HOW DOES YOUR MUSIC MAGAZINE REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?

QUESTION 2:

MY TARGET AUDIENCEMy target audience is for 16-19 year olds of both genders, who are interested in rock/metal/indie music. They will be interested in new releases, but also old classics. Many will follow the stereotypes of the particular music my magazine covers. They would be looking for a mature music magazine, with true articles, and artists that are important to their generation and social group. Generally they are lower or middle class, and enjoy to go to gigs and festivals- they may even be in a band themselves. They like to dress in Zara and vintage stores.

HOW DOES YOUR MUSIC MAGAZINE REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?

STEREOTYPES OF:TEENAGERS

Loud. Obnoxious. Rebellious. Lazy. Messy. Rude. Like to party. Full of angst.

ROCK FANS Wear a lot of leather. Long hair. Like the colour black. Depressed. Party a lot. Troublesome. Rebellious. Immature.

HOW DOES YOUR MUSIC MAGAZINE REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?

I believe the majority of these stereotypes are unfair (especially for older teenagers, who my magazine is aimed at), and people view these groups unfairly. This means I am going to create a counter stereotype of the negatives, making my magazine positive.

Because of this, my magazine is going to be made for passionate music fans, who want rock news- not rumours. My models will be dressed well, some in leather and other stereotypical clothing, but others not. My articles will be full of positivity, and feature young bands as that is what I believe my target age will want. Following on from this, it will feature reviews of live music as well as recent releases, as rock music is all about the ‘moment in time’. The magazines that I believe work best for my target audience is NME and Classic Rock, as they are aimed at more of a mature audience, in comparison to Kerrang! (which although is rock, I believe it follows too many stereotypes, and is aimed at a younger teenage audience).

LOCATION is used for different effects in my magazine. I have used 3 locations: Studio (white vinyl backdrop), woods, and a live concert. By using a studio, it means the focus is on the models. This means that the focus will be on what they’re wearing and their expressions, which will generally follow stereotypes. A wooded area is counter stereotypical of the rock genre, as rock is generally thought of being urban as opposed to natural. This makes a statement, because it goes against the norm; therefore, is slightly rebellious. Much like Kerrang! my magazine will feature live photos from concerts; therefore, as my target audience heavily attend concerts, this should appeal to them.

PROPS AND COSTUME I have been stereotypical with picking props and costumes for my models. For example, I have dressed The Strips in; black clothes, a leather jacket, a bandana, and sunglasses. I have done this, because I wanted the stereotypical attitude that these clothes carry to be explicitly obvious. Because rock is about rebellion, these clothes portray this perfectly. I’ve also given them a black guitar, as it’ll appeal to the musicians who read the magazine. As well as this, a rock magazine is expected to feature guitars. On the other hand, in the picture of Lee in the woods, he is wearing a vintage military jacket. Jimi Hendrix used to wear military jackets, so it has connotations of the music that my target audience listens to.

HOW DOES YOUR MUSIC MAGAZINE REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?

LIGHTING was important in creating atmosphere in my images. As I wanted my magazine to counter stereotype the idea that rock fans are depressed, I had to choose colours that had an orange/yellow tint- because these colours often represent happiness due to the sun. Therefore, I had one photoshoot during sunset, to naturally create a yellow glow. It is particularly effective in contrast with the darkness of the trees. During the studio photoshootI used white lighting so it wouldbe easier to edit in postproduction. This meant I was able to enhance the yellowglow in Photoshop. Together these photoshootsyellow glow counterstereotype the depression,creating a happy atmosphere.

HOW DOES YOUR MUSIC MAGAZINE REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?

POSES in my photoshoot have all been relaxed, and the models are straight faced. As teenagers are often relaxed or ‘lazy’, this will appeal to them as the subjects aren’t bothered about the photoshoot. My audience will want to connect with the musicians. By using an eye-level CAMERA ANGLE, in conjunction with staring at the camera (MODE OF ADDRESS), makes the target audience feel equal to the musicians. Yet, the photos are at a slight low angle, as this makes the subject seem more important- fitting as teenagers want their idols to be godlike. These types of photos are used in many magazine, such as: NME, Classic Rock, Kerrang!, and Mojo.

By using all of this (slight low angle, direct mode of address, straight faced), I havebeen able to make him seem arrogant- which is stereotypical of a lead singer. My targetaudience would want to see this, as a teenager’s angst is attracted to arragance. As well as this, in one photo he is looking in the direction of the article, this may prompt the reader to read the article, which is full of stereotypical LANGUAGE.

I wanted my language to be rebellious and full of talk aboutpartying, social media, and music. I wanted to this because it is stereotypical of what is in a music magazine. Also, teenagers are stereotypically appealed by this language, as they use it themselves; therefore, they have common ground with the artists. (Below are a few examples). I also make a point of the artist’s age, as it is the same age as my target audience. Finally, as my target audience is

generally aimed at 16-19 year olds, they are most probably going to be students; therefore, I wanted the magazine to be cheap. This means they’d be able to regularly afford it.