DECIDING THE GENRE TO BASE MY MUSIC MAGAZINE ON

Jessica Thorpe

Questionnaire

I wanted to get quantitative data from all age groups, but mainly from my aimed target

audience of 14 – 19 year olds on whether they think a new Pop magazine, to be featured in

shops, would be good news to them and how they would prefer the layout, colour scheme and

features of the magazine to be organised.

Questionnaire

Results from questionnaireAfter I asked 10 male and 10 female the results were as followed:

Genre of music preferred

IndiePopRockClassicalRnBFolkOther

Pop was the overall genre of preferred music to listen to

Results from questionnaire

When I asked whether they thought there is room for a new Pop magazine to be stored in shops. The majority of them said yes, here’s why..

• None are specialised enough• The rest are terrible• Pop appeals to teens• There are very few out there, and the current ones are

boring• Need to change to fit current market

Results from questionnaire

Further on I asked whether they would prefer a weekly or monthly magazine. The majority said monthly, here’s why….

• Its cheaper• Keeps me up to date on a regular basis• Cant afford weekly• Less to buy

Results from questionnaire

Amount prepared to spend on a music magazine

0-99p£1-£1.99£2-£2.99£3-£3.99£4-£4.99

£2-£2.99 was the overall amount prepared to spend on a music magazine, so that’s what I will price mine at

Focus Group

I also then wanted to get some qualitative data from my aimed target audience of 14-19 year olds so decided to produce a focus group of 4,

14-19 year old teenagers to get their advice about how they would like to see my new Pop

music magazine.

Results from focus group

• I asked questions such as:

“ would you like interviews with current pop bands and how they got to be where they are and what tips they could give people of your age to help you achieve what they have achieved and why?”

A collective answer was; yes because it would be very inspirational and would push me further to achieve my goal. Also we get to find out more about our favourite artists which is good.

Results from focus group

“From the results of my questionnaire it was concluded that the majority of people would like to see my new music magazine filled with a brightly coloured colour scheme why do you think that is?”

A collective answer was; we think that is the case because Pop listeners enjoy music that has a dance rhythm to it so will like to look at bright colours as that will appeal to them a great deal more than boring pastel colours

Results from focus group

“What about the magazine being called ‘Simply Pop’. Do you think that is a good name for a new Pop magazine?”

A collective answer was; yes because it’s a simple name, nothing too fancy, and it allows the reader to identify exactly what the content of the magazine will be about. It also fits with the conventions with magazine names because they’re not meant to be long, so we think that it’s a good name.

HISTORY OF THE POP GENRE

History of pop music

• Pop music is a term that was originally an abbreviation of "popular". It usually consists of music that has been commercially recorded, often aimed towards the youth

market. It usually consists of relatively short, simple songs, which teenagers love.

• Two people called, Hatch and Millward believe that songs that were recorded as early as the 1920s can be seen as the birth of the modern pop industry because

it was the most popular around that time and everybody loved the country, blues and hillbilly music.

Imagery associated with pop music

• The songs usually involve dance-orientated beats and rhythms.

• They stereotypically are associated with people in their youth as they like to dance and

party, which is exactly what pop music is all about.

Bands and artists that are currently most recognized for their pop music

• Avril Lavigne• Britney Spears• Chris Brown

• Christina Aguilera• Justin Timberlake• Kylie Minogue• Mariah Carey• Michael Jackson• Rihanna

IDEAS AND PLANNING FOR MY NEW POP MAGAZINE

Defining a music magazine

A music magazine is a magazine on one of the sub genres of music- promoting a band or artist,

for music fans and people who enjoy that specific sub genre.

Content you would expect to find in a music magazine

• Images of bands• instruments • interviews• competitions• regular features

• album releases/reviews• gig reviews/tours• advertising

Images you would expect to find in a music magazine

• Bands• Artists

• Instruments• Fans

• Pictures from gigs/tours

General features that you would expect to find in all music magazines

• Bar code on the front cover• Language to attract audience – mode of address• Images of bands/artists associated with that sub-

genre of music• Posters

• Gig information/tour dates• Album reviews

• Up and coming artists

Similar magazines I can base my Pop magazine around

Similar magazines I can base my Pop magazine around

I have chosen these magazines to base my magazine upon. This is because they portray the style of music I

wish to focus my music magazine around, which is pop. The colour schemes of these magazines are dominated by very bold colours which stand out on the page, and

are mainly focused around the colour pink. They all have one main image, but of different shots which makes me wonder what will appeal most to my target audience. I

will have to add at least one main headline, with puffs to advertise what will be featured in the issue.

Title of magazine ideas

• POP!• Bulge• Mainstream• Simply pop• All about pop

Explanation of choice of genre

I decided to choose the Pop genre for my magazine because I think the ones out there at the moment are a bit dated and mine will bring something new and fun to current Pop magazines. Also from my

research it shows that teenagers just love to listen to pop and aspire to be like their favourite pop

singers. I also like to listen to Pop music myself, so will be able to fit the needs of the target audience

because I know what Pop lovers like.

Target audience

I have decided to base my target audience on 14-19 year olds, and to mainly appeal to girls who are in the B C1 C2 category. This is because from my research this is the age

group which most listen to Pop music and would be willing to buy a Pop magazine. I am also aiming it at B C1 C2 girls

because they will be able to afford my magazine, and I want to make it cheap enough for a large number of

people to be able to buy .I also feel that I will be able to appeal to that age groups needs more when it comes to a new music magazine because I know the right conventions

that goes into making a successful Pop magazine.