Questionnaire Study

Questionnaire Evaluation

My questionnaires were handed out to 10 people; six of which were girls and four of which were boys. Although my study was a little gender biased, I still received rather similar results from both genders. I found doing a questionnaire very helpful as working on your own can be a little restricting when it comes to ideas. Getting a public opinion helped me understand the demand in the magazine and music business and just what people would be most interested in, especially in an age group of around 15-18 years. It also helped me develop ideas for a Unique Selling Point, the music genre the magazine will be based on, the content, cover mount and layout. My research questionnaire results were as follows.

Question 1
Using the list below, what is your favourite genre of music?
Results: Classical (0), Pop (0) Alternative (0), Rap (0), Rock (1), Electro (0), R&B (6), Indie (2), Hip Hop (1), Garage (0), Metal (0), Jazz (0), Other (0)
Analysis: From these results, it is clear to see the obvious favourite choice is R&B, followed by Indie, Rock and Hip Hop. These results have helped me determine a possible genre my magazine shall follow in terms of music.

Question 2
How many magazines do you purchase per month?
Results: None (2), 1-3 (4), 4-5 (3), 6-7 (1), 8-10 (0), 11 or more (0)
Analysis: By seeing how many magazine the average person buys on average per month, I can get a rough idea of the amount of competition I will have when producing my magazine. As the most popular choice seems to be 1-3 but is also close between 4-5 and none, it seems there is a fair amount of competition which makes me believe my magazine needs something different for them to be bought over all others.

Question 3
If any, how many of these are music magazines?
Results: None (9), 1-3 (1), 4-5 (0), 6-7 (0), 8-10 (0), 11 or more (0)
Analysis: This is the best result I could hope for as there doesn’t seem to be a huge market or interest for music magazines. This gives me less competition.



Question 4

What is the main you have for buying music magazines?
Results: As this wasn’t a closed question, I received different results but all with the same point. The most common seemed to be ‘to find out about new upcoming music and bands or gigs’.
Analysis: This gave me an idea of what my features and articles should be based around and what they should contain information on. As this seemed to be the biggest demand from magazines, this would make the audience want to buy it as it interests them. This information should be on the front of the magazine also to attract the reader.

Question 5

Who are your favourite music artists? Please state three.
Results: There were a wide range of artists stated, specifically of similar genres to the favourite genres chosen in question 1. The main ones chosen were Chris Brown, Rhianna, Ne-yo, Justin Timberlake and Lady GaGa.
Analysis: This helped me understand my general audience and also confirmed the main genre my magazine will follow. However, although the most common results were under the R&B genre, the other 15 results were mainly Pop/Indie. This could be a co-genre of my magazine as a result.

Question 6

What type of magazine do you usually buy? Lifestyle, celebrity, sport, music etc?
Results: The responses to this question were all very similar: Celebrity (6), Lifestyle (4), Gadgets (1), Sport (1), Fashion (3). (Some people gave more than one answer)
Analysis: This gave me a good idea of what mainly interests the public, especially as it was not a closed question and the people doing the questionnaire made up their own answers. Celebrities seemed to be a popular interest, as well as lifestyle and fashion. These could be easily integrated into my magazine.

Question 7

What is your main reason for buying this/these type(s) of magazine?
Results: This was not a closed question but the responses were still very similar. Seven people said to keep up-to-date with the new trends, four people said to find out gossip and two people just buy the magazines because they generally interest them. Another person said to find out about celebrities.
Analysis: From this I can see peoples main concern is to keep up to date with the latest trends; what they look like and what they are listening to. Finding out the latest gossip is important to the public also and both of these factors could be a main part of the magazine but in a music manner.

Question 8

Do you have any favourite magazines? Please state three.
Results: The results of this question were so broad there were only about two people had in common reading. The common genre of magazine was lifestyle and celebrity based.
Analysis: though and the examples of what people read can give me an idea of what to base my front cover on. It will also give me ideas of what interests and draws people’s attention most.

Question 9

What do you think a suitable name for a Hip Hop/R&B magazine would be and why?
Results: Hip’n’B, Beatz!, Blaze, Hop ‘til’ you drop, Jammin’, Pump it up (it promotes the magazines up beat tempo).
Analysis: I received a variety of different ideas from this question which gave me great ideas for a possible magazine name. They all had the same type of idea with slang or playing on a song name.

Question 10

If there were a magazine by the genre of Rock/Indie, what do you think would be a suitable name for it?
Results: Moshers, ROCK OUT, Indie Times, Sintac, Rindie, hard-CORE!, Rockstop.
Analysis: Again, I had feedback of a few different names which were all helpful and very catchy names.

Question 11

Looking at the current music magazine market, do you feel there are any particular features missing/a gap in the market? (e.g. Top 40 Charts)
Results: Interestingly, a couple of people mentioned that there is already a market for Rock/Indie magazines so a different genre would be much more appealing, if not a few different ones (one suggestion it should be of a R&B genre). They also felt that there aren’t enough magazines which feature a music chart.
Analysis: Therefore, my magazine will be mainly aimed at an audience who enjoy R&B music, as well as because of the feedback I received from question 1 telling me this was the most popular genre. However, there will be a variety of different genres involved also to appeal to everyone.

Question 12

What would you consider a ‘Unique Selling Point’?
Results: Free CD (1), Stickers (1), Offers/competitions (0), Free music download (5), An additional magazine pull-out (0), Festival and Gig Guide (2)
Analysis: A free music download was obviously the most popular choice which showed me that as well as having a fairly technical audience (gadget features may appeal), it also gave me a good USP which could help my magazine sell. A gig guide was also a good idea next to the download and this shall also feature in my magazine as a pullout.

Question 13

Would you prefer a music magazine to be weekly or monthly? (please circle) Why?
Results: Monthy (6), Weekly (4)
Analysis: Monthly was just about the stronger option and in my opinion had better reasons backing it up. The reasons included: can forget to buy it weekly, too expensive weekly, will contain the same information if a magazine is published weekly, trends tend to change monthly, spend less money. This has brought me to the conclusion of creating a magazine which will be published monthly, a selling point I now know will appeal to the audience. However, considering charts, they will have to be either a monthly thing or a conclusion of 4 weeks charts. This means the charts will have to be brought down to the Top Ten as to fit it in and not be monotonous.

Question 14

How do you obtain the majority of your music?
Results: Internet downloads (7), Purchase CD’s (2), Borrow from friends (1), As gifts (0), Passed down (0), Other (0)
Analysis: Again, Internet downloads seem to be the most popular choice of obtaining music and looking back at question 12, it seems getting them three is very appealing. This shows me that my audience prefer not to spend a huge amount of money on things and this result could affect the final price of my magazine.

Question 15

Apart from music, what other interests do you have?
Results: Technology, sport (4), shopping, dance, TV (2), socialising, cinema.
Analysis: From these results, it appears I have a rather active audience which could be integrated into the magazine somehow. Perhaps an article on the music to listen to while being sporty or dancing could appeal to this audience. Gadgets and technology which link in with both music and sport, or just music, could also appeal to this audience. Shopping would also fall under this category.

Question 16

What elements would draw your attention to the front cover of a music magazine?
Results: The results for this were pretty similar with the top choice being a picture of a likeable artist featured on the front. An eye-catching colour theme was the next most popular choice with other people saying unique cartoons and a catchy headline would catch their eye.
Analysis: What draws people attention most is a big picture of a popular artist (obviously linking in with the genre of the magazine) and a eye-catching colour theme.

Question 17

How much would you be willing to spend on a music magazine?
Results: No more than £3 (3), £2 (3), £4 (1), £1.50 (2)
Analysis: Between £2 and £3 seems to be the most suitable amount to spend on this particular type of magazine which brings me to the conclusion of pricing my magazine at £2 as a round number is much more convenient and is less money than £3.

Question 18

Are there any other additional features which you would really make you want to buy a magazine? Any other helpful comments you wish to add?
Results: Amongst the people who answered, the commonest answer was mainly to receive free products with the magazine. One person also suggested to not stick to one particular genre when creating the magazine.










OVERALL CONCLUSION
Name: Beatz!
Genre: Focused mainly on R&B, perhaps with a few articles on other genres such as Indie and electro.
How often: Monthly
Price: £2
Unique Selling Point: Free music download from iTunes and a pull-out gig and festival guide
Music artists featured: Chris Brown, Rhianna, Ne-yo and Lady Gaga.
Target audience: Ages 15-18
Other interests featured: Linked in with sport and dance, shopping and gadgets.
Front page: Big picture of a new music artist in the genre of R&B
Common Interest Appeal: Music celebrity and lifestyle features – Celebrity blunders, how to live like a rock star, interview with a singer, how to dress like your favourite singers etc.






Jessica Venner
26th January 2009