Question Five

How did you attract/address your audience?

With the rise of the internet and with it, the rise of social media it is becoming increasingly competitive to market a music magazine. However I feel that I have a music magazine that attracts its demographic effectively.

The Uses and Gratifications Theory is the idea that we – as an audience – purchase music magazines in order to find information, personal identity, social interaction and escapism. This is the criteria I had in my head during the creation process of making my music magazine. In terms of the Uses and Gratifications theory, people would buy my magazine because it concludes content that they may not find in other magazines – such as tour and festival information, audience could identify with an artist who grew up in an average working class area who now is one of the biggest artists in the world and now feel she has a split personality (I think this is the biggest area of my magazine that I feel audience addressed and would attract them, because of the common ground they have with the artist). Because of the content addressed in the magazine – e.g. how to get the look – this would create more social interaction within my audience by giving them common interests and discussions, increasing their social interaction levels. I think that there is a strong “escapism” factor about my magazine – because it allows the audience to connect with the music magazine on different levels, such as fashion, music and other celebrities.

It contains tour information and festival information – e.g. how to get the look and Wireless Festival dates. Which I feel is unusual because most music magazines do not contain tour dates – because most music festivals do not have R&B and Hip Hop artists, therefore making them relevant. Therefore my music magazine breaks the codes and conventions of R&B music magazines. However I think I was successful because my music magazine contains “exclusive” content that the audience would not find anywhere else. Separating my magazine from competitors.

It’s easy to understand. As previously mentioned, I did not want to include language that my audience would find daunting/intimidating. This would not also fit the codes and convention of R&B and Hip Hop magazines – mostly inventing their own terminology, e.g. referring to the music industry as a “game” and artists as “playa”. In regards to this, my music magazine does not break the codes and conventions.

It contains social media connections – such as a page on Facebook and a Twitter page. I think this is especially effective because my audience age range is the key demographic that make use of social networks. Therefore I think that this was especially effective to use because it allows the audience to find more information about the music magazine (Uses and Gratifications Theory).