My Questionnaire

I am researching music magazines for my AS level media studies and this questionnaire is going to help me understand what the public would like to see in a new music magazine. Of course, the information I gather will be confidential and only used for a private investigation.

1. Gender?

2. Age?

3. Out of these choices, what era of music would you be most interested in?
60’s – 70’s 80’s 90’s – early 00’s today

4. What sort of music are you most into? (specify to accommodate for overlapping tastes)
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
5. In a music magazine, what aspect do you like most?
Features interviews with artists reviews of gigs/festivals pictures

6. What attracts you to magazines when you first look at them?
Front cover layout free gifts headlines pictures

7. What would you like to see in a new music magazine?
……………………………………………………………………………………………….

8. What, in your opinion, is the most listened to genre of music at the moment?
……………………………………………………………………………………………….

9. Do you think live music is more important or less important than recorded music?
More important Less important

10. Do you attend any gigs/ festivals and if so, which do you think are more news-worthy?
Gigs Festivals

Thank you for your time

__________________________________________________________________
On compiling this questionnaire I handed it out in my sixth form common room to 10 people aged 16-18. I then handed it around my friends and family; people aged up to 45. The results I got for the fist question were varied; all of the 16-18 year olds said they are most interested in music of today, but some also indicated they would listen to music from all era's if they enjoyed it. I took these answers to mean that most young people today enjoy listening to all sorts of music and although they find the most up to date artist they best, they do not exclude other music because of when it was released. In question two, a lot of the older people I asked said they enjoyed soft rock the most, a lot specifically mentioned Oasis as an example. The younger answers consisted of everything from R'n'B to rock to pop, but there was a slight majority of answers that used the word 'indie'. this indicates to me that, apart from young people wanting to be individual themselves and stand out from the crowd by listening to so called 'indie' music, my magazine may have to accomadate for the tastes of young people by featuring new, independently produced music.

the answers people gave to questions 5 and 6 linked with each other in certain ways. for example; the people who were attracted to the front cover pictures also enjoyed looking at pictures in the magazine. However, the majority of people answered that they liked to see features in magazines and it was mainly the headlines that first attracted them to a magazine. I think this is because features are the things that make a magazine different; any publication can have interviews with artists, reviews and pictures, but a magazine would work hard to produce features that stood out. I will take this into account when designing my own, and make sure I include lots of original ideas for features.

The answers to number 7 were hard to analyse, as it was quite an obscure question. The answers ranged from "a wider representation of all genres" to "more gig reviews" and, from 2 of the older participants "less rock music." Looking at all the answers to this question I feel I need mkae my magazine totally different from anything out there already, as it seems to me that people are getting bored with the old conventions of music publications.

question number 8 was, again, quite obscure, but its point was too get public opinion on the most popular music now, not their favorite. Music is represented heavily through magazines such as the one im designing and therefore, I must get an overview of what the public think is most popular, whether they like it or not. the answers I got back were rather predictable; most of the older people I asked thought that RnB and dance music was most listened to by young people, and the younger people thought that indie rock and popular rock was most listened to. This is another indication that maybe my magazine could show totally different sides to music, rather than whats just popular now, as nobody seems to know what that is.

the last two questions were put in to show me what the public thought of live music. Most of the people i spoke to thought gigs were more newsworthy, but recorded music was much more important. I did not ask for clarification to these answers and in hindsight i feel i should have, but I can guess that the public feel recorded music is more important because it is accessible to everyone, through radio, TV, CD's and the internet.

Looking at my results, I feel that I need to take my own magazine in a totally new direction to anything thats already on the market.