2. Answer: Young Alt-Rock Fans
• My surveys have shown that magazines are generally most popular amongst young
people, assumedly as they have the spare time and energy to spend on the various
hobbies and interests the magazines are about. It is around this time that most music
tastes are developed and defined as young people are exposed to all sorts of
advertising taking advantage of their energy and free time to fill stadiums and
crowds, so chances were I was most likely to cater to a young audience regardless of
genre, with a few exceptions (blues, classical etc.)
• I feel that my magazine focuses on subject matters within music that would be more
popular with younger audiences e.g. behind-the-scenes articles, non-technical
interviews and even fashion surrounding the genre. Were the audience older, I feel
the magazine would be tailored closer to themes of technical musicality, song
writing, inspiration and artistry in comparison to other artists throughout history. I
have tried to keep the content of my magazine simple and current, focusing solely on
the present and glamour of the music industry.
• People of this age in my research said they sometimes feel as if they need
somewhere to “belong”, so if I am to create a very niche magazine, I feel that it
would resonate more with malleable, fleeting young minds than older members of
society who would more likely be set in their ways after finding their interests long
ago.
• I feel that readers would need to know a fair amount about the genre to fully
understand my magazine’s content, including technical lexis and conventions of the
genre.
• Many of the readers are likely to still be in education, but perhaps this is a false result
tainted by the fact that many of the survey participants I gathered information from
got access to the surveys via going to the same college as myself. Nevertheless, the
fact remains that my audience comprises largely of students/young adults.
3. Why exclude other demographics?
• The genre itself is very young, and tends to be enjoyed primarily by a
younger audience as a whole. This, I felt it safer to design for a young
audience for fear of alienating them with more “generic” design.
• My survey showed that readers are most likely to be around the age of 18-
20, and I would not want to design a magazine for people who aren’t
going to even try to read it in the first place.
• The genre featured is very ‘niche’, so it would be difficult to try and ‘cover
all bases’ in such a project. I thought it better to specialise the design of
my magazine to one particular group and please them, rather then half-
pleasing a larger set of groups.
• By narrowing my target audience, I have been able to showcase more
specific styles and features across my products that might not have
befitted a more generic, ‘easy going’ magazine.
• Ensuring a distinctive style brings a sense of identity to my publication,
which I hope its readers will be able to connect with, increasing their
loyalty to the magazine and ensuring long-tail sales figures.
