TASK 8 AUDIENCE RESEARCH-QUALITATIVEAUDIENCE PROFILE AND FOCUS GROUPS TASK 8 TARGET AUDIENCE RESEARCH USING QUALITATIVE METHODS SUCH

CH AS FOCUS GROUPS

The stereo typical audience profile

Who mainly listens to that music? The genre is stereotyped to be associated with females. Gender Female Age 16-19 Social class Working/middle class Ethnicity White/British Interests Going out, fashion, music, reality TV, celebrities. Dress sense Dresses, miniskirts, skinny jeans, leather jackets, boots, pumps. Why they listen to pop They listen to it as it reflects the happy mood and the lyrics are catchy with hooks that can stay in your head. Also they can sometimes relate to the audience too. How often They listen to the music very often, as it can be away to relax them. What they would like in magazines They would the magazines to contain current pop artists who are well known, interviews, latest news of the stars, gigs and current trends.

My target audience (PROFILE OF TYPICAL AUDIENCE)

General background Age - 17 Ethnicity White/British Lives in Solihull, West Midlands Currently is a student at SSFC

1)

Feelings about music magazines Finds that the magazines she likes are hard to get hold of as they are American. She wishes that there are magazines like Billboard made in the UK, she doesnt know much about them and thinks they only seem to target males unless youre under teenage years. She likes artists such as Rihanna as she enjoys her music and her style. How she uses music Goes to festivals if there are artists she likes, attends concert of artists she enjoys. Uses iTunes to download music if there are select songs she likes or alternatively gets the CD if she likes every song from the album Listens to music all the time especially when walking just for enjoyment, and relaxation. Who doesnt love music? Her music magazine preferences Favorite music magazine would have to be Billboard or SPIN although these are American and hard to get hold of as they are more expensive. She likes listening to the pop music yet likes the sophisticated style of this magazine rather than top of the pops. She enjoys hearing about the current artists and gossip about what theyre up to She likes to know the latest gossip on celebrities and know what is happening with them.

Loves music, especially pop music in the charts but does not like the stereotype that pop music is not talent and is for young children. Interest- she likes fashion and dancing, being a girly girl.

2)
General background Age- 16

Ethnicity- White/ British Lives in Solihull, West Midlands Studying at SSFC Feelings about music magazines Enjoys lots of styles of music and used to buy top of the pops but now has grown too old for the child like nature of that magazine therefore requires a substitute. Most music magazines are aimed towards the male market for rnb which does not interest her. How she uses music She buys lots of CDs and has a whole collection as well as having an iTunes account which she is a regular user of. She listens to music a lot of the time especially when getting through college work. Would love to attend festivals but thinks that they are expensive. Music magazine preferences Enjoys reading Q but do not always use artists she enjoys reading about. She has found Billboard to cater for who she likes but cannot always find it in store as it comes from America. She likes reading on the background of the artists and how they got to the position they are in. What she is looking for from a magazine Something that is professional yet interesting and not too formal. Including the latest gigs and gossip on the celebrity artists in the charts.

3)
General background Age-17 Ethnicity- White/ British Lives in Solihull, West Midlands Studying at SSFC Feelings about music magazines She has bought Kerrang in the past and Vibe as she likes reading about artists but these are not the genre she is most interested in and would love if there was a magazine that she could buy that informs her about people in the charts. She thinks that majority of music magazines are a good price that she wouldnt mind paying especially if they are people of interest to her. How she uses music She goes to concerts a lot just for the experience of the atmosphere and the time listening to new music. She loves up and coming artists that are fresh before they get famous, she tends to find these on You Tube. Music magazine preferences Her favorite magazine currently is SPIN which is an American magazine which she gets imported but has had to stop as if costs too much with the shipping fee. Most ideal magazine Must include fashion, gossip and how to get into the music market as she plays the guitar and sings herself.

My Focus Group

For this task, I asked 5 females with an interest within the genre, what they would like in a hip hop magazine. I then summarized there results to see what would be best suited for my target audience in the magazine. The 5 girls I asked were all pop fans with a similar interest to me for a music magazine. Lizzie Zara Rebeccah Rihanna Hannah I asked them 12 questions and noted their main responses: 1) What images would you like on the front cover? -One single shot of one main celebrity artist. Bold and eye catching, striking for the eye to attract reader. Images must be big and main taking the whole page, must also be bright. 2) What artists would you like to see on the front cover? L-Taylor Swift because shes good looking and has done really well so would be interesting to read about. L & H- Beyonc should be on the front cover because shes hot and is very popular with the target audience. R-Lana Del Ray H- Drake because hes good looking and could use photo shop to move his eyes closer together. 3) What sell lines would attract you to pick up the magazine? For a pop magazine there should be sell lines that would interest the reader such as famous stars to catch your attention. L-Relating to cover star- using a pull quote from an interview. Z- Big ones that stand out on the page R- Using words such as wow, this surprises and intrigues you. 4) What colours would you like to see used? Match theme of year, winter-khaki or pink to attract target audience precisely. Bright and vivid that looks inviting. It must reflect the mood of the artist that is on the cover. 5) What style of text, chatty/formal? My target audience all would prefer chatty style text to make the magazine have a friendly feel and a welcoming approach as if the editor is somebody you can relate to. SECTION 2 THE CONTENTS PAGE 6) Contents page - what type of images would you like and how many? There should be a variety of little images around the page to give an insight into what articles are to come but only a taster, with one slightly bigger image that will dominate the page of the artist who is on the front.

7) What content would you want to be in the magazine? My target audience wishes for the magazine to include interviews with world famous artists. They also would enjoy a fashion page or how to get this look, and the gossip columns to keep the audience interested.
8) How much images and text would you expect?

In the contents you would expect little text, including a variety of images to entice them further into the magazine. The copy in the contents should be in columns making it easier to read. MY target audience also expects a flasher of some sort to interest them further. SECTION 3- THE DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD ARTICLE 9) Double page what choice of images would you want? Included in the double page would have to have images that reflect the artists persona. As pop genre shows artist as happy and fashionable this is what the images should replicate. Using an image of a girl would have to be smiling and portrayed as self-confident and sophisticated with a bubbly personality. A range of different shot types should be used. 10) What would you prefer the article to be about? My target audience would prefer the article to be a life story of a famous artist with interesting facts that are un-known at the moment giving the reader an insight into their lives and their background. 11) How would you expect the language to be? The language would tend to be informal with an interview of a pop artist, because the interviewer and artist will have a chatty style, the language would be normal replicating the target audience speech. The language should also be direct and allow for readers to follow it easily. 12) Would you prefer more image or text based articles? My target audience wishes for the image and text to be balanced; after research I have seen majority of billboard magazine double page spread are 50/50 with a main image taking up a whole page and text on the other. The main image must be exciting yet classy; also I will include other little images on the text page so the text isnt too block. Actual text must be straight to the point and easy to understand.