My music magazine “Remixed” challenges, uses and develops the codes and conventions of real media products. Whilst planning the genre of my magazine I initially intended to go for a typical, popular music genre such as indie/rock, however my research and planning made me realise how broad this music genre is, therefore I chose a genre which was very personal to me and something that teenagers and young adults will be appealed to, which is dance/house music. This genre is part of the young generation, which is exactly what my core audience is and my magazine reflects the genre in every aspect – starting from the layout, design, colours, content, fonts and most importantly the pictures and how I portray my artists. The most important detail is the actual name of the magazine, this is vital as it’s what will mainly determine the genre of the magazine, therefore I thought that REMIXED would be a perfect name as it ties in with the music genre. My magazine slightly challenges the codes and conventions of media products and in this case my exemplar guide which I used to create my magazine was Billboard magazine, as it’s the one which reflects the chosen music genre the most. This can be seen immediately on the front cover, this page is slightly different from most music magazines as it does not contain as many sell lines and it’s quite plain and I used this style on an existent billboard magazine, this is because my aim was to create a magazine which looked professional, quite serious and at the same time I wanted my audience to focus on the main artist which features in the magazine, therefore by being plain and having a black background the front cover picture would stand out more to the eyes of the buyers; additionally the picture reflects the music genre as the lightning used differs from traditional lighting creating a modern effects which relates to the music genre as well as relating to the colour of the header- the picture also creates a direct address to the audience as the singer looks straight in the eyes of the buyers, which persuades them to buy the magazine. The genre is reflected mainly by the mastheads typography and colour font chosen; the font looks very modern and fun – the colour used for the font makes the magazine look fresh and entertaining to read, which is my audiences expectation. Alongside with the pink colour of the font I used a bright yellow colour to create a contrast between both shades and reflect the house/dance music genre through the colours as they are fairly bright without being too blinding and its what people associate the following colours with the music genre. Lastly the font used for the sell lines is smart and easy to read, making the front cover look professional but not too serious which will persuade the audience to read the rest of the contents. The front cover overall follows the codes and conventions of music magazines as it includes a header, a main image, dateline, barcode with the price indicated, featured stories, cover lines and a heading for the main picture, indicating that she’s the main star of the magazine as the typography varies from the rest of the text on the page.

The contents page follows strictly the codes and conventions of a music magazine. Starting from the layout and design the contents page relates to the front cover as it uses the same exact colours and this shows that the magazine is consistent and will look very professional to the eyes of the audience. The typography reflects the music genre through the pages as it gives out a futuristic, modern feeling which is what the music genre is all about. The page incudes many pictures of which one of the main artist which is the biggest image demonstrating that she will be the main article and the rest represent other artists of similar music genre and one picture of an actual live performance reacting to the music genre. It was very important for me that I included both genders as my aim is to appeal to both males

and females, therefore this will appeal to both genders. The page incudes the typical contents heading which are part of the conventions of magazines alongside with the page numbers on the pictures as it will help the reader to find the desired article. The page includes e-media which is very important as it enables the magazine to be shared on different social medias and where the reader can listen to the magazines music playlist on the phone app, this is also known as convergence as differed media platforms work together to promote a product. The masthead placed at the centre top of each page is once again a magazine convention which states to the reader what the page is. Lastly the contents page contains a subscription service which most magazines offer. Most of the information and content found on this page was based on a billboard magazine contents page.

The first double page spread is a simple eye-catching image of the main artist. The artist is represented as being fun, modern and artists thanks to the colours of the background which again flow nicely with the colours used in the design of the magazine. I wanted to create an original full bleed therefore I placed the two pictures together and used a picture which I took of some lights to be the margin of the double page spread, this was mainly done to show that she’s the star of the magazine. Lastly the font chosen for the box out text which mentions her name is the same as the name of the magazine, demonstrating that she’s the most important aspect of the magazine, furthermore the colour of the typography is the same as the rest of the magazine once again to keep the design and layout flowing nicely together. The double page spread is followed by two more, here is where the cover story is found. The second dps is designed in the style of Q magazine, this is because I wanted my magazine to include different styles and keep the reader entertained by what they are seeing. The full bleed picture makes the artist look confident making the audience feel inspired by her. The lightning used reflects to the music genre, the colours are edgy and make the reader feel as if they were at a night club or a festival; additionally, the box-out text is a quite which is mentioned in the cover story this is typical of many magazines and it’s a feature which will persuade the reader to immerse themselves in the article. The second page follows the magazine conventions as the text is written in columns and its very easy to comprehend thanks to the chosen text and use of colours. The third double page spread is a continuity of my cover story including others pictures of the main artists and showing different sides to her making her identifiable to my core audience. The text once again follows the conventions as its layout out in columns and it not only includes pictures of the singer but also pictures of particular lights which I thought represented her personality and her music genre. The design continues to have the same colours from the previous pages and the typography is also the same as my magazine follows the codes and conventions of music magazine. Lastly all of the pages aside from the front cover and the first double age spread include folio which is very important for the reader so they can find out how to content the magazine, always keep in mind the name of the magazine and the issue that they are reading and lastly the important detail is the page number as it’s what enables the reader to find the desired page and article. The last dps is a poster of the main artist, it includes similar pictures edited together in a collage, this is not a typical convention of music magazines however I believe that this feature will make the audience buy the magazine as if they were a fan of the artist they will be appealed to receive a “free” exclusive content which not everyone can get their hand on.

Overall I planned my magazine to reflect its music genre through the typography, colour scheme, pictures and text. These elements are very important in order to adhere to a specific genre and keeping it consistent.

REMIXED represents a particular social group and this is vital as its important to understand who is my core audience and how I made the decisions which brought me to create my final product. My magazine represents mainly people who enjoy house and dance music which is the current mainstream music which most teenagers and young adults are appealed to. This genre is also very broad however it enabled me to focus on the right social group which is of people between 15 to 27; this age range provides me with the right ideas and ways to appeal to my audience as I’m part of the age range I will understand what they enjoy, what entertains them and what they expect to discover and read about. My audience will enjoy the artists such as: disclosure, Calvin Harris, aluna George and many more; they will go to many festivals and concerts, listen daily to music and be familiar with social media. As well as my audience my artists are represented in a very specific way in order to appeal to the core audience and satisfy their expectations. The main singer “Izzy Martin” is represented as being a young solo singer, with the full package as she’s dressed fashionably, good looking, with nice makeup and accompanied by an iconographic element which everyone can relate to which is the electric guitar; she comes across as being talented and fun, someone which female teenagers will look up to and be inspired by whilst on the other hand the male audience will be appealed by her looks as well as her artistic side. Her facial expression varies from serious, to naïve to confident and rebellious, which is exactly how I wanted her to come across someone that will look approachable to the ayes of the readers. This is confirmed by the tone of the article as she sounds kind, happy and determined with her carrier, something that is fairly unusual for a young singer. What enabled me to create this image of her to the audience was also the location of where I took the pictures; in order to make my magazine original and represent my artist as best as possible I took several photos in the studio using a black background and played with the different lightning at the same time- and then I decided to go to Soho in London which is where the interview of the cover story is held and found several unique locations which best represented the artist. The other female artist also makes direct eye contact with the reader and she looks more innocent in compare to the previous singer, her facial expression and body language is very soft and relaxed, she’s dressed fairly casual and gives the impression of being a natural beauty which again my audience will be appealed to as they will mainly be interested about the music, her pictures where taken in a studio with a black background and yellow/orange lights to create a warm feeling so that the audience would find her approachable. The other two males look very different from each other; the first one wearing an all-black outfit with a hood holding a microphone in front of his face so we can barely seen his face comes across as being very serious , not someone that is very approachable however an artist which will mainly appeal to a male audience therefore they will perceive him as being a cool artist , someone that they will identify with as his facial expression softens his serious look as his eyes make him come across as a fun individual. The picture was taken in the studio using a black background to follow the mood of the singer as well as the design of the magazine. The last

male artist is supposed to be a DJ which makes up a great majority of dance/house artists. As I wanted to make him look very identifiable amongst the majority of my audience the artist was wearing a simple grey hoodie holding some headphones which are again anther iconographic prop which everyone knows of and can instantly understand who he is. He’s supposed to represent the typical good looking guy which all the girls like, therefore his body language makes him look very comfortable and confident. His pictures were nice again taken in the studio, however this time I used a green background and made used of different coloured lights which gave an original effect to the final outcome.

My magazine will be distributed by VICE Media LLC which is a Canadian/ American digital media and broadcasting company. This company is not part of the 4 that form the oligopoly such as Billboard or Mojo magazine, I chose this company for this exact reason, as not many people will know about it will bring a new taste to the world of music magazines. Vice expanded primarily into youth and young adults which is what my primary audience will be made up of , therefore they will be experts in promoting and targeting the specific age group; Vice focuses on digital media which includes online content, news, web, film and a record label; this is important as , as well as having paper copies of the magazines my aim is to also distribute digital formats of the magazine for online and app use; additionally it looks like they are experts on the social media side which will be vital for the success of my magazine. I chose this distribution company also because it doesn’t distribute any other magazines, therefore they will be more focused and will dedicate a lot of time in making my magazine successful. The company will like my magazine as it targets an audience which they already have experience with, its modern and new which is how the company represents themselves as and lastly they will be excited to be working with a new product which they don’t already have. The company will distribute paper copies of the magazine once a month for £3,99 and an online edition for £2,50 and they will receive 40% profit.

The audience for my media product as discussed previously would be made up of teenagers and young adults, more specifically in the age range of 15-27. This is because I’m part of the age group meaning that I will know what my core audience will expect from the magazine and what they will like to read and be entertained from. My aim is to appeal to both genders, however the magazine could be seemed to be aimed more at women due to the colour scheme which I used through the magazine as well as using a female artist to be the main feature of the magazine. I order to appeal equally to both genders I therefore included male artists in my contents page and listed articles which the male audience will be interested in. My target audience will be part of middle class up to high social class this is due to the cost of the magazine; my magazine will be slightly expensive and therefore as well as belonging to a family with has a good financial situation, my audience will also have to have a job in order to fully commit to buy the magazine monthly. My target audience are people which love to listen to music and discover new music genres and artists. They regularly read about their favourite artists and music and engage with the music on social media. Due to already being able to afford the magazine monthly they will also have music apps such as Spotify and iMusic which need a subscription as well showing that they spend part of their monthly money only on music. On weekends they will go out to parties, clubs and social events; the audience will be open for music discussions with their friends and

family and will have a social media account so that they can share all the contents with other users.