This document discusses audience profiles for music videos using various theories. It analyzes the audiences of two music videos - Beyoncé's "Yoncé" and Ed Sheeran's "Sing" - through the lenses of age, gender, race, occupation, demographics, psychographics, geography, and reception theory. The analysis suggests "Yoncé" targets a younger, urban, lower-middle class audience interested in following trends, while "Sing" depicts a range of ages but focuses on middle-aged men. Overall, the document examines how audience characteristics can be inferred from visual and narrative elements in music videos.

1. AUDIENCE PROFILES
FOR MUSIC VIDEOS
& THEORY

2. USES & GRATIFICATION
This is a theory which strongly suggests that the audiences are not passive consumers as they
actively take part in the media they consume. Blulmer and Katz devised the following list:
• DIVERSION –when the audiences escape from everyday problems and routines.
• PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS – using the media for emotional uses and other
interactions.
• PERSONAL IDENTITY – finding yourself reflected in texts, learning behaviour and values
from texts.
• SURVEILLANCE- information which could be useful for living e.g.; weather reports,
financial news or holiday bargains.

3. YOUNG AND RUBICAM
• MAINSTREAMERS : they go with the flow and don’t want to stand out.
• ASPIRERS: they want more money and status, buy flashy products and the
‘latest’ products send out this message.
• SECCEEDERS: they spend their money on status goods reflecting their
success.
• INDIVIDUALISTS/ QUIRKLES: they want to show the world they are different.
• REFORMERS: they look for the organic, the recyclable, the environmentally
friendly

4. Stuart hall : Encoding/Decoding
• Encoding: the message /idea created by the creator of the text.
•
• Decoding: the message interpreted / received by the consumer / audience.
•
Besides from that Hall argued that the message is not fixed / determined by
the sender, the meaning is never transparent and the audiences is not a
passive recipient of meaning.

5. Stuart Hall –
Audience Reception Theory
• Preferred reading : the dominant view and what the creator wants you to
see.
• Oppositional reading: the complete opposite reading to what the creator
had intended.
• Negotiated reading: an understanding of the dominant reading but can
also see it from other perspectives.
• Aberrant reading: completely reject the product and have no view at all.

6. Ien Ang
• Ien Ang linked the dominant ideology of mass culture with social
debate.
• She believed that even if audiences found a show ‘trivial’, they
could create some kind of cultural discussion based around
the idea.
• She encouraged readers to become negotiated readers.
•

7. GRS- General Registrar Scale
• A – Higher managerial, administrative, professional (e.g. : chief, lawyer, doctor, architect,
judge, optician, accountant).
• B – intermediate managerial, administrative, professional (e.g. : nurse, bank manager,
teacher, police officer).
• C1- supervisory, clerical, junior managerial (shop floor supervisor, cashier, secretary, bank
clerk, estate agent).
• C2- skilled manual workers (e.g. : electrician, carpenter, plumber, banker, hairdresser).
• D- semi skilled and unskilled manual workers (factory worker, bin collectors, messenger, bar
attendant).
• E – casual labourers, pensioners, unemployed (students, pensioners without private pension,
those on benefits).
•

8. Mosaic
Mosaic Classifications
demonstrate a much
more varied and
specific way of
defining audiences.
This is only one part
of it, as I thought it
would be most useful
for my chosen music
videos. Besides, from
that I decided to
introduce the mosaic
along side with GRS
because it’s more
detailed, allowing me
to make more
accurate conclusions
about the audience
profiles.

9. Beyoncé – Yoncé &
Ed Sheeran - Sing
AUDIENCE PROFILES:

10. AGE &
GENDER
The music video titled ‘Yonce’ strongly focuses around young women, exposing their bodies throughout the video. This is the main purpose /
concept of the clip. This creates clear assumptions of the audience ‘s gender and age profiles. The models are portrayed in a sexual manner,
creating a stereotypical image of sexually objectified woman. This links to the theory of John Berger ‘’Men look, women appear’’. The representation
of women suggests that the audience of the video would be mostly based around male gender, from male teenagers to middle aged man. At the
same time it can be argued, as being appealing to the sexual appearance of women can be inspirational for young girls who want to follow the
stereotypical and attractive image of women, meaning they could also be the potential audience. The fact that Beyonce is a mainstream artist,
allows us to view the audience as mixed, depending on particular clip and message. However, this specific video is directly linked to man’s gender
from teenage years +. This can be linked to Laura Mulvey’s theory of ‘male gaze’ where woman are portrayed from men’s perspective due to the
sexualisation within the video. Besides, from that the product might be also viewed by woman as a creation used for personal identity development,
as suggested by Uses and Gratification theory.

11. RACE &
OCCUPATIONThis particular music video particularly focuses around the black race, as
suggested from the screen shots. Throughout the video the audience is exposed
to the representation of black woman who are continuously objectified and
sexualised, strongly reflecting the colonist view of black women from the past.
This builds up stereotypical representations, meaning they are passed on to the
audience, in this case possibly the black race due to the black majority exposed
within the video. However, the fact that Beyonce is a mainstream artist who
reaches to a wide range of audiences, suggests that many different races of
people could be potential consumers.
Similarly to the audience’s race, the occupation could be based around the entire
General Registrar Scale, due to the artists popularity and mainstream approach
of music. However, looking at this specific video the audience would be based
between the E to C1 section due to their young age. The occupation jobs would
include: students, bar attendants, hairdressers, secretaries or supervisors.
The low set occupations can be also suggested through the blur of race and
class suggested by Stuart Hall, meaning that a particular race in this case black
is often associated with particular class. Due to the historical background. Black
culture is often related with lower class, meaning their occupation status would be
also low.

12. DEMOGRAPHIC &
PSYCHOGRAPHIC
PROFILE
Following the previous slide, the
music video focuses around the lower
to middle General Registrar Scale due
to the fact that the video is aimed at
youth males and females upwards.
This means that their demographic is
most likely to be based between E
and C1 class that include following
careers: electrician, carpenter,
plumber, banker, hairdresser, factory
worker, bin collectors, messenger, bar
attendant or students. The lower class
audience profile can be also
supported through the screenshots
which empathize estate environments
including old brick walls, fences and
pavements.
The psychographic profile of the audience is
based around mainstreamers who tend to go
with the flow and trends set by the
celebrities. Aside, from that I think the
female side of the audience would fit more
within the aspires section as their approach
would be to follow the intrigue appearance
of the artists.

13. GEO-
DEMOGRAPHIC
& MOSAIC
Looking at the screen shots on the right we can infer that the geo-
demographic of the audience is focused around urban estates. The
audience is less likely to be living in the central parts of city. As they
are more likely to fit into environments around the edges of city such
as estates. This can be supported through the screen shots which
demonstrate poor roads, fences and ageing walls. This demonstrates
clear representation of estate environments which are often
associated with young people maximum approaching to middle age.
To support this, I think the audience fits well within the section of
‘Rental Hubs’ on the Mosaic Classification, particularly from O62 to
O66. This range includes individuals such as students who live in high
density accommodations but also youngers who are attempting to rent
houses near central in vibrant locations close to jobs and night life.
The audience profile includes; students, learners & earners, bus-route
renters, flexible workforce and people who feel central pulse.

14. AUDIENCE
RECEPTION
THEORY
Preferred reading : the dominant view and what the
creator wants you to see.
Oppositional reading: the complete opposite reading to
what the creator had intended.
Negotiated reading: an understanding of the dominant
reading but can also see it from other perspectives.
Aberrant reading: completely reject the product and have
no view at all.
The Audience Reception theory of Stuart Hall divides the audience
into four different categories. The reading of this particular video
can be considered as negotiated. The understanding of the
dominant reading of Beyonce, representing women in a sexualised
and appealing way in the eyes of men is very clear and strong.
However, the audience might interpret the video in different
perspectives. For example, the female side of the audience might
understand the video and use it for personal identity, which allows
them to obtained and follow the behaviours and appearances of
the women portrayed within the video, suggesting that the
decoding of the audience is not passive, it’s open to
interpretations, while the encoding of the artist is also clear.
Additionally the listed points above can be linked to Ien Ang’s
theory as she believed that the audience is open to create cultural
discussion based around a specific idea. This video definitely
encourages consumers to become negotiated readers.

15. Ed Sheeran - Sing

16. AGE &
GENDERThe music video ‘Sing’ focuses around a narrative of a middle
aged artist. Throughout the video, the audience is exposed to
different representations, which makes the age profile of the
audience vague. The beginning of the video focuses around the
artist’s manikin driving the car in a dangerous and powerful
manner. This creates a negative representation of young people.
This can be seen as supporting the stereotypical representation of
young people. This is then broken down by the artist as well as
middle aged men who are continuously drinking in the bar and
singing karaoke. All these scenes demonstrate a representation
of middle aged individuals / singles who are motivated to
continuously have fun although they are starting to reach the
Urban Cohesion scale, meaning they reach more successful jobs.
This profile of age is aimed at both, males and females although
the narrative is portrayed through the eyes of a man. The story
itself is very casual, reflecting the stereotypical representations of
middle aged individuals for example; visiting bars, consuming
alcohol and simply attempting to have fun. This can be seen in
further screenshots where the artists is exposing himself with a
limo, crowded with girls, in a way reflecting the representation of
the artist he is but also other celebrities. He seems to be very
casual and spontaneous within these scenes.

17. RACE &
OCCUPATIONThroughout the music video many different races are introduced
including; White, Black and Asian. Although there is no tokenism
portrayed, there are stereotypical associations represented throughout
the video. The black woman is sexually objectified in the eyes of a
man, as she is exposed through presentation of pole dancing. The
mise-en-scene significantly suggests this representation as the
character is confidently exposing her body. The sexualisation of
women can be also seen within the white race. The focus of
sexualising white women is even greater within the video suggesting a
countertype. This differs from the representation of black men which is
kept positive. While the Asian representation can also be considered
as stereotypical due to the mise-en-scene which portrays the
characters in a suit. This appearance is often seen in films and videos,
while the stereotype is supported through the karaoke association as a
way of entertainment in their culture. All these ideas portrayed within
the video show that the race profile of audience is open, meaning that
the song is kept mainstream and available to wide range of audience
particularly under race circumstances. The occupations might also
have quite wide range including; semi- skilled workers – bar attendant,
skilled manual workers such as bankers, hairdressers, supervisory/
junior managerial - secretary, bank clerk, estate agent. This
demonstrates the wide range on the GRS from D class work to C1.

18. DEMOGRAPHIC &
PSYCHOGRAPHIC
PROFILE
As mentioned on the previous slide the demographic profile of the
audience is based around the range starting from D and going up to C1
with some individuals aiming higher. This idea can be strongly
supported through different representations of jobs and characters within
the video which vary from bartending to managerial, professional jobs
which go even up to A class. Another demographic representation in the
video is based around the wealth individuals who are on top of the
hierarchy due to their privilege of inheritance or amount of properties.
This is shown in the eyes of popular musician who is throwing the
money around throughout the narrative. This can be linked to the
psychographic profile of the audience which can be focused around
various categories. For this particular video the mainstreamers suit the
best with the audience profile due to the mainstream image of the artist
as well as the song, which is open to wide range of audience. However,
looking closely at the Young and Rubicam theory the audience could be
also placed in the Aspires section, which states that the audience wants
more money and status, buy flashy products and send out the newest
trends. This idea can be supported through the wealth representations
within the video, linking it to Jacques Lacan ‘Ideal I’ theory where the
audience passively follows the representations of a celebrity,
demonstrating lack of individualistic approach and style.

19. GEO-
DEMOGRAPHIC
& MOSAICLinking back to the previous slide, the geo-demographic profile of the audience
will be based around the urban estates, moving onto central. This is because of
the wide range starting from D upwards, aiming even at C1 and higher. This
association can be explained through the scenes in the music video which
strongly represent different occupations and classes. The screen shots on the
right demonstrate three different jobs - an managerial / professional workers,
an successful musician and a bartender, meaning the geo-demographic of the
audience will be different depending on their GRS, demographic and
occupation. However, looking at the mosaic allowed me to look at the geo-
demographic profile in more depth. The audience is more likely to move
between the M- modest traditions, N- urban cohesion and O- rental Hubs. This
includes, motivated singles and couples in 20s and 30s progressing in their field
of work from commutable properties but also self starting young renters ready
to move to follow worthwhile incomes from service sector jobs e.g. ; bartending.
Moreover, the GRS low ranking doesn’t suit really well with the representation
of audience and characters in the video, as it hasn’t been recently updated. The
fact that the mosaic is more accurate is due to the fact that it’s new, reflecting
more detail and useful information for present society.

20. THEORY Preferred reading : the dominant view and what the creator
wants you to see.
Oppositional reading: the complete opposite reading to what
the creator had intended.
Negotiated reading: an understanding of the dominant reading
but can also see it from other perspectives.
Aberrant reading: completely reject the product and have no
view at all.
The encoding of the music video is focused around revealing an
successful and fun life of an artist through the use of mascot. The
representation of age and gender is also assigned to the scenes
portrayed in the video for example; drinking alcohol in the bar or driving
a limo. This can be directly decoded by the audience who would be in
similar age to the characters within the video, meaning their
interpretation would be alike, showing how to have fun during a night
out.
The music video also supports the negotiated reading within the
Audience Reception theory. This means that an understanding of the
dominant reading can be also seen from different perspectives as the
music video doesn’t have specific focus. It portrays different situations
to which the audience can relate. From here we can link this to the
Uses and Gratification theory of personal identity, suggesting that the
audience can reflect in texts, learning behaviour and values from it.