Target Audience Research

Q Magazine

Q is the UK's number one purchased music magazine.

• This magazine is the most popular with the ages 15-24.
• 68.3% of the readers are male.
• 70% of the readers are middle class.

Sources: http://magazines.bauermediaadvertising.com/magazines/detail/Q
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_(magazine)

Rolling Stone Magazine

This magazine focuses on pop-culture.

The following image (from the Rolling Stone official website) shows the statistics of their target audiences:

This also shows that the majority of the readers are young (between the ages of 18-24  at 26.8%) and male (at 62.6%).

NME Magazine

NME magazine focuses on indie, rock and alternative music.























Based on a survey (see the NME official website) the target audience of the magazine are as follows:

• 73% male
• Aimed at the average age of 25
• 73% of the readers are middle class
• 34% work full-time, 18% part-time and 26% are students

My Target Audience

Based on my research, the majority of magazine-purchasers are young adults, male and of middle class. I would like my magazine to be aimed at late teens and young adults (ages 16-25), as this would coincide with this research, plus the conventions of the target audience of the indie genre. However, I would like my magazine to be applicable to both genders so the magazine would be of interest to more people.

I would like my magazine to be Indie as this is a style of personal interest to me and I can replicate this style on a considerably lower budget compared to other genres. I particularly like the first image (Q magazine) for it's rocky style, so I would like my magazine to be indie but also have features that are rock-inspired- this would also conform to my younger target audience as the majority of rock music listeners are young adults.

Codes and Conventions of Music Magazines

In order to produce a front cover, contents page and double page spread of a music magazine, I need to research the codes and conventions of different ones. This means the technical features as well as features to do with narrative, representation and audience. These factors may vary due to the styles, genres and intended target audiences of these magazines.

The Codes and Conventions of Front Covers



The Codes and Conventions of Contents Pages



The Codes and Conventions of Double Page Spreads



In order to understand what the magazine elements are called and to help me analyse them, I have looked into the following slide-share glossaries for the correct terminology:

• http://www.slideshare.net/shsmedia/magazine-conventions-andterminology
• http://www.slideshare.net/willsyran/layout-glossary-16162482

My Preliminary Task

Evaluation

My preliminary task fullfils the brief; I have completed a front cover of a school magazine using my own medium-close up of a student, along with a contents page. Both documents were produced on Adobe Photoshop. For the image, I have chosen a sixteen year old female student, as this is the age of the appropriate target audience of this magazine. I chose to have the model in smart dress and in a working or learning environment to reflect on typical schooling conventions and to convey an archetype of a model school pupil as a positive example to other pupils. In addition, I have laid-out the text and masthead in a style appropriate to the stereo-typical conventions of a school magazine.

I overcame obstacles in order to complete this task as I have never used Photoshop in this way before. To help me to do this, I researched into tutorials to help me work out what to do, especially when enlarging or reducing the photographs.

In order to improve the production values of my design I would take this stereo-type of a model student further. I would do this by taking more suitable photographs with props e.g. by showing an ideal pupil being studious with a book, writing or by a computer. In order to make the layout more visually appealing, I would also change the text styles and colours.

In order to complete the preliminary task and understand the software, I researched into multiple YouTube tutorials as they are easy to understand because I am a visual learner.

In preparation for completing my main task, I have learnt to become more familiar with Adobe Photoshop; as I had little experience with the software beforehand. This will help me with my main task as I now have a beginner's understanding of how to use it, so I can therefore push myself further and produce a more visually appealing main task.