BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge

Tuesday 29th March 2022

BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge

LO: To research the case study and artists involved.

Holly Humberstone

Background: She started writing songs at a young age and grew up in a small town. She was formerly a violinist for the Lincolnshire Youth Symphony Orchestra and was first spotted by a manager whilst performing her local BBC Introducing radio show. She performed at Glastonbury Festival 2019 on the BBC Introducing stage. She signed with Polydor Records in the UK in March 2021 and Interscope Records in the US. She also signed a publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing group.

Age: 22

Where she is from: Grantham, England

Genre: Alternative/indie

Current songs/albums: Falling asleep at the wheel ('Deep End', 'Falling Asleep At The Wheel', 'Overkill', 'Drop Dead', 'Vanilla') and The Walls Are Way Too Thin ('Haunted house', 'The Walls Are Way Too Thin", 'Please Don't Leave Just Yet', 'Scarlett', 'Friendly Fire'). Singles: 'Fake Plastic Trees', 'Seventeen Going Under' and 'London Is Lonely"

Critical reception: On websites such at NME she has a 5 star review

Awards: Brit Award forRising Star and NME Award for Best Mixtape

Tuesday 26th April 2022

Radio Industry and audiences

LO: To explore the industry and audience behind the live lounge.

Public Service Broadcasting

 Ofcom: Regulator. It makes sure that certain television and radio broadcasters fulfil certain requirements as part of their license to broadcast.

PSB: Benefits the public not for profit. You can get it for free without box or cable.

BBC: Public service remit.

1. They operate 10 national radio stations. They are:

They make lots of different stations so that they can appeal to a large range of people.

2. They operate 40 local radio station

3. They are funded by TV licenses (by the public)

4. Commercial radio 

5. Pirate FM, Classical FM, Virgin Radio, Heart, Kiss. They are just aimed at everyone and plays a range of music and contain ads to make money.

6. You can listen to the radio via analogue and digital radio, digital television and online. They do this to make it accessible to a large range of people.

The radio 1 target audience is ages 15-29. It should also aim to entertain younger teenagers. They target their audience by using restless, energetic and informal language. Their remit is to entertain and engage a broad range of young listeners with a distinctive mix of contemporary music and speech. The news they report must be relevant to young adults.

The radio 2 target audience is ages 35+

The radio 3 target audience is ages 6-12

The radio 4 target audience is around age 54

Colour palette: Mainly orange, black and white. The colours reflect the mood of music for example the background of radio shows during the day are bright colours but the night time radio shows have dark backgrounds. This would appeal to different people within the target audience as they can get an understanding of what type of music there is on there which will help them to find something they want to listen to. It also shows that there is variety meaning that it is accessable and caters for everyone which is what Public Service Broadcasting and the target audience want. 

Language: Mainly casual language is used on the home screen which is similar to the BBC radio 1 live lounge language used. This appeals to their younger audience as young people tend to used more casual language and tend to find it more relatable and personal than formal language.

Music available: A lot of music artist on the website homepage are all quite young or popular/relevant to the younger generation at the moment.

Political context

PSB and license fee debate

Political debate as to whether Radio 1 should be covered by the licence fee as political decision makers don't believe that popular mainstream music is important. Therefore not seen as educating and informing.

Responses from BBC:

Radio 1 is appealing to younger audiences which fitted the requirement to target everyone and reflect diversity. Radio 1 target younger audiences and not older ones because it is not the same as commercial radio stations.

Convergence: A term that refers to the merging of previously  distinct media technologies and media forms due to digitisation and computer networking.

Regulation: Ofcom, who also regulate the TV industry, exists to ensure the broadcasting code is being followed and that listeners are protected from harmful or offensive material, unfair treatment or loss of privacy.

Plurality: Ensuring there is a diversity of viewpoints and preventing a media owner or voice having too much influence over public opinion and the political agenda.

Tuesday 10th May 2022

Live Lounge Appeal and Format

LO: To explore the format of the show at its appeals

What's the benefit of broadcasting on two channels?

Being hosted by two radio stations, Radio 1 and 1Xtra means that artists can be broadcasted across two different radio platforms to a niche audience or a wider audience. Getting artists to perform live can be expensive however if it is hosted by 2 different radio stations it will be less expensive as they will both be sharing the costs. It will also mean that t is likely to follow the Public Service Broadcasting requirements as it is appealing to a wide range of audiences meaning that they will be funded by OfCOM.

What can you find out about the presenters. What makes them appealing to a target audience of 15-29 year old music lovers?

Rickie, Melvin and Charlie

Awards: won the gold award for Breakfast Show of the Year (10 million plus) for Kiss Breakfast

Background: Charlie Hedges has a background as a presenter for Nickelodeon and CBBC. She interned in marketing at KISS FM and was nominated in 2021 for a Sony Radio Award as a Rising Star.

Career: Charlie Hedges has performed DJ sets at various clubs and festivals

DJ Ace

Awards:A gold Sony Radio Academy award

Background:

Career:

Pies (Radio one live lounge)

Personal Identity- They use casual. light-hearted language and ask more personal questions which would appeal to young adults because they also often use casual language and they may find the artist's replies to the personal questions quite relatable.

Information- They often interview the artist on mainly personal information and we find out more about the artists then we did before. There needs to be information to satisfy OfCom's requirements.

Entertainment- There is often comedy within the chat which young adults prefer and find more entertaining over very formal language, a lot of people enjoy listening to live music and the artist also does a cover of a song which is entertaining to the audience because it is interesting to see a song being portrayed/performed by a different artist.

Social Interaction- Comments on online videos, if people enjoy it they may tell friends about it or share it on social media meaning more people are likely to see and listen to it.

Social and Cultural context

Tuesday 24th May 2022

The Exam

LO: To understand exam style questions and practise exams

How does the Live Lounge appeal to the target audience and meet the BBC remit?

The Live Lounge appeals to their young target audience through the young presenters who may be relatable to a younger audience as they use more casual and informal language using slang words and phrases such as "sick" or "proper good". A lot of musicians who are featured on the BBC Live Lounge are quite modern and popular amongst the younger generation meaning that it will appeal to their young target audience as they will most likely be familiar with the trendy musicians featured on it. The interviews carried out also help to appeal to their younger target audience as the presenters ask the musician very personal and gossip-like questions which tends to be stereotypically an interest among teenagers so therefore they will enjoy finding out abstract information about the artist from a different perspective away from the musician's fame. The Live Lounge meets the BBC remit through  performing a mixture of mainstream and popular music in order to appeal to a range of young people, for example when Stormzy is featured he plays Beyonce despite being a different genre and by featuring young artists who are maybe new to the scene or just starting out. This fits the BBC remit because it targets a younger audience and because it helps to educate people on new artists. The live music aspect of the Live Lounge also fits the BBC remit.

The music section of paper 2 has 5 questions

Questions 1, 2 and 3 could be on radio

Question 1

A one mark question which is just about your knowledge. It is likely to focus on industry or audiences.

It could ask:

Who regulates radio in the uk? Of Com

Who owns Radio 1? The BBC

What is Public Service broadcasting? They will fund different companies such as the BBC if they positively influence or benefit the public

What is the term meaning merging of previously separate media forms in one entity? Convergence

Question 2

This is a knowledge and understanding question worth 4 marks. You are expected to back up your answers with evidence.

For example Explain one advantage for audiences of each of the following: listening to live radio, accessing radio content online.

Answer:

An advantage of listening to radio live is that you can engage with it and feel part of the moment. For example a lot of radio stations hold competitions which the audience can engage with live and when artists play live it sounds more authentic and makes the audience feel like they are almost there.

An advantage of listening to the radio online and not live is that you can listen to it the bits that you like and don't get bored of the songs being played around the songs that you like. For example when you listen to the radio online and don't like a certain song you can just fast forward to the songs you do like whereas when you are listening to the radio live you just have to wait through it.

Question 3

This is also a knowledge and understanding question worth 10 marks. You will be expected to use evidence to back up your answers.

For example: Explain how and why producers of radio programmes target different audiences. Refer to the Radio 1 Live Lounge to support your answers.

The producers of radio stations such as the BBC Radio 1 Live lounge target their target audiences through the use of language, music and information. 

The way the presenters speak help to appeal to the target audience as different target audiences have different preferences and things that they find relatable. For example on Radio 1 Live Lounge the young presenters use informal and casual language such as phrases like "proper good" which stereotypically appeal to a younger audience as they find it relatable. This means they will appeal to their younger target audience. However, if they were targeting an older audience they would need to use more formal language as older people are more stereotypically likely to use more formal language.

The music performed on radio helps to target certain audiences as different audiences find different genres of music appealing. For example, on BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge plays more mainstream and popular genres of music which tend to appeal more to a younger, more trendy audience meaning that they are effectively targeting their younger target audience who will want to listen to the music played. If the target audience was older it would be more effective for a radio station to play more classical or older music as older people stereotypically tend to like/be familiar with older music.

Tuesday 28th June 2022

DIRT End of Year Assessment

Question 1

Identify the regulator of radio in the UK

OFCOM

1/1 mark

Film: BBFC

Tv and radio: OFCOM

Advertising: ASA

Magazines and newspapers: IPSO and IMPRESS

Video games: Video standards council

Question 2

Explain one way in which music videos use media language to differ from each other. Refer to one example of contrasting media language in two music videos you have studied to support your answer.

Media language: Camerawork, editing, mise-en-scene, narrative style

2/4 marks

I could have talked about mise-en-scene. In teenage dirtbag the setting was in a school and Sk8er Boi was in an urban city, women are less sexually objectified in Sk8er Boi than in Teenage Dirtbag, Sk8er Boi has more unsaturated lighting whereas the lighting in teenage dirtbag is more saturated.

Question 3

Explain how and why producers of radio programmes target different audiences. Refer to the Radio 1 Live Lounge to support your answer.

9/10 marks

PBS vs Commercial. How(examples) and why?

Question 4

Refer to Extract 1 in the insert. Analyse the representations of musicians in Extract 1 which is from MOJO magazine.

4/5 marks

Question 5

Refer to Extracts 1 and 2 in the insert . How far is media language used differently in Extracts 1 and 2 to reflect genre conventions? In your answer you must:

Analyse examples of how media language is used similarly and differently in both extracts.

Make judgements and reach conclusions about whether there are more similarities due to genre convention than differences in the extracts.

12/15 marks

(8/10 + 4/5)

Different layout, different lexis, different colour palette, any other differences, link to different audiences, how different are they conclusion.

Question 6

Identify the organisation that age rates film in the UK.

BBFC

0/1 marks

Question 7

Explain two reasons why a film company would release a video game linked to a film.

4/4 marks

Question 8 

Explain at least two uses and gratification of films using Blumler and Katz's theory. Refer to The Lego Movie to support your answer.

6/10 marks

Question 9 

Analyse how the promotional campaign for The Lego Movie targeted a family audience. In your answer you must refer to the poster campaign, the tv advert, merchandise and social media campaigns.
2/10 marks

The Lego movie promotional campaign targets a family audience by using a range of different promotional techniques which all appeal to different age groups therefore my age groups will show an interest in watching the film. For example the tv advert would have targeted the entire family all at once as it was shown during the advert of Dancing On Ice which is stereotypically watched by the whole family together and the advert being made out of Lego would not only appeal to children due to the stereotypical interest that they have in playing with toys but it would have also appealed to other age groups in the family as an advert like this had never been on the tv before. The social media campaigns would have helped to appeals to adults and teenagers in the family as adults and teenagers are the ones who stereotypically go on social media and even though it is more of a kids film they may see the social media campaigns and want to take their child or younger sibling to go and see it especially if they used to play with lego when they were younger as well.