Audience Profile

Why do people listen to dance music?

It is clear that the audience for this genre enjoy the sound of the music. They enjoy the rhythm and dance-ability of the songs that have a club-like feel. It’s also considered an unconventional genre; compared to others, as it experiments with different electronic sounds and uses heavy beats to excite the listener.  The image on the left is that of the biggest and best selling electronic/dance music magazine that has been in circulation since 1982 and has sold over 20,000 editions. Originating from England, it mainly contains information on club nights, artists, concerts venues, dance events and music reviews. These are just some of the subject matters I would like to promote on my music magazine. 

Technology impact

Due to the genre being modern and current, a typical way of accessing the music is on official music purchasing industries like iTunes. CD's are beginning to lower in popularity because of the move in technology that has uncovered the iPod, MP3 players and phone; all popular pieces of personal and portable equipment that is easy and simple to load music onto. They're definitely more accessible and fashionable to own.

Social networking: As our genre is a hybrid, there is no official page for electro-pop/dance music. The dance music page has 1,154,817 likes, the electro music page has 740,572 likes and the pop page has 8,222,819 likes. All genres are popular and have a broad audience, but together, you could say a niche audience is created because of the mix of all the varieties. The audience members who enjoy this genre appreciate all the genre qualities that create the overall hybrid. Successful artists like Lady GaGa and Usher are present on the global social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and are some of the most followed/liked people in the world. Also, their popularity is extended to owning a website and possibly running a fashion and clothing line. 

Feedback from focus group

I gave my peers a list of genres to choose from. This allows me to assess the most popular music genres; people of my age group (16 - 17) enjoy the most. However, this is a very small sample of a large sixth form so my test isn’t an accurate representation of the genres favoured on a larger scale. These were the results.

As shown above, pop was the most popular genre 16 - 17 year olds prefer. I expected this but electro and dance music is still quite popular. I think it’s because of the heavy sound, club connotation and the various artists that feature in the genre, a few of which I will explain more about later on this page.

Primary audience:

Demographic

Typically my primary audience will be aged 16 – 25 and may still be in education; e.g. University, College or Sixth Form. A mix of males and females is clear as the genre doesn't cater specifically for a certain gender. They will be of white British ethnicity. Typically they will derive from a medium economic class status and will uphold a C2 (skilled manual) - D (semi-skilled/unskilled manual) social class status.

Psychometric

A typical member of my audience will enjoy listening to radio 1 and watching MTV as electro-pop/dance is a common genre in the charts. They will be an avid user of social technology; having accounts on Twitter and Facebook. They may enjoy television shows like Top Gear and The X Factor and taking part in activities like swimming and a sport. Some may play an instrument like the piano or a guitar. Typically, they would be aspirers; looking to achieve goals and dreams in their lives.

                                                                  Secondary audience:

Demographic

My secondary audience will be aged 26 – 35 and will be white British males and females as my genre doesn't cater for specific genders. They will be maintaining a medium economic class position and will uphold a profession in the B (middle management/administrators or professionals) - C1 (supervisors /clerical/junior management) regions.

Psychometric

A member of my secondary audience will lead a heavy social life and may enjoy activities like clubbing, dancing and possibly playing a musical instrument; brought through from their childhood. They may enjoy listening to radio 2 or Heart and like TV programmes like EastEnders. These people would sit in the succeeders lifestyle region as they’ve achieved targets from their early aspirer status.

Example Artist: David Guetta had huge success with his 2011 electro/house and dance/pop album “Nothing but the beat.” The idea of the “beat” is a convention to my genre as a heavy beat is featured in many songs. David Guetta is simply the producer and composer so his songs are sung by a range of artists including Kelly Rowland, Sia and Nikki Minaj. This is a why his music appeals to a broad audience.