The focus group provided feedback on a music magazine's target audience, content, and design. For the target age range, 17-21 was deemed more appropriate than 16-21. The content was well-received overall, though some features like holidays were seen as more relevant to older readers. The color scheme and cover image were found suitable for appealing to the female target audience. Suggestions to improve the magazine included adding more cover features and varying the photos more. Ratings for the magazine ranged from 8 to 9.5 out of 10.

1. Focus group results (Final designs)
Age
For this focus group, I used a variety of age ranges from my target
audience; two 16 year olds, three 17 year olds and two eighteen year
olds. I chose to use a variety of ages at it allowed me to get feed back
from all age ranges to find which the magazine was best suited to.
Gender
I used a mixture of boys and girls for my magazine, two boys and 5
girls. Even though my magazine is aimed at females, I wanted to
receive male feedback to find out if there was any content included
that would appeal to males too; and if not, what could be included if I
decided to one day make the magazine aimed at both genders.
Employment Status
There were various employment status’ within the focus group; 6
were students, 2 unemployed, 1 full-time worker and 4 part-time
workers. By having a variety, this allowed me to find out which
features appealed best to which employment status’ and why. Also
the feedback will allow suggestions to be given as to what could be
included to appeal to a specific status more.
Music Taste
I wanted to find out which genre of music my focus group was most
into. 5 said Indie, 1 said alternative and 1 said folk. I feel that these
genres are all very closely linked together, and often artists that I
have included in my magazine will fall under 2 or more of the genres
mentioned. By finding out about the music taste of the target
audience, it allows me to use similar or the same artists as those that
fall under these genres to ensure that the content of my magazine
will appeal and be of an interest to my target audience.
Do you feel the artists included are suitable for this genre?
The overall opinion for this question was that the artists included
were suitable. The Killers, Bastille, and Lana del Rey proved to be
some of the most popular from those featured in the magazine.
However, it was suggested that there should be more focus given to
bands such as Mumford and Sons, FUN and The Lumineers as they
are the current bands that are in the press a lot from this genre of

2. music. I feel this was a valid point. As a fan of this genre myself, I feel
these artists would fit in well with my magazine.
Do you feel the images are suitable for the genre of magazine?
The female members of focus group agreed that the images were
suitable for this genre and type of magazine. It was said that due to
the magazine being aimed at females, the use of iconic females on the
cover would help to attract the target audience to the magazine. They
felt that the model used was a good choice due to being a similar age
to the target audience, which allows the reader to relate to them. In
regards to the male members of the focus group, they felt that the
model was too a good choice, however said that coming from a males
perspective, the model can be said to have been included for the
‘Male Gaze’ (Laura Mulvey) as they wouldn’t be interested in the
clothes, hair make-up etc of the model that female readers would be.
Do you feel that the content of the magazine is suited to this genre?
The overall opinion was that there was a good variety of content,
which ensured that all ages, and employment status’ were catered
for. It was noted that some features such as ‘the 10 destinations for
holidays abroad’ was more suited to those of 18+ as this is the sage
that most people go on their first holiday without parents. This lead
to a discussion about maybe raising the target audience age from
16-21 to 17/18 -21. The festival and holiday content were the
features that appealed largely to both genders as neither are suited
or aimed at just one gender.
Do you feel the target audience is suitable for this magazine?
This came up in a discussion about the holiday and festival content
that was included. It was agreed that the age range should be
increased to 17/18 – 21 as the holiday content interests all the ages,
however, probably isn’t an option for those under the age of 18. In
terms of the music taste, the two 16 years olds that were included in
the focus group commented on the fact that at that age, most people
haven’t made their mind up as to which genre of music they like,
whereas those who are around the age of 18 are more set on the
genre that they best like and have an interest in.
Do you feel the colour scheme is suitable?
The focus group agreed that the colour scheme is suitable due to the
fact that a large proportion of the target audience is females. The
bright pink gives a feminine feel and appearance to the magazine,

3. which helps to stop men from purchasing the magazine as the
content probably wouldn’t be suited to their interests and wants
from a music magazine.
Are there any other features that you would include in the magazine?
It was agreed that there was a good variety of content included in the
magazine, which ensures that a vast majority of interests are met.
Even though the focus group couldn’t see the entire magazine, from
the listings that were present on the contents page, a suggestion
made was that the tour dates should be moved nearer to the front of
the magazine to ensure that all readers will notice and read them. A
second suggestion that was made was that an iconic artist from this
genre had a weekly column in the magazine as this would allow
regular readers to keep up with the events in their lives as well as
being about to feel as if they are building a fake relationship with the
artist.
How do you feel the magazine could be improved?
There were a few suggestions made from the focus group about how
the magazine could be improved. The first was that there should be
more features included on the front cover, or a larger image to fill the
space more. At the moment it looks a bit empty which may make the
potential buyer choose not to purchase the magazine due to believing
there won’t be a lot of content included inside. The second
suggestion that was made was that the images could have had a
larger variation between them; all the images that were included
were taken outside and with the models wearing similar clothes in
each. I agree with this suggestion as I feel there is a link within all the
images which I feel there shouldn’t be due to the images covering
different topics, especially on the contents page.
Would you purchase this magazine? (why/why not)
The focus group was split on this question; The females said they
would purchase the magazine, whereas the males said they wouldn’t.
The reasons for not purchasing the magazine was due to the
magazine being aimed at females. They felt that the content (with a
few exceptions such as the festivals and holidays), the images and the
colour scheme were all suited to a female audience and did not
appeal to them. Whereas the reasons for buying the magazine
included the fact that they felt as if they could relate to the artists and
people featured within the content of the magazine. They were
attracted by the magazine due to its colour scheme and font that was

4. used on the title as it stood out from other indie magazines, which
tend to use darker, colours such as greys, blacks, reds etc.
What would you rate the magazine out of 10?
8/10 was voted 3 times
9/10 was voted 3 times
9.5/10 was voted once
Reason for these scores include:
The front cover looks quite empty which potential readers may feel is
an indication to the content inside. However the rest of the magazine
looks and feels like it is up to publication standards.
It is suited well to the target audience. The colour scheme works well
to achieve a feminine feel to the magazine, which make men feel this
this isn’t a magazine for them, therefore it increases the chances of
those who do buy the magazine feeling they have chosen a good
magazine which is suited to them.
The images were the only thing that let the magazine down. I feel that
if they had a bit more variation to them, it would work in the
magazines favor. However, in terms of the rest of the magazine, it
works well together and is suited to the target audience.