Audience Profile – Genre: Hip-Hop / RapTarget Audience:

Gender and Age (Hartley’s 7 Subjectivities) and whyThe denotation of the target audience for my new Hip-Hop / Rap magazine is going to most likely be a male reader around the age of 16-30 years old. This is because on the majority of Vibe / XXL’s Magazine covers contain an image of a male rapper, usually of the black ethnic group. This would mean that my new magazine would have to have the target audience of the mainly black ethnic group, however it may not appeal to the usual stereotype as there are other successful rappers such as Eminem and a lot of white readers who listen to them, such as myself.

Socio-Economic Needs and why:The denotation of the socio-economic needs of the magazine’s readership demographic is going to be probably someone within Group E. In the case it will most likely be a student who is interested in Hip-Hop and Rap music, however there may be some readers who are in a higher class , possibly class C1 to D. This would stereotypically be because they are less skilled and can related to the issues raises in the music. Hip-hop and rap has become so influential and mainstream that it could appeal to anyone in any class.

Katz’ Uses & Gratifications Theory and Maslow’s Hierarchy of needsAccording to Katz’ Uses & Gratifications theory the chances are someone that listens to a hip-hop or rap music is probably using it for ‘personal identification’ and may possibly relate to some of the issues raised in the magazine such as their early childhood problems, or how alcohol or drugs are affecting their current life. According to Maslow, these readers would probably be ‘explorers’ who are influenced by the magazine and bring that to their social life, possibly in the way they act or dress.

Stereotype(s):The usual stereotype for a Hip-Hop / Rap magazine would most likely be a young, black reader. However Hip-Hop and Rap has become so wide spread in the recent years that it has become that this genre has a mass appeal to all ethnic groups, and cannot be targeted towards a specific one. The typical reader would still be around the ages of 16-30 years old and most likely male due to the influence from the front cover images of this type of magazine.