Sub-Cultures

Sub-Cultures

There are many types of subcultures which relates within the music industry. The definition of Sub- Cultures is a subdivision of national culture, this effects a persons fashion, behaviour, personality  and beliefs. In some cases it defines who they are. The target market i am focusing on for my magazine is teenagers, which means their are many different subculture i could aim my magazine towards. Examples of this could be punks, wannabes, goths and Hippies. The type of subculture I will be aiming my magazine towards is the "Normals" an average R&B and pop child. This is cross over between two subcultures in music, however i feel this brings a retro feel to the magazine. I am also changing the conventions of most teenagers magazines by choosing this type of subculture.  

The average R&B child would feel an individual by being in this subculture because of the individuality they gain in become one. This could be by choosing a type of fashion. For example this subculture wheres jeans, a dance showy top and some heels. Therefore this would mean that would shop at stores like Topshop and New Look. They would also change their hero's and idol's to be like them. For example this could be Miley Cyrus, Lindsey Lohan, Beyonce, Britney Spears. They base this around they would want to become one of these stars. Looking and feeling like one of their idols gives a person a sense of belong, which is why subculture exists. 

Also they make friends within their sub-cultures, because they tend to be the same. 

In contrast another sub-culture is goths, who are completely different because dress in black clothing from any shop. And they listen to music which is not in the singles chart. This sub-culture have the type of music which reflect how moody and sad they feel. 

The "Normals" are those of the sub-cultures which does not rebel against their feels or people, they are those who face up their problems. They also feel stronger enough in themselves to stand up for themselves against other people.  They are therefore a consumerism because they choose to be safe and they choose to be heard.  This sub-culture is also open to neophilia because it means to be more accepting of new things which apply to many situations.

 

Fanzines

Fanzines are fan based magazine which focuses on a particular cultural phenomenon. This was around many years ago because it meant that many fans could communicate. The fans would swap view and therefore build a magazine. This is different to today because today we use blogs and websites to do this. This is because this is easier for most people to use. Fanzines are normally free of charge, or for a nominal cost. There are all different fanzines available because of all the different cultural phenomenon.

There could be

• science fiction fanzines
• horror film fanzines
• punk fanzines
• rock and roll fanzines
• local music fanzines
• sport fanzines

Here are some links to example Fanzines online:

http://www.enoughfanzine.com/index.php?cID=96&view=columns_detail

http://www.setanta.com/Templates/News/NewsArticle.aspx?id=61097

http://www.ayup.co.uk/turn/turn0-5.html
http://www.sciencefictionbuzz.com/fanzines.html

Music Magazine

Music Magazines:

This NME music magazine which is an established British weekly magazine. This is a different music magazine compared to most other music magazine. Music magazine which are around today define a certain reader and the type of global music industry. NME is different from this because it does not select just one type of music is selects many. This means that NME have many different modes of address because it addresses all different readers of all different music tastes.NME is the title of the music magazine, this stands for New Musical Express. The significant of this title is that it uses the word musical which shows the focus of the magazine. The connotations of NME is just three letters,however the connotations of New Musical Express is that it is the up and coming music magazine which shows that they are promising to report the music news first. Express connotates that they will be the first to report the news.

The colours used on this NME front cover are very bold, this is because they are using red and black. These colours are used continiously on the NME magazines. This is because they represent the types of indie and acoustic music shown in NME.
The layouts on the NME magazine are all similar and have been for many years. This is because they have the main picture in the middle of the magazine for readers to see. In this case the main image is of the Killers. Readers would reconise this band because they frequently occur in NME magazine. The title is also at the top of the magazine, which means the title is in the readers eye line. This is because the title will be the first thing the reader will see when the magazine is on the shelf. The are smaller images are around the sides of the magazine and at the top. This shows readers what else will be appearing in the magazine.

The NME magazine cost £2.20 for the A3 magazine. This is a reasonable price to pay for a detailed magazine like the NME this is because of the detailed content.

Kerrang




Kerrang is another music magazine which is very popular to music buffs. This is because it informs the readers of all the relevant information. Kerrang is a very successful company with many types of media. This can be seen from the music channel Kerrang and also the radio station. Many readers can relate to all the Kerrang cross medias.
However the magazine is very popular. It currently sells at £2.20 on many A4 pages. The layout and style of the magazine is very similar to others music magazines. The layout of one main image and then smaller images around the front cover is a layout used for many music magazines. The genre of the magazine is heavy rock and the sub cultures that would be associated would be Emo's or grungers. The main image used on the front cover is Slipnote which many people within the sub-cultures relating to magazine will recognise. The relating sense appeals to the reader because it will make them realise they want to read the information.

The colours used are very bold and also very similar to NME magazines. However they only use a little amount of red font colour, the rest of the font is in black and white.

Smash Hits


The Smash Hits magazine is one of the most popular teen magazines around. Its wide range of articles aimed at teenagers are very informative. The writers at Smash Hits base there article around teen idols and teen celebrity gossip.
The magazine is very colourful because this is how it attracts attention. It colours used are not all the same. All the different sub heading are all in different colours which makes it very appealing to the reader. Also the images used are in a different layout from the past two magazines. There is one main image in the middle of the page, which happens to the band simple plan. Readers aged between 13-16 would understand what band Simple Plan is. However other images layed out on the page are also rather large around the edges. These images are of other large artists. These images are there to entice the reader to buy the magazine because it describes the content.

The connotations of "Smash Hits" are they are the best hits and they know who are the best bands and who are know. The word "smash " is used in a different way than violence, it suggests that they are going to be the best. The meaning of this is that they know all the celebrity gossip compared to other music magazines.
The typical reader for this music magazine is aged between 13-16 as the style and articles are suited for this because of the Mode Of Address. This is a quality A4 magazine is also cheap to buy. The company Smash Hits is very popular because it has other cross media's. For example it also has a music channel, Smash Hit TV. Reader can probably relate to the magazine through the TV channel as well.

Top Of The Pops

The Top Of The Pops is another popular young magazine for teenagers.  The articles inside the aimed at teenagers. I can tell this because of the idols that appear in the magazines.  For example the magazines includes Zac Effron and Miley Cyrus which are characters on the Disney channel.  These are the teen idol's that this target market support. The way that the stars are layout on the page is very busy and crowded, which emphasises the many piece if news that the reader needs to know.  Also the colours used are very appealing to the target market, which is case happens to be between 10-15 years old.  This is because the colours are bright and bubbly which is the type of font the readers like to see.

Also the fonts and styles used are very "cheesy" and retro which is what a typical reader is meant to appeal to. The "cheesy" effect comes from the types of couples appearing on the front cover. For example there is "loves dream couple" from High School Musical (the most popular Disney film currently being sold) in the centre of the page surrounded by George Sampson and one of the Jonas brother which to teenagers are the "hunks". Therefore this magazine meets all the conventions of a teenage magazine

The connotations of the title "Top Of The Pops" is that they are first for the pop music news. It also shows how they first to report the charts. This is backed up by the cross media TV show which shows the music charts. This is most success chart based programme and is very popular as it is broadcasted on the BBC. 

Overall this magazine is quality A4 magazine which has a mode of address towards the younger market.  It is also available at a cheap price.

Q - magazine.

Q is another music magazine around today. Is sophisticated music magazine which has been going for many years. It has been very Popular over the years for the amount of detail on news compared to other music magazines.  The target audience  for this type of music magazine is for middle aged and some younger age range. This is because of the types of bands used inside the magazine and also the other information included.  This includes bands like Take That and Oasis. Even though they are starting to appeal to the younger market, they were originally aiming at the older market.

This front cover is very organised and has a neat layout. This can be seen by the way certain stories are sectioned off on the page. This gives the reader an insight to what is inside the magazine. This magazine is different from magazines like Kerrang and NME because its make focus is on music artists interviews. 

The magazine was originally called Que and then to "jazz" the magazine up they just changed it to the letter Q. However the connotations of the Que is sense of queuing a record, which in today world means to play a song.  Overall the magazine is priced at £3.90, which is expensive however you pay a higher price for the different mode of address.

Blender Magazine:

Blender is another teen music magazine which available today. This is a more presentable magazine compared to the other teen magazines. This is because even though it is aimed at teenagers it does not have that "cheesy" affect. This is because the target market for this magazine is teenagers but the older teenagers. Older teenagers range from 14-18 years old. 

It appeals to the teenagers on the content instead of the layout and colours. In this case it appeals to the readers by using Taylor Swift on the middle of the front cover and by mention other artists that also feature in the magazine (For example Panic at the Disco). 

Taylor swift is a teen legend in America and the artist is finally trying to make a name for herself in the UK. 

The layout is white which is neutral, however we can tell the gender audience it is aimed at  by the artist used. This happens to be aimed at a female based audience. The connotations of the title blender is that the information within the magazine is a mixture. This could mean the different types of music represented or even the different type of articles used on the music in question. 

Overall the mode of address of blender is very serious and informative, which most older teenagers will appreciate. A4 magazine is also very cheap for the teenagers to get a hold of. 

M- Magazine

M is another teen magazine available today. This magazine is another typical teen music magazine and i can tell this from the stars on the front of the magazine. For example the Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers. These idols are on mainly every teen magazine which shows their music style is appreciated by the target audience. 

The gender of the target audience can also be spotted from the front cover of this magazine because it shows the Jonas Brothers which every teenage girl fasinates over. 

The layout of the magazine is busy and compact which gives it a retro feel similar to the magazine like Smash Hits and  Top Of The Pops. The retro feel also comes from the fonts displayed and also the bright colours used.  These are the bright pinks, red and yellows. 

Another feature that other magazine offer but do not display are free posters available in the magazine. However in M magazine displays this so this gives M an advantage over other magazines. This is because little girls desire to put their idols on their bedroom wall or door. 

The mode of address is very informal and addresses the younger reader very well. Overall it is a cheap affordable A4 teen magazine which fulfill its need. 

Evaluation

Evaluation

While making my school magazine I carried out some research to establish what type of magazine that I wanted to create. Firstly I looked at the existing school magazines. However when it came to researching school magazine it appeared that there was not many magazine available on the Internet or that most schools did not have a magazine.

One reason that schools might not have school magazine is that it takes time to structure, organise and create a magazine. When I did come across some school magazine they were mainly only whole school magazines rather than just sixth form magazines or college magazines. I decided to challenge this convention by creating a magazine for the sixth form.

My sixth form magazine challenges the conventions of a normal school or college magazine. This is because most of the school magazines that I saw were written by teachers and read by students. My magazine was written by students to be read by students. The structure and layout of all the magazines that I have looked at is all educational whereas my magazine challenges this because half of my magazine was educational and the other half to be general information (e.g. Fashion). I decided to do this because it is what my target audience supported this idea and because it is unique compared to other schools.

The ideas for inside my magazine came from my questionnaire which I asked my target audience, Students aged between 16-18. I decided to carry out a questionnaire because it was a simple way of finding out the needs of my target audience. The idea of the questionnaire was successful because I found out all my results that I needed to make the magazine. Results from the questionnaire showed that the audience wanted to read about fashion, gigs and many other interesting subjects. I then targeted my target audience, I put questions to my focus group because then I can ask more elaborate questions. If I was to do this research again I would possibly use a large number of people for my focus group to get a variety of answers.

When creating my magazine I considered many flatplans so that I knew all the possible layouts. I came up with the name of the magazine through asking my focus group and using the questionnaire. Having made my decisions i moved on to take my photographs. When I took photographs for my magazine it took many attempts to decide what photo suits the style of the magazine. Whilst taking the photos I came across some problems, for example there were some sun spots which could not be edited. Also when I gathered people to take my group photo there was a problem because not many people would agree to be part of the image. However i felt that a group photo was beneficial because it gives a friendly view. When I took the pictures for the magazine I wanted to show the sixth was very ethnic, therefore I included people from all different races and religions. This can be seen on the contents page.

The imaged used on the front cover was of an average student named Laura. The background of the main image is of a brick wall. This represents the strong community of the school. The body language labelled on the front cover is meant to show Laura as shocked and amazed. However when I showed this to my focus group they agreed that her faced showed the stereotypical teenage way to act shocked but if an adult was to see this they would think Laura was laughing. Therefore the message coming across to my target audience is very confused. However if i had more time to create the magazine I would construct another photo to make sure Laura's reaction was clear. I therefore decided to take another image and change the face expression to be more bold.

I then brought all the ideas together to create the front cover of the magazine. The image for the background was an average student acting out against a brick wall. I used this image because it was like no other magazine. The font that I trailed out first was Black because it stands out against the orange brick background. The audience were able to read the sub heading. Also the way in which the subheadings were laid out on the page were limited and there was very few. 

However I showed the first draft of the image to my focus group they agreed that the font and colour appeared very boring and not very appealing for a student magazine. Also they felt that there was only a few subheadings and there was not enough information about what is inside the magazine. Therefore I solved these problems by adding more subheadings about the issue and also I changed the colour of the font to yellow. This seemed bright and appealing to the target audience. Yellow can be seem as a happy cheerful colour. This could be compared to the use of yellow in the SEEC Dave magazine which I analysed in my magazine research.

I created my magazine on Mac computers in school and at home on CS3 Photoshop. Mainly all media products are made on Photoshop now. However for me this caused problems because I had never used Photoshop before, so it took me a long period to gather the many different concepts and features of Photoshop. However as this is only the preliminary task I can now learn and develop my knowledge of Photoshop to create a better magazine for the main task.

The magazine will be sold within the school, as i feel this will be the best way to sell the magazine. The school magazine will be made and produced by the school. However money will need to be provided to fund the magazine, the money will be raised by sponsorship from outside the school and also from inside school. Companies that aim at students from outside school are likely to sponsor because it’s an easy way of advertising straight to them. The magazine will be given out to sixth form students for free because this guarantees that each student will read the magazine.

Overall my school magazine represents the interests of an average 16-18 sixth former. The magazine focuses on both the life of the school and general girl information, in a way that students would find interesting. This means that the students will read the magazine instead of their parents because the articles relates to the student. I have learnt a lot from this preliminary task, even though I could change a few details. I can now develop these ideas from the main task, the music magazine.

My front cover and Contents

Flatplans

I created flatplans to show the ideas of the covers of the magazine. The following show the ideas i had for the front page:

And this was the decided idea for the front page:

The decided on a contents page: