Who would be the target audiences for the media Product? -AS Media Studies Coursework Evaluation.

1. My target audiences would be those who are from 15/16 - around 25, because it includes information
about music that has gone to the peak as well as new. It would be suitable if my target audiences like rock n roll music,
and bands such as Green Day and Foo Fighters. I’m targeting teens as well as older people who are most likely to know
these bands. I think the class of the audiences (Hartley) is going to be working class, who is a student or early adults.
This is because in terms of their socio-economic needs, the average amount of money my target audiences have is:
£6.67 for boys and £6.32 for girls aged between 8 - 15. This average figure tells me that the price I have said on my
magazine: £1.50, sounds like a lot of investment for this age group. Maybe I could lower the price to below £1 or just
£1, in order to increase the readership. Also gender-wise (Hartley), males will be more attracted to these sort of music,
because stereotypically female audiences like pop music more. This is because young females tend to relate more to
modern pop-music lyrics wise, whereas rock music’s lyrics are more aggressive and rebellious. Therefore I think young
male audiences are going to be the main consumers, as well as older male because the music genre is popular amongst
a wide range of age groups.
The audiences will be ‘informed and educated’ (Katz - 1974) as a result of purchasing my magazine, because the
tagline to the main header of the front cover: ‘The solo guitarist of all time!’ makes the audiences curious about the
guitarist, and if they purchase the magazine, they get informed about this musician, in which to some people, are new
information. By reading the article in the DPS, the readers are ‘educated’ about what life is like as a musician, and
helps them to get a big picture of a musician’s life. For example, they are informed that life on stage sometimes won’t
work the way they would like it to be, as the quote of the language such as: ‘slipped’, ‘lob’, and ‘worst part’ connotes
negative events and the audiences are ‘entertained’ at the same time, as they are revealed with small details about a
‘star’ (Dyer) making mistakes, feeling relatable or ‘identifiable’ (katz - 1974) by the readers. The contents page also
informs the readers about the contents of the magazine, especially from the use of page numbers that is of a different
colour from the contents listings, the readers being informed exactly which pages each contents are on as a result.
This magazine also fufils the audiences’ need for ‘Diversion’ (Katz - 1974), or escapism from individual’s reality. The
vibrant combination of red, white and black colours across all pages grabs their attention, so that the readers are
drawn in to a world of rock music, ‘represented’ (Buckingbam 2013) by the media. The main image on the DPS have a
facial expression of madness / aggression so the audiences may feel inspired to free their own emotions in their own
lives. By looking at visually exciting pages with full of contrasting colours and a range of shapes, the readers are
focused to take their time to take in the new information that they are given. This process helps them to escape for
moments from reality.

2. Typical readers
Female: Jordana Freeman:
Age- 17
Favourite Band/Type of music:
Rock/metal, band=Avenged
Sevenfold
Hobbies: Art, reading books
and fantasy novels. Movies,
photography. Listening to
music very often.
She will buy my magazine
because the genre of the
magazine suits her music
tastes- the main image subtly
has a ‘female gaze’ to it, where
the camera angle connotes the
power and dominance of a male, in which females are likely to feel attracted to, as a reliable
person. The footer mentioning her favourite band will also appeal to her, as she would be able to
‘personally identify’ (Katz - 1974) herself in the magazine, increasing the change of her purchasing
the magazine. The caption ‘ Craze interview’ will trigger her curiosity as a book reader being
familiar with words, because the word connotes multiple possibilities and the fact that the article is
going to be entertaining.
One of the songs by her favourite band- demonstrates the type of music my magzine represents:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94bGzWyHbu0
Male: Connor Vander:
Age- 19
Favourite Band/Type of music=
modern rock.
Hobbies: Playing the
Keyboard, reading manga and
watching Anime, going to rock
concerts.
This person will also be
appealed to the magazine,
especially to the magazine
cover, where the main image is
holding a guitar in an
unconventional manner. This
connotes the musician’s skills
to manipulate guitars at a high
level, creating a ‘star
appeal’ (Dyer) to this reader. He also has experience in concerts of this genre, in which he will
know the importance of the guitar within a rock band, and the tagline beneath saying: ‘THE
guitarist of all time’ further emphasizes how much of a professional the musician is at playing the

3. guitar. This reader will be able to ‘personally identify’ (Katz - 1974) himself as another guitarist,
being an ‘explorer’ (Maslow) to seek what he can learn from the cover image guitarist.
One of the songs by his favourite band- ‘Fall Out Boy’. Again demonstrating the genre of the music
in my magazine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBr7kECsjcQ
Perhaps the typical lifestyle of my readers would be quite casual. Teen readers will still be going to school or
University, therefore they probably won’t have the time to go out shopping. However, if they like the music
genre in my magazine, I think they are people who doesn’t completely care about their looks, as they are
confident in who they are and they may be people who also value the past or in particular, their personal
relationships. This is especially shown in the DPS, where the capture for the main image is: ‘Not afraid to
show his true nature’. Teenagers, who are in the age of emotional development, may be inspired by this
musician because of this caption, being ‘injected’ with the ideology of self confidence. The magazine cover’s
main image and the DPS’s main image may inform (Katz - 1974) teenage readers the power of make-up. The
eye-make up on this musician connotes strength, confidence, and perhaps also a little mischief, from the
connotation of the black colour. This may affect some ‘social climbers’ as in the magazine cover, the eye-make
up is represented as having a ‘star appeal’ (Dyer), and social climbers wish to improve their status in society.
In terms of shopping habits, I think my readers will go to buy things they need when they need to, unless it is
something that affects their daily / weekly routine. My magazine cover and contents page consists of a date
and an issue number, which are magazine conventions, where it denotes that there is going to be more than
one of this magazine for the future, and it encourages new readers to start their routine with this magazine.
Magazines in particular, are part of the reader’s weekly routine because new issues are released every week.
This relates to ‘survivors’ (Maslow), where routine is needed in their lives to see the resolution of a media
product. For example, buying a particular magazine becomes part of their routine, until the magazine ends or
their routing ends. So stationery shops such as WHSmiths or Staples, newsagency shops, are ideal because
the shops are easily accessible in various markets across the UK, and it should be sold in local shops such as
Co-Op, or pubs, where teenagers’ primary purpose is to get food and drinks. The magazines can be their
companion for extra ‘entertainment’ (Katz - 1974).
In terms of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the ‘Explorers’ are ambitious, and are ready to explore new
boundaries. My magazine fulfils their needs of exploration, because each cover line mentioned on the
magazine cover such as : ‘interview’ and ‘Free posters’ denote the range of services and products included
within the magazine, so ‘explorers’ in particular will have the opportunity to interact with multiple forms of
information . Moreover, the puff promotion of ‘Win! Greenday Tickets’ encourages audiences to search for
the information themselves to satisfy their curiosity, triggered by this promotion . (inform - Katz 1974). The
main image is in a low angle, which denotes ‘star appeal’ (Dyer) and authority, in which some audiences
would find it ambitious. For my contents page, the number of contents listed and different bands’ logo’s
being clear on the page, invites ‘explorers’ (Maslows) to find out brand new information about multiple
bands, which satisfies their needs of exploring new boundaries. The social media information of the editor
and the web address for the magazine, also encourages the readers to find out more detail on the magazine
on their own.