Caitlin Humphreys

Task 7 & 8 - Audience Research Questionnaire and Focus Group

I gave out a questionnaire about music magazines, to 16 people, both boys and girls, of the age range 16-17, in order to gain information about the target audience of my magazine, which are ages 15 30.

Music Magazine Questionnaire

1) Please tick the box next to the statement that most represents your feelings. I have other methods of finding out the information I need, so I dont read music magazines (eg. the internet) I dont read any magazines I dont like music enough to want to read a magazine about it I do read music magazines. I read magazines, but not music magazines. I read music magazines if they are available (eg, a friend has one) but do not buy them myself. Other (please state): _________________________________________________________________________

2) The following are common features of music magazine. What would you be most interested in reading about/seeing? (Please tick) Interviews with artists Posters/photos of the artist Album reviews Information about the music charts New music releases Tour information Competitions Others (please state): _____________________________________

3a) Do you read any music magazines that cover the music genre of rock? (Circle) Yes No

If you ticked No, please answer question 3b, if you ticked Yes, please move on to 3c.

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Caitlin Humphreys
3b) If you said NO, what are the reasons for this: (Please tick the answer most relevant to your feelings) I dont like rock music. I dont read any magazines. I do like rock music, but dont read any magazines. I do like rock music, but not enough to want to read a specific rock magazine about it I do like rock music, but read other music magazines that cover different music genres to rock. I have other methods of finding out the information I need (eg. the internet) Other (please state): _______________________________________________________________________

3c) Which of these music magazines are most familiar to you? (Whether youve read them, or just heard about them) Kerrang! NME Rolling Stones Uncut Rock Sound None of these are familiar to me

Other (please state): _________________________________

3d) Why is this magazine most familiar to you? I buy it and read it It is the only magazine of rock genre that I know of I have read a copy belonging to a friend

Other (please state): _______________________________________________________________________ 4) What colours do you believe should be used in a rock magazine to use as a colour theme throughout the magazine? (Please choose no more than 5) Red Blue Green Purple White Yellow Black Grey Pink

Other (please state): _________________________

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Caitlin Humphreys

FINDINGS
Question 1: I have other methods of finding out the information I need, so I dont read music magazines (eg. the internet) I dont read any magazines I dont like music enough to want to read a magazine about it I do read music magazines. I read magazines, but not music magazines. I read music magazines if they are available (eg, a friend has one) but do not buy them myself. 6 4 1 3 1 1

I found that 6/16 people dont read music magazine because they have other ways of finding out this information. 4/16 said that they dont read ANY magazines, but 3/16 said that they do read music magazines. Question 2: Interviews with artists Posters/photos of the artist Album Reviews Information about the music charts New music releases Tour Information Competition 9 12 3 4 9 11 1

I found that the top thing people like/would like to see in music magazines are posters/photos of the artist. This is followed by tour information, new music releases and interviews with the artists being the top 4 things people would like to see/do like to see. Competitions, Information about the music charts and album reviews go very little votes compared to the top 4, and do not seem to be the most popular attributes of a magazine to people. Question 3a: Yes No 4 12

Most of the people who filled in the questionnaire did NOT read rock music magazines. Only 4/16 actually read rock music magazines. Question 3b: (for people who said no to 3a) I dont like rock music I dont read any magazines. I do like rock music, but dont read any magazines I do like rock music, but not enough to want to read a specific rock magazine about it. I do like rock music, but read other music magazines that cover different music genres to rock. 4 3 4 0 0

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Caitlin Humphreys I have other methods of finding out the information I need (eg. the internet) 2

I found that 11/ 13 people who said they dont read rock music magazines either didnt read rock music magazines because they didnt like the genre of music, or if they did, they didnt read them simply because they dont read any magazines. The other 2 people said that it was because they have other methods of finding out the information they need. Question 3c: Kerrang! NME Rolling Stones Uncut Rock Sound None of these are familiar to me 13 4 3 0 0 3

Kerrang! was by far the most familiar rock music magazine to people in my target audience, even considering the majority of the people who answered my questionnaire dont actually read music magazine. Question 3d: (for the people who recognized any of the magazines) I buy it and read it It is the only magazine of rock genre that I know of I have read a copy belonging to a friend 3 6 4

The magazines that were familiar to people were mainly familiar to them because it was the only rock magazine they knew of. 4/13 also admitted that they knew about certain magazines because they had a read a copy of their friends, showing that people of this age group in my target audience share their magazines (readership increases) Question 4: Red Blue Green Purple White Yellow Black Grey Pink 14 6 5 13 10 0 16 8 2

The most popular 5 colours that people in my target audience thought were suitable for use in a rock magazine were, in order, black, red, purple, white & grey. These will be the colours I will use in my magazine.

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Caitlin Humphreys
Focus Group I did a small scale interview with a group of people (a focus group) with 5 of my friends, who are within the age range of the target audience for my rock music magazine: I interviewed 5 16/17 year old friends, 3 were boys, 2 were girls. I prepared before hand and then asked a series of questions in order to get some more in depth answers about their opinions on a new rock music magazine and what they would expect and like it to have. What features on the front of any rock music magazine rock that you have seen make it stand out to you as a rock magazine? Bright/block colours Text often in capitals Artists on the front who are famous for their rock music Images of instruments or album covers

I will be sure to include these features on the front of my magazine. Would the sex of the artist(s) on the front cover affect whether you would buy a particular issue of a magazine? No. As long as that artist was still a known rock artist. I am now going to change my initial plans of what artist to feature on the front cover. I will now make sure that artist in the cover is a well known artist and the artist inside is an up and coming artist. I have to magazine names that I have thought of for my new rock music magazine. Which one do you prefer: Encore of Amplify? All 5 said Encore Why: They thought Amplify made it sound to guitar based, rather than a rock music magazine. Because of these findings, my magazine will be called Encore. What about a contents page would draw you in to read the magazine? Lots of content/lots to read about: So that it takes a while to read rather than there being hardly any pages in the magazine. Images of different artist(s) to the front cover so that I can recognize what other artists are featured in it: Not going to want to read a magazine that hasnt got any of their favourite artists featured in it. I will make sure I list a lot of features in the contents page, and pictures of different artists will feature in my contents page. What would make you interested in a double page spread? An interview. A poster on one of the pages/or an image taking up at least half a page. I will definitely have an interview with an artist on my double page spread.

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