audience research
TRANSCRIPT
INITIAL RESEARCH
I started by going on websites where people had already asked
questions about the target audience for Dubstep songs. As you can
see, above is the answer that was voted the best answer by voters
on Yahoo answers, which means it is a viewpoint of many people.
This answer states that Dubstep is aimed at 18+, because this is
the youngest age you be to enter a club, and a club scene is the
usual place where Dubstep music is played and promoted.
INITIAL RESEARCH
I then expanded me
research by looking at
and asking questions on
other social networking
sites such as Tumblr.
This is because Tumblr
is a very popular social
networking site amongst
young people interested
in music and media,
therefore I could see if
my findings on this site
would challenge or
confirm my data that
suggests that Dubstep
is aimed at people aged
18+
From asking questions on Tumblr I had a few
replies back and found that many people
thought that the main age range was between
13-17. This is because they thought that
whereas a few years ago Dubstep was more of
an underground genre, it has now recently
become mainstream and popular, therefore
teenagers in this day and think it is the sound of
their generation. In return, record companies
use teenagers to keep Dubstep becoming more
and more mainstream.
FINDINGS
As you can see on the previous slide, when I searched tags on
Tumblr such as , , #Skream
and #Modestep I found that a large percentage
of the blogs that came up that had a lot of Dubstep related
content belonged to European people, and in particular
Spanish people. This inspired me to find out why this was,
and It made me realise that the biggest party districts are in
Spain, which are Magaluf and Ibiza, with Ibiza being the
biggest. The majority of the music played in these party
districts is Dubstep and Commercial electronic, therefore a
lot of Spanish people living near these regions are subjected
to different styles of music within this genre and thus is
reason for my findings of many blogs dedicated to their love
of this Dubstep ,which they have grown up with.
However, this does not mean that our target audience will be Spanish or
European.
Many of the club reps and DJ‘s that tour around these party districts play Dubstep
music because the highest amount of people that go to party districts are
from Britain, more specifically London. Hence our name
DJ‘s and club reps play Dubstep to cater for the British market that
are coming in to consume the club scene, as this is the music
usually played in our local clubs in Britain. Therefore this research
has allowed me to narrow down that our average target audience
would live in Britain
According to many sites
such as International Staff,
the cost of living is highest in
London than anywhere else
in Britain. Therefore our
average target audience
member would ideally
originally be a person from
London who has been
influenced by Dubstep music
by the thriving rave and
clubbing scene in places like
Soho and Central London,
but living in the North of
TO ELABORATE…
Although our target audience member would be originally from London,
they would be living in the north of England studying at University ,
because studying and living in the North of England is cheaper than
studying and living on student funds in London. This would then
allow them to have a greater amount of money saved to go abroad to
party districts, as the majority of British people going abroad to party
districts or going to festivals which promote Dubstep to the fullest, is
Students going in the summer, holidays, or ―University Friend trips‖.
Also known as ―Lad weekends‖ or ―Girls trip‖.
Pictures from
Student
websites
RECAP?
To recap, what I have deduced from research about our average
target audience member so far is:
They are originally from London, but currently study in the North
of England.
More money saved and available allows them to go out and
abroad more to clubs, club districts and festivals where
Dubstep is promoted the most.
To narrow it down further, they are White –British.
Favourite holiday destinations would be clubbing districts such
as: Magaluf, Malia, Ibiza, Cancun, Tenerife, Ayia Napa,
Kavos, Kos (Lagunas)
This meta study from the BBC in
2009—10, is one of many
that illustrates that
Nottingham is a northern
college that has the highest
percentage of students
coming from London and the
South east.
Therefore this data can tell us
that our student would have
originated from either East or
Central London and
relocated to Nottingham to
attend Nottingham university
and live on campus or in
student accommodation.
Nottingham is also known for
it‘s booming Nightlife.My research into which gender clubbing is aimed at shows
that it is aimed more at girls than boys. This is because if the
club atmosphere attracts more girls, then more boys will
come for the girls. So, our average target audience member
for Dubstep is a female. This may also explain why most of
the people that answered my question on Tumblr were
female.
Many mainstream Dubstep songs also have female vocals, if
there are lyrics at all, to appeal to female audiences.
E.G:
Example of female vocals on
mainstream Dubstep songs
I analysed one of the main Dubstep forums
to get a better sense of Target audiences.
From many of the posts, the people spoke
about their ―car‖ sound systems. This
indicated to me that a lot of people that
listen to Dubstep drive
Relating this back to my previous
research this suggests that a specific
age of the average target audience
member would be aged 18. This is
because this is the youngest you can be
to have a full licence to drive and go
clubbing, as well as be starting
university
This table shows the most
popular baby names in the
UK up to 1994, however our
average target audience
member would have been
born in 1995 if they are 18
now. As you can see, the
last time before our target
audience member’s birth
year was Emily, however
this name changed into
Emma, which was in the
top ten most popular UK
baby names until 1995.
Therefore our target
audience member would be
called Emma, a popular
baby name at the time of
her birth, widening the
amount of people that fit
the specific target audience
details.
SECOND RECAP?Okay here we go!
Name: Emma – One of the most popular British baby names of 1995
Address: East/Central London: Locations such as Soho and Shoreditch, and Leicester Square are the birthplaces of different styles of Dubstep.
Age: 18 years old – The youngest age you can have a full licence in Britain and the youngest age you can enter clubs and go to clubbing festivals and holidays. As well as the age you can start University.
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: White, British
Occupation: Student and a part time job in retail – A common part time occupation that students take to accommodate their busy student timetables and help towards paying their student apartments or rented room on campus.
Mode of Transport: Has a drivers Licence, but she uses her 18+ Oyster card because it is cheaper than the price of petrol and she has to make cuts on her student budget.
Favourite Holiday locations: Clubbing districts
Why they like this genre: A part of Raveing culture
In this case, a
local newspaper
would be the
Nottingham Post
Our target audience
member would also read
quite gossip type
magazines. As these
magazines often have
details of upcoming
events at the backHowever, because our target
audience member is a young adult,
but still a teenager, and raised
around technology, they would be
more interested in Social networking
sites and app to read articles, than in
newspapers or magazines. Twitter
and Tumblr accounts would also
help her connect with her favourite
Dubstep artists and take up large
amount of their free time.
Another thing I found on the Dubstep website is that
many of the users were interested in new technology
and gadgets. Therefore our member of the target
audience would have some new age gadgets that she
could afford from Student grants and money she has
saved up. This would be gadgets that she needs for
college, such as the laptop and phone, as well as
gadgets that most teenagers are interested in, such as
the speakers and headphones. The headphones are Dre
Beats, which are one of the most popular and fast selling
headphones of all time.
The phone is another
popular and common smart
phone. Interestingly, the new
IPhone 5 already has
Instagram pre-downloaded,
showing how big it has
become in modern society
and how common it is to
have.
Students usually rely on cheaper foods and on average eat less fully
home cooked meals than if they were at home. Therefore a cheaper
supermarket that sells ready made foods and groceries is
Sainsbury‘s.
The website for Nottingham university
also states that there is a large
Sainsbury‘s nearby along with
privately owned grocery shops and
student union shops.
Our target audience member would drink fizzy drinks such
as Coca-Cola. I gained this answer from research from
the smile clinic and the BBC that showed that these are
the most consumed drinks amongst teenagers, and thus
the greatest cause of bad teeth.
Whilst researching drinks, I
found many websites for
student forums, which
taught students how to hide
the smell of alcohol on their
breathe. Coupled with the
idea of Dubstep being made
more clubbing scenes, our
average target audience
member may also drink
typical club drinks such as
vodka and coke.
Above is the Topshop website. I believe that our average member of the target Dubstep
audience would buy most of her clothes from here because it is very ‗High street
fashion‘, which is the trend at the moment, especially in places such as Shoreditch. It is
also the type of fashion you would see on Tumblr websites. The clothes can go from
extremes of be quite plain and simple, much like the style of Dubstep artists such as
Skrillex to quite loud, like some more commercial Dubstep artists like La Roux. It also
means they can buy clubbing outfits from here.
Urban outfitters is another store that she would buy her clothes
from, for much of the same reasons as Topshop. Also, both
these shops give student discounts.
Redbubble is a brand that she would be into because their clothes and accessories
have quite a unique edge. The products are also inspired and centred around
Dubstep. Everything from artist to sub-genres. It also features artists that are both
mainstream and still quite underground so it promotes other Dubstep artists, which
will motivate our average member of the target audience to research their songs, as
she spends most of her time on her phone or laptop internet, or apps.
LAST RECAP AND FINAL THOUGHTS
My final analysis of Target audience leaves me with the profile for
Dubstep ,and thus our target audience:
Name: Emma – One of the most popular British baby names of 1995
Address: East/Central London: Locations such as Soho and Shoreditch, and
Leicester Square are the birthplaces of different styles of Dubstep.
Age: 18 years old – The youngest age you can have a full licence in Britain and
the youngest age you can enter clubs and go to clubbing festivals and holidays. As
well as the age you can start University.
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: White, British
Occupation: Student and a part time job in retail – A common part time occupation
that students take to accommodate their busy student timetables and help towards
paying their student apartments or rented room on campus.
Mode of Transport: Has a drivers Licence, but she uses her 18+ Oyster card
because it is cheaper than the price of petrol and she has to make cuts on her
student budget.
Favourite Holiday locations: Clubbing districts
Why they like this genre: A part of Raveing culture
Shopping: Buys her groceries at Sainsbury‘s and local grocers as well as student
shops.
Spare time: Spends her time on the internet and
socialising. A s well as clubbing and raveing.
Newspapers: The Nottingham Post, Local
Newspapers
Magazines: Ok magazine, gossip/celebrity
magazines. Also articles on social networking sites.
Gadgets: Smartphone, Laptop, Speakers(to hear the
Dubstep base), Headphones – Very music
orientated.
Brand: Attracted to Redbubble Dubstep brand
Favourite retail shops: Buys her clothes from Topshop
and Urban Outfitters – The urban unique edge and
simple, but trendy clothing. As well as student
discount.
Favourite drink: Fizzy drinks and alcohol.