Audience research

Kerrang!AgeThe age range for Kerrang! magazine is 15 – 24, with the average age being 22. This is quite a large age range which shows that the magazine is suitable to a wide audience and caters to many people. This means that most of their readers are either students or just beginning to work so they may not have as much money as other age brackets would.

GenderThe gender ratio for Kerrang! magazine is 54.7% male, 45.3% female. They have a slightly larger male audience, however, the percentages are nearly even though which means that it caters to both the male and female audience.

ABC statsThe social grade for Kerrang! magazine is 52% ABC1; however, this is almost even so it also includes a large amount of people in the C2DE bracket. As it is nearly even, we can assume that the general social grade is B-C2 as this would include most people in the age range of the magazine.

Reader profileJim, 22, lives and breathes rock music: it informs his choice of friends, his hobbies, leisure time, attitudes, fashion sense and lifestyle.Above all he is fanatical about THEIR music. He engages with music 24/7, from the minute he wakes up ‘til the minute he falls asleep: when he is not listening to music or watching music TV, he is talking to his friends about music, attending gigs or playing instruments and dreaming about rock stardom.He is plugged in, sharp, has a strong moral code and rejoices in his individuality. He is a fashion trend setter in his peer group but he is heavily influenced by musical icons and scenes. Like the bands he supports he is extremely loyal to the brands he trusts. The way he looks and the clothes he wears is integral to communicating “his identity” to the world.

NMEAgeThe age range for NME magazine is 16 – 25 with the average age being 23. As this is a large range of ages, it allows the magazine to appeal to a wider audience and increase the amount of people that they can sell to. It also means that a large majority of their readers would be students or newly employed so they would not have as much disposable income as other age ranges would.

GenderThe gender ratio for NME magazine is 66% male and 34% female. This shows us that NME magazine is targeted towards a more masculine audience however, there is a female audience as well which shows that it is suitable for both the male and female audience.

ABC statsThe social grade for NME magazine is 65% ABC1 but we can assume that it is between B-C2 as this would encompass more of the people in the age range for the magazine.

Reader profile

Classic RockAgeThe age range for Classic Rock magazine is 35 – 45. This age range is much higher than Kerrang! and NME which shows that it’s content will be different compared to other magazines which are focused on this genre. This age range will be further in their career paths and will have more disposable income compared to other age ranges. It will also include different bands to relate to the bands which were more popular when they were younger, whilst still including more recent artists as well.

GenderThe target gender for Classic Rock magazine is male. This shows us that the magazine will have a much more masculine feel to it with the images being used, what the articles will include, the type of adverts included, and which bands will be featured in the magazine, without many – if any – features to cater to the female audience.

ABC statsThe social grade for Classic Rock magazine is B-C2. However, with the age range which has been specified, it would be more likely to head towards the ABC1 category instead. This means that the audience would have a lot more disposable income than those who were students or just starting work so the magazine price is higher and they will be able to include adverts with more expensive items included.

Reader profile

Survey Monkey results

This question gave me an idea as to what my target audience will be. Nearly 80% of the people who took the questionnaire were between 16 and 24 with only 20% being over 25. Through this I have found out that my magazine should be targeted at 16-24 year olds as that is the age of most of my results. Even though 21% were over 25, it is still very close to the age range of my target audience so it should still appeal to them.

This question showed me which gender my magazine should be targeted at. As 86% of the results were female, my target audience for the magazine will be the female audience however, I will try to include the male audience as well. I will try to appeal to both the male and female audience by using non-gender specific colours or images as this will allow me to sell to a wider audience.

This question allowed me to see what type of price range I should have for my magazine. There was a 50/50 split for £1-£3 and £3.50-£5. This shows that my magazine should be between £3-£3.50 as that is where both of the results cross over so people will be more willing to pay this amount. It is also a relatively cheap price for the magazine which would be easily affordable for many different people – especially as my audience are 16-24 and generally students.

This question showed me what genre of music I should base my magazine on. 64% of the results were the rock pop genre while only 7% was classic rock. This means that my magazine will be based on the rock pop genre of music rather than any other genre. As it was the most popular of the three choices, it shows that that is what most people are interested in so my magazine will appeal to a wider audience than if I chose one of the other genres.

This question let me see what the audience would like to have included in magazines. 79% said exclusive interviews, 57% said festival/concert coverage and 36% said free gifts. These were the highest results out of all the options so these will be the three main things that I included in my magazine. They are also more likely to make people notice the magazine as it is what people want to find in a magazine.

This question has allowed me to see which social networking sites people use most. By doing this I can see whether I should include options to like/join a page on a social networking site which is popular. 93% of the people use Facebook, 79% use YouTube and 64% said Twitter. This means that I will include these three social networking sites in my magazine as they are the ones which will reach the largest audience.

This question showed me what the main occupation the readers of my magazine would be. Most of the participants were students (71%) which shows me that they will not have as much disposable income, this means that they may not have as much disposable income as other people so my magazine should be cheap enough for them to easily buy.

This question let me see whether people would subscribe to a magazine. 86% said that they would subscribe or have subscribed to a magazine. This means that I will include subscription information somewhere in my magazine.

This question showed me which colour scheme I should use for my magazine. 50% said that they prefer dark colours compared to pastel (36%) and bright colours (14%) which means that the main colours I will try to incorporate into my magazine will be darker colours like red, black and grey.