Evaluation Question 2. How does you media product represent particular social groups?

The choice I made in social class and age group.

My target audience for my music magazine is females aged 16-25. I reduced the age group shown above as it is a very large scale resulting in different life stages, education/work and interests. Stereo-typically people of this age group are interested in gigs, social networking, downloads, parties, festivals, latest technology and the latest trends. I have included artists of different ages so that they can appeal to a wider target audience. For example, I have included artists such as 30 Seconds To Mars which are aged 30+, as well as Dionne Phelan and Remenitions which are aged 17-20. I have done this to keep the audience up to date with the hits currently as well as make the younger audience aware of older music legends such as 30STM. This will not only benefit my target audience but by using age specific artists this will also reinforce the indie genre. I have also included links to subscribe for my magazine which reinforces the stereotypes of my genre.

I aimed my magazine at the class E of the social class table. This section appeals most to students and young adults. The artist on my front cover are more familiar to this population. My focus group video taught me that I needed to include decent competitions and freebies, also interesting feature stories. I also found out that my target audience are comfortable paying about £2.50 for a simple music magazine. As shown below in my social group response.

Reader profiles include the percentage of males and females who read the magazine to show how popular the magazine is to each gender. Ages are included in reader profiles to show if NME need to improve their target audience by aiming their conventions, stories, artists at a different age group. The purpose of a reader profile is so the institution can request feedback and fix any problems. I stereotyped my audience by the type of clothing they wear, the hobbies they have, the music they listen to and their interests. I displayed this through images in my reader profile and then chose the outfit I wanted my artists to wear according to my outfit/style research. I then chose famous artists that are stereotypically appealing to the indie genre to include in my magazine. I created a competition where the readers can win free Download Festival tickets, this is a big festival that appeals to this and other genres. This will make more people buy the magazine especially as it is aimed at a younger audience, as the majority of people who go to music festivals are young adults.
I also chose feature stories that will appeal to my particular social group. Such as the interview with Dionne Phelan, referring to her as 'American's Baddest Girl'. The older, more educated social groups are not likely to be interested in this story, stereotypically. Also I made a feature story reviewing an artists new album, although if the album is what my target audience relate to then social groups other than E will not want to read this as it is about music that isn't aimed at them.

My initial reader profile I made before I
made my magazine, still based on the
Indie genre.

Past reader profile research on NME Magazine.