Masthead Ideas

Questionnaire Results

1. This bar chart shows that music magazines are not purchased as much and are perhaps not as popular as other types of magazines, this is evident as 19 people said they do not buy music magazines very often. No one asked bought a music magazine every day however 2 people would buy them once a week, and 4 people once a month which suggests that there is a gap in the market for a music magazine which may be available weekly or monthly. 

2. This bar chart shows that the most popular type of music listened too is R&B, with 13 people choosing it, and pop with 11 people. This tells me that these two genres are probably the most widespread and mainstream music and therefore my target audience would be more likely to buy a music magazine containing those genres. The least popular genre was country with only 2 people choosing it, this suggests it's not as contemporary and appeals more to a niche market.

3. This bar chart informs me which current music magazine appeals to people at the moment, and it's clear to see that 'Smash Hits' is the most common answer with 10 people choosing it. This suggests that the 'pop' genre is very popular among my target audience due to the fact 'Smash Hits' is a pop magazine aimed at teenagers and young adults therefore this tells me that the genre is very exciting and interesting to this market.

4. This pie chart reveals which features would interest my target audience the most in a music magazine, it's evident to see that interviews with celebrities was the most collective choice as 22% does/would find it interesting and would like interviews to be included within the magazine. The least popular choice was competitions with only 4% choosing it, this suggests that my target audience will not find competitions very fun and tells me that other features like fashion styles of artists (17%) would make the music magazine more appealing and exciting.

5. This chart shows that having a celebrity on the front cover would intrigue my target audience to buy a magazine, as 45% chose this option which suggests a well known face would catch their attention and persuade them to purchase the magazine. The least popular choice was the name of the magazine (4%) which tells me that the actual name is not as important, but could be eye catching depending on the font, colour, size or style.

6. This bar chart shows me how much my target audience would be willing to pay for a music magazine, the chart follows a pattern as the more expensive the magazine gets, the smaller amount of people would buy it. It's clear to see that most people would want to spend between £1-£1.99 as 12 people chose this option, this is because most of my target audience are students therefore my music magazine must be affordable for them. No one wanted to pay £4+ for a music magazine, as that is expensive and people may be put off by the price.

7. This chart shows how popular each artists or band were to my target audience, and told me which celebrities they would like featured in the music magazine. The top- rated answer was Beyonce with 15% which suggests she is a current, respected, admired artist who many
people would enjoy reading about. The most unpopular choice was Dappy, this may be because he has not been on the music scene as much as the other artists. It's important that I include celebrities who would appeal to a wide range of people, mainly international stars like Beyonce, Rihanna, Eminem etc.

8. This pie chart shows whether people are influenced by advertisements to actually go and buy the product, it's a close result as 48% say no and 52% say yes. Products are advertised in a magazine to increase their sales and make people more familiar with the item, therefore products advertised in my music magazine should have some reference to music and should be aimed at the same target audience that my magazine is targeted at.

9. This pie chart shows whether my audience like reading about new upcoming artists or not, and it's evident that most people do as 60% have said yes and only 40% have said no. Therefore my music magazine will dedicate some coverage on new upcoming artists who may be huge stars in the future.

10. This chart tells me that people can be put off a magazine easily just by the price, as 76% said they would be put off and only 24% said they would not and for that reason my music magazine will not be expensive and will probably cost in the regions of £1-£1.99 as that was how much people said they were prepared to pay for it in question 6.

11. I gave out my questionnaire randomly to 25 people and the results show that 60% were female and 40% were male. However my music magazine will appeal to both male and females so it's important that it has features that will appeal to both genders. 

12. This bar chart shows that people preferred the name 'Fusion' as 7 people chose it and 'Muse' and 'Boombox' were quite popular as 5 people chose them. The least popular names were Identity, Buzz, Infinity and Pop as they only received one vote this may because they are not as creative or catchy as the other options. I may use a focus group to help me decide on the name or wait until I have completed different mastheads and see which one works best. 

13.  Is there anything else that would attract you to a magazine?

The responses from my questionnaire suggest that the colour scheme is important and should be kept similar on the front cover and throughout the magazine so the house colours link each page with one another. Also the photography should be of good quality and look polished to give it a professional, finished look as this will look more attractive to my audience. An image dominated cover was suggested by someone so the front cover is clear and not overcrowded by too much text and another suggestion was a free give away or gift which would persuade people to buy the magazine. Finally, some requested that there was interviews with people who work with the celebrities like stylists or make up artists so they can talk about their inspiration and what it was like working with the celebrities. 

Ideas for mastheads

Current music magazine mastheads

• short, catchy and on one line
• capitals
• clear, bold and large
• the first thing people read on the front cover
• simple 
• appropriate to the genre and to the target audience

Questionnaire

1. How often do you buy a music magazine? Tick your answer.
   
   Everyday [  ]      Once a week [   ]    Once a month [   ]     Not often [    ]
   
   
2. What genre of music do you usually listen too? Circle the answers which apply to you.
   
   Rock and Roll        Pop      R&B      Country    Classical     Jazz     Reggae     Rap
   
   
3. Which current magazine appeals to you the most? Circle one.
   
   Kerrang!
   NME
   Q
   Billboard
   Blender
   Mojo
   Rolling Stone
   Smash Hits
   Vibe
   Fader
   Mixmag
   XXL
   Paste
   Spin
   Other __________________________
   
   
4. What does/would interest you the most in a music magazine?
   
   Reviews of artists [   ]
   Reviews of songs/albums [   ]
   Activities like crosswords/word searches/quiz [   ]
   Interviews with celebrities [   ]
   Competitions [   ]
   Fashion styles of artists [   ]
   Compiled lists of best new albums/songs [    ]
   List of music events [    ]
   
   
5. What intrigues you to buy a music magazine?
   
   The main headline [   ]
   The price [   ]
   The celebrity on the front cover [   ]
   The name of the magazine [   ]
   The interviews inside (content) [   ]
   
   
6. How much would you spend on a magazine?
   
   £1-£1.99
   £2-£2.99
   £3-£3.99
   £4 +
   
   
7. What artists/bands would you like to be featured?
   
   Rihanna  [   ]
   Katy Perry [   ]
   Taylor Swift [   ]
   Coldplay  [   ]
   Chase and Status [   ]
   Disclosure  [   ]
   Justin Timberlake [   ]
   Drake [   ]
   Eminem [   ]
   Jay-Z  [   ]
   Beyonce  [   ]
   Rita Ora  [   ]
   Jessie J  [   ]
   One Direction [   ]
   The Wanted [   ]
   Ellie Goulding [   ]
   Calvin Harris [    ]
   Labrinth  [    ]
   
   
8. Do advertisements in a magazine influence you to buy a product? Circle your answer.
   
                                                                Yes                                                   No
   
   
9. Do you like reading about new upcoming artists?
   
                                                               Yes                                                     No
   
   
10. Does the price put you off a magazine?
    
                                                                Yes                                                      No
    
    
11. Are you male or female?
    
                                                                 Male                                               Female
    
    
12. Which name do you think is best for a music magazine? Circle one.
    Loud
    Identity
    Millennium
    Dimension
    Amplify
    Boombox
    Jukebox
    Buzz
    Infinity
    Pop
    Fusion
    Muse
    
    
    
13. Is there anything else that would attract you to a magazine?
    
    ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
    ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Magazine name ideas

1. Identity 
2. Loud 
3. Millennium 
4. Fusion
5. Dimension
6. Buzz
7. Amplify 
8. Muse
9. Boombox
10. Jukebox
11. Pop

NME magazine

NME magazine represents its brand identity as serious, punk, controversial and modern as it focuses on current rock bands and artists who are contributing to the music industry. The magazine cover is usually quite busy and bold, and the masthead is always in the top left hand corner, ‘NME’ is an acronym for new musical express and appeals to young adults/adults around the ages of 17-30, it mainly targets males due to its content and style. The core readers will have a passion for rock, alternative or indie music and be dedicated, well educated people. NME’s brand values are focused on its edgy style, its love for music, its excitement of discovering new music, and supporting current and upcoming artists. There are plenty of interviews, events and news to keep the audience engaged and interested.

Billboard Magazine

Billboard magazine represents its brand identity as tasteful and cool but sophisticated, this is because ‘Billboard’ usually uses an image dominated front cover which is bold and colourful to attract their audience. ‘Billboard’ is always across the top of the cover with the bright colours in the middle of the letters this is how it is recognised by the readers. A well-known, current star is put on the cover to attract their core readers who want to read about up to date music and see the chart listings. ‘Billboard’ is aimed more at adults between 25-54 years old, its brand values are that it’s exciting, modern and shows the future of music. The photography clearly shows that it’s aimed at adults as it’s of high quality and thought out so the right effect is presented to the audience; this is achieved through make up, lighting, costumes and camera angles. 

Prezi- Detailed analysis and textual reading of a music magazine

Brand Identity and Brand Values

Brand identity is how a business wants a brand's name, communication style, logo, fonts, house colours/style and other visual elements to be perceived by consumers. The components are created by the business itself so their customers/audience can recognize the brand.

Brand values are things that are deemed important by a brand, the things that it stands for and it represents.

The brand identity for my music magazine will be quite sophisticated but will be young, modern and tasteful too. This is because I must establish a clear brand identity which will appeal to my target audience. It’s important for my front cover to look professional but contemporary and fresh, and the other conventions of my front cover must make it look cool and interesting. My contents page will follow the same house colours as the cover which helps the audience recognize and remember how it’s matched. Depending on the questionnaire feedback I will either make my magazine image dominated so it is more visual or 'blocky' which involves more text as well as images.

The brand values are the fact that my music magazine is original, youthful and stylish. It’s important that my target audience find my music magazine supportive of new talent, genuinely enthusiastic about new songs and albums and most importantly value the reader. If my audience is going to be passionate about their love of music, my magazine must reflect this too. This is why  I have created a questionnaire to do some market research by asking my target audience some questions about my music magazine and what attracts them to certain magazines which will give me constructive feedback to improve my magazine with.

Target audience research

What genre of music magazine are you going to be constructing? 

I will be constructing a magazine with the genre of pop, I have chosen this genre because I like the music, I listen to it daily and it is popular and current. 

Will it be for a mainstream or niche audience? Why? 

It will be quite mainstream as it will appeal to people who like current, new pop music which is in the charts at the moment. Therefore my magazine would appeal to a mass audience as pop is seen to be conventional and is enjoyed among many people. It will cover different aspects of pop music; styles including urban, dance and rap as well as different artists so it will be interesting for more people rather than if it were just focused on female solo artists for example.

Is it similar to any existing products or is it going to be different? Explain how and why.

My magazine will be similar to ‘We Love Pop’ and ‘Top of the Pops’ magazines however this is more of a child’s/ young teenager magazine therefore I will make mine more sophisticated so it will appeal to my core reader. ‘We Love Pop’ has a target audience of 13-15 year olds which only covers a small range of age; I need to extend this so it appeals to 16-21 year olds. Also ‘We Love Pop’ appeals to more females than males due to its bright feminine colours and content, so I need to ensure it appeals to both genders to cover a wider audience.

Who will the core reader of your magazine be? What will their age ranges be? What will be the gender mix?

The core reader of my pop magazine will be young people and mainly teenagers and young adults between the ages of 16-21. The magazine will be suitable for both males and females due to the colours and the content must be suitable for all of the ages between 16 and 21. It will cover current, popular artists and bands that are in the charts which will appeal to this target audience as they listen to music most days on the radio (e.g. Capital FM) and will be interested to read reviews and opinions on the latest tunes.

Who will be your primary and secondary audience?

My primary audience is the core readers who are the teenagers and young adults, between 16-21, these are the people who are most likely to purchase my music magazine. My secondary audience will be (drop-in audience) the core readers friends and family who probably won't buy the magazine but will read it, therefore there content must cover a wide range of things to appeal to them as well.

What will be the socio-economic mix?

The socio-economic mix refers to the JICNAR scale, therefore my music magazine will mostly appeal to Grade E which includes students, who will be my core readers therefore it must be suitable for them and cannot be too expensive. However young adults could be from the socio-economic group D, C2 or C1, they are not as likely to be in Group A or B. The secondary audience may be from either A, B, C, C1, C2, D or E socio-economic classes as they may read the magazine from another person e.g. their friend, however the main focus is aiming my music magazine at students and young adults (core readers).

The 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