Target Audience Questionnaire Evaluation

To aid my research, I developed a questionnaire to give to the target audience to gain a sense of what i need to think about when creating my music magazine. In the questionnaire, I asked the question 'Do you currently buy any music magazines?', 20% said yes, 50% said no and 30% said sometimes.The fact that 50% said no, enforces the fact that there is not anything in the market of music magazines that specifically caters for the needs of the audience I am targeting my product at - 15-25 year olds of both genders. The fact that some people said sometimes also enhances the point that there isn't quite anything in newsagents from music magazines which particularly 'grabs' this target market to gain a loyal readership but their is a great interest in music from this audience.
I asked which current magazine this target audience would be most likely to buy, 70% stated that they would buy 'Q' magazine and the rest would opt for 'Kerrang!', no-one selected the music magazines 'Top of the Pops', 'NME' or MOJO - this shows that these types of magazines gain little interest from this target market as they are for older or younger readers. The fact that 'Q' gained a high percentage of interest shows that the style, presentation and contents within this magazine appeal to this audience. 'Q' uses bold colours, neat presentation and caters all genres, these details I can consider, when creating my music magazine.
When asking which music genre would be preferred to feature in a music magazine, the target audience responded with 40% thinking a music magazine should cover all genres, and 30% in favour of a pop genre featuring in a new magazine. Taking this into consideration, I believe my music magazine would be a success focusing on a variety of genres, but having a particular speciality in the pop genre.
When asking what would be preferred in the contents of a music magazine, 50% thought interviews with artists were successful and interesting to read in a magazine.
I asked if it was better for popular artists, unsigned artists or both, to feature in a music magazine, 70% said both should feature and 30% said just popular artists should. As nobody selected just unsigned bands to be part of a news magazine, it is wise not to follow this up. I will follow the majority of the target audience and feature both.
I questioned what price would be best to sell my media product at, 70% thought £1.50 -2.50 was a suitable price in which to buy a magazine. Money is an issue with this age group as the majority are still in education, without income, so would not have enough money to afford luxuries such as magazines, especially in this economic climate, and i think the issue of money is a big reason as to why 50% stated that they do not buy magazines.
When asking if a music magazine should be produced weekly, monthly, every fortnight or every season, 80% thought a music magazine would be better if it was produced monthly.
60% of the target audience mostly listen to music by the use of an iPod and not by CD or another form of listening to music. I then went on to ask when the person last bought a CD and the majority -70%, had bought a CD over a year ago. This gives the impression that CD's are now unfashionable and out of date with this target audience, and downloading on the Internet has now taken over, so perhaps album reviews are not the best to feature in a music magazine for this target audience, as they are more interested in buying singles rather than whole albums.
I asked how often music is bought/downloaded by the target audience, 60% download music every fortnight, this enhances the fact that young people within the target audience have a very keen interest in music and therefore a music magazine aimed at them is likely to be a success. I then asked where the music gained is from, and if it is paid for. Most responded by stating that they do not pay for music that they gain, and use illegal downloading sites such as 'Limewire'. This also links with the money issue, that young people cannot afford to buy music, therefore a new music magazine needs to be affordable.
In conclusion, from my questionnaire, i have discovered that my music magazine should include both unsigned and popular artists, artist interviews, a variety of genres but with a focus on pop and an affordable price - between £1.50-2.50. I have also gained that my music magazine would be best produced monthly, to suit the audience and have a similar style to 'Q' in the contents, but a new, fresh brand identity.