Audience Research

The reasoning behind the production of magazines is simply to make a profit, in order to be successful the insitution needs to recognised exactly who its target audience is. Existing magazines in stores are representative of different audiences and societies. This shows that the way the cover looks to the content inside is all influenced by the target audience. Individual aspects of the magazine are changed and adapted to best suit the representation of a target audience, this arguably, increases the chances of someone purchasing the magazine.

"Any media text is created for a particular audience and will usually appeal to this particular target audience" Hall and Holmes, 1998. This theory shows us the importance of understanding the target audience and also tells us what makes a successful media product, a magazine in this case.

Magazines are produced to make a profit, the larger the audience the larger the profit due to the increase in size of potential buyers. A company that makes indie magazines would be at a higher financial risk due to having a smaller target audience, a niche audience.

A mass audience has a larger target audience and covers a large proportion of the population. People who are interested in pop music would fit into the mass audience as this is a common and popular interest. People who are interested in indie music would fit into the niche audience as this is a less common and alternative interest.

The institution conducts research known as "profiling the audience" this means that they find out exactly who there target audience are. They look primarily at age, gender, sexuality and social status.

I will now carry out my own profiling using a survey monkey questionnaire in order to collect information on the demographic of the target audience.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6TPHW26

The results along with an evaluation of what they represent is shown below.

 Looking at the results of this particular question it is clear that I need to consider both genders when producing my magazine, this includes looking at role models within both gender and furthermore look at how typically both genders are represented in other popular magazines such as kerrang, nme and Q.

Looking at the results of this question it is clear that my primary audience will be between the ages of 11-17 however the age range spans from 11-29. The results are not can not be generalised as there was only a small amount of participants. As a general rule for myself I would say Indie music is attractive primarily to anyone under the age of 30 however there is not actually a limit, possibly representing the secondary audience in which I will need to consider. 

Looking at the results of this question it is clear that the participants are predominately white British citizens, however Britain is one of the most culturally diverse nations in the world. It is important to consider this when producing my magazine as I may need to please an audience that exists within other ethnicities or possibly attempt to attract other ethnic groups into reading my magazine. 

Looking at the results of this question it is clear that my primary audience spans from those who are in social classes D and C2 this is not considered rich as such, people in these classes are able to live comfortably. It is important to represent these social classes through the use of images, colour and lexis. This may also give me a guide as to how much the magazine should cost, as well as looking at subscription costs.

Looking at the results of this question it shows me that heterosexuals are a my primary audience however this does not mean that they should be my only focus, bisexuals and homosexuals also need to be represented in the magazine in order to give my magazine a competitive edge in terms of a mass audience.

The results of this question help greatly as it represents that there still is an interest in magazines, even if they are read online. The answers are what I expect to find from a primary age group of 11-30.

Looking at the results of this question it is clear that the participants of the questionnaire are interested in the indie music genre, this is good news from an institutional perspective as this means that the magazine will sell as long as it is produced professionally and the other factors of the results are taken into consideration. My secondary audience would be pop, rock and possible jazz.

The results of this question show that the participants of the questionnaire are interested primarily in the use of images on the magazine, this will need to be implemented in the production of my magazine in order to please the target audience. Other than that is it really a combination of all the possible answers that will make the production of my magazine successful.

Institutional Research

Institution describes the organisation or conglomerate of people that are responsible for the publication of a particular piece of media. Magazines are created by businesses seeking to generate a profit by selling their magazine to a particular genre of people. Once the audience is interested in the magazine create the institution attempts to expand. It can do this in three ways, conglomeration, expansion and diversification. The media institution is huge. There are currently 2471 consumer magazines in the UK across a wide range of genres. Readers spend on average £1.46 billion a year on consumer magazines making it a viable and successful market.

Conglomeration describes the coming together of different subsidiary groups working together in order to be more productive and potentially create a higher quality magazine. It is usually seen as a cost effective move for an institution as a conglomeration shares the same production methods, distributing methods and also the same building.
Expansion describes the buyout of a particular successful magazine that will easily and successfully fit into a subsidiary collection of genres that the institution owns. The original owner of the magazine usually benefits well as the buyout is usually high, obviously depending on the success of the magazine already. The owner can make a decision to still work on the magazine as there own however it simply makes it easier in terms of production and distribution as it it now become part of the institution, where the only real difference in magazine production is the content. Any addition to the current institution adds to the value of said institution.
Diversification describes the changes made to the product line, decommissioning and introduction of new magazines and the institution's attempt to produce magazine production into genres it currently has no influence over. It does this in order to gain a more diverse and overall larger target audience.

IPC Media are the leading consumer magazine and digital publishers in the UK. They publish magazines from a wide range of genres, from indie music magazines such as NME to woman's lifestyle magazines such as Now weekly. The are also responsible for publishing newspapers such as The People and The Sun. The company is divided into 3 main sub headings in which similar genre magazines fit into. Connect is responsible for the publication of mass woman weekly magazines. Southbank is responsible for the publication for upmarket woman weekly magazines such as Marie Claire. Inspire, responsible for the publication of men's weekly magazines such as The Field and Rugby Weekly.

Bauer Media Group is a large German publishing company, headquartered in hamburg. Primarily they publish woman's weekly magazines and also television listing magazines. Popular brand that are owned  by Bauer Media Group include Bella, Take a break and other popular television listing magazines. Popular Bauer media brands include Q magazine and Kerrang! It also has influence and involvement in the radio and television industry.

I think that my magazine would work well as part of Bauer Media Group as it fits a gap between two magazines they already have control over. My magazine is not as edgy as Kerrang which already appeals to a much younger target audience however it is not as classy and sophisticated as Q magazine which obviously has a much older target audience, my magazine would effectively fill the gap between the two magazines as it is both edgy and sophisticated in style and of the same genre. As part of Bauer Media Group my magazine may also gain leads in Television and Radio.

Reference for statistics: Brad & ABC

Interesting Style Models

Types of feature articles within Indie music magazines

Lighting, Positioning, Make up & Hair

As a photographer I feel as though I need to develop my understanding of lighting further as in my preliminary task the lighting had a very amateur look to it. I have watched the following Youtube videos in order to understand how to effectively achieve the results that I want and understand the importance of each factor within the photography aspect of the task.




I wanted to create a natural but playful vibe to my magazine and so I thought and outdoor portrait will be best in helping me to replicate my need.

Photographer Case Study

An individual photographer that I admire would be Nick Knight who is at the top of celebrities wish list when at a photo shoot at Vogue. Obviously Vogue is a fashion magazine however I think that Knight's unique design and blend of creativity gives him an unconventional edge against other photographers. Something that would work extremely well within the convention breaking Indie genre.

All his photography work has a minimalistic vibe to it which works as the images he shoots are simply in nature but powerful at the same time.

Examples of Knight's work are below. He uses dark shadows and as shown sometimes simply full silhouettes in order to deliver a powerful piece of imagery, the use of contrasting colours on a minimalistic background is used as well in order to make the imagery stand out on an otherwise faded and boring piece of art. I want to deliver the same kind of effect on my magazine and so I thought that looking at pieces of effective and successful imagery that were similar in style has helped me greatly.

I will adapt the skills that I have learnt by looking at professional photography into my work by using a number of different poses in my photo shoot whilst trying to create a minimalistic and powerful piece of imagery. I now have a clearer understanding of what kind of image classes as professional photography and can now attempt to recreate something of this standard

This photography is specific to my work as Nick primarily takes pictures of female celebrities and so is obviously experienced in how to produce something that looks professional, primarily I am hoping to blend Nick's unique style of imagery, in particular, the poses his models use with the stereotypical/conventional poses found in indie music magazines. This will help my images look more professional and will appeal more to my target audience.

As an amateur photographer I will have to make sure I overcome the following problems, correct lighting, unique and appropriate locations and also be sure that my model uses a variety of poses throughout the photo shoot. I will also need to take into consideration the mise-en-scene of my shoot, the clothing, make-up that my model wears will need to be of a high standard if I want my images to look professional, represent the indie genre well and look commercially viable on the front cover of a magazine.