Uses and Gratifications Theory

Blumler and Katz - The Four Needs Theory

Blumler and Katz suggested that people read magazines to satisfy their needs:

• Escape from everyday life;
• Surveillance and information;
• Personal relationships;
• Personal identity.

This theory can be applied to my music magazine.

The music magazine will offer escape from everyday life as the reader will get involved with the stories and dramas of the cover star and forget about their own for a short period of time. It will offer surveillance as it will provide information to the reader and allow them to find out information about the artist's lives and about upcoming events that will interest them. It will offer personal relationships as they will feel like they can build relationships with the cover star as they feel like they're sharing information with one another. It also allows relationships to be built between readers as they will build an interaction on social media and share opinions on a new album. My magazine will fin ally allow personal identities to be created as they can relate themselves to a genre of music if they buy that magazine as they can then allow themselves to say they're a 'pop' fan.