Survey Results - Which music magazines, if any, do you read?

This graph shows the results from my questionnaire on SurveyMonkey. These are the results for the question: 'Which music magazines, if any, do you read?'.

The results to this question show that NME and Rolling Stone are the two most read music magazines as regards to my survey takers. The styles of these magazines should be taken into account when considering the style of mine as the majority of the people that took my survey fall in to my target audience.

Secondary Audience Research

NME Magazine

This graph is taken from the NRS (National Readership Survey) looking at the readership and circulation of NME between January 2003 and December 2011. The graph shows a general decline in readership and circulation, although there are temporary increases in both throughout 2006. The decline in circulation is due to the decline in readership and the decline in readership can be based on a few different factors. Advances in technology will have effected the readership largely, as is evident in NME's decision to branch into TV, internet and radio. Also, we can see a movement into social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. This sees NME giving the news and features offered in the magazine in other ways, thus decreasing the readership and circulation figures.

Q Magazine

Q Magazine has a circulation of 89,450 and has a readership of 550,000 as of the start of 2010. This shows the magazine is shifting more units than its competitor NME. A 72% ABC1 reader profile suggest Q's readers are rather affluent and thus inflation and difficult financial times are unlikely to harm the magazines readership. The average age of a reader is 29 and this again backs up the theory that technology is moving in on the magazine market, as younger readers who would bring the average age down are more likely to use the magazine's website and social media to get the content the magazine contains.

Rolling Stone Magazine

A survey of adult (18+) Rolling Stone magazine readers shows a rather large 30% of readers fall into the 18-24 age bracket. The readership proportion then decreases with each increase in age bracket but there is still an impressive 12% of readers aged 55+. This shows a broad range in ages of Rolling Stone readers. An average age of 32.2 demonstrates this and suggests readership is unlikely to fall as dramatically as that of NME due to a more mature audience who are, stereotypically, less likely to embrace advances in technology.

Rolling Stone Magazine Contents Page Review

 

The contents directly follow the front cover and play a key part in securing the sale of the magazine. The content heading follows the house style of the Rolling Stone magazine and the white on red look gives a classy look and finish to the magazine. The fonts are consistently serif throughout the contents and front cover and maintain three main colours of white, black and red.

Down the left-hand side are three pictures relating to the articles we know are found in the magazine as they are mentioned opposite in the contents. The images are striking in their own ways and can draw the reader in. Once drawn in, the reader can find the article the picture is associated with as the page numbers can be found on the image. The three pictures emphasize the diversity of Rolling Stone magazine. One is of female hip hop artist M.I.A., another is of Led Zepellin band member of Robert Plant and the other picture is of a wild bird in the Gulf of Mexico, suffering from the controversial BP oil spillage of 2010. This shows that the magazine covers different genres of music and also other things, like current affairs. 

The more detailed writing on the right-hand side shows the three main concepts of the magazine: features (stories featured on the cover etc.), national affairs (the news/informative/political issues discussed)  and departments (music and other media forms, like film). The diversity shown in the choice of cover stars for Rolling Stone showed a ranging covering of styles and genres which is reiterated by the different reading offered inside. At the bottom there is a guide to the pages at which different sections start, offering a good guide for the reader to be able to find the articles they wish to see.

Rolling Stone Magazine Double Page Spread Review

The image of Katy Perry taken from the double page spread in Rolling Stone magazine is almost solely designed to satisfy the male gaze. Firstly, she is placed in a kitchen, looking like she's preparing food. A stereotypical and arguably sexist view of women is that they should do all the cooking and they are associated with the kitchen.  Perry is staring directly at the camera, a provocative, sexual construction which sees her meet the audience's view. This brings her to life and almost gives her an amount of control, a rare challenge to the representation. She is wearing red lipstick, red being a colour of passion, danger, love, war and blood, which heightens the sexuality but also relates to Katy Perry's much-publicised dangerous/quirky personality. Her eyes are also well made-up and add to the perception that she is designed to satisfy the reader. Possibly most significant is Perry's costume... Or lack of it. She is wearing a brallette-style top with the zip half-undone a strap hanging off. The top looks as if it could easily come off and it reveals a lot of cleavage, satisfying the male gaze and adding a heightened sense of sensuality. She is also wearing extremely short, very tight shorts, which have the top button undone, again suggesting they could come off easily, a sexually suggestive move. The lemons on the side in the kitchen suggest that Katy Perry has a sour side.

The text is set out in a similar sans serif font to that of the Rolling Stone logo, in a newspaper-style column format. 

The quote central to the text tells us that Perry took "mushrooms" which is a reference to a slang term for drugs but also relates to the image of Perry in the kitchen. It says she "admits" this, which suggests the article is revealing of her and she admits to things she is embarrassed/ashamed by. She then goes on to say "I had to throw myself in the shower fully clothed afterward" which contrasts with the image and suggests that she is different to the image portrayed of her in the picture. It's ironic she poses for a picture with very few clothes on yet took a shower fully-clothed, when normally a shower is taken naked. It also suggests she was ashamed by what she had done, possibly because she does have a bad side as suggested by the lemons in the image but it is not one she is proud of, like in the image where the lemons are in the background as opposed to the foreground.

Rolling Stone Magazine Cover Review

The title of the magazine, Rolling Stone, is in a serif font, in red and has a black outline/shadow, bringing the image of the title to life. The Rolling Stone logo is one that is world-renowned and distinctly recognisable. The use of red suggests, much-like NME, that the magazine has many different connotations. The red could suggest the love and passion for music of the magazine yet it could suggest the magazine is dangerous and/or edgy.

The image of Rick Ross dominates the cover of the magazine, so much so he covers the title/name of the magazine. It is almost like he is pushing the sides of the magazine out, forcing more space with his arms. He is almost holding the title up with his little fingers, emphasizing strength and power. You could even argue he is making an ironic attempt at tensing his muscles, which you cannot actually see for his fat. He is topless and this shows his rebellion and care-free attitude. He has many, many tattoos, again reinforcing the bad-boy image he holds. Around his stomach/belly button area has a skull tattoo which is looking directly at the audience, possibly initiating a slight fear in the reader. This relates to the coverline of "Global Melting", which underneath says "Scary News". His jeans are worn extremely low and show the majority of his undergarments. This is representative of his gangster image and the origins of wearing jeans so low comes from American prisons, which relates to his time spent as a prison guard. His underwear is white and pristine, demonstrating he has a wealthy lifestyle and wears fresh clothes. The white fits with the white background and adds to the sharp clean cover's feel. The excessive jewellery on his wrists and around his neck show his incredible wealth. This is further demonstrated by the fact he wears two watches, one on each wrist. The yellow buckle on his belt follows the theme along with the other yellow words on the cover, "Rick Ross" and "Global Melting". The "Global Melting" cover line could perhaps relate to Rick Ross' large, rotund, world-like body and the fact it is shiny, sweaty, melting? The other cover line says "The Pot Princess" which relates to Rick Ross' highly publicized drug lifestyle, represented by one of the chains around his neck. It could also be interpreted as a reference to Ross' 'pot belly'.

The main story or cover line names Rick Ross as a "Gangster of Love" which could be interpreted in two ways. One way could be that he isn't looked upon as a loveable character and you could assume he isn't particularly desirable to women. The other interpretation is that Rick Ross is full of love, which is not too far from the truth when you understand that he has looked after many of his friends from his earlier, 'darker' days and helped keep them out of trouble. He has also put together a powerful, wealthy music team named 'Maybach Music Group' which shows us he wants to share his success and is far from greedy and selfish as many people in his position would be. He has taken chances on up and coming rappers such as Meek Mill and helped give them a career in rap that they otherwise would not have had. You could also look in to the fact he has worked with many, many other artists across the industry, and therefore he is the "Gangster of Love". 

The menu strip at the top helps to hook the reader as it names the edition as "Fall Music Special", with the use of the buzz word 'special' significant in attracting the reader. The use of naming other artists in the menu strip also helps in bringing the buyer in and showing there is something for everyone.