Research

Genre Moodboards
These are the four Moodboard’s covering the genres of Country, Pop, Rap and Rock for my music magazine coursework.

The first Moodboard is on the genre of Rock. It features all the famous rock bands of all time including some of the modern day bands too. Also the magazines on rock such as Kerrang, RockSound and Q are also featured on the Moodboard. The fans of rock not only listen and read about rock but they also play the music of the genre, this could be done via the guitar or video games such as 'RockBand' as shown on the Moodboard.

The second Moodboard is on Pop and it has various artists past and present. The genre is arguably one of the most popular genres in music. Also some of the genres magazines are on the Moodboard such as Top of the Pops and Spin. Furthermore Billboard one of the best music magazines in USA covers various music particularly pop which explains the decision to why I included the cover of the magazine in this Moodboard. The genre used to be everyone’s favourite but in recent times girls are known to be massive fans of the genre. Artists such as Justin Bieber and Bruno Mars please the fans when they are playing. In this Moodboard you can see (bottom left) how the fans would react if they see their favourite artists live. That is why pop is such a big genre worldwide.

Rap is another genre that has begun its rise to popularity. Well known rappers are included such Lil' Wayne, Jay Z, Eminem, Tupac, Snoop Dogg and many, many more. Also new rappers have also arrived in the spotlight such as Macklemore and MGK. The reason for these rappers gaining more popularity is because it’s the genre which is rising too with its audience and also engages new audiences too. Nowadays you do see people dressed in a way that rappers would dress, for example, most boys (to whom the genre is stereotypically aimed at) wear snapbacks and chains just to fit in with their favourite artists. With the genre on the rise, the magazines of the genre are also becoming Mainstream such as XXL, and Vibe. This is because the genre has become so popular in recent years not only because of the music but fashion can also play a factor to the genre's popularity.

The final Moodboard to analyse is on the Country Genre. This is a niche genre because not many people listen to it in contrast to the mainstream genres; Pop, Rock etc. The genre is however vastly popular within its audience and the country from where it's originated from; USA. People often stereotype country musicians to be from Texas because of the cowboy hats that the fans and people from Texas wear. However that isn’t the case because there are many famous musicians outside of Texas such as Carrie Underwood and Johnny Cash. Maverick a music magazine based on country music is successful with its genre because it is a niche genre and of course the magazine is the market leader because they found the gap in the market. Other than that the genre is very popular and produces brilliant soothing music but doesn’t get the recognition it deserves mainly due to the fact people listen to other genres rather than country.

Embedded below is a podcast summarising the four Moodboards created and some information on the genres itself. There are many differences with the genres as expected but also some similarities too. For example Kerrang’s masthead has shatters and wrecks within whereas Top of the Pops has a smooth typeface in bright colours like pink this connotes not only the differences in magazines but of the genres too. Rock is a dark and rough genre whereas Pop is bright and appeals to a younger audience. There is more analysis of the genres featuring Pop, Rock, Rap and Country all on this podcast below.




Timeline of Music Magazines
This is a Prezi presentation on a timeline of music magazines. In this timeline I produced a list of numerous music magazines and included a fact file for each one. So when they were first published, their target audience and the circulation figures. Since this is a timeline the magazines are in an order of when they were first published.

CLICK HERE If the embedded Prezi doesn't work, the link has the actual webpage

Music Magazine Analysis
Here's an analysis on two music magazines; Kerrang and NME. I analysed the front cover as well as a contents page. Along with that I analysed two double page spreads of and article from NME and Metal Hammer. CLICK HERE  for the Link to my analysis (https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9JCIUqOMutHQWpKM2Q3OUNxZGs/edit?usp=drive_web)

Animated summary on a music magazine:

Using GoAnimate I made a short animation on NME. It features a short summary on the conventions of the magazine. Furthermore I expressed what I may include in my very own magazine using NME as an inspiration. Whilst I was creating the animation on GoAnimate it was fairly easy to use and gave you all the tools you require. With that I created my own template which is a classroom that bodes well with the discussion featured in the animation. It was hard at first but I managed to get used to it and was a lot of fun to produce.

 CLICK HERE if the GoAnimate doesn't work

Survey Monkey
For this research I produced a survey to find out more about people's opinions on music magazines and magazines in general. I made 8 questions for people to answer using Survey Monkey and expect at least more than 10 people to complete it. This will then give me a variation in answers so it’ll be easy to analyse. I used Facebook and Twitter to send out the link of my survey so my friends could complete it. Additionally I requested that they answered the questionnaire appropriately to avoid any unsuitable answers. Here's the link if you would like to complete the survey. Below are the questions asked using Survey Monkey and the Tweet from Twitter and post from Facebook.

Analysis of Survey Monkey Answers:
The use of Twitter and Facebook helped me gain 13 responses for my survey on music magazines. Here are the results of the 8 questions asked that the 13 respondents completed and since one respondent was being highly inappropriate and immature I am unable to show the ‘Other, please specify’ answers. However this is an analysis of the answers received and how it will influence my planning ideas.
The first question asked was 'What Music Genre do you like best?'

I started off with a simple question where the respondent had to answer which genre was their favourite. As you can see the results were quite close but the genre Indie just beat Pop, R&B and Hip-hop with 3 responses whereas the others had 2 responses. This helps my planning because I was thinking about producing my music magazine on Indie and the survey has helped me to make a final decision although things can change. I was surprised that pop and rock didn’t get more responses showing the popularity the genres have this connotes that people are more fond of the indie genre as in my opinion it produces great music. Other than that the genre’s Blues, Country and Jazz got 0 responses probably because the genre isn’t popular in present day in contrast to the other genres such as pop and rock. Furthermore the audiences of those genres are intended to an older audience and since I shared this survey on Facebook and Twitter, whose users are predominantly young, it was likely that I wouldn’t receive any responses. This shows that I should’ve used another technique of sending out this survey, for example the use of email to receive a more varied audience. The genres metal, reggae and electronic all got one response which surprised me as I thought those are genres like blues and jazz, aren’t recognised presently. So those responses were great to see and I was also thinking about doing my magazine on reggae but I believe Indie rock is the correct genre to pick at this time. 

The second question asked was 'How often do you read Music Magazines?'

 

I was very surprised with the answers received for this question. 8 out of 13 people never buy music magazines which show that the respondents weren’t fond of music magazines. This connotes that the majority of people don’t buy music magazines anymore as everything such as information, gossip and the music itself is available on the Internet or another source such as the radio. 2 people do however read music magazines on a daily and weekly basis which shows that there are some people who do read magazines. There was also one person who reads music magazines once a year which I could relate too as I’m on the same track. The results are acceptable and quite true because what’s the point in buying music magazine when everything is done via technology. So for my magazine I could include a link to a website or subscriptions and prizes/competitions to keep my audience attention at it's highest.

The third question asked was 'How many music magazines do you buy in a year?'

This question I believe was poorly written by me. Firstly I provided the respondent with a vague first option and that was ‘0-2’. The reason this is vague is because I should’ve provided the respondent with an option of ‘Never’ and then ‘1-2’. The answers show that the majority either buy no magazine or 2 a year which shows that the respondents aren’t affectionate with magazines in general. This answer supports the responses of the 2^nd question. However this question isn’t only focused on music but magazines in general and the respondents again show evidence that they aren’t fans of music as they could be fans of other topics such as sport. This is why the option of 18-20 magazines is second to 0-2 in responses. Though they could be purchasers of music magazines but as the answers of the other questions shows it is unlikely. Furthermore the responses I received from the other section (Not Pictured) I had answers like ‘1000’ which was ridiculous and people being very immature and I also believe that they ticked the 18-20 box. 

The fourth question asked was 'How much are you willing to pay for a magazine?'

There was a mixed response to this question. The answers were answered sensibly and with common sense. The majority would pay a high amount that is £2-£4 for a magazine this show that I could and should price my magazine within that range as readers are willing to pay the price. I’m surprised that someone actually ticked the £4.01-£5 box as that is I believe a high price for a magazine. I have decided to keep the price low preferably at a cost of £2.50 to £3.00 as that is the amount magazines cost presently and people are willing to pay that amount as the survey shows. Was also surprised that the £0-£1 box was ticked because it’s very rare you see a magazine for that price in the newsagents these days. 

The fifth question asked was 'How do you listen to Music?'

I was expecting this answer and since it was a question that could be more than one answer I received more than 13 responses altogether. As you can see the people listen to music mostly on their MP3/iPod followed by online and radio.  The iPod is very popular amongst music listeners but the same people use online and radio to listen to their music. For online they use Vevo or You Tube and on the radio the stations play all the music that is popular in the charts. Nowadays CD’s aren’t used as much as they used to this is because of the more advanced technology. Listeners now buy their music from online ideally from ‘iTunes’ so there is no need for CD’s, the results show that CD’s aren't popular anymore now that music can be heard from their iPod, Online and on the radio. I can use these methods in my magazine, for example I can have competitions or free download links that can attract an audience as they are used to a more technological way of listening to music i.e. Online or MP3/iPods.

The sixth question asked was 'What would persuade you to buy a music magazine or any magazine?'

The responses for question 6 was very assorted in contrast to the other questions. Since it was a question which allowed several answers the respondents did exactly that. As you can see the majority view free downloads as a reason to buy a magazine this connotes that the demographics would listen to music rather than read about it which is why they are willing to buy the magazine for downloads. Vouchers/tokens and free gifts was the second most answered response which is quite obvious as anyone would like a free gift to supply with their magazine, who wouldn’t? An interview with an artist and free posters suggest that there were respondents who were passionate about their music and would like to read about their favourite artist. Furthermore the same person could’ve ticked the music charts box as that fits with the same demographic of the person who loves their music. I may decide to use this persuasive technique as it might not only attract more readers but it is also a great way of interacting with readers. I believe the free downloads and gifts would attract a lot of readers so it's a must for me to include in my magazine.

The seventh question asked was 'Instead of Magazines, Where else do you receive your music information from?'

Question seven’s answers supports the connotation of question 2, (‘how often do you read Music Magazines?') As you can see a huge 10 of 13 receive their information from the internet and it supports the connotation of question 2 because not that many people buy magazines anymore as the information in the magazine is all available online so there’s no need for purchasing a magazine these days. Other than that no one mentioned that they receive their information from TV and Newspapers which I found quite strange as there are many music channels around and for newspapers I understand why there were no responses. Friends and family was higher (2:1) than radio which was surprising because I thought people would listen to radio more and it should’ve had the same number of responses as the internet but I was incorrect. So taking on this information I should create a website link to include in my magazine, for example I can include an extract of an interview online and put the full interview in the magazine so that means that the audience would visit the website and read the magazine too.

The final question asked in this survey is 'Which music magazine is the best?'

The final question of this survey was which magazine is the best and there was again a mixed response. The majority favoured NME ahead of Rolling Stone and Vibe by 1 vote whereas Billboard was voted twice and Kerrang just once. I was bemused that a successful magazine as Q didn't get a single vote. This vote has helped me with my choice of genre because since NME focuses on Indie/rock, a genre which I was planning on picking, that was the magazine which got the highest vote. Furthermore NME is known to many people not only to music fans which suggests why they got the most votes. Rolling Stone, Vibe and Billboard also are well known but couldn't get the same votes as NME. Again I am still undecided to what genre to pick but it’s likely that indie rock might just be my pick.

This task has helped me gain more knowledge of the music magazine audience and have learnt what is and what isn't popular amongst them. Furthermore this will help me decide what to include and what not to include for my actual magazine. I was going to use some features that I though would look great on my magazine for example a range of typefaces for my cover but after completing my research I realised that it would look too unprofessional and out of place. So this research has helped me a lot and would prove to be vital at the end of this project.