This document contains the results of a 14 question survey conducted by Sasha McFadden for an AS Media project on magazine design. The survey of 20 people found that the target audience is mostly male, aged 16-18, who enjoy alternative/rock music. They typically buy magazines monthly for £2-3 and are interested in features on new artists and free posters. Based on the survey responses, Sasha will design an alternative rock magazine targeting younger males that includes interviews, photos, and social media integration while limiting advertisements.

1. Sasha McFadden
AS Media

2. Question 1
What is your gender?
Male
Female
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1
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
For my research, I asked 20 people at random to fill out my questionnaire and found that
more males filled them out than girls. Although more were asked, this may link to the larger
proportion of males who read magazines of my genre- alternative rock. This means that my
results are going to be subjective of a male target audience.

3. Question 2
What is your age range?
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8
7
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5
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2
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0
16-18
19-21
22-25
26-30
30+
The next question I asked was for the age ranges of those who answered and covered a
wide range of ages specifically chosen from 16-30+ as my market research suggests they
read more music magazines. My results found that the majority were 16-18 with 22-25
year olds not far behind. However, the majority of those asked were 16-18 which means my
target audience will focus on the younger generation.

4. Question 3
What genre of music from the following do you prefer?
Indie
Alternative
Rock
Pop
Hip Hop
Next, I then asked for a preferred type of music out of my own created list listed above. I then found that
most recipients liked rock and alternative with 1 more liking the alternative genre. This adequately links
with my chosen magazine genre of music being alternative/rock as nearly all participants chose either of
these choices. Therefore, I will definitely use this genre within my music magazine.

5. Question 4
How often do you buy music magazines?
12
10
8
6
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2
0
Never
Rarely
Monthly
Weekly
In order to gain perspective in to how often I will produce my music magazine, I asked when, if ever
my audience buy such magazines. The above chart demonstrates that the majority never buy
them, however when comparing the monthly and weekly numbers, more had chosen to buy them
on a monthly basis. Therefore, I will produce my magazine every month.

6. Question 5
How much would you normally pay for a magazine?
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5
4
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0
£1 or less
£2 - £3
£3.50 - £4.50
£5+
For this question, I gave the participants a range of answers from the averaging price of
magazines, from £1 to £5. The results I gathered showed that most people would normally
pay £2-£3 for a magazine which is suitable as my market research suggested similar
results.

7. Question 6
Based on your answer for Qu.3, who is your favourite band or
artist?
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2
1.5
1
0.5
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0
This question was open to the audience as I wanted to collect a wider sense of what people liked
in music. Although the answer was varied, the results came out with two popular band/artists
which were Jake Bugg and Arctic Monkeys. This coincidentally fitted in with my chosen genre of
Alternative Rock as that is what both artists suit.

8. Question 7
For the alternative rock genre who is your favourite band or artist?
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
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0
So that I could make comparisons and links to my own publication, I asked my audience who their
preferred band or artist was for the alternative rock genre and found a varied response. Saying
that, Paramore and the Arctic Monkeys both received similar totals and are both different in their
own style which helps for the plans of my production.

9. Question 8
From the list below, please tick 2 preferred
colours:
Red
Black
White
Blue
Yellow
For this question, I chose the colours most commonly used throughout music magazines of the
alternative rock genre. I then asked which 2 the audience preferred out the 5 listed without
another option purposefully as I would need to obtain a specific answer. The pie chart above
demonstrates that most recipients chose red and black as their 2 favoured colours.

10. Question 9
What extra features would encourage you to buy a magazine?
Choose all that apply:
Features on Upcoming Artists
Exclusive Interviews
Discounts or Giveaways
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CD
Free Posters
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2
4
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8
10
12
14
16
This question entailed the extra’s some magazines give out to entice the reader to buy it to gain more
profits. From this I decided I would do the same and asked what features they would like. As this was an
open choice question, a larger amount was chosen across all 5 products, however free posters were the
most wanted merchandise.

11. Question 10
What websites do you frequently visit/use? Choose all that
apply:
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12
10
8
6
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2
0
Facebook
Twitter
Tumblr
Artists/Bands
Sites
Music
Magazine
websites e.g.
NME
This too was an open choice question as the selections are more likely to not be used solely
on a regular basis. I then found that most people asked used Facebook and Twitter in
comparison to music magazine websites or artists and bands official webpages. This
therefore is significant as the role of social networking plays bigger part in younger peoples’
entertainment and so need to be incorporated into magazines.

12. Question 11
How do you hear about upcoming events or gigs?
Friends/Family
Online
Music Magazines
Adverts
Other
As music magazines employ a large section of their content on new events and artists such as
festivals or support act information, I thought it was mandatory to include how people hear
about such happenings. The results above suggest that people find out this information online
as well as friends and family also playing a part. Although, media products like adverts and
magazines were not as popular.

13. Question 12
If you currently read a music magazine, what do you
especially like about it?
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1
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As a result of the various aspects included in a magazine’s versatile content, I thought I would
ask what is especially favoured if any by the participants of my questionnaire. From my results, I
found that most people liked interviews and photographs and interesting content not far
behind. This helps in deciding what features to include.

14. Question 13
And what do you NOT like about it?
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5
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Adverts
Cost
Bad Bands
Long Interviews
This was the concluded question to 12 in that the opposite was asked on what was not liked as
much in a music magazine. My findings saw that adverts were an annoyance in most as they take
up a considerable amount of pages in a magazine. Thus, I will not use as much when making my
own magazine so that I attract more readers.

15. Question 14
What camera shot do you think looks the most
effective on the front cover?
Other
Long Shot
Mid-Shot
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Medium Close Up
Close up
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1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
As my last question, I asked the audience what camera shot looks more appealing on the font
cover of a magazine as found that ‘mid shot’ and ‘medium close up’ were very close in the choices
made. So I will most likely use a mid shot angle for my front cover.