to it but is quite dark and gothic based. The narrative is about sex, drugs and rock and roll in which wouldn't appeal to a young audience. This genre of music used to be very big when Elvis was around, making this appeal to an older audience who listen to Elvis.

 

Elderly people didn't grow up with music videos because they are not of that generation - the type of music videos that we know of weren't around when they were young so it is less common for them to watch music videos or listen to recent / modern music. However middle aged people are more likely to watch music videos as they are of the music video generation - they became big at the time they were growing up.

By doing this research it has helped me for my music video because I now have an understanding of what the most common age group (teens and young adults) to watch music videos so I can direct my music video this type of audience so it will be watched and become more successful. I can direct it at this age group by choosing a song that can relate to them, is upbeat and is sung by an artist who's target audience is also this age. I can also make sure the actors I choose are of a similar age group too to help draw in this particular audience.