Task 9- Audience research using quantitative methods such as focus groups

The stereotypical audience profile of hip-hop/R&BWho mainly listen to that music?Gender- These music genres are associated with both genders, but hip-hop in particular is more associated with males Age- These genres generally appeal to Youth/teenagers, generally around the ages 16-25 Social class- Working class Ethnicity- These genres of music are mostly associated with black people, but white people are also attracted to R&B and hip-hopInterests- Going out, music, jewellery, DJ’s, Parties Dress sense- hip-hop tends to be baggy jeans, baseball caps worn backwards, large t-shirts, loads of gold jewellery and designer trainers. R&B tends to be slightly more casual, still with gold jewellery but not so in your face. Why they listen to hip-hop/R&B- because they find that they can relate to the lyrics and use the music as a way to de-stress and deal with problem and aspects of their life How often they listen to it- quite often, mostly everyday

My Target audience (profile of typical audience)

Name-Dana Haughey Age- 17Ethnicity- British, white Lives in Yardley, Birmingham Currently works as a traineecoach in gymnastics but plans to go to college next year

How she uses musicShe listens to music everyday for personal enjoyment and relaxationshe says that she “couldn’t live without it.She enjoys listening to the radio in particular Capital and regularlychecks if there are any new songs Out

Her music magazine preferences She would like to see bright and bold colours that are eye- catchingand would catch her attention. She also wants lots of photos of hip-hop/R&B artists and would alsolike concert information, interviews and latest news on the life of hip-hop/R&B artists/bands to be featured in the magazine.

Feelings about music magazinesShe doesn’t buy music magazines and doesn’t really know much about them but thinks that they can be interesting to look at and that there are music magazines available that target people like her as they aren’t dull and boring and she likes the artists featured in them. She also thinks that R&B/hip-hop music magazines seem to target mainly females and not so much males. She can think of any music magazines which she currently likes the look of but she particularly likes the hip-hop artist Rihanna at the moment because she enjoys her music and thinks that she is appealing to our generation as people can relate to her and

She has her own sense of style and is unique. She likes to wear vibrant colours, hip-tops, trackies and skinny jeans.

She likes to keep up with the latest hip-hop/R&B news and find out all the latest gossip.

She enjoys regularly dying her hair vibrant colours such as red and purple and she has an addiction with getting body piercings, so far she has 10 but she is planning on getting more soon.

Target audience research (based on Dana’s) focus group

My focus groupFor this task I asked four females aged 15-25 who are interested in my chosen genres of music what they would like in a hip-hop/R&B magazine. I then summarised their results to see what would be best suited for my target audience in the magazine.

The four girls I asked were all hip-hop/R&B fans with similar interests to me for a music magazine and are called Hannah M, Hannah T, Emily and Becky J

I asked them the 12 questions below and summarised their results:

Summary of results Section 1: The front cover (questions 1-4)

1. Front cover- what images would you like?-Images of R&B/hip-hop bands/artists such as Rihanna-Images of bands and singers that are big at the time

2. What would you like to see on the front cover? E.g. sell lines- A big bold headline related to a hip-hop/R&B artist on the cover- Important information to do with artists such as new songs - Sell lines regarding the main topics in the magazine -Catchy sell lines-New releases

3. What colours would be appropriate? -Bright colours-Eye catching colours that stand out and draw attention to the magazine-Neon colours -A mixture/variety of different colours

4. What type of language would you expect?-Language that is appropriate and common to teenagers and the age group that the magazine is aimed at-Casual language -Some good grammer and some slang

Section 2: The contents page (questions 5-8)5. Contents page- What type of images would you like and how many?

-Images that would appeal to the age group-Images of R&B/hip-hop bands/artists- One opinion is that it doesnt matter how many as long as its looks fun an exciting as if there is alot going on so that it isnt too consistent and doesnt get boring -Another opinion is that there should be a couple of images down the side of the page-Another opinion is that there shouldn’t be too many images/only a few

6. What would you like to be contained within the magazine?-Information about artists/bands-important gossip such as what is going on in their lives-Interviews-Interesting and funny/entertaining gossip-Information advertising new releases -A variety of things-games and quizzes aswell as music related information/articles

7. How much images and text would you expect?-One opinion is that it doesnt matter how much as long as it looks appealing like theres loads going on as text and information about both equally important -Another opinion is that there should be more text with a couple of images on the pages related to the title and text

-Another opinion is there should be lots of images and not as much text 8. What type of language?

-The same language as what they would like on the front cover

Section 3: The double page spread article (questions 9-12)9. Double page spread- what type of images would you want?

-Images of R&B/hip-hop artists-Images related to the text-Clean Images

10. What would you prefer the article to be about?-An article about an R&B/hip-hop artist, someone who appeals most to the target audience -An interview including gossip about a certain artist’s life

11. How would you expect the language to be?-Again the same language they want for the front cover and contents page

12. Would you prefer more images or text based articles? (Why?) -One view is that the articles should be taken up with equal amount of text and images as they are both equally important -Another view is that there should be more text based articles because they like to read and because if your buying the magazine then they would prefer to get something out of it, e.g. information, rather than just looking at pictures