Survey Results - Collection and Analysis

"How old are you?"

For my first question, I asked "How old are you?", the highest result for this question was 30 out of 46 people in 13-18 years of age. This has helped me decide the age range of my target audience as it has made me aware of the fact that those who are most interested in music are 13-18 years old.
This means I will be catering to a younger audience when designing my magazine.













"What is your gender?"

For this question, I was surprised to see that more people who were taking the survey were female. I expected there to be an even amount of boys and girls, however, the difference in numbers could simply be because more female people found the survey and so less male people took it as they didn't find it, or this could be because people of the female gender are more interested in music.

"Which genre of music are you most interested in?"

Over all, there is a varied interest in music, however, the three most prominent genres of choice are Rock, Pop and Indie/Alternative. This did not surprise me as, from my experience, they are three of the most common genre choices. Be that as it may, I was surprised by the lack of answers in 'Others' as I was expecting people to choose R&B, Rap or other genres which I didn't put as an option.

For this question, Rock received the most votes and so I have decided to use Rock as my chosen magazine genre rather than my original genre of Goth as I feel this would create a more widely appreciated magazine.

"How often do you read music magazines?"

I was unsurprised by the answers for this question as I realised that a lot of people are unwilling to subcribe to certain magazines or even buy them as most information can be found online now. I was also unsurprised that "Once a week" and "Once a month" were two of the highest, excluding "Never". This did not surprise me as a lot of music magazines come out once a month or once a week, for example, I am subcribed to 'Kerrang!' magazine which comes out once a week.

"How much would you pay for a music magazine?"

I asked this question because I wanted to see which got the highest vote and what kind of price range I should use for my own magazine.

I was unsurprised to find that most people wanted to spend as little money as possible. This caused me to question whether it was better to make my magazine more favourable with cheap cost so that more people might buy it or whether it would be better to make it a little more expensive so to target the 34.78% who chose £3.99 - £4.99.

"What is your favourite band/singer?"

This question was asked to help me find out what kind of bands people are into and to find out which bands are classed as Rock so that I might look into the way they present themselves and take influence on how I should present my own Rock band to create a Gothic/Rock look that shows the genre of my magazine easily.

"How often do you listen to music?"

I expected "Everyday" do be the most voted answer as music is something that comes into everyday life, whether it's on adverts, films or even the radio. Another reason I expected this answer was because I also found that music comes into my everyday life.
I asked this question to see how interested in music people actually are.

"What would make you want to buy a music magazine?"

The reason I asked this question was that I wanted to see the main things people look for in a magazine so I would know what to put on my magazine cover or in the contents page.
This has helped me as I now know I will need to include previews of articles on favourite artists and perhaps special offers linked to these favourite artists. I also now know that some people look for free gifts in a magazine and therefore I will include offers for such gifts and perhaps a preview on the cover of free posters inside which will act as a free gift.

Magazine Layout - Planning

After looking at several different magazine covers, contents pages and double page spreads, I have made a plan layout for my magazine. I looked at all elements that each magazine had in common and used these to influence my planning.

Magazine Research

Both of these magazines have a very different look and contrast each other in several ways. For example, VIBE is more simplistic with a lack of previews and other photos whereas NME is crowded with previews, quotes and special offers. I probably wouldn't take inspiration from VIBE as it's stylised to R&B and Hip Hop music. However, I feel the grey scale photography could suit my genre if I were to have red showing through rather than blue as this would create a Gothic feel. The crowded look of NME would be my preferred look as this is more common in other magazines. The cover of NME is also made more interesting by the use of other photos as this shows there is more than just information on the main image/band inside and it also shows a wider range of good photography.

Both of these contents pages contain differences and similarities. For example, the one on the left is simple with a singular image and a little bit of writing based on the contents. However, the contents page on the right contrasts this as it uses many images and goes into far more detail on the contents of the magazine. The page on the right is more visually exciting due to it's use of different images and vibrant colours. The use of real events such as concert photos makes the page feel more real and in touch with the bands inside. The use of vibrant colours also creates an eye catching effect with the use of a yellow heading that grabs your attention and pulls you in. On the other hand, the page on the left uses a limited colour scheme of mainly browns and whites with the occasional red. This is far less eye catching but creates and interesting effect. Due to the use of sepia and simplicity, I feel this magazine could be aimed at an older audience however, I feel the page on the right is aimed at a younger audience due to it's vibrant use of colours.

Each double page spread is similar at a first glance, however, both of these also hold their differences. For example, the page on the left uses a limited colour scheme of sepia, black, red and white. This matches the contents page above, however, rather than an elderly feel, I still feel this page is meant for a younger audience as it is busy and shows a lively concert scene. For the cover on the left, the colour scheme is far less limited however a main colour of blue shows through. There are also several uses of pink, showing it could possibly be appealing to the female gender. I feel this page is aimed at younger people as it shows several images of a lively concert scene.

On each double page spread, there is also a clear divide, for example, there is a main image on the left page of each one and then most of the information is held on the right. 

Each double page spread also has a main quote, however, the page on the left has the quote in large, eye catching lettering and uses the quote almost as a title, where as the page on the right has the quote in small and put into a corner where it is less eye catching. Be that as it may, each quote also holds the similarity of varying colours in the text, using white to highlight the main bit of the quote.

This is my music magazine research survey, it would be appreciated if you could complete it. 

Planning

Genre Ideas:

• Rock
• Goth
• Metal
• Pop punk
• Alternative
• Punk

Colour Scheme:

• Red
• Black and white (Grey scale)

Models:

• Anna Bundy
• Archie O'Niell
• Leah McRuvie?

Possible Clothing Options

• Black dress with red petticoat underneath, red and black ribbons in hair - Gothic
• Black ripped jeans, leather jacket - Metal, Rock...
• Tartan trousers, black jacket - Punk, Pop Punk

Props

• Electric Guitar
• Vinyls/CDs?
• Microphone

Locations:

• Woods/Forest
• Graveyard
• Abandoned area - Farm, cottage, etc...
• Castle? (Sherborne Castle?)

Audience

People who are 13-18 years of age with an interest in alternative music.