From conducting audience research through an online questionnaire and focus group interviews, the author learned important insights about their target audience for a pop music magazine. The questionnaire responses showed that the target audience is mostly female aged 16-21 who enjoy socializing, music, and celebrities. Focus group interviews with two 16-year-old females provided more details, such as their preferences for ordered magazine covers, navigable page layouts, and a mix of images and text in articles. Overall, the audience research indicated that the magazine should have a mature yet colorful style, popular and up-to-date artists, and incorporate feedback on content and design to appeal to its target readership.

1. Focus Group Interview and Questionnaire Summary
I have nowcompletedmyaudience researchintopopmusicmagazines.TodothisI made a
questionnaire toasmy focusgroup,and theninterviewedtwopeoplewhoare partof my focus
groupmore indepthquestionsinordertofindoutlotsaboutwhat my audience are lookingfor
withinmypopmusicmagazine. Ifoundoutlotsfrom bothof these audience researchtechniques.
I askedmore vague questionsinmyquestionnaire whichIproducedonline andgot11 responses,
whereaswhenIchose to domy focusgroup interview ontwopeople,Iaskedthem11 questionsas
shownbelow.
From myquestionnaire,Ifoundoutthatmost of the
people whoanswereditwere mostlyfemaleandwere betweenthe agesof 16-21. Most of their
interestsandhobbiesweresocialisingwith theirfriends,listeningtomusicandacting, whichlinks
nicelyintothe genre of musicIam makingmymagazine for. Bandsand artistsare the thingthat
intriguesmytargetaudience mosttoreada magazine,soissomethingIneedto considerwhen
producingmyown,withthe type of imagespresentcomingaclose second. The storiesonbandsand
artistswere the mostpopulartype of story that mytarget audience wouldwant toreadabouttoo. I
didn’tknowwhattype of fontwouldbe the most populartomy target audience forthisgenre,soI
foundoutthroughmy questionnaire thatthe sansserif fontisthe fontthat theywouldpreferme to
use more throughoutmymagazine. The colourschemesneedtobe mature,yetbrightandcolourful
inorder formy magazine tobe able to stand outamongstothersin a shop.I foundoutthat the
imagesandthe contentof the magazine isone of the main thingsthatmakesthe target audience
wantto consume thismagazine sowhenproducingmyown,I reallyneedtothinkaboutthese two
thingsinmuch more detail thanthe restin orderto make my magazine appealingtothem. Lastly,
the artistsI feature needtobe popularand up-to-date sothe targetaudience canrecognise them
easilyandthembeinginanimage themselvesneedsto be a conceptof the magazine.
From myfocus groupinterview,Ifoundoutquite alot of the same
information,butinevenmore detailthanbefore.Iinterviewedtwofemales
whowere aged16 and were part of my targetaudience forthe popgenre.I
interviewedthembyusingthe ‘Girl Talk’magazine whichisinmygenre.Ata firstglance,the things
that intrigue themthe mostwhenlookingata magazine are the celebritiesonthe frontcoversuch
as Rita Ora, andthe brightcolours.The mainthingstheysaid theywouldlookfororexpecttosee in
a pop musicmagazine are a detaileddouble page spreadarticle whichisusuallyabouta
celebrity/artistwhoiswell knownandelementsthathave theirmusictaste withininwithcelebrity
gossip. Theyinformedme thattheythinkthe mosteffective typeof frontcoverisone whichis
orderedasit bringsacross a more mature feel andsophistication tothe magazine,it’seasytoget
around,whereas whenit’scluttereditbringsacrossa more childishfeel toit. Ona typical music
magazine contentspage,theyexpecttosee page numberssotheyare able to navigate aroundthe
page easily andforit to be in sections,e.gthe rule of thirds. Theyalsothinkthathavinga little part
of a story withsubtitlesthatwill be coveredinthe magazinewouldbe effective,asitwouldgrabthe
readersintowhattheyare reading. Theywouldprefermydouble page spreadtobe a middle-ranged
article as some people like readingintodetail andfindoutaboutthe artistmore,whereas some
people donotlike readingasmuchso wouldn’twantalongdouble page spreadtoread as they
wouldprobablyjustskimthroughitandnot rememberthe keypointsthatthe article istryingto
convey. The image totextratio needstobe more imagesand to be laidoutin the waywiththe
image onone side of the spread,andthe writingonthe other side asthisis conventionalforapop
musicmagazine.Theybelievethata formal mode of address andlanguage wouldbe bestforthe
magazine thatI am tryingto create as due to my target audience beingquite mature,thisisthe

2. formatthat theywouldwant,howeveritcouldhave informal elementstomake what theyare
saying,more relatable.Three thingsthattheydidnotlike aboutthe ‘Girl Talk’magazine in frontof
themaimedat a youngertargetaudience wasthattheydidn’tlike the contentspage layoutasit
isn’tverynavigational.The contentitselfof the magazine iswaytoogirlywiththe coloursof pink
and purple usedconstantlythroughout.Cartoons are alsousedwithisn’tverymature forthe target
audience thatI will be creatingmymagazine for. Some of the storiesare clearlyquite fake,one the
pointedoutwasaboutEd Sheerangettingmarried. Lastly,the productsbeingadvertisedsuchas
‘strawberrywatches’are notproductsthat the target audience couldrelate toorevenwantto think
aboutbuying.Theythinkcompetitionsare abitimmature formy targetaudience too. Theybasically
summarise the magazine bybeingquitechildishasthe fonts usedtoo,easilyrelatetothe type of
audience whowouldbe readingthe magazine asyoung.The type of imagesthatwere the most
popularwasclose-upsandlongshots.Thiswasbecause the readerscan thenlookat theirfacial
featuresandespeciallymake-uporhairandoutfitchoicesif the image isof a girl as mostof the
target audience wouldbe intofashion. A mixtureof bothfonttypes,serif andsans serif,wouldbe
preferredthroughmymagazine inordertoclearlyshow whatparts of the textare more important
than the others. Italso makesnavigatingaroundthe page more interestingforthe readers. For
example the headingscouldbe bolderthanthe actual article itself.
The two girlsI interviewedtoldme thatI shouldprobablyinclude quizzesandgamesastheyliked
lookingandparticipate inthemwhilstIwasairingmyinterview.However,Iwill have tothink
carefullyaboutthisasnot all my targetaudience wouldbe interestedinthatsortof thingsoit could
endup puttingthemoff buyingthe magazine. If Ichose toinclude these inmymagazine,thenI
wouldhave tomake sure thattheyappeal to a more mature target audience.
Overall,Iam veryhappywiththe responsesthatIgot frommy Questionnaire andfocusgroup
interview.These will have amassive impactonhow Ichoose to create my magazine fromhow I
choose to layit out,rightdownto the simple coloursIchoose tobase aroundit.I had reasonable
responsesandpointsmade inorderforme to have the chance to make a successful popmusic
magazine.