Music magazine questionnaire results analysis.

In order to create a successful magazine I wanted to get to know my target audience and see
what they would like to see in a music magazine. Ive created a questionnaire and given it to 13
people aged between 16 and 20 as this is the age group I would focus on. Ive pre-selected
people I wanted to fill it in because of their interest in rock/indie music. In this document I will
be analysing the results.
1. Age

20
19
18
17
16

I decided that my target audience will be between 16 and 20 years old so I gave my
questionnaire to people in that age range. My main focus is 16/17 year olds because that is my
age and I want to create a magazine for audience that I have an understanding of.
2.Gender

Male
38%
Female
62%

I gave my questionnaire to both genders because I want it to be targeting both males and
females. I gave my questionnaire to more females than males therefore Ill direct my contest
more towards females but still target both genders.

3.Ethnicity
0% 0%
8%

White

15%

Mixed
Asian/Asian British

8%

Black/Black British
Chinese

69%

Not stated

I asked my respondents to tick a box with their ethnic group. Majority ticked White which
means that thats the ethnicity I will be mostly targeting in my music magazine.

4. Do you buy music magazines?

YES
38%

NO
62%

I think its one of the most important questions. Majority of people answered that they dont
buy music magazines. Below I asked further questions about reasons for not buying them.
Looking at low interest in music magazines I have to make a lot of effort and come up with ideas
that will draw my audience to buy it.

*if yes- what magazines and how often?

MOJO
20%

weekly
25%
rarely
50%

once a
month
25%

NME
40%

Kerrang
40%

From this question I found out that even if people buy music magazines most of them do it
rarely. This further show that demand for magazines is low and people are not that interested in
buying them. I also asked about what magazines they usually purchase and the most common
answers were NME and Kerrang. It shows me that these are the magazines I should focus on in
my research and maybe try to use some of their techniques because they are popular amongst
my target audience.
*if no what puts you off buying magazines?

price(too expensive)

20%
40%

40%

I can find everything on

the internet
not happy with content
(biased,boring)

Thanks to this question I found out what people dont like about magazines and what I should
avoid in my music magazine. Most of them said that magazines are too expensive and they can
find everything on the internet for free. I need to make sure that price of my magazine is not
too high and also use the fact that teenagers use insert for entertainment and maybe include
free downloading sites or websites with relevant information links to attract more readers.

5. What music genres do you listen to?

12

11

10
8
6

6
4
4

0
0

This is one of main questions as itll determine what music genres I will focus my magazine on.
Most chosen genres were indie rock- which I planned to by my main music genre form the
beginning followed by Punk Rock and Pop Punk. Based on that Im Ill focus my magazine on
indie rock but also include other subgenres so that my magazine appeals to wider target
audience.

6. What two words would you use to describe indie music and culture?
-independent (3)

-low budget

-different (2)

-garage bands

-chilled

-cool

-guitar

-drugs

These are few words that people associate with indie music and culture and Ill try and use them
when writing my cover lines and article to make sure its relatable and language is appropriate
for my target audience.

7. What bands and artists would you like to see on front cover of rock/indie rock magazine?

Foster the People (2)

The Neighbourhood (3)
The 1975 (4)
Arctic Monkeys
Daughter
Jaws
Dumb
Superfood
All time low

Bring me the horizon

Asking Alexandria
The raconteurs
Oasis
Matt Healy (The 1975)
Sticky fingers
Arcade Fire
The Kooks
You me at six

I asked about favourite artists and bands to get an idea of who should I feature on the front
cover and in articles. Having a band that target audience knows and likes is very important
which will show in my next question analysis. I got a range of responses and many different
ideas but the top bands that were mentioned were: The 1975 followed by The Neighbourhood,
Foster the People and Dumb (artists from Dumb decided to split up recently which I can use for
one of my articles). Another thing that I noticed is that most of these bands have 4/5 male
members and I can use this fact when Im taking photos for my main image.

8. What on front cover would attract you to a magazine?

Band/Artist I like
17%
Bright colours
45%

10%

Gift
24%

Contest
4%

I wanted to know what catches people attention on front cover and use it when Im creating my
magazine to make it stand out and be appealing for my audience. I asked people to choose
more than one option and the most popular answer was band/artist I like followed by gift and
Introducing up and coming artists. I will make sure to include these features on my front cover
as thats what my target audience looks for in a magazine. For the bands and artists I can use
the answers from question above.

9. What do you think are the most interesting parts of music magazine?

8%

5%

8%

Information
25%

Posters and photos

Tour dates
Gifts

20%

Interviews
Album reviews
Celebrity gossip

22%

12%

This question will help me decide what I should include in my magazine and what should be on
my double spread. The most interesting parts of a magazine according to my target audience
are posters and photos, tour dates and Interviews. I will advertise posters on front cover and
have a photo-shoot and interview combined on my double page spread. Other thing Ill include
is a column dedicated to tour dates of bands that people said theyd like to see in a magazine in
one of my questions. I will also have a gift as it was a quite popular answer for this question and
also the one above.

10. How much are you willing to pay for a magazine?

Price
5+

1-2

3-4
2-3

I used this question to determine the price of my magazine. As my target audience are mainly
teenagers most of them dont have a job and are still in full time education so theyre not likely
to spend money on magazines therefore I wanted to know what is an affordable price for them
that theyre willing to spend on a good quality interesting magazine. Most of them also said that
they dont buy magazines because of the price so its a very important part in designing my
magazine. Most people said 2-3 pounds so Ill try to have my price within that range, perhaps
closer to 2.

11. How often do you think magazine should be published?

weekly

every two weeks

monthly

23%
31%

46%

From this question I found out that 46% of people think a magazine should be published every
two weeks and thats how often theyd like to purchase it. Weekly also had few votes so Ill
decide between these two options.

12. Which idea do you like best?

Black and white main image, bright colour title and article titles
Black and white band,background in colour,black title
Band in colour,black and white background and bright title
all in colour
7%

43%

36%
14%

I have few ideas for design of my front cover and wanted to know which one people would like
best as I want it to be interesting and draw attention. Most frequently chosen was my main idea
of black and white main image and bright masthead followed by the idea of band in colour on
black and white background. Im happy to see that my original idea that I also like the most has
good feedback and thats probably the one Im going to use however I will consider the other
one.
13. Which font do you like?

7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
.1.

.2.

.3.

This is similar question to the one above. I like all 3 fonts and wanted to know which one would
appeal to my target audience. First font was the most popular one and it imitates neon sign
which would give my magazine a different, edgy look. Third font got nearly as many votes and I
also like it a lot therefore Ill see how both of them look combined with my actual title
(masthead) and choose the one that looks better.