Audience Research - Defining and Engaging the Audience

Audience Research – 16-25 year old middle and upmarket media literate audience who like to be entertained

Age

People between the ages of 16-25 are often labelled as ‘digital natives’ due to their extensive use of social media from growing up around technology. This gives them a different understanding of the digitised music industry than older generations so different techniques would be needed to target and engage this age group.

 

30.8% of Instagram users are between the ages of 18 and 24

36.2% of TikTok users are between the ages of 18 and 24

56.4 million people in the US between the ages of 11 and 26 use social media

 

Due to their time on social media and the spread of ‘new politics’ that focuses on activism over political parties, this age group is likely to be politically aware and engage in online activism such as as e-petitions and donations to causes. This would then be recognised in the communication of political messages through the music video and the partnership with charities on the website.

 

Due to their younger age, this demographic is more likely to be socially liberal so would connect with the left leaning message of the music video and appreciate the diversity present within the band regarding ethnicity, sexuality and gender.

 

Attending live music events is often popular amongst this demographic with 46% of those attending festivals in the US every year being between the ages of 18 and 34. This means that the performance element of the music video, along with a quick link to tour tickets on the website, would engage this audience.

Middle Class

The middle class categorises those who are well educated, who have good jobs and a stable income but are not rich enough to be part of the upper class. Due to their higher level of education, this social group is likely to be more politically active or at least have a good understanding of current politics so would engage with the political messages within the song, music video and website. This social group can be classed as a BC1 demographic which makes up approximately 50% of the UK’s population so the music video has a wide potential audience. Their financial situation mans that the audience can spend money on merchandise or tour tickets adding another stream of revenue aside from streaming.

Media literate

Media literacy is the ability of individuals in an audience to correctly recognise and understand information presented to them by the media producer, and thus respond as the producer intends them to (as suggested by Hall’s Reception Theory, with the preferred reading of a media text). A media literate audience will have a greater understanding of the music video and website due to their recognition of intertextual references meaning they can understand the media products on a deeper level that those who lack media literacy.