Audience Theories Using a variety of different audience theories, I was able to identify which categories my target audience applies to. This will help with the planning as I will be able to create features which would appeal to that certain audience and comfort them at their needs.

Graham Burton’s theory splits the audience into two groups; socially grouped and media grouped. Socially grouped splits the audience into individual differences such as age and gender. As our artist who is a young male is going to portray music which is aimed at both genders and all ages, our product does not fit into this category. However, it does fit into the ‘media grouped’ category which separates the audience by their relationship with the media. For example, for our album, the audience will be individuals who are ‘music lovers’ and more importantly appealed to the genre of r’n’b/soul.

Hartley’s theory expands Graham Burton’s by suggesting that the audience is split into more than just two groupings. These include; self (audiences can be grouped by their aspirations), family (their place in the family for instance if they are a parent or a child), class (a person’s status in society- different social classes are seen to have different priorities), nation (the country the group comes from and its style) and ethnicity (ethnic grouping may play a role in choice of images/role and message). For the album cover, the grouping of ‘self’ could aspire the audience to make music or even possibly romantic songs in which our album is based on. For family, our target audience could be either the child or parent but most probably a parent who is infatuated or in love with a certain person, relating themselves with the lyrics of the songs. Our album cover is not specific for class and ethnicity as different classes may all be appealed to the music.

Fiske also adds five other factors; education, region, political allegiance, religion and urban vs rural. Our album cover however, wont fit into these factors as they are very specific and our music applies to an audience in general.

In the 1970’s, Blumier and Katz suggested that audiences are more active, choosing how they consume a media text or why. This differs from the hypodermic needle theory which suggests that audiences are more passive and consume media texts which are given to them. Blumier and Katz came up with the ‘Users and Gratifications’ theory in which media consumers choose media texts that fulfil one of these needs;

• To be INFORMED or EDUCATED about the world in which they live in.

• The need to IDENTIFY personally with the characters and discover a relationship.

• The need to be ENTERTAINED by a range and a variety of media texts.

• The need to use media for SOCIAL INTERACTION.

• The need to ESCAPE from reality and daily situations.

For my album cover, our audience seems to fit into the categories of escapism, being entertained and possibly identification. The audience may feel the need to escape from reality by listening to music and songs which reflect upon their situations in the need to be comforted. They could also feel the need to identify themselves by listening to songs and lyrics which could influence their behaviour or how they react to certain situations. On the other hand the audience could simply listen to music in the need to feel entertained.

Colour and connotations-

Black is associated with elegance, power, formality and mystery. It is usually used to separate individual features. Black denotes strength and authority; it is considered to be a very formal, elegant, and prestigious colour. Black can help other colours stand out. Combined with red or orange – other very powerful colours – black gives a very aggressive colour scheme. Black is also a dominant colour in which could be seen to be more masculine, however, it is also seen to be feminine as it suggests sophistication.

White is associated with light, goodness, innocence, purity, and virginity. It is considered to be the colour of perfection. White connotes safety, purity and cleanliness and usually has a positive connotation. White is also a unisex cover- ideal for our album cover which applies to both genders.

Red is the colour of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love. It is also seen to be an emotionally intense colour and has high visibility. It can also be used to evoke erotic feelings. As red is closely related to the theme of romance and passion, it could be seen to have female qualities as women are also associated with desire and love.

It is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. Blue is a masculine colour; according to studies, it is highly accepted among males. Dark blue is associated with depth, expertise, and stability; it is a preferred colour for corporate America.

Green is the colour of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility. Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety. Dark green is also commonly associated with money. Green can be seen to appeal to both male and female, therefore green is a unisex colour.

Yellow is the colour of sunshine. It's associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy. It also produces a warming effect, arouses cheerfulness, stimulates mental activity, and generates muscle energy. Men usually perceive yellow as a very light-hearted, 'childish' colour, so it is not recommended to use yellow when selling prestigious, expensive products to men.

I have decided to research a range of colours to discuss which audience they may appeal to. This will help to create an album cover as I can identify which colours I will use for the font of the artist and album title.