How my research will inform my planning

How Research will inform Planning

Analysis

I have analysed 2 media artifacts as part of my research. Due to this I now know the average layout of the front cover, contents page and double page spread of a music magazine and so I can relate this back to my own work and the planning stages. The analysis has also helped me to see what sells music magazines and the running theme of a particular colour scheme; black, white and red; in most issues.
I have seen from my analysis that the most popular indie magazines have either a popular male band or an indie female singer on the front cover. I will most likely use one of these on my front cover as most indie bands are in actual fact male and therefore my magazine will fit in with others of a similar genre.

Survey

I created a survey to establish what my target audience find most effective in music magazines. This was extremely helpful and will inform my planning as it shows me exactly what sorts of features I should include if my target audience is to actually like my product. For example I gave a range of colour options that included; red, white and black; pale yellow, white and black; green; and finally a range of light pinks and browns. The most popular option was red, shite and black and therefore I will most likely use this scheme on my front cover and throughout my music magazine.
Another example of an important question from my survey is that I gave a number of possible names for my magazine and asked the audience to pick their favourite. The possible names I gave were 'Alt-Sound', 'Re-Vinyl', 'Casette' and 'Note'. The most popular 2 options were 'Alt-Sound' and 'Re-Vinyl' whereas the name 'Note' got no votes and 'Casette' only got a few. Due to this audience feedback I will use either 'Alt-Sound' or 'Re-Vinyl' as my magazine name as they both got the same amount of votes, however I prefer 'Alt-Sound' and so this will be my most likely name.

Product Placement

Researching product placement has helped me to see where most music magazines are sold and advertised. Due to this I can plan how my magazine will stand out from the rest that are currently on the market.
The research of product placement has also informed me on how current music magazines advertise themselves and where most, specifically indie, magazines are sold. My magazine will be sold in a music shop and so there will be a lot of competition from other music magazines of the same genre such as NME and Q that are very popular. To ensure my magazine stands out I will have to appeal hugely to my target audience through the artist I use, my colour scheme, the overall name of the magazine and in many other ways.