Music Magazine Evaluation

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

real media products?Front Cover

My Main image is the most dominant photo on the page I used this shot to show that the artist is the most important on the page and will also include a larger article further in the magazine this is a basic magazine convention.

Cover lines are another important magazine convention which I incorporated onto my front cover this interests the reader further into reading the magazine

Freebies and give aways are also another important convention and are used into hooking in the target audience and making them want to buy the magazine

A Mast head is another important magazine convention which I have incorporated into my front cover the mast head can make or break a magazine if the audience can relate to or understand a mast head the magazine can have better success in appealing to its target audience

A bar code is another convention which I have used and is the most common thing to see on a front cover this allows the reader to see price issue number and can also include the magazines website.

Top an bottom strips can include lots of information about the artists or magazine and it is a widely used convention here I have listed the artists included in the magazine to appeal more to the target audience and to let them know what music the magazine covers

A kicker can be used to advertise free give aways ,subscription or artist information it leads on from the headline and cover lines and entices the reader more

The headline is probably the most important convention I have used it is the selling point of the magazine and lets the reader know what the certain issue will include along with a anchorage and careful use of placement and font it can appeal to the target audience directly

Front Cover

Here I have used careful framing around a grid system which Is a widely used magazine for this helps to organize the information into separate parts of the cover to that the magazine looks ordered and not just a jumble of words and photos

Using this method stops a magazine suffering from “dead space” on a cover which can make a magazine look poorly produced

By organizing my cover carefully I have made full use of the space available and avoided cluttering the front cover and using this form has also made my magazine appear better made and more appealing to the target audience

By utilising the thirds created by the grid I have been able to break down my cover into individual sections with my mast head in the top third my headline in the middle third which Is meant to be the focal point of the cover and most important

Cover lines in the left hand columns are also another important magazine form these lead on from the masthead and headline and are the second most important third

The bottom thirds are most commonly used to display strap lines and the barcode and any other information that applies to the reader such as issue number and price and can also include a list or artists that will feature in the magazine and important selling line

Contents

The date and issue of the magazine is another important convention allowing the audience to identify the contents page and allows the buyer to track issues and articles that are of most interest to them

Ordering my contents information into small concise sections with the page number is another important magazine form which I have utilised this lets the reader find articles with the smallest amount of effort keeping things short and snappy on the contents page keeps the reader interested and not bored looking at large amounts of text to find the article in which they wish to read

Kickers can also be used on the contents page to remind the reader about the free give aways in doing this the chance of a magazine selling vastly improves due to the free items on display

Photos can also give visual insight to the readers and link to the information boxes photos are a highly used convention on a contents page and can make the reader want to find out more about the artists or article it depicts providing a greater chance of the reader buying the magazine rather than bombarding the reader with endless lines of text

A subscription offer is a classic contents convention and is usually found in the bottom third of the page offers like this grouped with free give aways give the reader a sense of value for the price that they are paying and offers like this help to boost the sales of magazines and also boost the viewings of the online website

A mast head on the contents page can help the reader identify the contents page and enforce the visual impact on the reader

Cover lines are another basic magazine convention which I have used these let the audience know what will be included in certain sections and can refer to page numbers to read about which article that is most appealing to them

Double page spread Heading and Introductory comments are for drawing an audience and hooking the reader into the article using quotes typical of this style of music and thinking carefully about my layout and use of font to create the desired look of my double page article

Columns containing review information gives the reader a more in-depth analysis about the artist they are reading about and brings the magazine down to a personal level using careful language to create imagery in the readers head and helps the reader to be able to relate more to the artist and article

Here I have used columns to organise my page spread creating concise sections I have also utilised the text flow tool on photoshop to create a classic look to my article based around the house styles I researched prior to making my own magazine focusing mainly on the conventions of NME mag

Using a Masthead combined with words such as exclusive give the impression that only in this magazine will you get exclusive reviews which is useful into hooking an audience and giving the impression that the magazine has been created with the audiences interests in mind

I have also used conventions such as page numbers in corners ad dating the pages this helps the audience find there way through the magazine by referring to the contents page and find the articles that interests them the most doing this stops the reader becoming bored of flicking through pages trying to find a page which interests them

Small text boxes with the pictures let the audience know what was happening at the time the picture was taken and are another important feature in the house style I was aiming to create these small features give the magazine a more professional look

Double page spread

I have made careful use of photography using set up shots the create a themed set of photographs that link directly with my article house style and target audience using set up shots mixed with action shots of the artists performing, these shots have set a dark tone and feeling this links directly with my post punk genre I have also utilised the tools in Photoshop to enhance my photos to create the desired effect. The way that I have ordered these images on the page links to the house style which I researched before creating my magazine.

House style NMETo create my house style I looked carefully at how magazines such as NME are created and took note of what codes and conventions are used this helped me determine my page layout colour scheme and photographs to create a professional looking magazine, The reason I chose NME as it has a similar target audience as magazine I created this would help my magazine become successful as audiences could relate to the house style I have used

By using the same colour scheme throughout my magazine it allows my audience to recognise and relate to my house style by use of dark colours and photographs this also links in with the style and tone of my music genre, this links in with the methods used in the magazines in which I researched

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine target audience is teenagers/young adults

The target for my audience is males aged between 16 and 24 I have chosen a music genre to base my magazine around which is popular with this age group and gender maximising its potential to succeed I have created a readership profile for my music magazine which states the main audience interests

I have also researched the culture and ideology of my music genre and chosen appropriate artists and idols from this genre using the genres dark mood and tone in my images article and layout

These are the shots that I have used in my magazine as they a particularly good at displaying characteristics and the tone of my music genre and of my target audience I have chosen a harsh environment for this shot and a very dark and dingy look to the photo this and have set the artists up in a way that represents the genre a sombre look of each artists some not looking directly into the camera

i have also included a series of live shots these are common types of shots in my music genre and appeals to the audience directly seeing the artists in a natural manner and not a set up shot and also links in with the “ordinary guys” theme that is associated with the post punk genre again I have opted for dark black and white photographs which link in with the dark feel and mood of the genre

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Before I created my magazine I needed to know who would be interested in reading it so I created an audience research questionnaire and handed it out to people around college as I wanted to aim my magazine at people aged 16+ the purpose of this was to find if my magazine would be successful and also to find out more about my target audience so I could create appealing articles and photographs but also have a correct ideology and mood that would interest my target audience

This is the readership profile that I created from the results of my questionnaire

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

The media institution that I think would be most successful and marketing and distributing my media product would be IPC MEDIA the reason for this is that IPC MEDIA distributes NME a successful and well know music magazine and due to the similarities in house style content and audience my magazine could be marketed successfully by this organisation

IPC MEDIA’S branches also spread overseas so my magazine would be marketed not only in this country but across the world this would increase my magazines popularity rating ad sales

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my music magazine would be a mainly male audience and from the results of my questionnaire I concluded that around 50% of readers would be aged 16-24. I also looked into my target audiences background and lifestyle and asked what sort of hobbies and interests they had my results shown me that all the people I asked had the same interest in music and fashion enjoyed reading about their music idols going to live events such as gigs and festivals and were mostly from a middle or working class background through these results I was able to create a magazine which would be appealing to my target audience

How did you attract/address your audience?I firstly used setting and tone to attract my audience through my photography which I used in my magazine the industrial and harsh environments in my photos link in with the tone mood and felling of the post punk genre people who were familiar with the genre could identify this through the use of shots and also the colour scheme of my magazine and people who were not so familiar with the genre could pick up the mood and ideology of the genre through reading the magazine

I was also able to attract and address my audience through use of colloquial language and also by utilising conventions such as give aways and subscription offers to bring my magazine down to a personal level almost like the writer is speaking to the reader directly and is offering rewards such as give aways and subscription offers for their loyalty to the magazine

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

Through constructing this magazine I have learned how to create a professional looking magazine through uses of adobe Photoshop using the different tools available to create my pages other technologies such as online blogs and websites have helped my gain insight into how successful magazines operate and allowed my to make my magazine successful through use of photography and also codes and conventions of magazines here is a link to my online blog where I conducted most of my research before creating my magazine http://joejasinek123.blogspot.com/

My choice of photography was also an important factor as I wanted to create an impression of closeness between the reader and the artists and give the impression that these artists can be seen live in local clubs and not only available to people who can afford to pay lots of money to see a live band I did this to create a feeling of trust between reader and the magazine

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

In progression from my preliminary task to my full product I have learnt many skills such as how to utilise the tools available on Photoshop to manipulate my pages correctly to create a more professional looking magazine I have also learnt more about the codes and conventions and page layout used in successful music magazines and incorporated them into my own music magazine.

College magazine

Music magazine My photography skills have also improved through the process of making this magazine I now think more carefully about setting lighting and theme of my shots before I take them something which was lacking in my practise college magazine I now posses the skills to be able to produce a professional looking magazine and also how to arrange it and what to include inside.