Music Magazine Evaluation

Jonty Massey

Our brief was to make a new music magazine with a front cover, contents page and double page spread (4 pages total) and a minimum of 4 original images

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

• Ways in which my magazine front cover follows conventions:

• The masthead is at the top of the page, covering about 1/5 of the cover, same as Kerrang magazine. The fact that the title starts on the left hand side means it will be easy to spot on a shelf in a shop, as magazines are stacked to reveal just the left third of them.

• Another convention that my front cover follows is the main image, of a popular rock star which grabs the readers attention, similar to the band Rammstein on the cover of this Kerrang

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

products?• The various pugs and

boxes located on Kerrang magazine also make an appearance on mine, they are also located in the same mid section of the page.

• The main cover lines for both magazines are located near the bottom, and are made to stand out a bit more than the rest of the text on the page. Both cover lines are related to the main image, a well known and popular convention for music magazines.

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

products?• Ways in which my

contents page follows or breaks conventions?

• Like Kerrang, my magazine features a heading in its contents page, with the issue number and date the magazine was released.

• In both issues the main image is in the top half, towards the left and mid third of the page, making it easy to see and it also anchors it as the main article for the magazine.

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

• Also, in both magazines, the contents are running down the right hand side, with sub headings and page numbers to aid them.

• Both have a competition linked to the main picture, a picture of the editor and a side feature, in my magazine its about contributing to the music industry and in Kerrang it’s a subscription offer.

• I don’t think, in comparison to Kerrang magazine, my contents page doesn’t challenge forms and conventions of other media products

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

Double page spread:My double page spread is similar to a Kerrang article in some ways, although mine is text heavy in comparison. Both have an Image of a popular rock star, in my magazine article the reader can clearly see that it’s about a musician who's passionate about guitars and making music. However in the Kerrang article it would be hard to assume that it’s about a musician, as the medium close up of Taylor Momsen shows her looking directly at the camera playing with her hair. The black background contrasts well with her bleach blonde hair, the fact she's in the left third sets the scene, as it’s the first place the reader will look on the page.

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

Unlike my article, Kerrang features the name of the band/artist being studied in the top right corner ‘The Pretty Reckless’ is easily visible in red and white for the reader to see and identify the artist. Both articles have a direct quote from the feature. This makes it personal, however the Kerrang quote is in different colours to make it stand out more and emphasise certain words. Both articles only use one or two colours, showing consistency , except Kerrang definitely has more vibrant colour to it with the red and pinky hue.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

What different areas of society are represented in your magazine?• My magazine represents an area of society

where there isn’t really a set group of people who listen to the genre of music incorporated into my magazine. The Metalcore fan base has never been one group, lots of people listen to it and you don’t have to be associated with a specific stereotype like you would with other genres. Although in particular ‘Goths’ and ‘Emos’ are known to be associated with Metalcore and just rock music in general. As I Lay Dying, a popular Metalcore band known to be particularly heavy in their style, are all Christian, and label themselves a Christian metal band, although a lot of the imagery and lyrics of the genre are typically non – Christian.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

• My magazine is for anyone interested in good music, interviews and articles • Its the first official Metalcore magazine • It represents no single social group, but a genre of music that can be enjoyed by

anyone if they have the ear for it

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

• Public PLC, the 6th largest media group in the UK would be a suitable institution to distribute my magazine, as they produce the band Metal Hammer, a thrash and heavy metal based magazine, that does well enough however I feel that another magazine of a similar yet different genre would help them a lot. Currently, there isn’t a Metalcore magazine in the UK, so anyone willing to bring something new to the scene would be suitable to produce and distribute my magazine.

• Metal Hammer is a typically expensive, monthly magazine, whereas Break Down will be a weekly instalment, and rather cheap, at the price of £1.50, which makes it a different spin compared to Metal Hammer.

4. Who would the target audience be for my magazine

• Anyone really, the magazine is not aimed at a specific stereotype, however:

• Most likely to buy the magazine would be teenagers• Ages 15 – 21 • Both male and female, equal numbers.• Anyone can buy it, its cheap and easy to find. • Goths, Emos, skaters, indie, rockers etc. would all be the preferred

audience

4. Who would the target audience be for my magazine

• Although typically, Metalcore features little mixture in terms of ethnicity, I would try to cater for all. Bands such as Skindred, a band on independent label Epitaph who are a Welsh metal band with a black singer would feature in Break Down who I personally believe should have more publicity.

• Also I would make sure that bands from other countries outside of England and America are featured, for a range of interests. The music industry in countries like France and Spain isn't doing particularly well, however there are bands out there trying to make it big and I feel featuring them in my magazine would make my target audience aspire to listen to a range of new bands.

5. How did you attract/ address your audience

• To attract my audience I played on the fact that the people who make the music are particular celebrated in rock and metal music, the fanbases are massive and dedicated, a lot more so than the mainstream music industry. Therefore I targeted one specific artist from a band, and interviewed him. Taking what I learned from magazines such as Kerrang and Rock Sound, interviewing a band member is always quite a personal thing, particularly for fans, as the reader feels a sense of closeness to the artist, like they're sharing things with them

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

• By using Photoshop, I learnt how to edit backgrounds in my pictures and images, for example I used the magic wand tool to edit out a sign in the background of my front cover main image, as it would have ruined the context of the picture. This was easy after a few basic lessons on how to use the software.

• I also discovered InDesign, a software similar to Photoshop, which I found a lot easier to use when it came to putting texts and large chunks of writing on my double page spread, something I didn’t have to do in the preliminary task. I learnt how to make my magazine replicate as much as possible the style of a rock music magazine, as I said in my research and planning.

• Using the camera was a key part in the process of making my cover, contents and article, as I knew from the preliminary task and our work on TV drama, all the different types of shots, therefore I tried to get as many different ones as I could in for example the mid shot on my front cover and the high angle shot in the contents.

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

• I feel I have learnt a lot from this progression, in particular about how to use softwares such as Photoshop and InDesign much more fully and in depth. For example I would never have known how to make the sign from my original image on the front cover disappear during the preliminary task.

The research and planning element has taught me a lot about how the music industry works in synchronisation with the media (Music Magazines) and how different magazines can promote and publicise artists