Research into Target Audience - Ms Georgiou

A target audience, or target group is the primary group of people that something is aimed at appealing to. A target audience can be people of a certain age group, gender, marital status, etc that separates individuals interests from others. 

Culture:

This can be defined as the attitudes and behavior that characteristic of a particular social group or organisation have. The cultural values and beliefs that 'Shani's' target audience have are similar to the ones the artist has herself. As a result of this it makes the relationship between the artist and fans stronger as they believe in the same things. Beliefs and values also influence what consumers listen to and who they associate with which is why it is an important factor to analyse different aspects beliefs and values in different market segments.

Some of the values and beliefs of Shani are the following:

1. To stay as a mainstream artist
2. To listen to fans opinions on music
3. To stay loyal to fans
4. To keep producing music

All of these aspects have a link with the way an artist's fans think and would like to see their idols live up to. In conclusion to this these values make an artist look attractive to a wide market. 

Age:
Age is an aspect that separates like and dislike to what consumers believe in. The way people where brought up in different eras suggests different beliefs and morals. In conclusion to this age is the biggest element in my opinion that enables different markets to be separated and easily identified. The age group my artist 'Shani' would appeal to consumers at the age of 16-25 due to the style of music, appearance of the artist and the genre of the music. 

Ideology:

This can be defined as a set of aims and ideas that directs one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision. 'Shani's' aims and ideas are similar to her beliefs and values. As she is an artist that has just started out 'Shani', like any other artist would like to be recognised on a large scale. This leads me to conclude that one of her aims is to become a well established artist that follows the mainstream representation. Moreover one of 'Shani's' other beliefs is to keep producing music. This is also a main element that keeps artist's in the pubic eye. Without music or new releases there would not be an interest in an artist. In conclusion to this these main two elements make an artist strive to want to be successful, which is why these factors contribute to the music industry and the artist's that become successful.

Interest in the music and Image:
An artist must be interested in the music they produce as well as the genre they follow, image is also a big part of interest as artist's do not want to give off the wrong perception. Interests allow artist's to be successful songwritters and producers, this means that they need a level of inspiration as well as interest in what they are talking about or who lyrics may be about. Image allows the audience watching the artist relate to the way an artist is dressed or the way they look from personal appearance to a perfect stereotypical perception that many consumers expect to see. As a result of this these two factors play a big part in the success of an artist both upcoming and new which is why music labels must dress and style their artists correctly to become attractive to a wide target audience. 

From these different aspects it becomes clear who 'Shani's' target audience is and what she must do as well as the music label behind the artist in order to be successful and attract a wide audience. 

From the four points I have stated above about the artists values and beliefs I will now be explaining how I will use them within my music video. The first point is for ‘Shani’ to stay as a mainstream artist. ‘Shani’ is only just starting out  in the music industry which is why it is an important factor to stay as a representation consumers can easily relate to. Only when she is well established enough as an artist will she be able to come away from a mainstream representation to become an individual artist such as Lady Gaga. In order to stay as a mainstream representation, elements such as costumes, hair & make-up, lighting effects, editing styles and the narration of her music videos must follow the generic conventions within the Reggae genre. This is followed through in my music video, from analysing ‘Gyptian’s’ music video ‘Hold Yuh’. The main editing styles used are straight cuts and fade to black/the next image which are also used in my music video. Straight cuts are used to change a setting or location and fades are also used to do the same thing. These two editing styles are used throughout music videos that follow a narrative based element which again my music video follows. As well as this to be a mainstream representation, artists must be able to relate to their target audience. As this is the first music video by ‘Shani’ consumers will only become aware of her through her music videos which will allow them to see what she looks like as well as how she is portrayed to consumers. This therefore means that an audience will be able to relate to her style and also individuals who are also trying to break into the mainstream music industry will aspire to be like her as she was found through YouTube. 

The second point is to listen to fans opinions on music. This can be done through a number of different methods such as market research and direct feedback. Market research should be carried out by music labels in order to see what makes an artist attractive to an audience. Whereas, direct feedback could be gained from uploading videos on to YouTube which is where ‘Shani’ became recognized. This is portrayed in my music video as ‘Shani’s’ version of ‘Hold Me’ is a reply song to the original version ‘Hold Yuh’ by ‘Gyptian’. ‘Shani’ has seen how popular ‘Gyptian’s’ song has become which is why she has created her own version. By doing this ‘Shani’ known’s the opinions of fans due to the high demand for ‘Gyptian’s’ song which has given her direct feedback to create her own version to his song allowing a different audience to find her attractive.

The third point is to stay loyal to fans. This point is also shown through my music video as she has followed the mainstream representation that I have explained above. Staying loyal to fans would mean to not portray something she is not or go against what makes her likable to her target audience. As a result of this ‘Shani’ has remained loyal to fans from how she is portrayed in her music video which is a reflection of how she is in real life. 

Finally, the fourth point is to keep producing music. This element is something that all artists want to do in order to gain a solid fan base and people that trust them as artists. Again as ‘Shani’ has just started out in the music industry it shows how dedicated she is to making herself successful. As a result of this it shows that she will also be dedicated to producing new music. This is shown throughout my music video as from a new artist’s point of view she would want to be well established within the music industry and this can only happen from new music being produced which will then lead to a music video being released.