Institutions - Music Channels

By Chrystalla Athamou

What channels are there and how do they differ?

MTV is a popular American music channel that typically targets the late teenage market. MTV has both their own tv channels and website, as well as music videos the company provides news on the artists themselves as well. VEVO is an internet website that was created by three major record labels (Sony, EMI and Universal music group). This site however features only heavy mainstream music videos, the website also has their own string of Youtube channels for all of the signed artists that they own.

4 Music was originally just a tv channel however it then branched out into the music industry using its TV fan base and target audience to gain them instant popularity. It is aired only in the UK and the channel focuses on mainstream and popular music, the channel and website are regularly updated with the added bonus of artist interviews as well as inviting bands and artists to host a show on the set, this format shows that they're target audience is mainly between the ages of 15 and 25.

Issues of Music Videos

There are moral and ethical issues with some music videos due to artists marketing through sexual content. Artists such as Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears etc all use the Male Gaze in order to attract an audience to their videos. This is very common in both male and female music videos so music videos must now be filtered and rated much like films in order to prevent people from a younger age group from seeing things.

Existing Music Channels