Research of music magazines

Task 2

The prices of these two magazines are both different one costs £1.90 whereas the other one costs £3.90. It is unusual that the difference varies so much they normally may just have a difference of 10 or 20 pence. Both of these magazine relate to how my magazine will be and they both involve indie bands. The frequency of publication is monthly as not much goes on in a week so they build up on their information.

Kerrang

regular content: Feedback- about different concerts that have occured

News- about bands or singers lives, gossip about the celebrities

Live reviews- from gigs

Album reviews and gigs

Feature articles: Swag

Famous last words

Seeing these two front covers it has made me think that black is one of the popular colour for a music magazine. As i have analysed these two magazine it has gave me ideas for my own magazine.

analysis of double page spread.

This is a picture of the band "the teenagers". This band seem to be teenagers theirselves hence the reason why they have called their band it.

Title:
- The title of the article is called "The teenagers" as that is the name of the band and who the article is about.
- The title is done in capital letters and in a bigger font than the rest as it stands out to people when they are turning the page.
- The title has connotations of young people and instantly makes us think about teenagers.
- Underneath the title of the article is a positioning statement for the band. It says "young, dumb and full of ... filthy tunes". This tells us alot about the band as it says their young and dumb and they say how filthy their tunes are.
- The title has been wrote in black writing and it has been highlighted in blue which makes it stand out.

Piture:
- The picture that is shown in this article is of the band. There are three members and the 3 band members in the picture sit in the way teenagers are thought about. For example one of the members is sitting quite moody and in a negative way, the other member in the middle has his arm above his head which shows he is relaxed and he doesnt have any facial expression he is just straight faced, however the last memebr of the is sitting with a sort of smirk on his. All the ways they are sitting are the stereotypes of teenagers.
- In the picture the 3 members are on a bed which shows them relaxed, but on the wall behind them are pictures which shows that they have a good life going out to parties and having fun as that is what the pictures symbolise.
- On the picture the editor has put a sign on it saying "need to know" and the teenagers underneath this shows that there will be facts and information about the teenagers within the note.

The article:
- The article is done in 2 columns.
- At the beggining of the article there is a drop capital of 4 lines.
- At the start of the second column they have added a picture of one of the band members with his microphone in mid singing action.
- The colour of the writing in this article is black as it is easier to read.
- In the article a part what has already been wrote in the article has been repeated but the font has been made bigger and bolder and it has been highlighted which normally means it is one of the most interesting fact out of the article.

- This magazine article has stuck to the colours blue, white and black.
- They have stuck to a plain white background which makes the whole article stand out more.

analysed front cover

Title: The Name of this magazine is Q. It is easy to know that that is the name as it is the biggest word/ writing on the cover. This magazine have done the background of the name in red and the letter Q in white. This means that it would be eye catching to the audience.

Main Image: The main image on the front cover is the singer from the killers. The pose they have him doing is striking for the audience. He has one finger pointing to the camera. When you see this pictures pictures it makes you feel like he is pointing at you and is staring at you, this will instantly draw you in to the magazine.

Main colours: The main colours used on this front cover is black, white and red. This remains the same throughout the whole of the magazine.

Cover stories: On this music magazine they tend to have only one cover story. The reason for this might be that they dont
want to give to much away about what is going to be in the
magazine. They use a different coloured background which
shows that they want to make it eye catching to the audience.

Tagline: All the months best music reviewed and rated!- This
would make the reader want to buy it as they would
believe that the best music reviews will be in this
magazine. So they would choose this magazine over
any others.

Buzz Words: 100 ways to get free music!
Bar Code : This is on the bottom right of the front cover
Price: Under the buzz word
Date: Next to the price under the buzz word

The writing is in the same font on the front cover and also
throughout the whole on the magazin.

Publication Plan

Publication plan

Title: Inverse

Positioning statement: Feel the music and love Indie!

Frequency of publication: Monthly

Price: £3.15

Distribution: Local shops, newsagents, Indie gigs and supermarkets.

Rationale: This magazine is for teenagers and people in their twenties. This magazine is for indie fans and the magazine will include articles and interviews about indie bands and unsigned bands around the UK. This magazine will have information that fans will want to know about rather than what we would like to put in.

Style: Informal, as humour will be used throughout some interviews and peoples comments. The magazine is for all indie fans and using formal language will turn people away as it may be too tough to read. The magazine will mostly consist of short paragraphs, pictures and indie talk.

Regular content

· Editors Letter
· Public Reviews
· Gig reviews
· Fans report on each Show
· Pictures of different gigs that have took place
· Different things that have occurred throughout the last month
· Best oncoming band
· Star of the month
· Stars release most embarrassing moment this month.


Feature Content
Examples of what may feature in the magazine.

• Kings of Leon, Kings of Indie
• Top 10 downloaded albums
• Interview with Alex Turner
• My life from start to now(Various managers)
• Fans changed our life (Exclusive interview with kings of Leon)
• Dos and Don’ts when on stage.
• Un famous bands to keep our eye on
• Get the indie clothing style
• Hippys on the hill, exclusively tell Inverse how they became a band***
• How to start a band (the fratellis)
• Hippie fans get interviewed
• Chance to take part in the official indie weekend
• What is life like when you become a famous artist?
• How do you find the words to produce a song***
• Paramour release their tricks to their amazing music videos
• The skill to ignore negative feedback(The Wombats)
• Feel the vibe (The Kooks)
• Fans speak about their favourite bands and songs of the month.


House style

Masthead: Eras Medium ITC (Bold) 36 pt

Coverlines: Shruti (Bold) and Shruti

Headlines: Arial

Standfirst: Franklin Gothic Book(bold) 14pt

Captions: Franklin Gothic Book 10pt

Features First paragraph: Drop capital Franklin Gothic Book, 5 lines deep.

Body text: Arial 11pt.

Colour scheme: Red, Black and white.

Results of Questionnaire

As people who answered my questionnaie said that they look for mostly pictures when looking for a magazine, i might have a couple of pictures on my front cover but make them interesting.














Most members of the audience said they wouldnt subscribe to the magazine that they read.













2 of the people say that they dont leave comments and views on the websites they are looking on, therefore the other 1 leaves comments for the magazine to see.















17 people out of 20 said that they dont visit the magazines website therefore not many could answer the next question.












11 people said that they arent reading a magazine although the other 9 said they were reading a magazine.















The people who filled out my questionnaire preferred a different other that red, black, blue and yellow.













The word that came into most people's heads when they heard the word Indie was skinny jeans, this is a stereotypical view on Indie artists style.













Most people buy music magazine weekly, although a few people buy them every 2 weeks and the odd one monthly or weekly.















Most people will pay inbetween the prices of £2.00 and £3.00, these are the most reasonable prices to set the price of a music magazine cost.













Most peoples favourite Indie bands were either the Arctic Monkeys or Kings of Leon.




Conclusion: I have asked a range of questions about everything that people would be interested in in a music magazine. Each questionnaire was handed to people of different ages in my target audience so i could make sure that my answers weren't biased.

Tally of Questionnaire results

Tally of the questionnaire

1. How old are you?

10-14 - llll
15-20 – lllll lllll ll
20-25 - lll
25-30- l

2. What is your favourite Indie band?

Arctic Monkeys- lllll lll
Black eyed peas- l
Paramour- lll
Kings of leon- lllll lll

3. How much would you usually pay for a music magazine?

£1.50 - llll
£2.00-£3.00- lllll lllll
£3.00- £4.00 - llll
More- ll

4. If more how much?
No answer!

5. How often do you purchase a magazine?
Daily - l
Weekly- lll
Fortnightly- lll
Monthly- lllll lllll lll

6. What are three words you think of when you hear the word indie?

Dancing- llll
Loud- lll
Skinny Jeans- lllll ll
Funky- l
Energy- lll
Converse- ll

7. What is you favourtie colour for a magazine?

Red- lll
Black- lllll l
Blue- l
Yellow- ll
Other- lllll lll

8. Have you recently read a magazine/are reading?

Yes- lllll llll
No- lllll lllll l

9. If yes what did/do you like about it?

Colourful- lllll
Interviews- llll
No answer- lllll lllll l

- What do you dislike about it?
No answer

10. Do you visit magazine websites?

Yes- lll
No- lllll lllll lllll ll

11. If yes do you leave comments and views for the magazine?

Yes- lllll ll
No- lllll lllll lll

12. Would you subscribe to the magazine?

Yes- lllll llll
No- lllll lllll l

13. Would you buy a magazine if you didnt like the singer/band on the front cover?

Yes- lllll lllll lllll
No- lllll

14. What do you look for when buying a music magazine?

People on front cover- lllll llll
Colours- l
Images- lllll lllll

Music Magazine questionnaire

Please put a circle around the correct answer.

1. How old are you?
10-14 15-20 20-25 25-30


2. What is your favourite Indie band?
__________________________


3. How much would you usually pay for a music magazine?
£1.50 £2.00-£2.50 £2.50-£3.00 More


4. If more how much?
___________


5. How often do you purchase a magazine?

Daily Weekly Fortnightly Monthly


6. What are three words you think of when you hear the word indie?
________ _________ _________


7. What is you favourtie colour for a magazine?

Red Black Blue Yellow Other _______


8. Have you recently read a magazine/are reading?

Yes No


9. If yes what did/do you like about it?
____________________

- What do you dislike about it?
____________________


10. Do you visit magazine websites?

Yes No


11. If yes do you leave comments and views for the magazine?

Yes No


12. Would you subscribe to the magazine?

Yes No


13. Would you buy a magazine if you didnt like the singer/band on the front cover?

Yes No


14. What do you look for when buying a music magazine?
_________________


Thankyou for doing this questionnaire

Codes and conventions of music double page spread articles

*Image on at least one page
*Drop capital at beggining
*Mini intro
*By lines(who the articles by)
*Colour scheme
*Magazine name next to page number
*Issue date and number
*Website
*Name of interviews in different colours
*One main image
*Border
*Columns always 2/3/4
*Quote on photograph
*Headline
*Standfirsst is always by headline and before the start of the article . Introduces the article and explains what its going to be about. Engages the reader.
*Use informal mode of address(article)
*Short and snappy

Codes and conventions ofmusic magazine content pages

*Columns 3/4
*Colour schemes- similar to cover
*Issue date
*One main image (Main story)- artist/bands to do with music
*Several images
*Spereated into subheadings eg. regulars, feature, news.
*Website
*Editorial- mode of address
*Coverline from front cover included

Codes and conventions of music magazine front covers

*Masthead at top
*Coverlines
*Colour schemes(3 main colours)
*Barcode, price and date
*5 cover stories
*Tagline
*Genre of music
*Same font
*Main stage-singer
-long shot(band)
-mid shot(singer)
-Looking at the camera(why?expalnation)
-Body language reflects genre(mode of address)
-Subsiding images
*Limited range of colours(why?)
*Buzz words
*Layout- appropriate for target audience

Research behind existing magazines

Q and NME are very similar magazines as they are both for the genre indie music. These two magazines use the same colours and both follow the codes and conventions of music magazines.

All four of these magazines have very powerful pictures that have been used on the front covers, this is to interest and engage the audiences into buying the magazine. The artists in the pictures are looking straight into the camera, when a member of the public see's this magazine they are going to engaged into the magazine as the artist/artists are looking straight into the camera, having connotations that they are actually staring at you.

Both of these magazine stick to using the colours red, black and white, the reason for this may be that they are getting alot of attention from the public and alot of interests in buying the magazine so therefore there is no reason for the publisher to change the colour if the audience are always interested in it.

These magazines have used big bold writing which will engage the audience and is eye-catching to passes by. This will make the audience want to read the coverlines/ articles on the front cover, which then will have a result of them buying it.

On the last NME magazine the picture seems to have been taken so that the artist appears to be shouting, making the picture seem exciting, and more appealing to the younger audiences of the magazine, who listen to this genre of music aswel the photo was framed informally, from a low angle, giving this artist a sense of superiority.

On the first Q magazine the artist is pointing one finger and the camera and is looking straight towards the camera this signifies how the artist is pointing to the audiences and people may imagine him to be powerful and intimidating.

The first NME front cover, the two artists on the front are standing back to back and this may symbolise how the two artists have a close and tight relationship as they are dressed in the same clothes and have the same facial expressions too.

All of the factors used to produce a double page spread relate to the ideology of the writer and the publishing company, relating to the set of values that the majority of the audience will have. The producer’s intent is to inform entertain and change opinion, while making the magazine profitable to the company.

Consumers that buy the magazine are of a young audience, who take interest in the particular style of music that has been taken on by ‘NME’. The medium of presenting magazines that readers can flip through and skip is very important, and must be acceptable for the fans of the bands that are mentioned in order to draw in the audience.

In this double page spread the publisher has decided to have a picture of the band on one whole side of A4 and then use 2 columns on the other side. This would mostly interest a younger target audience for instance teenagers to around 21 year olds as there isnt alot to read and it can be read in a fast amount of time which will lead to it being more enjoyable.

Decisions about music magazine

Task 11

The type of music magazine that i am going to produce is indie.
The target audience for this magazine will be both genders and ageing between 10-30.
Price: £2.70

I have chosen this price as it is within the two price ranges from the other two popular magazines.

Frequency of publication: monthly
I believe that this is the right way to publish a music magazine as you can find out the gossip and band reviews throughout the whole month.

Average issue size: 50 pages
50 pages is the average amount of pages for a music magazine, this will allow readers not to get bored as it doesnt consist of to many pages with too much information filled out on them.


Front cover images:

Adam Price on the front cover being a new indie singer

Hippies on the hill- A band from wallasey who perform where ever
they can including the Liverpool o2 Academy.

Cover lines for front cover:

Exclusive Hippies on the Hill interview
Kings of Leon kings of Indie
Top 10 downloaded albums
Band review- public review unsigned bands
How to write the perfect song
Exclusive arctic monkeys interview on DVD

Decisions for contents page:

Regular content
Feature content
Title

Regular content is:

Public reviews of gigs
Fans report on each show
This months gigs
News from the past months
Best upcoming band
Star of the month
Stars reveal the most embarressing moment this month

Feature Content :
Examples of what may feature in the magazine.

Interview with Alex Turner
My life fromn start to now - various artist managers
Fans changed our lives - Kings of leon
Do;s and dont's on stage
Unfamous bangs to keep an eye on
Get the indie clothing style
How to start a band
Hippys fans get interviewed
Chance to take part in the official Indie weekend
What life is like as a famous artist
Paramour release their famous tricks to their amazing music videos
How to ignore the negative feedback- the wombats
Feel the vibe - The kooks
Fans speak to INVERSE about their favourite songs/ bands of this month.
VOTE the best indie song of 2009
100 top Indie songs

Images needed:
Picture of Hippys on the Hill
3 members of th e public for the gig reviews
Jack clarke A singer from Wirral
A picture of a wallasey band

Double page spread : A picture of hippys on the hill performing
I will use 3 columns on each page of the double pages spread.

Evaluation of front cover and contents pages.

My magazine front cover and contents page followed both codes and conventions. My front cover was produced by following each one of the codes and conventions and I believe if I have done this effectively then it will look like a normal magazine. With my front cover I also produced it by following the rules of codes and conventions and I believe that if paired with another magazine it would differ in appearance but the codes and conventions of it would match perfectly.
I produced are front covers on Adobe Photoshop this allowed me to edit pictures in the way I wanted to and in the right way. Adobe photoshop is a good software when producing a front cover of any kind. Nearly all magazine produces will use this software and it is probably one of the most populist kind of editing software there is. Using the codes and conventions to help produce my magazine allowed me to know whether I was doing my magazine right and it made me feel more confident that I was doing it right because I believe that if I followed these codes and conventions then my finished product would match real magazines. The codes and conventions of magazine front covers are basically things that occur on every magazine, these would consist of the name of the magazine generally being in the top left hand corner and they all have an issue date and price. Each magazine will have one main image/ storyline on the front cover with other sub stories around. They usually have bright colours of writing as it will stand out more to the audience and as there are so many magazines on the selves in shops the magazine will have to look the best and be the most eye catching to ensure that people buy their magazine.
With my contents page I used the software Quark, this allowed us to follow the right structure to how a real contents page would be set out. Quark really helped me to know how to set my page and where I should fit my columns. Quark is generally used mostly with contents pages of magazine as the editors probably believe that it is the most helpfullist software. However Quark was hard to understand as I had been using photoshop so much and getting use to that software, but once I had got the hang of it, it all became easy. Also I used the codes and conventions of Magazine contents pages to help me understand what I was doing, having the list of codes and conventions of the contents pages really was a big help, it allowed me to realise what I was doing wrong and if I had done something something wrong which I didnt know about I just had to look at the codes and conventions of magazine contents pages and then that would help me. Having the list of codes and conventions ensured that I produced the contents page up to good standards and allowed me to feel confident about what I was doing. During the process whilst using Quark I realised that it is a much different software than photoshop, it seemed much harder to understand as it didnt have the same tools to use. Overall Quark was a big help whilst producing my contents page.
As it was the first time that I did digital photography with a good understanding of it I enjoyed it very well. It was hard to make sure that you had the correct shot and making sure that it was done in the correct way with lighting and other things. Doing the digital photography was enjoyable as it was my choice how the pictures were set out and how the people in the picture were set. Digital photography made sure that the pictures I was taking had a good quality on them, for example they don't blur out things and produce very clear shots. Digital photography wasnt hard to understand only the type of shot thaat we had to do was.
With the audience feedback it was very useful as if I had been criticized for what I had done it was constructive criticism, this allowed me to know what I needed to improve in order to have a good front cover page and contents page. With the feedback from the front cover I had a couple of points. Firstly, was that it was all to bunched up together. With this point I only needed to spread my work out over the page abit more and then it looked much better as it had space. Secondly, people said that the colours were good as they are all matching and go together, they then followed on by saying this would be a good eye-catching magazine. Lastly, they said about how big my main image was so I just re-sized it to the perfect size which made the whole cover look better. With the contents page people said that the columns weren't big enough that they need more space in them, so I made them bigger and moved some things around on the page. The next point was that one of the pictures didnt look good enough for the contents page, so with the point I contructed it by going and taking another to picture and making it look good for the right part of the magazine. With the feedback I found it helpful as I might of had a finished product that was no where near ready to go as it didnt follow the correct codes and conventions so with people I know making constructive critism about my work was a very big help.
To conclude, my strengths out of this task was probably using photoshop, as I enjoy manipulating pictures that I have took as I find it interesting. Whereas my weaknesses from this task are probably using Quark because I didnt feel confident using it which reflected back on my attitude about how good or bad my magazine contents page was. Knowing that I couldnt use something very well made me feel like giving up but as I carried on throughout the task I got to understand it more, which made me feel more conifdent about doing my work.