Who listens to The Prodigy

I asked students from around my sixth form social forum, what kind of people or audience they thought of when I asked them who listens to The Prodigy. I received a range of answers from Indie/rockers, Dance/techno lovers, ravers and a range of ages across generations. With this is mind I researched various Prodigy music videos ranging from their first releases in 1991 to the present day, to give an idea of why these audience types were suggested and whether they were just generalizations of the genre of The Prodigy’s music.
I also undertook some background research on how The Prodigy started out and how they rose to fame to get an idea of their original fan base. Liam Howlett the main front man for The Prodigy was highly involved in the rave scene just a few years before he found fame. He was a popular face and even became a DJ at several raves. This genre then became a heavy influence on their first album with dance and rave tracks with the occasional reggae style mixes. This highlights what a diverse band they are, shown by their ability to produce any style of music. I believe this to be the reason why they have such a range of target audiences.
After pushing their music at various gigs and raves their popularity grew and they rose to fame rapidly, with their first music video then being played on Top of the Pops and their fan base continued to expand.
Many of their fans were in their teenage years and were into the rave scene. This was incorporated in their first music video Charly. It was a very performance based video, set at a rave. This is a direct plug at their target audience and also is clearly intertextual by including video clips from 1970’s commercial advertisements “Charly cartoons”. Addressing their target audience who may remember the advertisements in their childhood and may take them on a nostalgia trip.



To further my research I looked at many message boards for The Prodigy and many people were commenting on how they had bought The Prodigy’s first album back in 1992 and they are still hearing their music on the radio now in 2009, proving how they have continued to be popular throughout the country.
Their later videos continued to stay performance based with elements of concept being introduced. These videos keep consistency throughout their work.
Another reoccurring motif than I found throughout the four music videos I analyzed, is the use of darkness and underground settings to set moods. Firestarter is set in an abandoned London subway, Poison was shot in a dark, mud infested underground room and No Good is set in an underground warehouse. Also with both No Good and Firestarter filmed in black and white. Genres associated with darkness are Emo/Indie and Rock music, conforming to the perception that listeners of The Prodigy and most probably audience to these genres.








This is continued in the design of their official website with the rave scene being incorporated with neon colours but then an industrial feel is given with black and white images and a dark edge to the images.

Danni