2. Purpose and aim of my
research
The purpose and aim of my research is to receive
primarily my target audiences feedback that would
allow me to edit and improve my new music magazine.
I performed this research so I could get an outline on
what people were looking for in a new music magazine,
I was aiming to find out the things they had never seen
before or things they wished other magazines did
differently so that I could include them in my final
magazine ideas.
3. Methodology
I created a questionnaire so that my target audience could provide
quantitative research. It included 14 questions ranging from audience
profiling questions, media purchasing questions and questions that
revolve around their personal preferences.
Having all of these questions allowed me to receive a variety of data,
mostly quantitative but occasionally qualitative.
I also produced a focus group which provided more qualitative
research and created more of a balance across my research in terms
of qualitative and quantitative research. I asked 4 of my friends for
their feedback on my questionnaires and received helpful results.
The usefulness of a focus group is that it allows me to receive much
more in-depth answers with more thought provided into the
responses.
4. Audience Profiling
The results of these questions suggests that my target
audience would be in the range of 16-20 year olds, who are
mostly male. I also asked what peoples employment status’s
are, and most of the people I asked were students, with some
of them being in part time work and unemployment
respectively. Based on this I will have a price on my
magazine, but it would be a lower price than I had previously
planned.
Age Gender Employment Status
8%
16-20 33% Part Time
42% 40%
25% Male
21-25 Unemployed
Female
26-30 58% Student
67%
27%
5. Audience Profiling
From these results, I can tell that all of my target audience is from
Harlow, I would therefore have to advertise and sell my magazine in
Harlow.
I also found out that the most popular hobby among my target
audience was watching the television. Also popular responses were
playing video games and playing an instrument, with Skateboarding
being the least popular response.
Residence Hobbies
0%
7%
14%
14% Playing an instrument
Watching the television
Harlow Going to see bands live
Playing video games
29%
22% Shopping (including online)
Skateboarding
100%
14%
6. Media Purchasing Habits
From these questions I can tell that most people buy
one or two magazines in a month, and not a lot of
people purchase 3.
The most popular magazines people would look at
were Kerrang! and NME, perhaps this means I should
adjust my layouts accordingly.
Where do people purchase magazines?
Magazines Purchased in Month Magazines my target audience would
look at
7 7%
6 Newsagents
Number of responses
5
4
3
25% 2 36%
1 Dedicated Book
33% One 0
Store
36%
Two Subscription Service
Three
Digital Download
42%
21%
Magazine Title
7. Personal Preferences
From these questions I can tell that I should be
releasing my magazine weekly as well as pricing it at
around £2.00-£2.99. This fits in nicely with my target
audience as well.
The most popular gift idea is an iTunes voucher, so
perhaps I should look into offering that to my
customers.
Magazine Gifts CDs
Magazine Release Schedule Magazine Pricing
Posters
8% 13% Band Related
17%
25% Merchandise
Weekly 42% £2.00-£2.99 Supplementary
9% Booklet
50% Fortnightly £3.00-£3.99 22%
4% Ticket Discounts
42% Monthly £4.00-£4.99
33% 13%
iTunes
22%
Vouchers/Codes
Local Gig Tickets
8. Personal Preferences
From these questions, I can tell that the most popular magazine
chosen was option A, which was an issue of Q magazine featuring
Matt Bellamy from Muse.
The magazines were chosen for their colours mostly, which means
that my colour scheme would have to be iconic and something people
will recognise.
Also the most popular feature for a magazine was a “what happened
to…?” section, highlighting what happened to a star that presumably
fell out of the music scene.
Why was that magazine chosen? Existing Magazines Features
9
8
13% 8% 7
6
Colours 5
4
37% 3
Images A 2
25% 1
25% Listed Articles B 0
Layout C
67%
Other
6%
19%
9. Personal Preferences
From these questions I can tell that the most popular
colour scheme was option B, a mix between
black, white and red.
I could also tell that my target audiences favourite
bands they would like to see featured in a new music
magazine are 30 Seconds To Mars and Muse
respectively.
Colour Scheme
Artists my target audience like
7
Amount of responses
6
5
17% 4
33% 3
A 2
1
B 0
C
50%
10. Focus Group
I produced a focus group in my own time consisting of 4 of my friends that I knew had an interest in a
variety of music, and listened to some of the songs in the genres I had chosen.
Since they are my friends, they were going to be of a similar age to me, and as such all fitted into
similar categories for age, employment status, town of residence and hobbies respectively.
When I asked my focus group which of the magazines they would pick up and look at, a few people
said kerrang!, with one person in particular stating “I would pick up NME because of it’s music variety. I
don’t listen to one particular genre so it is perfect for me”. They also stated they would pick up
magazines from Newsagents, like most of the people I asked in my questionnaire.
They, like most people also expected a new music magazine to be released weekly, stating that
“anybody who releases a magazine seasonally is stupid! Why would anybody buy that?!”.
They also said they would like iTunes vouchers as that “gives [them] the freedom to purchase the
songs that they like and not the songs the magazine wants us to listen to”.
They liked option A (Q Magazine) and felt that the “explosion on the title is really good and eye
catching”.
11. Conclusion
Although mentioned throughout my powerpoint, the summary of
my questionnaire is that my target audience is 16-20 year
olds, mostly male, who live in Harlow and enjoy watching the
television as well as playing video games and playing an
instrument.
My target audience also purchases one-two magazines a
month, would pick up Kerrang! Or NME on the bookshelf and
purchases most of their magazines from a newsagents.
I found out my target audience would prefer a new music
magazine to be released weekly, and cost around £2.00-£2.99.
This in turn would be perfect for my target audience.
The most popular supplement with a magazine was an iTunes
voucher, and I also found out that my target audience liked the
colour scheme of red, black, white.
12. Proposals
Based on my research, I obviously plan to have the colour
scheme as red, white, black as that was a unanimous
decision as well as making the freebie an iTunes voucher
and the main feature a “what happened to…?” segment.
I have decided to adjust the pricing of my magazine
compared to what I had previously planned to do, and make
the magazine around £2.99 in costing. This decision was
based on the fact that most of my target audience are
students, with some of them being unemployed and they
might not be able to afford to purchase my magazine every
week if it was much cheaper.
