Google Trends processes how much the band Nirvana is searched over years and months.
Here is a graph that shows how popular Nirvana has been, there was obviously a big rise in Nirvana references in early 2004 which relates to the release of the Nirvana box set, showing that audiences who like Nirvanas music may have been searching for where they could get the box set. Nirvana searches slowly decline over the years 2005 to 2007, as there wasn't much activity or articles about the band then. References increased, then remained stable in 2008 - 2009 as at this time, Courtney Love was being sued for selling the Nirvana back catalogue in 2008 and in 2009, she vowed to find Kurt Cobains 'missing money' from his career and Nirvana songs were also sold to the game Guitar Hero 5.
The fact that the 20th anniversary version of the Nevermind album brought so much attention indicates to me that not only are life-long fans of the band still interested in the music, but that the youth groups of today must also be interested as the radio stations and magazines such as Kerrang! are aimed at these young teenager age groups, so they will have been the ones that saw and heard about the anniversary magazine issues, and possibly listened to the cover albums which could lead them to listen to the original Nirvana songs and become interested in the band.
What about todays generation?
The reason Nirvana shot to fame in the 90's is because they brought a whole new Seattle sound to a teenage generation across the world, they were the band that broke the mould and produced music that other bands were thinking about, but hadn't found a way of producing it. Nirvana took over manufactured pop music, challenged the conventions of popular music and brought an alternative to the 'outcast' generation X kids, some would say. The reason their music is still popular today is that their themes of rebellion, (featured in their first major track, "Smells like Teen Spirit") will always be relevant to young people and teenagers, this occurs in every generation so the message will never go 'out of style'. During the time of the album, "Neverminds" release, it actually knocked Michael Jackson off the number 1 spot on the American Billboard chart, because it was what young people had been waiting for and it spoke to a wide audience.
The reason audiences still listen to Nirvana today, to quote the BBC article - 20 Years of Nevermind; "The music is easily understandable - pop-rock with bite, grunge through critical categorisation but with enough melodic nous to stand tall. It speaks, even today, to the temporarily disaffected teen; but in a way that's inclusive, too, of anyone who just wishes to enjoy a great chorus, a cracking hook, and a mighty riff. Put simply, Nevermind nailed a formula". This explains that pure musical talent that can be performed live without auto-tuning and all the computer effects used today in things such as girl bands, will never become unappreciated. Nirvana made music with raw talent and relevant messages and thats why it still appeals to audiences, because it's simple combination, but provides iconic music that reminds older generations of key times in their life, or can be used as a soundtrack for young people now, creating memories that they'll remember, theres always a song in peoples lives that can take them back to a certain time and place, and for the older generation, Nirvana was it.
Another reason Nirvana is still relevant is that Kurt Cobain was a frontman that spoke for a generation that hadn't had a lot of idols to look up to. Cobains lyrics were very 'real', he was very frank about what his ideas were and luckily many young people agreed with him. He captured a lot of media attention; firstly with his rise to fame followed by his antics in the media spotlight, such as his infamous drug problem; his life was full of drama and tragedy and of course, some magazines thrived on this. Sadly, his demons caught up with him, but even with the death of Cobain, in a way, he was more appreciated, (look at the late Michael Jackson, he's become more popular since his unfortunate death). Theres also an element of 'what if' surrounding Cobains death, thinking of what music would be like now if the band was still around. The most impressive thing is that Nirvanas music has lasted longer than their time in the spotlight did, it's stretched past the death of Cobain and into the music collections of audiences today.
I believe that Nirvanas typical audience varies over many generations: it speaks to the older generations who listened to it as teenagers and related with the music, including the artists that they influenced and it also relates to young people of today as people are still buying their music and can still appreciate the unique sound and talent of the band, aswell as the tragedy of Cobains life that almost reads like a novel. They're still of interest to audiences as people are still making documentaries and releasing books about the band and there was so much media attention for the 20th anniversary of Nevermind; including a box set release, news reports, MTV dedicated a week to Nirvana on their website, the BBC created 3 articles about Nirvanas 20th anniversary of Nevermind and magazines like Kerrang! released albums of popular bands today who covered Nirvanas songs in a fitting tribute to the band aswell as special magazines tributes where the issue was purely about the band.
This concludes why I believe my target audience would be anyone from 16-25 years of age, because the music passes through every generation without it dissapearing or becoming just a memory, this is truely a testament to Nirvanas talent and passion for what they did best, creating music that would last a lifetime.
No comments:
Post a Comment