Magazine Target Audiences #1

Alternative Press is a US based magazine, and predominantly covers bands away from the mainstream music scene that usually have a rock, punk, pop-punk or heavy style to their sound, therefore the magazine will try to appeal to people who like these genres of music also. On this particular cover, Paramore are the main feature, and they fit in to the type of bands that AP would show as they are an alternative/rock band. The band have been photographed much like bands on other magazines, in a triangular placing from front to back. At the forefront of the cover is Hayley Williams, the lead singer of the band and the only female member. With her bright orange hair and being at the front of the cover, she is the first person that someone would see if their eyes glanced over the magazine, and as she is known for her bright hair colour a fan could see it and be encouraged to buy the magazine; or anyone else would be intrigued about the magazine now that it had caught their attention. The rest of the band are stood behind Hayley looking casual, all of them hold a direct mode of address with the reader which further entices them to pick up the magazine. The colours on the cover are very bright and energetic, and connote the autumn season that the magazine is being released in, along with some hints of summer with the prominent use of yellow, orange and red. The masthead and main headline are both in the same yellow tone, indicating that they have the same amount of importance as it is the name of the magazine and the name of the band, these yellows will also make the magazine itself stand out on a magazine shelf, therefore catching the eye of the viewer. The use of red on the cover highlights certain key words such as 'noise' and 'more' with 'noise' belonging to the semantic field of the magazine and 'more' being used as an incentive, boosting the impressiveness of the magazine as they brag to the reader of how much they have to offer. Going back to the band shown, the members of Paramore are quite young, perhaps indicating that it will be mainly young people that will read the magazine, and will be interested in it. They would probably fall under the age range of 14-25. The artists featured on the cover would obviously vary, and a magazine like this would more likely feature male artists or male-orientated bands as that is typical of the genres of music, but by featuring females too this makes the magazine approachable for both male and female viewers. The magazine costs $4.99 (£3.13), which is quite expensive compared to most magazines, therefore you would assume the consumers the magazine is targeted at to be perhaps students with a part-time job or young adults. These viewers would also be heavily interested in alternative music, and would like to know about many different bands in one issue of the magazine; this is shown by the lists on the cover both at the head and foot of the magazine cover. If there were someone who just bought the magazine on a whim, they would obviously just be interested on whoever was on the cover at the time so AP would have to take into account which bands are popular and which ones are not. The strapline for the main headline contains a lot of puns, as the photograph of the band is in a bowling alley they have incorporated words such as 'kingpins', 'splits' and 'strikes' so they must assume the target audience has a good sense of humour and will appreciate the puns.