1. Audience Research – Focus Groups
Stereotypical Audience - Rock
Gender: Males/Females
Age: 15-25
Social Class- Working Class
Ethnicity- White/Caucasian
Interests- Music, Instruments, Gigs, Festivals.
Dress Sense- Dyed hair, Eyeliner, Piercings, Tattoos,
Alternative clothing, Skinny Jeans, Converse/Vans.
Why they listen to rock- Talented use of instruments,
passionate bands, hard workers, lyrics relate to audience.
How often- A lot. Mostly seen with headphones on their
presence.
What they would like in magazines- Bands of their genres,
latest news about their favourite bands and gig guides.
Reviews on latest albums.

2. My Target Audience
Name: Ellis Green
Age: 18
Ethnicity: White/Caucasian
Lives in: Erdington, Birmingham
Finished College, is now looking for a job
and working towards a career in his band.
What Music means to him:
Music is a very big deal to Ellis,
he plays guitar which he has done
for 3 years. He attended Music College
and has now created a band of his own.
He attends gigs quite often and listens to
music a lot more than a normal student.
Music magazine preferences:
Hard rock band on the cover with attitude
looking dominant and strong. Gig guides are
essential and so are latest news and reviews.
Dark colours (as it’s a rock magazine) and sell
lines that are interesting and original.
Views on Music Magazines:
Doesn’t buy them, is more interested in
finding out news on the tele or on the internet.
This is because he feels that magazine’s these
days are too mainstream and their aren’t any
interesting new bands on the covers. On
occasion he likes the cover of Kerrang!.
Likes artists:
AC/DC, Avenged Sevenfold, Kings of Leon,
Muse, Guns N’ Roses.
My Focus Group
I have interviewed 3 males and 3 females with an interest in all types of Rock music
to find out what they would want in a music magazine.
Three boys: Ellis G,
Chris D,
Daniel S.
Three girls: Tazmin P,
Vicky R,
Grace P

3. I asked them 12 questions about Music Magazines:
Front Covers
1) What type of images would you like?
All agreed on one image being more dominant to anything else on the cover. The
main point of the magazine is the image. They’d like male or female but male is
generally seen as a preference. They’d prefer an image of a whole band rather than
just one person and they’d like them all to be seen as equal.
2) What else would you like to see on a front cover?
Not too many sell lines as it makes the cover look messy and takes the attention away
from the image. Perhaps a couple of sell lines and a footer/header to show other bands
inside. Include a female band on the cover so it looks less male dominated. Fairly
large mastheads across the page but a small date and barcode as these things aren’t
too important.
3) What would you not like to see on the cover?
Too many sell lines and more than one image, because it makes the page look messy.
A small masthead because it’s important to get the name of the magazine out there for
all to see.
4) Informal or Formal language?
Informal because you are targeting teenagers and young adults. Use a bit of
intellectual language but not too complicated. Talk to the audience as well, because
this is important for an audience.
Contents Page
1) What types of images and how many?
No more than 3 images on the contents page so it’s clear to read. A range of images
from a range of bands. Include male and female artists to show that it is targeted at
both. The images must relate to an article inside.
2) What would you like in the contents of the magazine?
A gig guide is always good because teenagers and young adults enjoy going to gigs
and festivals. Reviews on the latest albums and singles and also live reviews so that
the audience knows who to see live and who not to see live. A range of different
articles about a range of different bands. Interviews with famous bands and
information about new bands (perhaps unsigned).
3) What type of text would you like on the contents page?
Not too much text so it’s clear to read. Not too detailed so that the audience need to
read the article. A brief outline on what the magazine will offer that week. A list of
bands inside the magazine so it attracts a wide range of people.
4) What type of layout?
A fairly simple layout; it’s only a contents page! A list of bands down the side or on
the bottom, masthead at the top and images in the centre or to one side grouped up.

4. Double Page Spread
1) What kind of images would you like? E.g. Live/Photoshoots
Quite a lot of images on one page would be nice. A mixture of live photographs and
photo shoot types. Different images of the different members of the band and images
of them together in unity. They should look powerful; like a famous band.
2) What would you like to feature in the article?
A mixture of things. A couple of quotes from an interview but overall a general
outline of what is happening to the band so their in a magazine. The interviewer
should make the questions interesting and perhaps comical to attract a teenage
audience.
3) How would you like the double page spread to be laid out?
The double page spread should look original and interesting. It shouldn’t be a simple
layout like the contents page. The name of the band should be written fairly big at the
top and the images should be spread around the pages.
4) What type of language would you prefer?
As well as the contents and front cover the language should be informal enough to
relate to teenagers but also interesting and quite intellectual so that it isn’t targeted to
young children.