R&P Post 2: Myself as a music consumer

The key importance in regards to audience is knowing why people are consumers of music and what pleasures people get from it. Out of the four Uses & Gratifications (Blumler and Katz): diversion, personal relationships, personal identities and surveillance, I believe that the first three are the most important but the theory could be updated with association- looking back becomes more important and interaction- through the internet and keeping up with current trends.

Music plays a key part in my life and always has. From singing in my Primary School choir to beginning singing lessons in my old secondary school to now finishing singing grades and hopefully continuing to sing in my future performing arts career. The type of music I listen to has evolved over the years as my tastes have developed and changed.

I listen to music:

• On my iPod as a form of escapism/diversion
• In my car singing at the top of my lungs
• To pass the time on journeys
• Sometimes when working 
• Because I love to

My music is both an individual experience as I have very specific tastes but I will also sing along to old classics and musicals with my parents.

Childhood:

McFly- Five Colours In Her Hair

The first CD's I owned were McFly and Busted and I went to my first ever concert at the age of 6 to see McFly at Wembley. They formed a key part of my childhood and are a band I have been loyal to; seeing them in concert in 2004, 2005, 2012, 2014 (as McBusted) and 2016. I think I am lucky to have found a band that I connected with at such a young age and to still enjoy listening to them now. McFly had a very mainstream 'poppy' sound and were many a young girl's crush (mine included)!

Early Teens:

Phantom of the Opera-Think Of Me

My early teens were when I cemented my passion for both performing and listening to musical theatre. I began singing lessons and performed this song as a year 8 in school winter concert. I enjoy performing musical theatre and hope to continue it in the future as I enjoy embodying the different characters when I sing.

Now:

Bon Jovi- You Give Love A Bad Name

At the moment I am really into 80's rock music despite the fact that when I was younger I would get annoyed that my parents would always play 'their type of music' in the car. I now really enjoy singing with my parents to 'The Very Best of Power Ballads' and singing to my Bon Jovi CD when I am driving alone. We have just bought a vinyl record player so we are listening to all their old vinyls.

Conclusion: 

Music plays a key role in many of our lives and is used to shape our identities by seeing ourselves reflected in different artists. In childhood, music went alongside actually knowing the lyrics and making up dance routines and these now formulate strong memories and song associations which we happily look back on. People can be influenced by parents, siblings and friendship groups and as we age we feel more confident and become more independent in choosing the types of music which we listen to. Music also relates to other media texts such as musical theatre and film in which music plays a key part. The role of the internet has made a large difference to the types of music consumption available. I remember when I was younger only being able to listen to what was being played on the radio or the CD's I owned whereas now a plethora of music is now easily available and accessible on demand. However, the gratifications music provides us with hasn't disappeared as music has always been used as a means of escapism and simple enjoyment. These reflections on how important music is to me will be important in my project because I will keep in mind how we will need to tailor our marketing, brand and artist identity to suit our range of audience demographics and their consumption methods of music.