Questionnaire/Focus group Analysis

In order to find out more about my target audience, I carried out a questionnaire. My questionnaire was only given out to women/girls who listened to R&B and Hip Hop, this made the results more accurate as there would be no point handing it out to rock or classical fans. It featured a variety of open questions, to allow the participant to express themselves and think deeper in to music, it also featured a variety of closed questions which made it quicker to fill out and also making it easier to analyse and put it in to statistics. I handed the questionnaire out to 20 people, making the results more representative of women who listen to R&B.

The first question of the questionnaire was written to find out how often my target audience read magazines. The results are displayed below.

Every week every month occassionally never0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

From this I can conclude that most of them read them on a monthly basis, therefore, my magazine will be a monthly issue.

I also found out that 60% of the people I handed the questionnaire to said they would spent between £2-£3 on a magazine, this has also helped me on deciding how much to sell my magazine for. 80% of the people to who I handed the questionnaire were fans of R&B only; the other 20% ticked the Hip Hop genre box. This shows that there is a connection between R&B and Hip Hop, those who like R&B music also show some interest towards hip hop, and therefore I will be presenting a few Hip Hop artists in my magazine.

In result of the question: “on magazine front covers, what grabs your attention the most?” it concluded that many of the participants are attracted by similar features. 50% said the main image, 35% said the heading/name of magazine and 15% said font, colour or quotes from article (sell-lines). From this, I will bear in mind to make my main image attractive and heading bold and eye catching.

The content inside the magazine is one of the most important elements to consider when creating a magazine, if audiences do not like the topics within the magazine they will not buy it, that is why I asked what topics my target audiences would like to see in a magazine. The results are in the chart below.

competi-tions

posters Gigs Interviews music charts

fashion review other0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

This shows that the interviews, posters and fashion are the most popular topics women like in a music magazine. I will be having an interview on my double page spread as it is the most favoured, and I will be having a “mystery R&B artist” poster nearer to the end of the magazine.

I also wanted to find out how strongly music features in people’s lives. One being the least and ten being the most. I was amazed by my results as the average number lied between 8 and 9.

Other than main image, I needed to find out what other artists my target audience like, which I could include in my front cover as featured article photos. The most common names given were one direction, Mary J Blige, Rihanna, Jay Sean and Beyonce. I will be using some of these artists in my magazine.

The purpose of music is also important, why do people listen to music? So in my questionnaire I asked to describe what music means to them in one word, so that I can fulfil it. The words I gained were similar, the main ones were:

Inspirational Love World Passion Rhythm Relaxation Beauty Life

Music magazines are different from lifestyle and other magazines. They are more inspirational and focus on the success of celebrities rather than gossip about them. They feature role models we can look up to and interviews of artists and most of all, it is dedicated to music.

As well as a questionnaire, I carried out a focus group on 3 people who like R&B. This allowed me to receive more in depth and open answers.

Focus group

I presented them with 2 front covers, one with Beyonce from Vibe, and the other from Top of the Pops. The aim of this was to find out the opinions and knowledge of my target audience in detail.

Vibe Magazine – the girls could instantly tell that this magazine is a Hip Hop magazine. They knew this because of the simplicity, language used such as “Beyonce strips down.” Also, bold font is used, with vibrant colours such as red and black. Beyonce is a Hip Hop/R&B artist which also reflects on the genre. At the top of this magazine, four names were listed. They included; Ne-Yo, Rich Boy, Kelly Roland and Fabulous. These are also artists which reflect the genre of the magazine.

The first thing that caught the group’s eye was the model. This was due to her seductive pose, which encouraged them to be like her and share her beauty.

They thought that Beyonce was displayed as a ‘sex object’ in the front cover of the magazine due to her seductive/wet look. Also the fact Beyonce is a very successful artist, and well known which intrigues audience and gets them excited that they know who she is. Another thing that caught their eye was the heading of the magazine (mast head) as it is big and bold, also the fact that the name of the magazine is well known.

The font should be attractive as well as readable so audiences can read without struggle. It also signifies genre, for example, if Vibe were to use a script font for the heading, they would not get the genre across as quick. Also, the colours should be attractive to lure in audiences and signal genre as well.

top of the pops magazine – the name of the magazine instantly signifies genre as it has ‘Pop’ in the name. The images also reflect on it as it uses men that belong to a Pop genre, in this case one direction, Zac Efron and JLS. They are handsome, clean cut men who are posing in a non confrontation way which shows that they do not belong to an aggressive genre such as rock or rap. The words used determine target audience as well as genre. For example, “OMG” and “Lush Lads Stripped” all imply a younger audience as adults would not understand this language (mode of address).

The first thing that catches their eyes is the handsome band at the front and the pink and purple colours used. The colours should be attractive otherwise it would make this magazine lose its purpose as well as its audience. The magazine uses a variety of different, eye catching fonts which are easy to read and stand out.

Vibe or top of the pops?

Two of the girls in my focus group said they would more likely to by the Vibe magazine as it suits the music they like and interests them more, as it is more inspirational. However, one of the girls said she preferred the top of the pops magazine as she found the men in the cover very good looking and the sell-lines were more interesting. Being R&B fans, they would like a top 10 chart each month of R&B only. Text which is feminine would also be pleasant for

them and match their personalities. Images of ‘hot’ men would also attract the three girls I carried out my focus group on.

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Conclusion

From carrying out both the questionnaire and focus group I have gained a lot of useful information about my target audience which will help me in the production of my magazine and make it a success.