Deciding Genre and Audience

The two magazines I have chosen to initially research are 'Clash' and 'Kerrang!'. I have noticed that there is a contemporary subculture of my generation known as 'hispters'. These hipsters are usually associated with 'indie' acts and have taken an interest in a blogging website known as 'tumblr'. Having had a tumblr for over a year now, I began to notice that the blogs I followed, due to them having similar music taste to me, all seemed to be a part of a growing hipster subcategory whereby they were fans of alternative rock and metal acts, but were still interested in the fashion and photography of the general hipsters. I found that this subcategory read the rock magazine 'Kerrang!' but only when a band they liked was featured. I then began to research 'Clash' magazine, known for being a favourite of hipsters. This music magazine has begun to include a few heavier music acts, but still focuses on more mainstream bands and hip-hop artists. As Slate writer Brandon Stosuy noted, "Heavy metal has recently conquered a new frontier, making an unexpected crossover into the realm of hipsterdom". As a result, I have decided to focus my magazine on the subcategory of 'hipsterdom' who like alternative rock and metal, as this category is rapidly growng in size and is in abundance on the tumblr website, which now caters for 6.8 million weekly visits, its users focusing on fashion, photography, film and music.