FACEthe music

By Jade WoodwardMedia Studies Print ProductionMusicals Genre Magazine

““Who would be the audience for Who would be the audience for your media product?”your media product?”

““DOMINANT”DOMINANT”

The typical reader for ‘FACE the music’ magazine would be:• A student 16-20 studying Performing Arts at College/University• Favourite films include Dirty Dancing, High School Musical & Fame• Enjoys the company of many others, holds a large group of friends• Likely to drink from Starbucks• Shop at Topman/Topshop• Owns at least one pet• Favourite restaurant would be Nandos• Takes part in at least two hobbies outside of studying e.g. ballet,

choir

““RISIDUAL”RISIDUAL”

In the past the reflected upon reader for ‘FACE the music’ magazine would be:• Somebody middle aged and above e.g. 45-60 • Interested in trips to the theatre• Favourite movie genres being romance, drama & musical• Enjoys holidays such as skiing and city breaks• Shops in Waitrose as opposed to Tesco• Has children who have left home• Dines at restaurants where no less than three course meals are served• At least C2 on the Jicnar’s scale

““EMERGENT”EMERGENT”

In general the profile for my reader when incorporating all aspects would be:• Either male or female• Someone who is passionate about Musicals and all that performing arts has to offer• They would be within the age range of 16-50 which is quite broad but this is because it

would target students studying musical theatre but also couples/families• Enjoy a well spent night out sat down watching a show rather than being in front of the

television• If they were to have a night in however they would rent a film such as Rent or Phantom

of the Opera whilst enjoying a glass of wine and nuts rather than popcorn• They would be a on a steady income• Mostly like C2 (skilled manual workers) and above on the Jicnars scale.

““DEMOGRAPHIC&PSYCHOGRAPHIC”DEMOGRAPHIC&PSYCHOGRAPHIC”

Demographic characteristics would include: • Incomes ranging from student to fairly wealthy salary • Working-middle social class

Psychographic characteristics would include:• Enjoy saving money to spend on holidays, concerts and trips to the theatre• Opinionated

“How did you attract/address your audience?”

““TARGETING”TARGETING”

I know before producing my magazine whom I would be trying to attract aswell as wanting overall to draw everybody in to some extent. I knew that the only way to achieve this was to use specific forms and conventions in order to get significant and clear feedback from both my specific target reader and a general audience.

Specific examples would be an interview with a well known actor

And general examples would be competitions & prizes etc.

““ATTRACTIVENESS”ATTRACTIVENESS”

Due to catching my reader’s eye the forms and conventions I included were such as my mode of address. I used a fairly formal language to interact with the reader however not to an extreme just avoiding slang terminology and shortened phrases. I felt this easy to write however differentiated from other existing music magazines where slang may be featured on the front cover e.g. a clubland magazine with the strapline ‘top 10 clubz 2 go 2 this summer’. Mine however would use a strapline to promote the figure leaving the more indepth text still simple but smaller.

““FEEDBACK”FEEDBACK”

““AUDIENCE PERSPECTIVE”AUDIENCE PERSPECTIVE”

Soon after having printed my work off and besides recording my cousin’s points of views I asked 14 students from my media studies class to observe all three sections of my work and analyse them briefly and, giving both pros and cons aswell as constructive criticism. Overall I found that my feedback was mostly preferred readings showing little to none oppositional and a few aberrant. The successful comments included ‘Excellent front cover due to intricacy and photography’ and the abberrant ‘contents page slightly busy’ perhaps being due to the detail and colour exhibited across the page, still following a house style yet lots of text and photography included. I took this comment into consideration but because we did not specifically name ourselves when analysing I could not tell whether or not this person would fit into my audience profile or not therefore would have to research this.

““OVERALL”OVERALL”

In conclusion I have been gratified by my response due to it being quite positive and where it isn’t I have taken on board the constructive criticism as it really helps to have the reader’s thoughts as after all they are who will be buying the magazine. I think that audience research is vital to and production as it helps get inside the heads of the public to understand opinions on matters and how to publish a fairly whole catered for magazine.

My audience seemed to understand the genre straight away and appreciated specifics such as the ‘original photography’ and ’20th anniversary special edition’ which made it all well worth putting together and including small characteristics such as that as it adds to the professionalism and makes the reader want to buy the product.