Main Task: Audience Research

I am conducting some market research to find out how my potential readers would like my magazine to look like and what should be inside the magazine. I am targeting this magazine at a younger female generation. I think teenagers and young women will be more likely to buy the magazine because it is made to meet their needs more than an older generation and men. However I do think some people from the older generation and a few men will buy this magazine. I hope to gain a clear understanding of what my audience would like my magazine to look like and what I could make it look like while meeting their wants. I also want to know what to price my magazine and what I should mainly put in to meet the readers wants.

1. Do you listen to new Neo-Soul music?

2. Which colour scheme would you like to see in the magazine?

3. Which Masthead do you like best?

4. How much would you be willing to pay for this magazine?
A. £1
B. £2
C. £3
D. £4 +

5. What would you prefer to see as a regular in this magazine? (Pick 2)
A. Gigs for Up-Coming Soul Artist
B. Up-Coming tours for Famous Artist
C. A remembrance article on a soul legend
D. Soul Fashion & Shops
E. Top 10 Songs for month
F. Album of the issue
G. Other ……………………………………………………………

6. Would you like any article to be featured in one issue?

For the colour scheme choice I got a mixture of answers but most people choose the third one so I think I will have to use it. I will be using the 11th Masthead which says 'Smooth' which I wanted to use because it is unique and the writing looks a bit like 80s music writing. Most people said that they would buy the magazine at £2/£3 so I will be pricing it at £2. The most chosen option for a regular in the magazine were the 'Soul Fashion & Shops' and 'A remembrance article on a soul legend' so I will definitely put them inside the magazine but I will also put 'Gigs for Up-Coming Soul Artist' because I think that section would attract more boys to the magazine.

7. How often would you prefer this music magazine to come out?
A. Weekly
B. Monthly
C. Yearly
D. Seasonal

8. Would it be a good idea to link this genre with other genres (such as R'n'B, Hip Hop, Blues etc) for certain issues?

9. Would you prefer the magazine writing more about old soul artist or new soul artist?

10. Would you buy this music magazine on a regular basis?

From the answers given I have decided I will publish a new issue every month. I also think it would be a good idea to mix other genres in some issues but only if the artist was inspired by soul musicians. I got a mixed reaction when I asked whether new or old artist should be featured more in the magazine but the majority of respondents preferred to have more new soul artist talked about. I think this would be better since my target audience is a younger generation and they would prefer to have people they would know more of than older artist.