2. Audience theories
Hartley
Age- the age of the general consumer of Q magazine is 16-25. This is because the wordy content, they
start working working so can pay monthly, it is not very childish it is professional looking and it is a big
name. People older than 25 may feel like they have out grown the magazine as it is filled with bright reds,
which they may not find as appealing in their older age like they did in their youth.
Gender- Q magazine is a unisex magazine. This is because Q cover multiple genres and multiple artists
in the music industry. There is so much content in every magazine, there is always at least one article that
will appeal to one sex in particular or both. This means that Q are reaching a wider demographic as they
are appealing to both male and females. This means that Q have the ability to sell more magazines and
make a higher profit.
Class- the main consumers of Q magazine will generally fall into the working and middle class category.
This is because they will be comfortable for example sitting on a train reading the magazine on the
commute to work. However, those who are upper class may feel too ‘sophisticated’ to be reading a
magazine like Q on public transport (where most physical pieces of media are consumed).
3. Audience theories
Katz Uses and Gratification
Personal identification- many people are able to identify with Q magazine as it covers a wide range
of genres. This allows a wide audience to personally identify with at least one part of the issue, the front
cover normally includes cover lines that tell the consumer what other artists are featured other than the
main feature. Seeing these names inclines the consumer to purchase the magazine as they personally
identify with their favorite artists, so will want to know what the article is about.
Personal relationship- since Q are a huge magazine in the music industry, they have the ability to get
interviews with some of the biggest celebrities of today. These celebrities have strong and loyal fan
bases full of people who genuinely care about them as if it was a close friend. Therefor, when they see
Ed Sheeran on the front cover for example, they are heavily inclined into buying the magazine as they
want to know the latest news on how their favorite artist is doing and what he has to say. This can of
course go for just about any artist as most of the artists featured in Q have a strong and large fan base.
Inform and educate- according to Katz, Q magazine informs and educates the reader with everything
that has happened in the last month in the music industry. Q magazine get their message across using
interviews, music reviews, articles and details on how the interviews took place.
Diversion- when the reader is reading an article about their favorite artist, they escape from reality while
they are reading the text as the are so interested and become pulled into it due to their favorite artist being
featured.
4. Audience theories
Audience theory
Socio-economic needs- Q magazine will generally be for an audience who fall into C2 and C1. This is
because these categories mainly include jobs that someone may do as soon as they leave school or
University, they are young adults, which is who Q’s main audience is. People who fall into the A category
are not likely to read Q magazine as they may feel too sophisticated to do so and would opt for reading a
magazine more like Forbes for example.
Maslow hierarchy of needs- Q magazine caters towards the basic safety needs according to
Maslow. As Q magazine releases a new issue every month, the consumers are relaxed as the know there
will be a new issue every month. This gives them a sense of safety and security as they can always rely
on the release of Q to update them on all of the last months news in music.
The idea of the pyramid is
you need everything
below to be able to be at
the top. So when people
are going to buy a
magazine, they will need
all of these to be
interested in purchasing a
magazine.
5. Audience theories
Psychographics
The main target audience for Q
reader would be ‘mainstreamers’ as
they make up 40% of the population
and Q targets a female and male
audience. Some of the audience
may be ‘apsirers’ as they may aspire
to be like some of the artists that
feature in the magazine and they are
typically young people and Q targets
a younger audience.
6. Primary research
This is the paper version of the
questionnaire that I created online.
With this one I am going to go into
public and get people to answer the
questions as people are more likely to
be honest about it when you are face to
face and less likely to give a silly answer,
which you get a lot when the form is
done online.
7. Question 1
In conclusion, the majority of people who are answering a music
magazine survey are mostly male. So in my magazine I would want to
be aiming for both markets as it is relatively close, but I would make it
slightly more appealing to the male audience as there are more of
them. For example, color choice
8. Question 2
In conclusion, most of the people who took my survey are between the
age of 18 and 24. So that means most of my magazine will be centralized
around the younger generation since they are my main target audience.
The age is very important as the peoples ages will have an impact on what
they think about the magazine. As more of the people who did my survey
are 18-24 my magazine will more so be targeted at young adults
9. Question 3
Most people who took the survey are manual workers, so do not make
as much money as someone who works in banking for example. But
since there are still many bankers, I would want to price my magazine
at a medium price, not too high or too low.
10. Question 4
There were more people who are unemployed than employed. So
maybe I could make the online version of my magazine cheaper or
even make a free app with micro-transactions, since they will feel like
its cheaper but over time it will be more expensive. This also effects
the price my magazine will be sold at.
11. Question 5
In conclusion, the results for what kind of music people who took the
survey listen to is very mixed and spread out. Therefor, my magazine
will cover a range of music so that it entices a very wide audience to
purchase the magazine and makes them want to read on. This gives
me a very good understanding of what kind of genres to include in my
magazine to reach out to as wide an audience as possible.
12. Question 6
In conclusion, 80.95% of people taking the survey do not currently buy
a music magazine. This is because people don’t like going out to buy
something, it can be an inconvenience, everyone buys what they need
to online. So perhaps by making the magazine available for delivery,
more people would buy it.
13. Question 7
In conclusion, most people would pay £2-4 for a music magazine. So
to sell the maximum amount I possible can, thats how they will be
priced. Since if more are being sold, they will become more common
and recognisable, which mean more of a wider audience comes in and
wants to buy the magazine.
14. Question 8
Letting people write what they want is not a good idea. But, at the
same time it is helpful as some honest people will give you something
which can be very helpful in gaining more of an interest in your
magazine. For example, someone would like to see rave and drum n
base, which I would not have initially included in my magazine.
15. Question 9
This is a very helpful piece of information as most people voted on yes,
which confirms that if I were to create a digitial format for my
magazine, more people would buy it. It is also cheaper to create it
online and not in print so it could also be a way to reach a wider
audience and make a higher profit.
16. Question 10
Most people who took the survey are not currently subscribed to a
magazine, which means that in the current age, less people are going
out to buy a hard copy or even receive one, this is most likely because
everyone does everything online. So linking to the digital format, doing
your magazine online would be a much smarter thing to do than by
printing copy's.
17. Overview of questionnaires
My questionnaires revealed that people would probably pay between
£2-4 for a music magazine. This allows us to find a fair price for the
magazine, meaning more people will buy it. If we produced multiple,
the price could go up as it becomes a routine purchase for people.
Secondly, people want to know what is going on in the music world
recently, which is what my magazine will mainly contain. These
questions helped me going forward with this magazine as I now know
what would be appropriate and what the people on the high street
actually want.
19. Secondary research
Main image, wide shot
of the main feature in
the magazine
Main Headline,
specifies who
the main feature
Masthead, The
brand identity of
Q is the logo on
the magazine, so
people instantly
recognize it. The
red background
makes the white
Q stand out.
Cover line, they are secondary
story’s to the main one. They name
drop the other artists, which attract
more of an audience as it entices
them to keep reading. This allows
the consumers to see who else
features and the consumer may
personally identify with the story
so will buy the magazine
Barcode, shows
the date, issue
and price.
Second to this,
the bar code is
needed to
actually sell the
copy
The verbal code ‘punk,
provocateur, activist….’
This connotes that the main
feature in Kanye has such a wide
personality that almost everyone
can relate to him.
Anchorage text
Strap-line
Secondary image
Puff and pug. White
square, goes with colour
scheme
By having the main
feature dominate the
page, their fans will be
inclined to buy the issue
The Masthead
allows the
consumer to
identify that this
is an issue of Q.
This is good as it
reminds people
of the monthly
magazine so they
are inclined to
buy it.
20. Main image of the star attract readers.
This image dominates the entire
contents page, a page in which
everyone looks at and uses, so by
putting a star on the page, a wide
audience is attracted
Masthead, tells that this is the
contents page, where the reader
can see everything in the
magazine is, according to
Maslow, this keeps the survivors
happy, as it tells them where
everything is and they can expect
a contents page in every issue.
Sub-headings, tell the reader what
else the magazine includes, so the
reader can find something they are
interested in and go straight to that
page. This is very helpful to the
readers that but the issue for one
article or interview in particular.
Sub-line, goes into more detail under
the Sub-heading, this picks up the
readers interest. According to Katz, this
helps the Personal relationship, since
they build up an admiration for the
subject of the interview
Web address, has more features than the magazine, putting it on the contents page
makes more people aware of it and more likely to use it. This is because they may
not have known of the website before, they can get more features on the website,
that benefits Q as they get more activity on their site.
Q magazine also include the
month and year that the issue is
released. For example this issue
was released in March 2011
Secondary research
21. The Main image is
spread across both sides
of the double pages and
features an artist named
Ed Sheeran. He is
dressed very casual, with
his iconic acoustic guitar
next to him which does
relate to his music style.
He is from London,
hence the background to
the picture is a landmark
in London (Parliament)
The text used on the main part of the
article is clear and easy to read, which is
what most readers want. As it is not overly
complicated, which in a way is similar to Ed
Sheeran’s music as it is simple
Color- The general color scheme on
this page consists of mainly warm
and calm colors, the use of red,
black and white. This is a consistent
color scheme used throughout Q
magazines, the colors compliment
each other.
A small quotation ‘I'm bringing ginger
back’ as the main verbal code on the
page. It may attract a wider audience
as it is clearly a joke, so it implies the
personal relationship the audience
may have with the audience
Drop capital, the purpose of
this is to attract the readers
attention to start reading the
article.
Anchorage text gives the reader
a small bit of context to go with
the quotation. This is good as it
inclines the reader to read the
article and get future issues of Q
Pull Quote is a quote from the
article that has been pulled out
due to its interest and gain the
readers attention.
Secondary research
22. Twitter
Facebook
Pintrest
YouTube
Range of social networks which Q
use, they use them because most
people in the world are on them
and it will help get the awareness
of Q up
There's a vote going on, which personally
includes the User, makes them feel
involved thus making Q look good
Logo, its one of the first
things we notice about Q
as it is red and really
stands out on the page.
It also tells the User
exactly what website
they are on. This is
professional from Q as it
clearly states that this is
their site.
Two navigation bars, show
how much of a range Q
provides, which gets many
different kinds of people
interested. This is good as it
means that Q’s website will
have a higher activity rate
Source- http://www.qthemusic.com
Q have a synergy with the social
networks with Facebook, meaning
they work with them as one of the
platforms that Q operate on is
Facebook
You can scroll down to get more articles from Q. The majority of Q’s site
front page are links to articles, this is good because many Q readers will
be here for that exact reason, to read articles
Secondary research
