For this part of my research i interviewed five men aged between 19-25. They were friends of my cousins and all interested in music. Therefore i would be able to get some good responses from them to make my music magazine want they would want to read. I began by asking them about if they have read music magazines in the past?. Most of them said that they had read NME a couple of times but one of them said they were a 'religious reader' of kerrang. I then asked them what appeal does reading a music magazine have? They all agreed that by reading a music magazine you can find out about your favourite bands and get to know them. One of them commented that 'you can find out where they are playing next'. They all nodded their heads and said that they read magazines to find out about festivals and gigs. One of them named ben said that 'if you read a music magazine you can often find out first where a band is playing , which gives you a chance to get tickets before anyonelse'.
Amongst the group they all had different taste in musics. One commented that 'it would be hard to get a magazine that all of us would read because i like indie music and them two take the mic and call me an emo whilst they listen to their hardcore rap and think they are gangstas'. I then went on to ask have any of you ever been interested in a band or artist that has not been signed? One replied that 'whenever we go to gigs there is always a warm up act and sometimes i think they are pretty decent and then i go home and look them up on the net'. After he made this comment i asked would you read a magazine full of new musical talent?. They all agreed that they would and gave me the idea that it would be good if in the magazine you could tell us where to find them on the net so we could listen to their music.
We then began to speak about how the internet has many sites full of undiscovered musical talent and why they thought that no magazine had been made. ' I think its because on the internet you can watch videos of them and see them perform , on a magazine you can judge them by what they look like and say but to like their music you have to hear them'. I agree that this is a point and thats why the interviews within the magazine would have to make the reader want to go and listen to them. What kind of questions would you want to be asked to the new talent in the magazine so you find out about them? ' They would almost have to sell themselves to me'. Another commented 'I would want to know about their musical influences and what where they think they would fit within music'. In many music magazines you hear about fashion and style do you think an artist should have a double page spread about their style influences in a music magazine? ' That sounds like a girl thing or something that you would see in glamour magazine' They all agree and say that a music magazine should be about music. 'I dont want to know how to achieve their look for a lower price like you see in some fashion magazines'.
Do you think the factor that the artists/bands featured in the magazine , being not famous will effect people buying it?. This question took thema minute to think about and then one of them said ' well talent shows like the x factor show people who are not famous so what will stop a magazine from showcasing people with musical talent who are neither famous' . 'If anything people will be intrigued to find out who they are and will pick up the magazine'. After this comment i began thinking about the front page and what stands out to them. What do you first notice when you look at a cover of a magazine?. ' The main photograph and the colours'. ' I like a magazine that does not have loads of cramped writing on top of eachother and has a good format which will look the same whenever i buy it but with different information'.
What do you think would make a male of your age buy a music magazine?. At first they made comments about a half naked women but then became serious again and said ' i think just being to the point , we just want to know what they are about , why they do it and where we can see them' Another agrees, 'we are not really interested in how they were bullied at school , unless it relates to how they show this through their lyrcis'. 'Thats why i dont watch X factor , because they produce the same kind or artists'. What kind of bands/artists do you want to hear about then? 'we all go out together at a weekend and like going to watch gigs so we will try anything once, we're not really into hard rock but we will give anything a go'. We begin to speak of female artists such as Ellie Goolding who won best newcomer in 2009. 'yeah shes got a good voice and im not ashamed to say i like her' .How much would you pay for a magazine for new musical talent?. 'well i would say the cheaper the better but if it is a good magazine then i would pay anything up to two quid'. Do you prefer a magazine with many pages filled with lots of information or a shorter magazine that comes out more often with a smaller number of main features? . They said that they would much prefer a shorter magazine , that is produced often with a few bands/artists featured each issue so that they can get to know them rather than a magazine full of new bands/artists. They said we just like to 'pick it up , flick through and read the things we want to read'. ' We do not have the time to go through a massive magazine full of article after article' . ' The massive magazines make me think of hello and okay which are more gossip which i dont really want to read. ' I would much prefer a shorter magazine with a few bands/artists who i can then go and reasearch rather than pages and pages of stuff that i dont really wanna know'.
How often would you like the magazine to be sold? ' Im not the type of person to buy a magazine every week so maybe every two weeks' ' yeah thats what i think because if you want new musical talent you need time to find it so every week would not be enough time and if you did one every month then i think i would loose interest as i would of forgoten about it'. If you could tell me one thing that i could do to make this magazine a success then what would it be? ' I think if you include a variety of acts then it would work'. ' If you make sure that it looks good and is appealing to the eye then i would pick it up'. ' For me it would be about knowing where i can watch them and what venues they are playing' . ' Yeah and knowing about why they do what they do.' A good looking girl always works too ( they then all looked at eachother and laughed)
This interview was useful as it gave me the chance to have an indepth conversation with a sample of my target market.
No comments:
Post a Comment