Music Magazine Evaluation

Scott Quirk

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Front Cover

My main image on the cover is the most dominate picture in the magazine which I a main convention of a lot of magazines, I did this so that the main artist would be clear and in the spotlight.

Cover line are a big part of the front cover. It is a convention that I have used to draw the audience attention, it help me create I unique magazine.

I used a simple Barcode because it makes the magazine look more professional and is a convention of a music magazine.Kickers are professional conventions that I used to try make my magazine seem more professional and to try at draw the attention of the audience and make the reader interested in buying the magazine.

Contents Page

The main image isn’t the main artist of the band that I made my double page spread on, I used a different person form which my double page was done about because I thought it would be more interesting having different aspects although the main artist isn't the main imagine she is still on there.

Feature shots similarly both my contents page and the Karrang contents page have feature shots, the use of feature shots makes the page look more interesting and shows the reader certain things that are in the magazine.

Reader subscription this is a convection that I used because it makes the reader of the magazine see that they can easily subscribe to the magazines for a fixed price. It draws the attention to the magazine and it makes it look more professional.

Kicker are used in both contents pages it is a convention that I used because it is important as it shows the reader what is in the magazine.

Double Page Spread

Quotes are used to define and enhance the main article. I had to pick the right quotes to fit in with the main article.

Image is a main part of a double page spread. I decided to go with a cheeky look image where Alexandra looks mysterious and sneaky so that it fits in with the article. I developed my image by making it duller and more faded

I added a picture of the editors because a lot of magazines have them.

Introductory text I put a large introduction to my interview because I think it is important for the read to see know where she's from and what she's achieved. It is an important convention which most professional magazines use.

Section header I used a section header because it is important that the reader is attracted to the magazine and understands it properly.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The theme I used on the front cover I carried out throughout my whole magazine. I did this so that the magazine would all flow easily and that the reader would like to read it and can clearly see what magazine it is. For example I used the same text and the same heading type.

Social Groups

I wanted my magazine to appeal to the working class. So I prices the magazine and a very reasonable price so that everyone could afford to buy it.I also decided to create my interview with a person who has came from a working class background so that she relates to the readers. This fits in with the C1C2D social grade.

I conducted research so that I could decide what my social group would be, after considering all the things that I researched I decided that my social group would be and who I want my magazine to appeal to in particular.

My social group is the younger market, it is age for the age range of 16 to late 20’s. It is different to all existing magazines as it doesn’t have a mixed style and it will contain different artists from different music types. It id mainly aimed and people who enjoy R&B it is a relax magazine what can change and develop.

The article is simple and easy to understand so that everyone can understand what it is about and read it, I chose an article that will appeal to a lot of young people who have a dream as motivation.

Colour and Images Firstly the colour palette for my magazine is specially chosen to convey certain messages within the magazine. The colours are Black, White, Red and Yellow. I chose these colours for their attributes and conventional stereotype within the work. For example, the colour red is a negative colour which sometimes represents blood but also sometimes means love, where as yellow is a is a bright colour which is sometimes know as new life and freshness. I used black because it represents darkness and mysteriousness which is how I want my magazine to come across, its mysterious but welcoming. Colours like this contain numerous meanings due to the fact I used them as they all have individual means that create the overall effect of the magazine. The white and black signify the defiled and damned. This all creates a fell for the magazine which will appeal to the audience I am targeting, this will all increase sales and popularity of the magazine. Secondly my magazine had a generalised approach towards its genre when it comes to colour, it has simple none offensive colours which will appeal to a wider variety of people, this will make the magazine sell better as its target market will be bigger.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why

My magazine falls between the likes of NME and Mixmag because it includes both the indie and the dance scene.

I think that my magazine offers something different and would be a good magazine for a lot of publishers as it fits in-between two different types of music scene so that it would appeal to a wider rang of people.

It would be produced by a company that doesn’t already offer something like this such as Bauer Media who are better known for such magazines as Kerrang! but which may wish to expand into this market.

The magazines that they currently offer include: Grazia, FHM, Match and Kerrang! and they remain IPC Media’s biggest competitor.

The benefits of using this company is that they have a good reputation and have the sort of money to help me spread out into this market and achieve good revenue.

I am planning to have my magazine both printed and available online. Some articles should be available online but most of the more important stuff remains inside the magazine. This improves people’s ability to access the magazine and create an online community.

My audience would be young people from around the age of 16-21 as it is a young fun and colourful magazine. It would attract the right audience as it will fit what music scenes I have aimed for.

People who spend money on fashion and are interested about keeping up to date on the latest music information and new bands which will be making their way to the top of the charts.

It is aimed at a more main stream music genre but it is also adapted to fit into the indie scene as well as R&B.

People who buy my magazine will me cool young interesting people who have an interest is what is going on today in the music scene. It will keep them interested and coming back for more.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

I attracted and addressed my audience by making sure what I produced would appeal o the right audience and who I wanted it to appeal to. I made sure I had the right type of imagines, articles and page lay out that would appeal to the young audience of the NME magazine scene whist making my own specific magazine that appeals to a whole different audience.

I made my magazine fun and interesting so that it will attract my audience and will keep them interested.

I used my house style to attract my audience as it was set out so that the whole magazine was linked. The colours were bright and bold so that it caught the eye of the passing reader on the shelf.

I made sure that the articles were interesting and were clearly set out and were written in a young style so that it relates to the readers.

I used the user to see what people wanted in a magazine and who was interested in the type of magazine I was creating, I looked on forums and looks at pictures on blogs to see what people were interested in.

I attracted my audience by using text that would appeal to them and make them feel like the magazine is personally made for them and makes them more interested in buying the magazine.

I made the overall look of my magazine theme link so the magazine flows from page to page. It has a fun clean look. It also looks vibrant and move rapidly with the times focusing on what are the most popular downloads.

How did you attract/address your audience?

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

When making my magazine I learned several different skills and use a lot of different software that I had to learn to use as I hadn't used it before. For example I had to use Photoshop which was a great piece of software as It really helped me develop my magazine. I also used blogs which I had never sued for and learned that they are actually a really good tool to show your work and to access other peoples information to see other peoples point of view. I used YouTube and other online media so see what digital photography was and to research. To keep my audience I would think about taking the magazine online by making a website. I could introduce the magazine on social net working sites such as facebook and twitter. I used a lot of different tools on Photoshop which help me apply affects to my photos and make my whole magazine look more professional I used a number of different camera techniques to make the photography look more dramatic and to link to the who magazine feel. I used a blog which I hadn't previously used so I learnt how to add videos and audio to explain how exactly I built up my magazine.