My media product is an indie music magazine that represents various social groups in a positive way. It portrays both male and female readers equally and appeals to people aged 17-25 by featuring a young, talented musician on the cover. While the target audience is predominantly white and middle-to-upper middle class, reflecting the current indie demographic, the magazine aims to be inclusive of all ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds. The magazine also positively depicts the target audience's lifestyle as sociable, passionate about music, and engaged with technology.

1. H OW D OES YOU R M ED I A
PR OD U CT R EPR ES EN T
PA R TI CU L A R S OCI A L
GR OU PS ?

2. S OCI A L GR OU PS
“A social group is a group of people
who interact with one another and
share similar characteristics such as
age, ethnicity, class, interests and
gender. Collectively, they have a
sense of unity.”

3. GEN D ER
My media product is a fairly uni-sex magazine and would appeal to both
male and female readers of the indie genre. There is a balance between
both genders and doesn’t contain any content associated with male or
female stereotypes. The boy on the cover would attract both male and
female interest. The male audience could feel like they relate to the
person, while the females would possibly be attracted to the cover in
terms of sex appeal, which has been proven to be a key influence in the
sale of media products. The indie genre as a whole is a mix of both male
and females. My product represents them as people who don’t mind the
gender of the artist, they are interested in the music more than the
appearance, and are therefore represented as quite chilled out people.

4. GEN D ER
Q magazine has a range of male and female artists on the cover of it’s
magazine and aren’t posing in a sexual way to attract more readers which
reinforces this representation Other reasons it is diverse is the colour
scheme, it is black white and orange which are colours that are fairly
gender neutral which wouldn’t affect the readers attraction to the
magazine. I feel the black and white tones has a ‘timeless’ feel about it
that I think represents indie people in terms of their style. Although they
are interested in new and current music, They seem to wear whatever
they like from whatever period of time, reinforcing the ‘individual’ feel that
this social group people like. The orange colour used is a warming colour,
representing them positively as happy people.
Here are examples of the reoccurring colour scheme on in the double page
spread, cover and contents.

5. A GE
The age bracket that my magazine targets is between the ages of
17 to 25 year olds. Although there are some negative stereotypes
associated with both male and female young adults, such as being
rude and lazy, I feel that my magazine eliminates these stereotypes
and represents young people in a more positive way. The boy on
the cover of the magazine looks like he is towards the lower end of
the target age range, but I see this as a positive thing as, despite
his age, he is a successful musician with a guitar, implying that he is
good at this instrument and generally has a well established career
already if he has made it onto the cover of a magazine.

6. A GE
I think that it represents the indie group of people to be talented.
Also he is smiling which implies a friendly nature of him and the
social group. The use of a younger person also represents the music
as being fresh and current, which clearly establishes who the
magazine is aimed at. Including festivals also implies that they go
out and pursue their interests, which represents them as being quite
passionate and devoted to their musical taste and what they enjoy.

7. ETH N I CI TY
The people who are included in the indie genre are mainly
white Caucasian people due to the predominant white
Caucasian indie bands and artists. I feel that the audience
are more likely to listen to an ethnicity that they are apart
of as they can possibly relate to them more. Of course, my
magazine is open to any ethnicity, it just seems that it is
predominantly white Caucasian people. The Vaccines and
Ed Sheeran who are also mentioned in my magazine and
are successful indie musicians are also in this category of
ethnicity. I still think that they are being positively
represented as this is not necessarily intentional and they
wouldn’t condone eliminating other ethnicities.

8. CL A S S
Indie magazines tend to be aimed towards middle and
upper-middle classed people. I feel that my magazine also
represents this and applies to this class group. The current
indie magazines on the market range from about £3 to £4
and is potentially alot of money, but due to the success of
these magazines it implies that people are willing to spend
this much money on a magazine and can afford to do so,
Therefore my magazine is priced at £2.75.

9. CL A S S
I wanted to keep it slightly cheaper so it could include
people tending towards the lower middle class and
therefore being positively diverse. Other ways it is
predominately middle class is that it includes the top 12
festival information, implying that this is something the
indie genre are interested in. Music festivals tend to be
quite expensive and they tend to attend them frequently.
The people they socialise there with will be of a similar
class origin, forming this indie culture.

10. L I F ES TYL E
The lifestyle of my target audience is positively represented in my
magazine in various ways.
The free download suggests that the indie social group are interested
in technology and they regularly purchase and download their music
via a computer. This represents them positively as being very up to
date and fresh people which reflects their musical tastes. The offer to
win The Vaccines tickets and the festival information shows they often
attend gigs and music festivals and this would heavily be apart of their
lifestyle, it shows they are dedicated to their musical interests and
enjoy seeing their bands live in concert and the atmosphere that
comes with it, representing them as very sociable people as well who
enjoy being in these large crowds.

11. L I F ES TYL E
The young model on the front represents the indie genre being of an
age where they would usually be in higher education and university.
This level of intelligence that they would have is reflected in the music
that they listen to, as the music is about life and love. The fact that
the indie genre are usually in university shows they are willing to try
new experiences and again, represents them in a good light.

12. I B EL I EVE I H A VE K EPT TO TH E CON VEN TI ON S A N D
S TER EOTYPES A S S OCI A TED WI TH M Y S OCI A L GR OU P
TH A T WOU L D B E TH E TA R GET A U D I EN CE F OR M Y
M A GA Z I N E. TH ER EF OR E I TH I N K M Y M A GA Z I N E
WI L L B E S U CCES S F U L I N A PPEA L I N G TO TH I S
PA R TI CU L A R GEN R E A N D TH A T M Y M A GA Z I N E
R EPR ES EN TS TH EM I N A VER Y POS I TI VE WA Y.