2. Purpose, Aims and Methodology
• The purpose of undertaking my research was to gain
potential ideas and my target audience’s needs and
requirements.
• I created a questionnaire to require this knowledge of
my audience and gain feedback on my ideas by asking
them a range of questions.
• To do this, I used:
a random sampling of people to gain unbiased
qualitative responses
a focus group of 5 people to get more quantitative data
and helpful criticism to help with my research and
planning of my new music magazine.
3. Audience Profile
• The results of my questionnaire suggest that my target
audience will be predominantly male based, between the
ages of 18-45.
• Therefore my magazine will have a slightly more male ‘feel’
and connotations to it, while still appealing to female readers.
• The age range of my theoretical audience is similar to my
initial target range from 18-45, so my magazine is going to
have to appeal and feature artists that will appeal to this
diverse age range of people.
Age Gender
5
4
3
40% Male
2
1 60% Female
0
18-20 21-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45
4. Audience Profile
• The main hobbies of my theoretical audience are clearly going to
concerts and listening to music, with some playing an instrument.
• This means that my magazine’s advertisements and front cover
features will have to specifically target these areas of interest, to
entice my readers and no alienate them.
• As the majority of my theoretical audience are students and/or
those with part-time jobs, this suggests they have a small
disposable income and therefore be more likely to be able to afford
a music magazine, especially with their interests concentrated in it.
Hobbies & Interests Employment Status
14 10
12
8
10
8 6
6
4
4
2 2
0
0
Gigging Play an Sport Listening to Video
instrument music games Student Part-time job Full-time job Unemployed
5. Media Purchasing Habits
• The majority of my target audience are situated in Harlow, which means
that my magazine will need to be advertised where they will be able to
see it.
• They typically purchase their magazines from Newsagents or local
Supermarkets, of which Harlow has plenty, therefore these are the places
I will need to target for business. However, some of my audience use
monthly subscriptions, which I will have to make details available of
within my magazine.
• The typical amount spent on magazines a month appears to be between
£2.50-£2.99 a month, which is what I will have to base my price around as
it reflects what my audience are prepared to pay.
Amount typically spent
12
Town of Residence Monthly Where purchased 10
suscription 8
13% 13%
Harlow 6
4
Bishop's 2
33% 54% Stortford Newsagents 0
Supermarkets 54%
Sawbridgeworth £2.00-£2.49 £2.50-£2.99 £3.00-£3.49 £3.50-£3.99
33%
Price range
6. Personal Preferences
• The choice in magazine preference can be used to
correlate with the preference of magazine features.
• The magazine features preference graph let me know what my
target audience find most appealing about magazines, which is
the features, genre of music, artists, colours and layout.
• Therefore I will have to be quite selective when designing my
magazine to make sure that I have carefully considered these
features, and related them to those used in Classic Rock and
Rock Sound magazines which proved most popular.
Magazine features preference
Magazine choice Kerrang! 12
7% 10
8
6
Classic Rock 4
Rock Sound 2
43% 29% 0
Metal
Hammer
21%
7. Personal Preferences
Punk artists listened to…
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
• This graph shows that Green Day, Fall Out Boy, New Found Glory, Ramones and
the Sex Pistols are the bands most listened to by my target audience, therefore
the band that I feature on the cover will use conventions of the Sex Pistols’ look
or album/ band design and possibly the early days of Green Day, to appeal to my
audience and make them want to buy my magazine
• I will do this by praising the new band by using these top 5 artists listened to, and
including some of the others in my contents page.
8. Personal Preferences
• Using the results of my magazine, I can see that my theoretical
audience expect my new music magazine to cost between £2.50 and
£2.99, which matches how much they spend in a typical month.
• 8 out of 15 people that I asked said that my magazine should be
released every week, rather than fortnightly or monthly.
• In terms of features to include in my magazine, a free CD compilation
of punk and a free music download proved to be the most popular, so
I will include these in my magazine to appeal to my audience and
hopefully introduce others to the genre of punk and it’s various sub-
genres.
9
8
7
The frequency of release 6
5
4
3
Expectation of Monthly
27%
2
1
0
magazine cost
10 8
6
Weekly
5 1 53%
0
Fortnightly
£2.00-£2.49 £2.50-£2.99 £3.00-£3.49 20%
9. Personal Preferences
• Lastly, I let my target audience
chose what features of punk for my
magazine I should include and what
they thought would work.
• The results showed that my
elements of the Sex Pistols’ punk
design and the union jack were
popular, which I will definitely use. Features for my punk magazines
• Surprisingly my main idea feature of
10
9
8
a new band inspired by the Sex 7
6
5
Pistols was not popular, with only 3 4
3
2
out of 15 people choosing it. 1
0
Therefore I will have to rethink this
idea.
10. Focus group feedback
• My focus group remained divided on whether my new music
magazine should be released monthly or weekly, depending
on it’s success and whether it could get repetitive every week
despite having “a lot of potential as a new music magazine.”
• One member of my focus group who had grown up with punk
with his dad (now aged 45) told me how punk involved a lot of
bright colours to stand out and ‘break away from the norms of
society” which made me more inclined to use
red, yellow, black, white, blue and purple –incorporating my
first and second colour schemes from my questionnaire.
• Lastly the female member of the group mentioned including
fashion in the magazine –while not necessarily a main feature
it could be mentioned in the contents page; punk fashion
ideas or vouchers/ adverts for alternative clothing shops for
readers.
11. Conclusion and Proposals
My magazine will have a slightly more male ‘feel’ to it, but still appeal to
female readers.
My front cover and/ or advertisements will be related to the hobbies of
my readers –e.g music sites, upcoming gigs etc to encourage them to buy
my magazine
Need to be careful with language used on front cover so it isn’t too
hidden in the back of the newsagents or supermarkets magazine
sections.
My magazine will be priced between £2.50-£2.99, while being conscious
of other magazine prices like Kerrang! £2.20
I need to be selective of the features, artists, colours and layout I use in
relation to Classic Rock and Rock Sound magazine conventions.
Mention the other bands my audience listen to on the front cover or
contents page to encourage them to buy the magazine.
I will offer a free punk CD compilation with the first issue of the magazine
to introduce readers to the magazine and the genre -including a voucher
to get 50p off of their next purchase of the magazine
I will use red, blue, black, purple, white and yellow in my colour scheme.
Consider the frequency of release.
