Music question

B4. How global is the appeal of your tree main texts?

All of my artists (Nirvana, Radiohead and Lady Gaga) have different global appeals, some more than others.
Out of my three main texts, Lady Gaga may be considered the most globally appealing. Being signed to Interscope Records (a major, world-wide label attached to Universal), 'Born This Way', her second studio album was internationally successful. This would have been aided by the money invested by such a large record company using large budgets, extremely technical music videos to create a high production value value.By being singed with Interscope, Gaga's tour covered Europe, Asia and North America, calling it the 'Monster Ball Tour'. Creating a theme, Gaga continued to call herself 'Mother Monster' and her fans 'Little Monsters'. This creates a parasocial relationship between herself and her fans, with Gaga's Twitter account having 41.4 million followers to date. By retweeting the tweets of her fans, Lady Gaga allows her audiences to believe that she is one of them (socialising like any other person) therefore creating a one-sided, interpersonal relationship. Her fans, calling themselves 'Little Monsters' can be found globally, and the reason for their success is identity. Her fans can join forums to talk to other Little Monsters called Littlemonsters.com (a website which fans could locate anywhere).

Whereas, in the 90s limited technology meant Nirvana's music could not reach global success as quickly as Lady Gaga has. Without the internet (and sites such as Amazon, YouTube and iTunes in which audiences can stream or buy music instantly), Nirvanas record label, Geffen relied on Live Performance and Word of Mouth to create appeal. Even being signed to such a huge label, both Nirvana and Geffen didn't realise how global their music would become. Album sales shocked the record label, with them only shipping 46,000 copies of the album to US stores and 35,000 to UK stores, however went on to sell 30 million copies (and still being sold). Nirvana (or their label) have now gone on to create a 20th anniversary album for the death of Kurt Cobain, which would have gained massive amounts of publicity (via word of mouth, magazine articles

Discuss the audience appeal of your three main texts. [30]

My three chosen texts present a large variety of conventions which relate to audience members, however each text in different ways. With both mainstream (texts which aim to tend to a larger, considered passive audience) and niche (a smaller audience base, often considered more active) audiences requiring gratification from their texts, the three texts I will be analysing do this.

My first text, Lost, was a television series produced by the National company ABC, using producers such as JJ ABrams (Director of the New Star Wars films) indication the companies intentions for the series being a hit with a wide audience in order to produce as high a profit as possible. This focus on a large audience will have no doubt influenced decisions with regards to narrative, non-diegetic sound and traditionally used conventions in other mainstream texts. With the used of an ensemble cast consisting of characters from every walk of life, ethnicity, race, wealth, gender and background the producers of Lost ensured that there would be a cast member which would appeal to nearly every audience type, whether it was a physical quality or a piece of the narrative that they could relate to. This would create a preferred reading in a large portion of its audience. A fan base names Lostpedia was created to allow fans to discuss the goings on in the latest episode and to encourage any ideas that audience members had about what may be to come in the forthcoming series and episodes in the hope that they may be recognised by the producers, gratifying audience members further. After all, this would keep a large majority of the audience to be considered 'preferred' and keep profits high. The idea that Lost's narrative, cast and excessive use on non-diegetic sound may not have appealed to a certain amount of audience members (who may consider themselves or be considered by others as a more active audience type) due to the excessive use of non-diegetic sound. Such examples include a deep humming during a slow zoom extreme close-up on one of the character's (Charlie) face before a flashback of his experience aboard the flight , to ensure the audience's recognition that his story may be tainted/mysterious. More active audience's may have thought this (along with the use of an also excessive use of enigma codes which are quickly answered, leaving no thought for the audience) may have bored them.

The second text, Mad Men, is considered a more niche text (therefore gratifying the needs of a niche audience more than that of a mainstream audience). Produced by AMC (Initially American Movie Classics) is known for it's 'quality not quantity' approach to the production of it's programmes, therefore appealing to audience members such as readers of the Guardian (who update their online news with spoilers, guides and the latest news of the show).
The use of little or no non-diegetic sound will appeal to the audience members as they will be ale to use their own imagination and interpret the narrative for themselves, rather than feeling as though they are being told how to feel about each scene or each character and their story line, allowing them to watch the programme more actively. Out of the episode I am focusing on, there is only one use of non-diegetic sound for approximately 20 seconds as the climax to the episode and it's specific narrative come into the audiences view. This is when the lead male character (Don Draper) is preparing for a presenting a pitch to the company Jaguar. This use of sound creates a slight hyper reality and also allows it's audiences to understand the intensity of the narrative through a more obvious approach. Some audience members may take an oppositional reading to this due it's obviousness. 

Recaps from online sites such as 'The Orange Couch' also suggest that the representation of women is limiting. Giving them few options as to whether they are to wives, mistresses or career focused women. Characters such as Peggy (one of the main characters) is oppressed in this way and women like her a targeted with questions: 'Everybody else is gonna want to know if you're married, or planning on having a baby.' Audiences may not find this representation appealing or accurate and therefore become oppositional to it's narrative, however others may find the representation intriguing and take a preferred or negotiated reading by giving the programme a chance.

My last chosen text is Peaky Blinders, a text screened by BBC2 and set in the early 1900's in Birmingham. A highbrow text, Peaky Blinders shows culture and intelligence, contributing to it attracting a specific audience type. The popularity of the BBC allows audences to believe that the text will become rather mainstream, however it presents us with aspects which may apply to niche audiences.

Examples of these aspects include the period in which it is set. Set in the early 1900's, the programme is taking place just after the end of world war 1, therefore only appealing to a niche audience. Younger audience members would possibly be unaware of some of the contributing factors to the specif narrative and props used in the text, therefore watching passivly and maybe only taking a negotiated reading from the text. Other audience members however, such as those interested in the war, may enjoy the show and therefore take a preferred reading. 

Other aspects which may be considered to appeal or not appeal to certain audience members is the strong accent used due to the location being in Birmingham. Such an accent may lead audience members to being unable to understand some characters, to find the accent irritating or different to what they may be used to and therefore take an oppostional or negotiated reading to the text.

Peaky Blinders has been acknowledged for it's cinematography and high production values, therefore attracting a niche audience. The same audience however, may have found that the text lack originality and mirrored several aspects found in Boardwalk Empire, including narrative themes, and therefore may take a negotiated (or even oppositional depending on how strongly they deem the similarities between the two) reading towards the text. 

'Most media texts target a range of different audiences' - How true is this for your chosen texts?

'Lost' is a text produced by ABC (a large production company which focuses on producing mainstream texts), directed by JJ Abrams, a director who predominantly works in mainstream texts such as Star Trek. The intended audience for such a director and company, and therefore the intended audience for the programme would be as wide an audience as possible, being more mainstream than niche. 

An example of the programme's attempt in appealing to such a wide, mainstream audience stems from it's use of an ensemble cast. With characters of a range of ages, genders, religions, beliefs, nationalities and sexuality, there is something for every audience type to relate to within the narrative. An example of a character found relatable by audience members may include Charlie, who we realise to be a drug addict through the use of flashbacks. Within the flashbacks we see Charlie put a powdered substance onto his gums and visibly relax in comparison to his previous state, and audience members of an type may find this relatable, whether they suffer from addictions relating drugs or alcohol, or know of the consequences cause by such addictions through someone that they may know. Another example of such relatable characters include the father-son relationship found between Michael and his son, Walt. We come to find out within the episode that Walt's dog survived the plane crash and is also on the Island, however lost. The relationship becomes strained between the two and Walt takes comfort in the company of Locke, a quiet, middle-aged man playing  board game on the beach, telling Lock that he and Michael have only known each other a couple of weeks. Walt was taken into Michael's care after his mother died in Australia. The relationship between the Michael and Walt may be found extremely relatable for certain audience members, whether the relationship is between father and son or  mother and daughter, the issues that lie within the relationship will prove similar. 

In the same scene as Walt's finding comfort in Locke, we are faced with an enigma code, another convention used by 'Lost' to appeal to a wider audience base. The enigma code in the mentioned scene produces Locke asking Walt if he would like to know a secret. After the question is asked, the shot cuts to another scene, leaving the audience with wondering what the secret may be, and when they will find this information out. Throughout the episode, as the trills and tribulations of the characters continue, after approximately 7 minutes, a scene ends and fades to black, allowing time for an advert break. The scene ends after Walt (Michael's son) finds a pair of handcuffs just into the forestry away from the beach after looking to find his dog. As Michael approaches and finds his son, the handcuff's are discovered. The shot zooms in on the handcuffs which have been discarded on the floor and then cuts to black for the ad break. This use of an enigma code again leaves the audience in anticipation, the aim of the programme being to ensure that members of the audience watching will return to continue watching after the ad break has ended. Other enigma codes include a mysterious letter which we discover Sawyer reading nearer to the end of the episode, which is not solved during the same episode.