Characteristics such as age, gender, and ethnicity as well as socioeconomic status, purchasing patterns, and education can all be considered demographics because they sort individuals into specific categories . Advertising agencies rely on demographic analysis in order to target the correct products for the desired consumer . Due to the movement of music from physical records, cassettes, and CDs to free streaming via the web, as well as the reduction of federal government funding, music distributors rely on advertising in order to continue supporting the music industry . It is becoming increasingly difficult to focus on one audience to advertise to because of the vast array of diverse music that is accessible on the internet, as well as audience …show more content…
However, there are unacknowledged forces that promote the success of products, such as vertical integration of corporations which control how much of a product is produced, distributed, and promoted . For example, large music corporations such as Warner Brothers Records have the ability to sign artists that they believe the public will support, then because the company has access to distribution and production organizations, they can effortlessly brand, create, and disseminate a non-offensive product that they crafted through the hands of their signed artist. Large corporations have complete control over the creative process and can practically force success due to their ability to disseminate products to wide audiences and ownership of countless corporations which are needed to produce music. Therefore, merit, which is based on popularity, is fabricated by the richest companies and the consumer is fed what the capitalist organizations want to offer to the public. This exemplifies the hardships that Canadian artists must face in order to be recognized nationally. Canadians are either competing for their local audience against a multinational company and several other hometown bands, or they are sacrificing their Canadian identity by signing with a conglomerate company in order to achieve international recognition