Research: TA Analysis of Questionnaire 2

1. How do you consume print media?



Upon reflection, out of the 20 people I surveyed the majority said they bought music magazines in shops. This would be good for my magazine sales because most people consume media this way as it easily accessible. The least popular choice was online subscription. Although it is easily accessible and easier to read, not everyone has access or has preference to the internet. In conclusion, the best distribution methods are shop brought magazines or downloadable or streamed magazines.



2. If you don't buy/download magazines, why not?



From my survey, the majority said that even though you can download magazines you can view online without the need to pay or subscribe to them. Those surveyed said various opinions like "...the youngsters of today prefer to gather their information through different types of media e.g. video or interactive based media rather than through literature". Also, copies on the internet are free which appeals to students especially.



3. What would encourage you to buy/download magazines?



Those surveyed stated that they would buy/download a magazine if the article of the celebrity appealed to them. Also, a frequent answer was bright colours and clear pictures. This is good for my magazine as if I include these things it will be more appealing to a younger audience as they are more likely to look at the image first rather than read the article. From my survey, I have learned that my target audience are not as worried if I have used good quality paper for my pages.



4. What do you expect to see on a front cover?



The main thing that people want to see on a font cover is that the feature story image is large and stands out. They also want to see the main star on the front cover. This is a good feature as it shows the reader who the magazine is about and also grabs people attention on the shelves. I will include less terminology as I will have an audience who may not have experienced the jazz genre before.



5. What colours would you associate to the genre Jazz?



There are four main colours which people associate to Jazz. These are gold/yellow, white, Bronze and black. This is because jazz is seen as a classy genre but also black relates to its history of southern America and the time of the apartheid. The least popular colours were blue, red and brown. Upon reflection, I will use gold, black and white as it appeals to my target audience the most.


6.  What images would you expect to see on the front cover and contents?


From my survey that I conducted, my results show that genre related items such as instruments and Jazz artists. This is so that people will know what the magazine is about. They also said they liked to see synergy between the pages. This makes the magazine look neat and presentable. Only one person said they would like to see a bold picture of the feature artist on the front and multiple images in the contents.


7. What would catch your eye on a magazine front cover?


My most popular answer was that people like to see bright and vibrant colours. This will catch there eye therefore will attract people to my magazine and not others. Another answer that was appealing was bold letters/ masthead/ images etc. I feel that because of the age group I am trying to appeal I need lots of this to attract them to the magazine. They are not so bothered if the artist is smiling or serious.


8.How much would you pay for a magazine?


A good price for my magazine is £2.99 as most of those surveyed said they would pay between £2 - £5 depending on the quality of the paper would vary the price. Upon reflection less people would pay between £0 - £1.

Research: Questionnaire 2

1. How do you consume print media?
2. If you don't buy/download magazines, Why not?
3. What would encourage you to buy/ download a magazine?
4. What do you expect to see on a front cover?
5. What colours would you associate to the genre, Jazz?
6. What images would you expect to see on the front cover and contents?
7. What would catch your eye on a magazine front cover?
8. How much would you pay for a magazine? 

This is the second questionnaire I gave to my target audience and the one I am going to do my in-depth analysis on.

TA Research: Questionnaire 1

My Questionnaire

1. How do you consume print media?
2. If you don't buy/download magazines, Why not?
3. What would encourage you to buy/ download a magazine?
4. What are your initial thoughts of the front cover?
5. Does the front cover catch your eye, if so Why?
6. Are there any changes I could make to the masthead. If so what?
7. Did you like the colour scheme, if so why?
8. Which features of the front cover really caught your eye and why?
9. Is the price reasonable?
10. Do you think the features are appropriate to the intended target audience?
11. Do you think there are enough images to attract the appropriate audience?
12. What do you think of the font size, is it too big or small?
13. Are the language and register appropriate to the genre of the magazine?

I asked 20 people these questions and I had a mixture of answers. For example:

1. Through subscription to the magazine company.
    I do not read magazines.

2. N/A
    I like to read more fictional books than magazines.

3. If it's a genre I'm interested in.
    Interest in developing musical knowledge

4/5 I thought it grabs your eye due to the larger image.
    I thought the masthead was eye catching and intriguing.

6. No, because it is fun and lively and fits the genre.
    Yes, it is a bit too involving

7. Yes, because it follows the nit and the git of the heritage of jazz. However, the gold indicates the classiness that jazz can be.

8. The featured stories of the magazine seemed interesting and made me want to read them.
    The image because it is large and eye catching.
   
9. Yes because it is accessible to the intended target audience
    No because students don't earn enough income to buy a magazine weekly.

10. Yes, because there is everything which would be expected to be included in a jazz magazine.

11. Yes, because the images make the front cover appealing.
       Yes, because if there were anymore the magazine would be too crowded.

12.  In the contents, the font size is a little small and is uneasy to see.
       It is a good size for the target audience.

13. Yes, because all references are jazz related.
      No, because there are too many artist references.

Research: TA Profiling

The target audience for this magazine is of the ages 17- 21. I can tell this because there is reference to drugs. This would not be put in/ on the front cover of a magazine for 10 - 16 year olds. It is for the "mainstreamers" group and the "individual" group. The "mainstreamers" group are people who like stability so they only buy the top brands. Q is one of the top music magazines in the world. The "individuals" group are an additional group to the four main ones. These are the people that on it by the product for the product image not the actual product. He is looking at the camera which tell us that the magazine is trying to grab the readers attention.

The target audience in this magazine is 16- 25. I can tell this because girls of that age are influenced by styles they see in magazines. This also puts Mulvey's theory in to practice of "the male gaze". This means that girls were styled as eye candy to the boys. They are styled as a sexual icon. However this could also be empowering to women. Especially the colour scheme being pink which is the stereotypical colour for women. This could fall under the "tribe-wired". This means that these people are digital, free spirited, creative young singles. They can also be "aspirers", which means that they are looking to improve themselves in image.

This edition is aimed at children aged 11 - 16 of the upper class families. This falls into the "aspirers" category because it is aimed at young musicians trying to become professionals.

Target Audience Profiling

Kenza Hardy's Slidely by Slidely Slideshow

My chosen music genre is Jazz. My Target Audience will be 16- 21 year olds of a middle - upper class people. Usually Jazz music is stereotypically seen for the upper class people of the 30-50 males. This is called Demographic profiling. This mean that people are group in categories such as gender, class, religion etc. However, its background suggests otherwise.

My magazine is going to be for the "aspiring" and "succeeders" group. The "Aspirers" group is a group of people that are trying to improve themselves. This is a good group to aim my magazine around as there are always musicians looking to improve themselves. In addition there are more younger and talented musicians in this generation as there have been in previous ones. This means there will always be customers for my magazine. The "succeeders" group are for people who feel they are in control and have power. My magazine will be good for them because agents and talent scouts can view my magazine and discover new talent.

There are two other main groups of people. "Mainstreamers" and "Reformers". "Mainstreamers" are people who like stability and security. This means they will only buy secure, well - recognised brands rather than new one. This is why my magazine is not suitable for them as my magazine is new. "reformers" are people who are only interested in buying environmentally friendly products.

Also my magazine will be for the "Fun/ Atics" group and the "Dynamic Duo's" group. The Fun/Atics group are Aspirational, fun seeking, active young singles. This is suitable for my magazine because musicians are very aspirational people and it can rub off on others. Also the "Dynamic duo" are high involvement couples. Jazz bands are a good way for couples to bond as they are doing something they both love and couples usually meet through being involved with the bands.

Blumler and Katz suggested a series of possible reasons why audience members might consume media. These were diversion, personal relationships, personal identity and surveillance. In my magazine, I will use the following categories; Diversion, In my agony aunt section, personal relationships, for emotional and other interaction and personal identity, for learning values and constructing their own identity.

Denis McQuail expanded on Blumler and Katz theory by suggesting that audience motivation is more detailed than what was originally thought. For example, groups include information (seeking advice), learning (self education), personal identity (finding role models), integration with society (a sense of belonging in a group) and entertainment e.g. filling time.

Star Image in different magazines

My chosen group to analyse is One Direction. I will be looking at the different magazines they are featured in and comparing them to genre etc. 

The first magazine is "Top of the Pops". Top of the Pops is a children's music magazine for the ages of 9 - 14 year olds. You can tell this is an older issue from around four years ago because if you look at recent images of the group they look very young. You can also tell that it is made for a younger audience because they are happy, smiling and dressed stylishly. The story is also for a fairly young audience as younger girls take a liking to their idols, this is why they are seen as gentle and caring guys. The boys are wearing light colours to match with the light colours on the front cover. They are all catered to their own style. Their clothes are based off their own style. This is part of Dyer's theory of "a star is just an image" because the artists are styled to come across to a younger target audience. However, they are also style to suit their own fashion sense instead of someone telling them what to wear they have had an input into what they wear.

This "Seventeen" magazine is for an older audience of the ages 16 - 21. One Direction are styled for an older age because they have a serious expression and they are dressed to create an image. their dress code coincides with the article. In the article they are portrayed with pranks and secrets. They are dressed in dark clothing which works well with the red background and the light text. The style makes us think that they are bad boys. A lot of the 16-21 year olds are attracted to bad boys. This supports Dyer's theory.

In this issue of "Fabulous" magazine they are wearing the same clothes as "Seventeen Magazine". However in this magazine, the front cover is in black and white. This could be to symbolise what the article is about. The article is about the fame and the money of the boys. The black and white symbolises that it may be getting to much for them. For example the serious looks on their faces could suggest pain. Like the one above this magazine is also for the ages of 16- 21.

BillBoard magazine is another magazine that is for the older teens to early 20's. The football symbolises the title of the article. The word "score" can relate to football. The boys are dressed as if it is a summer night but is transitioning to summer. 

Research: Consolidating My Research

Front Cover 

For the first front cover I will use unisex colours so that it appealed to both genders. I will incorporate this into my magazine. I will use one image.

For my second front cover I will use serif font with no kerning or the masthead. In this I will include the image under the masthead. This looks more professional.  I would like to use more writing on my front cover. Same for third front cover.

In the fourth front cover I saw the use of a lot of conventions. There were word conventions to do with the genre, such as "pedalling". There was also magazine house style. in all issues of this magazine the colour scheme, layout and text are all house styles of Pianist Magazine. I also like how they had used the space well in the magazine and the use of a few pull quotes.

Contents

In the first contents research I liked how a Sans serif font was used for the text. It is easier for my target audience to read. I will us a number of pictures and make sure the contents isn't lacking any. I will also try and balance the number of text there is. I need more than little because people will be interested

In the magazine I analysed for my second contents, they used the same pushed together writing for the masthead. They do this by creating separate text boxes and pushing them together so there is no kerning. However the layout was unprofessional with only one image on the page. I liked the use of text wrapping around the image. I will defiantly be using this in my magazine.

In the third contents I liked how neatly it was set out. The information was clearly visible and easy to navigate around the page.  Due to the writing being against a white background and the text being written in lack, it is visible to the audience from a distance. I liked how they had added a lot of images to the page to get the point across of a brass band magazine. There were the right amount of images used. At the bottom of the page there is a faded blue banner. This is good because it doesn't hide the text on it and makes it stand out. It is in synergy with the magazine and it gives the page some colour.



DPS

In the first DPS, synergy is created between the artists, the writing and the front cover. The colours of the magazine match the colours of the artists clothes. Also they are the same colours as the front cover and the contents which look neat and professional. Again the DPS also used text wrapping which made everything visible as the text wasn't covering the image. There is also a play on words. The group is called "The Spitfires" and the title is "Reach for the Skies".  This is the clever because there is a film about the spitfire plane called "Reach for the Skies". They also use a target on the cover which symbolises the RAF target.

In the Second DPS I analysed there was only one paragraph of text used. To make my DPS look more professional I will use two or three paragraphs. Maybe four.  I will also use the same colours to create synergy. In this i also liked the idea of using a pull quote for the title. This captures the reader and automatically gives them an idea of what the article is about.

In my third analysis I liked how the image shows teenagers what is done in a lesson. This will encourage people to read it because it related to the article and also shows non musicians that its not all about writing and you do get to play in lessons. It also appeals to the older generation because of the type of genre and the image is of both teacher and student. However the writing is difficult to see because it is not in bold and it is in italics.