Audience Profile
In this post I explore what an audience profile is and create one in reference to our music video.
Audience Profile = Economic and Social Characteristics of the listership, readership or viewership of a particular advertising medium.
When we carried out a survey monkey questionaire, as well as asking questions that helped us gain information on what to include in our music video, we asked some questions to help us get a general idea on the demographic we are aiming towards, which we now know are primarily female between the ages of 16-20.
I then went on to research and consider uses and gratification theory. This theory is an approach to understanding why and how people actively seek out specific media to satisfy specific needs; an audience-centered approach to understanding mass communication. The theory was put forward by theorists Blumler and Katz in 1974. They suggested four main uses of consumption of media: Surveillance, Personal Relationships, Personal identity, Diversion. Focusing of communication on a mass media scale, the theory is positivistic in its approach. Essentially, the theory asks:
"Why do people use certain media and what do they use them for?"
The theory assumes that audiences are not passive consumers, rather that they have power over their media consumption and assume an active role in intergrating media into their lives. Uses and gratifications theory explores how users deliberately choose media that will satisfy certain needs E.G:
Enhance Knowledge, Relaxation, Social Interactions, Companionship, Diversion or Escape. Uses and gratification theory gives a "perspective through which a number of ideas and theories about media choice, consumption and impact can be viewed."
When we apply the uses and gratifications theory to our own media product, and we consider the connection made with the audience that provokes insight within a social group, our chosen narrative means that we are appealing to first and foremost the LGBT community, as our video may be used to offer a sense of community and understanding (personal identity) The alternative-rock genre of the music in our product offers gratification in its feel-good nature (personal relationships). Below I have attached a Prezi presentation that I created to explore how the uses and gratifications theory applies to our music video.
I then explored a website called uktribes.com, which details different groups of people with different interests in the modern world, essentially a catalogue of young people who make up an audience, so that I could further gather an understanding of our demographic. The website details a modern "alternative" demographic as being passionate about music, having a shared appreciation for live music and smaller independent artists. The site then goes on to talk about a "mainstream" demographic of people, citing that this group is the backbone of society, who look to commercial entertainment channels for influence. Another catagory the site details is "leading edge" people, defined by uktribes as "proactive scene leaders that live for the new and now." The site claims that the leading edge demographic are attuned to global trends and are switched on the development across diverse fields, who also shared ideas and create contacts. The final demographic that the site discusses is the "urban," who are intrinsically linked to city living, defined as young people living in multicultural hubs with varied influences and access to the latest media products. When considering each of these groups in relation to our music video production, it seems that the leading edge are most likely our key demographic, as they are upfront when it comes to issues for discussion such as the LGBT themes featured in our video, and our video features young characters with a current and fresh take on clothing and lifestyle, which would mainly appeal to an audience of young, curious people looking for something new and interesting.
Audience Profile = Economic and Social Characteristics of the listership, readership or viewership of a particular advertising medium.
When we carried out a survey monkey questionaire, as well as asking questions that helped us gain information on what to include in our music video, we asked some questions to help us get a general idea on the demographic we are aiming towards, which we now know are primarily female between the ages of 16-20.
I then went on to research and consider uses and gratification theory. This theory is an approach to understanding why and how people actively seek out specific media to satisfy specific needs; an audience-centered approach to understanding mass communication. The theory was put forward by theorists Blumler and Katz in 1974. They suggested four main uses of consumption of media: Surveillance, Personal Relationships, Personal identity, Diversion. Focusing of communication on a mass media scale, the theory is positivistic in its approach. Essentially, the theory asks:"Why do people use certain media and what do they use them for?"
The theory assumes that audiences are not passive consumers, rather that they have power over their media consumption and assume an active role in intergrating media into their lives. Uses and gratifications theory explores how users deliberately choose media that will satisfy certain needs E.G:Enhance Knowledge, Relaxation, Social Interactions, Companionship, Diversion or Escape. Uses and gratification theory gives a "perspective through which a number of ideas and theories about media choice, consumption and impact can be viewed."
When we apply the uses and gratifications theory to our own media product, and we consider the connection made with the audience that provokes insight within a social group, our chosen narrative means that we are appealing to first and foremost the LGBT community, as our video may be used to offer a sense of community and understanding (personal identity) The alternative-rock genre of the music in our product offers gratification in its feel-good nature (personal relationships). Below I have attached a Prezi presentation that I created to explore how the uses and gratifications theory applies to our music video.
I then explored a website called uktribes.com, which details different groups of people with different interests in the modern world, essentially a catalogue of young people who make up an audience, so that I could further gather an understanding of our demographic. The website details a modern "alternative" demographic as being passionate about music, having a shared appreciation for live music and smaller independent artists. The site then goes on to talk about a "mainstream" demographic of people, citing that this group is the backbone of society, who look to commercial entertainment channels for influence. Another catagory the site details is "leading edge" people, defined by uktribes as "proactive scene leaders that live for the new and now." The site claims that the leading edge demographic are attuned to global trends and are switched on the development across diverse fields, who also shared ideas and create contacts. The final demographic that the site discusses is the "urban," who are intrinsically linked to city living, defined as young people living in multicultural hubs with varied influences and access to the latest media products. When considering each of these groups in relation to our music video production, it seems that the leading edge are most likely our key demographic, as they are upfront when it comes to issues for discussion such as the LGBT themes featured in our video, and our video features young characters with a current and fresh take on clothing and lifestyle, which would mainly appeal to an audience of young, curious people looking for something new and interesting.
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