Market research

 For my market research I created a questionnaire to discover what my target audience would like in a music magazine. Using the information gained from the questionnaire, I can plan and aim my magazine to target and appeal to my audience directly through factors they want and like.  For example I used the questionnaire to find out what colour scheme my target audience would want in a music magazine. To make the results of my questionnaire relevant i aimed to ask people within my target audience to give me there answers.

The first question I asked was "What age group do you fall under?" ; Possible answers are as follows:....12-17,  18-22,  23-28 and 28+. Here are my results in the form of a pie chart:

This shows that my results are relevant to my market research as all the people who took part in the questionnaire fall into my ideal target reader.

The second question I asked was "Which music magazine are you most likely to be interested in reading?". The possible answers to this question are as follows:.....Kerrang!,  Q,  Metal Hammer and Other (meaning the person in question can add another music magazine they read to the list). Here are my results in the form of a pie chart:

This pie chart shows that most of my target audience read music magazines such as Kerrang!. To help me aim my magazine at my target audience correctly, I should analyse Kerrang!'s conventions and methods used in creating there magazine. The results given for other were NME.

The third question was "Do you prefer Reviews or Interviews?". The intention of this question is to find out what my readers would prefer for the story's featured in my music magazine. To display the results from this question, I will use a pie chart. Results are as follows:

This pie chart shows that my target audience would prefer to read an interview rather than a review. This result will help me to decide what i feature in my double page spread.

The fourth question in the questionnaire was "Which colour scheme would attract you to a magazine?", this is a crucial element in deciding how my magazine will look. The results from this particular question are as follows in the form of a pie chart:

The results show that more people prefer a Black, White and Blue colour scheme to the other colour schemes I suggested. Therefor I will use this colour scheme in making my music magazine as it is what my target audience would like to see on the magazine. However the "other" results given where Black, Green and Red as well as Purple, Green and White.

The fifth question was "What would you like to be featured in the magazine?" and the results were as follows:  Fashion  (where to get the latest fashion pieces for bargain prices), Free band and gig posters, promotional CD's, Gig line ups, Gossip on celebs and artist relevant to the magazine type and Other. The results are as follows:

The results show that my target audience would prefer Free Posters to be featured in the music magazine mostly, followed by promotional CD's then Gig line ups. This is a key factor when choosing what to display on my contents page.

The sixth question in my questionnaire was "What artists would you like to see featured in the magazine?". As I left this question for the people to write in answers, I will list the results instead of using a pie chart.

• Paramore
• Green Day
• Kings Of Leon 
• The Killers
• The Kooks
• FallOutBoy
• Avenged Sevenfold
• Muse
• Elliot Minor
• Kaiser Chiefs
• Biffy Clyro
• 3OH!3
• My Chemical Romance
• Blink 182 
• Jonas Brothers 

 These bands will be kept in mind when planning and thinking about what I will feature in my magazine. Also it gives me and idea on what band I should use for my double page spread.

The final question was "Any thoughts on what else you would like to see in a music magazine?". This is for me to see directly what my audience want. This is a crucial element in targeting my audience. the comments/results given are as follows:

• The use and focus of new bands not just existing/successful bands.
• Albums which are soon to be released or have just been released (reviews, band comments)
• FREE STUFF!
• Competitions and prizes to be won.
• Internet exclusive articles and features on particular bands.
• Stickers.
• The latest gossip on artists and what they have been up to outside the world of music.

Market research has helped me to see exactly what my target audience would like from the music magazine I am  going to be creating. This not only means that the people who are likely to but the magazine will be pleased with that magazine, but it also gives me ideas into what they want as well as layout, design and story ideas for my front cover, contents and double page spread.