Audience Research

I wanted to do extra bit of analysis and really be able to understand who the readers of the magazines are, but most importantly why they read these magazines. I’m going to analyse the magazines thinking about why readers reach out to the XXL and Rolling Stones magazines to meet their needs.

The XXL magazine is published by Harrison publications. The target audience for the magazine will be mainly teenagers aged from fifteen to nineteen who enjoy listening to Hip Hop/Rap/RnB music. I say this because most teenagers this age like to reads magazines in the style of XXL and I will explain later why. However people above the age of nineteen are also targeted throughout the magazine and they will also be likely to read the magazine.

A good example of this is that on page 44 and 45 of the issue I’ve analysed, it includes a picture of different types of alcohol they recommend to celebrate the New Year with. They even inform the reader on six different recipes of cocktails the readers can make, using the alcohol mentioned above it. This connotes that the magazine also target individuals the age of twenty-one and over too.

The target audience will be interested in the articles written about recent events that have taken place, for example in the issue of the XXL magazine that I’ve analysed it features an article on the BET’s annual Hip Hop awards. The magazine also includes articles written by writers but features a lot of the artist’s words too that may have been gathered through interviews. In the issue I’ve analysed for example these types of articles are featured on two occasions, for different artists, one for Singer/Rapper Chris Brown and one for rapper Big Sean. All these features in the magazine could be reasons for entertainment for the reader..

XXL magazine also includes some urban fashion, in the sense that they recommend certain items and give the readers their opinion on what they should buying to create a certain impression of themselves. An example of this is when they dedicate a page of beanies and sub heading ‘Gotta Have It’, persuading the reader to buy them as it’s a must have according them. However they make it relevant to the month the issue was published (December/January) and make the reader realize their benefits too stating ‘Warm Up’. This suggests that readers might also read this magazine to be informed about the latest fashion ‘must haves’ and get some inspiration from the magazine about what they should wear. Overall the audience may read this magazine for entertainment and information

On occasion XXL will reach out to the growing female audience by breaking the convention of a male central figure and having a female feature instead. Featured articles such as ‘eye candy’ may also attract females – presumably of a young age (around twenties) – however in regards to the front cover, women are presented heavily sexualised and seen to have on minimal clothing, suggesting that a broader male audience may be targeted more than encouraging female appeal

The Rolling Stones magazine is published by Jann Wenner. This magazine is a general magazine that would attract a wide range of audiences of various ages, ethnicities and both genders.

The main article for the issue of the Rolling Stones on the magazine is about the late 2pac, who is a Hip Hop legend and inspiration to so many around the world. Upcoming and rising stars in the genre of Hip Hop often name legends like these who have helped them and then inspired them to thrive in the industry. So many readers also see artists in a magazine like the Rolling Stones in the same way. This way they can look at someone like 2pac and be able to relate to them in terms of values and aspirations in life. The audience may see them as a role model that they look up to. This using the uses and pleasure theory suggests that people may read a magazine like the Rolling Stone to be able to recognize someone and identify them. This gives the reader an identity, someone they aim to be like.

The main image filling up the whole page is a close-up picture of the well-known Hip-Hop artist Tupac. The magazine uses this image of him to draw the audience to their magazine because of face recognition. The fact that it is in black & white, and he has a tied bandana around his head represents Tupac as from a lower class background, but this is also contrasted by a diamond nose stud and gold chain. This connotes to the audience that it is possible to be successful from any background and gives a positive message to the audience to make them feel more significant. This particular Rolling Stone issue is targeted towards males, because of the colours and mise en scene used here. Many female consumers would traditionally become attracted to bright colours unlike males which appeal to greys, whites and blacks as well as bright colours, as this often represents the Hip-Hop genre. The genre is also outlined by the magazine my once again the clothing worn by the artist.