Monday, 25 April 2016

Audience 3 Madness - Debates


Learning outcome:
To study Madness, Music industry with consideration given to Audience debates.

Key term:
Collective identity.
The concept of a collective identity refers to a set of individuals sense of belonging to the group or collective.
For the individual, the identity derived from the collective shapes a part of his or her personal identity. It is possible, at times, that this sense of belonging to a particular group will be so strong that it will trump other aspects of the individual's personal identity.
To put it another way, Collective Identity is the idea that through participating in social activities, individuals can gain a sense of belonging and in essence an "identity" that transcends the individual.
Therein are the rewards and risks of Social Networking. One can derive great satisfaction and sometimes great risks from participating.
Within a typical collective, agreement is often valued over debate, though even more often fierce battles may erupt.


_____________________________________________________

In the exam it is important to stress the longevity of Madness and to state that the band are still gigging and recording today, in 2015. 
They are also expanding their fan base.

Throughout Madness long career, 1979 - present, lad culture has been prevalent within lyrics and the pseudo events that Suggs and the group have taken part in to promote. For example, the interview on The Jonathon Ross Show and when Suggs appeared on This is Your Life. Both BBC.
So, is it fair to say that Madness are gender biased when we consider their target audience?

Madness audience includes an element of a skinhead fan base.


  1. skinhead is a member of a subculture that originated among working class youths in London, England in the 1960s and then soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, and later to other countries around the world.
    Skinheads are associated with right wing politics in the UK and can be aligned with parties like the National Front and the BNP. Yet Madness play the music of anti racism.
    In a time of race riots and the National Front at its peak, the black and white clothing and racially integrated bands that were 2Tone promoted racial unity in a torn country. As with Jamaican ska, the mood of the times was reflected in the lyrics... 
    Why do you want to kill me?
    Tell me why, tell me why, tell me why...
    We don't need no British Movement
    Nor the Ku Klux Klan
    Nor the National Front
    It makes me an angry man
    I just wanna live in peace
    Why can't you be the same?
    Why should I live in fear?
    This fussin' and fightin's insane
    With a Nazi salute and a steel cap boot
    Nazi salute and a steel cap boot
    You follow like sheep inna wolf clothes
    You follow like sheep inna wolf clothes

    ~ from Why - The Special AKA
    Like the original Jamaican rudeboys, skinheads dressed sharp when they went out, despite the fact that they had no apparent source to support their clothing addictions. Cultural differences aside, blacks and whites in 1960's Britain had one thing in common -- music. Reggae, rocksteady, traditional ska and soul music, and the styles they embodied, were what brought black and white youth together. While the political situation and slanted media ignorance turned skinheads into demons, the 2Tone movement remembered what skinheads originally loved, and focused strictly on the music and anti-racism by example. Skinheads who listened to ska music and lived the style were unlikely to be racist if they followed black music and racially integrated bands.

    Task 1: Research how the band reacted to this element of their audience. Bullet points.
    ______________________________________________________
    It is important to note that much of the success of Madness is due to its synergy and involvement with other texts; TV game shows, organised events such as the queen's jubilee and the Olympics. Radio and TV shows. 
This exposure will help to widen the fan base as spectacular events are seen by millions of people.

You should ask yourself the question;

Do Madness target audiences of a particular class? How? What is the preferred reading?

Literal responses to this question can be found at Fan sites/ Fan fiction / Chat Rooms/Web Forums.

Task 2: Explore the responses of fans through the Internet. Start at the bands website.

http://www.madness.co.uk

_____________________________________________________

Negative responses to the increased alignment with royalty.

The summer of 2012 saw two notable performances. In June, the band performed at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace. The band performed "Our House" and "It Must Be Love" from the roof of the palace with accompanying animations projected onto the palace front.Later, in August, the band was the first to perform at the closing ceremony of the London Olympic Games. Departed bass player Mark 'Bedders' Bedford rejoined the band for both performances


Effects debate and the representation of Britishness.


So, if a question about audience debates is asked on your exam you need to consider the following:

Task 2: Answer the following questions:
A) Are Madness gender biased in the promotion of their records?
Have they neglected their Ska roots and will welcome anyone to their fan base, including skinheads?
Can this be justified?

B) Have Madness neglected their working class roots and aligned themselves with spectacular events and the royal family?
Can this be justified through audience positioning?


___________________________________________________________



Andrew Goodwin’s Theory 




Further reading: Documentary about skinhead culture.





Audience 2 Madness

  • Learning objective: To study Madness, Music industry with consideration given to Audience Response.

Key terms:  
Narrow cast.
This where a text, for example the music of an obscure genre will target a specific but narrow audience.  Consider niche audiences.

When considering audience you need to be able to discuss a number of aspects.
  • Who is the target audience of the texts?
  • How have the texts targeted and appealed to an audience?
Techniques used to target audiences include:

Technical and audio codes.
This is to do with camera shots and angles. They can involve the audience and encourage them to empathise with the artists. 
When analysing records or music videos, the specific genre of music helps to target and audience.
There are often debates surrounding bands that develop their sound in order to appeal to a wider target audience. You can often hear original fans of a band saying things like; 'They've sold out, they've gone too poppy', or 'I much prefer their earlier stuff, they haven't stayed true to their roots.
This happens when an artist or band are broadening their fanbase by adopting a more mainstream approach.

Language and mode of address.
The way in which a text speaks to its audience will place them in a particular position. 
Some artists use an informal chatty or colloquial style of lyrics, this lets the audience feel as though they are part of the text's community.Particularly appropriate with music genres that ecourage Collective identity - the shared sense of belonging to a group.

Construction
Media texts, through their construction create an idea of what their target audience should be like.
For example by telling them what is important or what to question and suggesting to audiences how they should live their lives through the use of the imperative.

Ska and Madness sound
Ska  is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues
It is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the upbeat
Ska developed in Jamaica in the 1960s when Prince BusterClement "Coxsone" Dodd, and Duke Reid formed sound systems to play American rhythm & blues and then began recording their own songs. In the early 1960s, ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods. Later it became popular with many skinheads.




2Tone
The 2 Tone sound was developed by young musicians in Coventry, West Midlands, England who grew up hearing 1960s Jamaican music. They combined influences from skareggae and rocksteady with elements of punk rock and new wave. Bands considered part of the genre include: The SpecialsThe SelecterThe BeatMadnessBad Manners and The Bodysnatchers.
The term was coined by The Specials' keyboard player Jerry Dammers, who — with the assistance of Horace Panter and graphic designer John "Teflon" Sims — created the iconic Walt Jabsco logo (a man in a black suit, white shirt, black tie, pork pie hat, white socks and black loafers) to represent the 2 Tone genre. The logo was based on an early album cover photo of Peter Tosh, and included an added black-and-white check pattern.

Most of the bands considered to be part of the 2 Tone genre were signed to 2 Tone Records at some point. Other record labels associated with the 2 Tone sound were Stiff Records and Go Feet Records. The music was especially popular among skinheads, rude boys and some mod revivalists.

Task 1:
Watch the video of Madness, One Step Beyond.
Discuss how technical and audio codes, language and mode of address, construction serve to position the audience.


_____________________________________________________________________

Different audiences may respond in different ways to media texts.

An audience is made up of individuals who will respond differently to media texts and the messages within them. This can be according to the following:
Gender. Men and women may respond differently to certain media texts. Some texts may alienate a gender though through images and mode of address.

Age. The age of the audience may evoke different responses. For example, younger audiences are said to be more desensitised to bad language and excessive violence.

Ethnicity. The upbringing and beliefs of different ethnic groups may affect their response to different music styles.

Cultural competence. The ideologies of the audience as well as life experiences will affect how an audience responds to a text. The text may also shape the experience of the audience should they choose to construct their personal identity around the text.

Task 2:
How gender might affect audience response to this video by Madness which includes these lyrics:
Consider Stuart Hall Response theory, audience pleasures, fandom issues, Uses and Gratification theory.

Lots of girls and lots of boys
Lots of smells and lots of noise
Playing football in the park
Kicking pushbikes after dark
Baggy trousers, dirty shirt
Pulling hair and eating dirt
Teacher comes to break it up
Back of the 'ead with a plastic cup.

Oh what fun we had
But, did it really turn out bad
All I learnt at school
Was how to bend not break the rules
Oh what fun we had
But at the time it seemed so bad
Trying different ways
To make a difference to the days.


Saturday, 23 April 2016

Audience - Madness 1

Leanrning Objective:
To study Madness, Music industry with consideration given to Audience targeting and appeal.

Key term: target audience is the intended audience or readership of a publication, advertisement, or other message. In marketing and advertising, it is a specific group of people within the target market at which a product or the marketing message of a product is aimed.

[Theorist: Richard Dyer wrote about the significance of stardom and the way in which stars are created and responded to by audiences. His star theory is seen to be important today in understanding celebrity culture.]



In the exam, artists and bands are referred to as texts.
When studying the music industry it is important that you detach yourself from the content and put your musical taste and opinions to one side.
In all media industries, it is very important that the product, in this case the music performer, is marketed effectively to an audience.
Without successful marketing and promotion performers cannot sell their music and make a profit for themselves and their record label.
However, this is a kind of viscous circle because major record labels are usually reluctant to take on a relatively unknown, unproven artist.
As we've seen with Nirvana, this is the importance of independent record labels in kick starting the musical careers of many artists.



Madness are an English ska band from Camden Town, London, that formed in 1976. One of the most prominent bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s 2 Tone ska revival, they continue to perform with their most recognised line-up of seven members.
Madness achieved most of their success in the early to mid-1980s. 
Both Madness and UB40 spent 214 weeks on the UK singles charts over the course of the decade, holding the record for most weeks spent by a group in the 1980s UK singles charts. However, Madness achieved this in a shorter time period (1980–1986).
Madness have had 15 singles reach the UK top ten, one UK number one single ("House of Fun") and two number ones in Ireland, "House of Fun" and "Wings of a Dove".

Madness have achieved global music success with a brand of music and style that was formerly in the 'quieter corners' of the music business. However, the band have remained in the public eye (despite splitting) by first using traditional, promotional strategies and then embracing changing technology.

It is important to note that much of the success of Madness is due to its original star persona rather than the reinvention of their look and recording styles like we have seen with Miley Cyrus.

More recently, Madness' main marketing devices have been the Internet through YouTube and word of mouth marketing through social networking sites. This facilitates an evolving fanbase.

Appeared on BBC's Top of the Pops at 18 years of age.





Madness' website

Task 1:
Chronologically list the titles of Madness' singles that entered the British charts, include dates.

Task 2: 
Considering Maslow's hierarchy of needs; discuss which type of people have Madness targeted using these song titles and say how the audiences needs are addressed.





Home work: Task 3:
Watch the video of Suggs appearing on BBCTV's This is Your Life and The Jonathon Ross Show.
How do Madness market themselves to appeal to audience? 200 - 400 words.


Points to note:
Strong family values, married to Bette Bright of Deaf School, two daughters.
Lad culture, fall out then overcome disputes. 
Steal from each other but laugh about it later. Male stereotypes.
Pub culture, The Farm. 
Today, convergence is evident as Madness also now promote a beer.
Working class lads influenced by Ian Dury's approach (Kilburn and the High Roads). 
Cockney accents but quite educated as is evident from vocabulary.
Success story; 'couldn't dance couldn't sing' appeals to British people who are encouraged to keep trying their best. [DBI]
Denies being a rebel when accused, though this tongue in cheek.
Smart suits, clean cut.
Football fans, made Chelsea cup final song.
Rags-to-riches story represents Britishness, stiff upper lip. Prince recorded despite early inexperience.
Talk about £20 wages for a gig split between the band.
Appeals to audience that can associate with not being successful at first.
Emotional values in songs (relationship issues appeal to women)
Nostalgia, audience will remember happy times associated with lyrics and the concerts.





Suggs; This is your Life 2000

Friday, 22 April 2016

Nirvana questions

In order to prepare for the audience question of your exam you have been asked to respond to the following tasks:

What was the primary target audience for Nirvana? What things motivate or interest this audience?
Did Kurt Cobain understand the motivations of Nirvana's Primary target audience?
How did he appeal to them?

How do Nirvana's songs and videos reflect the codes and conventions of the grunge genre?
Be specific.

What are the advantages of digital technologies for the music Industry?

How did Nirvana appeal to its audience (to buy their recordings), compare with how Miley Cyrus appeals to her audience.

Why would media industries find demographic profiling useful?

To what extent do your texts (Nirvana and Miley Cyrus) target a mainstream audience? 

You are advised to respond to all these tasks. 
Bullet points are fine if time is limited, we will go over each question and debate responses next week.