Target Audience Research - Who are they and what are their needs?

With a desired target audience already set in mind I decided it would be most appropriate for me and the construction of my task, that I devised a list of features/characteristics in common that the majority of my readers should share in regards to what they would exhibit to allow them to identify with my music magazine :

. Be interested in alternative/rock or indie sub genres of music
. Will be categorised from the ages of onset between 18-25 years of age
. Both genders (male and female) will be appealed to as the content of the magazine focuses on artists that interest both sexes
. Will be able to understand the meanings behind lyrics and the interviews of the musicians themselves therefore they must be in an age category that allows them to interpret and compute subversive vocabulary and complex discussions.
. The intended audience must be able to afford the price range of the product - too high and they would be discouraged, too low and it may possible attract the incorrect members of the general public I am not intentionally appealing to.
. They may attend music festivals, gigs or live events revolving around this specific genre or may just enjoy them for the socialising aspect.

A typical stereotyped indie music fan is perceived to look like this...

However despite popular assumptions, generally the average indie/alternative rock music lover can some what been seen as...

This genre doesn't specifically intend to draw in a stereotyped response with only certain people drawn in based entirely on their appearance, in fact many individuals enjoy the alternative rock/indie sub culture yet lead perfectly average live with normal interests and occupations. They can range from students, full time employees and even housewives! With a broad range of different audiences in mind it would be most beneficial for me to consider the requirements I will need to conform to keep them sated and intrigued by my product.

Since I was generating the majority of my inspiration from 'Q' magazine (as they heavily focus upon alternative rock for the vast consistency of their articles) I delved into their publication to understand the nature of the audience they were designated to target - this would benefit me greatly in grasping how to attend to my own readers as both my publication and 'Q' soley aim to engage with the same audience specifics and people of society.

In a statement from Bauer media who distribute the 'Q' products it was stated that they prefer to aim for an older audience of 20-25 as they believe the adult music fan database is commonly excluded as an audience by many other mainstream companies (such as 'NME') Therefore it would be in my interest to confer to this idea, since both of our audiences are similar in age range and as I'm basing my magazine off the ideas of 'Q', it would be more realistic if I conformed to their specifications as I know it will allow me to appeal to my target readers as closely as possible. Q commented further in saying that because they operate on a older audience terms basis it gives them the opportunity to increase the marketing price of the product as it will be more affordable to them in comparison with the younger generation as they will be generating a higher income then the average teenager. On this basis raising the price of my own music component not only gives me the advantage of including a greater variety of articles to attract interest but prevents younger audiences from purchasing, in this instance I have an increased chance of gaining more attention from my desired audience (18-25). Furthermore a higher price will bygot advantageous qualities to my magazine company as a larger profit would be achieved as opposed to if the production was at a cheaper value.

An important thought to consider here is that my magazine will only be appealing to an niche audience - ones that are specifically interested in music as to regards to other areas (such as fashion, motoring etc), it is important to consider the notion that in order to please the specifics this reading public requires that I understandably do not deviate from the music theme. This would cause a lack of continuity in my product and would deter the audience from engaging as it would create the impression this will not be an entirely focused production on music. In conclusion it will be sensible to focus 100% on producing a authentic music magazine that contains all the generics to attract my desired public and not discourage them from buying in any such manner. Effectively 'Q' portray their product in a fashion as to be had that the wider audience can instantly recognise they are visually engaging with a music magazine purely from the cover, some of 'Q's' most noticeable traditions include a largely proportionate image of a famous music artist on the cover, headlines that incorporate names of recognisable bands/solo artists in their titles, 'Top 100 top music tracks of the century' headlines etc and various music review references. All of these conventions can be identified in the image inserted below

As can be identified from this specific issue of 'Q', all of the major conventions I listed can be easily identified - there are many reknowned artists names on the cover (e.g Lady Gaga, Jay-Z), there are hints to new upcoming artists in the bottom right hand corner ('Brand on Flowers') and there is an icon indicating there is '42 pages worth if reviews' in the publication itself. All of these traits give the impression to the audience they will be reading an authentic music magazine with no discrepincies on the subject matter.

With what I have seen taken in mind, in order to specifically target my exclusively niche audience and to gain general reader appeal in general I believe it to be vitally important to utilise the elements I have seen used in 'Q' to create potentially a very believable product that takes into consideration the basic requirements of the audience to suit their needs.

Gaining Models for my Photoshoot

A major problem I was facing was that I would not be able to move any further forward in developing my products for the music magazine without the additional images required to make it an authentic publication as possible. As I could not simply use photos from the internet I decided to ask the permission of some of my friends and see if they would be interested in posing for the role of the singers and artists in the content of the articles. Under this instance I began by asking my friend Kate if she could be swayed into participating in the shoot. Beneath is the conversation we had regarding her taking part and what would be required of her to do

Unfortunately a problem later developed whereas she had difficulties in getting to the shoot on the day for the correct time, this majorly disrupted my schedule as I only had an hour slot to capture the images in and if I did not attend it would possibly take me a week to rebook the studio which was valuable time I could not waste.

As she wasn't getting back until late I faced the dilemma of being unable to undergo the shoot as my model wouldn't arrive on time. In a last ditched attempt to still be able to conduct the shoot on that day I texted my brother if he would be available to take part to which this was his response 

This was a much needed relief for me as I successfully completed the shoot and obtained the necessary photographs that were desired for my magazine. However my original idea of having a female model for the main cover story has to be discarded as potentially the images of my brother obtained will be used for the front cover and double page spread of the product. For this circumstance to be overcome I am going to have to rethink the layout, composition and colour scheme of the magazine to suit the new centre artists needs. With my new model being a male the major changes that are going to have to be conducted is a colour palette attention, font style of the text and wording of the article to suit a male attire. Therefore the first essential alteration that will be made is to the original document for the article as it was written in a prose to focus upon a female.

Target Audience Research - Defining the categories

As you can identify in some of my previous posts I have created the ideal profile of who I anticipate my target audience to be perceived as. There are a number of key characteristic and personality features each individual should share in some respects but generically they are all interested in the same style, genre and concept of music detailed within my magazine. I have composed some key readers profiles to offer me a visual perspective of what I should be aiming for in essence of attracting the correct standard of audience members. Since I am gauging with an exclusive audience range (under 30)  I believed it would be most appropriate to compose profiles dedicated to exclusively suiting this age range as ultimately I will be appealing to a niche reading domain.

Audience Profile - Males and Females under 18

The vast majority of magazines in the media industry this current age are designed to target and engage the interest of the younger generation of audience, in this case teenagers ranging from 11-17, as this is the greatest margin for companies to make a profit from. Music is heavily orientated around pleasing this group with publications such as 'NME' targeting them as a hopes to sell the product and merchandise to them. I intend to be slightly unconventional in the sense that I am aiming for an older audience variety (18-25) as these are normally excluded by organisations to make room for the younger 'future' readers of this day and age. Essentially I am distributing many editorial techniques and ploys to discourage and disengage the attention of the under 18 year olds. First and for most the language present in my magazine will be complex and structured, typically seen in traditional mature set productions, with their english abilities still that of a secondary school standard I am hoping the majority will be left uninterested by the articles if they cannot fully grasp the concept of what is being detailed. Furthermore an additional yet simple strategy I am incorporating is that of a higher retailed price on the front cover. From statistics I observed on the internet I discovered that less then 0% of under 18 year olds are employed and that over 80% are still engaging in full time education, this has led me to the conclusion that a huge majority will be unable to afford the product I am selling thus deterring them from buying the magazine. Most importantly I strongly feel the under 18's will be incapable of engaging with the music artists of choice my articles are focusing upon. It is noticeable I am complimentaing adding recent and up coming music artists into the mix of talents to be focused upon in my articles, despite this factor it is confounded as a significant minority of the product will revolve around more dated singers from the late 80's/early 90's who this age group are likely to be unfamiliar with as I can foresee they wont have been exposed to them when they were chlden. Under this impression I predict they will not be interested or swayed to not only buy my magazine but even look at it on the shelf if they cannot recognise the musicians names/photos on the front cover. This further illustrates my production will be orientate towards a niche audience (18-25)  as the content (for example the artists) will easily be identifiable to them and as they will be heavily involved with this genre as a music taste, hopefully it will persuade them to purchase my product ultimately increasing publicity. As a large sum of this age will still be attending school, I can't see them being passionately interested in this genre as through background research I discovered that 70% listened to chart/pop music giving me the impression that not many individuals will want to read the indie/alternative music magazine I am proposing. To me all of these factors strongly recommend not to orientate my product to suit these members of the public as effectively it would be fruitless since only a minority maybe be partially interested in this music.

Audience Profile : Males and Females (18-20 years old)

Out of my main body of potential readers, this sub category contains the youngest ages as intentionally they are still the young adult/teenager sub genre and puts them at the borderline of my main audience members. These individuals essentially in the near future will be the designated age my magazine could appeal to. I expect them all to still be engaging with some form of primary education, for example college, sixth form or the beginning years of a university course, with interests ranging from socialising, sports and essentially new and upbeat music. From the profiles I have created I anticipate these to be most intrigued and therefore attracted to the articles that cover more recent mainstream artists as opposed to the more generic older musicians that are targeting the adult end of my audience. As I feel my product should provide a balance between new and old artists, this sub type of readers fits nicely with the notion of listening to the recently distributed composers (the likes of which can include Lady Gaga, The Vamps, Bastille etc) as this will be the style of music they will have been exposed to from an earlier age due to cohort generational differences, thus making them more attracted to this genre as compared to more 90's compositions. The audience members can range from a number of different social backgrounds - the scale includes working, economic to middle class, however I think readers from a heavily endorsed working orientated upbringing will be more appealed to this product as it provides them with an opportunity to 'escape' the harshness of reality and the brash living/working conditions they are subjected to. As both male and female music artists will be emmersed in the content of the production, both genders will be attracted to the nature of the articles as it will be expected they can identify with not just their own sex but the opposite as well. This is down to cultural practises and innate responses, in society we are instinctively drawn to members of the opposing gender whom we can regard as attractive and desirable, therefore women may be attracted to the physical appearance of a male composer and vice versa. The secondary selling point here directly relates to courtship principles rather then specific music interests so can gain extra public attention and convince them to purchase the product soley on the 'sex factor' which is an interesting selling regardment. A majority of the individuals situated in this age range have some form of part time employment to provide an income to get them through college/university or they could be potentially working full time as a career. In this instance I believe they will be able to afford the designated price I'm charging for this magazine, ultimately it ensures I'm gauging the interest of my target audience whilst inhibiting the eyeline of the least considered (teenagers) due to the pricey nature. therefore this creates a specific criteria surrounding my readers that must be fulfilled. A common social aspect of this age generation is that they are typically active regarding the likes of music festivals, this gives me the promise of creating more buzz about my magazine if I include articles focusing upon these live stages as in essence it distributes a wider range of stories and content to deliver to the readers therefore making my product more appealing to the public domain. Due to the mature mindset of this age group I can highly expect them to interpret the mature wording of the stories without concern and to understand more adult themes throughly then a younger audience would (such as complex personal problems in the music artists lives etc). so the content would be understood fully. As I anticipate a large threshold of readers in this age group to be students at univeristy I imagine a wide proportion will listen to this music at festivals, are in bands or listen to this genre as a means to wind down from reality.

Audience Profile : (Males and females between 20-25 years old)

Essentially the over 20 adults consisting of both genders are who I am mainly focusing on as the intended audience of choice for my music magazine. They conotate with the idea effectively of sitting within the boundaries for being able to interpret the different and often unique genres of music that are included within my product. This ranges from more upbeat, modern artists to the older, generational differences that exist within tracks (inexpliciantly this can be displayed in 80's to 90's singers as they may have been prominent in the industry when this specific age group was younger) furthermore this grants them a wider scope of a variety in the genres and types of music they could potentially be interested in, as younger ages (such as 13-15 year olds) are unlikely to have been exposed to song writers outside the millenium, as such they will be unable to relate to this style of composition. This category of the general public are more then likely to be engaging within some working commitment, such as a permanent job role or part time in an establishment. Due to the content analysis of my magazine, as it covers a huge diversity within the generational gaps between different music era's (80's to 2000's for example) many artists will be included which would require more time and money spent to create the most suitable production, in this instance having a reasonably high price (ranging from £3.50-£5) wouldn't be inappropriate due to developmental costs. As these audience members will be generating their own income as opposed to a teenage portofolio, they will be able to afford the price marked on the publication, this guarantees that my magazine distributors will be gaining an income from the sale of the product. Importantly this is an employment strategy to correctly target the desired audience whilst repelling the unintended (in this case teenagers) At this age I can anticipate a large majority of music fans will have attended a gig or live event at some point which highlights an important premise for me that I must include coverage over these situation due to music festivals playing a large role in the social lives of many over 20 year olds. As opposed to the young adult sub group listed above I can expect the over 20's to decipher mature content in the articles of the magazine without a problem, the only concern would be if they had some difficulty in reading more complex literature or wording which could potentially be an inhibiting factor in them purchasing the publication. Another variable to consider is will they be able to emotionally decipher complex situations and scenarios (this was listed above on the previous age group - ultimately I would like the audience to recognise difficult situations in the artists lives, therefore they require a mature mindset to do that) I do not regard this as an underlying issue for the nature of these readers, as they are adults they will have experienced some form of disturbance or problems in there lives, a friends or families, in this instance they should be able to interpret sensitive concepts during personal interviews with the singers (rather then just soley based around music), for this matter the content should potentially appeal to my readers in this respect. Finally I expect to draw interest from a wide range of music enthusiasts of the alternative/indie genre  whether they are in bands or just purely listen to this type of music as a way to relax or for personal enjoyment.

Time Management - Update 1

Inspiration for my music magazine - Constructing a mood board

When searching for ideas that would aid to inspire me in the construction and planning stages of my magazine product, I conducted a heavy array of background research into professional written music productions as t gain some insight and understanding of how they structure their layouts (for example the composition of the colour scheme, images, text) and the use of important magazine conventions that are typical of gaining the desired public appeal (through the employment of mastheads, pull quotes. kickers) As I learn mostly visually, to understand these strategies more effectively I composed several mood boards on the internet and app based social media site 'Pinterest', all of which related back to the tasks I had to create - a front cover, contents page and double page spread. Gaining access to the mood boards can be achieved in the links below.


For a quick pathway to the board revolving around the front cover of the magazine click on the hyperlink presented underneath

http://gb.pinterest.com/aimeecorner/music-magazine-front-covers-used-for-inspiration-f/


To engage with the mood board detailing information I found regarding contents pages of music magazines please select the hyperlink beneath this text

http://gb.pinterest.com/aimeecorner/music-magazine-contents-pages-for-inspiration/


Finally the remaining Pinterest board is accessible by the link I have displayed below

http://gb.pinterest.com/aimeecorner/music-magazine-double-page-spreads/

Through this task I have enabled to increase my knowledge over the typical style that is seen reoccurring throughout music based magazines, I can identify the key areas I am to focus upon to interest my audience (for example it perceives kickers in the double page spread offer an excellent method of distributing more information to the audience, therefore it would be in my best interest to use a tactic along those lines) Vitally I have mentally noted that all magazines appear to keep to the same conventions which I believe would be most beneficial for me to comply with as I don't want to be too unconventional in the sense that I would disengage my audiences interest.

Institutional Research - 'Q' Magazine

As I am heavily influenced by the music magazine 'Q', a product I have been drawing consistent inspiration and ideas from in the creation of my products, I feel to understand the company and their intentions more throughly (especially surrounding their target audience) I will need to deconstruct in detail their insights as a company and what they aim to achieve in the distribution of their product, this in turn may aid me in determining my motives for what I intend from my audience but also what techniques and conventions would most be appropriate in engaging their interests as fluidly as possible.

The two images presented above are a comparison of two issues of 'Q' - the top is from the year 2000 and the one placed below it is generated from 2013.  It can be noted there isn't a huge difference between the copies, the layout is fairly identical in employment with the masthead situated in the same placement located in the top left hand corner, a giant proportioned centre image is focused upon to create audience interest - what is also important to consider is the gaze of both artists (Noel Gallagher and Lily Allen) are engaged with the audience specifically, making direct and promoting eye contact with them as a mode to engage them - it creates the illusion they are attempting to strike a conversation or even provoke some form of response. The only major development I can instantly identify is the use of more bold, striking, sleeker and visually beautifully crafted text on the 2013 copy, the issue from 2000 employs very standard yet boring 'Time New Roman' Style font - at the time of its release this wouldn't have been a detrimental marketing strategy as in the 2000's attention was normally prompted by being able to recognise the famous artist in the text (hence the blown up image). However in the modern day a lot of effort has started to revolve around entire products being presentable, this is not only in terms of the photographs, but the composition, layout, colour palettes and text, which emphasises why the Lily Allen publication is generally more grasping in nature. As we are a nation obsessed with photoshopping and artificial principles the editing seen here reflects societies tendencies towards the media.

Q is produced as a monthly magazine issue exclusively to the United Kingdom general public with its first publication date around the period of October 1986. During its first circulation it was noted that 'Q' produced the highest standard of art and printed editing in comparison to other publications of this genre at the time - which made it reknowned in the media industry. The original masthead for the company was 'Cue' (which refers to the principle of 'cueing' a record), but due to the possibility of it been mistaken for a snooker magazine in the 200th edition its name was shortened to what we see now as 'Q'. The generic wisdom and unconventional nature of this particular masthead allowed it to stand drastically out as compared to other products as it defied traditional conventions as what is expected of a publication title ('Q' creates emphasises and enigma to the audience - what does it stand for? what does it mean? - these provide a common boundary in creating an appeal to the intended readers. From observing this information I firmly believe it would be beneficial to create a masthead with this similar sort of enigma - an unconventional title would be thought provoking for my readers and could potentially make my product significantly enhanced in the appeal factor.

It was stated during an interviews by the founders of 'Q' magazine (Mark Ellen and David Hepworth) that they regarded the older generation of music lovers were typically ignored in contrasts to the younger age category which is the specific audience most products generate focus towards (NME is an excellent example as they originate in attempting to provoke a reaction from the young adult range of society) WIth an older audience in mind it allows 'Q' to incorporate more unconventional themes of 'classic' music artists (for the likings of Fleetwood Mac, The Eurthymics etc) which would connotate effectively with the interests of this elderly genre perfectly.  'Q' is particularly noted for including a wide range of artists (from pop, trance, alternative, rock) so it is suited to music lovers of all types, this is essentially an excellent marketing strategy as it gives it the crucial opportunity of attracting a much larger audience base and therefore a more viable income from sales. Due to its mass reading members, 'Q' itself is regarded as one of the highest achieving and popular music products of this century

The majority of 'Q' is dedicated to producing a large variety of interviews with a many different artists to provide an article which will suit the interests of any reader. A huge majority of the content is revolved around detailing and compiling together new music releases, film productions, live concert and film reviews that are based on a one to five star rating scale. Your most likely to see a common 'Q' standard 'Top 50' essential tracks of the month and the infamous 'Cash for Quesyions' where music artists answer questions which are selected from a list made from the general publics requests, any audience member who's querie is answered receives a £25 payment as curtesy from 'Q' thesmevles. Most often seen is articles such as 'Top 100 albums to listen to before you die' and 'Top 50 songs of the century', often in these issues free promotional gifts are included (such as an exclusive 'Q' CD) which is granted along with the purchase of the magazine. Since these kind of articles seem to be a common trend throughout 'Q' and with my magazine being along the same genre as it, I have drew inspiration here to maybe use a similar format including these 'Top 100' sections in my content, as obviously it is an effective tactic in gaining audience approval - if it wasn't then 'Q' would not continously use them over and over again as sell lines.

Due to its overwhelming popular acclaim Q has been successful in obtaining the legal rights to create its own music channel which commonly hosts music award shows, which has been circulating publically since the 90's era. In addition they also regulated the succession of producing their own radio station to broadcast the music commonly displayed in their publications, this began first transmitting in 2008 however it is only available to the UK and on an online format via the internet. With the mulitude of smart phones and touch screen convergence (i.e Ipads) dominating the media world currently it is surprising to note Q is yet to hold their on downloadable app software. With the popularity of this technology during this generation for me personally I feel if my magazine was to have a corresponding smartphone app, it would not just allow my audience to connect with the latest music gossip more efficiently, but in essence allow word of mouth of my product to spread to a greater variety and number of people. This is a valuable learning curve for me in recognising the techniques I would need to employ in engaging with the largest population of readers as I can to guarantee my publication will be a success.