The document evaluates how a media product, specifically a music video, uses, develops, or challenges the conventions of real media products. It discusses various media theories such as uses and gratifications and reception theory, analyzing how audiences engage with the music video, band website, and CD digipack. The document emphasizes the importance of promoting music and merchandise to maintain fan interest and enhance the band's image through both traditional and digital media strategies.

1. Media Studies Evaluation
The following slides explains and shows how my
product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products.
QUESTION 1: IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR
MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR
CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF
REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

2. MUSIC VIDEOS
Real Products My own music video
Promotes the new song for the artist and their new
coming out album, with that song on.
Promotes the song, the album and the band website
for the fans to enjoy and visit.
Boosting and gaining a larger audience with new
fans or keep the old ‘loyal’ fans interested with their
music.
Gains a larger audience with new fans and keeps
the old ‘loyal’ fans interested in the band’s music.
Helps to make profit for the record-label companies. Uses mainstream media to distributed the music
video online by using the distribution company-
YouTube, which is free to share videos globally to a
mass audience.
Represents and reveals the appearance of the
artist/band.
Represents the genre by the style and costumes of
which is reveal by the appearance of the band in the
music video.
Fans/audiences decodes the music video and gains
a message from it by taking a preferred, negotiated
or oppositional view towards it. (Reception Theory)
The audience may watch the music video for
entertainment reasons or a ‘sense of self and
personal identity. (Uses and Gratification Theory)
Uses mainstream media can be easily distributed by
television music channels such as 4music, listen to
on Capital FM or watch and listen on YouTube.
For entertainment reasons or personal reasons.

3. EXAMPLES OF MUSIC VIDEOS VS MY OWN

4. USES AND GRATIFICATION THEORY
• This is an active audience theory that focuses on what people do with the media, rather than
what the media does to people, arguing that the audience are free to pick from a wide range of
media products to satisfy their own needs.
• The individual may seek the following: diversion in the form of escape from reality, the
emotional release of pleasure, personal relationships through companionship and sociality,
using knowledge of television characters to interact with others, personal identity and sense of
self or surveillance finding out information about the world and events.
• In the music video, I have used this theory as the audience, who would be watching the music
video for the following: diversion in the form of escape from reality, the emotional release of
pleasure, personal identity and sense of self. This means that the audience, who will be viewing
and listening to the song will be watching for entertainment or have an interested in this genre
of music. As for this music video it would people, who like listening to the rock genre, as they
may find their ‘sense of self and personal identity’ within the genre more than other genres such
as pop.
• Furthermore, as real product music videos are used for a number of reasons such as
entertainment and promotion, this Uses and Gratification theory supports those reasons as well
as my own music video reasons.

5. BAND WEBSITE
Real Products My own band website
Allows the fans to visit the singer’s or band’s
homepage (website) to find out more information
about them, their music and upcoming events (gigs)
to see them in person.
Informs the following fans information about
upcoming gigs that the band will be playing at,
furthermore keeps the audience up-to date with new
albums and their music. Also allows them to find out
more information about the band.
Storage for holding all the singer’s or band’s music
and their videos, that they will not get lost in the vast
music industry.
Has the social media icons for Facebook, Twitter
etc. to allow the viewer to gain easy access to the
band’s social media pages on those sites.
Links to social media sites ( e.g.: Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram and YouTube), as this makes the website
more accusable to a mass audience.
The website acts like a storage space for holding all
the band’s music videos and tracks.
Singer’s and band’s website promotes offers and
sell merchandise (gig tickets, t-shirts, music tracks
and albums etc.). This allows their fans to buy their
merchandise in order to ‘complete their star’s
image’. (STAR THEORY)
The band website does sell albums and tracks that
has links to online stores such as iTunes and their
own personal store. Promotes offers to audiences to
keep them ‘active’ and sell some merchandise.

6. EXAMPLES OF BAND WEBSITES VS MY OWN

7. RECEPTION THEORY
• Stuart Hall’s Reception Theory related to Blumter and Katz ‘s Uses and Gratifications theory
and builds upon the idea of the media sending messages to the audience. As the audience
decodes the producer encoded message.
• The Reception Theory was applied to both the music video and the website for the band, that I
encoded them with a preferred meaning to be decoded by the targeted audience. This implies
that the audience will take a ‘preferred reading’ of the music video and website, as it would be
positive that the producer’s message is decoded correctly as the band (producer) want the
audience to gain the same message as the band (producer) does.
• Even though, the audience will be mainly active, as all three products (music video, CD Album
and band website) will have plenty of features and extras, that the audience can be practical
with. For example the website allowing the viewer (fans) to visit the iTunes stores for more
music and albums to buy. And the fan can scan the QR code for a free download copy of the
album.
• However, it could be seen that the fans (audience) can be ‘passive’ as they are could be using
what’s available for them freely.

8. CD DIGIPACK
Real Products My own CD Digipack
Traditional Media way of getting to the music
artist/band’s targeted audience (fans).
Uses traditional media such as print to allow the
album reaches both the younger audiences, but also
the older generation audiences.
CD Album is another merchandise that the fan can
‘treasure’ and act like a memory in ‘completing the
star’s image’.
Has extra features and content to allow the
consumer (fan) to gain something extra for their
money. Such as the website for the band.
Has extra features such as free downloads that the
fan thinks they’re getting something extra for their
money.
Made the design of the ReRock’s album eye-
catching as I used effective colours like black and
white for majority of the album ,but the symbol of the
band, only one part is coloured in orange.
Nowadays, CD Digipacks can be both digital and
non-digital, as the album can be bought through a
downloadable version from iTunes or cd-case album
from local stores.
Just like other CD Albums, I made the album both
digital and non-digital as this would make the album
reach a mass audience. As the consumer (audience)
can scan the QR code to get a free download copy
of the album from iTunes. (Media convergence)
CD Album has an eye-catching symbol or image to
be eye-catching to audiences; to make them pick up

9. EXAMPLES OF CD ALBUMS VS MY OWN

10. STAR THEORY
• A theory in which describes the relationship between the music industry and its audience,
its important to consider the roles of music stars. The term ‘star’ refers to the semi-
mythological set of meanings constructed around the music performer, which depends
upon a range of subsidiary media (magazines, TV, radio and the internet). In order to
construct an image for themselves, which can be marketed to their targeted audience.
• And sometimes the fans go away determined to continue consuming the star in order to
attending to complete their image.
• This theory was applied to the band’s website and the CD Digipack, as the band is selling
merchandise to their fans to allow them to continue consuming the star’s image to
complete it. This implies that the band’s merchandise can be marketed to their targeted
audience and constructs the band’s image stronger by the range of subsidiary media.
• As the band’s images is constructed by the use of the internet with the website as it has
links to social media sites pages, as well as the music video is upload freely on a global
distribution site (YouTube). And finally the band’s image is also constructed by traditional
media (CD Album) which will can be marketed to their fans but also consumers, who
doesn’t use mainstream media ways.