My Target Audience

The genre of magazine I have chosen to design is 'Indielectronica' . This genre is a relatively new genre, which began to develop in the late 1990's in Germany. It is a mix between  indie, electronica, rock and pop music. This is a niche market which is rarely targeted thi is because as the genre originates from Germany this is where many of their fans and top bands are from. However as internet websites such as youtube and myspace allow people worldwide to interact and share musical ideas, as this continues this genre of music is becoming well-known world wide including the UK. and the USA.   
I chose to target a niche markets because the customers are very loyal compared to mass market magazines.
I have decided to target both males and females this is because this genre of music is popular with both genders and as this is a new genre of magazine, both males and females will be wanting to read this. I have accommodated both males and females in the magazine, by including lots of images with short wording for the males and also interesting long stories for the females.
The age group I have decided to target my magazine at is 16-19. This is because this is the age where people often show personality in the genre of  music they listen to. Also the consumers can afford to buy magazines from part-time jobs.

Results from Questionaire

In the questionnaire I asked 12 people, 7 of these were males and 5 of these were females. This is because the target audience of my magazine is both females and males and in order to reach the whole of my target audience i will need to include things that both genders like.
The age range of the people I questioned was between 16 and 19 year olds. This again was because I felt it was necessary to ask my target audience, and not other age groups as they are would prefer different things to my target audience.

In my questionnaire I asked how often they would purchase a magazine, this is to find out whether to make the magazine monthly, weekly or daily. From this graph it is easy to see that the majority of people asked would like a weekly magazine. This means that there will always be new and exciting news, as if it was daily it may get boring and repetitive. A monthly magazine was also not very popular, this is because by the time the magazine has been brought, the news is old and has been covered by other form of information, such as websites and music news channels.

1/6 of the people asked in my questionnaire was subscribed to a magazine, these include NME and Kerrang. This shows that subscription is not very popular amongst this age group. I will offer it on my magazine, as I believe that due to lack of  advertisement and intensive. This is something I am going to do in my magazine. 

I asked in my questionnaire if people would be interested in an Indietronica magazine. I got a very positive respond to this question with 5/6 of the people saying that they would. The replies included :-

•  It's a new genre of music, which I would like to find out more about.
• I’ve got friends who like that kinda thing, they got into it through youtube, so yer for their benefit.
• Sounds like my genre of music!
• It's target audience would overlap with Kerrang's and may bring their prices down, which would be good.
• There is nothing like it on the market that I'm aware of at the moment
• It sounds really interesting and a genre of music I would enjoy

I asked in my questionnaire if people would like to find out about new and upcoming bands in a magazine or established bands. 7 of the 12 people asked wold prefer to find out about upcoming bands, while 5 would like to hear about established bands. In my magazine I will include both types of bands, as with established bands people know what they're getting and upcoming bands are also important as this is where everyone starts and people may find to like these new bands.  

The price of the magazine is very important as it can seem to be 'too cheap' and therefore not seen as a reliable brand or if its over-priced then people would be put off buying it as well. I asked people in my questionnaire to give an estimation of a price they would feel comfortable paying for an indietronica magazine. The majority of people would pay between £2.00 and £3.99. This is an average price of magazines for music magazines and if I charge mid-price for my magazine then it will be successful.

I have learnt a lot about my target audience from this questionnaire and it has given me good ideas for my magazine.

Pre- Questionaire

1. What age category do you fit into?        16        17        18        19
2. What gender are you?   Male    Female
3. What genre of music do you listen to? Rock, Pop, Classical, Electronic, Indie Other (Please state)
4. How often do you buy music magazines? Never Monthly Weekly Daily 
5. Which is your preferred method of finding out about new bands? Music magazines, Music websites, TV music stations, Radio stations, Supporting acts at concerts.
6. Are you subscribed to any music magazine? No Yes (please state)
7. Does the sound of an electronica music magazine interest you and why? Yes     No
8. In a magazine would you prefer to hear about new and upcoming band or well-known bands? Upcoming bands             Established bands
9. How much would you pay for a music magazine? >£1.99, £2.00-£3.99, <£4.00
10. How often would you like to buy a music magazine? Daily, Weekly, Monthly

Front Cover Analysis (NME)

This is the front cover of an ‘NME’ magazine. NME is a rock/indie magazine. Their target audience is 16-19 year old meals interested in this genre of music. They attract their target audience by use of colour, style of writing, eye capturing photographs, the headlining stories and freebies.

Most magazines have 3 main colours, this is to avoid being too plain and boring with one colour and also so that the colours stand out and the magazine cover is not too busy with more than 3 colours. The three colours that ‘NME’ have chosen are red, white and black. These colours are bold, strong and share a masculine element.

The ‘NME’ logo is in all of the colours, however the red is the most dominant colour, which is the strongest and most attention grabbing out of all the colours. Red is a colour that is associated with anger and danger. The logo has got both colours surrounding it, this means that it still stands out on the same colour background. Below the title in a small font it says what the letters stand for ‘New musical Express’.

The main story is about ‘Mossissey’, an English singer and songwriter. The name is in the largest font to make it stand out, and to show his significance. A quote from the interview is underneath the name; this is to entice the reader to read the rest of the interview. The quote is political minded and to do with immigration and the national identity, this is why he is wearing a suit jacket, to symbolise a businessman. However he is not wearing a shirt and tie, this shows it to be informal, which is to attract their target audience of rock music fans. The black t-shirt under the suit jacket is an outfit that is often wore in film by the ‘bad man’. This is the image that the magazine is trying to convey of Mossissey.  The background is of high-rise buildings, which is associated with London and other main cities where many important decisions to do with politics take place. The buildings are white, whilst the man is in black, while also he is very close to the camera, with a mid-shot photograph, whilst the buildings are in the background. These factors make the man stand out and seem very important and influential. He is looking directly into the camera, denoting power over the reader; it portrays him as strong, powerful and masculine, very much like the colours of the magazine. This also goes with how in the public eye he is seen, this is because he has been quoted as "one of the most influential artists ever”. The camera is at a low angle which means the reader is looking up at the man, this re-enforces his significance. ‘Bigmouth strikes again’ is underlines and in bold, this is to draw attention towards it. It is not in a straight line, but on the slant to show that it is informal. ‘Oh dear. Not again.’ Is also underline and in bold. These statements are very short and snappy. There is a full stop at the end of each line; this shows a break in the sentences, this could show frustration. Morrissey is well known for being politically outspoken and often getting slated for it in the media. All the writing for the main story is in white, this is so you can tell they are all from the same story and also so they stand out against the man’s dark clothing.

There are three ‘puffs’ on the left hand side of the magazine, these show the potential buyer what else is in the magazine. In order to make the magazine attractive these will be the most interesting stories. The images of the ‘puffs’ are in a Polaroid style, this shows that it is a ‘snapshot’ to what is inside.  ‘NME’ have got a story on

Gerard Way

and his new comic book as well as his life outside of My Chemical Romance, the band he has recently left. There is a close up of Gerard and a separate photograph of his comic book. His name is written in the same font as the main story about Morrissey. This shows continuity. The story underneath the one about

Gerard Way

is about the Artic Monkey’s meeting QOTSA. Beneath this quote of informative information is a quote from one of the band members. This attracts the reader to reading the rest of the interview inside, especially as the quote of ‘I like the angle of your jangle’ seems to be very un-usual, the audience would want to see why he would say this and in what context. The third ‘puff’ is about Pete and his new album. NME are showing off how a year before its launch they have managed to listen to his new solo album. Fans of Pete’s will be very excited about this as they can find out about the album before anyone else and this will encourage them to buy it even more. From these ‘puffs’ you can get a very clear idea of the type of target the magazine expects to get. They will be interested in these certain artists which the magazine is advertising. These three performers have a range of audiences, which together make up NME’s. This is because they will attract a wider target audience if show a variety of artists, who are different yet similar at the same time. The fact that all of the artists on the front cover are male shows that males are dominative in this genre of music. This also gives their target audience role models to look up to.  

Front Page Analysis (Q Magazine)

Q is a music magazine whose target audience is the older generation who still buy C.D.s. It targets people who want to know about music and not about 'who is wearing what colour pants'.

The masthead of Q magazine is a large white Q in a red box. This is the largest font size on the page; it is a different font, which shows it as a logo rather than a cover line. This is the largest section

Of block colour and is the first thing in the line of sight. 

The selling line says ‘ A different take on music’, this clarifies that it is a music magazine, but also that it is different from all the others. This is a selling point because people will be interested in how they are different and buy the magazine to see.

The main image is large and takes up the majority of the page. It is of Lily Allen, a popular music artist. The image is a long shot, which shows the whole figure of Lily Allen. She has got her back towards the camera, this is seen as the most sexiest part of a woman, this and is wearing very skimpy clothing. Either side of Lily Allen there is a black jaguar. These are fierce beasts, which relate to what they are portraying Lily Allen as. One of the cats are yawning, showing off their teeth, as Lily has her back to the cat is shows that she is not afraid of them.  Her long hair shows her feminine side, while being surrounded by cats shows that she is a strong independent woman.

It is very noticeable as who the artists is as her name is in the largest font on the page par the logo of the magazine. The font is plain and is different from all the puffs; it is easy to read and looks relaxed yet formative. The words are using the house colours of the magazine, however as her first name is on one side and her surname is on the other side of her, they are in contrasting colours, the black side represents her evil and wicked and then the white shows her angelic side. Underneath the main cover line is says ‘& her wicked wicked ways…’. The use of the repetitive word makes it more powerful especially as they are in a larger font size, in italics, capital letters and red in colour. All of these things make it stand out against the plain background and is one of the main focal points. The use of the ‘…’ shows that its not finished and entices the consumer to read the magazine to find out what else the magazine has to say about her. 

In the top right hand corner there is three bullet points, which are blue, a colour which is not used very much on this page so it stands out against the greys, whites and blacks. The puffs tell the consumer what else is contained in the magazine; they put interesting interviews and exclusives to attract readers. They have used three popular bands, which people will be interested in reading about. The word exclusive is in red, this draws attention, while the band names are in bold.

At the bottom of the page there is a cover line in the form of a banner. This is space saving, yet enables the consumer to see what else is in the magazine. The use of block colour stands out against the background and draws attention towards it.

Double Page Anaylsis (NME)

This is a double page spread form the music magazine NME. This is from the same magazine as the front page which I chose to analyse. You know that this page is from an NME magazine is because next to the title of the band thee is a bold block of black with ‘NME loves’ in it. This is a subtle way to get the magazine name into the article.

The colours on this page are electric blue, white and black. These colours are eye-catching and work well together. The blocks of colour are the most eye catching parts of the magazine; these include the name of the band, a need to know section and a quite from the interview. These work similarly to ‘puffs’ on the front page of a magazine and show the ‘best’ parts of the page, which after reading the consumer is incised to read the rest. This is something which I would like to do on my magazine, as I think that it looks very effective.

The band which is being interviewed is ‘The Teenagers’. This is the largest font on the page and is attention grabbing. The font is very plain and is not like a logo; however it is different from the rest of the font on the page so stands out.  

On the far right hand side of the page there is a section called ‘What everyone is talking about’. This section is a contrasting colour to the other half of the page, which contains the interview of the band. The writing on both sides are contrasting to the backgrounds, this centralises the interview and makes the writing look shorter. This has been done because as the magazine targets both males and females and as male readers prefer short stories with little writing and many photographs, this suits the target audience well. There are many multi-coloured images on this section, all of which are associated with the stories above them and balances the page of colour from the left page which has a large colourful image.

The main image covers the whole of the left hand side of the double page spread. The image is colourful, with 3 males lying on a bed (the band members). They look relaxed and are wearing the same colour clothing as the writing and background of the magazine. Behind the bed are photographs of young adults, mainly females with very little clothing. This shows that the men feel that women like men who are famous and that women are a big part of their lives. The photograph is taken at a high angle and means that you are looking down on the band members; this shows that they are still small in the world of women however the other image of the band on the page is taken at a low angle looking up at the band, while they are playing at a gig. This shows that in the world of music the band is popular and making it large.

The interview section of the double page spread gives the questions from the interviewer and the answers from the band. The writing is small and compact, yet still large enough to read. The font is simple and easy to read. The font is in block with some jagged edges, which keeps it informal, like the audience they are trying to target.

Content Page Analysis (Q Magazine)

There is a black banner across the top of the page, which contains the masthead and the words ‘contents’ this shows the reader what the page contains and what magazine it is from. It also contains the date the issue was released this is all informative.

The main image is band on a hillside. The band look relaxed. On the image there is a block of white, which has the information on it, which tells you who the band is and what page you can find them on. 

Below this there is a ‘Q review’. This is set out in the same way as the banner on the top of the page. This shows a uniformed layout, which readers will associate with Q magazine. The review is something that I have not seen on any other contents page, this is something that readers will also associate with this magazine.

There is two sections to the contents of the magazine, features and every month. These are very explanatory in themselves. They enable the reader to find what they are looking for every easily. They especially make it easy for people who read the magazine monthly with the ‘every month’ section. On the featured section there is a ‘Oasis special’, this is in a fancy font, which draws your attention towards it. The black writing on the white background makes it look very formal and is easy to read. The majority of the font is very similar to the front page, which keeps continuity throughout the magazine, likewise with the use of the house colours (red, black and white).