Research into music channels- Miss Georgiou

Music television channels, which have been aired and in place since the early 1980's, are used to show music videos, the latest charts, interviews with artists, and anything else relevant and currently popular in music. Music channels were first introduced to mainly air music videos on, and be the main hub for viewers to watch them, which allowed there to be a breakthrough in music, combining audio and video together. It allowed viewers to know more about the artist and visually see them on screen in their homes or out in public such as barbers or shopping centres, rather than having to pay for a ticket to a concert just to see them. MTV was the first channel to air music videos, and became the main home for fans to view their artists' performances and songs on the channel daily. MTV's main target audience could be considered 13-21. As the channels popularity has grown, it has began to air reality programmes such as teen mom, the valleys and 16 and pregnant, which appeal specifically to it's target audience, attracting them to the channel as they have programmes on that they can relate to. The logo design also looks graffiti designed, again getting down with the potential interest of a young audience.

MTV mainly specialises in playing current popular music, usually songs featured in the top 40 charts, to give the audience fresh content. In today's age, artists that would feature on MTV on a regular basis would be artists with successful hits that are considered "chart toppers", such as Rihanna, Beyonce, Jason Derulo, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry. During MTV's introduction period and first airings on television, you would of expected to see artists such a Michael Jackson, Queen and Diana Ross appear on the channel.  

Artists such as Rihanna, Katy Perry and Taylor swift not only appear on the channel due to their successful songs, but also that their music appeals specifically to MTV's target audience, as it is aimed at young girls. In comparison, an artist such as Nicki Minaj would also appear on this channel, but not typically because of her appealing lyrics or messages, usually she appeals to the audience with the visual content in her videos, which can lead to attracting a male audience, whilst other female artists tend to attract an audience of their own gender. An artist such as Nicki Minaj will attract viewers to the channel with her performance, compared to an artist such as taylor swift who will attract with a love story that viewers feel they can relate to, with her narratives are usually the main selling points of her songs.

As MTV'S popularity continously grew over the years, it lead to larger profits for the company, which allowed them to create sister channels and also their own brands, such as MTV Magazine and MTV News. Viacom, who own MTV and their channels also own a number of other popular television channels, such as Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and VH1. MTV is used as a form of branding, as shows aired on one specific channel that viacom own are usually advertised across their other brands, particularly MTV. 

Below is a list of programmes aired on "MTV Music",  which shows one-to-one's with popular artists such as Ed Sheeran and Rita Ora. It features up to date and relevant music to attract the audience, and personal interviews with artists for fans to get to know them better.

Another popular music channel aired on TV is Kerrang, which features mainly heavy metal or rock music. It's target audience can be considered 16-25, for mainly males usually an older expected compared to MTV due to more aggressive lyrics and themes. Artists such as metallica, black sabbath and kiss may feature on the channel. Below is the logo of kerrang, it is black bold font, the black can resemble the dark nature of the lyrics. The effects are also quite aggressive, also supported by the exclamation mark at the end, again showing the nature of the songs and music on this channel.  

Above is kerrangs programming schedule for a selected day, showing them mainly playing music that suits their channel and appeals to their fans. It is a 24 hour channel, providing material for their fans around the clock.

Channel AKA is a grime/hip-hop/rap playing radio station that was launched in 2003, previously known as "channel U". It's censorship on the channel is relatively very low, so low, that even in June 2005, the channel was fined £18,000 by Ofcom for a number of offences, including the broadcasting of inappropriate material, using premium rate telephone services in programmes, and failing to ensure a clear distinction between programmes and advertisements. Artists that may feature on this channel include, Skepta, Wretch 32, Wiley and N-Dubz, it is has been used to push unknown artists to build hype around them and boost their popularity. Artist who have benefited greatly from having their music played on channel AKA, are Tinie Tempah, Dizzie Rascal.

Magic, is a music television channel which usually focuses on soul and calming music, particularly 80's soul. Artists that may feature on this channel include Barry White, Lionel Richie and Luther Vandross. It's target audience is considered age 40 and above, as older listeners will know more of there songs, and may have a stressful life by then and may want to cool themselves down by listening to a channel such as this. The colour blue used can be implied that it is to show it's relaxing tone and it's a peaceful colour, which can be compared to the colour of the sea, which puts people at ease and is calming. The font is smooth and not aggressive, just like the musical content that this radio station plays.




The vault, launched in the summer of 2003, features mainly on playing older chart toppers in the early-late noughties, mainly pop and R&B. It's target audience could be considered as the early to late twenties, as people of this age will remember this sort of music when they were younger, compared to a younger audience who may not be familiar with the songs. The purple- pink funky coloured logo mixes in with the upbeat and mainly pop classics the channel plays.

Overall, I believe MTV has different channels such as "MTV base" and "MTV classic" to reach a wide range of people and have a specific target audience for each one of their channels, trying to cater the wants of many, not just specific groups, such as teenagers. MTV need to reach to a wide range of people in order to expect a wide range of viewers and increase their popularity. Analysing music channels has helped me in seeing what programming schedules give to an audience and how different music channels try to meet the needs of their possible audience. In my production, I hope to meet the needs of my target audience and fans of the genre my music video will be, in order for it to be successful. I plan to pursue the idea of possibly making an indie music video, as this is a very popular genre, particularly amongst people of my age and since I know in general the preferences of what many would like to see or expect in a music video, I believe I can market and produce this genre of music video well. It is a genre of music that I enjoy and have listened to for many years, so I am familiar with what audiences enjoy and have an idea of what fans would like to see in my own production.