Question 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

My music magazine ‘Millennium’ is aimed at young people between the ages of 16 and 21 who are both male and female, this means a large majority of my target audience will be teenagers therefore they will most likely be in full time education at school, college or university and may have a part time job. This age range does not have a stable, disposable income so they don’t want to spend a lot of money on one product so I have kept the price of my magazine at £1.99 to ensure it is affordable. Most of my target audience will probably be living at home with their parents or in student accommodation; they will be at the exam stage in their life which requires a lot of studying to get qualifications to get a good job e.g. Doctors, Lawyers, Nurse, Teacher. 

Their values in life will still be spending time with their family and friends and going out to the cinema, park, youth clubs, shops, restaurants etc. They will want to enjoy their youth before having major responsibilities therefore they will want to spend their money on clothing, electronic items (such as phones, laptops, cameras, iPad/tablets), music (iTunes, CDs) and movies (cinema, DVDS) this shows that my target audience will spend money on items revolving around the media. My ideal reader would buy items from high street shops like New Look, Primark, River Island and H&M. They would dress in fashionable, current clothing which the retail shops would be selling; these styles are edgy and glamorous.

The most popular phone choice is smartphones, iPhones are a widespread product that many young people own as it provides them with many possibilities including apps, camera, iMessaging, Facetime, social networking etc so my ideal reader would have access to all of these. It would be an advantage for my music magazine because an app could be marketed for ‘Millennium’ and advertising could be an option to increase readership. They would listen to music online through YouTube which is an easy way to access it, however this requires the internet so sound cloud and Spotify are useful ways of downloading music. Other methods would include using iTunes to purchase singles or albums which can then be stored onto any type of electronic device so it can be listened to whenever and wherever.

My primary audience is 16-21 year olds which means that they will most likely be in group E according to the JICNAR scale because they will be students. However if they are still living at home, they may be funded by their parents/carers who could be in group ABC1. Therefore my music magazine has a secondary audience of my ideal reader’s parents, siblings and older or younger friends. So it must have different elements that would appeal to these age groups even though it’s mostly focused on attracting young people. I have incorporated a range of artists to achieve this which makes my pop music magazine mainstream as it includes contemporary, popular artists on the music scene right now e.g. Eminem, Katy Perry, Jason Derulo.

I will ask a sample group of both male and females from my target audience of 16-21 year olds, to see what they think of my pop music magazine 'Millennium'. I will record their opinions and ask them what they think of the magazine? Does it appeal to their needs? Would they buy it? What are the strengths and the areas for improvement? Maximum price they would pay for it? How often would they buy it? Is it worth £1.99? Do the artists on the front cover appeal to them? Does the photography attract them to it? Is the magazine name memorable? 

JICNAR SCALE

Group A (Professionals)

Upper middle class, e.g. Barristers, Doctors, Executives

Group B (Managerial)

Middle class, e.g. Bank Managers, Teachers

Group C1 (Non-Manual)

Lower middle class, white collar workers, e.g. Office Workers

Group C2 (Manual)

Skilled working class, Blue collar workers, e.g. Car Mechanic, Machine operators, Construction workers

Group D (Partly Skilled)

Semi or unskilled manual workers, e.g. Assembly line worker

Group E (Unskilled)

Casual workers, dependent on state benefits, students

I asked two students between the ages of 16-21, one female and one male to get both perspectives, to review the front cover of my magazine and asked them what they liked about it, any improvements that could be made, whether it's worth £1.99 and who they would recommend it to. It is important to get feedback from my target audience as the magazine is aimed at them and it gives me an idea of whether it is a successful product.