Kerrang! and Rocksound as inspiration for the reasearch and planning of my magazine. I've decided to pursue this specific genre as it is what interest me most, I also feel that my interest in this specific genre would help beneift me in the research and planning stages which lead to the production process of the magazines.
Kerrang! Magazine
Below is a detailed analysis which highlights their target audience preferences, interests and guides them on how to satisfy them in the production stages.
When looking at the target audience, many sections need to be covered as it can be cut up into sections. These include:
Age
Gender
Sexual Orientation
Nationality
Ethnicity
Where they live
Education
Occupation
Socioeconmic Status
Religion
Tribes
All of these need to be taken into account during the production process of the magazine.
What products their audience also buy is important for advertising strategies and to identify thier main interests.
From looking at this reader profile, the median age of Kerrang!'s target audience is 19 years ofg age, with a slightly higher proportion of the audience being male. Therefore, it would be most appropriate to use young male models for the photography around a similar age of the target audience as many males would aspire to be one of them. Even though the target audience is slightly aimed more at the male gender, it would still be neccessary to include a female artist, this could be done a s a representation of a sexual image towards the male readers, alongside having female models wgho the female target audeicne aspire to be like. Therefore, in doing this technique it will ensure that my magazine consists of a variety of models of both genders instead of focusing on one specific group of your gtarget audience. Looking at past Kerrang! magazines, they frequently apply this to technique to their photography. When the magazine tends to feature female artists, they usually postion them as a represention of a sexual image towards their male readers and this technique could be used vice versa, having a young handsome, masculine male feature on the front cover as a sex icon towrds the female target audience.
Most readers use their income or money on:
- Music - on average purchasing around 31 albums a year- Gig tickets,
- Active consumers of clothing, mainly brands which favourite their age range and style 'tribe',
- Gaming and the latest technologies eg. the iPod - in which their passionate side for music is consumed,
- 58% say appearance is the most important factor.
Rocksound Magazine
In comparison to Kerrang!, Rocksound tends to obtain an older target audience of around the 30 age mark. When looking at the socioeconmic statues, it's audience is mostly between the upper middle class down to the working class. This suggests and represents that their audience are mainly ambitious, succeeders and aspirers. For Rocksound Magazine to match its intended target audience, the layout, photography, structure are used to full effect in order to greatly appeal to the target audience. The use of photography plays a vital role in appealing to the target audience as the audience may aspire to be like, which would influence them to purchase the magazine. With the price being around £4.90, this supports the target audience intended for the magazine in comparison to Kerrang! magazine which is around £2.20.
I have took into consideration both the reader profile's of each Kerrang! and Rocksound magazines, and thus created my own photographic reader profile for my intended target audience with what I aim to represent within my magazine. It contains a range of different bands and artists that represent the rock/indiependant culture in society today, the latest technology which influence music consumption such as the iPod, iPhone and Blackberry's, indiependant clothing companies but also include the mainstream retail shops such as River Island, Topman etc. Also, social networking sites will be included within my magazine.
My Target Audience
During the research process, I have now been able to recognise the key features of my intended target audience which will affect the way in which I produce my magazine i.e the layout, structure and photography.
Age - Between the ages of 16-30
Gender - A greater proportion being male, around 60:40. This will therefore affect the photography and the stereotypical representations of the bands/artists within my magazine.
Hobbies and Interests - Mainly in relation to music i.e buying gig tickets, attending various concerts, music festivals, the internet (Social Networking Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, YouTube etc), clothes and fashion, the latest technology released (iPhone, iPod, Computers/Laptops etc) and also travelling (In relation to seeing the world around them).
Media Influences - Web 2.0, social networking sites, T.V programmes aimed at the intended target audience for my magazina (Skins, Misfits, the Inbetweeners). These help create stereotypes of this age group which may intend to imitate the media, thus highlighting young people to be rebellious and not conforming to society.
Much of the intended target audience will obtain part-time jobs which will therefore support excessive needs to keep up with the recent trends, to fit in and help fund their social activities.
Focus Group
For my focus group I used members of my own target audience along with both Kerrang and Rocksound magazines. This was done to give me a valid and critical opinion on my magazines layout, colours, photography and structure. By gaining this feedback this would help me when developing the creation of my own magazine, as I can create my own magazine around what the feedback said.
From the this audience feedback, I found that it is important to have a 'house style' colour palette throughout the front cover, contents page and double page spread which is recognisable to the target audience of my magazine. Also, the photography plays a key role in the appeal of the magazine as it offers an insight into what the magazine consists of with having a band or artist appear on the front cover of the magazine. When looking at the photography, the ideology of having the front man or woman roles apply, by framing them further forward or slightly higher in comparison to the other band members. Therefore when for the photography of my magazine, I will conform to these ideologies during the production of my own magazine.
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