Secondary research

Market research, researching what's already out on the market is very important, and been able to take information of them to understand how your product/ magazine is going to work, this is called secondary research, secondary research is very important in the opening stages of manufacturing an idea which will become the magazine, because using information which has already been gathered and collated is a lot cheaper, cost effective and can help you understand the market which you are going to enter, the genre of music which I am going to enter is hip hop, this means i will be competing against the giant ‘XXL’ which are market leaders, here’s a little quote from the publishers H360; “XXL is currently celebrating its 13 Year Anniversary and is the #1 selling ABC audited music magazine on the newsstand – the ultimate barometer of a magazine’s success – outselling Rolling Stone, Vibe, Complex, Blender and The Source. XXL defines what’s hot and relevant in hip-hop, rap, and R&B. Artists, record labels, consumers and the press turn to XXL first for credible, trusted news in the world of hip hop. XXL’s mission is to take a mature, real and intelligent approach to hip-hop music and the culture that surrounds it. XXL readers are music enthusiasts and trendsetters who represent what’s relevant in the all-encompassing world of hip hop music and style.”

This give me a ideas that the competitor is massive, the market share is huge, so my magazine has to be original, energetic and efficient in the content, getting information across, make sure I meet all the demands from the target market and be able to understand the current hip hop scene, as it says in that quote, “XXL readers are music enthusiasts and trendsetters who represent what's relevant in the all-encompassing world of hip hop music and style” Hip hop isn’t just music, its about the way people live socialise and act, its one of them genres which engulf the people who are interested, so getting into that market and understand the readers and been able to provide them a service which will be able to provide, the ‘world’ of hip hop, not just the music would be the way to go, this is because what most magazines don’t offer, a part of the music industry, can become boring and have the same stuff magazine after magazine, so making something which is about the scene of hip hop, not just the music.