Music Channels

MTV (Music Television), owned by Viacom, is one of the most well known music channels internationally. MTV owns a large percentage of the market share in the music industry and is therefore one of the most dominant channels. MTV targets youths in the age group of 15-21, however the music played on the channel is mostly mainstream, current music in the charts which attracts most ages. The artists played include commercial artists such as Beyonce, Rhianna, Eminem, Katy Perry and Justin Bieber. Each of these artists are mainstream and they are all often in the top 10 in the MTV charts. MTV is used as a form of branding because they have a number of different music channels which play a variety of music appealing to different target audiences. An example being MTV Chi which is targeted at Chinese Americans. MTV also uses its logo on clothing and merchandise. The logo for MTV helps attract their target audience. It is in simple black and white colours which doesn't segregate genders, races or sexuality. It is also written in a font which looks like graffiti which attract youths as it is current and modern. As well as music channels and merchandise MTV also owns sister programmes such as My Super Sweet Sixteen, Jersey Shore and Made. These reality shows usually attract and younger audience and help make the channel more popular.

VH1 is a sister channel of MTV which is also owned by viacom. VH1 (Video Hits One) targets people aged 16-35 and began by broadcasting popular soft music such as Olivia Newton John and Eric Clapton in the 1980's. VH1 has is popular among the older demographic as they broadcast hits from the 80's such as Wham, Madonna and Beach Boys. VH1 broadcast music shows such as "Song From The Noughties" and "20 Cheesiest Song" which attract a varied, older audience. By broadcasting different artist to dominant music channel, MTV, they manage to attract a large audience as they are giving people something new and different, rather than the most recent music over and over again. More recently VH1 is known for their variety of reality and celebrity life style programmes. Similar to MTV, VH1 is used as a form of branding and has many sister channels of its own such as VH1 Uno and VH1 Classic which target different audiences. The logo for VH1 is bright and colourful which attracts peoples attention. The bright colours are popular colours which represents the popular music which the channel broadcasts and the colours are also reminiscent of the 80's and 90's, which are decades which VH1 play a lot of music from. The logo simply shows the name of the channel which make it clear and memorable to the audience.

Box Television is mostly broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland and has a demographic of pop music fans. This channel has a target audience of 14 years olds to late 20's and broadcasts mainstream artists such as Cheryl Cole, JLS and Katy Perry. The genres of music played include RnB, Pop and Hip Hop. This channel plays similar mainstream music to MTV, however as it is mainly broadcast in the UK, popular British artists are played more regularly. Box Television is seen as quite a modern and cool channel which attracts youths and young adults. The logo, again like MTV, is black and white and the three main letters "Box" are written in the shapes of boxes. The logo appeals to the audience as it is simple and artistic.

Scuzz is a non-conformist, British, music channel and it appeals to quite a specific target audience as it only plays certain genres of music. Scuzz plays a broad range of rock music and targets its audience of young rock fans from teenagers to late 20's by being the first to broadcast many new videos and present new up and coming artists. Regular artists which are broadcast on Scuzz include Slipknot, Metallica and You Me At Six. On the Scuzz website fans are able to win exclusive merchandise from their favourite artists. The logo for Scuzz is dark and grimy like the music played on the channel. Its a metallic colour which is different to other music channel logos and the simplistic and spacious writing stands out. 

Kiss is an extremely popular music channel in the UK and has a young demographic playing the latest in music videos. Kiss broadcasts the most popular and recent artist such as Rhianna, Eminem, Example, Drake and One Direction. Kiss is constantly airing new music and the latest charts which appeals to their young target audience and youths always want to know the latest in the music industry. Kiss use their branding on various merchandise such as clothing which attracts a larger target audience. It then simply shows the name of the channel to make it memorable. Kiss also has a radio station which is extremely popular with all ages and is one of the most dominant stations along with Magic and Capital. The logo is simple yet effective. The picture appears to represent Pacman which most youths can relate to and it catches their eye. The colour of the logo appeals to both sexes and all ages.

By analysing music channels I have learnt what audiences are looking for and how important a target audience is in order for a music video to be successful. I have also learnt the importance of a logo and how a logo represents a product or company.