Over the past two weeks I have been collating some qualitative research. I’ve had 30 responses on my questionnaire. I ensured I only sent my questionnaire to people who fit my target audience. These consist of some people studying musical theatre at my school, some friends I know at Vocational training and some people I met at the theatre who I didn't’t know. I also contacted some people who I have on a musical Theatre appreciation group. As well as this I’ve created an audio response from two of my friends who have an interest in musical theatre. Because I asked people who fit my target audience , and lots of people I don’t particularity know and, I told people their responses were anonymous (which should eliminate getting bias results) , I have fairly conclusive results that I plan to act on to improve my magazine to appeal to them and get the highest grade possible.

Below is the link to my questionnaire and audio questionnaire responses.

QUESTIONNAIRE: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1c2NcZk0l037PZZuCWDzt5RVZGAVM16f0jujGTLYLW-Y/viewform

AUDIO FILE: https://soundcloud.com/viclouaddis/marthas-interview-on-my-musical-theatre-magazine https://soundcloud.com/viclouaddis/joe-pollard-interview-for-my-magazine

81.5% of my audience said yes. The responses say she has “Natural Beauty, positive body posture and general confidence”, “She is in a dance kit which you would wear to an audition”,”Yes, she is stereotypical dance wear and it's obvious she is a musical theatre performer.” , I can clearly see that she is in some form of a leotard. This suggests to me that she is currently working within the industry or training further. This inspires me because she looked committed and determined to follow and pursue her dreams.”. All the negative comments said she looked “too young” someone said “I find the girl to be very young, stereotypically, a role model is someone with experience and so I feel an older model would be more fitting.”. As most people replied yes I don’t intend on changing the model and doing a new set of photographs, instead I will add more cover lines of “older” more established stars to counteract the youth of my model in the image.

96.3% of responses said yes they did like the layout of my magazine. Responses consist of “Love the B&W effect, colour bursts add a nice effect”,” Everything is easy to read and eye catching.”,” Particularly like the contents page due to the image of the model in the light up mirrors, looks very professional”,” The colour scheme is excellent and appealing to your target audience”,” I liked all 3! They offer a lot of information and gossip about the industry with a good balance between text and pictures”,” I think the front cover is very detailed giving and informing me with what's provided in this magazine ,with images that support your idea of musical theatre.”,” I think the front cover is vibrant and would catch a persons eye, as it appeals to people who like musical theatre due to its contents on the front.”,” The double page spread was well set out. I liked the colour scheme.”,” Love the layout, really clear helped be the beautiful colour schemes which reflects the topic of the magazine”, All my feedback was positive about the layout and the colour scheme however one person said “More simplistic, lighter colours, look at a lighter pastel background as black seems too dark! The page seems busy, more space needed to focus on each article.”- this is also mentioned later and I will have a look at however as the majority of people said they liked the colour scheme and the layout these results are inconclusive. I plan to still experiment with the layout on my second draft and will ask the audience which they prefer.

This my most diverse responses question as I had 85.2% say they liked the colours scheme. The other 14.8% who didn’t like it left feedback that says “The use of 'rainbow' colours suit the style of your magazine but for others could draw away the professionalism of this magazine. So go for more of a 'gold' (this could match the gold of a theatre interior or the gold colour of the Olivier's perhaps)”- I will consider doing this but I think that this may make it appeal to an older audience rather than students and young adults who are my primary target audience. The other 3 responses were “Black and white, no rainbow”,” Lighter” and “I feel like the magazine should have a colour code that runs through out, like pastel red and white or cream and mint green, something that gives the magazine a classier look.”- I do have the colour scheme running throughout but obviously 14% of the audience would like to see lighter colours- I will try this and then ask which people prefer HOWEVER the majority of people did say they liked my original colour scheme, they may change their mind if I show them a

lighter copy. People said that the colour scheme reflected the feel of the magazine- they therefore noticed the symbolic signs and got the preffered reading out of them.

100% of people said they liked my images and 96.3% said they were professional. Obviously I am very pleased with these results and they are conclusive that my images are liked and look professional to my target audience.

I am going to London in 4 weeks and may take a picture for my number 1 on my Top 10 side article to add to the magazine.

Some of the responses were-” I think the message is simply to educate readers about professional theatre in it's current state.”,” Musical Theatre - the realistic view and honest truth of the industry!”,” To inform people about musical theatre news and events and I think that that comes across just by looking at the magazine”,” To promote the musical theatre industry, giving enthusiast current information and tips, as well as attracting people who have growing interests in musical theatre”,” Hard work and dedication can achieve anything especially within the industry and very well it is a positive message with positive colours to match”,” I think the message of your magazine is to try and support and encourage those who want to be in the musical theatre industry to go further and beyond. It's very successful how you are going to provide top tips for the industry for example auditions etc.”,” I think it's a musical theatre aimed magazine that would appeal to young performers”,” To follow your dreams! This magazine shows success through determination! If you work your socks off and go above and beyond then what's stopping you?!? I can clearly see this message throughout. A success!”,” Musical theatre and showbiz, mainly in the Uk.”,” The world of Musical Theatre”,” The magazine is definitely pro musicals and giving off an accessibility for students and MT fans to get involved, done well!”. All feedback to this question was positive and all link to the messages within my magazine. I wish to inform people on professional musical theatre and inspire and provide tips and information for young aspiring performers.- This was noticed by target audience and my results are therefore conclusive. This is part of the hypodermic syringe theory and what messages people take from this. People also said just from looking at the magazine they new it was a Musical Theatre magazine therefore people identified the signs and signifiers (the ShowTime writing, the ShowTime name etc.) from the stereotypes and iconography I included in my magazine. They also said the colours show the fun and feeling of the magazine, this was my preferred reading,

Again, 96.3% of people said yes to this and only one person said they didn’t feel like they belonged in a group- I have 96.3% for the majority of my responses and I think this is the same person and therefore they are an anomalies result- I would therefore say that everyone thought they belonged and were part of a musical theatre group and therefore these results are conclusive and I have successfully made people feel like they are in a group. This links to Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory that stays we need to feel a part of something in life, as all but one people feel like they belong to a group of people, I conform this theory.

100% of my responses said they like my magazine. These results therefore are conclusive and my audience like my magazine and would probably purchase it. Because of these responses, I can see I’m on my way to creating a successful magazine. As I now know my audience like my magazine, I will ensure I am including all elements I need to fit the mark scheme for a high grade.

“I like the topics you are covering and the genuine opinions being used through out. I dislike the proportion of text spaced throughout, I feel the content could be spaced out more so that final page isn't so overwhelming”., “I don't like the rainbow and black colour combination”,” Contents page looked a bit cluttered”. Like I said previously, I am going to try another colour scheme throughout. Two people said they thought the contents page looked a bit cluttered therefore I plan on moving this around and trying to make it look less cluttered. This is something I’ll work on in the next few weeks.

POSITIVE RESPONSES- “Love every aspect. Can't think of one bad thing to say, other than why isn't it published?!”,” I like how professional it looks. Can't really comment on anything I dislike.”,” Love the layout! It's very eye catching”,” I really like your colour scheme and your use of Professional imagery that have been edited to make your magazine perfect.”,” Layout is great”,” Dislike - Rainbow colour scheme on title of front cover. Like - simplistic professional layout.”,” I like how it has different sections that would interest different people. I especially liked the jukebox musical section.”,” The pictures are amazing”,” I like the black and rainbow theme running through the visuals.”

Apart from 1 response which stated “I wouldn't say it was unique as lots of online publications follow similar communications. But in terms of a published magazine I would say it is something I would pick up.” which is slightly positive and counteracts the idea of other online publications, everyone said they thought it was unique, most people just responded with yes but other responses are- “Yes love the colours and layout”,” Yes it's very unique and different.”,” Definitely an imaginative concept.”,” Yes, I've never seen a magazine like it”,” Yes, I think it's a lovely idea, something there should definitely be more of”,” Yes, I am always looking for magazines with this kind of feel to it and topics which I am unable to find.”,” Yes it is unlike most magazines and really grabs my attention”,” Yes, never seen anything like it before. Very original idea.”,” yes, there is currently no stage magazine that is speaking to young adults about theatre.” All of the responses are very positive and are therefore conclusive that my magazine is unique and imaginative.

“The story works, but is probably only applicable to Stagey students.” was the only form of slightly negative feedback, the rest of them are very positive. ” I am someone heavily involved in the industry so I was really interested in your magazine and the story on the double page spread and is very relevant to the magazine”,” Yes, the information held in the magazine is very relatable to me and I'm sure many others”,” Yes it appeals to me greatly! It is very relevant to your magazine. The article just shows how theatre is changing and how many styles and new challenges are being faced within this industry.”,” Yes definitely, the topics are well communicated and sticks to theme of the magazine.”, ”Yes it's appeals and yes it is relevant”. My double page article content appeals to my target audience and all said it fits to the magazine too. I am pleased that my content is appealing to my target audience and it won’t need rewriting. This links to the decoding messages idea and what people would take from my magazine and if it appeals to them.

“This is new and exciting magazine that educates you about the current state of theatre and what is happening now.”,” I would say that the magazine provides a lot of information about musical theatre and is an interesting read.”,” Professional looking, eye catching, informative, exciting”,” The likes of content and photos”,” How informative your magazine is about the industry and latest news surrounding it”,” Whether they want to consider tips that are helpful, I would most definitely lead them to looking at this magazine”,” It is very interesting to read about and an easy way to find out about news on the Arts”,” The presentation is great and it is very professional”,” I think an audience in a theatre foyer would enjoying reading it before a performance”. Responses talk about the layout and aesthetics of the magazine as well as the content. I’m glad people like both the content and layout and results are conclusive and opinions shared would be very positive. This links to the two step flow theory and what people would share to their friends and social media about the media product.

100% of people said they would recommend my magazine to a friend and it therefore would be a success if it was published and would get read by others.

“This is a must read, to anyone enthusiastic about the theatre, it is important to know the what is happening currently.”,” Give this magazine a read! A lot of information inside about up and coming musical sand so much more”,” Great magazine for young people with a passion for the arts! Must read”,” Very professional, great for anyone in or interested in the musical theatre industry or who just enjoys musical theatre music”,” It is inspirational and worthy of reading”,” Check out this magazine for the low down on all things musical theatre”, Highly recommended for those of you who are starting out in the industry or have a genuine love for Musical Theatre and wanting to find out about new things.”, “I would probably state the fact that anyone into musical theatre or just interested in it should read it.”, “I would recommend it anyone interested in MT and I would buy it”. All responses are positive and it seems my magazine would have a good reputation for itself. This again, links to the two step flow theory about what people say to others about the work to others.