Audience Profile – Genre: Hip Hop/ Rap

Target Audience:Gender and Age (Hartley’s 7 Subjectivities) and whyThe target audience will mainly be male audience with an age group between 16-30. This is s suitable target audience because the content within the rap magazine will contain male artists that will attract mostly male viewers. The age group is 16-30 because the music may contain explicit content because it fits in the genre of the rap and hip hop genre which could involve violence which is unsuitable for a younger audience and could offend the elderly so therefore it is perfect for the age I have picked. Furthermore people in their 20’s/ 30’s will listen to this music because in the 90s hip hop was in its prime and was very popular. This is evident as the general target audience for XXL magazine is 78% male readers, with the median age of 27, and 44.7% college buyers, and 67% African Americans. The model on the front cover will also wear urban clothes such as Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Supreme, etc. Obviously this relates to what many of the young adults wear as it links to the genre of music that is hip hop/ rap.

Socio-Economic Needs and why:In terms of socio-economic needs the magazine and genre of music will be suitable for maybe C2 but very suitable for D and E because the type of music will attract more younger adults which generally falls under the the lower grades of the socio-economic needs spectrum. This is because it mainly attracts the younger audience which makes sense that they don’t have a job because they are too young and they need to focus on their college work.

Katz’ Uses & Gratifications Theory and Maslow’s Hierarchy of needsAccording to the Katz’ Uses & Gratifications Theory the purpose of the magazine will be to personal identify. This will present what is happening in the music genre at the moment. As well as this it will allow the reader to divert themselves into the magazine and immerse themselves in the story of exclusive news about a certain artist as the magazine is very captivating and invites the reader to read by the use of cover stories which are directed by the contents page. From Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs many of the readers would be social climbers as they would be attracted to the clothing that the models wear in the magazine as they are materialistically. The type of clothing can vary to urban or skater e.g. Supreme. In the picture Shaune is wearing a Ralph Lauren shirt over a white t-shirt which is considered to be very fashionable and it follows the 90s rap clothing. Although the type of audience would definitely not be caregivers because the content within the magazine will not have emotional cover stories just music based around hip hop and occasionally the materialism used.

Stereotype(s):The audience that will be attracted to this magazine will be young males who seek the latest news on hip hop and their followed artists. The stereotypes will also wear skater or urban clothes which consist of expensive brands such as Supreme or Ralph Lauren. As well as this they will be interested in skate or just chilling with their friends listening to the same genre of music that is hip hop/ rap

Name: Maximilian Stainer Candidate Number: 3138