Final Music Magazine Pages

Front Cover

Contents Page

Double Page Spread

Evaluation/Production Report

Evaluation/Production Report
My magazine is called ‘Musical Express’, the target demographic for my magazine is 25 to 40 year old men and the genre is classic rock. My magazine is based on classic rock; it is a factual guide for classic rock music fans and those who are interested in the music and the quality of it. The reason as to why I have chosen the target demographic to be 25 to 40 is because I want my magazine to be serious and mature and by choosing a demographic of an older age it means that the readers will know what the magazine is talking about.

I conducted research in order to help find my target demographic, the genre of my magazine, the layout and design of my magazine. The first research conducted was quantitative, this was in the form of an online survey and I used this research to figure out my demographic, the genre of my magazine and the sort of artist should be the on the front cover. The reason as to why it was in the form of an online survey was because it is a faster and cheaper process when collecting data and finalising the results. It meant that it was also easier and cheaper for participants to take part in the research and it was not time consuming for respondents to take part in the research. The survey involved ten open and closed questions; I sent the survey to 87 respondents and out of this 62 completed the survey. This research helped me finalise my magazine because I found that there was an audience for classic rock and that they were willing to buy music magazine based on classic rock.

The second research which I conducted was textual analyses of existing music magazine pages; this was because by analysing current magazine pages I was able to find the codes and conventions which exist in nearly all magazines. This meant that I would be able to create my magazine in terms of existing successful magazines which will mean that if I follow the codes and conventions of successful magazines I will be able to create a successful magazine of my own.
The final and third research which I carried out was a qualitative questionnaire, this was in order to find the interests of my target demographic and so be able to create a magazine which fulfilled the standards of that demographic. This research involved creating two templates for my three pages (front cover, contents page and double page spread) and then I asked questions based on what the target demographic thought of each template and what colours the would have used and so forth. This task helped me finalise my magazine because I knew what colours to use for my magazine, what layouts and what topics to use.

The reason as to why I have named my magazine ‘Musical Express’ is because the word express gives a sense of clear, quick and precise, the reason as to why I have chosen this to be a part of my magazine name is because it would give the connotations that my magazine is about music and that it is a fast process of communication of facts on music and musical artists. The typography in a magazine is very important this is because you need to use a font that is suitable for your specific demographic and so it is the reason as to why I have chosen to use the font Calligraphy. It is because it is a script font and this is an old style of writing and so I have used it for my magazine name because it has connotations of old and it gives the sense that the magazine is new but it is not forgetting the main roots of music. My magazine name is in white because I want it to stand out as much as possible against the green background, the connotations of white are hope, this is important for my magazine is because the readers would someday hope to be in the magazine as the magazine has successful people featured are celebrities which gives them something to desire for. By placing it against green and the connotations attached to green are nature and liveliness. This gives it a sense of meaning (i.e. hope and liveliness) which shows that the magazine is full of hope and is lively. The reason as to why the masthead is placed on the top left hand corner is because we read from left to right and so making it clear for the audience to read the magazine this is one of the conventions of magazines (conventions are rules within the magazine which can be broken but are the norm for a magazine).

For my front cover I have used the colours black, green and purple as my three main dominant colours to be used consistently across my magazine pages. The reason as to why I have used the colour black as part of my dominant colours is because it is a strong and powerful colour; it has a sense of masculinity and this is important in my magazine because my target demographic are men. I decided to use the colour purple because it has a feel of royalty this helps to build meaning to my magazine because the colour purple is not generally associated with other things as much as with royalty and so I have used it to give my magazine a sense of royalty of its own. The final main dominant colour green is associated with rock and is one of the most used colours in the genre of rock and so I decided to use this colour because I felt that it is important to follow codes associated with the genre of music. These colours create my brand identity, this is important because it makes my magazine different to other magazines and it would be easier for the audience to identify the rest of the magazine pages because the brand identity is consistent.
I have used the British flag in a circle on the front cover of my magazine is because within the circle its self it says ’50 BEST BRITISH ALBUMS OF ALL TIME’, I found that it was important to do this because I wanted to link the words with the meaning of the symbol, this means that the word ‘BRITISH’ is linked to the flag and by putting it in a circle means that it is almost like an instruction to the audience to look for this inside the magazine. This is a symbiotic relationship between the sign and the meanings attached to it to make meaning of both the sign and its connotations.

The typography used in the magazine are bold and in capitals, this gives it a sense of command, power and masculinity and this is important because my demographic is 20 to 25 year old men and so it has to be suited to the target demographic in order to be successful.
On the double page spread I have placed the second image in a frame, however I have given it the effect of it popping out by placing it in front of the strong, powerful and royal frame and I have deliberately done this in order to give it the meaning that the magazine is new but with old traditional roots. Picture frames also have connotations of memory as photographs are inserted in to them this links with my magazine as we are trying to keep our old music in memory it is very important to us as our modern music. By doing this it gives the image a more useful placement within the meanings attached to it. By attaching a meaning to this I creates Mise-en-Scene, this is a French term that means everything in the scene. The words “FRESH TALENT” is in a musical symbol, this shows that the words are to do with musical talent and this is also Mise-en-Scene.

The reason as to why I have placed a featured story going across the middle of the front cover is because it is a vocal point of my magazine and is shown significance over other featured articles even though it is not my main article this is because the rolling stones are an iconic rock band who are known by many people and so drawing in the audience’s attention towards the magazine.

On the front cover I have placed an explosion shape and inside it says ‘PLUS FREE DOWNLOADS’, the reason as to why I have chosen to place these in a explosion shape is because it is an additional incentive (is a free item given when you buy the magazine) which has to be clearly defined within the magazine for audiences to notice it and so it is another way of drawing the audience in. This is because it is a promotional product and so promotes the magazine.

The line ‘YOUR SEX IS ON FIRE’ is used because it is a pun; this is because it is a line from the song ‘sex is on fire’ by Kings of Leon who are one of the very well known bands in the music genre of rock. By using the song line in this way, the audience reading the magazine text will be able to connect to the magazine because they can identify themselves with the magazine (personal identification) because they know what it is about. Personal gratification is one of the uses and gratification theory. This theory helps define what people do with media rather than what media does to people, this theory suggests that members of audiences are not in a passive position but that they have an active role in understanding and putting media into their lives and so this approach assumes that people use media in order to fulfil specific gratifications. The theory has four explanations as to why we chose to consume media; the first is for entertainment purposes this means that the text provides pleasure and often being escapist, the second is for social interaction; this means that we consume media because the media includes topics which are key vocal points to discussions, the third is personal identity; this is where we can identify ourselves with film characters and we may even use these characters as role models, and finally the fourth is information; this is where we consume media due to the reason that it is full of information which we are at liberty to use. The fact that my magazine is informational means that audiences may use it for information purposes and this means that they can find facts about bands and artists. My magazine has entertainment because one of the main featured stories is ‘YOUR SEX IS ON FIRE’ and the tagline is ’20 THIINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT KINGS OF LEON’, this featured story shows that the magazine is full of interesting topics and articles which are for the purpose of entertainment. My magazine may be used for the purpose of social interaction because the readers can discuss the articles and information with their friends and their families. The theory of uses and gratifications help to make my magazine successful because the readers will be buying the magazine for different purposes and the fact that my magazine involves these theories will mean that nearly anyone can buy it because it has so many different uses and it will fulfil different gratifications.
At the bottom of the front cover I have placed a yellow box with the words ‘Win Tickets’, these words are in a different colour to the rest of the sentence because the word win is a buzz word and these help to draw the audiences’ attention.

The featured stories have a code that the featured story is in purple and the tagline which goes with it is green, this is because it helps to make the reading of the text easier and this is important because the reader has to be able to identify the different articles which will be within the magazine itself (in order to draw their attention in).

On the double page spread I have included a website for my magazine; this is to use multiple plat forms and the result of this is that by having the website you are promoting the magazine and encouraging audiences who do not buy the printed copy to find comfortable ways of accessing the magazine themselves. By having this I am creating a symbiotic relationship between two forms of media. By having the website my magazine is following the technological changes which have occurred.

The reason as to why new media is very important these days is because digital technology has led to increasing uncertainty over how we define an audience, with general agreement that the notion of a large group of people, brought together by time, responding to a single text, is outdated and that audiences now are ‘fragmented’. This means that media audiences use other consumption methods and so the traditional media (television, radio and newspaper) forms are not the major only way of media consumption. The introduction of the internet has meant that audiences can access any information anywhere and anytime, this means that traditional media forms are losing audiences due to insufficient funding and loss of audience interests. Magazines such as ‘Smash Hits’ were unable to keep up with the needs of their audiences and so they were unsuccessful with new media changes and new consumption methods. The impact of digital technology on the magazine industry was that it has been used in order to present stars as perfect, ideal role models of beauty and success by airbrushing images to create a hyper real vision of success and wealth within the publics eye view. The term hyperreality means a state in which images and simulations take on more reality than the state they represent, so that the distinction between reality and representation is no longer sustainable. The reason why The NME is still one of the best selling music magazines in Britain today is that the NME took the changes in music into account and changed its music choice as new modern music came along and using the changes in digital technology into use for the magazine by using new technology in order to improve the format of the magazine and develop images and texts. If Smash Hits had taken into account the changes in music taste of the public maybe it would have still been successful.

In order to meet the needs of the modern society I would need to use multiple platforms. In order to do this I have decided to have a website for my magazine, give free downloads and have a mobile phone copy of the website because internet on the phone is different to internet on the computer. This is in order to promote the magazine and it will provide multiple platforms in order to provide different methods of access to the magazine and so allowing a wider audience. I will also use viral advertising and this is because it is free and it will place my magazine in the conscious of audiences. The reason why I want to use multiple platforms is because audiences have become fragmented, audiences have been shrinking for the old media (i.e. radio) and this is because people are turning to new media and so I want to use 360⁰ commissioning. It is important to use interconnected marketing and distribution of media products across a range of platforms and sectors which is known as synergy and it is important because of the fragmentation of audiences.

Finally if my magazine is unable to keep up with these new media changes then it will mean an end to the future of my magazine. This is because it will mean that audiences will not be interested in something that is hard to access.

Development Of Music Magazine-Front Cover

Development Of Music Magazine-Front Cover

For the front cover the first step I carried out was that I created the layout.

I then added an image and a featured story.

The next task which I did was that I inserted a featured story and its tagline and a flag with another featured article.

I then changed a few colours, I added the main image and another featured story.

However, I was not too sure about my main image because it was pixellated and I did not like the colour scheme which I had chosen because it seemed pretty dull and too general and the articles looked like they were all over the place so I changed the colour scheme to green, purple and black. I also added a mast head, the barcode and the date plus issue number.

Development Of Music Magazine-Contents Page

Development Of Music Magazine-Contents Page

The first thing which I did for the contents page is that I set out the layout and the colours.

I then inserted the images for my contents page and moved a few shapes around the page and changed the design and layout.

I then inserted the text and change the main image of the contents page.

Finally for my contents page, I changed the main image back to the one in the first step because the other two looked starched.

Development Of Music Magazine-Doublepage Spread

Development of Music Magazine-Doublepage Spread

Firstly, I created my background colours and layouts.

I then inserted my interview with my music artist. I also made a few changes on the layout and design.

The next thing I did was that I inserted my images and the headings and so forth.

However I did not like this layout so much so I then made a few more changes such as changing the semi circle to a frame and adjusting the columns and adding another feature to the page. I felt that the last changes I made to the double page spread make it stand out and appropriate for my demographic. I have also included little features such as; a large font upper case letter for the first letter of my article and the website of the magazine plus the logo at the end of the article.

Development Of Images

Development of images

I have airbrushed my images in order to give a hyperrealist view to my magazine; this is because almost all magazines do this which is to let the reader escape into their desirable world where everything is picture perfect. By having a picture ‘perfect’ image on my front cover and the rest of my magazine it will draw people into buying my magazine, because there is an image of a successful, smart and good looking artist who will aspire others to want to be successful and desire to be on the front cover of a successful magazine. If I were to have an image of a normal everyday mans picture on the front cover of my magazine it would not have the same affect because everyone will walk past the magazine and ignore it because it would not provide that inspirational and desirable feeling which most people want in order to feel like escaping from everyday life. The theory of hyperreality was proposed by Jean Baudrillard, who suggested that what we see today and hear is not reality and those which used to be perfect are not seen as real now our days and so it is the reason as to why nearly every successful magazine has airbrushed images.
Below is the final image which is on my front cover, I have smudged his face in order to get rid of the spots and any marks on his face, I have added a little bit of whitening to his eyes by using the dodge tool and gotten rid of the bags under his eyes. Also straightened the outline of his hair in order to give it that perfect edge look.

Institutional Context Report - Presentation

Institutional Context Report

Institutional context report

Publishing House
My magazine would fit into IPC, this is because they own one of the biggest rock magazines and unlike EMAP (who own most of the other big selling rock magazines i.e. Q and Kerrang) they do not own other big selling rock magazines.IPC own NME which is one of the big selling music magazines, however by working alongside NME it will mean that both magazines will create a stronger link in terms of completion towards other magazines. IPC can offer my magazine their expertise and marketing skills in order for the whole production unit (IPC) will be profiting and not just my magazine.

New Media Technologies
In order to meet the needs of the modern society I would need to use multiple platforms. In order to do this I have decided to have a website for my magazine, give free downloads and have a mobile phone copy of the website because internet on the phone is different to internet on the computer. This is in order to promote the magazine and it will provide multiple platforms in order to provide different methods of access to the magazine and so allowing a wider audience. I will also use viral advertising and this is because it is free and it will place my magazine in the conscious of audiences. The reason why I want to use multiple platforms is because audiences have become fragmented, audiences have been shrinking for the old media (i.e. radio) and this is because people are turning to new media and so I want to use 360⁰ commissioning. The use of multimedia platforms is important for the magazine to be successful, by using multiplatform media create a symbiotic relationship which means that all audiences can access the magazine easily and so stopping access boundaries.

Editorial mission statement
To produce a magazine which will help the demographic to keep up to date with concerts gigs and provide information and facts on old and new artists. The magazine’s sole purpose is to provide information and facts not to draw people in to like classic rock but it’s for those who already are interested in classic rock.

Research conducted
I carried out quantitative research in order to find out what colours and layouts would be most suitable for a rock magazine. The survey took the form of an online questionnaire, in which I asked about their interests and views on music. The results I found showed that the majority of the respondents thought that the colours green and black were most suitable for my genre and my demographic. I also found that the demographic preferred not to have additional incentives such as free posters due to the reason that it would be inappropriate for my specific demographic and instead give free downloads or have competitions. I also found that my target demographic preferred having serious information meaning that the magazine should be as factual as possible and as informational as possible otherwise it would be very hard for the magazine to be successful for that specific demographic. This research influenced my decisions towards the magazine because it would have been difficult to produce a classic rock music magazine if I was unable to follow the choices of my demographic.

Reader profile
The reader must be interested in classic rock music; they must like listening to classic rock and be up to date with the latest reviews, concerts and gigs. They must have an idea of classic rock before reading about artists and music in the magazine and so have their own knowledge. The reader should be from the ages of 25 to 40 years old, they may be from working class or most likely middle class, this is because they would need to be willing to pay for my magazine and the age range means that they would have their own views about music and judge music by its quality not the artist. The other media that they may consume are listening to the radio and buying music CDs and downloading music. The people they may look up to are traditional old classic rock artists who are the icons (icons are signs which directly resemble what they represent) for my magazine (i.e. the rolling stones).

Marketing the Magazine
I am going to launch my magazine as a promotional product to be given free with albums of the same music genre which are aimed at the same demographic as my magazine. This is because even though it will be a loss financially, the second issue will be sold at a price of £2.99 and this will mean that the loss made on the launch will help to draw audiences to buy the next issue of the magazine.

The Point of sale - In order to sell the magazine it would need to be placed at eye level this means that when people go into a store/shop the first thing which catches their eye is the magazine. It would need to be placed on the left because people read from left to right and so it would be seen easier. It is also that magazines on the eye level shelf are the biggest selling and especially the first from the left. In order to get the right placement for my magazine I am going to offer a discount to the stores which place the magazine in the placement I want. However this discount would have to be temporary, or else it is financially unviable. I am also including online marketing campaigns such as creating viral adverts in order to put my magazine into the conscious of the audiences. This method is easier and cheaper compared to traditional methods of advertising which will mean that it leaves more of a chance of my magazine being successful.

Additional incentives -In order to draw a wider audience I am going to give free downloads and this means that because this information is going to be on the magazine it’s self and it will be a guide to the website and so making use of both the printed magazine and the website this is a symbiotic relationship between the printed production and the website. The magazine will also have competitions in order for the audience to get a chance to win tickets to tours, concerts and gigs.

I have carried out a presentation in which I have discussed the institutional considerations in more detail.

Smash Hits Research

Audience Research - Qualitative

For the second question the participant responses were;

The pie chart below shows the responses for question three;

This table shows that seven out of the respondents thought that the layouts suited the genre rock and three thought that they did not, the reasons where that seven respondents said that the layout suited well with rock, two respondents thought that the colours were too bright and one respondent thought the colours suited the genre rock.

The graph below shows the responses to the last question.

This task helped me find out what sort of colours and layouts my target audience preferred and why. From this task I found that the two rough templates which I had designed were well suited to the genre of music I wanted, however I found that the colours would need to be darker than those on the templates however the layout was much liked by my target market. I found need to pay careful attention to what colours I choose.

The qualitative research which supported these layouts was the following;

This qualitative research included ten participants. For the first question (‘Which of the two magazine templates do you like best?’), seven out of ten respondents liked template one and three preferred template two.

Audience Research – Qualitative

Template two;

Template one;

Audience Research – Qualitative

Audience Research – Qualitative

In order to base my magazine on the interests (classic rock music) of my target audience I have carried out research, this was in the form of a questionnaire, where I created two different templates for my three pages (front cove, contents page and the double page spread) and I then asked questions asking them what they would change and so forth.

Textual Research

Textual Research
I have annotated magazine pages with the codes and conventions and analysis of mode of address, these pages include front covers, content pages and double page spreads. I have done this task in order to help me find the codes and conventions and mode of address of my own magazine and so I can have a clear picture of how to reach my audience.

Front cover
The front cover is the most important page of the magazine, because if it does not draw attention instantly it will not be worth buying and so there would be no point in reading the rest of the magazine. The front cover has to either welcome back the existing reader or introducing the reader to the world of that magazine. This means that the reader is given the feeling of belonging or their desire to belong to a community is fulfilled. The front cover of a magazine has to have a template design to which each issue is similar in order to secure familiarity and brand identification. The use of semiotics (the study of signs and symbols and the meanings attached to them) is important when creating a magazine, this is because when choosing a sign or a symbol in order to use in the magazine it will have many connotations and so signs and symbols have to be used carefully in order to relate to the audience.

Contents page
The contents page is one of the most important pages of a magazine; this is because the contents page includes the best features of the magazine and locates the reader to the article they want and so not wasting time in flipping through pages and pages of unwanted topics and information and so helping to organise the magazine into understandable units. The pictures used on the contents page are normally to balance out the images and text, however they may also be used to help sell the magazine this is because using text alone will not help interest anyone. The contents page needs to relate to the front cover in terms of colours, fonts and use of images. The language used on the contents page needs to be clear and sharp in order to make it specific to the reader where each article is issued within the magazine.
Double page spread
On the double page spread normally there is one main image which takes up most of one of the pages or even all of one of the pages (normally on the left hand side). The picture is used in order to tell the reader who the article is about; it helps to draw attention because if the image is of a well known artist the extreme large image of the artist will draw their fans in to read the article. The picture also helps to construct the representation of the featured artist and will 'anchor' or illustrate the focus of the story. The double page spread normally helps to promote a band or an artist and it is a form of advertisement.
Target audience
It is important to know your target audience well, in order to meet their needs and so the magazine is designed and laid out the way that its audience would prefer it to be. The colours, fonts and designs used on the magazine are situated around its audience and so it is important to keep in touch with the audience through the form of the language used in the magazine. The audience includes age, race, gender, class and one of the most important is the interests of the ‘target audience’ and the specific target market.