Target Audience
The Target audience i have chosen for this magazine is young teen market, this is aged between 12-17 at females. I feel that not many magazines are focusing on this target market, they are chosing for the older teenagers. This could because there is more choice to wait type of music genres older teenagers listen to. However i feel there should be a wide selection for younger teenage like their is for the average 16 year olds.
Monday, 12 January 2009
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
Results Of Questionnaire
Questionnaire
I asked a sample of 15 people do a questionnaire so that i could find out about the audiences taste in music. I got many different results which i can collate and base my music magazine around.
Firstly i needed to identify the types of genres that the audience like within their music taste. This would therefore give me an idea of the genres i could include in my magazine.The question i therefore asked was "what genre of music do you listen to?". The answers were in option boxes so the answers were rather restricted. The answers i got were predictable for people of my generation. The most popular answer was R & B music close following indie music. This was predictable because younger people are all listening to the same genre of music. Also most younger people are start to reconise acoustic music.
The last type of question i asked was if they go to gig/ concerts. This because gigs and concerts are main features of articles are also used for advertising. Most music magazines have dates of gigs for all different artists. The results from the audience survey i can see a positive response that most people attend gigs through music magazines.
I asked a sample of 15 people do a questionnaire so that i could find out about the audiences taste in music. I got many different results which i can collate and base my music magazine around.
Firstly i needed to identify the types of genres that the audience like within their music taste. This would therefore give me an idea of the genres i could include in my magazine.The question i therefore asked was "what genre of music do you listen to?". The answers were in option boxes so the answers were rather restricted. The answers i got were predictable for people of my generation. The most popular answer was R & B music close following indie music. This was predictable because younger people are all listening to the same genre of music. Also most younger people are start to reconise acoustic music.
Secondly it is also important how the audience are listening to their music. The technology has expanded so rapidly recently that there are any electrical good which hold songs on, which are portable. In the results from the questionnaire I can tell that the most common piece of technology in the younger generation are Ipods. Another important fact that i would need to know from the audience is how they get hold of their music. In the past 2 years most people have turned to downloading music because it is cheap and is also convenient. When I'm creating my music magazine i could play on this and advertise downloads.
The next question on my questionnaire was what music magazines do they already read. This answer can help me see what style readers appeal to for a music magazine. There are many music magazines existing at the moment and i need to identify which readers go for. From the answer I got i can see that NME is most popular magazine at the moment for younger readers, followed by Q and Kerrang. The conclusion i can make from this is that these magazines are all very similar because they all offer the same information but in different styles. Therefore are they are all very informative, however in different ways.
The last type of question i asked was if they go to gig/ concerts. This because gigs and concerts are main features of articles are also used for advertising. Most music magazines have dates of gigs for all different artists. The results from the audience survey i can see a positive response that most people attend gigs through music magazines.
Monday, 15 December 2008
Case Study On NME
NME:
Background and Ownership.
The weekly paper, the New Musical Express, was first published in 1952. The New Musical express was bought by Maurice Kinn. On the 14th November 1952 the fist magazine was first published, however it was a non-glossy tabloid format. At the beginning of the New Musical Express it was competing against other magazines like Melody Maker. However the magazine sales for NME were much healthier than Melody Maker as NME was selling 200,000 issues a week,
The NME magazines wanted to have an edge like no other magazine so they took the idea of the US Billboard magazine and created the first UK Singles Chart. This then adapted in the 1960’s. Firstly they featured band like the Beatles and The Rolling Stones on the front covers of the magazine. NME then created their own poll winners features bands like these within the magazines. The results of the polls then featured in the NME poll winners’ concert. These featured many bands and made NME more known. They awards were filmed and aired on British Televisions weeks after the event. This was their first of many cross broadcasting.
In the beginning of the 70’s NME was starting to loss public interest to Melody Maker magazine. Therefore NME started to change their face of the magazine and this appeared to bring the readers back. Later in the 70’s saw the punk era. This meant that magazines like NME had to change their style for the reader’s suitability. However for magazine like NME it was a slow process to change the cover to this new phenomenon. It then started to advertise for “hip young gunslingers” and this brought back readers and started some new readers. Bands also started wanted to be noticed by NME because they had the biggest circulation.
The 80’s brought the mergering of Rough Trade records. This meant that readers could gain cassette tapes by mail order at low prices through NME magazine. This cassette tape included many new and famous bands (Orange Juice, Linx, buzzcocks etc). The second tape was released in 1986.
The 90’s for NME brought the launch of the first virtual version for music magazine, this was the NME webpage. This dated all the important development in the music press online. This was not such a big success but was redeveloped in 2005.
The years of the 2000’s brought many new developments for NME. In 2002 NME released orginal magazines which had artist reviewing and relating to one artist or band. This relates to the many different genres of music. The NME was catering to the many musical trends. Examples of this could be the 60’s mod, 70’s punk and the 80’s Goths.
Style/layout/mode of address
The current circulation of NME is 58,284. NME currently cost £2.20 weekly (However there is an option of a years subscription). It consists of many A3 pages with a glossy print on the front cover. This front cover, compared to earlier covers, looks bright and enticing. It consists of one main image at the centre of the magazine and then smaller images and headlines surrounding the magazine. The main image is of a relating artist to the reader. In this case it would appear MGMT is on the front cover. This will appeal to the reader’s profile. They will recognise the band and want to develop their enthusiasm for their music. This could by the article inside the magazine or by posters, in this case just the article. The mode of address for NME can be seen by the terminology and images. The terminology used slang. This can be interpreted in different way for different sub-cultures.
Content And Approach To Music
The content of NME is based around mainstreams. This is because of the different sub-cultures of today’s society. The NME is an attractive magazine, which attracts many enthusiasts. This is because it is focuses on the cotemporary music and bands. This includes visiting all gigs, listing the up coming gigs and listing the up to date music charts. NME is known to have all these features and more. They promise to have the “first on music news” with these entire top artists in their articles. The regular artists they have on EMA are The Killers, Kings Of Leon, Green Day, Fran Ferdinand and Fall out boy. The main focus for the content is the current artists who are producing new material and songs.
In this particular issue the main bands featured are The killers (with Elton John), Fall out Boy, The wombats and MGMT. The rest are all unsigned bands or local bands that become known. NME first show news articles relating to the bands and then goes on about the album releases and song releases. Then lastly there are gig lists and upcoming tour lists.
Also within the magazine there are many adverts that some readers keep because they are very amusing adverts. There is also a section within the NME magazine where the readers have a chance to have their letters published and people then can then discusses their views. This lets everyone have an opinion and makes the readers feel included within the magazines. The letters can be based around any form of music, even if that band is not previously mentioned in the magazine. The gig guides are very interesting for the music euphuists.
Near the end of the magazine there is special section, which is written by an artist. In this case it is Mick Jones the artist from The Clash. He writes his point of view for the readers to see.
The mode of address through these two types of features in a magazine is very reflective and informal. Both of these bring in readers because it evolves the reader and their views.
Promoting the Industry And Other products.
Within many NME magazines there is many adverts for many different reasons. The relationship between the editors and advertisers is very symbolic because each is different. Within all the magazines there is many musical adverts, however there are also general adverts. In this particular issue there are adverts for the musical game Lips. This is just one of the many musical adverts. Another example is the orange advert, however this is just a general advert.
The way adverts are layout in the magazine is by how much they are willing to pay for each page. Each page is worth an amount of money. The order in which the adverts are laid is also fixed by the price that the company is pillaging to pay.
Every NME reader has a profile and the advertisers appeal to this. The magazine is aimed at teenagers and appeals the “typical” teenager. An example would appeal to their fashion, their hobbies or even their music genre. This is because the representation of the NME is young audience.
Also through the advertising NME promote their other ways of broadcasting. This is through the Stylish website and radio. They can let the readers know of their cross broadcasting through using their products like the magazine. This is because the reader can already relate the existing products.
Background and Ownership.
The weekly paper, the New Musical Express, was first published in 1952. The New Musical express was bought by Maurice Kinn. On the 14th November 1952 the fist magazine was first published, however it was a non-glossy tabloid format. At the beginning of the New Musical Express it was competing against other magazines like Melody Maker. However the magazine sales for NME were much healthier than Melody Maker as NME was selling 200,000 issues a week,
The NME magazines wanted to have an edge like no other magazine so they took the idea of the US Billboard magazine and created the first UK Singles Chart. This then adapted in the 1960’s. Firstly they featured band like the Beatles and The Rolling Stones on the front covers of the magazine. NME then created their own poll winners features bands like these within the magazines. The results of the polls then featured in the NME poll winners’ concert. These featured many bands and made NME more known. They awards were filmed and aired on British Televisions weeks after the event. This was their first of many cross broadcasting.
In the beginning of the 70’s NME was starting to loss public interest to Melody Maker magazine. Therefore NME started to change their face of the magazine and this appeared to bring the readers back. Later in the 70’s saw the punk era. This meant that magazines like NME had to change their style for the reader’s suitability. However for magazine like NME it was a slow process to change the cover to this new phenomenon. It then started to advertise for “hip young gunslingers” and this brought back readers and started some new readers. Bands also started wanted to be noticed by NME because they had the biggest circulation.
The 80’s brought the mergering of Rough Trade records. This meant that readers could gain cassette tapes by mail order at low prices through NME magazine. This cassette tape included many new and famous bands (Orange Juice, Linx, buzzcocks etc). The second tape was released in 1986.
The 90’s for NME brought the launch of the first virtual version for music magazine, this was the NME webpage. This dated all the important development in the music press online. This was not such a big success but was redeveloped in 2005.
The years of the 2000’s brought many new developments for NME. In 2002 NME released orginal magazines which had artist reviewing and relating to one artist or band. This relates to the many different genres of music. The NME was catering to the many musical trends. Examples of this could be the 60’s mod, 70’s punk and the 80’s Goths.
Style/layout/mode of address
The current circulation of NME is 58,284. NME currently cost £2.20 weekly (However there is an option of a years subscription). It consists of many A3 pages with a glossy print on the front cover. This front cover, compared to earlier covers, looks bright and enticing. It consists of one main image at the centre of the magazine and then smaller images and headlines surrounding the magazine. The main image is of a relating artist to the reader. In this case it would appear MGMT is on the front cover. This will appeal to the reader’s profile. They will recognise the band and want to develop their enthusiasm for their music. This could by the article inside the magazine or by posters, in this case just the article. The mode of address for NME can be seen by the terminology and images. The terminology used slang. This can be interpreted in different way for different sub-cultures.
Content And Approach To Music
The content of NME is based around mainstreams. This is because of the different sub-cultures of today’s society. The NME is an attractive magazine, which attracts many enthusiasts. This is because it is focuses on the cotemporary music and bands. This includes visiting all gigs, listing the up coming gigs and listing the up to date music charts. NME is known to have all these features and more. They promise to have the “first on music news” with these entire top artists in their articles. The regular artists they have on EMA are The Killers, Kings Of Leon, Green Day, Fran Ferdinand and Fall out boy. The main focus for the content is the current artists who are producing new material and songs.
In this particular issue the main bands featured are The killers (with Elton John), Fall out Boy, The wombats and MGMT. The rest are all unsigned bands or local bands that become known. NME first show news articles relating to the bands and then goes on about the album releases and song releases. Then lastly there are gig lists and upcoming tour lists.
Also within the magazine there are many adverts that some readers keep because they are very amusing adverts. There is also a section within the NME magazine where the readers have a chance to have their letters published and people then can then discusses their views. This lets everyone have an opinion and makes the readers feel included within the magazines. The letters can be based around any form of music, even if that band is not previously mentioned in the magazine. The gig guides are very interesting for the music euphuists.
Near the end of the magazine there is special section, which is written by an artist. In this case it is Mick Jones the artist from The Clash. He writes his point of view for the readers to see.
The mode of address through these two types of features in a magazine is very reflective and informal. Both of these bring in readers because it evolves the reader and their views.
Promoting the Industry And Other products.
Within many NME magazines there is many adverts for many different reasons. The relationship between the editors and advertisers is very symbolic because each is different. Within all the magazines there is many musical adverts, however there are also general adverts. In this particular issue there are adverts for the musical game Lips. This is just one of the many musical adverts. Another example is the orange advert, however this is just a general advert.
The way adverts are layout in the magazine is by how much they are willing to pay for each page. Each page is worth an amount of money. The order in which the adverts are laid is also fixed by the price that the company is pillaging to pay.
Every NME reader has a profile and the advertisers appeal to this. The magazine is aimed at teenagers and appeals the “typical” teenager. An example would appeal to their fashion, their hobbies or even their music genre. This is because the representation of the NME is young audience.
Also through the advertising NME promote their other ways of broadcasting. This is through the Stylish website and radio. They can let the readers know of their cross broadcasting through using their products like the magazine. This is because the reader can already relate the existing products.
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
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.
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
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.setanta.com/Templates/News/NewsArticle.aspx?id=61097
http://www.ayup.co.uk/turn/turn0-5.html
http://www.sciencefictionbuzz.com/fanzines.html
http://www.ayup.co.uk/turn/turn0-5.html
http://www.sciencefictionbuzz.com/fanzines.html
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Music Magazine
Music Magazines:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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