MUSE Magazine

Evaluation

1. In what ways do you think your use, develop or challenges forms and conventions of real media products?

When making my music magazine I did not want it to differ drastically from most music magazines. I wanted to make sure that my magazine still caught the essence of typical codes and conventions of a music magazine but at the same time is unique and different for it to appeal to my target audience. When it came to my front cover I wanted it to appeal to my readers and make them want to buy my magazine, by following specific or similar layouts to other music magazines for my front cover. I did this by placing the strap lines so that they would follow the outline of my front cover star.

I wanted to make sure that my readers do not find my front cover confusing by placing my strap lines and features all over the cover. I challenged other music magazine by being quite flexible with the colour choices I have used for my front cover. I feel that most music magazines go for the typical white, black and grey background colour and then add a pop of colure through the cover star’s attire. However I went for ranges of colours from yellows, blues and burgundy because I felt that these particular colours brought out and put a lot of emphasis on the genre of my magazine which is indie. Furthermore I believe that the genre I have chosen for my magazine adds to challenging other popular music magazine. This is because indie has not been a genre that has been brought out into a magazine format by itself. It has always been intertwined with another genre such as NME magazine which uses both indie and rock genres. I did not want to challenge other music magazines with the style of my front cover photo. I wanted to make sure that the photo I used for my front cover was simple yet still effective, not to over the top for it convey different messages about my magazine. I dressed my cover star in a casual yet smart outfit by combining a straight cut blazer with a coloured checked shirt to give a more relaxed feel.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?With today's generation I wanted to make sure that my magazine did not push the boundaries when it came to representing a certain type of person or group. I targeted my magazine at a audience between the ages of 16-24. In this present day a lot of people already have a negative interpretation of the people associated in this age group. In my magazine I wanted to assert the message that the artists are people who worked to where they are and not people who are successful because they have a plausible voice but their image is the main reason why they have been successful. I also believe my magazine shows originality. The picture of the artist’s used in my magazine show how different and distinctive they are. I think my magazine portrays this generation of people as being individual and not being a follower of a crowd instead of standing out amongst the crowds.

3. What kind of media institution will distribute your product and why?

There are two main media institutions that I would choose between to distribute my product: International Publishing Company (IPC) and Bauer Media Group.IPC Media is one of the UK's leading magazine consumer magazine and digital publisher. It has a huge product portfolio and sells over 350 million copies every year. IPC Media already distribute music magazine NME and Guitar. Both complete opposite genre and target audience. Bauer Media Group is a large German publishing company that operates in 15 countries worldwide. It publishes music magazines MOJO, Kerrang and Q.I would want IPC Media to distribute my music magazine. Firstly it is one of the UK's most successful magazine distributors; This tells me that IPC Media is able to market my magazine at the demographic audience of 16-24. The Bauer Media Group has a lot of successful history distributing a huge mass of music magazine such as MOJO, Kerrang and Q. However I feel that my magazine would not be successful selling because of the amount of competition. Whereas IPC Media only distribute two magazines: NME and Guitar. I believe that my magazine is more suited with their product portfolio when it comes to music magazines.

4. Who would be the audience for your music magazine and why?

When conducting my research and my questionnaire I found that people between the ages of 16-24 were a lot more interested in the genre that I wanted to create my magazine for. My research also showed me that NME was the only magazine selling an indie genre of music however this was intertwined with rock. This meant that there was not a magazine that solely focused on the indie genre of music, and therefore there was a gap in the market. I chose to target my magazine at a younger audience because I felt that today's generation of young adults have become a lot more aware of indie music and are starting to become more influenced by indie music through festivals such as Reading and Leeds. Furthermore a lot of artist’s in the music industry today come from the indie genre of music such Ed Sheeran who won awards for British Breakthrough Artist of the year in both 2011 and 2012 and has become so popular since he first hit the music scene uploading videos on Youtube which has led him to become extremely well known with the young adults.

5. How did you attract or address your audience?

I think when it comes to making a magazine that is aimed at more of a younger group of people you need to make sure that you develop a product that they want to read and does not comes across as boring or just another music magazine. I made my front cover using a mixture of bright colours and strong dark colours that together complement one another to stand which I thought would be important for readers within my target audience because it will make them want to pick up a magazine that looks unique besides other magazines. Also I used specific artist’s that I featured on both front cover and contents page that very well known within the indie genre of music and artist that readers can relate to be inspired by. Price is another factor that I believe plays a big part in attracting your target audience. My questionnaire showed that people would not be willing to pay more than £2.50 for a music magazine so therefore I decided to price my magazine at £2. I wanted to make sure that my magazine did not come across as being too expensive because the majority of my readers will be students and they will not be willing to spend a lot of money on a magazine. My magazine will also be published monthly and will feature articles such as interviews, latest news, monthly reviews and more. This gives my readers a chance to do some research on the artists that are featured in the magazines and upcoming artists too.

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

When making my music magazine I used the Adobe software Fireworks CS5 when creating my front cover, contents page and double page spread. I found Youtube on how to work your way around the different features it offers. This was extremely helpful and after a few attempts I found it a lot easier to use the software. When taking my photos for my magazine I made sure that they would be of high quality and therefore I used a professional Nikon camera. The high quality photos helped my magazine look more presentable and professional. Having used a range of technologies helped me learn how much of a difference it makes when trying to produce a product that needs to look of the highest standard and quality.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?

When making the school magazine it was a lot easier when it came to taking photos because I was able to use school facilities also coming up with features to include in the contents page. When creating my preliminary task I was using basic editing tools and creating basic logos and fonts for my school magazine that did not consist of much skill. As well as the look of the school magazine, attracting to an audience was a lot easier because you are a lot more aware of what is happening in a school environment and what you can include in your magazine to make students want to read it.

When making the actual music magazine, it was a lot more stressful because I was finding it harder to create a front cover that captured the essence of an indie magazine. It was also stressful trying to create a contents page that looked as if it could be the contents page of a real magazine. I looked at a range of different front covers and contents pages of different music magazines for inspiration of what I could create for my own. Looking back at my preliminary task I can see that there is a big difference between the standard and quality of it compared to my music magazine. I think this was because when I first start using the software for my preliminary task I was not as familiar as to when I started my music magazine. Through the making of my music magazine I was constantly learning new things such as how to add more detail, colour changing and effects. I also learnt what works best for successful music magazines and how they are able to please the public eye with the overall look of a magazine. This allowed me to gain more knowledge on what I should include in my magazine and the detail and positioning of my page layout. When I started my music magazine I was definitely a lot more aware of what I wanted and paid a lot of attention to detail in getting the look of my music magazine perfect.