Comparing Audio Media Products
I will compare the differences and the similarities of audio media products through purpose, form & style, content, meaning, genre, target audience, frequency and production process. Each audio media product are produced to have a specific purpose like to entertain people or to educate and/or inform them. Although they have difference in content, genre, meaning etc. It's main purpose in the end is what makes the audio media products almost the same. The name of the audio media isn't really related to the subject hence only naming them by the types of media product they are in the form of how they are delivered i.e. Radio, podcast.
What I compared in this report:
Podcast (Discussion)
Radio (Music)
Radio (Talk Show)
Radio (Drama)
Podcast (Music)
What I compared in this report:
Podcast (Discussion)
Radio (Music)
Radio (Talk Show)
Radio (Drama)
Podcast (Music)
Purpose
The purpose of audio media products is to create entertainment, to be able to inform/educate, to instruct etc. It is made on the basis that it will be made to entertain people with only the use of audio, whether pre-recorded like podcasts or done live through radio. Audio media products nowadays are made easily accessible through downloading or through live radio. An audio media product can be easily recognizable if they are made for what purpose; a podcast I have analysed is made to entertain and somewhat inform because they are interviewing star personas from the same media platform they are on, which in this case is YouTube. Another podcast is recorded to inform people of music made by debuting artists and people may want to listen to their songs. This is done by artists making a miniature mix of their songs and the podcaster introduces the artists and proceeds to play their music.
Form & Style
The form and style of the media products range from radio, podcast to music. Radio shows are produced to be usually played live to entertain/inform a large audience live. This is usually the most accessible type of audio media product. Podcasts are made usually for download as they can listened to at anytime and most podcasts archive their podcasts for a certain amount of days in case people have missed an episode. These are the more practical type of audio media products because they can download a past episode and comparing to some other media product such as radio, they can't listen to the content live radio has already gone through. Music on the other hand is mixed as they can be played on live radio, done on podcasts as part of the programme or just listened to on their own. There is no real outstanding differences between these audio media products but they have a clear similarity in the fact that they are made to be accessible one or another. The radio that presented a drama was slightly different than the rest of the audio media products. It was actors taking turns doing their parts and in between and some of the sections would feature foley sound that would be linked to the episode of that radio drama.
Content
The content of the audio media products depend on what they were made for. Entertainment types have content that are made to entertain the audiences such as music, trending topics, celebrities/star personas. Informative types have information that are relayed to the audience to pass on knowledge from one to another. An example would be a radio show talking about the news going around in the world. They would go into different topics so that the content doesn't become repetitive. Content from music audio media products contain purely the music that people could listen to which can range from any genre of music. Podcasts for example can have many types of content done because they can be downloaded and listened to at any time, they are not restricted to what content it can have. They can produce information to inform people or have music reviews to give people insight of what music they could listen to and they could even have entertaining content such as talk shows.
Meaning
The meaning of audio media products may vary according to the content made for the audio media products. The form and style heavily affect the meaning of audio media products as well. An audio media product I have analysed was made so that the music artist could "Constantly strive to develop his musical understanding...". Whereas another audio media product was meant to relay and inform people of situations around world that may affect their lives in some way or another. Each audio media product have very different meanings even if they have the same purpose or content.
Genre
The genre of each of the media products largely depend on the content. Music that I analysed was a mix of electro and funk. The podcasts had a very general theme rather than a genre as they were neither too serious or too comical. They informed and entertained but it didn't have any too serious tones. The radio show was rather general too as it was more informative than anything. Genre is mostly categorised from the content and how the content is delivered.
A certain genre is accomplished usually to help distribute the audio media product to an audience that are more likely to listen to it rather than to people who won't. This is more for creating listeners rather to avoid them. Music for example has many forms of genres and sub-genres to provide a wide variety of content to different listeners. An example could be rock which has variations such as light and heavy rock. This means they can appeal to a wider audience rather than just a select few. Radio drama is another form of genre which caters to a certain section of the audience. This may be because people prefer to hear a story over watching it because of time restrictions and because they can listen to the radio drama technically at any time.
A certain genre is accomplished usually to help distribute the audio media product to an audience that are more likely to listen to it rather than to people who won't. This is more for creating listeners rather to avoid them. Music for example has many forms of genres and sub-genres to provide a wide variety of content to different listeners. An example could be rock which has variations such as light and heavy rock. This means they can appeal to a wider audience rather than just a select few. Radio drama is another form of genre which caters to a certain section of the audience. This may be because people prefer to hear a story over watching it because of time restrictions and because they can listen to the radio drama technically at any time.
Target Audience
The target audience of the podcasts and the radio shows seem to the general public, considering the podcasts featured interviews with people and the radio show had details of the current happening in the world. The music however was aimed for people who listened to electro and a certain type of genre of music. Target audience is affected by the genre and content as the content may have some things that are not appropriate for younger ages or content that can't exactly be understood by a younger generation. Demographics of an audio media product are easily identifiable by the content i.e. a podcast that has been made to review video games are mainly towards male audiences above the ages of 13+. A radio show that is talking about current events and news around the world could be centred towards the older generation and maybe some of the younger population. This is because it could be events that could have an effect on their lives but some of the information isn't exactly easily understandable by the younger generation.
Frequency
Radio shows are broadcasted live which means they are more frequent compared to pre-recorded material from podcasts and music. This is most likely due to the fact that more people tune into radios first because of accessibility. Podcasts and music can be accessed at any time and listened to in the leisure of the audience. Podcasts are recorded weekly on average and the podcasts are usually up a week from its original upload time. Music is quite different to other media products because of the nature of the production. One side of music can be produced because of professional work such as well known bands and artists, whereas solo artists and indie producers tend to produce their musis on their own pace and are building up their audience base rather than to earn money.
Production Process
Production process varies with each type of audio media product. Radio shows are produced by gathering material pre-broadcast. Radio shows are done live so their production process is different to the other audio media products. Most media products are done purely by being pre-recorded and edited before being uploaded for download or streaming.
