Audience Research

Music Industry
The music industry is constantly expanding and attracting new audiences as well as bringing more artists into the industry. The music revenues have grown in Europe, Latin America and the US with a 0.8% increase. In 2013 it was highlighted that the digital revenues grew by 4.3% in the US resulting in a $5.9 billion global revenue. Therefore digital now accounts for 39% of the industry’s global revenues. Websites such as Beats Music and YouTube have launched plans to provide subscription services, which will result in more users. This subscription process has become more popular and the amount of services has risen by eight million since 2010. The advertising supported services such as YouTube and Vevo has increased their revenues 17.6% and they have extended YouTube to more than 50 countries.

However even though the uprising digital market is increasing, physical music sales still account for a large proportion of the industry revenues. Some of the main sellers include gifts and deluxe box sets. These physical formats account for more than half at 51.5% of the global revenues compared to the56.1% in 2012. This has highlighted a decline, which has not been effective for the industry.

Revenue has also been increased from performance rights.  This income topped the US $1.1 billion globally for the first time in 2013.

Revenue has also come from synchronization deals. This comes from the use of music in TV adverts as well as films and brand partnerships, however this has seen a 3.4% decline in 2013. Other factors that have majorly impacted the synchronization revenues are the tough economic conditions, lower fees and the decline of the music games sector.

The audience for Music Videos

The relationship between a musician and a fan has always been built on ‘nonsense’ however it has now developed in unexpected new ways. The more awareness there is of an artist, the more they appear on social media. This therefore then results in more fans and the more they can make from their fans.  Some pop artists such as Justin Bieber named his fan base Beliebers before the fans could do so.

Fans are stereotypically young females who are obsessed with the artists especially males artists such as One Direction and Justin Bieber, however this is not true. There are a mixture of fans with each artist and songs are aimed at different audiences. Pop songs are heard in variety of locations such as on the radio and tv and it is very common for people to know the most recent pop songs.

Pop audience are changing. Before fans were known to be all girls that are classed as crazy, however now there are male fans and fans of an older audience.

After doing some research I found a website describing how to become a Justin Bieber fan. It states that his fans are not actually fans but they are Beliebers.  It also highlights that to be a Belieber you have to memorize all of the song lyrics from his oldest song to the newest. In addition the merchandise isn’t very important but what is more important is if you make things that you can take to his concerts and learning about Bieber is very important. A lot of his fans know all of his background information such as when he was born, his family and where he grew up etc. To add to this real ‘Beliebers’ like to display to everyone that they are beliebers and even if they are teased they stick with it. His fans also tend to make twitter fan account so they can connect with other fans and try to contact Justin himself. This highlights that people take fans very seriously and feel by becoming fans they are connecting with the artist.

On the other hand fans can be quite reserved and generally just enjoy the music they are listening to. They are not particularly obsessed with the artist, they just believe they have talent. People would be believe these are fans of older artist however these could be everyday young and old people who enjoy music. They may not highlight their passion for the artist but they would definitely enjoy meeting them if it was possible.

How does the artist attract the audience?

Music videos use product placement in order to attract the audience. For example they will place a item of technology into the music video or a particular brand of clothing. The reason for this is because they are trying to make it relevant to the audience or to perhaps make the audience aspire to be like the artist. This is an interesting way to draw in the audience and especially target those of a teenage generation. This is an example from Katy Perry Roar where product placement is used to display a phone.

In addition to this they try to create an image for the artist that is fashionable. This is to make the audience want to look and be like the artist. They purposely dress them in nice clothes that people would want to buy because it makes the audience want to keep watching to see how the artist looks.

They also use specific items and topics in the video to attract the age group they are trying to attract. For example they use bright colours and common locations to make the audience feel involved in what they are watching.

Celebrity Cameo is also used to attract the target audience. This means the producers create a music video and include celebrities in it for no reason. The reason for this is because they want to attract an audience that are interested in celebrities. Celebrities are well known and people enjoy watching what they are doing