Research into television music channels- Miss Georgiou

Research into television music channels

The purpose of music television channels is to enable people to watch the music videos produced by different artists. MTV was one of the first music channels to be aired on TV and it is one of the most popular channels. People enjoy watching music videos because they like listening to a variety of artists and different songs.

MTV

MTV's target audience is aimed towards teenagers. For example MTV's schedule for today consists of "Maroon 5 new music video", "Tinie Tempah x2" and "Hits from the brits". This proves that the channel targets this specific age group.

MTV specifically plays songs that are in the top 40 chart, for example "Kanye west, Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber. This keeps the channel up to date with the current trends in the music industry.

Channel originally owned by CBS, became part of MTV Networks when CBS merged with Viacom. Created as VH1 Country prior to Viacom/CBS merger. Channel was originally known as VH1 MegaHits before being discontinued in July 2005 to facilitate Logo launch . Viacom also owns Comedy Central and Nickelodeon.  This is beneficial to MTV because they are owned by a well known company so promoting the channel will be very easy because their owner is already well established. It also enables MTV to achieve globalisation quicker then other music channels. 

4Music

4Music is a music and entertainment channel in the United Kingdom and available on some digital television providers in the Republic of Ireland. The channel launched on 15 August 2008, replacing The Hits. 4 Music is another music channel like MTV which plays the top 40 current hits in the charts. 4Musics target audience is also aimed towards teenagers because they are the ones who tune in and listen to the music being played. 4Music is most popular for being a chart show, showing of the hottest tunes currently being played.


4Music is owned by "The box plus network", a British TV television network. This is a well known TV network known for producing music channels to a mass market. This is beneficial to 4Music because they got publicity to start off with because they are owned by a well known and successful organisation. The box plus network also owns kiss FM, a British Radio station known for playing hot current songs. This is also beneficial to 4Music because they can receive current chart updates from kiss helping keep their music current.


Artists frequently played on 4music include: Jason Derulo, Kanye West, Rhianna and Kid Ink. These artists are played quite a lot on 4 music because they normally have songs within the top 40 charts. This is very beneficial to the artists and the music channel because the artists get their songs across to their target audience and the music channel gets publicity for showing them.   

Kerrang

Kerrang is a UK based magazine company devoted to rock music and owned by Bauer media group. It was first published on the 6th of June 1981as one of the supplements in sound music newspaper. Kerrang was originally devoted to the new wave of British rock and heavy metal. In the early 2000's it became the best selling British music newspaper.  

In 2001, Kerrang release kerrang TV, a radio and TV station which covers the more mainstream side of rock music as well as classic rock. Kerrang Tv plays rock bands like ACDC and Aerosmith as well as heavy metal bands like Guns and Roses and Metallica. Kerrang TV is now a joint venture between Bauer media group and channel 4.

Kerrang TV's target audience are mainly lovers of rock and heavy metal. Kerrang show off the most trending current tracks of the time to entice their audience into tuning in to watch the show. Kerrang has been very successful with doing this as they are now one of the most famous Music channels in the world with millions of people tuning in every week to watch the show. The main reason for Kerrangs success is their promotion strategy. With the help from their globally known magazine, they are able to get people interested into the rock genre, helping increase there magazine sales and TV views. Bands like ACDC and Metallica have benefited massively from Kerrang as before their music was hardly ever shown on normal pop chart shows like 4Music and MTV. Without TV channels like Kerrang, The rock genre would have struggles to keep up with the current trend in music.

AKA is a British digital satellite TV channel owned by All round people productions, available through sky to the British TV audience. It is a music channel focusing on upcoming urban/grime/hip hop music and has focused on helping breakthrough acts such as Tinie Tempah, Chipmunk and Wretch 32.

Channel AKA is an established outlet not only established artist but also for up and coming artists who are just starting out and trying to find their feet. Its material includes " crude productions shot with hand held cameras". This helps bring new artists into the business because they see it as being achievable because the footage hasn't been edited massively. This also helps the artists attract attention and build a fan base. The website quotes " The aim of the channel was to highlight to the public the Raw and unsigned talent that we have upcoming in the UK. The channel is the only music channel known for giving new artists a chance to make a name for themselves. This opportunity isn't given out anywhere else. Without AKA a lot of artists like the ones named above wouldn't be here today. The channel opens so many doors for young UK artists.


However in 2005, the channel was fined £18,000 by Ofcom for a number of offences, including the broadcasting of inappropriate material, using premium rate television services In programmes and failing to ensure a clear distinction between programmes and advertisements. This damaged the reputation of AKA but since this incident the channel has been clean of any other offences.


Conclusion


In conclusion I think that MTV is broken down into so many different channels because they want to appeal their music channel to a wider variety of people. Not just one specific segment of the market. Without music channels I think that people wouldn't be able to connect as much with their favourite artist due to them not being able to see the music videos that they produce. I also think that artists would struggle to sell as much music because of this.


There are a variety of music channels so that people have a choice on what they want to watch. They aren't forced to watch one specific genre like Pop. They can make there own choices when deciding what music they like to listen too.


Overall this blog has helped my understand that identifying your target audience early is key if you want to make your music video successful. It also helps to make your music video appeal to a wide range of people not just a selected few because it will enable your music to appeal to more people thus making it more popular.

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