Mood Board
Ideas for my music magazine

Questionnaire results

What are the main features/articles and talking points you

would like to read about in a music magazine?

What music genres would you like to see in a music magazine?

How much would you be willing to spend on a music magazine?

What advertisement would you like to see in a music magazine?

What's your age?

What are your hobbies?

What style of magazine would you prefer?

Questionnaire

·         What are the main features/ articles and talking points you would like to read about in a music magazine?

·         Top charts  [  ]

·         Information on musical artists; how they began, when was the best point in their career, what are they planning on doing next  [  ]

·         Reviews of albums or singles [  ]

·         Interviews with artists, music producers  [  ]

·         Fashion and what they artists or members of bands are wearing. [  ]

·         Crosswords [  ]

·         Gigs guides [  ]

·         Feedback off other readers [  ]

·         Other:                                                               [  ]

·         What music genres would you like to see in a music magazine?

·         Rap

·         Heavy Metal

·         Folk

·         Acoustic

·         Drum and bass

·         House

·         Pop

·         Garage

·         Hip Hop

·         Rock and roll

·         Grime

·         Britpop

·         Indie

·         Blues

·         R&B

·         Reggae

3.       Who is your favourite artist

·         Of all time:

·         Current artist:

4.       How much would you be willing to spend on a music magazine?

·         1-1.49  [  ]

·         1.50-1.99  [  ]

·         2-2.49  [  ]

·         2.50-2.99  [  ]

·         3-3.49  [  ]

·         3.50-3.99  [  ]

·         4-4.49  [  ]

·         4.50-4.99  [  ]

·         5 or above [  ]

5.       What advertisement would you like to see in a music magazine?

·         Clothing [  ]

·         New artists products [  ]

·         Music equipment [  ]

·         Subscriptions [  ]

·         Hair products [  ]

·         Other:

6.       What’s your age?

·         16-20 [  ]

·         21-25 [  ]

·         26 [  ]

·         30 [  ]

·         31-35 [  ]

·         36-40 [  ]

·         40 or above [  ]

7.       What’s your occupation?

 

8.       What are your hobbies?

·         Sports [  ]

·         Making music [  ]

·         Chess [  ]

·         Sailing [  ]

·         Listening to music [  ]

·         Dancing [  ]

·         Reading [  ]

·         Socialising [  ]

·         Shopping [  ]

·         Gym [  ]

What style of magazine would you prefer?

Front cover photos

a few examples of Photos that could be used on a front cover

These photos that i have taken from the internet are of individual artists and also groups for example - swim deep or the stone roses. These photos could be used for cover photos on a magazine for a few reasons. In all of these photos, the models being photographed are all looking in to the camera lens (apart from if sunglasses are being worn), this draws the viewers attention in. most of the images are close ups or medium close ups on shots of individuals, other shots include medium shots/ wide shots/ establishing shots, or shots that use the fish eye effect (Radiohead image)

Some images use effects such as black and white or sepia tones, some has high amounts of contrast and some use various different lighting to create a certain look.

The back ground is also very important, backdrops, studio sets, outdoor settings and natural backgrounds can be used to represent certain genres of music for example the backdrop/ setting on the 'professor green' and 'Devlin' image are of what seems to be a street and a garage door, this is representing view and image of 'rap' and 'grime' music.

A few examples of possible mastheads

Brand Identity for my music magazine

I want my music magazine to attract the attention of a certain section of the British population, introducing these people to new music and getting them to go and experience music themselves. That may be through themselves going to gigs or picking up an instrument and begging to learn how to play it.

My target audience based on feedback and investigation by myself will be students ranging from 16 up to 26, as I think between these ages people are more likely to pick up an instrument or go to gigs and generally be more music involved. For example students doing GCSE’s, A-levels or even at university wanting to have a good time, experience new artists or music.

My magazine will have a minimalist theme as my questionnaire showed people would like this style, this is so it will be easy to read and the audience won’t be bored but information they don’t care about, I want to bring the most interesting news on some of the biggest artists but also insights in to how new and up-coming bands are progressing, I also want to be on top of major music news being one of the first magazines to have ‘breaking news’ but also information that other magazines do not show, so my audience gets ‘behind closed doors’ information.

I plan to write about more about bands rather than mainstream RnB music, unless a big news story in music has risen. I also want to include information on house music, major hip-hop names, some folk, rap and even drum and bass artists. This way I have a broad spectrum of genres included in my music magazine to draw a wide variety of people to read my magazine.

Front cover + Contents for School Magazine

Photos for cover of school magazine

 
 
  
 

NME Brand Identity

NME’s logo is the identity of the magazine the masthead is something that grabs the reader’s attention.

NME stands for New Music Express, from the name we can immediately see that NME focuses on bringing new music, and new artists to the public Another main selling point of NME is also live events, promoting new artists playing live gigs, and getting people interested in new music this way, they use competitions and chances to win gig tickets away to their readers though advertisement such as ‘Intimate sessions’ NME brings the newest but also the biggest indie, and rock and roll bands to the attention of the public, giving them, what they claim to be the most ‘truthful’ information a magazine has to offer. NME’s main story and image on the front of a magazine they produce is always of a better known commercial band in rock and roll, although they have had more mainstream commercial artists that are not indie or rock and instead are solo artists that are well known for a different music genre. Stars such as Jay-Z, Rihanna, Eminem, Chase and status, Lily Allen, and Florence and the machine have all featured on the front cover of NME. This again shows that they present commercial, better known artists that are associated with different music genres such as rap, and RnB amongst others.

NME are also very proud of their heritage and the fact that they have been producing magazines weekly for over 60 years. This is often mentioned somewhere in the magazine and is also mentioned in their about us page on their website. Even after 60 years NME still aim to get the attention of a younger audience by using certain characteristics in their magazine, such as competitions, certain advertisement, Font style, and the minimalist approach (which was changed to during 2010 under new editing management.) Also the language they use is important as it is less formal than other magazines this will appeal to a younger audience.

Prezi research in to NME

http://prezi.com/lt8pfut3iqvr/detailed-analysis-and-textual-reading-of-a-music-magazine/

Examples of contents pages

2 Attempts at a contents page

      

Conventions of a Contents page

Key conventions:

• Bold text for the title contents
• Main Focal Image something that draws the audiences eye to a particular story
• Page Numbers are not in chronilogical order
• House style this means that text, the color scheme, and any content in the magazine stays a specific way
• The Layout should be structured and well designed, it should flow clearly. It would have been created using grids and guidlines that are followed to allow correct structure.
• Columns used to order text and stories.
• Blurb of contents this shows the main story/ stories, images and coverline information.
• Subscription Pug/ Starburst giving information to the reader on how they can regularly get the magazine by subscribing.  

Examples of Magazine Front Covers






                                           
The first thing someone notices about the front cover is the background image, this image should be large and contrast the text that is put on top of it, this is what draws the readers eye to the product in the first place.

With the model or artist who is being photographed, the eyes must always be looking down the lens of the camera as if they are looking at the reader, this engages the reader further  and creates a connection between product and target audience.

Nearly all the photos that are used for the background image are medium close ups. only a few differ from this.

In my opinion the Alex Turner and Miles Kane, NME magazine front cover is very good it uses various conventions such as a contrasting masthead, easy to read coverlines, a large image, headline text that contrasts the image behind it. It has a clear house style (red, white, and black)

On the other hand, The Tinie Tempah, Q, magazine is a poor example in my opinion, the coverlines (names) are hard to read down the side of the page, the headline text also doesn't contrast the image behind it very well.

Draft/ 1st attempt for a front cover

This is my 1st attempt and rough draft of a magazine front cover, to make this i used adobe fireworks, i have used contrasting colors that stand out and different text sizes for certain text so that certain titles, coverlines or stories stand out on the page more.

For most of the colors used i have stuck to the house color of the school, red, black, white and white.

Four Main Media Concepts

• Language- Language is used in most forms of media text.
  Media Language: Media Conventions, formats. symbols and narrative structures, this forms a cue for the audience for example rhetoric, loaded language.
• Media Institutions- These are the companies who produce media text this can be music producers, magazine producers, or TV broadcasters.
• Media audience- The individuals or groups of people who read, watch or listen to a specific media product.
  Media Texts are produced with a specific target audience in mind, this is done by producers knowing the demographics of their potential audience
• Media Representation- Media representation, the how the media portrays a product it takes in to account relationships between actual places, people, events and media contents. Stereotypes are a common form of media representation. The media may also portray and issue in a particular way to influence the way in which the audience thinks
  

Ideas for a school magazine-
Key conventions- in a school magazine would be

• A clear masthead that people would recognize and would stand out when printed on the front page, this would mean it would contrast the main image and also be the largest text on the front cover.
• A Large image that would be displayed and draw in the reader, this shot would usually be of a person and be a medium close up shot.
• A starburst/ pug with information that the target audience would be drawn too, this could include headlines of main articles that are in the magazine.
• A banner running a long the top or bottom of the page to advertise an article in the magazine

These conventions are very important when referring to the visual syntax of the front cover, this means that the readers eyes will follow a clear structure of the page layout.

Target Audience

The target audience for this school magazine is mainly students of plantsbrook school, ages ranging from 11 up to 18, other target audiences may include students who may be thinking about joining the school, or joining the VI form.

Parents, teachers and governors of the school may also be a target audience this means that content has to be appropriate for a wide diverse audience.

The color scheme of the magasine will also have to be appropriate for both sexes and will also have to be relevant to the school, as people from outside the school (non students) may be reading it.

Content

Content that will included in the magazine will be:

• Relevant information about the school
• New opportunities for students, parents or non students for example: trips, and extra curricular lessons or activities that may take part both on school grounds or elsewhere.
• News on exam results, attendance and punctuality
• Any improvements to the school, including new lunch meals, changes to the building, any new equipment available, and changes in the common room.
• Interviews with any students or teachers
• Photos of trips and events that have been advertised in the magazine

Names for the magazine-

• PB READ
• The VI Former
• Cromwell
• Student
• PB People
• Brookside
• PB News
• PB Academy News

denotations and connotations

Denotations and connotation

• Denotation is what you actual see, for example a lion roaring
  
• Connotation is the idea, feelings or message that is associated with the image, for example a roaring lion would be associated with danger or anger.
  This is overall the suggested meaning an image is associated with

Examples of magazine mastheads

Adele Coursework start

Front Cover conventions- To create a media product or media text, there are specific characteristics that are put together in order in order to form the media product. These are called conventions.

Examples of media conventions can be shown on this magazine:

• Masthead
• Main Photo
• Strapline
• Starburst
• Coverlines

These are just some of the conventions that make up a front cover.