I asked 20 people aged between late teens and 40 to answer my questionnaire. This is because they are the people I am aiming my music magazine at, so I wanted their feedback that I would be able to use to generate ideas about what sorts of things they like in a music magazine. I have included and analysed my finding below.
1. What music magazine is your favourite?
The majority of people I asked said Q was their favourite music magazine (35%). I think this is because Q is very open to lots of different artists and genres of music, so there is usually something that the majority of people would find interesting. The next most popular magazine was NME (20%).
2. Why do you like it?
Each person gave a different answer for this question. I have included each answer under the magazine title below.
Q:
· Good mix of artists and musical genre’s well balanced between features, reviews of new releases and live reviews
· Variety of music reviewed and the format of the magazine is easy to read
· I like the variety of music genres it covers
· Open to many different genres
· Features a wide range of artists that I am interested in
· Has artists in that I am interested in
· I like the mix of bands and features as well as all the topics covered too – such as gig reviews, new releases, album reviews, etc.
NME:
· Features bands that I like to listen to
· Not that expensive and includes bands I'm interested in
· The layout is easy to follow
· Includes the type of bands I am most interested in
Uncut:
· The layout makes it easy to read and follow
MOJO:
· The variety of music featured is good
· I like the layout and also the artists it features
Kerrang:
· My favourite genre is rock, and this type of music is featured
Rolling Stone:
· It is an American magazine, and I prefer American music
· I like how it features music but also has a lot of stories non music related in it too
· It is a different read from English music magazine, and I prefer it
· The layout out is easy to follow and it is enjoyable to read
Billboard:
· Really like the type of music featured in it
Vibe:
· American magazine and I enjoy reading about American hip-hop
I have found that people prefer magazines that have a music in that they prefer to listen to and they also prefer magazines that have an easy to follow layout. These are two important aspects I need to take into consideration when making my own magazine, as no one is going to buy a magazine that is not aesthetically pleasing nor is easy to follow.
30% of the people I asked favourite section of a music magazine are the interview sections. This was the most preferred section of a magazine. I think this is because you get to see true details coming straight from the band or artist about themselves. The second most favoured section was album reviews (25%). I am going to do an interview on my double page spread of my magazine as I have seen that this is the most preferred section of a music magazine.
4. What are your favourite types of music?
A lot of people had a few different genres of music that were their favourites.
I have found that rock and alternative were the most common (both 16% each). This was closely followed by indie at 12%, and then pop, R&B and rap all came in third most popular at 10% each.
I have found a wide variety of results with genres ranging from rock to pop and rap. I think this is because some people have a wide music taste and also the people I asked were all music lovers so would tend to like a wide range too. I am going to have to include many different genres of music in my magazine as it has been shown that my target audience like a lot of different not just one specific one.
5. What are your favourite bands/artists?
I got a very wide range of answers when I asked this question. I have just included a few example of answers I got.
"Dave Matthews Band, Radiohead, Bruce Springsteen"
" Beyonce, The Cure, Maximo Park, Lady Gaga"
"Katy Perry, Lady Gaga"
"Kanye West, John Legend, Two Door Cinema Club"
"Adele, Beyonce, Jay-Z, White Lies"
"Adele, Beyonce, Jay-Z, White Lies"
From these results I know that I am going to have include a wide varitey of bands in my magazine, as everybody has favourites.
6. On a front cover, which do you prefer?
I have found that 75% of people I asked prefer just one main image on a front cover, compared to the other 25% that prefer a main image with insert images around the sides.
One person I asked said...
"I prefer just one main image. I think more than one on a front cover looks messy."
7. Do you like a fixed colour scheme throughout a magazine, or different colours on each page?
65% of people surveyed said they preferred a fixed colour scheme throughout a magazine, whereas just 35% said they preferred different colours on each page. I am going to use a fixed colour scheme in my magazine as I think it links the magazine together making it look neat and aesthetically pleasing, but also because the majority of my target audience prefer this.
8. If you liked a fixed colour scheme, which one of these do you like the most?
I gave three colour scheme options and then an other (please state) option too. The 3 options I gave and the results are below:
· Red, Blue, Black 10
· Orange, Green, Black 6
· Yellow, Purple, Pink 4
I found that the majority of people I asked (50%) preferred red, blue and black as a colour scheme. 3 people also stated other options they might like, which were:
"I would also like red, orange, black and white"
"Blue, black, white and pink"
"I quite like purple, black, pink and white as a colour scheme as well."
I think I am going to use red, pink, and black and white as my colour scheme for my music magazine. This is because It is similar to red, blue and black that people choose but I have incorperated pink that a couple of people said that they would like.
9. Label the fonts according to which one you like the best - with 1 being your favourite.
To show the results for this question I have worked out the mean for each font.
Georgia – GEORGIA - 2.15
Comic Sans MS – COMIC SANS MS - 3.25
Britannic Bold – BRITANNIC BOLD - 4.3
Lucinda Sans – LUCINDA SANS - 2.45
Cambria – CAMBRIA - 1.85
From this I have seen that my target audience tend to prefer serif font (Georgia and Cambria) to sans-serif fonts (Comic Sans MS, Britannic Bold and Lucinda Sans). Therefore, I am going to use more serif fonts on my magazine than sans-serif. Although, my target audience did quite like the font Lucinda Sans which is sans-serif, so I think I am going to use a mixture of both fonts, but predominately serif.
10. What type of contents page do you prefer?
I have found that 50% of the people I surveryed prefer a contents page to have an even mixture of both images and text, compared to predominately text (30%) or predominately images (20%). When I come to make my contents page I know that I will use an even mixture of both as this is what my target audience prefer. I think they prefer this because it is it is easy to read when it is not dominated my text and when there are too many images it can start to look childish and unorganised. Also, not enough images can look too plain and empty so getting the right mix of text and images will be crucial.
11. Do you prefer a contents page to be...
I have found that 50% of people I asked like a contents page to be across a double page spread. 25% would like it on two separate single pages and then the other 25% would like it just on one single page. I am going to make my contents page on one single page. Although this is not what the majority of people I surveyed asked for I am going to lay my contents page out as if it was on a double page spread (text at the sides, pictures in the middle) but then just have it on one single page. Doing this I am going to be pleasing more people.
12. Label these front cover in order of preference with 1 being your favourite.
I showed the people I surveyed 6 front covers from different existing music magazine. I asked them to label them in order of the one they liked the best. I worked out the mean to see which front cover the majority of people preference. The results are shown below.
2.15
3.3
5.35
2.15
4.9
2.9
From this I have found that people preferred the Q front cover and the Rolling Stone front cover the best. The rolling stone front cover has a plain white background with a medium close-up of Jay-Z on it whereas, the Q front cover has a photo of Beyonce on it with a coloured photo background. The writing formatting on them both is quite similar. They both have The title at the top of the page and then the majority of the text down the left hand side and just a little bit of text at the top of the right hand side. The name of the artist (Jay-Z or Beyonce) is writing in large font at the bottom of the left hand column on writing.
I am going to use features found on these front covers as inspiration for the front cover of my music magazine. This is because I know my target audience prefer this type of front cover.
I have found that the majority of people I asked (45%) prefer an even mixture of both text and images on a double page spread. 30% of people I asked liked predominately images and the other 25% preferred predominately text. I am going to use an even mixture of both images and text on my double page spread as this is what my target audience asked for.
14. Where do you prefer the photographs found on a double page spread to be taken?
I have found that the majority of people I asked (40%) preferred photos on a double page spread to be taken in a studio setting. The second most preferred area was indoors (30%). When I come to take my photos for my double page spread I am going to make sure they are taken in a studio looking setting or indoors as this is what my target audience said they would prefer.
15. The following are examples of front cover backgrounds. Please place them in order of preference.
The four options I gave were: white background, bright coloured background, dark coloured background and picture used as a background. I have worked out the mean answer for each.
White background = 1.8
Bright coloured background = 3.15
Dark coloured background = 3
Picture used a background = 1.95
I have found that my target audience prefer a white background or a picture used as a background on ac front cover. I am going to have to use one of these as a background on the front cover of my music magazine. These results are the same as the ones I found on question 12 of my question as the people I asked liked the front cover of Q (picture used as background) and Rolling Stone (white background) the best.
16. Within the magazine what type of photos do you prefer?
I have found that people dont have a preference on whether the photos in magazine are posed or are natural. I have found this as 60% of people I asked said they had no preference. I think this is because you different types of photos work best for different types of stories. Because of this answer I am able to use either posed or natural photos in my magazine, or a variety of both.
17. Would you prefer the band to be wearing similar or completely different attire?
Exactley 50% of the people I asked prefer the band featured in a magazine to be wearing similar clothing and the other 50% prefer them to be wearing different clothing.
Because of the results I have found I will just need to decide myself on whether I want a band to be wearing similar or different clothing, as I know which ever I choose it will appeal to about half of my target audience.
18. On a double page spread, where do you prefer the main photo to be positioned?
I have found that 50% of people I asked prefer the main photo on a double page spread to be positioned on the left hand page. When a photo is positioned here you have to text on the right hand side page. I will be positioning the photo on my double page spread on the left hand side because I know it appeals to the majority of my target audience.
Personally I like it being placed here too as I think it acts as a sort of introduction to the article and shows where it starts too.
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