Market Research

By Johnny Hill

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MOJO Magazine is published by Bauer . The circulation of MOJO is currently 91,678, and the readership is 218,000. the cost of MOJO is £4.60.Mojo is an educator, a living archive and a trusted source of musical excellence. Mojo provides its audience with an authentic, independent, and emotional connection to the music. Its also the last word on what's good, for music that is timeless, and where to go next. Mojo is loved by its readers, the music industry, and by musicians alike, because it engages them on the subject they love the most.

Its basic editorial proposition every month consists of: A definitive, book-like cover feature (i.e. you don't need to read a book on the subject, you can just read Mojo to know everything).An editorially themed cover mounted CD. A 30 page plus reviews section known as Filter, which brings you the best in music that month. Mojo goes in deeper than any other magazine and creates an experience that is immersive and that the readers can luxuriate in. From The Beatles to Battles, and The Ramones toRadiohead. Classic, sitting comfortably with cutting edge, and quality being the one constant.

We can see from this that Mojo’s ideal target audience is not aimed at the younger generation, but more middle-aged people interested in what's happening with older, more accomplished bands instead of those who are new or up and coming. You could say it is more of a sophisticated music magazine in comparison to others on the market, for example: NME, Kerrang! and CLASH. And that’s why it is more appealing to the older generation as its main focus is music that they liked when they were younger.

We have a large image of ‘The Smiths’ who are easily recognisable, especially as its an old photo of them in their prime. This draws the readers in as they were a huge band back in the day.

There is a big masthead of Mojo’s logo inset behind the band, this is so we can see and recognise which band have taken up the entire front cover, but still recognise the logo so we know which magazine we are buying.

The colour scheme for the front cover is very simple, only using two or three colours in the entirety. The colours themselves are quite neutral and plain. Which can work in two opposing ways: one being it disinterests young readers as they are more prone to pick up a bright and colourful magazine that is eye-catching. And the other being more appealing to the older generation as their not too interested in colour schemes but more the content of the actual magazing.

Although the target audience is aimed at the older generation, they have included a younger band to maybe entice a small audience who are interested in their kind of music.

They have included a free CD related to the genre of music that the magazine is about, which could convince potential buyers into purchasing their magazine over others. They have also made it look like a peeling sticker which adds another dimension to the cover.

They have included a brightly coloured ‘Sex Pistols’ badge. To again, draw a different kind of audience into reading their magazine if nothing else on the magazine appeals to them.

They’ve included a coloured star rating to initially inform the reader that Mojo is a highly regarded magazine even if the star rating isn’t about the magazine, the consumer is fooled into this idea.

Front Cover Analysis

Contents Page Analysis

The contents page is very simple, and only includes three colours throughout the entirety of it, Red, white and black. This suits the main image within the contents page as it stars one of The Beatles members, who are considered to be quite old, so to put in black and white goes with the image.

They also include the logo of the magazine within the contents page in bold black text, which also goes with the colour scheme of the contents page.

They have also included a black and white image of Ringo Starr, who’s face is instantly recognisable because he is known worldwide, which draws the attention of the reader even more.

Also included is a small quote from Ringo Starr which is in white and therefore stands out against the dark background.

They have also used thin red lines to differentiate between the usual stories and the cover story, which further draws the readers attention to that particular paragraph as that is the most important part of the magazine.

Kerrang! Has a circulation of 44,013 and a readership of 421,000. The cost of Kerrang! £2.20. Kerrang! will ensure that we are constantly appealing to our spectrum of readers. From the younger teenage readers who are more open to different genres of rock music – from emo to thrash etc., to the readers who respect Kerrang! as an authority when it comes to our scene’s heritage bands. Each issue will include a balance of bands and scenes to guarantee that we’re providing or our readers’ need for variety and their passionate appetite for their favourite bands as well as their desire to be introduced to new music within our world. We will focus on the BIGGEST things that are going on in our world each week, as well as guaranteeing that we are giving our main base of younger readers everything they need to get into, on top of this the interest in older, harder bands, cementing our role as an educator.

From this we can see that Kerrang! Is definitely aimed at more of younger audience who have more time on their hands in comparison to Mojo which is aimed at more of a mature music audience. Its also a lot cheaper than Mojo which is instantly more appealing to the younger audience for example students and people in part-time work who maybe don’t earn as much money as Mojo readers.

Front Cover Analysis They have inserted a large

masthead of Kerrang!’s logo in just black and white, which makes it stand out. Along with the fact that the text is in bold capitals.

Huge photo of the band, which almost takes up the entire front cover. The lead singer of the band has been placed in front of the masthead whilst the rest of the band are set behind the logo. This is because we can most easily recognise the lead singer as appose to the rest of the band.

They also include a freebie inside the magazine to tempt potential buyers into making the decision of actually buying the magazine. They also give you an indication as to which bands are on the posters. So the buyer isn't put off by not knowing which poster they will get.

They’ve made the front cover appealing to a wide audience relevant to the rock world. So inclusion of an older rock bands logo will tempt the older generation into buying it too as they now know that the entire magazine isn't just about young rock bands.

They’ve made the magazine look three-dimensional by editing his hand over the text to make it look like his hand is coming out of the page. This entices the reader and makes it eye-catching therefore they are more likely to buy it.

They have also included a list of other bands in case the band on the front cover doesn’t interest them initially. They can see who else

Contents Page Analysis

Immediately the colour scheme is very eye-catching to the reader as its main colours are yellow, white and black. Specifically the yellow is very vibrant and noticeable which goes with the overall theme of Kerrang! As they are quite a bold and outspoken music magazine.

They also include the magazines logo which is pure white on black blocking, and is also placed in the centre of the page. I feel that this is to ensure that the reader knows exactly who's magazine they have bought and that the name sticks in their head whilst they are reading through the content.

They then have a huge image of a well known guitarist named Slash, who is almost an icon to rock music which would immediately draw the attention of any amateur rock music enthusiast. This makes the reader want to continue on reading the magazine or at least the article in which he features.

The whole page is almost split in half in terms of colour. The top half is almost completely black and the bottom is completely white. This contrast is very noticeable and lures the reader in when flicking through the pages.

They have divided the categories within the magazine in the contents page so its easier for the reader to find the specific content that they are looking for. The page numbers are also highlighted in red so that the reader can easily see which page to go to instantly.

• Q Magazine has a circulation of 89,450 and a readership of 550,000. the price of Q Magazine is £3.90. Q is a bastian for music of substance guiding its readers through just the good stuff in all forms of music each month via its unparalleled access and Q Review, the world’s biggest and best music guide.’ Q’s specialist depth and knowledge of the world of music helps make it a brand with significant influence value. In a study vs. other magazine brands, Q scored an impressively high score of 73%*, higher than both GQ and Esquire This is re-inforced by the average Q reader’s propensity to play the role of an Influencer amongst their peers for everything from financial services to food and toiletries.

From this we get the impression that Q readers are very knowledgeable in new and modern bands, such as Kings of Leon and Kasabian, and like to keep very up to date in whats happening in the music world and Q allows them to do this. We could also get from this that its aimed at people in their late 20’s or early 30’s, as they grew up in the era of Oasis and Blur they may like the types of bands that Q include in their magazine each week. At £3.90, its not the cheapest music magazine but reasonable if you have a ‘high disposable income’.

Front Cover Analysis

Inserted a large Q Magazine logo in bold red. Which makes the logo completely stand out in contrast to the rest of the front cover which is in black and white. This could indicate that the name of this magazine is actually more important than the content. As the logo catches your eye before anything else.

Name of the band in bold white capitals stands out massively to the reader so they know exactly what the magazine will mostly be about, the return of Oasis.

The colour scheme in this magazine is very stripped down and simple and offers next to no eye-catching visuals. There are only really 3 colours used on the entire front cover. Which suits the target audience very well, as although they are still a relatively young audience they are now adults who aren't interested in bright, fluorescent colourful text and images. But more in the content of the magazine.

There is minimal text used on the front cover, only a few sentences. This is so our full attention is actually on the large image of Noel Gallagher. As he is such an iconic, recognisable face, we are drawn into picking the magazine up off the shelf and seeing what he has to say.

They’ve also included the name of a TV show in small text to appeal to a wider audience of not only music lovers but TV and film too. So if music lovers weren't to keen on reading about Oasis’s return, but an avid fan of ‘The Mighty Boosh’, they would be much more inclined to pick the magazine up.

They also write “Their greatest ever interview” which instantly draws potential buyers to pick the magazine up, buy it and find out. Below this they also include other famous peoples names to interest the reader further as it makes the reader want to find out their opinions on the band as well as Q’s.

They’ve put in a tagline saying “Britain's Biggest Music Magazine” this indicates to the reader that this is the biggest and best music magazine around and the only one you need

Contents Page AnalysisThe colour scheme is very simple,

only featuring three colours, red, white and black. The red also goes with the logo of the magazine and reiterates the ide of the colour red being associated with the logo of Q magazine.

The page numbers are also in red which makes it easier for the reader to find which page they want to look at if they have a certain topic or article they want to read about.

They then put a certain section in white and gold which insinuates that this is a very important part of the magazine that the reader must read. White and gold are colours usually associated with royalty and luxury, which in turn makes the reader interested in what the text has to say.

They have included a large image of ‘The Courteeners’, which takes up a good two thirds of the page so when you come across the contents page it is the first thing that catches your eye.

Q magazine are always recognised for publishing relatively new indie bands. Which is a plus for readers who are into finding new bands that they can then tell their friends about.

They have also included a ‘Q Review’ section at the bottom of the page which highlights all the reviews that are included in this particular issue, which is great for readers whose sole intention is to look at reviews on bands who are currently in the spotlight and therefore can decide if its worth buying their music or not