Target Audience Research- The Pop Target Audience

To kick-start my research into the Pop Target Audience I am going to look at what the genre itself includes and the artists that are most similar to my chosen one, Tove Lo.

PLEASE CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO BE LINKED TO THE PREZI ON POP'S TARGET AUDIENCE

Target Audience Research- Our Chosen Genre

When deciding what genre to do our music in, I discussed with my group what sort of music we all listen to.

Me: Listens to a variety of genres but especially enjoys pop punk and chip-tune. HATES classical.
Jakarta: Listens to indie, pop punk and pop.
Kyle: Listens to rock music and bands.
Sam: Listens to dance and electronica music.

We thought as we all listen to and know the pop genre well, it would be good to do create our own pop music video. Although pop punk was another common music genre some of us listened to, we chose pop over it as some members didn't enjoy that type of music. Other factors such as getting a band to perform/available on call for us could be tricky in the future and made the judgement that pop would be more appropriate.
We have already started to think about who would star in the video. Jakarta was the main character in the Preliminary Task and she was enthusiastic about playing another solo character. We will start to look at solo female pop artists so we can develop our understanding of what to expect from them and who specifically the target audience are.

Genres- Chiptune/VGM/8-Bit

The Chiptune genre can be simply defined as any music created with the use of a sound chip found within electronical devices. Stereotypically, the devices used to create chiptune music are old video game systems and computers, but more recently, synthesizers on computers are used to mimic these sounds. Chiptune, commonly known as retro, video game or 8 bit music, sits within the electronic music bracket but in its niche sub genre.
Chiptune as a music genre only came into the mainstream due to the releases of early arcade games and vintage systems during what was said to be the golden era for video games- the early 1980s. Due to the limitations of technology at the time, early video game systems were only equipped with basic audio converters. This meant sounds were short in nature and played one at a time. They lacked complexity and could not be harmonised producing the 'beeps and boops' we have come to associate the genre with. Building upon the already internationally established arcade games such as Pac-Man and Space Invaders, the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1983 brought the arcade, and subsequently the Chiptune soundtracks, to the domestic scene. Games such as Mega-man, Duck Hunt and of course Super Mario Bros were iconic for their catchy Chiptune soundtracks and sound effects.

Chiptune music was originally generated and outputted as analog sound waves by converting binary code when changes in the electrical current are made by an internal sound processing unit. These days, much of the chiptune music around is generated with electronic synthesisers which can mimic these sounds. This allows composers to experiment and explore the large scopes of digital sound at the same time as being able to easily record, edit, market and distribute the music. Nevertheless, modern technology hasn't stopped die hard Chiptune fans from programming and modifying their old consoles through the method of circuit bending to create original and authentic sounding compositions. This genre will always be heavily associated with old video games, arcades and pixel art due to its origin.

I will be analysing specifically the target audience for this genre in a separate post.

Genres- Pop Punk

Although not known where the term was first coined, 'Pop Punk' was said to have been developed in the USA, popularised by bands such as the Ramones in the early 1970's and then later popular in the UK.

At the time when punk music got started (late '60s to early '70s), rock music had become very stale; long solos had become the norm and using many different instruments. The "hippie" ideals like peace and love and everybody being nice to everybody else had lost its authenticity. Pop Punk was a rebellion against all that and returned to 3-4 minutes songs with catchy melodies, and a standard verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-verse-chorus structure. That simple song structure came to define not just pop and early rock music, but punk rock music as well.

The music often consisted of pop-like lyrics and melodies with the style, pace and tempo of the music from the punk genre. Since the initial boom, bands such as Blink-182 and Green Day refreshed the popularity in the 90's embedding the genre within the mainstream. The genre was (and still is) well liked by many because essentially, it united two smaller audiences into a single large one.
Nowadays there are several sub-genres of pop punk including, ska-punk, synth-punk and skate-punk being the most popular. 
Here are some mainstream pop-punk bands throughout the three eras of its existence:

Original Pop-Punk bands: (70's-80's)

-The Ramones
-Billy Idol
-Iggy Pop
-The Sex Pistols

Revival Pop-Punk Bands: (90's- early 2000's)

-Blink 182

-Green Day

-Fall Out Boy

-Yellowcard

Modern day Pop-Punk Bands: (2010-Present)

-A Day To Remember

-You Me At Six

-Paramore

-My Chemical Romance

I will be analysing specifically the target audience for this genre in a separate post. 

Exploring Different Music Genres

During the various stages of the year, I shall be analysing many music videos as part of the A2 course. I will be selecting specific elements in the videos such as camera work, editing, mise-en-scene the music and exploring the different ways they add to the experience of the product apart from synchronising to the music. Concepts, visual and spoken metaphors as well as the representation of the artist(s) will have to be considered and examined to get a firm understanding of what it takes to produce a successful, high quality music video. I will recognise patterns and conventions between music within the same genre and use these to build a picture of the target audience. This will all be useful when I make my own product.

I have a particular interest in the genres of pop, pop punk and chiptune and I will be further researching products within them in separate posts.