Case Study Essay: Audience

Audiences are becoming increasingly powerful in shaping the media output. With reference to your case study, how far is this true?

·          

• Provide a brief outline of your case study

• Evaluate the roles of audiences in the creation of media products from your case study

• Support your answer with reference to a range of examples from the three media platforms

Firstly, my case study is based on research on the genre of music, specifically, British pop artists. The three that I have chosen are, JLS, Pixie Lott and. For each of these I have researched how they operate on all platforms; print, e-media and broadcast. Each are very different in the way they approach their target audiences as they appeal would be different according the gender, age and ethnicity of their mainstream target audience.

To begin with, JLS who are a recently new boy band have become very successful with the amount of awards such as Mobo and Brit Awards. They have certainly appealed to mainly female audiences from 8years to 25 years of age which is a big scale. Initially they auditioned for X factor which is potentially the biggest reality TV shows in the country. Through this broadcasting they were able to appeal to millions of viewers. X factor is a prime example of UGC, where the audience votes, according to these votes, eliminations occur which shape up the show as a whole.  This represents the power of the audience which enabled JLS to have a successful career. Audience power in this case generated a massive positive future for the band JLS.

Secondly, analysing JLS as an independent band, the way the audience is enhancing the success of the band is by buying their products such as action figures, books, iPhone App, songs, and posters. In an involuntary way, by the audience participating in the consumption of all products, they enable the band to have greater income, developing their success and producing more creative songs and albums as a way of repaying them with entertainment. In my opinion, ideally the audience are the creators of success for any artist.

Lastly, JLS’ majority audience view is through E-media for example, their own website, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. All are very interactive for their fans for example rating, commenting, make videos and becoming a member on their website. This creates a huge wide spread of interacting with the band. All the comments are reviewed which can provide an adequate opinion for the band in order to release the song through broadcasting. In this case, the audience have ‘supplementary’ power to the way their songs is released through the media which doesn’t necessarily mean they are shaping the media.

My second text focuses on a solo British artist named Pixie Lott. Again, she is young and new to the music business which creates a sense of greater interactions by the audience as they want to see how successful and whether she brings good entertainment to them. The beginnings of her career allow the audience to somewhat judge and make opinions about her music.  

As Pixie Lott is a new artist in the last two years, the audience are the biggest judges as they create opinions through her website, YouTube and Facebook groups. As an artist your ‘fans’ create a positive image for you therefore an audience through concerts and other events, allows the artist to feel confident about their success. 

Through my research I found that Pixie Lott was a guest judge in the sixth series of X Factor when Danni Minogue left. Not only did this bring big publicity for an X Factor audience, it also promoted the success of Pixie Lott as an artist of herself and the gratification of escapism that she brings with her music. Her target audience of females aged 14-25 can acknowledge this and use their ‘power’ to develop her future in music. 

As a music artist, the invasion of privacy through print such a magazines become a negative effect on the power of audiences. As audiences watch more television and read more, they start to develop their own views which may be false creating a negative image for an artist. This is known as the cultivation theory where too much information being received by audiences can affect the opinions created for Pixie Lott. From my knowledge, there hasn’t been any recent ‘shock’ story on Pixie Lott which is a positive aspect for her and audiences.

My third artist is Jay Sean also a male singer songwriter who has been in the music business for 17 years now. He has been and upcoming artist with songs featuring big American artists. He attracts the audience in several countries other than Britain such as America, Europe and Japan. This is a great positive to his career but also to the amount of interest being taken from around the world by a variety of audiences. More power through the media is generated with a large audience of females aged 12-25 which are populated in different countries. Jay Sean sometimes brings a sense of escapism because his songs are always meaningful therefore allow a greater audience to relate to it, increasing the interest creating more power in the way he produces his future songs to keep the interest.

Lastly, an important point that has developed in the media is the increasing amount of minority backgrounds succeeding in both the media and music industry. Jay Sean is an example of an ethnic minority where he has become successful in enabling the media to shape around new talent from a different background. He has allowed the media to broaden their horizons when researching and interviewing such artists. In this way, Jay Sean has developed the power of the media to publicise more than the norm.

In conclusion, through these three artists they all have different ways in they way the address the media and how the media enforces them to create more music with the use of their fans and different audiences. Yes the media is becoming powerful however with music artists, it is their decision to how they produce music but also considering the vast amount of opinions from their audiences.

Audience and Instituion

JLS

Audience

·         Audience Activity and Interaction

o   Log in to their website and comment on news and videos

o   Follow on Twitter, FaceBook and YouTube on their own pages. Can receive hourly updates, exclusive video diaries and competition updates

o   Able to watch their concerts for example in o2 where they address to a large audience of 20,000 people.

·         UGC

o   ITV2: This is JLS – Part of their show contained examples of undercover JLS members surprising their fans nearby to where they live. As it was incorporated into their show it became their overall narrative into the performances around it.

o   X Factor – people voting in, increased popularity for their band

·         Gratifications

o   Mostly for entertainment values, music they buy from JLS, are around them all the time, becomes a part of how the audiences entertain themselves.

Institution

·         Changes in Technoolgy

o   Use of Apps on iPod, Websites

TV Formats and Top Gear

Presenters and Presentation Style

1.       The 3 presenters are Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James may who are all middle aged men.  Through the BBC, they would offer their target audience with entertainment with car information which is a key value for the BBC through the TV license everyone pays.

2.       Typical items or features include, car comparisons, track races, analysis of various cars and competitions such as testing the best mode of transport to a specific place. The audience attraction could be that they invite well known celebrities to do a lap on the track and create a ranking with other celebrities.

Strengths of each platform  -

a.       Broadcast – offers a variety of different segments within the hour which an audience can enjoy. They also produced a Australia version within the company ‘Freehand’ which brought them an overall increase in the amount of viewers and interest into other platforms

b.      Print – Produced a magazine in the UK and Australia with ACP publishing. This was successful as it drives more sales and income within the BBC and the programme itself. It also complemented the online version which then became a primary dual strategy.

c.       E-media brings a lot of interest to those who like searching information on the go for example on their iPods. It creates a different aspect for audiences such as interactivity with the show and presenters.

5.       The platforms work together the fact that a variety of audiences can enjoy different ways of keeping involved with Top Gear throughout the week rather than for just an hour a week. They all promote each other in different ways which helps the success and future for the show as a whole.

6.       As there is a variety of entertainment over the 3 platforms, the audience benefit from this as they are able to gain a greater interest and follow the TV show and be ‘knowledgeable’ about when the shows are. Also subliminally, they create opinions and therefore share with others which is an example of secondary viral information. This can drastically increase the popularity for the show. The audience benefit from the pleasure they receive from watching and sharing with others around them.   

7.       The producer benefits a lot from the audience taking interest over the 3 platforms. As e-media, broadcast and print all promote each other, that developing interest is always increasing which means that the producer realises the benefits in itself such that the ‘viewer count’ on the broadcast is potentially increasing each week. It also proves to the BBC how an informational programme can be successful and be ‘regular’ in the future. The producer can feel privileged and motivated to create more ideas to keep the success going.

Top Gear Article: Post Modern or Past it?

·         Masthead – the masthead font is simple yet effective due to some letters being coloured within it. It is written all in upper case which allows it to stand out amongst any other writing which then also allows the reader to gather the key topic and information of the article and whether they would take interest into it or not. You could connote that the filled in letters suggest a real in depth article without any ’holes’ or mistaken or missing information in there. It can create a sense of truthfulness from the initial reading.

·         Typography – the main typography within the article is mostly san serif which can be co notated as modern. As this programme reflects up to date information about cars therefore being modern, reflects the style of writing used. The writing style can be considered as subtle however from a reader’s perspective; it attracts them to indulge into the reading if it looks more appealing to them.

·         Camera Angle – the main image uses a long shot as we can see a full length image and pose of the 2 presenters alongside the background behind them. In my opinion this image is very effective as it allows the readers to acknowledge the full picture and appearance of the article and the show.

·         Central Image – analysing the actual image tells us about the ‘emotion’ of what the programme involves. The 3 presenters are posed to be looking confident, knowledgeable and friendly. In my opinion the image is quite inviting and interactive even though it’s still which reflects the main success and aim to why it was taken in such a way. It primarily draws in the audience to understand what the article and show our about.

·         Layout and Design – Lastly, the overall layout of the article is very simple, masthead followed by an image then three small columns of writing. Sometimes writing less creates a greater interest for the readers as it is ’short and sweet’. Less writing is more appealing but at the same time, it can offer just as much information needed. The 3 columns also separate the amount of writing making it look less for the readers. The simple layout can always interest the most readers.