Target Audience

Secondary Research

This is an audience profile for 'NME', which is one of the magazines I would like my own magazine to take influence from, as I like the style and would like to produce a magazine based around a similar genre of music. It shows that the majority of readers are male and the average age of the reader is 24. The main brands that readers are interested in are 'Fred Perry', 'Jack Daniels', 'H&M', 'Levis', 'Topshop'/'Topman' and 'Converse', making them appear to be quite image conscious. The readers of the magazine could be said to be "Indie-Scenesters". According to http://www.uktribes.com/, "indie-scenesters" are a "mainly middle class tribe" and are described as:

"Broad catch-all Tribe who are passionate about guitar music. A staple of British culture since post-punk and the early 80s, and particularly prevalent since The Strokes arrived and re-awoke Indie kids from their rave-era slumber. It's not hugely snobby - bands are "allowed" widespread critical acclaim and frequently hit the charts. It's a big change from the Indie kids of the 80s who were into then niche-bands like The Smiths, proudly read "NME" and jealousy guarded their bands from the mainstream. There is movement between the Indie kid and Indie Scenester Tribes, but not to a huge degree. Indie kids tend to be younger than their scenester counterparts while they might be at exactly the same gigs, don't aspire to be in each others' groups. A confident, energetic and enthusiastic tribe, which have become one of Britain's most largest and influential."

Tribe "icons" are said to be bands such as "The Libertines", "The Horrors", "The Smiths" and "The Strokes".

The image below is of "indie-scenesters", which shows the kind of image they have. The fact it's been taken at a festival shows their interest in music as a tribe.

From researching "indie-scenesters" as a tribe, who are readers of magazines like "NME" and "Clash" magazine, I think I would like them to be my target audience. However, although magazines like "NME" have a largely male-based readership, I would like my magazine to be aimed at females, because I think there is a niche in the market for an "indie" magazine aimed at females and I think it would be a unique selling point as there aren't really any music magazines targeting females at the moment. I also think it would be more interesting to create and I would like to aim it at females aged between 15 and 24 and in the socio economic group C1 (mainly targeting lower middle class students).

From looking at the reader profile for "NME", I have tried to recreate my own with reference to my own magazine. I included brands, clothing types and hobbies that my readership may have.

Primary Research

Questionnaire

This is a screenshot of a questionnaire that I gave out to 20 girls aged between 15 and 24, who told me they were interested in "indie" music. I handed out 20 because I thought it was a suitable number; not too large to be counted, but not too little to be insignificant. I only handed them out to specific people because then it would only give me relative or necessary data. I asked questions about layout, price and design to find out what would appeal to my target audience.

For the first question I asked which magazine cover they liked best, and the majority (8 people) said Clash magazine. Underneath I had written an open question asking why and the majority of answers related to the fact that they found the cover image most appealing and the way that it was striking, even though it was plain. This would indicate that my target audience would like a simple magazine cover, rather than one packed with sell-lines and images like the "NME" cover.

For the second question, I decided to ask about the type of shot on a cover that would appeal to people. From my results it is apparent that not many people would like to see close-ups in an image on the cover. An equal amount of people would like to see both mid-shots and long-shots. So, when I make my magazine, this will be something to bare in mind when considering shots and whether or not they will appeal to my target audience.

I then asked the same question about shot preference, but with reference to a double page spread, and more people would like to see close-ups, but the majority say they would prefer to see long-shots. This information could again be useful when planning and taking shots for my magazine.

Here is a pie chart of results showing what type of image people would prefer; either to be taken on location or in a studio. This shows that the majority of my target audience would prefer images to be taken on location. This could be because it makes them more interesting, or because they like their bands to be more "real" and less "manufactured" and "photo-shopped". So, when taking my photos, I should be looking to take them on location.

This question refers to images and colours. I decided it would be useful to find out whether my audience would find a grey-scale colour scheme, one with few colours, or a colour scheme containing many colours more attractive. People said they would least like a vast colour scheme, and most like a simple colour scheme. I didn't expect so many people to find a grey-scale colour scheme attractive, so maybe a mainly grey-scale colour scheme containing one or two other colours would be appealing to my target audience. I will take this into account when planning and making my magazine.

One question asked people about whether or not they used existing music magazine websites. This pie chart shows the large proportion of people that said they did use magazine websites, indicating that people like to actively interact with magazines as well as just reading them. Also, it shows the Internet habits of my target audience, as the majority must use it a lot in their free time. This could then be something to take into account when making my own magazine, maybe I should include sections that give readers a chance to interact, or include a website address underneath my masthead.

My next question was an open question, and asked people to write down how much they would pay for a new music magazine. I didn't expect people to agree on one certain price, just to get an idea of a price range that my audience would consider acceptable, but 4 people all put £2.20. The price range was between £1.70 and £2.50, but I think seeing as many people put £2.20, that should be more or less the price of it and I don't think that's too expensive.

My last question asked people to rate elements of magazines that are used to attract people in order of which they found the most attractive (6 being the highest and 1 being the lowest). From my results, image/s appeared to be the thing that most attracts people to magazines, with colour scheme being the second most attractive. The least attractive thing appeared to be the sell-lines and feature article, which is surprising, because I thought the feature article would be the most appealing component. This lets me know though, how important image and colour are to my audience and I know that these should be a priority when planning and making my magazine.

I found the results from my questionnaire useful, and I think they will benefit me when it comes to planning and manufacturing, as I now have some points to consider and indications as to what will make my magazine successful and appealing.

Focus Group

In addition to my questionnaire results, I held a focus group containing 4 girls of the ages of 16, 17, 21 and 20, i.e a collection of people who are in my target audience.

I showed them some examples of texts and asked them what they liked about them :-
BECCA: I like the picture on that one. ("NME")
SOPHIE: Yeah, it makes the person look really cool.
BECCA: But I think it's got too much stuff on the page, like it looks really cluttered. Makes it look like too much information in a way.
RUBY: Yeah, but isn't that what you want in a music magazine?
BECCA: Well no. Well yeah, but it makes it look like too much, you know?
RUBY: Mmmm I see where you're coming from.
RACHEL: I like the colours in this one! (pointed to "ArtRocker")
SOPHIE: I like the graphicy lines over the picture.
ME: So if you saw that one, would you buy it because you like the image?
SOPHIE: I think so, it just makes it look really cool and edgy
RUBY: I'd buy it because I like the other bands it says on the side
BECCA: But I think the other one looks better ("NME")
ME: So out of a choice between the two, you'd buy "NME" even though you think it's too cluttered?
BECCA: Yeah, that one is too cluttered but it just looks more professional, like that one just looks like someone's messed about with photo shop, rather than a real music magazine.
RACHEL: It is called "ArtRocker" though.
RUBY: No I think "ArtRocker" looks much better. Much more attractive. From a glance looking at the two, I would pick "ArtRocker", "NME" just doesn't look as nice.
ME: What about this one? ("Clash")
RACHEL: Oh! Now that one looks nicer.
ME: Why?
RACHEL: Looks much more proper, kind of sophisticated
SOPHIE: Yeah, I think it looks good because like Becca said, this one is too cluttered and in this one they've left a bit of space... that looks much better, I'd get that one
RUBY: I like the font
BECCA: But it looks like you don't get as much as "NME"
RACHEL: Yeah but the stuff you do get might be better.
ME: So out of all three, which one do you prefer?
RUBY: This one ("ArtRocker")
SOPHIE: "Clash"
RACHEL: The one with "Oasis" on the front. ("Clash")
BECCA: Probably "NME" but I think "Clash" is good as well yeah.

This gave me a lot of tips for what makes a cover look good when I'm making my own. For example, I know that images are important, and I know that the space makes it look good, but also so does when it's cluttered. 3 out of 4 preferred "Clash" magazine, so this is a magazine I should take a lot of influence from. When planning my magazine, if I'm unsure about fonts or layout, this should be something I should refer back to for help.

I then asked them about some aspects which would more specifically relate to my music magazine:-
ME: So, if I was to make a new "indie" music magazine aimed at females your age, what would you like to see in it?
RUBY: Good pictures.
BECCA: Definitely, girls like pictures better
SOPHIE: I dunno, the writing is important too.
BECCA: Yeah, but admit, it's the cover picture that makes you want to buy it.
SOPHIE: True, it's the first thing you notice.
ME: So pictures, of one artist or a band and would you like to see it big or small?
RACHEL: Definitely big. A small picture on a cover wouldn't look good, you want something that jumps out at you.
RUBY: But subtle can be good. Big though. Big and subtle, is that possible? Yeah, like ArtRocker.
RACHEL: And I think one artist would look better because you don't want it to look too cluttered.
SOPHIE: I think it would be good to take some from different angles. 'Cause most magazines pictures are taken from dead on or below, maybe from slightly above would be good. Just a different angle than normal really.
BECCA: Stuff that's different is good, different always looks attractive.
RUBY: If you're going to do that, one person is probably best for the cover.
RACHEL: But! I didn't mean big for the double page. Maybe a small one with lots of blank space would look good on a double page.
BECCA: Yeah that's a point!
ME: And what do you think of the text in these double page spreads? (Showing three I researched)
RUBY: I like the way it's never written on the image. It's like it's on a piece of paper stuck over the top or next to.
BECCA: Oh! Notepad paper might look good.
SOPHIE: Or some other kind of paper... brown paper?
ME: And you see these contents pages? (showing 3 I researched) Do you think the white background is good?
RUBY: It depends on the colours on the cover.
RACHEL: Yeah you should continue the colours in the cover and contents. Keep it steady and similar: continuity.
SOPHIE: I think a good font is important, you need one that people can read and one that looks interesting and unique at the same time.
RUBY: And it should fit in with the magazine title font.
RACHEL: And the colour of the title and font should fit in too.
BECCA: I like the different sections in them all, you should come up with some personalised one with your magazine name like that one. ("Clash")

From holding a focus group, I have found many things that I can include in my magazine. The advantage of a focus group is getting different perspectives on something that you might not think of, and I really liked the suggestion of taking images from different and unusual angles. I also liked the advice about having a single artist on the cover, and about the text in the double-page spread being on a different background on top of the image. I also appreciated the suggestions for the contents page and I like the idea of making personalised sections. I can use these suggestions and ideas in my magazine to make sure that it meets the needs of my audience.