Research: Channels

Music Channels

Music channels are platforms of media that showcase a variety of music videos. They are very important as they allow for audiences to preview the current crop of trending music, and also which artists are hitting the charts. This can further help in the selling and advertisement of the music from much smaller and less known artists, when broadcast on a music channel, allowing for global attraction and an increase in identification of an artists’ star image. This is furthermore due to the reception of the audience as they are mainly what determines the success of an artist, with the feedback generated after watching an artists’ music video generated in their sales, showing that if the appeal isn’t there then neither will the chance of success be visible.

Because of the constant increase of diversity within society, there is a variety of music channels just to suit the tastes of different audiences. As music videos are used as a marketing tool to promote artist and song, having it broadcast on a music channel allows for the artist to get their music out there and possibly gain more fans in the process, it is clear to say that the music video industry as a whole has a strong relationship with a number of a different other medias and for different purposes and it is fair to state that a video is only one strand of an often multimedia campaign of promotion of an artist. From the introduction of one channel in the case of MTV in 1981, when it was the only music channel around for a few years, MTV started to appreciate the diversity in the music industry and release other channels suited to different genres.

Music channels and synergy

However, with the media and music industry linking to suit the needs for both, it has opened the gate for shows to appear on music channels just as well as music videos, not at the same time but there could be ‘UK’s top 40 hits’, and then, ‘Catfish: The TV show’ straight after. This is another marketing tool used to keep audiences engaged with the channel more and allow for the spreading of audiences for both the music video and the shows. Just like I stated before about the music industry having a relationship of a number of different other medias for different purposes, this relationship is with the media industry and its purpose is to engage and attract larger audiences. As stated on their main website, MTV is a channel where the audience can ‘watch TV shows and check out all the biggest and best music videos’; in terms of bringing success to an artist, if they have the opportunity of having their music video released on MTV where the shown videos are considered the ‘biggest and best’, audience opinion will recognize that they may have seen potential, then allowing for the potential uprise of an artist. The appeal to the audience is just as important as already established fans will be eagerly anticipating their artists’ music video, potentially causing little hype, which could then generate into an even bigger hype over the music video, then expanding a fanbase and therefore increasing the artist/bands appeal within the media industry. As music videos bridge the gap between an artist and fans, the general viewing for the music channels will increase as audiences will be patiently waiting to see if their artist is top of the charts or even in the charts. TV channels today are there for different genres or even all genres mixed in one, some showcased on broadcasting platforms like Sky, Virgin and Freeview, where a large majority of British residents have one of the three in their household.

Under-representation

In terms of under-representation, there are a variety of music genres that don’t have a music channel dedicated to them. This makes it quite hard for some artists belonging to this genre to get their name out there. Because of a lack of even more diverse music channels, genres like Dubstep have artists that instead are only known to a small amount of the world, limiting their success on the map and allowing for artists of other genres to dominate the music industry and generate more sales. Genres such as African, Jazz and Classical music are limited to spreading on a global scale like Pop and Hip-Hop, meaning they have to use other means as a way of getting their music out there, like Apple Music, Soundcloud, Youtube and Spotify. This is a very hard way to guarantee success but once a fanbase is established on these platforms of media, it won’t be necessarily hard to be noticed if the artists’ music is the current trend on another social music platform. Other genres like Trance and Soul also find it hard due to the increase in subgenres, as there are many similarities between each subgenre

However the advantages of having so many music channels means that there is an increase in the potential of a successive career for a smaller less known artist. For already established artists such as Beyonce and Bruno Mars it is just a way for audiences to acknowledge new or recently released music, further casting positive reviews on their career and discographic skills. This can be used to create, adapt or feed into the representation of the ‘star image’ or maybe even reinvent.

It also allows for the audience to experience escapism whilst watching the music video. The artist provides this with the audience, therefore allowing for the possibility of it being broadcast on a music channel, which in turn, attracts a target audience that will most presumably enjoy the music video and get a sense that they are also there or present during the recording of a video to further bridge the gap between an artist and his fans. This can give the audience something to be inspired by, seeing their favourite artist on TV, gives them a sense that they can follow in their footsteps and also appear on TV for their very own fanbase.

Conclusion

I assume with the idea I have in my head, and the chosen genre I am thinking, my music video will appear on a channel like Vivo, as Vivo doesn’t broadcast specified genres of music and rather just show the trending music from artists, established or upcoming. It may not be as big as MTV, but it is still a common show in the UK. It will be a good way of being cast alongside other upcoming talents and bands to be compared to in terms of potential star quality.