Audience Research

Question 1Results

•Vibe – 2•Kerrang – 3•NME – 5•Q – 3•Other - 3

I chose to ask this question because I wanted to find out what type of magazines my target audience would go for. The most popular magazine with my audience was NME, probably because it’s based around indie music, a very popular genre, but also focuses on a lot of other genres such as pop and rock, and therefore targets a mass market. The next most popular magazine was Q, which is very similar to NME in the sense that it focuses on more than one music genre, which makes it more popular. The next most popular magazine is Kerrang, which is a magazine that is based on the rock genre, which is a largely popular genre, and has been for decades. The least popular magazine was Vibe, which is a magazine that focuses on rap and R’nb, a very popular genre at the moment, but it’s not as versatile the indie genre, which is probably why this magazine isn’t as popular as the others.

Question 2Results

•Interviews – 2•Backstage coverage – 3•Coverage of festivals/gigs – 1• New releases reviews – 4•Exclusive news – 1•Posters – 4•UK top 40 - 1

I asked this question in order to find out exactly what my audience expects from a music magazine, which could also reflect what they like to see in a music magazine. The most popular answers were new releases reviews and posters. New releases and reviews could have been a popular answer because my audience knows music magazines constantly update their audiences with the latest releases in music in order to meet their needs and demands in terms of constantly having new information and knowing the latest trends, songs, bands/artists in music. Posters was a popular answer because it is extremely conventional for magazines, especially music ones to feature posters, as they prove to be very popular and something the audience demand as they like looking at them and young people especially would use them to decorate their room. The next most popular answer was backstage coverage, which could reflect the idea of ones need for gossip, as backstage coverage usually features ‘fly on the wall’ type information.

Question 2 continuedThe next most popular answer was interviews, which is something very conventional to feature in magazines, especially music ones, which people like to read as they know an interview with a band/artists is very reliable information, as it’s their own words, as opposed to something just reported in an article. The least popular answers were coverage of festivals/gigs, exclusive news and UK top 40. Coverage of festivals/gigs could be an unpopular answer because it’s not something people would take a lot of notice of as they would be more interested in things like new releases reviews, backstage coverage and interviews. I’m surprised that exclusive news wasn’t a more popular answer, as ‘exclusive’ is a buzz word used to draw the audience in and it implies that because it’s exclusive to that magazine you can’t find it anywhere else. UK top 40 could have been an unpopular answer because it may not interest the audience as it may not relate to the genre of that magazine. For example, the UK top 40 may feature R’nb songs, so including this information in a magazine with a rock genre would be irrelevant.

Question 3Results

•Interviews - 6•Featured article - 3•Information on featured artist - 4 •True stories - 3

I asked this question in order to help me understand what my audience likes to see on a double page spread, so I know what to feature on my own. Interviews was the most popular answer because it’s very conventional to feature one on a double page spread, also, people like reading interviews, especially if it’s with their favourite band/artist. The next most popular answer was information on featured artist, which is probably because that’s what they expect as opposed to an interview with a music producer or an artist that wasn’t shown to be featured in the magazine. The least popular answers were featured article and true stories. Featured article was an unpopular answer because I think my target audience would expect and prefer to read an interview on a double page spread. I’m surprised true stories was an unpopular answer because people tend to like to read stories about an artists/band, e.g. An artists story about a recent ordeal.

Question 4Results

• £1-£2 – 3•£2-£3 - 6•£3-£4 - 5•Higher than £4 - 1

I asked this question in order to help me price my magazine. The most popular answer was £2 - £3, which I think is a typical, reasonable and affordable price for a music magazine, and it’s could to see that my audience would be happy with paying this amount for a music magazine. The next most popular answer was £3 - £4, which shows me that my audience would be prepared to pay a fair amount for a music magazine, much more than a standard gossip magazine, which I think reflects their love and interest for music. The next most popular answer is £1-£2, which i’m not surprised at as young people like to pay little money for things, however, this is an unreasonable price for a magazine as it’s too cheap and therefore won’t make much of a profit. The least popular answer was Higher than £4, which i’m not surprised by at all as this is quite expensive for a music magazine, and would probably put people off from buying it.

Question 5Results

•Use of colour – 3•Recognisable cover star – 6 •Enticing news stories – 3 •Freebies - 5

I asked this question in order to help me understand what grasps my target audiences attention in terms of features of a music magazine, so I know what to feature in my own magazine to make it appealing as possible. The most popular answer was recognisable cover star, which is probably because the cover star is likely to be very popular and my target audience would probably be a fan of theirs. Also, it’s better to feature a cover star people are familiar with rather than one they have never seen before. The next most popular answer was freebies, which i’m not surprised by, as this is something that usually entices people to buy a magazine, sometimes it’s the only reason someone chooses to buy that magazine. The least popular answers are use of colour and enticing news stories.