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.