Audience Research

U2 have a mainstream audience, consisting of a massive number of fans whom they have collected up throughout their career in the music industry, spanning just over 30 years now. The ages of their fans therefore range widely from adults of about 40 - 50 years old, who would have become fans when the band first started their career, to young teenagers who have just discovered the band in recent years. I fall into the latter category, having only realised the existence of U2 in 2004, after seeing them on Top Of The Pops performing Vertigo.

U2 know how to interact with their large mainstream audience using all the technology available to them to get their music into the heads of fans and potential fans all over the world. Obviously, not all fans may be able to make it to a live show, so U2 have this year brought their music into the homes of millions. In October 2009, U2 broadcast an entire show from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on their 360° Tour live on YouTube to the world. It is estimated that nearly 10 million people watched the concert online between 188 countries, making the event the largest in YouTube's streaming history. In August 2009, U2's Sheffield concert was played live on the radio as well as the audio been streamed directly from u2.com to listeners all around the world. It is clear that U2 like to do things big to satisfy their ever growing number of fans and these events proved to be extremely successful.

U2's latest song, I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight, was released in two different music videos. One is a short animated film created by David O'Reilly and the other was filmed live at a 360° show. The animated film tells a short story, including different individual characters and how their lives entwine together one fateful day. The characters include a boy who runs away from home, his worried mother, a girl who has also run away from home, a girl who has lost her dog and a tramp. The tramp finds the dog and the mother rescues the runaway girl whilst looking for her son, who meanwhile is on a train. The train stops and the tramp gets on with the dog and sits opposite him. The boy, looking at the tramp, realises that he doesn't want to end up that way and leaves the train quickly with the dog following him. As they run, the owner of the dog is walking along in the opposite direction and is reunited with her dog. The boy keeps on running and rushes straight past a cafe where his mother and the girl are sat. Seeing him, the mother rushes outside shouting after him and they too are reunited. I think this video is really well done and sends across a good message. It has elements of humour in it as well as anxiety and sadness. I think this video appeals to the mainstream audience because of this. It is clearly not targeted at a specific age group as the messages in it can be read by fans of all ages and overall it is a very appealing and thought provoking video.

The other video for this song features the band performing on their 360° tour in Barcelona, directed by Alex Courtes. The song was not recorded live for the video, the pre-recorded version was used for the audio. I like this video a lot too, because I think it has been directed very well and gives the audience what they want to see - the band. Lots of close ups of the band members are used as well as shots of the crowd and the amazing 360° stage. Filming the video live at the first 360° concert allows fans to see what they will experience themselves when the tour comes to their country. It shows the band interacting with their audience, and this excites fans, making them want to be in that crowd in the video. It also allows potential fans to see what going to a U2 concert would be like. I think the two videos are both very good in their different styles and both definitely appeal to the audience.