Understand the relationship between media products and their target audience

2. Contents
1. LO2
2. Contents
3. Product analysis
4. Demographics
5. Audience theories
6. Audience theories (continued)
7. Audience theories (continued)
8. Audience theories (continued)
9. Primary target audience –
primary research
10. Q1
11. Q2
12. Q3
13. Q4
14. Q5
15. Q6
16. Q7
17. Q8
18. Q9
19. Secondary research

3. Product Analysis
Purpose
• To entertain multiple different audiences all within the same magazine.
This leads to more sales and higher profits for the magazines and few
competitor magazines as there are no other magazines that have such a
wide variety of musical genres and articles.
Genre
• There are so many different genres that Q caters for, this could be pop, hip-
hop, dance, folk, country, metal, rock, rapper, soul and others alike. This is
because they cater for such a wide audience, there are very few
competitors.
Form
• Q is a market leader of music magazines and is widely known,
• Q uses a complex content layout to create a varied magazine between
issues. There is no set place for each different part of the magazine, this
creates a unique read for each issue.

4. Demographics
Gender
• There is no different gender appeal to Q magazine this means that they
cater for a wider audience by not being specifically for one particular
gender.
Age
• Q interviews and reviews artists of all genres and eras so they can fill a
wider audience all with a range of different ages
Lifestyle
• Can be more relaxed lifestyle with more time for pleasure reading and
other leisure activities
Spending power
• Have a larger disposable income as Q is a leisure magazine, that is not
needed for a specific task. Like economic magazine etc.

5. Audience Theories
• Hartley
– Q has no real gender that they target the magazine to. This is because they try to have the widest
possible audience which includes not gender specifying the magazine.
– Q’s targeted age group is mainly those aged between 20 and 50. This is because the artists in the
magazine have these audience ages. This also means that the magazine does not have artists that
attract teenagers and younger people.
– Q does not target the magazine to a specific class. This means that they reach a much wider audience.
Than if they only aimed to reach a particular class.
• Maslow
– Care givers will sympathise with people and their situations, this can be achieved through the
interviews with the artists, this allows the reader to feel sympathy for their situation.
– Social climbers aspire to be like someone and the climb up the social ladder. Q provides appeal to social
climbers through the star appeal of well known celebrities on the front cover and inside the issue.
– Survivors enjoy security and routine. This can be found in the consistency of the magazine layout and
what will be included in each issue.
– Explorers are driven by social change. Q can create social change through what they publish, so
explorers are more likely to buy the magazine if they feel that they can create a change through what is
given to them in the magazine.

6. Audience Theories (continued)
• Katz (Uses and Gratifications Theory)
– Using Adele on the front cover of the magazine would
allow the reader to personally identify with the text as
she was a typical Londoner, who still speaks with a
heavy London accent, but has become very famous
through her singing. This means that the reader will
identify and create a personal relationship with the
Londoner Adele and still look up to and admire the
famous singer Adele. This gives an escape from reality
through her famous and different lifestyle to the rest
of the London but also allows people to be informed
of her life through the magazine. Overall this creates a
large star appeal for Adele and encourages people to
buy Q, when she is on the cover and possibly continue
afterwards
https://www.alevelmedia.co.uk/media-theorists

7. Audience Theories (continued)
Grade Social Class
A Upper middle class
B Middle class
C1 Lower middle class
C2 Skilled working class
D Working class
E Those at the lowest levels of subsistence
• Socio-economics needs table
– Q mainly caters for all social classes as they are not specific in the content it provides. This
means that all types of people read Q, however the main social classes of people will be
grade A, B,C1 and C2. This is because they have more time and money to spend reading
leisure magazines.

8. Audience Theories (continued)
• Psychographics
– The mainstreamers will be attracted to Q as it is a
domestic leisure magazine and they often have the
disposable income to allow for magazine purchases.
– Q will attract aspirers as they idolise particular
celebrities that could be featured in the magazine.
– Resigned will read Q as it features older artists in the
same way in each issue.
– Explorers will enjoy Q as it includes so many varied
musicians in one issue, that they can discover many
different enjoyment factors.

9. Product Target Audience –
Primary Research
Conducting a SurveyMonkey online questionnaire is the easiest
and quickest way to gain results as people are more likely to
respond in their own time without being pressured. It also gives
anonymity

10. This shows that the people who completed this survey were all
female. This is helpful to understand what females think about
music magazines, but this is also unhelpful as all there are no
male input in the questionnaire.
Q1

11. All of the surveyed were aged 17, this is helpful as this is still
within the age range of 16-50 but this is not varied enough to
fully understand the whole age range’s opinion.
Q2

12. Q3
This shows that most 17 year old females buy magazines less
than once a month. This is possibly because they may not have
the time or money to read a magazine in their spare time.

13. Q4
16% of those surveyed read music magazines, and 1 person
specified that they read Q magazine. This shows that even
though they may not have purchased the magazine, they still
read it. This means that the circulation figures are larger than the
purchase figures.

14. Q5
67% of the respondents stated that not only do they not
subscribe to magazines, they do not even buy music magazine.
This shows that the demographics of music magazine is not 17
year old females.

15. Q6
Most people would pay between £0.99 and £2.00 for a
magazine, but Q magazine costs £3.99, this again shows that
music magazines may be slightly over-priced for what people are
likely to pay.

16. Q7
The best way is to read a hard copy of the magazine. This is
probably because it is a more traditional way to read magazines.

17. Q8
The most preferred content for a magazine to include is interviews. This is
because it gives and insight to the musicians life in and out of the public eye,
it can also give hints of new music and other products. The next preferred is
reviews, this could be of albums and this gives another persons opinion of the
product and can increase sales. Images are also enjoyed this is because they
provide a different way to see the musician.

18. Interviews are the most important to include in a magazine as it
allows the reader to gain a different perspective of the artist and
also can mean that new readers are enticed through the
interviewing of their favourite artist.
Q9

19. Secondary Research
Great Magazines calls Q “the UK’s top music
magazine that tells the stories behind the music
that matters”. This is more factual than than
opinionated review, but still gives a positive
review of Q.
ThoughCo. explains that it is the “World’s
Greatest Music Magazine” and that it has a wide
audience of not just their UK readership, but also
in America, there is a large audience there. It also
explains that Q is not only a magazine but also
holds the annual Q awards. They call Q “a mini-
book stuffed with loads…” this gives the
magazine a postive review and encourages the
audience of ThoughtCo. to read Q.
https://www.greatmagazines.co.uk/music-magazines ,
https://www.thoughtco.com/best-magazines-for-pop-music-fans-4038240

20. Front Cover Analysis
Masthead
The stark contrast of the
large, white ‘Q’ with a red,
squared background makes
the magazine stand out
against other magazines in
the shop.
The connotations of white on
red is the power of the red
over the white perfection of
the product
Strapline
White on red background,
which also helps it to stand
out and get read more.
‘Discover Great Music’
indicates to the audience
what type of magazine they
will be buying.
Anchorage text
Uses a pull quote of the
interview inside
Names the photographed
person and adds a short
description
Main image
Shows a close up of Florence
Welch’s face with her fingertips
under her cheekbones on her
cheek and on her chin
There is also large star appeal
surrounding Florence that
would attract potential
audiences to purchase this
magazine instead of others.
Barcode
This has the barcode to allow
sales and distribution in
shops; the month and year of
publish, to allows readers to
buy the most up to date
issue, or to make up a
collection; the price, this is a
requirement to allow
potential audiences to know
how much the magazine is,
because magazines are paid
with disposable rather than
discretionary income; and
also includes the website to
encourage readers to visit the
website.
Cover lines
There are multiple cover lines
on the front page this shows
the reader what is included in
this magazine.
Puff promotion
This is advertising the new
column inside the magazine,
the blue surrounding circle
contrasts to the red of
Florence’s hair but also brings
out the blue near to all the
cover lines and her eye shadow.

21. Contents Page analysis
Subheadings
The subheadings are clearly
shown together to allow the
user to easily scan through and
view the pages they want.
Brand identity
A form of brand identity is
through an image of the front
cover, this is to remind the
reader of what is on the front
and what they might want to
read inside.
Brand identity
Another form of brand identity
is through the display of the ‘Q’
logo in the bottom right hand
corner of the page next to the
current page number. This
encourages the recognition of
the product into the readers
subconscious.
Subline
The subline adds a short
description to the subheading
and allows the reader to gain a
short summary of the content.
Sub images
This gives a preview of what to
expect in that issue of Q. They
also make the page more exciting
and makes the reader want to
find out about the interviews
and reviews.
Q Review
This is a regular part of the
issue and readers know and
enjoy. It is advertised here as a
short summary of the review.
This also stands out but stays
within the colour schemes of
red and white.
Page numbers
The page numbers are bold and
allow the reader to easily see
what page the content is on.
They also have the page
numbers overlapping the sub
images to highlight where that
specific image can be found in
the issue.

22. DPS analysis
Main image
This is of Ed Sheeran from his knees
up, as he is the person of interest in
this interview. The houses of
parliament and Big Ben clock tower is
in the background, which shows his
London roots. His guitar is also to the
side side of him signalling his passion
for playing his guitar in London. He is
leaning against a wall in casual
clothing with his hands in his pockets,
this illustrates that he has not let fame
changed him much.
Pull quote
This is a direct quote from the
interview article and is used as the
main title. “I’m bringing ginger
back” firstly shows how he is not
ashamed to be ginger haired even
though in society it stills has
negative connotations. This could
also be a play on words from Justin
Timberlake’s song SexyBack, also
providing positive connotations of
ginger.
Having ‘ginger’ in a red colour also
makes the word stand out in a bold
and confident way.
Stand first
This is another form of reader
encouragement as it describes Ed
Sheeran in a positive way and then
asks the question “What’s the
secret of Ed Sheeran’s sudden
success?” This rhetorical question
makes the reader want to know the
answer to it and therefore want to
read the article next. Highlighting
‘Ed Sheeran’ by using white font
with a red background, keeps in the
colour scheme of red and white,
allows the reader to identify who
the image is of and who the article
is about. This way it puts a name to
a face in an embedded way.
Drop capital
This entices the reader to read the
article and indicates where they
should start reading from. The same
contrast is used from the front cover
page and encourages the reader to
further read the article.

23. Synergy (continued)

24. Social media presence
The cover image is Q’s logo, this shows synergy between the magazine, website and
social media. The blue tick means this account is verified informing the users that this
is Q’s actual Facebook page. In the about section there is a link to Q’s website,
providing ease of access for the user. In the pinned post, it has a change of profile
picture to the front cover of the latest issue and describes the issue.

25. Social media presence
In the bio there is the link to the Q awards voting page rather than the whole website.
They have posts about the latest issue and the front cover. One of these is an image
with Interpol tagged on the image, this promotes the band to their followers, another
is a video showing multiple artists that feature in the latest issue, with a description
tagging the main artists.

26. Social media presence
The profile picture is the logo of Q, this is evidence of synergy between the magazine
and the twitter account. It also increases brand recognition of Q. This account also has
a blue tick, meaning it is verified. In the bio, there is a link to Q’s website, which
provides ease of access to the user. In the pinned tweet, there is the same post as the
Instagram video; however, on twitter there is a direct link to order a copy in the tweet.