Deciding on my Target Audience.

The indie/rock genre is typically consumed by males, although the slightly softer music women may prefer. Also this magazine genre tends to have more male singers and bands on the cover, which might influence who buys the magazines, and according to NRS 09-10, 276,000 males read NME, in comparison to 76,000 females. I would like to have a mixed gender audience, so that it can appeal to a wider range of people. I will achieve this by making the magazine housestyle slightly more feminine, but still make it appealing to a male audience.

The typical demographic for this genre is aged 15-44 according to NRS. The figure of 15-44 year olds reading Kerrang! is 370,000 in comparison to 29,000 of 44+ who read NME. To make sure that my magazine appeal to this age band, I will design the magazine so that it appeals to a slightly younger audience, by using mode of address that isn't old fashioned or too complex language. I would like my magazine cover to have a youthful and exciting feel, that would make people want to read it.

I don't think race and ethnic groups will be a big issue with my audience, but rock music is typically enjoyed more by white caucasians. I will not put any comments or pictures that would be offensive to people of other races. Also my magazine will not be either for or against sexual preferences, so there won't be any comments or images which homosexual people could find offensive.

According to NRS, people in the ABC1 social class read NME and Kerrang! more than the C2DE class, which surprised me. This suggests that the ABC1 class listen to the rock/indie genre. Although the results on NRS about Kerrang! show that 207,000 people in the ABC1 class read it, whereas 189,000 in the C2DE class read it. This is a very small difference in numbers which could suggest that Kerrang! appeals to a very broad audience. I want my magazine to appeal to a wide audience, so I will use conventions that will appeal to a range of social classes.

I would like to have my magazine appeal to females more, as I feel music magazines aren't always directly aimed at women. I would want my target audience to be people who like going to gigs and like to live the party lifestyle, as it would give me more to put on the contents page. It makes them more outgoing and interesting. rock/indie genre magazines usually have a section reviewing gigs and informing the audience of future gigs and concerts. I could also use the convention that Kerrang! and NME use and make up an event that is sponsered by the magazine, as it makes the magazine look more reliable. This would also appeal to my target audience as it is a social activity and gets people involved.