Music Channels

In this post i will demonstrate understanding of different music channels. I will include artists which are usually shown on the channels, and I will also explain which genre and target audience each music channel appeals to. I will also analyze the music channels logo. I will also talk about branding and promoting by the channels.

MTV

MTV stands for Music Tele Vision. The channel was made for displaying music through TV, however they have now grown into a multi national television corporation. They own many channels ranging from comedy central to

Nickelodeon. MTV’s music subsidiary channels are also vast, MTV HITS, MTV BASE, MTV DANCE, MTV ROCKS and MTV CLASSIC are their main music channels in the United Kingdom. Each channel appeal to a different audience as they display different genres of music. The original MTV channel is now not a music channel. The MTV channel broadcasts celebrity and music news and reality TV shows, rather than music now, they have their other channels, which do that. They target a broad audience, targeting all major genres, pop, R&B (urban), dance, rock and classic. They target all age ranges, as they have classic music channels and they also own kids channels like Nickelodeon. They target a broad audience by playing a wide range of music genres. Artists that appear on the music channels regularly are Justin Bieber, Rihanna, David Guetta, Kings of Leon and Beyonce. Mtv host a range of reality shows, which is aimed at the younger audience which look at them, 13 to 18 year olds, mainly women when it comes to seeing their role models, like keeping up with the Kardashian’s for example.

VH1

The target audience to this channel would be 25 to 30 year olds. They play a variety of music from different eras 80s 90s and modern music, therefore having a big range of artists. They do special shows with different genres, like 100 best woman artists of all time, vh1 are a subsidiary to mtv. The logo holds a few bright colours, like pinks and yellows; this makes it appealing to the audience and is something original. It could also relate to the 80s as people used to wear a lot of bright colours, the logo is a cube, this could connote that it holds many genres and music inside it. The V looks like it is peeling off the box, this could resemble freedom, a common asset to music, and the audience, for example being at a concert or festival, its promoting the fact that music sets you free. The 1 on the logo is backwards, this could mean that this channel is trying to be different and to stand out, relating to the music that it promotes, its not current or mainstream, breaking off from the mainstream.

Box

Target audience would be 14 to 20 year olds as they just play current mainstream music. They specialize in just playing current music, so their audience is big because its mainstream but narrowed to the age ranges above. They play quite a few genres, whatever is current. Artists would be, Beyonce, Rhianna and Calvin Harris for example. Their logo is suited to the title of the channel, 'Box' the logo is in shapes of boxes or squares making this correlate with the title and making it memorable. The colors are simple black and white, they use the contrast of these two colors to show the lettering inside the black boxes which displays 'Box'. The logo does not signify or represent any certain genre or culture, it simply relates to the title, making it a memorable logo and by being original it can be easily distinguished by the audience.

Scuzz

Scuzz is a niche channel, which promotes rock music to a wide range of ages. The audience would be 16 to 30 year olds, as there are new rock bands coming out and the old ones relate to the older audience, like kiss, slipknot for example. Genres they play are rock, punk, and heavy metal. Artists would be Enter Shikari, slipknot, you me at 6 and blink 182. They have subsidiaries, like Dance Nation TV, Flava and The Vault. The logo relates to the genres and the audience, it has a sharp and aggressive appearance with spikes; this can relate to the genre, as rock is aggressive as some artist’s scream and shout in their songs. The audience wear spiky clothing and have piercings also relating to the logo. It also looks to be the material of metal, relating to a sub genre of rock which is also called metal.

Kiss

The audience for this channel would be 16 to 25 years old. They play a verity of dance, hip-hop, RnB and urban music. Artists like David Guetta, Rhianna and Chris brown for example. It’s used as a form of branding through heart and magic, (sister radio stations). Kiss usually promotes the happy lifestyle, partying mostly which could relate to the target audience. The logo looks youthful; which relates to the audience. It has a colour of blue, which could represent a calm atmosphere. The logo also has a shape which connotes the look of a mouth opening, relating to the title of Kiss and making it recognizable by the audience when seen.

Summary

MTV are broken down into different channels, which are called subsidiaries or sister channels. MTV does this so they have separate channels that appeal to different audiences with different tastes in genres. By having separate channels for each genre, they attract a larger audience to their channels and therefore make more money.

I think it is important for a music channel to appeal to a target audience because the audience then knows that the channel plays the music they like, therefore they will watch this channel constantly as they know where to find their favourite music. Branding is another example of why I think music channels should appeal to a target audience. For example say MTV Dance, they appeal to 16 to 25 year olds most probably, and this age gap is considered to be young adults, which like similar clothing and brands. As they like similar clothing and brands, the channel would use adverts and branding which appeal to them, to again make more money.

There are a variety of music channels to appeal to different audiences. Not all people like the same music, however age might affect what genres are liked, for example older people might like rock ballads allot rather than house music. Therefore there are different music channels for different audiences that have different tastes in music.