Uses and Gratification Theory

•Uses and gratifications theory is an approach to understanding why and how people actively seek out specific media to satisfy specific needs. The audience here have the power to reject, use and play with media however they want. These choices influences what media publishers publish.

Audience use media contents for:

•Diversion/escapsim, gives people a place to escape from daily issues and involve themselves into something else

•Pleasure. People use it because they enjoy reading about topics or certain programs

•Information, people read and watch media texts to learn from them and educate themselves. Whether it is gig dates or a programme on Martin Luther King.

•Compare relationships and lifestyles. This is a big one for magazines. People like to find out how their favourite celebrities live and compare it to their own.

Readers also consume media because it helps people with issues such as:

•Emotional Satisfaction

•Relaxation

•Help issues of personal identify

•Help issues of social identify

•Help issues of aggression and violence

After looking at two completely different music magazines. I decided I liked the layout of shindig more. I thought the artistic look more interesting and creative. I would like to investigate into creating a cover with retro influences. To achieve this have to investigate into a music genre of this era. I believe MOD would be a good one. It was huge music culture, and although shindig includes MOD content, there isn't a large MOD magazine on the market.