Audience Research

'Any media text is created for a particular audience and will usually appeal most to this particular target audience' Hall and Holmes (1998)

This theory means that before the media text is created to a specific audience it will need to be researched to see what appeals to them, I am going to follow this theory so I can make a product that will interest my audience with the right media language used and I will do this by using primary and secondary research so I can represent the audience and make some sort of profit.

The magazine industries main target is to make a profit because its basically an industry revolved around money. To do this each magazine is a product that needs to be created and sold for the right target audience. Everything is done based around what the target audience want in the magazine so in the production process they are thought of and the media language is chosen best to suit them

The types of audiences:

There are two specific types of audiences when it comes to making a media production and these are mass audience and niche audience. Mass audience are large mainstream audiences who consume the mainstream culture and this audience is mostly made up from working class (demographic C1 - E) which is what Marxist suggest. Some of the productions they would consume are the follow; the hollywood films, reality television, soaps, film magazine such as empire, music magazines such as top of the pops and tabloids. The higher culture is linked with Jazz and Opera magazine, Opera music, ballet and BBC four.

The Niche audience is a smaller mass audience which is more indie and less popular globally. Marxist would state this audience as an upper/middle class audience. They can be a small dedicated group which advertises their product for. Some of these are the following; Fishing magazine, Farming programs, rock and hip hop magazines and certain films. 

Profiling Audience:

When the magazine publishers profile their audience they look into the audience demographics and discover how they can fulfil the needs of the audience. When they start developing the magazine the publishers take into account the gender, age, nationality, social class, sexuality and ethnicity of the target audience they are selling the product to. They also want the audience appeal so they think about what the audience would be wanting in the magazine, if the magazine is for a niche or mass audience and how it will create profit.

I am now going to show my own primary audience research using Survey monkey and post it onto a social networking site such as facebook so I can find out my audience demographics and what type of genre the magazine will be.

Primary Audience Research:

To find out how to create a successful music magazine after I research existing ones, I created a survey on survey monkey with the right questions to help create a magazine for the needs of the audience.

The students who answered was mostly ages between 12-17, because I got this as my results my magazine will now appeal to people aged between 12-17.

there is a higher percentage of females who answered this questionnaire than males, my magazine will now be targeted at girls. 

The results from the survey monkey show that the majority of the target audience have an average income of £25,000 - £49,000. The majority of people who would read this magazine fall into the audience demographic at band C1-E.

This shows that the ethnic group that answered this was all White british.

This shows that everyone who answered this questionnaire was straight.

This shows that more than half read a magazine now and then, then the rest is split into four equal parts. From my magazine hopefully i'll get them all to read a magazine often.

This instantly shows that I should create a pop magazine as its is what everyone has picked, it also fits in perfectly with the gender and age.

This shows that they arent to bothered about the lexis. however they would all want an appropriate colour scheme, professional images, good typography, catchy masthead and good celebrities.

This shows that people want the magazine to be called Top of the charts as everyone who has done the survey has pick that name for the magazine

Using stereotypes and representation theory (secondary research) to sell magazines.

Professional institutions profile their target audience by referring to representation theories, audience research and existing products. to figure out what stereotypes or media language they should use tp represent or attract their target audience. I am now going to look at key theories such as stereotypes, gender, youth, nationality, class, sexuality and ethnicity and see how they can be applied to music magazines simular to the genre I will create, this is going to teach me how I could use stereotypes to sell my product.The main thing that they do is use media language to portray existing stereotypes such as; gender, class, sexuality, regional or national, ethnicity and age to sell to a specific audience.

 

Gender

Laura Mulvey has a theory about woman that 'As erotic objects of desire for the characters within the story, and as erotic objects of desire for the spectator' (1975). However things have changed from 1975 as men can be seen the same way using this to be sold to the female audience. This is a perfect example, and its also pitched at teenage girls who would think this male is attractive because he's giving the typical 'puppy dog' eyes looking directly into the camera. Another reason they would think hes attractive is the mise-en-scene that has been used as the costume he is wearing as its what you would typically expect a young male his age to wear. He's only a little bit older than the target audiences age so they would find him attractive for that purpose too. And if I decided to use a male on my magazine cover I would use someone that age so it would appeal more to the target audience. They have given the singer an in trent style which would attract the audience, when creating an image like this I will make sure i'll use the right kind of costume and hairstyle that will make the audience find the person in my image attractive. This magazine cover follow the common convention by having a medium close up shot which is what I will use for a successful magazine cover, Th lighting use shines right on the models face but there is no shadowing as the image is bright, so this means that it was taken in a studio with a white backdrop it also means that there would of been a light on either side shining on the model. I will need to be using enough lighting in mine so no shadowing is on my main image, A colour palette is used of Orange, White, and black. These colours sell to the target audience because they are noticeable, and the target audience is aimed at females and these are quite girly colours. In terms of semiotics its suited for the audience when the lexis used such as 'I can Really shock my parents' instead of 'I can shock my parents' as this captures the audiences attention as its over dramatic, when I do my magazine I will make sure I over dramatises everything.

Youth

In Dick Hebdige theory (1988) he describes youth as rebellious but he also says 'youth is fun' as not all teenagers want to read about rebelliousness so more parent friendly magazines are made for the younger teenagers so they could sell more. This magazine cover is a perfect example as its bright and colourful, it also features a main image of a popular younger singer who is targeted at the right audience. The mise-en-scene used of her outfit, makeup, and hair relates to youth because its in style and its what you expect the target audience to dress like. The makeup is also not very dark and the hair colour is a natural colour making her look like your average teen. When creating my magazine cover I am going to use the right mise-en-scene that will attract my target audience. They have used a white backdrop and bright lighting to make her look angelic and fun.

Sexuality 
Andy Medhurst (1998) stated that gay men are viewed as 'screaming queens' and lesbians are seen as 'butch dykes'. He also says these stereotypes are made to make heterosexual viewers feel safe in the belief that there way of living is the only natural one. Although this on this front cover there is a famous singer who says she is a lesbian for attention to make her more popular as she is the complete opposite to what is stereotyped as a lesbian which makes her appeal to men. By saying this for attention it can make her music popular and with the mise-en-scene of her bright pink hair which is not a natural or normal hair colour, it could fit into the stereotyped that lesbians would look like that as they are not seen as the norm as Medhurst has mentioned in his theory.

Class
Keith Gandal (2007) talks about in his theory that 'Lower class people are portrayed as a cultural other through fashions that deviate from the middle and upper classes'. This magazine shows that the mise-en-scene used in the main image is a well known singer from a boy band wearing a hoody. Because this magazine is classed at a demographic band of C1-E, the audience can feel like they can relate to him because they are dressed similarly however the star is from a band of A/B.

Nationality
Andrew Higson (1998) stated that 'Identity is generally understood to be shared identity of naturalised inhabitants of a particular political geographic space - this can be a particular nation or region.' This magazine cover presents that it uses the latest stories in british pop which the target audience would be interested in as it's to do with their nationality. The main image that has been used is of a popular british pop boy band so the audience will know who that are as they are most popular in their own nation. 

Ethnicity
Sarita Malik (1998) stated that 'Many feel Black and Asian audiences are still not sufficiently catered for.' Pop music is the most popular so it can be a mixture of all races and this magazine cover proves that Malik's theory is wrong as the main image if of a pop boy band who are black. Other minor images used also are of a different ethnicity instead of just all white people used. This proves the magazine industry is moving with the times as there are different musicians of ethnicity groups.