The document discusses the target audiences of different commercial magazines. Magazines like NME that have been around longer tend to attract slightly older audiences, as their focus remains on acts from when they first became popular. Younger magazines like Q attract younger audiences by featuring currently mainstream artists. Q widens its audience further by including older, established acts and comedians on covers alongside newer artists, appealing to both younger fans of contemporary music and older fans familiar with the legacy acts. The proposed new magazine Ensemble would target teenagers and young adults through its selection of mainstream music acts but also aim to engage an older audience through the inclusion of a comedian.

1. Jack Lawlor
4 – Who would be your audience for your media product?
Commercial Magazine Audience
The target audience for commercial magazines is often varied with different magazines.
NME for example has been around for a long time therefore attracts a slightly older
audience than Q for instance, who have been around for less time. This is because
commercial magazines often at first attract a younger audience of teenagers and young
adults when they are first published as they are likely to showcase acts that are in the
mainstream at the time which most young adults and teenagers are in to. This was the case
when NME was around in the 90’s, 80’s, 70’s and even the 60’s and it’s now the case with Q.
NME to retain their target audience decided to showcase
the acts they were doing when they were in the
mainstream so therefore that’s how their target
audience is slightly older. They still do this through
showcasing the acts of this time. For example, they still
used acts like Liam Gallagher on the front pages of their
magazines so it still attracts their audience back in the
day.
However, the new commercial magazines like Q would
showcase the acts around at the time like Lily Allen who
just came back and it in popular demand again. This
would then attract the teenagers and young adults
whom many are in to the mainstream music.
On the other hand to attract more people to their
magazine Q added some extra people in to widen their
target market. For example, on the left you can clearly
see Ricky Gervais and Oasis on the front cover as well as
Lily Allen. Ricky Gervais would most likely attract more of
the older middle-class audience who are in to his
comedy. Oasis would then attract older music fans that
were in to them when they were massive and
mainstream in their day.

2. Jack Lawlor
Target Audience for Ensemble
Ensemble would be a completely new commercial magazine as a result of this the target
audience it would attract would be teenagers and young adults. The acts that I’ve used
indicate this further as they are mainly mainstream acts. However, it would also attract an
older audience. This is highlighted through the use of a comedian who would attract an
older middle-class audience.