To start out I created a folder called 'Preliminary project' within my Media Studies folder so I would know exactly where all my work is and have somewhere to store it.
Front page: Layout and font - developed in Photoshop. Images shall be added once they have been taken, the images shall determine the colour scheme (e.g. black background on photo - black background on the rest of front page). I decided the price of the magazine to be £3.99, but I am considering giving it away for free.
Contents page: I created my contents page layout on QuarkXPress and go my fonts from http://www.dafont.com/ (as I did with my front page and double page spread). This is only the basics and I shall add to it once I have taken my photographs - I imagine the color scheme to be simple (black & white).
Double page spread: I developed my double page spead on QuarkXPress and have gone for a simple structure and layout. I have came up with my title ('The sound of a decade') and sub-title ('What noise will define the new era in a society where everything has been done') although these may change towards the deadline and after I have written the article. Once again the colour scheme shall be simple (black & white).
I posted my mood board onto Facebook and tagged a lot of different people who I asked to answer 4 questions:
1. Do you like the images displayed? What does it say to you? 2. What kind of audience do you think this would appeal to? 3. Would you read this magazine? 4. Any general feedback, criticisms or ideas on how it could be improved?
The majority of my feedback was positive, they like the images and felt it portrayed "community, art and music" as well as showing a "specific genre." They mostly agreed on the type of audience; "Hedonists, indie trend and the kind of people that don't like to follow the mainstream" and also "People who like to be noticed/make an impact or statement."
From the comments I recieved a lot said they would read a few said they would have a quick gander and two said that they would not because the images (music/films) did not appeal to them.
Although it was mostly positive feedback I did get a huge amount of negative from two people, they found the images "dark and very busy. They seem noticably indie. The "Sheep Music" thing suggests that they are well-known/a lot of people follow them." When it came to improvemeants they thought that I should make the images "more similar." However, by doing this I believe I would start heading towards a mainstream direction which is the opposite of what I want, if anything, this is feedback from a specific audience who I never thought would be interested in this magazine - all they're doing is confirming my doubts. Also, I really don't want people who "doesn't like that kind of music or Steve McQueen" reading this magazine - how could someone hate Steve McQueen?
The audience for my magazine shall consist of 18-26 year old Male and female (but predominately male) succeeders, radicals, underachievers, materialists, hedonists and C1 down to E in the jicnars scale.
I imagine these people to be liberalistic independent thinkers who don’t live by the mainstream and challenge dominant ideologies, with a unique fashion sense and a cultured knowledge of the art forms (mainly music, film and fashion).
I consider the sort of people who read this magazine will tend to be shall be varied in employment; they may be artists (musicians, filmmakers, photographers etc…) or simply office workers and ordinary people longing for a change in culture. Their money would be spent on music, clothes, cinema/theatre going, alcohol and a minimalist life style – I don’t imagine they’re the sort of people who need that brand new phone or MP3 player or television.
These are the people who enjoy independent and unsigned music which isn’t mainstream – something they can discover themselves. They would also go to watch independent/foreign films and professional plays (as well as small/local). Although, I imagine they’d also go to see mainstream bands/films and perhaps enjoy them – or criticise them highly. These people live to have a good time and enjoy themselves in an alternative style.
From the magazines that I have researched I have discovered one consistent point; they all use marketing strategies. By this I mean each magazine has a selected target audience, whether it is young female girls who like mainstream popular music or middle aged men who enjoy avant garde jazz. These strategies are carefully laid out so that the language is appropriate as well as content, artists, photographs, even the colour schemes and layouts. So, for example, say if I was going to create a music magazine for 8-14 year old girls, I’d make sure my front cover was bold, fast and had a lot on it (in order to secure something for everyone – nothing can be dull) with a colour scheme of pink, yellow and black. The artists in the magazine would also have to be people relevant to their popular culture (Girls Aloud, Alexandra Burke, Zac Efron etc...) as well as the advertisement – video games for girls, popular films such as High School Musical and fashion for young girls which allows them to dress like their favourite celebrities and so on.
I found that these types of magazines weren’t truly representing the format they were displaying; they don’t want to challenge the dominant ideology because they’re just pawns for the publishing industries, whose main objection is to make money and expand their power.
However, after reading through The Wire I realised that there are some exceptions – here’s a magazine which is devoted to the art form, it genuinely cares about modern independent music and its future. Like all the best things in the world, it doesn’t care about money. I also found the layouts, content and photographs topped anything I had previously seen, it’s carefully developed and almost a piece of art in itself - this is what I want people to feel when reading my magazine.
My two main influences are; The Wire (it's formality and simplicity) and Vice Magazine (it's shock value and bluntness).
A magazine publisher has the job of producing an entire magazine; they direct and observe the
process and stages of development in order to make sure everything comes together in perfect harmony. Some of these processes include; copyediting, graphic design, printing etc...
The publishing industry is organised through media ownership; magazines, newspapers, television channels etc... All these are owned by conglomerates which control what these products publish and display. For example, in the United Kingdom one of the biggest owners of media outlets is Rupert Murdoch, who controls major tabloids and broadsheets (including The Sun, The Times and The Daily Mail) as well as television services such as SkyTV. Many people have issues with this fact which is why there are independent and alternative publishing, something the internet has helped to grow.
The New Musical Express magazine (or NME) is generally considered to be the voice of new, fresh and independent music in a society dominated by the mainstream (or at least it was in its early years), however, the fact that this magazine is owned by IPC (a major publishing industry) suggests otherwise. Evidence of this can be discovered through the advertisement we see in the magazine, for example; Shockwave hair gel sponsors them (as well as their awards show), HMV (a mainstream music seller) is also advertised within the magazine, we also see synergy being used – films advertised, film soundtracks, and even books. If you take a look on the IPC website, they put their magazines into audience profiles, age range etc... It’s not at all about music, it’s all about money.
The fact that NME is published by IPC doesn’t come as much of a shock, I’ve never considered the magazine to be at all radical, underground or independent (I think this is partly because of the amount of advertising you find in it). The ownership of NME suggests that the actual of function of this magazine is to make money and to advertise other industries (film, television, video games etc...) even the music published within the magazine is relatively audience friendly, there’s nothing here that’s going to stir up the hive. They are clearly using a well devised and choreographed business structure which is aimed at a certain demographic of Britain; 16-21 year old middle/upper class “indie” teenagers who spend their life on Facebook, watching Skins and Misfits, listening to Vampire Weekend whilst taking legal highs at the Reading Festival in their skinny jeans, tank tops and £150 trainers and declaring (in their fake accents) David Cameron to be Britain’s answer to Barack Obama, until they catch an STD and eventually die in a motorcycling incident.
One of the magazines I have researched into is Q who are part of a horizontally integrated media conglomerate - Bauer Media Group (based in Germany) who also publish Kerrang magazine, as well as broadcasting music channels such as 4Music, Smash Hits TV, Kiss TV and many more.
From the business structures I have seen, it would appear that the best way for a magazine to gain recognition and make money is to set a precise target audience – you need to establish exactly who your magazine is for. Once this is completed you can decide on what type of material you would use, the right advertisement used (e.g. a sports magazine could advertise Nike, energy drinks, sport video games etc...) the right celebrities and so on. Also, being owned by a major publishing industry would boost your exposure, through television and the internet – the internet plays a huge part in securing a magazines success.
Genre: Avant garde, jazz, experimental, hip hop, modern classical, free improvisation, post-rock and electronic.
Audience: Male and female 20-30 year olds who would consist of succeeders, radicals and underachievers. These people’s social values would include hedonism and post-modernism and I think on the jicnars scale they would range from E (unemployed) right up to A (higher managerial, administrative or professional).
Title: Having a title like The Wire suggests electricity; fast, modern and edgy – the type of music they’re displaying, it’s all modern and going somewhere. I imagine the kind of people that read this magazine are pretty damn cool, and that’s what I think this title is, cool. Also, I think it’s quite profound, not simple and straight to the point (such as New Musical Express) they’re trying to make you think. A magazine for intellectual/modern/avant garde/non-mainstream artists needs an unusual and edgy title.
Style: The layout used for the front page is incredibly minimal and simplistic, there’s nothing there that doesn’t need to be there; it’s a beautifully choreographed piece. The colour scheme consists of black, white and blue – the single blue word echoing the fashion choice of the artist. The font is a plain sans serif and the masthead is huge and bold, abbreviating the title to simply, “WIRE.”
Content: In this type of magazine you’d expect to find articles about completely unknown modern artists, you’d expect to find brand new musicians you’ve never heard of in each issue. These wouldn’t be any ordinary mainstream artists, they’d be experimental musicians who challenge the dominant ideologies of what modern music should sound like – people who treat music as an art form, not a money making machine. The variation of genre is also endless, there’s something for almost everyone and this can only widen the magazines demographic.
Mode of address: When it comes to addressing the audience, The Wire does what many music magazines don’t; they treat their audience as intellectuals. It’s a formally written magazine for a modern day format which is often consider to be (as Theodore Adorno once said) formulaic, simplistic and emotive – modern music depoliticising humans with its pseudo-individualist artists. The Wire takes modern music seriously, understanding its significance; it does what Cahiers du Cinema did for French cinema and what Sight & Sound keeps on doing for World cinema. The magazine features long and in depth articles about the music they have heard, comparing, contrasting and discussing its importance - reviews don’t have star ratings, they expect their audience to actually want to read about an album. It is what NME once was and would like to think it still is, but, quite frankly, nowadays it’s meaningless.
Photographs: The pictures taken and used for The Wire are very stylish and carefully developed; you wouldn’t find a quick/digital paparazzi snap, these look like pictures taken by artists of artists. The majority of pictures are shots of the musicians at work, whether it is in the studio or performing live, yet they are still professional and serious. So, because of this they are represented as serious and professional workers, who consider their job to of upmost importance, which is what this magazine and its readers consider modern music to be. Whereas a magazine like Top of the Pops includes images of film stars and other celebrities, The Wire only includes pictures of musicians and other people involved in the production of music.
Contents page: The contents page used uses three columns, and the only picture used is the same one used on the front cover, everything else is just writing in black & white, apart from the main features which are in blue. It’s all very minimalistic and straightforward, they just want to talk about music.
Double page spreads: The double page spread (just like the rest of the magazine) is simple and sweet, on one side there is a 3 column article and on the other one big picture of the musician in question. Out of all the double page spreads I’ve seen, although they have been similar, I think this one stands out – the whole thing just comes together so beautifully.
An example of the kind of music featured in The Wire:
Audience: Female children and pre-teens whose psychographics would include traditionalists, underachievers and their social value; post-materialists. When it comes to the jicnars scale I’d put the readers under D (semi and unskilled manual workers) and E (the unemployed).
Title:Top of the Pops is generally considered to be a musical item for younger people, especially before it was cancelled on television. It fits into the genre of pop with incredible ease considering it is literally, Top of the Pops. It’s about the best popular music at the moment, although they do tend to pick child friendly artists.
Style: They use a bright colour scheme of pink, yellow, white and black – pink and yellow used in order to attract a younger female audience. The layout of the front cover is quite cluttered, there’s a lot to look at so that the reader is constantly intrigued and never bored – if you don’t like one thing, move your eyes and you’ll find something. The mast head is blocked by the models head, but Top of the Pops is a recognised name in Britain’s musical media so it doesn’t need to be entirely seen, plus the logo for the BBC is at the top right hand corner – a well trusted name.
Content: In a magazine like Top of the Pops you’d expect to find articles and features about major popular music artists (such as Cheryl Cole, Leona Lewis, Rihanna, JLS etc...). These features are not particularly intellectually challenging, it tends to be gossip on mainstream musicians, interviews about what they do on tour, their favourite food, a harmless and child friendly magazine. They also do features on younger girls which tend to enforce dominant ideologies and safety tips, for example: in one issue, there was a feature told from a young girl’s point of view about how she befriended a boy of the same age online who later turned out to be a 25 year old paedophile. This article ends with a moral message to the magazines demographic about how they should speak to adults, another hint that this is a magazine for female children and pre-teens.
Mode of address: In order to address its audience, Top of the Pops uses very informal language (occasionally words/abbreviations which only a Myspace generation would understand) for example; “OMG! Miley takes us on tour!” and the classic teen girl magazine segment of “CRINGE!” The magazine is using this type of language in order to appeal its target audience, it also seems like they’re treating them like idiots, with the constant explanation marks and arrows pointing towards something on a photo, because you know, no one knows where to find a foot. It also tries to suggest that the celebrities they depict are just like the audience, with a few unglamorous photos, almost to give hope to young and self conscious girls in a world where our media demands perfection, although you could argue that these unglamorous photos suggest that imperfection shall be mocked and laughed at.
Photographs: The people you’ll find in the photos of Top of the Pops are famous pop stars (mainly British and American) taken in studios, but a lot are paparazzi shots on the red carpet. They also show the certain clothing they are wearing, for example a member of JLS has Calvin Klein underwear and Miley Cyrus is wearing a pair of classic converse all stars – the latter being a hugely popular footwear product of young people. The representation of males is largely idiotic fools (unfortunate paparazzi snaps) and objects of attraction (posters towards back, as well as a picture admiring a man’s muscles – they are forcing the dominant ideology of heterosexuality upon young female minds). However, females are represented as strong, independent and loving people, for example; Cheryl Cole telling us of her struggle in her early life, but how she overcame it successfully, they’re representing these women as potential role models, women who followed their dreams: “I always kept my eye on the dream.”
Contents page: This magazine doesn’t actually have an official contents page, but instead, because there is so much on the front cover, they put the page number next to each segment.
Double page spreads: As appose to using double page spreads, Top of the Pops uses a lot of centre spreads, in which images and paragraphs are in the middle moving onto both pages. When they do use double page spreads, they have one big image taking up an entire page and an article using three columns on the other.
An example of the kind of music Top of the Pops writes about:
To start out I created a folder called 'Preliminary project' within my Media Studies folder so I would know exactly where all my work is and have somewhere to store it.
Front page: Layout and font - developed in Photoshop. Images shall be added once they have been taken, the images shall determine the colour scheme (e.g. black background on photo - black background on the rest of front page). I decided the price of the magazine to be £3.99, but I am considering giving it away for free.
Contents page: I created my contents page layout on QuarkXPress and go my fonts from http://www.dafont.com/ (as I did with my front page and double page spread). This is only the basics and I shall add to it once I have taken my photographs - I imagine the color scheme to be simple (black & white).
Double page spread: I developed my double page spead on QuarkXPress and have gone for a simple structure and layout. I have came up with my title ('The sound of a decade') and sub-title ('What noise will define the new era in a society where everything has been done') although these may change towards the deadline and after I have written the article. Once again the colour scheme shall be simple (black & white).
