Research and Preperation

My music magazine is going to be the genre Alternative. I will target my magazine at ages from 15 to about 28. To make sure the content i include in my magazine is suitable for my genre and target audience i am going to look at similar magazine such as: Kerrang, NME and Q. Additionally i have handed out a questionnaire to my target audience so i know what they look for when they buy a magazine so i have a better idea of what to include.

Kerrang's genre is alternative and rock, it targets an age group from about 14 to 22. The layout and style of the magazine has a very rock theme with mainly dark colours such as blacks, reds and purples. These colours are associated with rock. The font used is simple making it easy to read, however, the masthead looks as if the text is about to shatter like glass suggesting the idea the magazine includes rock music and is loud. The language used in the magazine appeals to the target audience words such as 'swag' are used which a lot of older people may not understand. Additionally slang is used, again this appeals to the target audience as a lot of young people today use slang whereas the older generation may not understand. The content of the magazine includes interviews with bands and artists associated with this genre such as Fall out boy, My chemical romance and Blink 182. You wouldn't see artists such as Lady Gaga in this magazine as it doesn't fit in with the genre rock. The magazine also informs their readers about gigs and where to buy tickets. Furthermore the magazine includes free posters and competitions with prizes to meet their favourite bands, these entice the reader in to buy the magazine.

Q magazine's genre is alternative, however, unlike Kerrang, Q magazine includes a much wider variety of artists and bands. Q includes pop artists such as Take That aswell as the much more rock bands such as Green day. The magazine targets a slightly older audience toKerrnag, it is aimed at people rom about 25 to 30. Like Kerrang Q uses dar rocky colours like black and red. Red is used in the masthead which creates a highlights the brand name and makes it stand out to the reader. A simple font is
used making it easy to read. The magazine includes storys about the latests music in the charts and where you can buy it. The magazine inculdes mainly interviews with artists and story's about their life in the music industry. A lot more well-known bands and artists are included in Q magazine unlike Kerrang. This is because Q is aimed at an older audience so more well-known artists will be reconized by the target audience.

Here I have created a readership profile for NME magazine. I have done this as the magazine is a similar genre to min and targets the same audience. The readership profile gives me a better idea of what my target audience are interested in and their spending habbits.

 House Style

These are a few colours i could use for my magazine as well as using the main colours of black and white

Purpl                Red                  Yello          w     


I have chosen to call my magazine Unplugged. Here are a few different font ideas i could use for my masthead

Questionnaire

1. Gender
Female [ ]    Male [ ]

2. Where do you live?

3. Do you work? If yes approximately how many hours a week do you work?

4. What do you enjoy to do in your free time?

5. Do you consider yourself part of a social group? If so which one?
E.g. Chav, Emo, Goth, Mosher etc...

6. Would you say your image is influenced by the artists you listen to? If yes why?

7. How much would you be willing to pay for a magazine?
0-£1 [ ]     £1-£2 [ ]        £2-£3 [ ]       More [ ]

8.If you bought a music magazine would you prefer it to cover a range of music genres or one in particular?

9. What features would you expect/like to see in a music magazine?

10. What 3 colours would attract you to a magazine?

Questionnaire Results

I handed my questionnaire out to 10 girls and 10 boys and these were the results:

90% of boys and 100% of girls said they do not consider themselves part of a social group

50% of boys and 70% of girls said their image is influenced by the artists they listen to - the main reason for this is they espire to be like their idols

90% of boys and girls said they would prefer a magazine to cover one genre of music rather than a range

The most popular answers for features in a music magazine were:

-Interviews

-Gig reviews

-Gig listings

-Compettions

The three most popular colours that would attract the target audience to a music magazine were:

-Purple

-Red

-Yellow