BBC 6 Music
Purpose: The purpose of BBC 6 Music is to entertain the music lovers/listeners with all the new music and albums coming out/that have just come out. The purpose is to promote new bands and artists. They share new material for the music lovers listening to the show, it is used to promote their music and artists as they have made it to the point they are big enough for their music to be featured on the show. For example King Krule played two songs on a live performance once, not having a huge following but able to catch the ears of the 6 music host Lauren Laverne, she plays an earlier scheduled show on 6 Music. This shows King Krule were to play early to wake up the early morning listeners, drive his post-punk vibes right through the morning to get the listeners ready for their day. Krule played two songs, 'Emergency Blimp' and 'Cadet Limbo' both chilled out but heavily driven by the jazz-fusion/punk influences.
Ownership: 6 Music is ran by a subsidiary, the BBC. BBC run radio stations 1-6 and also owning tv channels with a BBC iPlayer for catch up. The benefits of this ownership allows the station to have an income as the BBC bring in vast amounts of money through tv, radio and live performance. This also means the station with have good promotion put behind it so that the station won't be unheard. The BBC have a formal laidback vibe with their radio presenters, well spoken but they have a cool persona for the broadcast that allows the listeners to form a connection during programmes. 6 Music was made by the BBC to play alternative guitar music as not many stations did this, music lovers fell in love with the station as they had a full station based around band music and instruments.
Listenership: From a September to December 2019 survey, a calculated number of 2,487,000 total listeners per week, these were ages 15+, each listener spent an average of 9.3 hours a week listening to the station, this shows that the BBC have made a gap in the market with this station, music lovers enjoy the content being shared with the live music and interviews with artists, they also enjoy the presenters of the show which makes them come back for more.
Funding/Advertising: BBC 6 Music don't use advertisements as they only recently became commercial, they are ran by the BBC as a more underground station with a 'cutting edge' through being based around indie guitar. BBC 6 Music host a festival that bring in an income under 6 Music Festival where a lot of bands that have been on the show play the festival while also having an introducing stage for the up and coming bands/artists.
Content: BBC 6 Music feature many things on the show such as:
- Call/Texts coming in from listeners
- Jingles
- Music
- News
- Weather
These things can also be used as a source of knowledge as some people get their news updates and weather forecasts from radio stations, this attract more listeners through the use of content provided to listeners. Jingles are used on every show and also used to create a specific sound to make it known listeners are tuned into 6 Music, hosts also have their own personal jingle so that listeners know what host/programme they are listening to at that moment in time.
The presenter I was looking at during the performance from King Krule was Lauren Laverne, she has a happy, bubblier side of a presenter as her show is placed in the morning, she wakes listeners up with great energy throughout her show to keep the listeners entertained. This appeals to the audience as they will want to wake up to good vibes and energy from the hosts, this also keeps the listeners distracted from having to dwell on having to wake up and get ready for a long day of work. Three pieces of hardware that the presenter needs to help broadcast the show would be a microphone, to allow her to be heard, a pre amp to power the microphone for high quality recordings and a monitor for many things including the time sheet of the show so that it runs smoothly and to know exactly what the host needs to be played, when jingles are played and new updates etc.
Audience: The target audience for BBC 6 Music is both male and female aged 30-50 that work 9-5 jobs, this can also be seen as they keep the working class grittiness in their choice of live performing artists in the studio and the music they play. A few programmes on the show play new up and coming young artists from working class backgrounds such as King Krule who was brought up in London with a mother that struggled for money. Archy has recently vocalised his opinions on the middle class and describes them as "yobs". Another artist they play is Mac Demarco, this artist had a father that struggled with drug addiction and left Mac without a father and much money, Mac talks about his father "cooking up something good" which was a reference to his rather being a user and wasting money. Another example of working class artist that 6 Music play is Richard Hawley, Richard is a working class northerner. Born and raised in Pitsmoor, Sheffield. Richard references his local city and often express the love he has for the city even with a working class background with a father that worked in the mines.
Access: 6 Music can be accessed via mobile devises such as an iPhone or Samsung. Online, through the site for the live broadcast or catch ups on previous shows, using a tablet, smart device or computer. A DAB radio and TV channels. The benefit this has to listeners is that it allows them to access the station and stream/tune in on the move, be that a car journey or walking. 6 Music can be accessed by the fans from their own phone which allows them to tune in whenever they like, this is also beneficial to the station as it allows them to keep their listening numbers up high.
