Unit 3- Assignment 2- Task 3- Audience Research

Task 3A

Who are Imagine Dragons?

Imagine Dragons are an American Alternative rock band from Las vegas, Nevada. They are made up of four men, lead vocalist Dan Reynolds, Lead guitarist Wayne Sermon, Bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman. The band's members are in their 30's. The band have been influenced by people like Nirvana, Muse, The Beatles, Coldplay and U2. The band have a band culture of humility, relate-ability and creativity.

What is the demographic for our band? (Imagine dragons)

Based upon this demographic table we have decided the demographic that our target audience falls under is group E, as they are part of a more casual group which is relatable to the band itself. The band are not a stereotypical rock band as they don't partake in the party lifestyle that one might expect from a rock band. They are laid back and do their own thing, they don't try to be someone that they're clearly not.

Psychographics

We feel that Imagine Dragons' target audience are reformers as this is what the band would be. Often in the bands music there is a sense of personal growth and development as well as social awareness that the band clearly has. As well as this they could possibly be 'explorers' who value difference and adventure which as the table states are "typically a younger demographic".

Age and Profession- Alternative rock tends to have a target audience of people ages 16-25. This age range is stereotyped to students who are at exam age and who are very socially active. This is why Imagine Dragons songs resonate with their audience as they are both explorers and reformers and these are what their songs are about.

Gender and race- The imagine dragons audience might be predominantly male due to the fact that the artists/band themselves are male and therefore the audience will be able to relate better to them. As well as this the band are white and don't really write songs about issues that might resonate or relate with other ethnicities such as what hip-hop and R&B artists do. Therefore from this I think that their target audience will be predominantly white.

Overall Target audience

From this information I can conclude that Imagine Dragons target audience will be white, male students who are highly socially active aged 16-25. In terms of the values a typical listener would stand for they might "seek enlightenment"  or be more of a free spirit. Like Imagine dragons themselves their audience would be socially aware and not exactly live the kind of lifestyle we might expect other rockers to have.

Task 3B- Audience Profile

Media Preferences

Most 16-25 who are millennials would have been born in the golden age of technology and therefore their media preferences would be largely based online. Rather than going out to buy CDs, this target audience might instead download music whether it be through services like iTunes or through Amazon Prime (or illegal methods such as torrenting). Other ways to watch or listen to music and music videos might be through streaming services such as spotify, tidal, apple music or even through YouTube. This is because these are convenient and fast methods of having the music available to them. As a result of this, the target audience are also very likely to use social media to talk about the music they listen to as well as post links to their favourite music videos.

Buying Patterns

Buying patterns for this target audience would most likely be consumer goods such as clothes and electronic items. This increases the potential amount of views, downloads or listeners that there could be for music. This target audience being students are highly likely to own or regularly use laptops or computers whether this be for work or for recreational use. This is further opportunity for music to be downloaded or streamed on. As well as this Imagine Dragons are involved in the gaming and eSports (competitive gaming) scene which could be influential for their audience who might also be involved or want to get involved with this. Seeing as their audience are 16-25 year old males it is also very likely that a large majority of these people play/buy video games due to the fact that 16-25 year old males make up a huge proportion of the player base for video games.

Viewing Patterns

There are a few different ways that this target audience might specifically view music videos with them being a younger target audience. The kinds of places that music videos aimed at 16-25 year olds might appear would mainly be online on YouTube or VEVO pages as these are the places they are the most easily accessible and most convenient for this demographic of people. As well as this there are certain music TV channels that this age range might listen to music off of such as the MTV music channels or other channels that play the latest and most popular chart music. This is because this demographic is highly likely to consistently listen to today’s most popular and up to date songs, essentially the music that is playing on the radio currently rather than other music that is slightly older or not as relevant anymore.

As well as this, Imagine Dragons specifically are streamed massively online, proving that their audience would mainly use online forms of watching and listening to their songs.