media

1. Introduction…
I carried out primary research in college in order to find out
what my target audience want from a music magazine and
also how they feel towards different conventions, such as
cover mounts and also the price of the magazine, due to this
being an important aspect within the magazine. For my
questionnaire, I created questions which would help me
improve with the style of magazine I am aiming towards to
create but also how much the target audience would be
happy spending for a music magazine. I gained the answers I
wanted through a variety of quantitative and qualitative style
questions, to vary my results.

2. Male
73%
Female
27%
Gender of people who took
questionnaire
From this question I wanted to know the gender of the person therefore I would be
able to know through-out the questionnaire, if feelings towards either the price or
the type of music they listen to changes between the genders, and as the target
audience of the music magazine I am producing is male, I felt it was necessary to
ask the majority of males to fill in the questionnaire as I would find results from
males more helpful towards the females purely because of the target audience I am
trying to appeal my music magazine towards. However, to get a more accurate
answer from the rest of the questionnaire, I felt I should have asked 100% males due
to them being my target audience, so I should value their response more and as I
don’t need to pay much attention to the female response compared to the males, I
should have kept it as 100% male meaning all the responses are relevant.
The first question which I asked through my
questionnaire was a closed qualitative question
as I asked the gender of the person who was
about to fill in the questionnaire, but I didn’t
need to know why meaning it was a closed
question.
The pie chart above shows the majority of
people who answered my questionnaire were
male with answering 73% of the
questionnaires, compared to females who only
answered 27%.

3. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Age range of people who took
questionnaire.
under 16
16-21
22-30
31+
The second question I asked was a quantitative question as I asked the age range of
people taking my questionnaire and I gave them options to tick of numerical data,
which made this a quantitative question. I made sure the answer boxes were spread
out in terms of the data due to the age range of my target audience for the magazine
I am going to produce is 16-21, therefore I felt it was necessary to make sure the data
for the target audience to answer through matches my target audience.
100% of people I asked to fill out my questionnaire were aged 16-21., which meant I
carried out this part of the questionnaire correctly due to it matching the age range
of my target audience. This therefore means I can trust the rest of the responses
given from these questionnaires depending on the target audience due to 100% of
the results being from the age range of my target audience, meaning the lifestyle
may be similar or even how they feel about specific things from a magazine may be
similar.

4. 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
White Asian African Other
Ethnicity of people who took my
questionnaire.
The third question in which I asked was a closed qualitative question due to me
asking the ethnicity of the person who was filling out the questionnaire I had
produced, and due to the fact I didn’t need to know why they were a certain ethnicity
meant this question was closed.
I feel I carried out this particular question correctly depending on my target audience
of the music magazine I am going to create due to them being white males, as I feel
they listen to rock music through stereotypes and the representation of white men,
compared to Asian or African males for example. Therefore, the results that were
given from this question suited the purpose of the questionnaire better due to 100% of
the population asked were white, this therefore means the population of people I
asked, who were white males, so 73% of the whole questionnaire would have a similar
lifestyle in the music they may listen to and also typical conventions which they expect
to see within a music magazine.

5. 23%
17%
12%
12%
12%
6%
6%
6%
6%
Genre of music prefered and why.
Rock, upcoming/ screamer preferred
style
Pop, upbeat and happy
Indie, modern and upcoming
Grime, varied and a new change
House, good beats and rhythm
Rap, no reason given
Metal, upcoming
Punk, like the sound of it
Folk, no reason given
The fourth question I carried out for my primary research was an open qualitative question based
on the genre of music they listen to, and I asked why as I wanted to know what they prefer out of
music, which is important for me to know as I am creating a music magazine.
This question gave me a varied set of answers, due to the population asked all had different
styles of music they were in to and preferred, however the majority of people who I had asked
preferred rock music compared to all the other different genres which meant I asked some of the
correct people throughout my questionnaire, but if I wanted to make this more accurate and
suitable for my magazine which originally I did want I should have asked people who preferred
just rock music as this would have helped me throughout the rest of the questionnaire due to this
specific population knowing exactly what they expect from a rock music magazine and the
conventions which they prefer due to them being interested in the specific genre meaning I
would have been able to use this more to my advantage as choosing the majority of people who
prefer rock would have been able to help me specifically with what they prefer from these
magazines. Therefore meaning I would have been able to create a magazine which suited their
preferences completely.

6. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
0
1 to 3
4 to 6
7+
Magazines brought within a month.
For the fifth question in my questionnaire, it was a quantitative question on how many
magazines the same age range of my target audience purchase music magazines within
a month as this would help clearly indicate to me how many magazines I should be
releasing roughly in a month and how regularly they should be produced. This
question would also give me a rough idea to how popular music magazines are to the
specific age gender and how popular they may become depending on the conventions
which have been used in the magazine.
I think I didn’t carry this question out correctly mainly due to the specific people I
asked to fill out my questionnaire. The majority of people who I asked don’t tend to
purchase magazines within a month as 6 out of the 11 people answered the 0 box
meaning they aren’t in to music magazines particularly. To make my questionnaire
more useful towards me and my data which I have gathered, I should have asked
people who are in to music magazines and tend to buy them regularly due to this
then helping me further with the design if my magazine as I would know what keen
magazine fans expect to see in their music magazines with the different conventions.

7. 99p to £1.99
46%
£2 to £2.99
36%
£3 to £3.99
9%
£4 to £4.99
9%
The most the TA are willing to spend on a
music magazine.
For the sixth question in my questionnaire, it was another quantitative question on how
much the target audience’s age range would be willing to pay for a music magazine, so I
would be able to find out through my primary research how much is an acceptable
amount to charge for the music magazine I am about to produce, as the specific target
audience wouldn’t have a steady income due to being quite young in the job world and
may not be able to afford regular expensive magazines meaning I will be able to figure
out how regular and the ideal price for my music magazine.
I feel I carried this question out correctly, as the same age range of my target
audience for my music magazine are willing to spend 99p to £1.99 with 46% of the
population asked saying that’s the most they are willing to pay, which I think is
acceptable for a music magazine but also it’s cheaper for the target audience meaning
they would be able to afford this due to it not being too expensive and it won’t leave
them too out of pocket, so they might not mind paying £1.99 for my magazine,
especially if they don’t have a job.

8. 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
Artist information- interesting
Posters/ pictures - visually appealing
concert information- keeps fans up to date
Question and answer - more information given
Didn't answer
Merchandise - more appealing
Album reviews -fans can trust these
Gossip - suited to preferences
Celebrity lifestyle - get to know more
Facts - more interesting
doesn’t mind, as long as good quality.
What do you look for in a music magazine and why?
For the seventh question for my primary research, I carried out a qualitative question which
was open due to me asking why they look for specific things within a music magazine, as this
open question would help widen my knowledge as to why certain aspects are being used. I
asked the question as I wanted to know mainly why people the same age as my target
audience want to see specific conventions within a music magazine, whether it make it more
valuable or more appealing to them as a target audience.
I think this question has really helped me in order to decide what I need to include within my
music magazine in order for it to appeal to my target audience, but also so it may convince
them to purchase the magazine, if I include different conventions in which they look for in a
music magazine. However, I feel like I haven’t completely carried this part of the
questionnaire out correctly due to the fact that 6 out of 11 people I asked to fill out the
questionnaire don’t purchase any music magazines in a month, yet they have stated what
they look for within a music magazine, therefore I shouldn’t completely rely on these results
to know exactly what the target audience would want from a music magazine.

9. 0
2
4
6
8
10
Question and Answer - more informative and
interesting
Free Flowing - more in touch with artist,
presented in a general fashion
amountchosenby
population
What articles do you prefer and why?
The next question I carried out for my primary research was a qualitative open question as I
needed to see the type of article the same age range as my target audience would prefer for the
double page spread due to this being an important article, as this would be a main feature within
the music magazine that would tempt the target audience in to buying the music magazine,
therefore this question is important as it would help me understand what type of articles the target
audience prefer out of free flowing and question and answer.
From the results I have found out that question and answer articles appear to be more popular
with the same age range age my target audience, due to this giving them more specific and relevant
information about the cover artist or band. This would help the target audience feel more up to
date and perhaps get to know more about the artists due to the specific questions that would have
been asked, to try and get more detail out of the artist, whereas a free flowing article might not be
so informative about the artist or band as they might not be as willing to reveal more information
about themselves as they don’t have the specific questions to follow meaning the target audience
might not be able to know much about the artist overall. I feel I carried this question out correctly
as I get to know why they prefer a certain type of article due to having an open question for my
questionnaire.

10. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0 1 to 3 4 to 6 7+
Amountchosenbypopulation How many concerts do you go to in a year?
The ninth question I asked for my primary research questionnaire was a quantitative
question based on how many concerts the population go to within a year; this would help
me determine the lifestyle of the same age range as my target audience. This would then
therefore help me further to understand the target audience I am aiming my music
magazine towards, and help indicate to me whether I need to include a certain section about
upcoming concerts for alternative rock bands.
From the results of my questionnaire, I found out that the majority of the population asked
go to concerts 1 -3 times a year with 8 out of 11 people who I asked answering this section, 1
person doesn’t normally go to concerts, as it might not be the thing they are in to showing
only a small majority of people don’t go to concerts to socialise or listen to their favourite
band. 1 person who I asked goes to concerts 4-6times a year then another person is a keen
concert fan as they go more than 7 times in a year. These results therefore show me concerts
are a popular environment for my target audience as the majority go to at least one to three
concerts within a year, this then helps me to understand now what I can involve within my
music magazine as the majority are fans of concerts meaning they would appreciate a concert
information page in my music magazine as it would appeal to them due to fitting their
lifestyle.

11. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Yes - new, relatable to rock music over the
years, unique and modern
No - not obvious what the genre is.
Is Era a suitable name for a rock magazine?
The next question I personally felt was really important as part of my primary research, as I wanted
to know the same age group as my target audiences opinion on the possible masthead for my
music magazine. I have already completed a focus group about possible names of my music
magazine with peers in my class, but I felt it was important to gather the target audiences opinion
on the possible masthead as they are the ones who are going to be purchasing the magazine as it
would be aimed at this age group, therefore this open qualitative question will help me further on
in the process when I come to design my magazine as this could be the masthead and I want to
know if the same age group as my target audience like it as a masthead but also why they do or
don’t like it so it would help me understand their views.

12. The results from this question imply that the majority of people I asked do think that
Era is a suitable name for a rock magazine due to it being modern and relatable to
the genre, which shows to be positive as 8 out of 11 feel it is a suitable name,
however 3 out of the 11 people don’t think it is suitable due to it not being
completely obvious what the genre of the magazine is from the name, however the
type of font and colour used may end up changing their opinion but to find that out I
would have to go out and ask those three people again what they think of the name
with the colour and font added to it, if that helps it become more obvious. I would
also have to check if the people who don’t think Era is a suitable name are rock fans
or a different genre such as pop, because although I still value everyone’s opinion, I
value rock fans opinions slightly more due to these being my target audience and I
would prefer to make a magazine that suits them more and not a pop fan as they
wouldn’t buy my music magazine.
I may not have completed this question properly, as it would have been more useful
if I asked rock fans due to them knowing whether it is a suitable name as they would
be familiar with many different magazine titles, and they would also know whether
it would work for a rock magazine depending if it suits the genre but also if it is a
modern name or not. Therefore, if I do this question again I would have to ask rock
fans their overall opinion of this.

13. Music
19%
Upcoming artists/
concerts
25%
Information
19%
Images
25%
Merchandise
6%
Didn’t answer
6%
What do you expect to see featured in a music
magazine? The tenth question in my questionnaire which I
carried out was a qualitative question based on
what the population would expect to see featured
in a music magazine. I asked this specific
question as I would want to know what the same
age group as my target audience feel are
Important in a music magazine, but also what
helps the magazine sell with this age group as
these would typically be the conventions which
they buy a music magazine for.
I feel like I should have given a list then a box for the population to tick with the answers they think
would be involved, as 6% didn’t answer as they probably didn’t know what to say but also 19%
only said music which is an obvious answer. Therefore, the way I produced this question was
incorrect, but it still managed to get me some answers which helped me a lot with figuring out
what I need to feature in my music magazine. The majority of answers with both having 25%
suggested they expect to see upcoming artists and images featured in a music magazine showing
these are both popular elements as they would help me to appeal my magazine to the specific
target audience. This question is important to ask the age group of my target audience as I need to
know what they expect to see featured in a music magazine otherwise I could end up putting
different conventions in which they might not like as it wouldn’t appeal to them but it could also
be either too old for the age group or too young showing they won’t appreciate certain elements
being included, therefore I need to make sure I get the balance between images, especially the type
of images I include and also the information given otherwise if I include too many images the
target audience could get bored but then again if I include too much information they could get
confused, therefore showing I need to find the correct balance.

14. 0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
Weekly- frequent reading Every 2 weeks - gives time
to read
Monthly - price is spread
out, can charge more
Didn’t answer
How often do you prefer a music magazine and why?
I believe this is an important qualitative question to ask the population of people who
are the same age range as my target audience due to the fact, I need to know how
regular I should release a magazine, whether it be weekly, every two weeks or monthly
as the target audience might not appeal to a weekly magazine as it could be too much
and they may seem to forget some weeks about the magazine, meaning I need to find
the suitable release time for my target audience in order for them to want to purchase
most of the different issues and also be happy with spending the money as in the long
term it could end up becoming quite difficult and expensive.

15. From these results, I have found out that the majority of the same age range would
prefer a weekly magazine to be released as 4 out of 11 believe it is frequent reading
and would prefer to have a more frequent magazine, however 3 out of the 11 people
would prefer every two weeks, or a monthly magazine as this would spread the cost
and they wouldn’t mind paying slightly more for the magazine as it isn’t as frequent
and it also gives them a chance to read the magazine without realising they’ve either
missed one or rushing to read on just in case they end up missing an issue of the
magazine.
However, I didn’t carry out this question correctly due to the select few people I asked
to fill out the questionnaire, this is because the majority of the people who I did ask to
fill out the questionnaire don’t purchase any magazines typically within a month,
showing they wouldn’t really have a view or know exactly what they would prefer in
terms of when a magazine is produced and released and how often they are. Therefore
I would only be realistically able to go along with the views of people who tend to buy
magazines frequently as they would know what they prefer, whether it is: weekly,
every two weeks or monthly.

16. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Main image Cover Article Cover Lines Didn’t answer
Amountofpopulationwhochose
What attracts you to buy a magazine?
From these results, I have found out that the same age group as my target audience are attracted to
the main image and the cover articles mainly on the front cover with 5 people voting for the main
image and 4 voting for the cover article. This shows me how important these are for my magazine
and I need to make sure I include an article as the cover article that would appeal to the target
audience and make them want to read this magazine. However, I should have made this question
in to an open question by asking why they prefer this convention and why it attracts them to the
magazine as it would help me more when it comes to designing the front cover, contents page and
the double page spread. It is very important that I create a media product that appeals to the target
audience, and so from asking this question it would help me understand what my particular target
audience want from a music magazine, but I should have mainly asked people who purchase
music magazines as they would know exactly what attracts them to buy a particular music
magazine, whether it be the main image with an upcoming band or a popular band/ artist that has
been around on the music industry for a while.
This is an important qualitative question
to ask the people who I had asked to fill
out my questionnaire as I needed to
know what attracts them personally to
buying a magazine, so I would know
what I need to include more on my front
cover and throughout my music
magazine in order to let it appeal to the
target audience but also suit their
preferences so they would want to
purchase this type of music magazine
over competitors on the market.

17. 0
5
10
Yes No Didn't answer
amountchosen
bypopulation
Do you have a disposable income?
I asked this closed qualitative question, as I wanted to know whether the same age group as my target
audience are earning a disposable income as this would then help me know whether a particular price for
how regular the magazine may be is suitable to my targeted audience as I wouldn’t want to charge them
for a weekly music magazine for example, which is too expensive and they don’t have a disposable
income which would lead to a loss in sales as I haven’t met the target audiences preferences correctly to
their needs.
From these results I have found out that the majority of these particular age range do have a disposable
income which would then help me to figure out how much they are willing to pay for a music magazine
from a previous question in my primary research. However, as a small portion of the population who I
asked to fill out this questionnaire don’t earn a disposable income it means I would have to think
carefully at what I place my music magazine to be as I would want to make the price appeal to both sides
to my target audience, who do and don’t have a disposable income, but I would need to work out my
target audience profile as I would need to decide whether the ideal target audience are earning, which
would lead to a slightly higher cost for the magazine as they do seem to be earning some sort of
disposable income. This question would have worked slightly better and more accurate if I had only
asked the exact type of people I believe are my target audience for this particular music magazine, mainly
because I would get honest answers to whether they are earning a disposable income as this would help
clarify for me how often to produce my music magazine and how much to set the price for as I know this
would appeal to my target audience and not just a few people who I had seen around college to fill out
the questionnaire, in the short amount of time that I had.

18. 0
2
4
6
8
10
Yes, fun more
appealing, value for
money
No Not Bothered Didn’t answer
Do you like cover mounts and why?
Finally, the last question I asked the age group to answer was an open qualitative question based
on cover-mounts as I wanted to know whether they would think they are either too immature for
this age group or suited quite well, but the majority of the people I asked seemed confident that
they seem to add value for money on to the magazine, meaning I would be able to charge a little
extra for the magazine and also have the chance to advertise either an ep of an upcoming artist to
give the target audience a taster of a new band in this specific genre of music. None of the people
who I asked to fill out the questionnaire answered no for this particular question showing they
don’t particularly have anything against cover- mounts as they are free gifts at the end of the day,
and as long as they suit the genre of the magazine and the age of the target audience, they would
appeal to them and also be appreciated as the target audience would believe they are getting value
for their own money, due to getting a free cd of some sort for the price of a magazine.
From this particular question I got the results that I was aiming for as the same age group as my
target audience believe that cover-mounts seem to be more appealing showing I will be able to use
this convention and feature it on my magazine as the target audience would appreciate it,
especially with the free cd of some sort as this would persuade them to buy the magazine
compared to other different rivals on the market.

19. Overall Conclusion…
Therefore, in conclusion of the questionnaire on a whole, I personally feel it was a good
questionnaire to use based on the results I gained as I found out quite a lot based on the
age group of my specific target audience. I found out what they prefer out of magazines
and how regular they would prefer a magazine to be released, meaning this form of
primary research was able to help me find out more about the age group of my target
audience, which would help me further when it comes to designing my magazine as I have
the preferences in mind and I know what I should try and include more of or not include
certain elements as much compared to others.
However, based on feasibility I don’t feel I did my questionnaire in the correct way as I
should have asked people who I felt are the ideal people who would be my target audience
for my magazine as this would have helped me more with certain elements, especially
with what I should include and the features they prefer most within a music magazine as
pop magazines and rock magazines have slightly different features involved due to having
a completely different target audience in mind. As we didn’t have much time to find
different people and also get people to fill in our questionnaires, it meant we just had to
find anyone but they were also rushed to fill out the questionnaire as we had a break to be
able to fill them in meaning they missed questions and just put “I don’t mind” or “I don’t
know” as they simply didn’t have time to answer properly. This therefore, affected my
results on a whole as I had a lot of blank spaces which meant I didn’t have truthful and
accurate results, which links to the validity of my questionnaire. Inaccurate answers were
down to me not having enough time in order to get people to fill out my questionnaires
and we also didn’t do it in the correct way as I just ended up handing people blank
questionnaires to answer without giving them much choice as I needed to get them all
answered.

20. If we had to do these questionnaires again, I would try and get more time for us to be
able to get people to fill them out and within the extra time I would be able to have I
would try to find the right people who I feel would be the target audience for my
magazine as then I would get accurate and truthful results based on the questions,
therefore I would be able to know for certain whether certain things suit my target
audience but are also representative of my target audience, as these questions are
designed for me to gain a better view and idea about my target audience and how
they would appeal to a music magazine, especially the one I am going to create. I
would also ask them to fill out the questionnaires in their own time not on their
break, when they want to be with friends and relax before they have to go back to
lesson so the answers I get back wouldn’t be rushed, but they would be realistic and
truthful from the target audience.
Overall Conclusion…