Who would the audience be for your media project?After conducting research into the genre of my magazine, folk, I decided to choose a target audience of both males and females aged between 16 and 25. Although the typical age group of folk listeners tend to be older, I felt that after researching many other magazines, that there was a gap in the market whereupon my magazine could fit perfectly. Many magazines aimed at the ages of my target audience are surrounding current and contemporary artists – despite young listeners liking to explore music of the past. I felt that with a contemporary appearance and informal language register, I could create a magazine which exposed young people to folk music: both new and old.

My magazine content will be that of reviews, interviews and photography of featured artists alongside upcoming gigs, festivals and events that said artists will be holding/performing at. Thus the decision to aim my magazine at those no younger than 16 was made due to age restrictions often found at gigs and festivals – but also because I believe it is at this age that many teenager’s evolve their taste in music and look further afield for new (and old) musical inspiration. My top target age of 25 was chosen because, as said before the genre of folk may have in the past been aimed at older listeners, there are more and more contemporary folk artists whom are creating a fresh face for the genre. This being said, my decision to close my audience at age 25 is due to the content: informal language, young artists and gigs/festivals aimed at late teens and early twenties.

Targeted at both males and females, my magazine is solely music-based and does not include fashion features, in order to appeal to both genders. Though I intend for the magazine to be as gender-neutral as possible, the sales could differ each month dependent on whom the cover artist is. However, this is to be expected with every magazine, as of course more popular music artists will be favoured to read about and sales would differ slightly with each issue.

The genre of my magazine is alternative folk, meaning it would attract an audience described as ‘young alts’ on the UK Tribes website. My audience are those who wish to listen to artists who are less mainstream, and wear clothes which are less mainstream, in order to stand out and represent their character and their preferred tastes. The style of clothing often associate with folk genres is boho, which is often floaty/relaxed clothing in natural fabrics – and can be found worn frequently at festivals, particularly Glastonbury and Coachella. There are no other alternative folk magazines available to buy in the UK, and so there is a gap in the market for my mag, meaning less competition and the likeliness that my magazine could be popular.

However, although there are none like my magazine on the market, I researched magazines with similar aesthetics and content – such as Wire, and decided to price mine at £4.99. I believe that this is a reasonable amount to charge as it is a monthly magazine, and so it includes a lot of content, not to mention that there are no other folk magazines and so if customers aren’t willing to pay £4.99, there isn’t another magazine that they could buy as a substitute.

When designing and producing my magazine, I had to keep in mind the research I had found to ensure that it would be suitable for and appeal to my target audience. To do this, I styled my model Alicia in bohemian clothing – floaty, neutral colours and natural fabrics. As my magazine is solely about the artists and the music, I tried to steer clear from flashing clothing, makeup and jewellery so as not to detract from the musician. When styling I attempted to base the hair, makeup and clothing on Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, and to do so I left my models hair loose and gave her minimal makeup. I feel that the Olsen’s best match the styling of my target audience, as they are often seen sporting bohemian/hippie fashions.

The layout of my mag is fairly simplistic, with a continuous palette of browns throughout, to match the colouring of my model. The contents page is based upon the Wire magazine, which also targets ‘young alts’ who wish to discover new and different artists/genres. The double page spread is uncrowded so as to fit the relaxed language register of the article, and not to detract from the interview and photography of the cover artist.