Research into Potential Target Audience

With the economy going down prices are rising therefore publications and business' alike are suffering from this credit crunch. This means that people are buying less "indulgences" than they need in order to cut down their expenses. This therefore, as i have found out lead to a 6.7% decrease in the number of magazines bought in the united kingdom in December 2008. This means that when creating my magazine im going to have to place it on a broader spectrum appealing to more than just one type of consumer in order to rake in the profits. 

The top 5 magazine audiences are as follows:

1) Womens Magazines 

2) Mens Magazines

3) TV, Radio and Entertainment Magazines

4) News weekly magazines

5) Business Magazines

This means that i have a definite audience out there for my music magazine production, tolling in at 3rd place. With gender magazines being the two above means that i could combine the two audiences to make a music magazine that appeals to both men and women, broadening the scale of my publication.

Music magazines specialise in different types of genre of music ranging from folk to hip-hop. A music magazine has to have a certain specialisation in order for it to sell as people dont listen to every single type of music there is. This has lead me to make a pop rock magazine, appealing to the widest range of music genre there is. Pop stand for the word popular, meaning popular music, with its mainstream style and conventional structure appeals to a vast audience. This audience is of both gender and comprises into the band of 10-30 year olds. But as this is a publication im going to tighten the target audience to 14-30 as a more sophisticated view wont appeal to many below the age of 14, wheras it would appeal to many ages over the age of 14. 

This target audience requires my magazine to be up to date with the latst happenings in the pop music world along with the latest fashions for both men and women to coincide with the music scene providing a broader spectrum. "Music, Life, Style" all rolled into one to create One Way Music Magazine, "leading you on the right path to the music scene".

By realizing that is my magazine was on a shop shelf my cumulative audience would be much higher than what my actual amount of readers would be. Therefore before i begin the designing process of my project i need to come to terms with how i could attract an audience from my magazine sitting on a shelf, therefore i'd be able to get some reception analysis on what my target audience really think of a magazine that will strike them to buy it. I am going to comprise a questionnaire to determine what features i should include and how i should set and go about my magazine. By asking people in the specific age boundaries of my target audience both male and female i will be able to comprise a shortlist of what key ideas and features readers would want to see.

Questionaire

1) How important is the title of a music magazine? (1 being lowest, 10 being highest)

1-3

4-7

8-10

The results where 75% chose the bracket 4-7, therefore planning a title that can relate and signify its importance is vital.

2) What attracts you the most when you see a magazine?

the features

the title

the image

The resuts where that 90% chose that the image was the key thing that attracted you most, therefore i need to create a strong image that grabs the younger readers attention.

3) Is pop music something that teenagers are influenced by in the modern day?

yes 

no

The results are that 80% of students say that pop music influences their everyday lives, therefore proving that late teens to early 30's is a good age boundary to aim for.

4) By combining a music life and style magazine all in one do you think you would be more likely to buy it?

yes 

no 

The results were that 80% of students would buy the magazine due to it offering more range rather than just music.

5) What would you most likely subscribe to a music monthly or weekly magazine?

monthly 

weekly

The results are that surprisingly 60% of the vote said that monthly would be best due to their being more context to write about. 

Therefore by researching and asking my specific target audience i can now begin the designing process by using the information recieved in order to start making my teenage pop / lifestyle music magazine.