Contents Flat Plan

Target Audience Survey Results

From the 62 responses from my Survey Monkey result, the percentage between female and male responses is exactly a 50-50 percentage. This is important as it allows me to target my pop magazine at both genders, which is what I was initially intending to do.

The majority of people who took my survey are of the ages of 15 to 17 year olds. However, there is also a high number of people of 18+ who took my survey, which a percentage of around 48%. These results are an accurate representation of my demographics and how my magazine will primarily target people aged 16 to 25.

My survey results have a total of 82% of people who say they like pop music. This shows how pop music is extremely popular with the young and parts of the older audience, based on other results in this survey. This is important as it allows me to confidently create a pop genre magazine based on the target audience and the features which accompany it.

From my survey results, you can see how the majority of people have chosen colours of black, white and grey for my pop magazine. I am pleased with these results because I was initially hoping to use mostly dark, secondary colours. I believe using these choice of colours will allow my magazine to look more professional based on the typical stereotypes associated with darker colours and the instant professionalism they bring to any high-end product.

As you can see from these results, the content choices of English and American artists were the substantial choice. I wasn't surprised by theses results. In popular pop magazines such as Billboard and Top Of The Pops, trending artists are continually used to draw in their primary target audience. Because of this, I believe my magazine will be able to draw in various target audiences based on the use of having trending artists, both American based and British.

 For my final question on my survey, I asked what title (masthead) would be best for my pop magazine. Ultimately, the majority of people have said they want Vision as the name of my pop magazine. I firstly struggled with this question and deciding what names would fit appropriately for the genre of this magazine. However, I am happy with the result of this question. I believe the name Vision not only is suitable for my primary target audience, but it gives the magazine a professional and 'fresh' feel to it.

Representations and Stereotypes

Gender

  This Pop music magazine front cover links to the theory Laura Mulvey proposed that women are "erotic objects of desire". This women is shown with her shirt open, revealing her bra to the reader. Women are used as erotic objects on magazines to ultimately gain attention from the male target audience. Using sex to sell is one of the most common tactics                                                  used on any media product. Using women as erotic objects on a magazine cover may also influence sales as it allows itself to also be targeted towards the male audience instead of just females. 

Since 1975, times have changed from just women being eroticised. Men are also now used as erotic objects to appeal to the female audience. This suggests that both genders use their sex appeal to boost the sales of certain products.

Females may also be attracted to this image because they may feel that they want to be seen as sexy and attractive women themselves. This ultimately allows a bigger mass market for this magazine to appeal to which will boost the number of sales.

I would represent this artist by using a female or male model and will then remove key sections of clothing which would then allow me to follow Laura Mulvey's 'erotic objects' theory. Using a male or female relating to Laura Mulvey's theory will instantly allow me to target my model at either the male or female target audience.

Youth

Theorist Stanley Hall puts forward the point a theory known as the 'Storm and Stress Model'. Hall argues that all young people go through some degree of "emotional and behavioural upheaval". He also argues that youth must have "excitement" otherwise they will turn to more prone enthusiasms such as sex, drink and drugs.

These typical 'negative' stereotypes of the youth allow magazine publishers to sell their magazine to the youth because they can make the magazine look edgy and rebellious. This will ultimately appeal to the youth target audience because they will find 'rebellious' people more interesting to read about than some other youth audiences. 

Dick Hebdige's theory which suggests that people of the youth are either 'fun' or 'troublemakers'. 

Parent friendly magazines such as Top of the Pops gives another representation to the youth and links to Hebdige's theory of "Youth as Fun" giving the youth a positive effect instead of just predominantly negative.

I would represent the youth by using the mise en scene as my main profile to my models to allow them to link to Dick Hebdiges' theory that the youth are either 'fun' or 'troublemakers'. I would use clothing to show class types and also the style of make-up of I were to use a female model. Clothing would vary from more of a street look which would also link to Keith Grandal's theory that the lower-class are portrayed as a 'culteral other'. Having more higher-class and 'smarter' clothing would instantly connote to the reader that this artist is of a higher-class based on their clothing styles.

Race

Theorist Sarita Malik argues the point that whiteness has been 'naturalised' when of course its an ethnic group like any other. He also argues that there are still too few black people who actually control the images in terms of directors, screenwriters and producers.

The majority of music magazine covers such as Top of the Pops, Kerrang and NME predominantly feature white artists. This suggests how other races are almost segregated from mainstream magazine such as Kerrang. This supports Malik's theory that whiteness has been "naturalised" and that "multiculturalism is not represented in the British Media."

Another thing to consider is that the majority of Hip-Hop artists are black and it ultimately creates a negative stereotype of them. Hip-Hop artists and their fans are seen to be embracing the negative stereotype which links to Stuart Halls theory that the standard image of blackness is being the 'social problem'. However, these negative stereotypes sell, especially to the youth. The negative representations given to Hip-Hop makes the magazine and artists look edgy and more exciting to people of the youth.

I would ultiamtely represent this artists with the connecting stereotype by using a black artist portaryed in their natural clothing. This will also again allow me to use mise en scene to allow the target audience to create their own stereotypes as to what kind of class this black artists is.

Sexuality

In the Media, typical stereotypes of sexuality are used in the media to explore ideological positions about sexuality. Theorist Andy Medhurst says, "Films and television comedies are full of gay men as effeminate screaming queens." Medhurst also argues how typical gay male behaviours are inflated to define their male characteristics of male homosexuality. This allows the media to create a more recognisable image for people to identify different sexuality's.

Medhursts' theory of 'screaming queens' does not just necessarily mean 'all gay men are like that', it's implying that 'all gay men are like that and aren't they awful'.
Medhurst argues that this is done to make heterosexual viewers feel safe in the belief that there way of living is the most natural. This allows the straight viewer to feel more safe and superior to other sexuality's, such as male homosexuals.

This is why Medhurst argues how stereotypes of sexuality strive to create two 'polarised' sexuality's (hetro and straight). This again links to the medias text of the 'screaming queen' and his female equivalent, the 'butch dyke'.

I would represent this artists by again using mise en scene as my main portrayal and strereotype as to what sexualtiy my male or female arists is. Medhursts' theory that homosexuals are portrayed as effeminate screaming queens throughout various films and television programs ultimately makes it easier for viewers to identify if that person is of the homosexuality or not. Trying to show someones sexuality in one image, unless you know their sexuality, is harder to identify.

National/Regional Identity   


Theorist Andrew Higson writes, "Identity is generally understood to be the shared identity of naturalised inhabitants of a particular political, geographic space - this can be a particular place or region."

One classic example of this in a British music magazine of connoting it is a magazine for British readers is using the Union Jack flag and colours. This is evident on this front cover of NME in which they show the American flag behind popular American artist Lana Del Rey.

I would represent an artist which clearly showed their regional identity by adding in some sort of symbol such as the American flag to an American artist to show their regional connections.








Class


Even though the artists shown on the covers of music magazines are evidently wealthy because of their success, however they are shown to appear 'poor' to allow there target audience to relate to them. This relates to Keith Gandal's theory in which he states the lower-class are portrayed as a "Cultural Other".

I would represent this artist by again using the rise en scene in which I could show the audience a basic assumption of the persons class. Again, like I said before you would vary the artists fashion sense with some of the typical fashion styles which instantly connote to the audience a persons typical class based on their fashion style.

What I Have Learnt and Target Audience for My Magazine

What I have Learnt
In my Pop genre magazine, psychographics and demographics will feature heavily in my magazine. I have learnt that my demographics will allow all people aged 16 to 25 to connect with the content and chosen style I intend to do my Pop magazine in. I also have summarised what social grade my magazine is targeting itself to.
In terms of psychographics, I aiming predominantly going to target my magazine towards the Aspirer and Explorer. I believe play around with the colour palette of my magazine because both these groups are evidently adventures and are willing to explore both trending and future Pop artists.

My Target Audience:
For my chosen magazine genre of Pop, I have ultimately chosen to aim it towards the psychographics of the Aspirer and Explorer. I have firstly chosen to target my Pop magazine at Aspirers because criteria brief. Their criteria of image appearance and attractive packaging is a major aspect of Pop magazines. You associate Pop magazines with bright, primary colours which allow the young and also older age ranges to become appealed to it. Images of trending and currant artists are one of the main appeals to a Pop magazine as it allows the reader to discover more information about them which is one of the main selling points situated around the front covers of Pop magazines. You ultimately use different artists for certain age groups and genders. For instance, Top Of The Pops magazine use artists such as Jessie J and One Direction to allow their target audience of 11 to 14 year olds to instantly want to discover more about these artists.
Another reason why I have used the Aspirer is because of their appearance criteria. By focusing predominantly on the appearance of the magazine, it allows myself to play around with the colour palette, allowing myself to venture certain colour schemes which I normally wouldn't use.

For my next psychographics, I have chosen the Explorer. The Explorer is associated with energy and an instant effect to try new brands. Energy is a massive part of the Pop genre. You associate the young, energetic audience with the Pop genre which will be an effective aspect of my Pop magazine.
Not only is energy a significantly important aspect of the Pop genre and ultimately my magazine, but their willingness to try new brands is a major aspect of the Pop genre. Allowing themselves to discover new and trending artists allows them to become recognised in the music industry with the effect of publication allowing their talent to grow with audience appeal.

The target audience of my Pop magazine will target people from the ages of 16 to 25. I believe the target audiience I have chosen is slightly higher than what you would normally associate to a Pop music magazine. Existing magazines such as Top Of The Pops who target their magazine towards the age ranges of 11 to 14 year old females allows the content and colour palette of their magizne to be a little more extravagant and adventures. I have chosen this specific target audience because I want my magazine to have more of a professional feel to it. This will be shown using a mainly secondary colour palette which I believe instantly gives a magazine that professional feel. This will also be shown with the use of content present in my magazine. I will show content such as celebrity artist storylines. This I believe allows the reader to connect more with that celebrity's personal life and could possibly relate to it, creating a second person feel to this magazines content.

The audience I'm targeting my magazine at will be primarily British people, however my content and style will be made to ultimately target all different nationalities. My target audience in terms of sexuality will be aimed towards straight, bi, gay and transgender people. This, I believe again illustrates my point that I'm targeting my magazine towards various different target audiences which I believe also adds to the professionalism of my magazine.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/W3CJRY3 - Please can you fill out my survey.

Psychographic Target Audience Profiling

I believe the Pop music magazines appeal to only three main psychographics. The first one the Pop genre appeals to is the Aspirer. Their criteria of image appearance and attractive packaging over content quality matches the Pop magazine genre. Pop magazines are associated with having a bright colour palette, with the images of trending and currant artists being the main appeal.

The next psychographic which links to Pop music magazines is the Explorer. The Explorer is associated with energy and they have an instant effect to try new brands. Not only is energy associated with the young target audience, but the willingness to explore new brands is important for the Pop genre to allow new artists to become recognised with the audiences appeal.

And finally, I feel the Reformer psychographic links to the Pop music genre magazine. I believe freedom from restriction allows them to connect to many genres including Pop. Also, support growth of new product categories allows them to appeal to currant and new artists allowing them to grow in the music industry with popularity.

Audience Research and Profile

 The target audience for Top Of The Pops magazine is predominantly young girls and pre-teens. TOTP's magazine is predominantly read by females with a statistic of 85% female readers. Their magazine has a readership total of 298,000, with the age range ranging from 11-15 years old. TOTP's social grade would be fairly high due to the amount of parent consumers paying for TOTP's publication and that is why the social grade is C1/B.

Billboard: Billboards magazine has a total readership of 48K. Overall. their magazine is aimed towards both genders which is dependant on the cover star. The age range for their audience varies from 25 to 54 year olds with a social class of A-B.









We Love Pop: The primary target audience of WLP's magazine is teenage girls aged between 13 and 15 years old. We Love Pop is published by Egmont UK and has a circulation of around 115,000.
The social class of We Love Pop's is most likely to be ABC2 demographic. This I believe is predominantly based upon parental income and demographic.

Example Audience Profile: Demographics

Profiling My Target Audience 

Genre: POP

Class/Earnings: My primary target audience will consist social grades of C1-E.

Age: 16 to 25

Nationality: British

Ethnicity: Primarily White British

Sexuality: Straight, Bi, Gay and Transgender

Audience Appeal: My target audience will appeal to people who are interested in currant and trending pop artists.