Jade Lucas - Media Studies: Research

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Audience Research

Finding out about target audiences is one of the main parts of designing your magazine, as you need to think about how to attract their attention. Designers and Institutions have to think very carefully about every aspect of their magazine and justify how it will appeal to their target audience.

For example colours and language techniques can greatly effect who the magazine appeals to; red and black are more masculine aggressive colours, therefore would attract more males than females.

I think it is mainly 15-25 year olds that would read music magazines because they’re most interested in keeping up with relevant trends and finding out about new up and coming bands and musicians.

Another factor that makes me think it’s this age group that read music magazines is most of the main magazines (Kerrang, NME) offer an online service in which the audience can access the content in the magazine on the internet, which younger people will probably find more accessible than buying the physical magazine (due to the popularity of devices that provide wifi: smartphones, tablets etc. and limited funds to actually purchase the magazine).

Institutions target their audience by making sure they feature bands and musicians which are relevant and current, so that peoples will be interested in the magazine and want to buy it.

They also customise the magazines house style to accommodate the audience, like I said more aggressive colours will attract males, where as brighter and softer colours will attract females.

Two stereotypes which may be attracted to music magazines might be teenage boys (16-19) that have a passion for music, either listening to it, or creating it, as they either may be looking for more knowledge about music as they enjoy it, or they may be looking to join a band or become a solo artist and make a living from it; reading these magazines would help him focus on what is currently popular.

Another stereotype might be alternative girls that are interested in keeping up with current trends, especially if they really enjoy music, and have a passion for going to festivals.

Overall institutions spend a long time perfecting the magazine to ensure that it fit’s the target audience exactly, to maximise sales and make their magazine popular.

Research Questionnaire

I conducted a survey of 20 people with different ages, genders, and interests to help me decide which demographic I was going to aim my final piece at.

The first question I asked was regarding their gender. I did this so I could see which gender is most interested in music and music magazines. As you can see 13 females and 7 males took the survey. I should have asked a balanced number of males and females however more females were willing to take the survey.

The next question I asked was regarding age, I did this so I could find out which age group was most interested in the topic, and then this would also give me an idea of what styles to use when creating the magazine. As you can see the most popular age group was 16-21 year olds, however this result is slightly biased as this is my age group, therefore I know more people. Although from doing other research about music magazines, I have found that this age group is the most popular to aim magazines at; as teenagers and young adults are most interested in keeping up with trends.

Following that I asked people what their favourite genre of music is, and the most popular result was pop music, with 6 out of 20. I think this indicates I should focus on this genre when creating my magazine, also I already know quite a bit about this specific genre, so it would be wise to concentrate on pop.

Next I asked people who their favourite band or artist is, and I got a lot of mixed answers. I mainly asked this question, so that when I am creating the profile of my made up musician to feature in the magazine I will know what kind of personalities people like best, and what kind of music they enjoy.

After that I asked do you read music magazines, and if so which ones? Out of the 20 people surveyed only 3 people read them, 2 males and 1 female. One males and the only female read NME (New Musical Express) and the other male reads Kerrang. The male that reads Kerrang and the female that reads NME are in the 16-21 category; and the male that reads NME is in the 22-30 category. I think this reinforces that I should aim my magazine at 16-21 years olds, as this is the category in which two thirds of the people that read music magazines feature.

I then asked what the reason was behind people not read music magazines, and most occurring answer, with 8 people (6 of which were in the 16-21 category), stated that they were just too expensive. Teenagers don’t have much money, so they would rather save for more worthwhile purchases than spend £2.00-£3.00 a week on music magazines.

The second most popular reason (with 4 out of 17) was that people can easily find the information on the internet, which is a lot more accessible than going out and physically buying the magazine.

The two third most popular reasons (with 3 out of 17 each) were that people would rather buy beauty and lifestyle magazines like Cosmopolitan and Glamour, as they tend to contain much of the same gossip information which is what they are most interested in ( two females from the 16-21 and one female from the 31-40 category). Then the second reason being that none of the magazines appeal to them, they would be happy to read music magazines, they just haven’t found one which they enjoy enough to buy regularly.

The last reason with two people out of seventeen, was that they generally aren't that interested in music, so don’t see the point of buying music magazines. (These two people were in the 51+ category).

The next question I asked was which colours and colour schemes people found most eye catching, and blue turned out to be the most popular colour, with 4 girls and 3 boys answering. The second most popular colour scheme was red and black with 3 boys and 1 girl).

Next I asked which tone people prefer reading, informal or formal, and the majority of the people (14) went with informal. I think most people answered informal because it’s easier to relate to a warm chatty tone than a cold formal tone.

Following this question I asked what attracts people most when looking at a front cover: images, title/logo or cover lines. The most popular response was images, the second was cover lines, and the last title/logo. This shows that I need to have a really eye catching cover image and strong cover lines.

Finally I asked which features people most enjoy reading: interviews, gossip, reviews, or latest updates/news, the main response was interviews, with gossip closely following. I think I will create a question and answer article for my double page spread, as it will be interesting to create, and it’s what people are most interested in reading, as they get to know the celebrity better.

Doing this questionnaire really helped me decide what sort of magazine I am going to create. I now know what demographic I am going to focus on, female 16-21 year olds.

Media Institution Research...

Over the years magazine has become an ever popular way to connect with audiences, with the purpose of educating and entertaining. There are now many major magazine publishing companies (independent and conglomerate) that create magazines with a plethora of genres, to cater for mass and niche audiences.

One of the largest magazine publishing companies today, is Bauer Media, which is owned by Bauer Media Group (which is Europe’s largest privately owned publishing group). They publish and own over 300 magazines in 15 different countries.

This company owns magazines across a wide variety of genres, including: Women’s Magazines (Grazia), Men’s Magazines (FHM, ZOO) and a variety of more niche subjects like photography and gardening. They also produce many music magazines, for example: Mojo, Q, and Kerrang!

What does Mojo, Q and Kerrang! offer?

Mojo has a website in which readers of the magazine can look at, to find out more information. They also have a blog with lots of extra content. A subscription service is also available, but only for print copies (no digital subscriptions).

Q also has a website, where you can find out extra content, sign up for their newsletter, or browse available tickets for upcoming music events. They also offer a print only subscription service. However Q also has a TV Channel.

Kerrang! is readily available through its website, twitter or facebook. They also have a TV channel and radio show.

Another relatively large company s IPC Media, who like Bauer, create a wide range of magazines, including well known and more obscure magazines (Marie Claire, Pick Me Up!, Super Yacht World, and Decanter).

They also own NME magazine.

NME has been published every week for 61 years. They connect with their readers via printed magazine and their website (NME.com) which is the biggest standalone music magazine website with over 7 million users each month. They offer a subscription service for both print and digital editions.

Another publishing company is Future Plc (and their headquarters are based in Bath).

They own a variety of magazines within the UK, in categories of technology, creative, sports, entertainment, and music.

The music magazines they own include: Computer Music, Future Music, Guitar Techniques, Guitarist, Rhythm, Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, and Total Guitar. However they also publish Guitarist in Australia.

Pretty much all of these magazines have a print and digital edition subscription service, accompanies by a website, and links via twitter and facebook.

Future manages to sell over 2.2 million magazines each month and they deliver over 100 digital editions.

Finally there is Emap Media, which is a private publishing company. They don’t create any music magazines now, however they ran Smash Hits! pop magazine from 1978 – 2006. Smash Hits, had a TV channel, website, and digital radio station, which survived the demise of the magazine.

Analysis of Mastheads

Mastheads -

The function of a masthead is to inform the audience of the name and basic information about the magazine, for example: name, date of issue, and tagline. It also helps create a brand for the magazine, so it becomes recognisable to the reader.

Kerrang -

Kerrang has a very distinguishable masthead. It has a very bold san serif font, which grabs the readers attention. The colour of the font is black, which is not as dynamic as if they had user a brighter colour. However as the rest of the front covers tend to be quite busy, I think using a bold colour would detract from the impact of the front cover as a whole.

There is a cracked effect across the K and E. and I think they have emphasized these two letters because when the magazines are laid out on the shelf, the audiences eye automatically is drawn to the top left hand corner. So the embellishments would further attract the readers attention. I think the cracked design symbolises that the music they cover is so loud that it’s managed to crack their title.

The have used the tag line “Life is Loud” which I think tells you a lot about the kind of music they feature. You can tell that they focus on loud/rock music, the font used also implies this as it is slightly rugged and edgy. The tag line is typed in a pink colour, which distinguishes it from the black colour used for the name of the magazine. I think it gives the magazine a fun edge, and balances out the masculine colour scheme of the overall front cover.

The main cover image is overlapping the masthead, which shows that this is well established magazine, and they don’t need to show their whole title, as the audience will know which magazine it is, without having to see the title in its entirety.

The name is displayed on a white background, which I think works well, as it makes the title stand out more, opposed to if it had been displayed either on top of the cover image, or on top of a darker coloured background. This gives the masthead a clean cut look, which I think fits in with the clean layout of the front cover. I also think the masthead indicates target audience well, as you can tell that it is aimed at the younger generation, through font type, and colours and effects used.

NME (New Musical Express) -

The NME masthead covers the top left hand side of the magazine. The name is typed in a bold san serif straight cut font, and is white in colour. There are no effects over the name (unlike Kerrang), so it looks very smooth and polished.

Underneath the name, also in white, is the tag line: New Musical Express. Which tells the reader what NME actually stands for.

On this particular magazine the name is in front of the main image, however on some of their other magazine covers the name is slightly covered by the main image. I think this shows that sometimes the band/musician they’re featuring is more important than the magazines name and brand, and sometimes they’re not.

Above the name, type in black they have the issue date, so that readers can keep track of each issue. NME is a weekly magazine, so it would be difficult for readers to remember if they had bought the previous issue or not. Using black I think works well, as it shows up well against the lighter backgrounds.

Overall I think that this masthead is simple yet very effective, as it is so clean and edgy, that it reflects the music they cover (indie/alternative). I think the clean cut look is fairly universal, so that NME can target their magazine to any generation.

Q magazine -

The masthead for Q is again located in the top left hand corner, so that like NME, it is easily viewable for the audiences perspective.

The letter Q is typed in a white serif font; and is displayed on a red background. Red has the connotations of danger, so maybe this colour has been used to reflect they kind of music they focus on. However I think it has been used because it is a very eye catching colour, that people become aware of quickly. So if the magazine was sat on the shelf, the reader would easily spot it.

This is a special edition, dedicated to the 70^th birthday of John Lennon, and the main front cover image is overlapping the title. I think this displays the iconic authority of Lennon, and shows that he is more important than the magazines name itself.

The red used for the background of the name, also ties in well with the colour scheme of the rest of the front cover, as the cover lines, and badge background are also red.

Again this is a cleaner cut masthead, and the serif font makes me think that this magazine may be aimed at the older generation, opposed to people in their teens and twenties. Also the kind of musician they’re covering, would be more appropriate for the older generation as they are more likely to have appreciated Lennon’s music.

Rock Sound -

The name of Rock Sound is typed in a white san serif font, and is quite thin and bold, I think it has a slight black outline or drop shadow to distinguish the name from the background. A distressed texture has been placed across the name, and I think this reflects the rocker image that they’re portraying.

The tag line is: “New Music First”, which shows that they focus on newer bands that people may not have heard of, opposed to giving well established band and musicians more publicity. The is also typed in white, and is underlined. I think the underlining really enforces that they believe in their tag line.

The name is covering the main image, which shows that they maybe this magazine isn’t as well established as NME for example, so they have to fully show they’re name to make it recognisable to the audience.

Its obvious that they cover rock music, from the name of their magazine, and the styling of the front cover. The magazine overall has a fairly youthful feel, which makes me think that it is aimed at the younger generation.

Vibe -

Vibe uses a bright red bold san serif font, and the sharpness of the font I think reflects the style of the magazine, which I think is rap/hip-hop music.

The colour red has connotations of danger and alertness, which I think fits in with the style, as rappers are stereotypically known to be quite tough and threatening.

The main cover image dominates the title, as you can only really see the V and E, which I think shows that Vibe is a well established magazine, therefore the title can be covered by the forceful main image of T.I.

The red links in with the cover lines of the magazine, which are also in a red font.

I think, judging by the type of musicians (T.I, Keri Hilson etc) they’re covering this magazine is aimed at the younger generation.

Conclusion -

Overall I think mastheads are one of the most important parts of a magazine, and from what I have seen they always dictate what kind of magazine they are. Mastheads tend to be quite clean cut, and simple, which I think works well, as it doesn’t detract attention away from the main articles, however it still manages to create a brand for the magazine.

Electronic Musician Analysis

Front Cover -

The masthead of this magazine runs across the entire top of the front cover of the magazine, and the text: “Electronic Musician” is typed in a san serif font. The main cover image is very slightly overlapping the mast head, which suggests that the musician from The Black Keys is slightly more important than the magazine itself.

The Black Keys band members are facing the camera, with a direct gaze, this engages the audience. I think as they are slightly less known than other bands, it would suggest this magazine is for an audience with a more obscure taste in music.

The cover lines of this particular magazine are not necessarily controversial like most magazines tend to use, instead these cover lines just hint at what’s inside, so that the audience becomes interested; for example: Make money writing jingles, the readers will wonder how that is achievable, therefore will read on to find out how.

The main colours used on this cover are white, yellow, red, and grey. The white for the title is vibrant and engaging, it also makes the name stand out from the grey background. Yellow has connotations to mellow and calm emotions, which I think is the type of music The Black Keys aim to create, as they are said to be “Capturing a Vintage Vibe in the studio” and the vintage feel also suggests calm music.

However the grey background and mise-en-scene suggests that there may be a dark element to their music, whether it be lyrics or melody.

Red is used to highlight the first few words of each cover line, red is commonly known to be the colour that most attracts the attention of people, so I think it was used to draw the eye to the main bulk of their magazine.

Contents Page -

The contents page is given the title Electronic Musician written in the same font as the front cover, however the colour has changed to black. There is one large image roughly in the centre of the page. The page has a white background, which gives a neat feel to the layout.

The articles are broken down and listed in sections: Cover Feature, Listen, and Lust. The main title of the articles are written in bold, and there is some anchor text explaining a little bit more about what the articles are regarding.

The colour scheme and layout follows the same house style as the front cover, with the red, white, and black colours, and clean cut layout.

Double Page Spread -

A large images is usually used on a double page spread, to attract the attention of the reader, as they are likely to recognise the face of a musician or someone they’re interested in. Also a large image detracts away from a lot of text, which people tend to find more appealing.

The main image is of Afi from Davey Havok. You can tell that the band he is from is a rock band, from his alternative styling: multi tonal scruffy hair, graphic prin t-shirt, tattoos etc. This shows that the magazine is aimed at people with a more obscure taste in music, as the band seems to be fairly alternative. Also this implies that the magazine may be aimed at the younger generation, as the band seems modern and young.

The main colour of this spread is grey, which gives a moody feel to the piece, which have been used to accompany the band they’re featuring. Pink has been used to highlight key pieces of the headline, which shows that the artist they’re talking to has a fun/quirly personality, which is contrasting to the duller grey feel of the page.

Black and white text has been used in the article, white to indicate the questions asked by the interviewer, and black to indicate the answers given by Afi. This helps the reader distinguish which particular section they’re reading.

The page has a light bulb/ glitzy border which indicates diva/rockstar connotations.

Overall I think this magazine is aimed generally at the younger generation, and to both genders. However it may be marketed slightly more towards males as the colours used are fairly masculine, and the band they’re featuring may be more appealing to males.

NME Analysis

Analysis of NME (New Musical Express)

New Musical Express is a music magazine released weekly, and is aimed at teenagers to people in their late twenties. It has been running since March of 1952, and now has around 23,924 magazines circulating.

Front Cover –

The Title/ Masthead: NME is shown in bright red San serif font; this will attract the reader’s attention, as red is a very dynamic eye catching colour. The location of the title is also over to the left of the magazine, which is because when magazines are laid out on shelves the left ½ of the magazine is usually the part on show. As this magazine is well established the editors don’t always feel the need to add the tag line “New Musical Express” to the magazine, as most people are aware of this magazine now.

Main Cover line: The main cover line features Noel Gallagher, and is typed in a white font, however the font is sprawled out and not in straight lines, and I think this reflects the meaning of the cover line as Noel talks about everything feeling “Out of Control”. Then the Main text is written in red and black, this matches the colour of the NME title. I think the use of the colour red reflects maybe anger or danger regarding Noel, as he and Liam had the big falling out, and this magazine refers to him starting over, without Oasis.

Other cover lines: These are typed down the right hand side of the magazine, and the main title is in black, then the sub text is red. This follows the colour scheme that the front cover is following.

Main Image: The main image to accompany the main cover line is a picture of Noel Gallagher. His face looks determined and slightly arrogant. I think this is because he wants to show people that he can start again, no matter what anyone thinks of him. The image is a medium close up, and main cover line fits into his shadow. The image is quite dramatically lit, as I think this will draw people’s attention due to the vibrant effect created.

Thumbnails: Across the top of the magazine is a “skyline” head line, talking about an indie band. Accompanying this headline is a thumbnail image of the band. This is the only other image on the page. I think they chose to limit the number of images to draw most of the attention to the main story about Noel Gallagher.

Contents Page –

Page Title: “NME This Week”, the title reflects the same font and style used as the “NME” logo. I think this title works really well, opposed to the conventional “Contents” title. It reminds me of the start of a preview of a TV programme, where they tease you about what is going to be appearing on the show that week. Instead this shows what is going to be featured in this issue of the magazine. The text is typed on a plain black background, which follows the magazines red, white, and black theme.

Feature Sections: The feature section of this contents page is right in the centre. It depicts a scene from a gig that the magazine is highlighting. There is a short paragraph written about the gig, to entice the reader into looking at the article further.

Page Numbers: In NME the contents are split into sections: News, Radar, Reviews, Live!, and Features. I think this works really well, as the reader can easily find out which sections they are most interested in, and locate the pieces they want to read first. The colour scheme of this section follows the same black, white, and red; which fits in with the consistent house style. The same font used for the title has been used for the subtitles of the contents.

Language Techniques: The language techniques used make me think that this is a magazine aimed at mainly young people , as they use word play and puns, and talk fairly informally.

Extras: They have a band index down the left hand side of the magazine, which tells the readers if a band has been mentioned in the magazine, and which page they are featured on. I think this is really useful for the readers, because everyone has their favourite musicians or bands, and want to keep up to date with everything that they’re doing.

There is also a section at the bottom which advertises a subscription service they run, and it tells the reader details about if want to subscribe and the prices.

Double Page Spread –

Large Title: The title of this double page spread is typed in red and black, this really stands out against the white background. A San serif font has been used; it looks direct and grabs the attention of the reader.

Sub Heading/ Paragraph: The sub paragraph is also written in black, just beneath the main title. It explains more about what the article is regarding.

Quotes: They haven’t exaggerated any quotes; however there are parts of the article which have been typed in bold. The start of each new section also has a bigger bold beginning letter. This means if the reader is skimming the article, or loses their place, they can easily find their way back to where they were reading.

Columns: This article uses the typical column layout, as it looks professional, and makes the article easier to read. Using columns also makes it easier to make room for pictures, compared to if big blocks of text had been used.

Main Image: The main image takes up around half of the right hand page, and clearly depicts the band they are highlighting. The title overlaps the image slightly; I think they did think to make the pages run fluently and blend in with each other.

Other images: There are five other pictures that have been used to illustrate the article. They are shown in a Polaroid style, I think this looks eye-catching, and they fit well with the style of the magazine (young and clean cut).

Forms and Conventions of Music Magazines

Research Production – Print Contextual Research

The forms and conventions of a music magazine –

The forms and conventions of a magazine refer to the typical things you would expect to find when you look through it.

Front Cover –

Short memorable name: This is useful because it will stick in the readers head and when they next go to buy it, they will know exactly what they’re looking for. The name of the magazine usually has a specific font that makes it more memorable, and typically stays the same colour. For example NME (New Musical Express), this is typed in a san serif font, primarily red, but with a thick white and black double outline.

Mast Head: This refers to the section at the top of the magazine where the title is located, this usually contains a main head line or a sell line (like: The UK’s biggest music magazine from Q magazine). This also helps distinguish the magazine, as it typically retains the same layout and font; that customers will recognise. However it may change colour, to fit the feel of the front cover (depending on what they’re featuring in that magazine).

Main image: The main image is usually of the artist they’re featuring in the magazine; and it typically spreads over the whole cover. The artist’s faces can be clearly seen and they are making eye contact with the camera/reader. Overlaying the image of the artist’s there is usually text telling the reader who they are (for example above you can see NME is featuring Alex Turner & Miles Kane). This image accompanies the main cover line.

Main Cover line: The main cover line tells the reader about the magazines main story. For example in this issue of NME it is the Alex Turner and Miles Kane’s “First major interview as ‘The Last Shadow Puppets’”.

Thumbnails: The front cover may contain thumbnails illustrating other stories that the magazine is covering. For example on this issue of Kerrang, you can see they have a thumbnail of Kelly Osbourne, as they are also featuring a story about her, in addition to the main story about Muse.

Badges: Badges are used to feature information in a visually pleasing way that grabs the reader’s attention, as it stand out from the rest of the front cover, as the material is secluded in a badge.

Contents page –

Page Title: The page title will usually just simply say “Contents”, this is usually in bold font at the top of the page, so it is easily accessible to the reader, and they can find exactly what they’re looking for.

Feature Sections: The features section outlines the main content of the magazine. This section can contain thumbnails and teasers of what will be in the article (This is usually a controversial or emotional quote from the musician they’re featuring). For example at the bottom on the contents page for Q magazine, they have a feature section at the bottom, where page numbers are anchored to thumbnails from their articles.

Colour Scheme: There will be a clear colour scheme throughout the whole magazine, and the contents page will look smooth and fluent, much like the rest of the magazine.

Page Numbers: The main functions of the contents page is to direct the reader to material of which they’re interested in. So the page numbers tell the reader where to look for specific content. The page numbers are always anchored to thumbnails or teaser headlines/quotes.

Language Techniques: The language techniques used are usually very simple and easily readable. This makes an impact and saves the page from becoming too cluttered.

Double Page Spread –

- Large title: This title explains what the spread is about. For example this double page spread about Florence Welch from NME has the title “USA got the love” I think this refers to her successful touring in the USA, and the title incorporates the lyrics from her hit “You’ve got the love”.

Sub heading/paragraph: In the sub paragraph you are given the summary of the article, so the reader can see if they’re interested in reading it. This usually highlights the artist’s name, if it hasn’t already been done so in the main title.

Quotes: The quotes are usually used to entice the reader into reading the article. The quotes, much like the one featured on the contents page, are usually something controversial or gossip-related. This intrigues the reader so that they keep reading.

Columns: The articles are usually arranged into columns to give a professional and easily readable effect. (Also shown in the double page spread from NME).

Main Image: The spread usually features an image (from a photo shoot, done especially for the article, as you can see Florence Welch is featured on a whole page of the spread, this is so the reader can recognise who is the article is about, and it retains the glossy stereotype of artist’s and celebrities.

Other images: The spread usually then contains more images of the artist, thumbnail size or slightly larger. These images may be of them recently on stage or out and about in the street.