2. My magazine
My main production work will take the form of an
Indie/Alternative music magazine. It will be
comparable to the leading institutions in this genre:
‘NME’ and ‘DIY’. NME, representing what is now a
‘mass-media’ magazine; being available for free at
public places, used to be the leader in alternative
music publication in the UK for over 20 years. DIY is
now the leading Indie music magazine, and still
caters for the niche market. I will feature instances of
‘repetition’ (Neale) in the design of my magazine
with DIY, and enough ‘differences’ to avoid
plagiarising, and being unique enough to attract an
audience.
3. Target Audience
My target audience will be, as mentioned before,
stereotypical ‘Indie kids’, or counter-culture
‘hipsters’. I will cover both ‘genders’ (Hartley) and an
age range from ‘16-24’. The majority of my audience
will be ‘middle class’ creatives who conform to
socioeconomic class ‘B’, otherwise for the younger
readers who are students, their class is ‘E’. Ethnicity
is not an important feature for my magazine,
however stereotypically Indie music appeals to
‘white’ people. Lastly, my magazine will appeal to
people from the ‘UK’ rather than an international
audience.
4. Questionnaire form
My questionnaire will take form of a written page where
contributors will tick boxes to answer questions. It will be
distributed to a focus group collective of my target
audience. 16-24 year olds who enjoy indie music. I
decided against using an electronic survey from a site
like ‘Survey Monkey’ as the results often are represented
inaccurately, and I will produce far more useful and
concise results If I produce evaluative graphs myself.
I am confident in expecting accurate results thanks to my
specific sample, and reliance on the knowledge of my
target audience, who being the potential buyers of the
publication, should know what to look for in a magazine.
5. Questionnaire design
My first question discovers what the most significant convention is to my target audience. This is usual
to discovering what ‘jumps out’ to my target audience, either ‘star appeal’ (Dyer), the design or layout
of the front cover, or the actual content – i.e. main headline.
My second question identifies what kind of image representation matches the genre of magazine, and
appeals to the audience. Either a mid or long shot of my feature, or an image taken in a studio, or a
location shoot.
The third identifies what kind of masthead could attract an audience. As most magazines in the genre,
(‘Q’ ‘NME’ and ‘DIY’) are fairly short, I am discovering if that is essential to the genre, and audience
appeal.
Question 4 simply tries to identify what artist/band will be most popular to interview for the first issue
in my target audience.
The fifth question is used to discover what codes and conventions in my magazine to prioritise,
particularly in my contents page in terms of font size, or even for my front cover.
The sixth highlights what the audience will be attracted to visually, and identifies the influence from
competing magazines (‘NME’, ‘Q’), as they both features reds in their design – a colour synonymous
to the genre. I need this to discover the importance of colour, and whether because of a magazine like
‘DIY’ that does not use red, could still be attractive to my target audience if I don’t use synonymous
colours.
Question seven displays the importance of the contents page in my target audience.
Eight seeks to discover the importance of puff promotion in my magazine.
Nine discovers the importance of double-page spreads.
And lastly ten seeks to find out how much my target audience would pay for a magazine. (I included
free as an option because both ‘DIY’ and ‘NME’ are free magazines). It will be interesting to see the
results for this question, as if my target audience are used to not paying for music magazines, then it
might be essential to also release a free magazine to compete with others.
7. • After distributing 10 questionnaires out to
members of my intended target audience,
results were collated and graphed.
8. 1)
What
is
the
most
important
feature
in
a
magazine
front
cover?
A
catchy
main
headline/
coverline
(1)
Inci6ng
puff
promo6on
(0)
An
exci6ng
main
image
with
‘Star
appeal’
(7)
A
good
colour
scheme
(2)
9. 1) Result Analysis
• ‘Star Appeal’ is therefore essential to the
success of my front cover.
• Deciding how to present my star appeal
and who to include as my star are
addressed in later questions.
10. 2)
What
would
you
prefer
to
see
in
a
main
image?
A
mid
shot
of
an
ar6st
or
band
(6)
A
full
body
shot
of
an
ar6st
or
band
(4)
A
photo-‐shoot
style
quality
image
with
props
(7)
An
image
shot
in
a
natural
background
with
a
clear
loca6on
(3)
11. 2) Result Analysis
• From this result, I have decided to have a
studio picture mid shot of my talent.
• EDIT (9/12/2015)- I have now changed the
design of my front cover. Instead, I now
have a front cover main image taken on
location and with a guitar as prop.
12. 3)
What
is
most
important
about
a
magazine’s
masthead?
A
short
name/
abbrevia6on
(e.g.
‘NME’
or
‘DIY’)
(4)
A
reference
to
a
song
or
art
piece
(e.g.
‘505’
–
Arc6c
Monkeys)
(3)
It’s
rela6on
to
a
genre
(e.g.
‘Alterna6ve’)
(3)
13. 3) Result Analysis
• The reception to my masthead
suggestion – 505 was favourable, and
conforms to the three letter
mastheads like DIY and NME.
14. 4)
Who
would
you
like
to
see
interviewed?
The
Liber6nes
(0)
Tame
Impala
(4)
Django
Django
(1)
Mac
Demarco
(5)
Wolf
Alice
(0)
15. 4) Result Analysis
• Mac Demarco seems to be the best
person for my double page spread and
front cover image, as it yields the
strongest ‘star appeal’ from my target
audience sample which I interviewed.
• I will also have Django Django and Tame
Impala on other features I my magazine,
like my front cover and contents page.
16. 5)
What
feature
would
be
most
important
to
you?
Gig
and
Concert
reviews
(3)
New
Album
reviews
(2)
New
bands
(1)
Ar6st
interviews
(4)
17. 5) Result Analysis
• This result shows that artist interviews are
still the most popular feature, and one
most suitable for my double page spread.
• I will also include live gig and album
reviews as features, and present them
clearly in my contents page, as they are
almost just as popular.
18. 6)
What
colour
scheme
best
suits
a
music
magazine?
Reds
and
whites
(5)
Blacks
and
whites
(3)
Yellows
and
oranges
(2)
Blues
and
greens
(0)
19. 6) Result Analysis
• These results reveal the already
established look of music magazines, the
expected red and white colours of Q and
NME.
• I will although decide not to conform to
this layout, as I want to distinguish my
publication as something new and that
represents the new, free, music magazine.
20. 7)
What
category
suits
you
most
below?
I
always
look
at
the
contents
page
and
view
features
before
reading
(7)
I
browse
through
the
magazine
and
ignore
contents
pages
(3)
21. 7) Result Analysis
• These results display the importance of my
contents page layout, and ensuring that
features are clear with page numbers, so
that readers can find any one of them at
their own leisure.
22. 8)
What
category
suits
you
most
below?
I
always
look
at
promo6ons
and
freebies
in
magazines
I
do
a
quick
browser
search
a]er
seeing
album
promo6ons
I
ignore
promo6onal
items
in
magazines
23. 8) Result Analysis
• This question’s results reveals the
significance of puff promotion, and the
effect it has on an audience.
• I will endeavor to include a compelling
promotional feature in my publication, on
my front cover and contents page.
Possibly in the form of a free album or gig
tickets, especially as it helps give exposure
to new artists.
24. 9)
Do
you
always
look
at
the
main
feature
(double-‐paged
interview)?
Yes
(9)
No
(1)
25. 9) Result Analysis
• These results highlight the significance of
the double page spread, and the
importance if it being easy for the
audience to find. I.e. clearly presented
with the page number on my contents
page.
• I will therefore ensure that my double
page spread feature is the largest and
clearest feature on my contents page.
26. 10)
How
much
would
you
pay
for
a
monthly
Indie
music
magazine?
Nothing
(free)
(7)
99p
(0)
1.99
(2)
2.39
(1)
4.39
(0)
27. 10) Result Analysis
• Using this information I have decided that my
target audience are looking to pay nothing for a
music publication, as two examples of my
magazine’s direct competition offer free
publications on a weekly or monthly basis: NME,
and DIY.
• In this case, I will seek to provide other forms of
income through my magazine like paid product
placements, sponsorships/ exclusivities like where
my magazine can be purchased from, (similar to
DIY’s exclusivity to record stores and Doc Martens
shops).
