Survey on music audiences

By creating a questionnaire i can find out what other people think of the music industry and how the audience affects the artists. In total i asked 15 people as i think it would be a good amount to get a variety of answers. They were of all different ages, ranging from 12 to 50 years of age, and different genders. I also made sure the people i asked had different musical interests and experience with music as i thought this would give me a more accurate result if i was looking at this being the majority of musical consumers.
Here are the questions i asked, the answers are in red.

1.) Where do you listen to most of your music?
Itunes 5
Ipod 4
Myspace 0
Youtube 2
Radio 1
TV 0
CD's 0
Streaming websites such as Spotify 3
Other (if so, specify) 0
By each option is the amount of people that ticked that box.

Looking at the results from this question, most people get their music from Itunes, an Internet programme that allows people to buy and download music for a relatively cheap sum of money. Streaming websites came in second. This is also similar to Itunes, although you are not downloading the music, you are streaming it so you don't own a copy of it permanently, having said this it is most probably still popular because you usually do not pay to use the service.

2.)Do you listen to certain artists because they are from a particular label?
-if so, which one(s)
All 15 answered No

This was really interesting because it shows the audience aren't interested in the actual label the artist is signed to. They most probably believe its more about the music than the business behind it. One person who did the survey said "Even know some labels may be more experienced than others and have a reputation to uphold, you wouldn't search music based on their label. In fact i think the majority of consumers wouldn't even know the labels of their favourite artists."

3.)Do you prefer music from mainstream or niche appeal?
11 answered mainstream
4 answered niche

Universal Music Group is an example of a conglomerate that owns subsidiaries such as Polydor records and Mercury music group. By having different subsidiaries, UMG can still attract audiences with different taste and appeal in music. For example, Island records have a niche appeal so that people who are interested in that genre can still be connected to UMG.

4.)Have you ever downloaded music illegally?
13 answered Yes
2 answered No

Illegal downloading is still a large issue that occurs when thinking about media ownership. Maybe institutions such as UMG should think about maybe lowering the price of music. That way people would be more interested in actually buying the music rather than "stealing" from the industry.

5.)What institutions or labels have you heard of?
5 people said Universal Music group
4 said EMI
1 said Chrysalis
2 said Epic
1 said Aftermath
2 didn't know any

This is similar to question 2, you could argue that audiences are more interested in the music than the business behind it. However being known widely, such as EMI and UMG which are part of 'the big four', would be an advantage as it would gain you a wider audience. People would recognise the name and relate it to other artists they like, and resulting in a wider audience.

6.)Do you mind paying for your music? Why?
10 answered Yes:
"I think artists and labels earn too much money anyway, they get profit from just turning up at events or doing gigs. To expect people to pay to just listen to their music is asking too much, if we want to hear more of it, we would go to the concerts, and THEN i wouldn't mind paying"
"Its too much money, music should be free to listen to, share, and enjoy"


5 answered No:
"i don't mind paying for it, i mind paying too much for it."
"it's their career, if i like it they've earned it"

These were some common thoughts amongst those that took the survey.

Explain how UMG uses these subsidiaries to maximise the success of artists from different genres

Fascination Records
Island Records

Fascination Records and Island records are both subsidiaries of the conglomerate, Universal Music Group.
There are many advantages of using a smaller label to focus on specific artists, for example as UMG is an extremely large label and owns a variety of different artists, these smaller labels can identify the genres in which these artists come under. By having a label that focuses on a specific genres and specific artists, they can focus on the type of audience they would target. To have different branches reaching out to these genre specified audiences means UMG can still gain a large audience without losing the connection to what certain people like to listen to.
Also, because these labels are so genre focused, it means they can pass on expertise to promote these artists in the best way possible. For example Fascination Records focus primarily on Pop. Artists that are signed to them are those such as Cheryl Cole, The Saturdays, Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers, who all fall into that category. All these artists are mainstream and therefore know what sort of audience would be interested in them. Their expertise has, for instance, got 'Girls Aloud' 20 consecutive Top 10 singles.
Island records focus on a more of a niche audience, but still uses their expertise on their primary genres of reggae, soul and urban. However not only do they own obvious artists such as Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder, they also have artists such as Florence and the Machine and Mumford and Sons. These artists are in their own ways very unique and you could argue are part of the niche target market. Island records have their expertise built up from 1959 originating in Jamaica. For years they understand how to get the most out of their artists as individuals and as a whole.
UMG need this sort of expertise to look after certain artists individually rather than having all these artists in their hands and their hands alone. By having these smaller labels, they can get the best out of specific artists and in the long run gain more profit with more sells.

Another important factor is the geographical distribution of music around the world. As i said previously, Island records was founded in Jamaica, and a majority of its artists are based around the Caribbean islands. This is similar to Fascination as they're main appeal is for British pop music. When thinking about a large conglomerate such as UMG, it makes distribution and exchange to different areas of the world much easier as genres are usually focused around a particular area of the world anyway and therefore smaller labels would gain a local appeal.

Also, by having these smaller labels, artists can maximise the success for themselves by working with other artists. Whether that be by collaboration or by existing artists promoting new artists. For example when Girls aloud from Fascination were on tour, The Saturdays supported them. The institutions know that the audience that came to see Girls aloud would also enjoy the Saturdays as they are of a similar genre. This kind of exposure to artists of the same label increases success for them, and the label itself.

How far do you think developments in technology have changed the way the music industry operates?

There have been many changes in technology in context to music over the years which have shaped the way in which the music industry works. This in turn has also changed the relationship between the audience and the artists themselves.
Examples of developments in music technology include hardware and software of music. Ipod's have changed throughout the years and have meant audiences can listen to music wherever and whenever they want. The Internet has made music much more accessible to consumers. Music industries could reach a wider audience and could distribute music with greater ease from Internet programmes such as Itunes. Consumers pay a small fee to download single tracks or whole albums.
With technologies such as this, music institutions can find out what kind of music is most popular, and find what particular music people are listening to. From this they can target their audience easier and reach out to a certain audience more specifically.
Other Internet sites such as Spotify, We7 and Grooveshark all do a similar things. Audiences can stream music onto their computer and can access the music they like with just a few clicks of a button. With this sort of easy access, audiences believe they can listen to more of their music and institutions can obviously gain a vast number of consumers, which in turn will gain them more money.
Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter gives audiences the opportunity to actually interact with their favourite artists, find out updates on new music and be the first to listen to recent songs. Myspace had their own section dedicated to music: MyspaceMusic. Their service meant fans could find new artists or even artists that are not even signed to labels. This type of exposure to consumers makes them easier to find and in the long run means more music is bought from the artist and a larger profit towards the institution.
To conclude, i think changes in technology have shaped the way in which music industries operate as they can target their market with greater ease. They need to think about how their audience can access their artist music and how to gain the most our of that technology. On top of this i think the relationship between the audience and the artists themselves has been changed due to new technologies. Consumers can find out about them, learn about new musical updates and access their music much more easily. Artists can find out what music is popular and what the majority of consumers see in a successful artists. This has made the gap between them much smaller and creates advantages for both sides of the market.

Domino Records: a British independent record label

1. What differences do you notice between Domino and Universal in terms of artists and genres?

The artists currently sighned to Domino records are very much less mainstream than those signed to Universal. The arists seem to care more about their music than they do popularity or money they make. They have a niche audience in comparison to Universals artists target audience.

2. a.) How would you describe Domino’s target audience(s)?

I would say their target audience would be aged around 18-35 and are more into the actual music than the materialistic side of the industry.

b.) How does the label address and appeal to its audience?

The modern layout appeals to it's younger audience. It also gives the opportunity to learn about the diffeerent artists and new releases, as well as actually buy tickets and merchandise.

3. a) Have you heard of any artists on their roster? Which ones?

Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys

b) Why do you think a high profile artist might sign to Domino?

to gain more interest into the label, or because they would like to sign to a label to make important decisions however do not want to feel like they are being taken over. They would still want their music to be the main focal point so signing up to a more independant label would probably acheive this better.

Universal Music Group

Who owns the company?
Founded:
1934 (as Decca Records USA)
1989 (MCA Music Entertainment Group formed)
1996 (first UMG incarnation)
1998 (second UMG incarnation)

The present organization was formed when its parent company Seagram purchased PolyGram and merged it with Universal Music Group in 1998. However, the name first appeared in 1996 when MCA Music Entertainment Group was renamed Universal Music Group.

Where is it based and what companies are a part of it?
It has licensees in 77 countries. UMG has offices in 72 countries. UMG’s corporate headquarters are located at 2220 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90404 and 1755 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.

Companies also a part of UMG:

• 
  Universal Music Publishing Group: publishes the music. This company owns the artists, songwriters, producers and recording studios based in Los Angeles, MIAMI and Nashville. With 51 offices in 43 territories, Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is the industry's largest global music publishing operation. UMPG represents music in every genre from some of the world’s hottest songwriters and catalogs. It's artists are based in the following places: North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific.

• Universal Music Group Distribution: distributes the music. It has been the industry market share leader for the past ten years and consists of four major divisions: Universal Music Distribution (UMD), Fontana, Vivendi Entertainment (VE), and UMGD Digital. UMD handles distribution and sales for UMG’s diverse roster of labels as well as a wide variety of associated labels. Fontana is the company’s independent sales, marketing and distribution arm, VE is its theatrical and home entertainment distribution division, and UMGD Digital manages and distributes all of Universal Music Group’s digital assets including mobile.
  In some markets outside the U.S., UMG companies handle their own distribution and sales. In other markets UMG companies have sub-contracted services to third parties or entered into distribution joint ventures with other record companies.

• VEVO: film/television studio. VEVO is the leading innovative online premium music and entertainment service for consumers, advertisers and content owners that blends the very best in musical content with cutting-edge video technology and a thriving user community powered by YouTube. The content is made available on YouTube through a VEVO-branded channel, on VEVO.com, the service’s marquee destination site, and through a VEVO-branded embedded player. The service also serves as a syndication platform for additional internet destination sites, expanding the reach of the VEVO brand across the worldwide web. VEVO was created in partnership with Sony Music Entertainment (SME) and the Abu Dhabi Media Company. It features the most extensive catalog of premium music content found anywhere on the web. Universal Music group also has Universal Film & Television Music a part of their company.

• To access music from the company, UMG encourage you to visit your local record store or visit http://www.musicunited.org/6_legalsites.aspx (in the U.S.) or http://www.pro-music.org/Content/GetMusicOnline/OnlineStores.php (outside the U.S.). These sites provide a complete listing of legitimate music services and websites.
  

Reference for key concepts for the exam

AS Media Studies Unit G323 - exam
Section B: Institutions and Audiences
For Section B, we shall be studying the music industry. We shall focus on case studies of two record labels within the contemporary music industry which target British audiences, including their patterns of production, distribution, marketing and consumption by audiences. This will be accompanied by study of the strategies used by record labels to counter the practice of file sharing and their impact on music production, marketing and consumption.
Candidates should be prepared to understand and discuss the processes of production, distribution, marketing and exchange as they relate to contemporary media institutions, as well as, the nature of audience consumption and the relationship between audiences and institutions. In addition candidates should be familiar with:
· the issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice;

· the importance of cross media convergence and synergy, in production, distribution and marketing;

· the technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, marketing and exchange;

· the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences;

· the importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences;

· the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by international and global institutions;

· the ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour.