Audience Research

Research into Potential Target Audience – Questionnaire

1. What magazine would you prefer to read?

• NME – IIIIIIIII = 9• Kerrang – II = 2• Metal Hammer - = 0 • Q – I = 1• Rolling Stone – II = 1

2. What would you expect from your music magazine? • • Interviews – IIII = 4• Backstage Coverage – II = 2• Exclusive News – II = 2• Coverage of festivals/gigs – IIII = 4• Posters – I = 1• Top 40 - = 0• New releases/reviews – II = 2

3. What would you expect/prefer to read on a double page spread?

• Interview with a band – IIIIII = 6• Review of several bands – III = 3• Review/coverage of gig/festivals – IIII = 4• Top 40 - = 0• Double page poster – I = 1• Tips on how to play your own music – I = 1

4 . How much would you spend on a music magazine?

• I wouldn’t buy one. -• £1-2 – IIIIII = 6• £2-3 – IIIIII = 6• £3-4 – II = 2• £4-5 – I = 1• £5+ - = 0 5. What bands are you into? • Indie Rock – e.g. Bombay Bicycle club – IIIIIII = 7• Old School – e.g. Rolling Stones – IIII = 4• Mainstream – e.g. JLS - = 0• Rock – e.g. My Chemical Romance – IIII = 4 • Other - = 0

6. What would encourage you to buy a music magazine?

• Posters – IIIII = 5• Free cd etc. – III = 3• Chance to win competitions – III = 3• Favourite band on the front cover – IIII = 4• Other - = 0

Audience Questionnaire Charts

1. What magazine would you prefer to

read?

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

NMEKerrangMetal HammerQRolling Stone

My results from the first question shows that NME is clearly the most popular magazine, most probably through its multi–platform. Whereas we can see Metal Hammer is the least popular magazine showing that it’s targeted at more a niche market and not the target audience that I'm going to be looking to aim my magazine at, yet NME’s target audience is the similar target audience that I’m going to be looking to aim my magazine at.

2. What would you expect from your music magazine?

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0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

InterviewsBackstage Coverage Exclusive News Coverage of festivals/gigs Posters Top 40 New releases/reviews

Question 2 shows what the audience expects from there music magazine. The majority of people expect Interviews and Coverage of festivals/gigs. This shows us that the audience demands a high amount of the freshest and newest information and wants to be constantly updated.

3. What would you expect/prefer to read on a double page spread?

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Interview with a band Review of several bands Review/coverage of gig/festivals Top 40 Double page poster Tips on how to play your own music

The answer for question two is similar here for question three. Showing that the audience constantly wants to be updated on information even when it comes down to the double page spreads of the magazines.

4. How much would you spend on a music maga-

zine?

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

I wouldn’t buy one£1-2£2-3 £3-4 £4-5 £5+

This shows the amount the audience would pay for the music magazines. The majority of people will pay from £1-3 showing that I should target my magazine somewhere in between this price. Also very few people would ay more than £3/4 for a magazine as the majority of them are students and have a budget. This helps me understand how much I should target my magazine at.

5. What bands are you into?

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3

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5

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Indie Rock – e.g. Bombay Bicycle clubOld School – e.g. Rolling Stones Mainstream – e.g. JLS Rock – e.g. My Chemical Ro-manceOther

For this question the majority of people chose the genre of music that they are into to be ‘Indie Rock’. Showing that I should target my magazine at this genre of music also including some ‘Old School’ and ‘Rock’ to widen my target audience.

6. What would encourage you to buy a music maga-

zine?

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

PostersFree cd etc.Chance to win competitionsFavorite band on the front coverOther

Finally question six shows what would encourage the audience to buy a music magazine. As we can see if the magazine includes posters it will encourage the reader to buy the magazine. What I found quite shocking that a free c.d. Wasn’t higher I though a freebie would immensely increase the sales of the magazine.

Skater could be a large target audience for the magazine. With them listening to Rock music there genre of music will be perfect for my magazine. Furthermore with skater culture staying the same the Skaters may be loyal customers for this magazine making this magazine more edgy and exciting. Also by including Skaters in my target audience it allows me to include not only just indie rock as a music genre but generalised rock as well creating a bigger audience to aim at.

Moshers are great for the target audience I am looking to target my audience at. Always looking for a good moshing session I can provide them with the latest gigs/festivals. They also tie in with the genre of music I'm looking to aim my magazine at, ‘alternative indie rock’ .

Indie Scenester is the category I was placed under in ‘FindYourTribe’. Indie Scenesters will be the scene setters for my magazine, by using them as part of my target audience, my magazine should be up to date on the latest music, exclusive bands etc. By using Indie Scenesters as art of my target audience my magazine will stand out from the crowd, giving teenagers and young adults the latest music and band information.

Clubbers are going to be one of the main target audiences for my magazine. The fact that they are always looking for a good time through an event such as a gig or festival, my magazine can provide them with the information about these events. It also gives an opportunity for my audience to become prosumers by contributing to the magazine, creating a unique selling point for my magazine. Furthermore by having Clubbers in my target audience I get to show a different range of festivals and gigs appealing to a large audience.

Indie kid is perfect for the target audience I am looking for. Indie kids lives revolve around music and mainly bands with guitars so this is perfect for my magazine. With them wanting to be constantly updated with exclusive interviews and new music/bands this is perfect for my magazine. Also by sharing music through the internet and talking with friends this opens my target audience up to a wider audience.

Personal Learning and Reflection

Front Cover AnalysisFrom looking at many front covers of music magazines, I have learnt all the key features I need to include in my magazine and discovered techniques to draw in and persuade the reader to buy the magazine. Firstly the second most important feature of a front cover is the main image, which is generally a mid shot of someone famous giving a direct mode of address or an eye line match to the reader making them feel important and if they are looking at them. Furthermore the magazines use many techniques with the words on the page to entice the reader such as; Buzz words, teasers, pull quotes and puff words – all used to make the magazine seem very exciting and intriguing to the reader. The most important feature of a magazine is the masthead, I have learnt that this is generally the logo of the magazine, immediately telling the reader what they are buying. The main title is also very important summarising in a short sentence what this weeks magazine is going to be about, and trying to draw the reader in. Skylines are also used to persuade the reader to buy the magazine by telling them more about what is inside the magazine. Some magazines don’t reveal much on the front cover making the audience more eager to read the magazine. Furthermore the font and the colour scheme is an very important feature of the front cover. Generally front covers use three colours as if they use more it looks messy and less it doesn’t look exciting to the reader, also by changing the font into bold or making it bigger it jumps of the page to the reader.

Contents Page AnalysisFrom my research I have learnt the features that a contents page will use to entice the reader even further. The contents page is the second biggest thing of the magazine other than the front cover and it needs to persuade the reader even more advertising what the magazine has to offer inside. The most important part of the contents page is the masthead, it needs to be bold, iconic, and unique enticing the reader even further. I feel the best contents page I have analysed is NME’s contents page having a very big bold masthead being the first thing you see then followed by and array of pictures with pull quotes underneath making the magazine look very intriguing and exciting. I feel that the photographs used on the contents page should be moving to the reader e.g. At a gig someone singing, festival etc. Making it very more interactive and exciting for the reader to look at. Finally the font used and colour scheme are very important, again like the front cover I feel you should keep your colour scheme to three colours and use very bold big font for the masthead to stand out and put certain bits of information in bold or different colour so it really stands out and entices the reader to buy the magazine and read on.

Double Page Spread Analysis

Through researching and analysing double page spreads I have found that the picture used on the double page spread plays a very important role. By having the picture just over the first page and edging onto the second it really connects the writing with the picture. The picture is generally a mid shot of a band/artist giving a direct mode of address to the reader. Furthermore another important technique used in double page spreads is ‘pull quotes’ by using a pull quote and putting it in bold large font it really stands out to the reader and really entices them to read on. Also the masthead for the double page spread is very important it may be the first thing the reader sees so it has to be bold and intriguing for the reader to read on, it may even be a pull quote. It has to grab the readers attention because if it doesn’t it could make or break the article. The leading text is also an important feature that is used to summarise the article, it is very important for a double page spread and without it you wouldn’t be able to make an impression.