Uses and Gratifications

Blulmer and Katz (1974)

• Bulmer and Katz suggested that people use the media to satisfy their needs. This is called the four needs theory, and the four parts of this theory are:

• Escape and diversion from everyday life

• Surveillance and information

• Personal relationships

• Personal identity

Escape and diversion

• Readers of magazines and websites can escape everyday life by reading the magazines. Music magazines and websites provide this by the stories and getting the readers involved so that the reader forgets about their everyday life whilst reading it. They can get carried away in the excitement of the stories and the activities the magazine provide, giving them that escape.

Surveillance and Information

• Music magazines and websites provide a lot of information about music, the artists and the music business which informs the readers and keeps them up to date with the music scene.

Personal Relationships

• Music magazines provide an opportunity for social interaction as readers can chat to each other about the music, artists and events sharing information and opinions on the latest news and what's going on in the magazine.

Personal Identity

• Personal identity comes from the magazine genre and the stories within it. Such as people comparing themselves to the people in the stories and imagining themselves in similar situations. Also, readers can identify themselves on the genre of music such as, metal fans or rap fans.

Mode of Address

• Mode of address is how the magazine talks to the audience and the language they use. For instance, if the target audience is teens and twenties then the language used will be generally colloquial and informal to make the reader feel closer to the magazine and relatable to the contents, therefore, more likely to buy the magazine. Different magazines have different modes of address to attract their target audiences. An example of this would be Top of the Pops having a different mode of address to NME.

Interactivity

• Magazines provide common ground for readers so they can talk about it to each other. They can also provide interaction between the fans and the artists, the fans and the magazine and the fans with each other in different medias. Tw!tter, Fcebook, !nstagram and other different types of social networking sites are used in the magazine for interaction purposes.

Interactivity

• Social networking sites are used not only for interactivity but it also helps get the target audience depending on what age the target audience is, due to it being something that that age group would use. This only works if the target audience is of an age range of teens and twenties as this age range will use social networking sites.

Interactivity and Websites

• Websites provide a lot of different ways in which interactivity can take place, such as flash and streaming technology allowing the audience to watch videos and listen to music whereupon reviews can be made and links to social networking sites so that fans can talk about it and review it. Music can be downloaded on sites and sites can also offer audio interviews. Now due to the movement of smartphone use, pictures can be uploaded instantly along with content within seconds of it happening. Flash technology can offer a better platform for advertisement on sites rather than static media as this will make it more eye catching and interesting which could really involve the audience. Music magazine websites, fan and critic blogs, band websites, social networking sites with pages upon which are devoted to artists are all part of the contribution to interactivity. Its in replace of the static pages which makes it more interesting for the audience and getting the audience involved makes them want to carry on doing it and reading up about artists and continually makes it more enjoyable for them.