Target Audience

A Target Audience

When an artist or record label are thinking of promoting themselves, they have to consider the following with target audience:

- Age
- Gender
- Ethnicity
- Religion


I have researched several artists and how they have used various promotion techniques throughout the media to sell their albums. Have they been successful and reached a clear target audience?

Headlines - The Saturdays

The Header of 'The Saturdays' Website

'The Saturdays' are a girl group formed in 2007 in London, England. They made their recording debut in 2008 with 'Fascination Records' and have become a roaring success releasing another album on top along with a mini-album. This mini-album was named Headlines and has been their latest release in 2010 - what is their target audience? Did they promote it well to them? What ways did they advertise this new release? These are questions that must be answered to understand their success and to be able to do this when advertising my own artist's album.

View of the 'T-Shirt Bundle'

Being a female pop group, it is clear the gender they are aimed at is female, and conforming to the stereotype of today's woman (flawless, slim and deemed 'perfect') they are an inspiration to a younger audience in particular. They did successfully target a younger audience with the 'T Shirt Album Bundle' promoted on their website where you get a discount price is you buy both at once. However, the older female generations were targeted by the album being reviewed in the females magazine OK (www.ok.co.uk/posts/view/25269/Review-The-Saturdays-Headlines-) and therefore, as it is predominantly read by women, it advertises more towards that gender.

On 'The Saturdays' MySpace

They did also target a larger audience when using pop-ups on the Internet. This could have appeared on any one's computer, anywhere, therefore not giving a clear demographic. However, it is a way of using viral marketing as you can 'Share it on Facebook' and other social networking sites, much like how 'Nizlopi' released the JCB Song. Another form of viral marketing used was 'MySpace' (www.myspace.com/thesaturdays) where the banner on the artist's page was the mini-album's logo and you can even pre-order the album via this website. As you can listen to the album on their MySpace, they are using convergence to their advantage.

They also used synergy in creating a television advertisement to promote their album (www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UQDhmYctpk) where people can see parts of the music video and hear sections of the album, therefore buying it on what they have heard. This means that between television shows, viewers of any age, race or gender was able to listen and think about buying the album or not. It is not particularly targeting a set audience.

The magazine reviews, Internet based advertisements and television promotional advertisements did sell the album reasonably well as the album peaked at number 9 in the UK album chart. I feel they could have achieved more if they made their audience more precise because it was only their true fans from social networking that had it targeted towards them - other methods were shown to everyone. Radio advertisements would have been successful, or even Spotify adverts when the audience views the artist on this programme.

Recovery - Eminem

Eminem's Opening Image to Website

Eminem is a globally known American rapper who has won both a Grammy and an Oscar. He has earned his place in the music industry by his lyrical talent as the majority of the artist's songs are written by him. His most recent album named Recovery, released August 2010, was once again written by the artist himself about his own personal development after  a drugs overdose. Who was this album aimed at and why did it make such a huge success?

Eminem has advertised his album on his website (www.eminem.com/default.aspx) as it is the opening image, and is now selling clothing on this website with the album's name and logo printed on it. As the clothes are dark and baggy, it commonly stereotypes with teenagers who listen to this type of recovery. However, the logo contains a cross which is the inverse of the Red Cross showing aid and salvation - some may buy the clothing to support him through his rehabilitation. It could also relate strongly to those who have been in a similar situation with drugs, alcohol or other addictions.

The artist has also promoted the album via viral marketing as their MySpace page (www.myspace.com/eminem) contains the latest songs from the album. This is where the artist's fans can view and listen regularly for free before they buy the album as they can ensure they like it.

Events have also been set up to advertise Eminem's new album (www.cmonwealth.com/whatsnew/recovery.jpg) where the track listing was revealed and shown. These events allow the fans to group together and provide a social gathering as well as a promotional item for the artist.

The album has reached number 2 in the UK Album Charts meaning the events, viral marketing and clothing helped boost its name. I believe clothing is very effective and events allows Eminem fans to group together. Something that could have made the ratings even higher was possibly a television advertisement as those who could not access the Internet or events had an opportunity to view the album before purchasing.

Illusion of Safety - The Hoosiers

No one had heard from the indie-rock group 'The Hoosiers' since 2007 and then a fluster of television advertisements hit the screen and they had returned with another album named Illusion of Safety. After being kept quiet for several years, who did they want to target with their new sound?

The main television advertisement (www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkYTl-ylwKE) was meant to target the old fans by having their biggest hits Worried About Ray and Goodbye Mr. A viewed on the advert. This would trigger the audience's memory. For a new target audience, they decided to add humour into the equation so people would remember the advert, and therefore them. Along with this advert, there were shorter 10 second clips (www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja4qjkj8qNY&feature=channel) that were played randomly on the main television channels. They did not contain any music, but only the group members talking of their new album. Once again, by containing humour it made them memorable and made the audience want to listen to the album. The retro outfits in the adverts suggest they are in fashion as retro items are always viewed in shops and it also suggests something quirky and different about them - it makes the audience ask themselves the question 'what makes them stand out?'

Also, like many artist's nowadays, they have succumbed to using viral marketing where their fans on MySpace (www.myspace.com/thehoosiers) can buy and download their album or latest single, Choices. This means their fans get first choice, and therefore will gain a larger fan base as many would like the opportunity to listen to their music first.

Before entering the official homepage to their website, there is the image of the digipack cover (www.thehoosiers.com/gb/splash/) and so you get commonly associated with it - this means if the audience went into a CD shop they would recognise it and look. Also, as the typography is bright and vibrant, it suggests their music is fun and light hearted; the audience may enjoy this emotion and buy the music based on that.

Was this intense and sudden promotional material a success? Yes. 'The Hoosiers' reached the top 10 - but what could have allowed them to make number 1? Unlike Eminem, they did not do any events based around the album, and unlike both 'The Saturdays' and Eminem, there is no clothing available. This could have increased the sales, but they did have a good comeback.

CD Cover Design & Digipacks

What is a 'digipack'?

"The content of a digipack is exactly the same as... usual CD covers, it is just getting dimensions and folds correct.'

The Fratellis - Costello Music

The Fratellis album Costello Music made a huge hit in the UK reaching it's peak at number 2 in the album charts, and also staying in the Top 100 for 83 weeks continuously.

This album has had a huge variety of reviews from critics from it being compared to The Libertines, Babyshams and Arctic Monkeys and also being described as sounding like 15 other artists of this time. However, it has had some positive reviews by being 'amible' and also by taking themselves less seriously than most other indie rock bands. This is meant to be reflected in their general attitude; and yet due to their hair and their album artwork are meant to have a classy attribute to them:

Overall, I believe this album was such a success partly due to the artwork as it would attract a wide variety of audiences and also grab people's attention due to the cover being unconventional by going against a stereotype in the image. However, as it is also based around a fashion, one could argue they were simply modifying the image of women. I do believe they may have sold the album  due to other factors, such as them having a typical indie-rock band sound, which is so popular today. 

Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly - Searching for the Hows and Whys

This is one of my favourite album, challenging the acoustic guitar and modern issues commonly featured on the news; however others did not agree considering it's peak in the UK music charts was number 33. Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly has a lovable persona, but this did not help him sell his music - not even guest vocalist Kate Nash boosted the sales. Critics say he did not challenge the folk-rock genre enough to create a successful revenue. This was not to do with the eye-catching, strange digipack, but what was contained on the CD.

Overall, this album had a selective audience at first eye, but could relate to many people's inner emotions. This cover was therefore successful and evaluated the artist well by using intertextuality of him being on the front cover. Perhaps it simply was the music that faulted a large profit.

Adele - 19

This was Adele's debut album and what a raving success it was! It reached number one in it's first weeks in the charts, and was also released in the same week as the number one single Chasing Pavements. Within the album was a cover of Bob Dylan's song Make You Feel My Love which was strongly approved by many critics. The cover was an image of the new artist emerging out of the darkness, relating to her emotions when this was released.

Overall, the album was a huge success but possible due to the catchy song Chasing Pavements enlarging the image of this album and therefore attracting many to buy it. The cover could represent the artist's emotions as she is slowly rising to be one of the UK's largest female artists.

Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

This album was Arctic Monkeys debut album and was titled the UK's 5th greatest album, emphasising its success. It was the UK's fastest ever selling album in selling 360,000 copies in its first week in stores and also went quadruple platinum.

The idea of this album was the concern of the young Northern English clubbers shown in song tracks such as I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor and also challenging topics on nightlife shown by When the Sun Goes Down. This gives the album a set demographic, but it reached a larger audience than expected shown by the sale rate.

Overall, the cover of this digipack does not aim at a set audience, par the smoking, but not a significantly young audience. As the cover reveals very little about music, the consumers of the album may have brought it out of curiosity.

Pixie Lott - Turn It Up

This was Pixie Lott's debut album, which reached number six in the UK charts - not the best of starts. However, the first two tracks on the album Mama and Boys and Girls reached number one in the UK's singles charts. It sold 500,000 copies in the UK and earned itself a platinum certificate.

Overall, the sale was down to the first two singles being successful. The cover was showing the artist's passion for music rather than giving any indication on the genre or what the music contains. It does not have a set theme, only a typical pop CD.

Pitch Feedback

My Pitch

Pitch presentation

View more presentations from Lorna Wooldridge.

To advertise my idea for my music video, I sold it through a pitch and asked for feedback from my peers. This was the feedback I gained:

What I have considered...

The feedback I would like to incorporate into my video would be the idea of the star image motif being on the iPod. This would be unique and also create a central idea from the very beginning. I am also considering a variety of locations instead of the protagonist chasing the girl through a party scene.

I explained in my pitch that there is a chance of lighting issues, and so if the lighting is not good at the time of shooting, then I can adjust the brightness on iMovie (the editing software). If not, I can hold a torch or place a lamp to add extra light.

Location Shots

To get a description of the location, hover over the image.


Lighting could be an issue in the house scenes, but to prevent this, I am going to add flash to the stop frame animation images. If not, a spotlight will be used.

For the open air performance based scenes, the weather is most likely the worrying issue but the only way this can be prevented is by planning a date around the weather forecast.

Original Images

This is the image of the fire that will be used for the first line of the lyrics 'This party's heating up'. This will be used in stop frame animation and the colourisation will slowly develop linking to the genre.

The dropping of the heart will act as significant and the image of the heart in the hand will be used in both the digipack and the music video. It will act as symbolism of the protagonist not getting the girl he desires.

These images will be used as part of the 'lyrics to visuals' but will also by edited so they are on a fluorescent coloured background and then put on the front CD cover. 

The big close up of eyes acts as part of Goodwin's Principles 'notion of looking'. These will also be put on the digipack behind the front of the CD - I will cut out just the eyes and then layer them so they are gradually opening. This will link to the music video.

Storyboard

Contact with Chosen Artist

I received their email address after messaging them on their MySpace page. I am glad they gave me permission to use their song as it is a catchy song with a clear storyline in the lyrics.