Evaluation

In what ways does your music magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of existing music magazines?



I have decided to make my magazine both challenges’ and uses conventions and features of existing magazines, I decided this because it will make my magazine unique in the way that it doesn’t completely follow the style and features of common music magazines. As you look in my front cover you can see that I have a big and bold title ‘stereo’ the colours make it stand out and the font style is very distinctive and whenever is seen it can be related to my magazine which therefore means that here I have decided to follow common magazine style by using titles of magazines which stand out to the readers. The name of the magazine is very unique and is very easy to remember, stereo is music related as music comes from stereos therefore making it suit the type of magazine. Some magazines use this however certain magazines have names which do not necessarily go with the type of magazine e.g. the magazine ‘ wallpaper’ which has nothing to do with wallpapers. Another feature included on my front page is one which is very common in magazines in general. They always use a central to image will attract the reader to purchase the magazine this is why I made sure that my image suits the style of the magazine as it has a young pretty girl at the front which suits the type of audience I was aiming for.



However I believe that the images used of professional music magazines are a lot better quality than mine, this is a disadvantage to my magazine as if I had a better camera I could achieve the quality of images used on every day magazines.
Other features which I definitely know music magazines use everyday from when I analysed them are: - The sell lines are very clear and represent what’s inside the magazine. While the anchorage text is very clear on what the main article will be about, the word exclusive is a buzz word and therefore grabs the reader’s attention to the magazine and makes them want to buy the magazine. My magazine also has a bar code which is used everyday on music magazines all over the world and a slogan ‘turn it up’ which goes with the magazines name of stereo, telling the reader to turn up their stereo to make loud music. Like most music magazines my magazine offers a freebie with it, the two free posters and the free concert tickets these makes the reader feel like the magazine is good value for money they are gaining other benefits. In some cases some people may buy the magazine just for their freebies therefore I have used the best freebies I can. The main colours on my magazine are very bright and make the magazine stand out from the rest and I tried to keep the colours used on the cover to a minimum of four colours so that the magazine has a house style. In my contents tried to keep a similar house style so that it goes well with the front cover. The contents page has a similar layout used by magazines which is having all the page numbers on the left side and then the content of them on the other. However some magazines do not use images on their contents. As I think the images make it more interesting and fun to look at I have included some. I have noticed that some magazines also use an editor’s note on their contents, therefore I thought it would also be good to have one, this promotes the magazine more as it includes words like magazine of the year ect. The content of my magazine could be a lot more representative to a wider range of genres, this would make it appeal to a wider range of audiences, Some magazines do this to maximise readers who purchase the magazine however most often stick to only a few amount of genres that’s why I made sure I used quiet a few which are fairly similar. In my article I have tried to keep it very similar to those seen in real music magazines as I had analysed lots of them therefore I got the idea and found it easier to just keep to their style, their style is very unique as they always make the article look like an exclusive and they always use quotes which look interesting and make the reader want to read it. As well as this they always use lots of interesting pictures. The audiences also seem to enjoy it as 100% thought the article was good when asked in the poll ‘did you enjoy my article?’


How does your music magazine represent particular social groups?



My magazine represents a modern urban youth culture which consists of a multicultural social group through the genre of music and the artists of these genres. This means that the artists represent the type of audience they appeal to. This is mainly black and other ethnic minorities like Latinos and Asians. The ethnic groups that the magazine attracts are due to the genres of music that my magazine includes. This includes hip hop and rnb which are both mainly black music as the artists are mainly black and the music is listened by most of the black society. This does not mean that only black people will buy my magazine as rnb and hip hop has become more mainstream throughout the years and now they can relate and appeal to most cultures. This means that these types of music are very popular and modern. In my article there is certain slang that is informal and used by teenagers of these social groups would probably understand like ‘wanna’ , ‘gonna’ these are slang or shortened words of other words which make the magazine more informal. In my magazine I tried to represent these social groups in a positive way, I used artist who don’t use violence and most of them promote work ethic for example in my article I decide to use a female artist who was very attractive but I contrasted her by making her very career orientated and smart. She also gives some advice to teenagers on how working hard can make their dreams come true.


Who would be the audience for your music magazine?

The target audience for this specific magazine that I am creating is young teenage girls this is because I am a teenage girl and therefore it will be easier for me to make it relate to the magazine as I will put things on the magazine that I know if I saw on a magazine I would want to buy it. The magazine should appeal to multicultural social groups but mainly ethnic minority groups as the genre of music I used is hip hop and rnb music, genres that have artists who come from an ethnic minority background. The age ranging between 15 and 18, I chose to do this particular group because I have come to the conclusion from my questionnaire that they are the type of people that regular buy magazines. The people who buy my magazine will be interested in music downloading, purchasing music and DVDs. They will enjoy going to concerts and to the cinema but most of all they will love celebrity gossip and reading magazines.



How did you attract/address your target audience?



I have decided to use things which most magazines use to attract readers, this are: - eye catching image, good title which is easy to remember and relates to the genre of the magazine, colours that stand out, buzz words and anchorage text. First of all as you can see the girl at the front is looking straight at the camera therefore making eye contact with the reader making them want to purchase the magazine. The direct mode of address used by the central image suggests that she wants a close and intimate relationship with the reader as she is posing in a seductive way. As this is meant to be ‘Nicole from the Pussycat Dolls’ she is very popular and she is considered a sex symbol therefore she is used to sell the magazine especially as she can relate to the genre and type of audience of the magazine. The central image of the girl can also be an inspiration for young girls who want to look like her and be like her. Either her fans that want to know more about her will buy it or people who find her interesting. The title of the magazine stands out and the colours are very bright. I used pink and yellow which are colours that contrast each other but are also colours which girls love and are therefore very girly colours. The anchorage text says ‘exclusive’ which make the reader think that inside there is some exclusive gossip on the artist. I also tried to attract the reader by using buzz words like ‘exclusive, revealed, win and free’ which made it more appealing to the reader. All the teenagers asked in the questionnaire said that they would like the contents page to have lots of images; therefore I used this in my magazine. On the front cover of MUSIC magazines, the majority of the people I asked said that the title and the centre image on the front cover interests them more and attracts them to purchase the magazine. The others had said that the price, text and the colours interests them more. Therefore we can conclude that the image is the most important aspect of music magazines that is why I spent so much time on it.



What kind of media institution might distribute your music magazine and why?

If I had to choose a company to publish my magazine I would chose the company Bauer media because it’s the second biggest magazine publishers in the UK and they publish music magazines. They also publish heat which shares a proportion of the readership with my magazine.. The say they have audiences that are ‘music-lovers’, ‘women aged 16-35’ ‘music-lovers,’ ‘Music is an important passion’. My magazine can be sold anywhere from paper shops to such large corporations as HMV because it doesn’t contains any inappropriate language or imagery. Also it would be easy and wise to publicises my magazine via a website as it would increase interest and also publicises it on social networking sites as the majority of my target audience use this area so would increase profit and success.


What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing your music magazine?



Through the production of my magazine I have learnt a lot of new things, first of all I had never made a magazine and I wasn’t a very good photographer this meant I had to learn how to take images that can be used in professional magazines. In order to do this I enlisted the help of my teachers who taught me lighting techniques and angles to use when taking pictures. This helped me develop my photographic skills and I had to think about other factors like props, costumes ECT as I wanted my magazine to look very presentable and professional. Another technique I had to learn was how to manipulate images using Photoshop software packages; I learnt how to use the effects, the magic wand to make my look professional. Photo shopping was very difficult as the amount of things I could do on adobe photo shop was limited as I found the programme quite technical and therefore very hard to understand. After the photographic process, I needed to learn how to use adobe illustrator which I had never used before. It took me a while but I finally learnt how to make the text in the article go in to separate columns, I also had to learn how to make certain shapes to create a magazine similar to them at the shops, like how to make the stars, the rectangles ect. When creating my article I also learnt how to make the images transparent and make the article look professional. During the process of making the blog in which to publish my media work, I developed my blogging skills as that was my first ever blog. The website used (blogspot.com) was very confusing at first but as I got on with it I learnt how to change the colour and layout of the page, how to upload images, which at first was very hard. The polls also helped me to gain audience feedback and helped me improved my work as I found out what the audience liked and didn’t like on my magazine. For example when I uploaded my first draft of my article 50% of the people who took the poll didn’t like it therefore I made it better. Each time I tried to upload an image there was an error so I had to upload the images on another website and then just use that URL on my blog. Eventually I learnt that there was a problem between the computer I was using and the website so I just uploaded the images to my blog from another website. It was all worth it as 62 % of people who took my poll’ what do you think of my media portfolio?’ said they thought it was excellent


What do you feel you have learnt in the progression from creating the school magazine (preliminary task), to creating your music magazine?





There is a big difference between the making of the school magazine and the making of my music magazine. This is due to the different types of magazines they are, one is a college Magazine while the other is a music magazine which means the content is very different. The types of audience and the type of language used are both very different as well. I found the preliminary task a lot easier than making the music magazine as it didn’t involve as much work. This is because the music magazine was a more creative magazine; I had to experiment with colours, fonts, backgrounds and images. I also learnt a few things which helped me when I started my real magazine. First of all I didn’t know how to use the program adobe publisher so therefore I struggled to start my magazine of. Then I didn’t even know how to take pictures with the camera provided which meant I had to ask people for help. Then I had to learn how to upload the images and edit them on the computer. After finding this out, I then had to learn how to use adobe Photoshop which was very difficult and confusing. But I had o learn the hard way, it was a good experience which helped me to develop my skills and I’m glad I did it as 75% of people who took my poll ‘do you like my mag?’ said yes.

The Magazine

The draft versions of my magazine

Mixmag Magazine Article

The choice of band featured in the article suggests that the target audience will be young and energetic as the group are young and make dance music. The type of language used in the article is informal as the type of questions used are the type you ask your friends such as “what’s your perfect Saturday night?” Or the way the magazine says “give us a clue” this is informal and a more friendly way to ask questions. The colours used are very plain as they use mainly black but a bit of pink to give it a retro feel. The style of the text is modern but a bit plain apart from the first letter of the article which is a big k its style is very retro as well. The double page spread is laid out as one big image of the lead singer of the band on one side which doesn’t appear to be photo shopped which makes it look more personal with the reader. The other side of the double page spread has an interview with him.

The sort of tone used in this interview is very “close personal friend” with the reader as they begin the article with an explanation to the reader on who he is and it build up the mood for the reader before reading the article. Then the magazine asks him questions which they know the reader want to know like “what’s the maddest thing you’ve seen at an after party” his answers to most of the questions like this are very personal and could be called secrets. Therefore as he is telling the reader it makes the relationship more personal with the reader.

The image is not photo shopped and is very simple, it looks like they haven’t tried to change it however as he is looking straight at the camera and smiling , it gives the reader the feeling that he is looking and smiling at them and therefore shows his friendly and personal side.
The styles of the article and of the front cover are different as the article looks more formal then the front cover. However there are some colourful features at the top of the page which make it blend in with magazine more. This article doesn’t really require a lot of knowledge prior to reading the article as they give you this at the beginning of the article. However they do expect the reader to have listened to this artist’s music as they ask questions like “why now for a more dancey album?” and “what’s the reason you gave this album a more of a dance edge?”

Kerrang magazine article

The choice of band featured in this article suggests that the target audience of this magazine is rockers, people who love to listen to rock, metal or punk.The language used in this magazine show that this magazine represents a hardcore audience who like loud and aggressive audience. They use words like “f**ing my wife…a sh*t load of drinking’ this sort of language gives the impression that they have a very rock style life which is exactly the sort of thing that the reader wants to read. The articles main two colours are green and black which are manly and scary colours, the style of text used in not very formal especially in the article title where they use a font which has a style of splattered paint.Half the page is taken up by images and the other is where the article is, however it is also covered by bold titles which come across to the article side front the image side.

The article is an interview and the questions are from the readers, therefore the way they address the reader is like the reader is “a close friend”.
The image used shows them wearing glasses and looking at the camera with a” I don’t care “attitude. The image is in black and white which makes them look slightly scarier and as the image was taken so that they look like their looking down at the reader which also makes them look scarier.The style of the front cover and the style of the article are very different apart from the similar fonts used. The article demands prior knowledge of the band as otherwise the questions may not make sense. e.g. there is a question that says “what was your beef with Robb Flynn about?” the reader has to know who Robb Flynn is in order to be interested in the question.

Questionnaire and Results

Name……………………. Age………………………

1) What genre of music are you more interested in?
a) R&B b) Hip Hop c) Slow Jams d) Funky c) Pop


2) Who would you like to read more about?
a) Beyonce b) Lil Wayne c) Pretty Ricky d) Rihanna c) T-Pain


3) What promotional features would you prefer to get with the magazine?
a) Cd’s b) Calendars c) Posters d) Stickers c) Vouchers


4) Do you think that contents pages should be kept nice and simple or should include images?
a) Simple b) images

5) What is your price limit when purchasing a magazine?

a. 50p - £1 b. £1 - £2 c. £2 - £3 d. £3 +

6) What other things would you like to see?
E.g. gossip column, agony aunt

…………………….

7) What on the front cover interests you when you purchase a magazine?
a) The images b) the sell lines c) the goodies

8) What colours on the front cover are you attract to?
(Please circle as many as you want)

a. Pink b. Yellow c. Red d. Green e. Orange f. Blue


9) If Cd’s were to be provided, would you like them to have new unsigned artists as well as popular artists?

a) Definitely b) never

Contents page of school magazine

How I made my ruff version contents page for school magazine

First of all I added a background using an orange gradient.
Then I took a picture of my friends and cut out the background of it. I also put a pink border around the image.
I put the edited picture on the background and then I started adding the titles and sub headings ECT.


How I would improve it

I would improve my contents by adding more writing and make it more appealing. I could also add more images and pages.
Obviously with more time I can make my magazine better.

College Magazine front cover

How I made my ruff version of my magazine

First of all I added a background using a red gradient.
Then I took a picture of my friend and cut out the background of it.
I put the edited picture on the background and then I started adding the titles and sub headings ECT.


How I would improve it

I would improve my magazine by adding more writing and make it more appealing. I am also missing the barcode, buzz words and other features that magazines also have.
Obviously with more time I can make my magazine better.

The Evolution of Britney Spears

How has the image been framed and taken from above making Britney spears look vulnerable and young. As we already know his magazine is mainly aimed at men therefore they use girls as the front cover to attract the reader. The lighting used emphasizes her curves to make her look like she has a perfect body. Britney is dressed in her under wear making the picture more sexy suggesting to the reader that she is not as innocent and young as they think and that she has a sexy and wild side to her. This is contrasted by the teletubby toy she is holding as it represents her being young still. The image setting appears to be a bed therefore its suggesting to the reader that she is inviting them in to her bed and her private life. The white shirt is an intertexual reference to her first music video where she is dressed as a school girl. However now the shirt is open and showing her bra whereas in the video she is covered up. This represents that she is growing up. The color that is mainly used is a fuchsia which represents romance and lust. This is contrasted by the white which represents her virginity and innocence but as the t shirt is open to show a black bra which may show that she is rebelling from her innocent image and she wants to be thought of as a sex symbol instead.


The image has been framed from the side to show her body shape clearly. The shot has been used to tease the male readers and show her (Britney spears) more grown up and changing into a woman. Britney is only wearing underpants therefore she is half naked; her pose is very sexual as she is sticking out her bum and allowing the reader to see the side of her breast. This image is used to make the reader think that she wants to have an intimate relationship with them. The frame of this picture is between the walls of a bedroom I can see this as there are bed sheets around her. The color that is used is white color represents purity , virginity and innocence they used this to make her look sweet and young. This picture is very ironic as it shows her half naked which is not very innocent but yet the colors used represent innocence and purity.


This image has been chosen to show Britney looking like a victim as she looks sad and unglamorous which is a contrast to her old self. The image is very close up and therefore it highlights her emotion more. The image is in black and white which represents her sadness. It seems that she wants the readers sympathy and therefore she wants an intimate and close relationship with them. This is supported by the anchorage text which says she is a tragedy therefore it makes the reader think that if they buy the magazine they will find out all of her personal information.

Comparing kerrang content page to clash’s content page

Clash magazine is a bi-monthly magazine which is aimed at 18-26 year old city slickers who enjoy live alternative music from a range of genre (e.g. rock, dance, hip-hop). The images used are more sophisticated and use older people on the front cover therefore I can see that this magazine is for more mature on the front cover therefore I can see that this magazine is for a more mature audience than that of kerrang.
The fonts and colors used in the contents page is more simplified and neat which suggest to me that the style of the magazine is very structured. Every page and its contents is neatly written in order which makes its very easy to read, unlike that of kerrang where they have lots of images which represent the content of each page.
This content page is very boring as it doest have much colors and images, just the essential items. It reminds me of a newspaper this suggests to me that the audiences are the same of those of newspapers. This is very different to the contents page of kerrang in where they use bold images and text and are very in your face magazine.

Contents page analysis- Kerrang

This magazine uses images; they have been put in a square form. As it is a rock magazine the front cover is of a rock band. The contents page has pictures of the rock bands in which the article is about.
The colors used on the font are black and yellow which show that the magazine is aimed mainly at men but also at woman as yellow is a more feminine color. The fonts are bold on the titles and on the contents of the pages but have a small normal writing on the editor’s note. These features are used to draw the reader’s attention as they stand out and as there are quiet a lot of pages, it shows that the magazine is packed with content. The colors and styles relate to the style on the front cover as they have a very similar theme.

The information is organized so it is easy to read and bold so it stands out to reader. There are two different sections in the magazine, on the left we have the contents and the pages represented by images and on the left we have the pages and the contents in writing. This tells me that the magazines images are very important part of the magazine as they determine what kind of magazine it is and it represents its genre.

The promotional features in this magazine include posters, concert tickets and having a weekly subscription of the magazine sent to your door. This is usually advertised at the front cover to make the reader buy the magazine and see it as work purchasing.
There are good concert images next to the win tickets bit and there are a lot of different covers at the bottom of the page which attract the reader even more to the subscription feature.
The magazine logo is placed all over the magazine as part of the writing. This magazine logo is K! Therefore where ever in the text there is a k in the word they will put k! Therefore this is very dominant and repetitive.

Analysis of front cover- Vibe

Vibe magazine is an R&B and Hip-hop magazine. From the issues and articles highlighted on the cover of the magazine I can see that their promoting summer music and countries to travel to. The target audience of this magazine is 16+ males their interests can include music, girls and travelling. The central image is very seductive and the magazine is using a direct mode of address which suggests that Beyonce wants a close and intimate relationship with the reader. Beyonce is in the front cover as she is very popular and she is considered a sex symbol therefore she is used to sell the magazine. The anchorage text says she ‘strips down’ which make the reader think that if they buy the magazine they will see her with fewer clothes on. This implies that the artist is opening up to the reader. The overall message the artist is giving is ‘I want you’ to the reader. The magazine different cultures of music as there genres are R&B and Hip-hop; these types of genres are very popular and therefore herd by people all over the world. I think there aren’t any specific buzz words but it does say ’10+ pages of …’ which does make the reader think the magazine is value for money as they have a lot offer. The design of the title block is quiet sexy as it is in red which represents romance and lust. This tells you that this magazine has sexy images inside. The title of the magazine ‘vibe’ tells me that the readership is interested in music with rhythm, its image is provocative and sexy and the style of magazine is close to that of magazines for men which contain sexy girls ect. The puffs of the magazine show me that the type of audience the magazine expects to get are men as they say that ‘Beyonce strips down’ and also people interested in travelling as it says ‘all city summer guide’. The colours used are black, white and red. They are attractive and also create a provocative and lustful feel to it. The magazine uses lots of artists names, 10+ pages of Beyonce stripped and download links to attract its readers.

Analysis of front cover

This magazine is a rock magazine as you can see on the front cover the issues and articles are about rock stars and their lives and music. The audiences of the magazine are over 16’s interested in rock music. Their interests could be reading about their favourite musicians, skateboarding or gigs. The central image uses a direct mode of address as they are looking straight at the camera.
This means that they are trying to make it look like they want a personal relationship with the reader. My Chemical Romance is in the front cover as they are very popular in the music world at the time the magazine was issued. The framing of the shot in the front cover is making the band look up at the reader which can give the reader a false sense of empowerment however as they have a don’t mess with us attitude its showing that even though their below the reader they are not intimidated. They might have had also an album out or where touring at the time as well. The anchorage text says ‘death drugs and revenge…they’re not okay’ this implies that the artists are violent, bad and not very nice. The overall message that this band is giving is ‘don’t mess with us’ as they intimidate the reader with their attitude. The other groups are also represented with a similar attitude as they all pretty scary.
The buzz word this magazine has used is ‘Free’ this can make the reader want to buy the magazine as they will think is value for money as they are getting a free goodie with it. The design of the magazine is gothic as they use red to represent blood and the title’s font has the look of broken glass.
The title of magazine ‘kerrang!’ almost gives the sounds similar to that of a loud guitar, this shows me that the magazine’s readership, image and style is very rebellious, loud and hardcore. This is also the same as the genre of the magazine. The puffs suggest to me that the readers the magazine expects will be interested in the magazine’s awards show and their party pictures. The slogan of the magazine is ‘Life is Loud’ this suggests that the magazine’s genre is very loud and so are their lifestyles. This helps to attract the reader as they will read that and relate it to their life and their love of loud music. The colours used are very boring but it does make the bold red colour stand out.
The strategies used by the magazines to attract its readers include exclusive features, free goodies and important articles.