audience case study

2. The Cave – Mumford and Sons
• Formed in 2007, Mumford and Sons are an English folk/
alternative rock band
• "The Cave" was their third single released in 2010 from their
debut album "sigh no more"
• The song featured in the 2010 ITV World Cup coverage in
England and the first episode of the fourth series in the teen
drama Skins
• The song, having featured in Skins, opened up a mass younger
audience appeal to the bands music

3. Primary Audience Demographic
AGE
• This music video appeals to a predominantly
young adult audience, aged between 16-26
• The genre is niche, but the use of media
platforms such as Facebook and YouTube
helps to promote their music to a mass
audience, in particular young people who
engage in social networking more frequently

4. In relation to my music video
AGE
• Similarly to The Cave music video, An Acquired Taste
is predominantly aimed at young adults aged 16-24
• This is because the protagonist is a young female,
and therefore the audience watching can relate to
her character and storyline
• The narrative explores themes of escapism from
reality and growing up, a topic which our younger
audience can identify with

5. Primary Audience Demographic
GENDER
• The music video isn’t bias towards either gender,
although the band consist of males and therefore a
young male audience may be able to identify with their
image
• However, there is research to suggest that there is an
equal amount of female audience interested, based on
Facebook likes and YouTube comments. This suggests
that the genre of music is unisex and therefore their
music videos consist of an audience who are purely
interested in their music

6. In relation to my music video
GENDER
• Similarly to The Cave, An Acquired Taste isn’t
bias towards either gender, although the
strong female protagonist may suggest a
reason as to why my feedback consisted of a
predominantly female audience. This is
because they can relate and identify with her
character

7. Media interests
• In relation to my music video, a member of
the audience may be interested in social
networking sites such as Facebook and
Twitter, allowing them to stay updated with
upcoming gigs and events.
• They would also use independent music sites
such as soundcloud and reverbnation, in order
to find local and unsigned bands

8. Reception Theory
• Reception theory is a version of reader
response (a literary theory) that focuses on
the reader/audience’s interpretation of
meaning within a text.
• Stuart Hall, a cultural theorist, suggests that
the audience do not passively accept a text.
They interpret the text based on their life
experiences and cultural background.

9. Gratification Theory
Far from being passive, audiences are made up of individuals who actively
consume texts for different reasons and in different ways.
Lasswell (1984) suggested that media texts have the following functions:
• For surveillance
• For correlation
• For entertainment
• For cultural transmission
•
In 1974, blulmer and Katz revised and expanded a list of their own reasons as
to why individuals may use a text:
• Diversion (escape from the everyday)
• Personal relationships (substituting soap operas for family life)
• Identity (learning behaviours and relating yourself to texts)
• Surveillance (information necessary for living e.g. news, weather reports)

10. In relation to my music video
• My music video emphasises Lasswell’s idea of
media texts having a function, and my music
video functions for the purpose of entertainment.
• My music video also relates to Blulmer and Katz’s
idea of identity, where the audience can learn
these behaviours and relate themselves to the
characters found in the texts (the audience can
relate to the young female protagonist, and her
desire to escape from reality/growing up)

11. In relation to my music video
• The audience can also interpret their own
meaning of my music video, based on their
own life experiences and cultural backgrounds
(Stuart Hall)
• My music video will mainly target young white
females, as the protagonist in our video is of
the same ethnicity which makes it easier for
the audience to relate to the themes being
presented