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BLUMLER & KATZ (1974)They both suggested that people use the media to satisfy

their needs. This is called ‘The Four Needs theory’. It has four main parts;

1. Escape and diversion from everyday life

2. Surveillance and information

3. Personal relationships

4. Personal identity

ESCAPE & DIVERSION

1. Music magazine and websites can provide an escape from people’s own everyday life; the audience can get involved with different artists and stories; they can get carried away with drama or excitement and forget about their own lives and worries for a while.

SURVEILLANCE & INFORMATION

2. Music magazines and websites provide various kinds of information about music, artists and the music business itself so the audience can learn things, and find out what is happening ‘out there’.

PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

3. The audience can chat to each other about music, artists, events and stories, sharing opinions and information and so on. It provides an opportunity for social interaction.

PERSONAL IDENTITY

4. Some audience members can compare themselves with people in the stories, imagining how they would react in similar circumstances. Some people like to identify with a type of music and describe themselves as ‘Metal’ fan or a ‘Rap’ fan, for example.

MODE OF ADDRESS

Look at the mode of address – language and images that treat the readers as knowledgeable/colloquial/informal language – allows the audience to relate to the contents, so they’ll be more likely to buy the product. Obviously, this depends on the magazine. The mode of address of Top of The Pops magazine is different to Mojo, which in turn, is different to NME.

INTERACTIVITYThink how significant these points

become when you stress the interactivity aspect point three. Magazines to take this interactivity further; you need to think of ways that your magazine will allow for interaction between fans, between fans and the magazine and, in some cases, between fans and the artists.

INTERACTIVITY

The editor of Kerrang!, James McMahon, went on Twitter to ask fans about who should go on the cover of their new music special. He’s also invited demos from new bands and applications from aspiring writers. This is a great example of how music magazines keep their audience by engaging them, infiltrating their daily lives and making them feel like they have a say in what happens.

INTERACTIVITY & WEBSITESThink what a website can offer – flash and streaming

technology allows the audience to watch videos and listen to music; music can be downloaded, legally or illegally; sites can offer audio interviews, links to social network sites where reviews are posted straight after a gig or a listening session – or indeed, during either thanks to smartphone technology – pictures can be uploaded instantaneously; content can be continually updated – even by the second; AND flash technology offers a better platform for advertisers than the static print media. Music magazine websites, fan and critic blogs, band websites, social networking sites devoted to artists are part of Web 2.0 media. In other words, instead of the static pages that dotted the early web landscape (and the pages of the print magazines, of course), they’re interactive with the user.