In order for a magazine to be successful, it has to have a solid audience that you can understand so you know how to get them to buy it.
I aim for my magazine to be targeted at a younger demographic - so in terms of age, it is quite broad. However it is between the ages of 16 upwards, ending at around 25. I did not intend for the age to go as high, but after thinking it over, there is really no age limit that people can stop listening to music. Consequently, I made the age higher, however because of the way I have designed the magazine it appeals to younger people, not adults. Furthermore, my magazine is not gender specific, and although it features female models, it has nothing in it to suggest that only women can read it.
This links to if the audience is mass or niche. I believe my audience to be mass, because although people who listen to indie music try to be 'different and independent', the music genre is becoming more well known, with some artist entering the charts. Therefore, it cannot be niche because that means it would be specific to a certain group, and as I stated before, my target audience is broad. This also links to what music my audience would be interested. Indie music has many sub - groups, an example being indie rock, so each person may be interested a different style. Also, with its increasing recognition due to music charts, this could potentially mean they would listen to the latest/popular music. Although this goes against trying not to be mainstream, music is for every and anyone.
My audience will also be in the ABC1 category, meaning that the magazine will be a luxury item. Furthermore, this means they will also live in a western culture and music is important in the lives of people in that culture. Many western people also experience FOMO (fear of missing out), and so those who can afford to always keep up with the changing news then they will most likely have a sufficient amount of money. Additionally, NRS results show that 164,000 of ABC1 15 to 33 year olds purchased Q magazine; indicating that music magazines are still relevant to a younger demographic despite the increased use of technology. However, this does mean that my magazine may not or will not appeal to those who are not westernised.
I believe that these social grades in this method demographic classification are a little outdated and insulting. They focus mostly on earning levels and income, which in todays society is not particularly important to have a good quality of life, as someone's standard of living does not determine their life. It also suggests that classify someone as DE fits the stereotype as lazy and unemployed which could potentially make people believe they are only worth their category. Additionally, nowadays it is easier to move through the levels and grouping people is not as easy as this method suggests. Granted however, it is useful statistically, and for experiment/research purposes it is helpful to collect data.
The interests of my audience would most likely be entertainment like film or going to concerts/festivals. Additionally, they are probably use lots of technology in terms of social media platforms, and so they can easily stay 'follow' artists. Consequently, this is why I have chosen to centre my magazine around finding new artists and providing information on new songs/gigs. This is because supplying information on new artists could provoke them to research them, and so this reduces the problem of FOMO. Also, their age impacts their lifestyle which in turn can dictate their interests. This means that within my audience I will have students/teenagers who probably only have part-time jobs or are in education, and so information on low gig ticket prices are something that would appeal to them. Additionally, those who are in full time employment would most likely have no problem affording the magazine because it only costs £1.50 - the reason for this is that it needs to be affordable to the age group that is the younger demographic.
The ideology of indie is that artists are 'for the music', blazé towards the idea of a large fan base and have a sense of sex, smoking and drugs. Also, indie bands/artists are casual and unique in the way that they dress, unlike that of the genre rap that usually features heavy gold chains. This indicates that my target audience could be affected by this and like to seem like then don't care, but are in reality conscious of being up to date. Lastly, the penumbra effect is when a small amount of different people outside the target audience pick up and consume the product. It is possible to occur for my magazine if it aesthetically pleasing then other people may read it, but it is unlikely that fans of a specific genre on the opposite spectrum would pick it up. Also, the idea of the 50 Quid Bloke is not relevant to my magazine because it isn't aimed at older men and so they wouldn't be interested in buying it.
I aim for my magazine to be targeted at a younger demographic - so in terms of age, it is quite broad. However it is between the ages of 16 upwards, ending at around 25. I did not intend for the age to go as high, but after thinking it over, there is really no age limit that people can stop listening to music. Consequently, I made the age higher, however because of the way I have designed the magazine it appeals to younger people, not adults. Furthermore, my magazine is not gender specific, and although it features female models, it has nothing in it to suggest that only women can read it.This links to if the audience is mass or niche. I believe my audience to be mass, because although people who listen to indie music try to be 'different and independent', the music genre is becoming more well known, with some artist entering the charts. Therefore, it cannot be niche because that means it would be specific to a certain group, and as I stated before, my target audience is broad. This also links to what music my audience would be interested. Indie music has many sub - groups, an example being indie rock, so each person may be interested a different style. Also, with its increasing recognition due to music charts, this could potentially mean they would listen to the latest/popular music. Although this goes against trying not to be mainstream, music is for every and anyone.
I believe that these social grades in this method demographic classification are a little outdated and insulting. They focus mostly on earning levels and income, which in todays society is not particularly important to have a good quality of life, as someone's standard of living does not determine their life. It also suggests that classify someone as DE fits the stereotype as lazy and unemployed which could potentially make people believe they are only worth their category. Additionally, nowadays it is easier to move through the levels and grouping people is not as easy as this method suggests. Granted however, it is useful statistically, and for experiment/research purposes it is helpful to collect data.
The interests of my audience would most likely be entertainment like film or going to concerts/festivals. Additionally, they are probably use lots of technology in terms of social media platforms, and so they can easily stay 'follow' artists. Consequently, this is why I have chosen to centre my magazine around finding new artists and providing information on new songs/gigs. This is because supplying information on new artists could provoke them to research them, and so this reduces the problem of FOMO. Also, their age impacts their lifestyle which in turn can dictate their interests. This means that within my audience I will have students/teenagers who probably only have part-time jobs or are in education, and so information on low gig ticket prices are something that would appeal to them. Additionally, those who are in full time employment would most likely have no problem affording the magazine because it only costs £1.50 - the reason for this is that it needs to be affordable to the age group that is the younger demographic.The ideology of indie is that artists are 'for the music', blazé towards the idea of a large fan base and have a sense of sex, smoking and drugs. Also, indie bands/artists are casual and unique in the way that they dress, unlike that of the genre rap that usually features heavy gold chains. This indicates that my target audience could be affected by this and like to seem like then don't care, but are in reality conscious of being up to date. Lastly, the penumbra effect is when a small amount of different people outside the target audience pick up and consume the product. It is possible to occur for my magazine if it aesthetically pleasing then other people may read it, but it is unlikely that fans of a specific genre on the opposite spectrum would pick it up. Also, the idea of the 50 Quid Bloke is not relevant to my magazine because it isn't aimed at older men and so they wouldn't be interested in buying it.
No comments:
Post a Comment