1. WHAT AGE GROUP LISTENS TO THIS GENRE? ArfaShah Candidate number: 4739

2. XFM XFM is a radio station that plays host to bands from alternative, rock, indie, brit-pop backgrounds. From what I've seen on XFM, they tend to play songs that are driven mainly by guitar's (instruments) and the band's image. An Ofcom report about XFM in the Manchester area found that they tend to cater to audiences aged 15-34 who favour bands that are "credible, youthful and committed to challenging the aesthetics of mainstream pop music" meaning that younger modern audience favour bands that go back to basics and appeal to human emotion by keeping the band's image and songs simple, yet powerful.

3. XFM continued… “Find a gig” makes it easier for audiences to follow their favourite bands. The search box also gives relevance to new upcoming bands. This allows bands to gain a wider fan base and audiences have a chance to experience new bands, songs, emotions and sounds. The Ofcom report also gives us details about the radio show's format, for example the "gig guide" on the XFM format tells us that our target audience enjoy going to gigs, the fact that XFM ask for their audience's opinion on tracks and the audience's high response to this means that we could produce a questionnaire that asks our target audience what bands from the indie genre they like which helps us to understand what kind of music and band image they are attracted to. Local listings that contain updates of live events on XFM also tells us that our target audience like to keep up with the music scene. To conclude, audiences aged 15-34 listen to this genre as it youthful, fresh, unique and a genre that has the ability to explore various emotions, sounds and themes without alienating its fan base. Source: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/broadcast/radio-ops/ sampling/xfm.pdf