Questionnaire Results Analysis

Siena Matkin

Q1: What is your gender?

Of my sample of 20 people, 60% were

‘Female’ and 40% were ‘Male’.

Although there were more females, my

magazine is going to be gender neutral

so it will not be based solely towards

a particular gender. My aim is to

appeal to both sexes, so I will use

gender neutral colours such as red,

black and white.

Male

40%

Female

60%

Q1: What is your gender?

Q2: What is your age?

The majority (45%) of the sample were

of the age range ‘18-30’. 30% of

people were ‘31-45’ and 25% were

‘Under 18’. My magazine is going to

be predominantly aimed towards

people of the 18-30 age range. People

of the 31-45 range are my secondary

audience. People under 18 can read the

magazine regardless of this, however I

have chosen these target audiences

based on their socio-economic codes

and how this would affect their

decision to purchase a magazine. An

18-45 year old may be more likely to

purchase a magazine costing £3-5 than

someone under 18, as they are more

likely to have an income and therefore

more money to spend. They also may

have more money to spend on

recreational luxuries, such as buying

albums and concert tickets.

Under 18

25%

18-30

45%

31-45

30%

Q2: What is your age?

Q3: Do you like music?

This was just a general question I

asked so I knew that each persons

opinion would be relevant regarding a

music-based magazine. As all

answered ‘Yes’ this gave me the

impression they would have a real

interest in what they were being asked

about.

On reflection I think I should have

asked them this question before they

began the questionnaire rather than as a

question in it. If someone had

answered ‘No’, they wouldn’t have

known what to put for some questions

(e.g. genre of music, new music,

current music magazines).

Yes

100%

No

0%

Q3: Do you like music?

Q4: How many hours do you

spend listening to music a day?

45% answered ‘2-3 hours’, 35%

answered ‘6+ hours’ and 20%

answered ‘0-1 hours’. Nobody in the

sample answered ‘4-5 hours’. This

suggests that the target audience are

people who have an active interest in

music and listen to it every day, so

therefore know what they like. Also it

would be reasonable to assume that

they have some knowledge of popular

music at the time, as they are in daily

contact with music. This is suitable for

my target audience.

0 - 1

20%

2 - 3

45%

4 - 5

0%

6+

35%

Q4: How many hours do you spend listening to music

a day?

Q5: What genre of music do

you listen to?

This was a multiple choice question, so

each person could choose whichever

answer applied. 32% of people

answered ‘Pop’, and 26% answered

‘Indie’. They were the most popular

and second-most popular answers

respectively, which is why my

magazine is going to be based around

the pop genre with a sub-genre of

indie. The cover artist for my magazine

is going to be a musician of these

genres. There is a wide audience for

this kind of music so the magazine

could be very successful. ‘R&B’ music

got 18% of the vote, ‘Rock’ 16% and

‘Metal’ 8%.

Pop

32%

Rock

16%

Indie

26%

Metal

8%

R&B

18%

Q5: What genre of music do you listen to?

Q6: How do you hear about

new music?

This was a multiple choice question, so

each person could choose whichever

answers applied. The most popular

answer was ‘Media’, with 44%.Taking

this into account I am going to make

sure that my magazine refers to new

music and that one of my sell lines

advertises a feature inside which

reviews the new albums of the week,

or something similar. As quite a large

amount of the sample said they found

music from ‘Social media’, ‘Charts’

and ‘YouTube’ (24%, 16% and 12%), I

am going to try to incorporate this into

my magazine. For example, on the

contents page I could advertise the

magazine’s Facebook or Twitter pages,

and a feature in the magazine could be

a weekly chart of the best selling

singles or albums.

Media

44%

Social media

24%

Charts

16%

Youtube

12%

Other

4%

Q6: How do you hear about new music?

Q7: How often do you read

music magazines?

The majority of people in the sample answered that they read music magazines ‘Monthly’ (80%). My music magazine is going to be issued monthly, partly because of the results of the questionnaire, which suggests most people of the target audience prefer to read magazines in this time frame. It is also going to be a monthly magazine because I think that there will be more content to put in the magazine, as more new albums or songs etc. would be released within this period as opposed to a week or a fortnight. If there is more content in the magazine, it is likely the target audience would feel the expensive cost of the magazine is more justified and would be more likely to purchase it. It also means that each month a different musician could be featured on the front cover, either a celebrity or an upcoming artist.

Weekly

5%Fortnightly

5%

Monthly

80%

Never

10%

Q7: How often do you read music magazines?

Q8: Which music magazines

do you like?

This was a multiple choice question, so

each person could choose whichever

answers applied. The two most popular

magazines were ‘Q’ and ‘NME’, with 39%

and 22% respectively. They are the two

existing magazines that are most similar to

my own, and I have analysed both

extensively while doing my research. Q

Magazine is primarily a pop magazine,

however also features indie music. It is

arguably the most popular of its genre, and I

have been looking at how their front covers,

contents pages and double page spreads are

presented to give me ideas for my

magazine. NME focuses more on the indie

genre, however has been useful for me to

look at as it reports on news in the musical

world and the popular music of the time,

similar to my own magazine. I have also

analysed this magazine by deconstructing

front covers, contents pages and double

page spreads. 17% of the sample chose

‘Kerrang’, a rock magazine and 13% chose

‘Billboard’, a magazine that features many

genres. 9% chose ‘Vibe’, an R&B/hip-hop

magazine, and nobody in the sample chose

Spin, a grunge magazine.

Billboard

13%

Q

39%

Kerrang

17%

NME

22%

Spin

0% Vibe

9%

Q8: Which music magazines do you like?

Q9: What features attract

you to a magazine?

80% of the sample said that the ‘Cover artist’

on a magazine was what attracted them most

to it. This is why my magazine is going to

feature predominantly successful artists on

the cover, who would generally have a large

fan base. People who like their music may be

influenced to purchase the magazine if they

were on the cover, as they may be interested

to read the feature about them or interview

with them inside. This means more people

would be buying the magazine and may

continue to do so if they found they enjoyed

reading it. 15% of the sample said that

‘Images’ were the main attraction to them,

which is why I am going to use Photoshop to

edit my own photographs. I want them to

look professional and to stand out compared

with other magazines, so that the photo

makes you want to look inside. 5% of people

said ‘Sell lines’ were the main selling point to

them, which I agree with. My sell lines need

to draw people in not just by their content but

also the way they look. They need to catch

the readers eye and entice to buy the

magazines – so I would use a hook, such as a

quote from an article and then ‘…MORE

INSIDE!’ to draw them in.

Cover artist

80%

Sell lines

5%

Images

15%

Q9: What features attract you to a magazine?

Q10: Would you rather read

an interview or a feature?

This question asked the sample the

content they would like regarding an

article about the cover artist. The majority

of people answered ‘Interview’ (85%). I

am going to have a interview with my

cover artist on the double page spread of

my magazine. I think that reading an

interview is more interesting than reading

a feature, and it is more interactive for the

reader as it is like the artist is talking to

them. This can hold their attention for

longer. In my interview with the artist I

am going to ask them about their past,

current and upcoming music, such as

albums and singles. The article will also

feature them answering questions about

how they were discovered and tour plans

etc. I also may include an review of their

latest album on another page of the

magazine. This will be referenced in the

double page spread, for example: ‘Turn to

page 97 for our review of __________’s

new album, __________!’. It will also

feature a small piece stating when the

artists new album is out and where to

purchase it.

Interview

85%

Feature

15%

Q10: Would you rather read an interview or a

feature?