Media Theory - Paul Gilroy

Paul Gilroy

Minecraft

In what way is the content suited to this wide age demographic?

As Minecraft is a sandbox game it appeals to a variety of different age groups. It introduces certain social aspects by playing multiplayer online. As well you are able to play different game modes so it suits the different ages to what they want to do. For example, you can play more passively and just build and design buildings. As well you can play a survival game mode to give a more competitive advantage. 

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Task 2 

Create a 1000 word essay discussing the evolution of Minecraft.  As part of the essay you will address

• How the ownership of Minecraft has affected the games evolution

• How Minecraft is marketed to a variety of audiences

• How users interact with the game including how they create their own content

Minecraft is an online video game that can be played on all platforms and consoles. Minecraft is a sandbox game, which offers users the opportunity to let their imagination run wild, and build/construct whatever they want as well as playing an interactive survival mode, which is available on multiplayer to enjoy a social aspect of the game. Minecraft vast success has come from the fast evolution of the game and the different marketing techniques they used. 

Minecraft is the second most successful video game of all time behind Tetris. Minecraft was originally created and designed by Markus Persson a programmer who also developed and published the game through his company Mojang. Markus Persson and a small company he founded with two other friends started working/creating the game in May of 2009 having been inspired by similar games to Minecraft such as Dwarf Fortress, a single-player construction and management game. Markus’s goal was to produce a Role Playing Game variation. But despite Minecraft’s success, its initial reception wasn’t commercially viable and was seen as more of a niche product for players with expert knowledge of computers and programming. Some players of the game in the early stages helped with early bugs and there was a lot of room for audience interaction as it was open for people to modify the code. The game was available in a downloadable cloud version, which allowed the game to be constantly updated with new features and bug fixes, thus allowing the game to work with minimal glitches. However as time went on Minecraft has increased popularity and has grown exponentially. During development Minecraft was developed as a multiplayer game using JAVA code (c++). In September of 2013, Microsoft bought all rights to Minecraft from Mojang for $2.5billion dollars. 

Minecraft’s growth is proven as to date they have sold well over 121 million copies across all platforms. This is including over 27 million PC copies, making it the biggest selling PC game of all time. One of the first largest changes that Minecraft conducted was the introduction of cross platform gaming. This allowed PC gamers to join games with Xbox users and now recently PlayStation and Nintendo users. Xbox and Windows 10 are both owned by Microsoft so it enabled Microsoft to make Minecraft available for these two platforms first. This is a very rare function as only two other games are known to have this function (Fortnite and Rocket League) this furthered the sales of Minecraft. Minecraft also partnered with Oculus to create a VR version of the game to further draw in consumers. 

Minecraft is marketed to a variety of audiences through number of strategic and calculated ways to maximise Minecrafts full capacity. In the beginning though, the main way Minecraft was advertised and marketed was through word of mouth. The word of mouth between gamers and being featured on sites such as the Penny Arcade web comic to generate even more interest amongst gamers. By being featured on Penny Arcade web comics Minecraft was also able to generate interest from an older generation, as that web comic is known to be more expletive and read by older audiences. By the time it was January 2011, the beta-version of the game had passed over one million purchases in just only a month and by the time it was April of that year Persson estimated that $33 million of revenue had been made after 3 months of the beta version being released. 

  

Another significant way Minecraft marketed their game was through YouTube. As the game inspired many content creators to apply Minecraft in their videos this gained significant popularity within the community and this generated further hype and ‘talk’ around the gaming community as a whole. Popular Youtubers such as Stampy and Sky Does Minecraft gave fans of the game insights and special features. This further grew Minecrafts popularity as more popular influencers are playing the game and this allowed more users to play the game.

Minecraft also carefully marketed to audiences aged 8 and above by collaborating with Lego. By aligning themselves with one of the most iconic learning construction education products in history. This gave Minecraft the ability to appeal a younger audience as well as the more mature and thus introducing a wide age demographic for the game. Minecraft also introduced a schools initiative in order for schools to use Minecraft for educational purposes and to introduce the young generation to computer programming and engineering games. 

Audiences can interact with the game by producing their own content. As Minecraft allows users to express the creativity. A lot of gamers/ users of Minecraft have decided to post their creativity through social media. The main site to find Minecraft content is YouTube. Where it allows Minecraft fans to interact with their favorite gamer or even view other people’s works. This allowed Minecraft to further their popularity. By using YouTube, fans of Minecraft were able to replicate their favourite Minecraft you tuber into their own gameplay. This became even more popular and common within the community and got to the point where Youtubers were earning large amounts of money through playing Minecraft and uploading it online. 

Also Minecraft fans were able to visit different forums and websites to research new features about the games or different hacks and game modes in order to have more fun within the game. As well Minecraft are well known to listening t their audiences as they regularly conduct polls to see what audiences want updating in the game. This audience interaction gave more enjoyment to the fans as they are able to put their own input into the game. 

Minecraft has universal appeal. It is useful to explore how such a game can appeal to different ages, genders and audiences from different social and cultural backgrounds. The variety of different modes is certainly a contributing factor to the game’s success, but also the way in which audiences can control and shape their own worlds and create new identities through mods and altering textures, maps and craft kits. 

Radio One Essays

Part (a)Radio 1 target audience is on the decline, discuss the reasons why audience numbers are dropping and the steps taken by the organisation to maintain (and or grow) its audience 600 words.  Discuss the role of technology in maintaining its audience

Radio 1 target audience of 15-29 is on the decline, as recent trends and numbers to show that ratings and listenership is dropping prove this. This has caused Radio 1 to take action in order to maintain its audience and attempt to grow their audience through different avenues. A report has shown that on average people in the target age group of 15-29 consume radio for 7 less hours a week than the average adult. According to OFCOM young people listen to the radio 15% less than they did a decade ago.

The main factor for the audience decline is the advancements of technology. Due to technology being so advanced you are able to listen to music whenever and wherever you want with unlimited choices. Due to streaming websites and services such as YouTube. It enabled listeners to choose their favourite music and genres. YouTube allows them to listen whenever they want and not to be restricted. As well as avoiding music users do not enjoy. Another service that has influenced the decline of Radio 1 is Spotify and Apple Music. These apps are used on your phones and allow listeners to make their own playlists of music they enjoy. Spotify in particular have an algorithm that allows them to find a users preferred music choices and makes suggestions to them. As Radio 1 is an inclusive shows it includes all type of genres and this can stray away audiences as they don’t want to be listening to music they don’t like and instead opt for applications such as Spotify and Apple music. Also with the rise of Bluetooth it gave users the opportunity to users to play their music whenever they want and in the car, where radio is most likely to be listened to, instead users prefer to use Bluetooth and play their own music.

Another technologically advanced that has affected the amount of listener son the radio is the introduction of on demand. As the radio 1 breakfast show is recorded it can be available on demand for 30 days. This changed listener habits, as they are now more likely to listen or watch the show when it is more convenient to them instead of listening to it live. This has been a way in BBC maintaining their audience.

Another reason why numbers are dropping is the amount of competition from other radio shows BBC radio 1 has. With the emergence of new, urban radio shows that are generally more popular audiences such as Capital and KISS. This has aided in the dropping of audiences for radio show. As KISS and Capital play more current music and music that appeals to the wider audience which is pop, RNB and rap.  Younger listeners prefer to go listen to the likes of Capital and KISS instead. This is mainly due as Radio 1 plays a more wider range of audience to appeal and attract a larger demographic whereas Capital, for example, are more concentrated on the current popular music.

Radio 1 manages to maintain their audience by using social media to attract more listeners. Recently throughout their breakfast show they invite big name celebrities such as Demi Lovato and Stormzy in an attempt to bring people to tune in and get to know their favourite artists and celebrities more. With the introduction of BBC live lounge it gave viewers/listeners the chance to see their favourite artists performing a few songs liv this gives it a high level of authenticity which attracts the audiences. Radio 1 uses platforms such as Twitter to improve and involve more of the audiences to increase interactions. It allows them to tweet out their opinons, which could be read out live on air.

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Part (b) From your viewing 400 words (listening) of a radio 1 breakfast show program
Discuss the impact of Radio 1’s funding (from tax payers money) on its production content. (take into account the stations remit…)   
Identify examples from your analysis you must also refer to commercial radio stations Capital One or Radio X to highlight the differences

The majority of Radio 1 funding comes from taxpayer’s money, government, which is paid by the public through their TV license. Which for one year a colour licence costs £150.50. This £3.50 increase from the previous year. Radio 1 itself has a service budget of £34.7million in 2016/2017; this accentuates the fact that there are high levels of funding within Radio 1. This would leave a huge impact on the production content for Radio 1 as this well enable them to further their radio show from other competitors and use the budget to good effect. Radio 1 remit is to inform, educate and entertain. With this budget BBC breakfast show are able to hire top a class celebrities to come onto the show and feature. This will attract a vast amount of listeners, as they would want a more in-depth listen on their favourite artist or celebrity lives. As well as that BBC are able to use the top equipment available with the budget to keep their standard at a high quality and this will entice further audiences. As well they are able to produce content to view on YouTube so audiences can watch. Programs such as Live lounge which shows peoples favourite artists singing their popular songs live to give a real high level of authenticity.

 Commercial radio stations such as Capital, KISS and Radio X rely heavily on advertisements for funding. In Radio X their advertisements are more targeted towards their audience. As Radio X audience is more masculine and is known to be more male orientated. Giant Beer companies such as Strong bow and Greene King advertise their brand on Radio X to attract high amount of audiences. Capital has more of a younger audience and are very popular they are known to advertise current trends in markets and follow popularity. Capital could also ear the money from text in from certain competitions to win prizes.

This shows a clear difference between the two radio breakfast shows with the constant barrage of adverts could frustrate some audiences in to change the radio station. But due to the mass market that Capital and KISS operate in they still have a high listenership daily. Also Radio 1 still have a lot of funding from the TV license and so this will mean they will have to cater for more of the population. 

Radio X

Radio X use an all male lineup to host the radio show. Chris Moyles being the most controversial host.

Controversial presenter have been found to be homophobic, sexist and casually offensive. It can introduce more opinionated viewS.

Some of the adverts used in the Radio show are mainly for Beer with companies like Greene King and StrongBow advertising their products with Radio X, this suits a male audience

This radioshow could be found offensive to certain groups as Chris Moyles does have a history in offending multiple people as well. Also it can be seen as light hearted banter for the hosts but offensive to certain groups.

The hosts are all white and shows little diversity in the music as well as hosts.

Radio 1 generally appeals to a mode diverse range of people as their target audience is between 15-29 whereas Radio X target audience is 25-44

Radio One Big Breakfast (Greg James)

Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) remit to entertain, educate and inform.

The term "public service broadcasting" refers to broadcasting intended for public benefit rather than to serve purely commercial interests.

Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Greg James

5/12/18

Yesterdays Quiz, Wednesday fun and Ten minute Takeover

If in red Contemporary artist example

Unknown T- grime
Duke dumont - edm
Jonas Blue - DJ
Clean bandit- electronic
Little mix - pop
Biffy clyro - alternative rock
James Arthur - pop
Jax jones - house
Lewis capaldi- pop
George Ezra - blues
M-22 - dance 
The 1975 - indie pop
Jess glynne- pop
Friendly fires -indie rock
 Not3s (rapper)
 Loyle Carner (hip hop)
MK (american), Jonas Blue and Becky Hill (house)
Sam Fender (alternative rock)
 Mumford and sons (folk rock, alternative rock)
You me at six (rock band)
Ellie Goulding (electro pop, synth pop, etc)
The streets (alternative hip hop)
Disciples (house)
Friendly fires (indie rock)
Jess Glynne (pop, R&B, dance, soul)

Upcoming artists

Unknown T
Not3s
Sam Fender 

Important to support emerging artists as it gives a platform for artist to showcase their music and it shows support to these British upcoming artists.

Radio X plays a more mature types of genre of music to appeal to an older audience whereas the BBC remit is more orientated to a younger audience which is more diverse and enjoy different genres. 

Variety of A list, B list and C list music played throughout the week. A list being most popular , B list second and C list third. Wide range of genres. 

Discuss the BBC’s position as the World’s largest producer and its ability to create original high end media content, to what extent does the license fee impact on their production content.

The license fee impacts heavily on the production content. BBC radio 1 gets a budget of £34 million from licensing this can enable the BBC to bring in top, global artists and to improve the quality of their show. 

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Talking about celeb gossip Cardi/Offset
Links to other BBC shows (live lounge)
Backstage gossip/Banter
Joking with cast/producers
Fans interactions
Jokes and mimicking engages audiences
"Radio 1"
Newsbeat every half hour
Scottish -Weather Reporter
Celeb endorsement - Mark Buckingham Triathlete
Games and quizzes


Layout- every half hour newsbeat
           - Activity/Celebrity interview around half way of each news beat cycle e.g. 7:15
           - music in between
           - News and Sports content

British Artists within the first 4 songs of the programme.

How does the content suit the target demographic of 15-29 year olds? 

Topics include celebrity gossip, sports and pop culture. Use of Comedic relief, presenter being amusing. Audience interaction through social media. Music is more current and urbanised to appeal to the target audience.

What does the above content hope to achieve? 

Achieves the entertaining aspect of the BBC remit. 

What news features were aired, why are they relevant to a youth audience? 

Theresa May included. Sports scores and Im a celeb gossip. As well as celeb gossip with Cardi B and Offset. 

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Sports Bulletins

Gender: Male

Age: 15-29

Ethnicity: All ethnicities 

Region: All regions 

Male- Sports

Females- Gossip

Age (15-29)- Afrobeat

Ethnicity- Afrobeat & Indie

Region- Grime urbanised music 

Radio declining 1 audiences

Fewer people listen to the radio

More competitors e.g more young people listen to Capital

Discuss whether in your view R1 has made the right decision in selecting G. James considering other options e.g. a female /younger presenter?

In my opinion, R1 has made the right decision to bring in Greg James he's an experienced radio presenter with bags of history. He brings in a more light hearted feel about the radio show and more comedic relief. 

Highlight reasons for the decline in Radio 1’s audience

• Younger audience don't listen to radio as much 
• Can use different platforms such as Spotify, YouTube

Discuss  how Radio1 maintains its listeners, including through marketing, varieties of audiences nationally and globally.

Radio1 still maintained its listeners and audience by using social media to keep the younger audiences interacting with them and to speak on certain topics. As well it has used celebrity endorsement to offer an insight into the lives of their favourite celebrities through interviews. It also uses Youtube videos so audiences are able to watch the best bits of he radio show in clips instead of watching the whole radio show.