Research into music channels and target audiences

Kiss Fm's music channel has a large target audience due to the large range of genres that is played, such as: music from the charts, R&B, hip-hop, dance and urban. However it is more specifically aimed at the target audience of 16-25 year olds as the type of music that is played on the channel is by modern artists with a newer interpretation of music that elder generations may not appreciate. Artists such as Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, Chris Brown, Drake and Nicki Minaj feature frequently on their programme. This will appeal to the target audience as they are artists that are popular with people between the ages of 16-25 as they are largely in the public eye and continuously bring out new music. The channel promotes itself through its sister companies such as: Kerrang, 4music, Heat and E4 and is therefore used as a form of branding. Kiss's channel logo is a pale blue which is fairly unobtrusive and allows the channel to target such a wide audience. This is more affective rather than choosing a colour that may have connotations that doesn't appeal to a section of the target audience eg. Pink for girls.  The shape shown on the logo is very obscure and could perhaps reflect the vast range of genres and artists that the channel plays. 

MTV is a cable and satellite television with a target audience of youth (ages from 12-24 years) and this is due to the channel broadcasting popular music and promotional music videos.  MTV aimed to capture the teen audience by giving them a feeling that they are the centre of the universe: that they are powerful, and cool. The channel immerses them into these young adults music, style, and reality. They also use many techniques such as changing styles and introducing new music to keep teen viewers wanting more. The channel plays popular music thats in the charts including artists such as Miley Cyrus, One direction, Rihanna and Pink. (How is the channel used as a form of branding)

4Music is a part of various different channels that makes up the Channel Four company and plays a range of different genres, usually the UK Top 40. The target audience is 16-25 year olds as they play current music which will attract a younger audience. The logo is in the shape of a number 4 with a bold purple/pink outline with the word music written inside. The bold colour succeeds in grabbing the attention of the audience and advertises the channel. Artists such as: Rihanna, Jessie J, The Saturdays and The Wanted. (How is the channel used as a form of branding)




Kerrang! has a target audience of males aged 18-25 with an interest in the rock genre and subgenres. The channel therefore mainly plays music that belongs to the rock/metal genre, usually hardcore but also has features soft rock, in order to attract and entertain their audience. These music videos generally focus on the band and the instruments and usually features them playing to an audience. Artists played include: Pearl Jam, Biffy Clyro, Korn and Paramore. The logo consists of a red background in a jagged shape with contrasting bold white writing. There is also a bar code features underneathe the writing and is used to promote their best selling magazine. The bold colours and font stands out and grabs the attention of the audience.

Why do you think MTV is broken down into different channels (base, hits, dance, rocks, classic)?

MTV is broken down into different channels in order to appeal to different audiences. This allows the brand of MTV to be wider spread as it can cover a large target audience and will therefore create awareness of the channel.

Why do you think there are a variety of music channels?

There are a variety of different music channels as there are many different genres of music and a huge fanbase for each. If there are a variety of music channels it allows them to be specialised in different types of music so that each genre is covered and the large fanbase of each can access their own choice of music.

What have you learnt from analysing music channels and how will it help you with your own production?

By researching and analysing different music channels it has highlighted the importance of choosing the correct target audience and making sure that each aspect of my music video will appeal to them.