Audience Research

Why do music magazines do research? Music magazines do research on lots of different things. They do research on things such as their audience type. The audience type consists of a lot of things such as what gender they want to aim there magazine at and also what age do they want to aim it at. They do research on this so that more people buy their magazine and that it becomes known popular and worldwide. By doing research it allows the magazine to be bought by more people and allows the maker of the magazine to get a bigger profit. This is because if you work out which age group and which gender likes each different of genre then they will like the magazine and buy it. However, if you don't research the audience properly the public won't be interested in the magazine and therefore won't buy the magazine. If you made a magazine based on Rave music and you aimed to sell it at women who are old you won't get many people buying it because old women won't be interested in this genre of music. However, if you sold this Rave magazine to young boys the maker of the magazine will gain more money as this type of audience is the type which is likely to buy the magazine. Therefore, you could also say that when thinking about what type of audience you are selling your magazine to it requires common sense too.

Rock and Roll research

Rock and Roll is a genre of music which was originated and evolved in the United States in the 1940's to the 1950's. It has a mixture of African American genres such as blues, jump blues, jazz and gospel together with Western swing and country music. This music has developed from Rock and Roll in the 1950's to now becoming popularly known as Rock Music. A lot has changed within this genre over the last 50 to 60 years. One example of this change is that a piano or saxophone was often the lead instrument. However, now a days the main instruments are drums or guitars. This consists of two electrical guitars one which is rhythm and one which is lead, below is a photo/ example of a classical rock band.

 

The term rock and roll now has two meanings: referring to the first wave of music that originated in the US in the 1950's and developed into "rock music." In the late 1940's to 1950's either piano or saxophone tended to be the lead instruments used, now a days however Classical Rock and Roll is usually played with one or two electric guitars: one lead and one rhythm, a string bass or an electric base guitar and also a drum kit. As seen by the media in movies and television Rock and Roll has influenced a lot of people's lifestyles. These factors include things such as fashions, attitudes and language. The term 'rocking and rolling' used to be often described the movement of a ship on the ocean, however in the earlier 20th century it is used to descrbie people's movement towards the music of Rock and Roll.

Unfortunately, some people argue that there has been a decline in Rock music over the years and this has been influenced by the amount of deaths that have sadly occured to famous Rock artists. Famous Rock singers such as Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens had all died by the 1960's and this is when people believe the genre started to decline. Also, Rock and Roll declined when Elvis sadly passed away, because he was popluar for both his music and his looks.

Test Shots

This is a photo of a One 2 Shot, as by the name this is a shot of 2 people, however Tom's pose isn't very good.

 This is a long shot of Tom, by doing this it allows people to view his whole body.

 This is a medium close up of Tom, this shot is used to show more detail of his upper body, in particular his face. This shot type usually captures from the waist up to your head.

 This is another medium close up of Tom, however unfortunately the framing is poor. As you can see there is equipment in the background which shouldn't be there. Moreover, the background colour's are multi coloured which wouldn't look good as a magazine front cover.

This is a pose shot of Tom, I believe this could be made better however if he was more central. But by leaving a gap on the right hand side it would allow me to put sell lines there.

This is a group shot of my media classmates including props. I don't think this is a good photo because the framing is bad, there is a light used what you can see in the photo and moreover, the photo looks poor regarding quality.

Conventions of a Music Magazine

Front Magazine: The main image is of a singer who is 'the future' and his name is Tobias. This replicates that he is going to be the main person involved inside the magazine. Sell lines are also used on the Front Cover to show you what is inside of the magazine and to persuade you to buy the magazine, the Sell Lines are featured on both sides of the Front Cover and these include artist's what are already famous and includes lots of types of genres what people will be attracted too. The front cover also has basic thing such as a Barcode which is scanned to show how many products have been bought and it also has a price tag to show to the public how much the magazine will cost. A masthead is also placed at the top of the magazine to try and influence the public to buy it. They usually do this by showing interesting things what will be inside the magazine for example on this magazine it says FREE DOWNLOADS INSIDE!



This is the Contents Page for a music magazine. The main image is the main convention for a contents page in a music magazine. This is because the main image informs you who the magazine is mainly about. The main image is of a band called the Courteeners, this replicates that the main story (which is another convention on a contents page) will be about the Courteeners. Another feature of a Contents page is Featured Stories and these are shown on the left hand side of the magazine for example it shows their will be Oasis Specials and it also informs you there is a cash prize inside if you answer questions correctly. Also the contents page shows previous editions what have been in the previous magazine. This is used to show people what was in last weeks magazine incase they didn't read it.

This is the double page spread of a music magazine. Like the front cover and the Contents page the main convention of the Double Page spread is the Main image. This is because it covers one full page and also it shows what the double page spread is about. This is another convention of a double page spread, the main article. On this magazine the main article is about a band called the Teenagers. Another thing what is used is the Drop Cap this is used to show the start of a new section and where to start reading. The text inside the article is used to organise the paragraphs neatly and also by using columns it allows more space for other things to be included.                          

Information of my Magazine

The name for my magazine: The name for my magazine is going to be 'R&R'. I have thought of this because there is a music type R&B which stands for Rhythm and Blues. Therefore, my magazine is going to be named R&R because my music type is rock music/ rock and roll and R&R stand for Rock and Roll.

The price of my magazine: Because my music magazine will only contain 4 pages, I don't feel that the magazine should be that expensive. For four pages worth I would put the price of the magazine, as a rough cover price of £1.29. Moreover, by allowing the magazine to be priced at £1.29 I believe that everyone will be able to afford to buy it. Even though my magazine only has 4 pages, I still think that it needs to be printed at a high quality standard. By doing this, it would mean my magazine would appeal to customers more, and therefore more people would buy the magazine.

How often the magazine will be released: My magazine will be released once a month. This is because by having the magazine's once a month it will allow a different rock band to be shown each month of the year. In addition to this, new songs tend to come out every month so by having the magazine being published once every month it will show all the latest songs and albums what are out each month, and you could include people's reviews.

Target Audience for Music Magazine

The main target audience for my chosen magazine is going to be teenagers between the age of 14 to 25 years. This is because they tend to be more interested in this genre than adults. My chosen genre to aim the magazine at will be males, and this is because most Rock music fans are males, and some males I know have started their own Rock bands. Because my magazine is being aimed at students, or people who are attending school, college or university the socio economic class for this band will be Class E. I would have expected the people who buy my magazine to have had a taste of reading magazines before. This is because if they have read music magazines before, I believe they will have more interest and will like the magazine more if they have prreviously read music magazines such as NME or KERRANG!

In my opinion, by using large pictures of popular rock bands performing, I believe it will help me sell the magazine to my audience, and therefore it will make my magazine more profitable. This is because if I include photos of popular music bands, since they are popular more people will like them so when they see the band they like on the front cover they will want to buy the magazine. Another way I could make more profit from my target audience is by including Sell Lines. These are conventions what are used on the front cover of the magazine which tell the public what is included inside the magazine. If I make these sell lines interesting I believe it will draw the public in and it will make them want to buy the magazine more often. In addition to this, for this to be effective I would also need to make sure that the front cover would need to stand out because it will be the page the public will be able to see.

To appeal to the audience I am going to put a Unique Selling Point on my magazine. The Unique Selling Point will be that you get a 'Free CD' for when you buy the magazine, by doing this I believe that my magazine will become more profitable because not only will people want to buy my magazine for the features inside the magazine, but they will also be interested in the Free CD on the front of it.

If I was a potential customer the main thing what I would want to see, is what are the latest songs or albums what have recently been sold. This is so that I would know what to listen too and I would find out more songs what I like. Another thing I would want to see would be people's reviews on these latest songs/albums what have been released. This is so I would receive feedback on the new songs and it would help me decide whether to download the latest tracks what are out or not.

Conventions of Music Magazine

Front Cover:

• Sell Lines
• Masthead
• Skyline
• USP (Unique Selling Point)
• Barcode
• Date
• Price
• Thumbnails
• Colour Scheme
• Main Image
• Headline
• Teller

Contents Page:

• Main Image
• Featured Stories
• Regular Stories
• Page Numbers
• Vocabulary
• Letter from the Editor
• Previous Editions
• Main Story

Double Page Spread:

 

• Stand First: The first paragraph.
• Drop Cap: when the start of a word Has a big letter.
• Main Article
• Text in columns
• Page Number
• Masthead
• Main Image (takes up the page)
• By Line
• Title

Music Magazine Brief

Main task: the front page, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine. All images  and text used must be original, produced by you - minimum of four images.

Presentation of your work: The presentation of the research, planning and evaluation may take the form of any one, or combination of two or more, of the following:

• a presentation using slideshow software such as PowerPoint
• a blog
• a podcast

Evaluation for College Magazine

I have made a magazine and a contents page for a magazine called “The wonders of Wyke.” The product represents social groups because on the front cover is a photo of a girl who is a student. Whilst taking the photo I made sure that the girl posing for the photo- Gabby was smiling. This is so it shows to the audience of the people reading my magazine that she is having a good time and that she is enjoying being part of these teenage ‘social groups’ whilst at Wyke. The audience/ target market for my magazine would be students at Wyke or people in the last year of secondary school that may want to come to Wyke College. Therefore, I thought I would inform the people who are already at Wyke activities what are occurring and I thought I would persuade people interested into going to college to come by adding things such as Trips and Sporting activities what are going on. I attracted the audience by adding bright colours to my front cover so that the main points of writing would stand out and the people reading my magazine would see them. Looking back at my perfume design I feel that I have learn’t a lot of things. This is because when doing the poster of my perfume bottle I didn’t need to apply any conventions. However, whilst doing the college magazine I have learn’t all the conventions what are required on both the front cover and the double page spread. I believe that I have used these conventions what I have learn’t to challenge real life media products. This is because using conventions such as a masthead and a skyline makes your product look good and also makes it look like a real life product. Therefore, my College Magazine is challenges forms of real life media products. Whilst using technologies for the process of making the college magazine I have learn’t where to place conventions. Whilst using Photoshop to make my front cover I have learn’t where to place important conventions such as the barcode, the date and more complex things such as the Masthead and the Skyline. The skyline goes at the top of the page with the Masthead below it, with the date going just below that. Moreover, the sell lines go on the left or right hand side of the page with the barcode on the bottom right of the cover. If I were to create a college magazine again I would control my time management. By doing this it would have allowed me to improve my work, make it would better and it would have also helped me to challenge forms and conventions of real media products. I believe that if I did control my time management I would have been able to apply some more vital conventions towards my front cover such as a teller and a kicker. In addition to this I would have taken more photos so that I had a variety of photos to choose from over what photo to have as my front cover.

College Magazine Photos

These are photos which I used for

College Magazine (Front Cover)

Convention analysis of College magazine front cover

This is an example of a front cover for a College Magazine. By looking at the front cover I can instantly see the obvious features what should be included on a front cover. These include things such as a barcode which will show how many copies of the magazine have been sold and how many are still left. In addition to this, the magazine shows the price to the audience and it also shows the date in which the magazine has been published. For me the main convention of a magazine is the main image and I believe the main image used in poor. This is because the woman doesn't look very happy which signifies college can't be good therefore, the magazine won't be either. Moreover, things such as folders or whiteboards and desks could be introduced what are related to college instead of having a blank background. Another convention which is poor in my opinion is the colour scheme the colours used: red, yellow, pink,purple and grey just don't contrast well with each other. A good thing about the magazine is the sell lines which are used on each side of the page. On the right hand side it states you get a free holiday calendar when you buy the magazine, which persuades you to buy the magazine. In addition to this, on the left hand side of the page it shows how to relieve exam pressure in big bold writing which will stand out to the public.

Conventions of a Magazine

Headline: The headline tells the audience what the feature of the magazine is. It is the appealing part of the magazine and this is because usually it is the largest text on the front cover.

Mast Head: This is the title of the magazine cover and is always found at the top left of the magazine. The Mast Head needs to be unique and eye catching because it is like a logo.

Left Head: As you can tell by the name, left head refers to the left hand side of the magazine cover, this holds most of the story headlines. The left head is displayed so that it shows the mast head and story titles. Left head is used to anchor the reader in.

Sell Lines: This is a description of what is going to be inside of the magazine, these tend to be short like a slogan.

Cover Lines: These are catchy phrases which are placed on stories which are included inside the magazine. These attract the audience to the magazine so they buy the magazine and read more about the story.

Barcode: A barcode is a bar which is used by retailers so they know which issue is being purchased.

Credit: A credit is something which shows the audience who the magazine has been made by. So for my magazine it would be 'this is credited by Daniel Sparkes.'

Dateline: The dateline is the date the magazine was published, so for my magazine it would be 14/10/2013. The dateline is usually published below the mast head on the right hand side .

Skyline: This is usually found above the mast head and it informs the audience what the magazine is about, if I used a skyline it would be related to college life.

Teller: These are sub headers what are used to tell you what the main story is about for example a headline could be 'the toddler who shot his dad' and then underneath the headline there would be a brief explanation on the story.

Colour Scheme: This is what colours are used on your front cover. There could be different colours for the background photo's, the title and the sell lines.

Vocabulary: This is words what are used on your front cover.

Medium Close up

      

This magazine is aimed at students and people who go to or want to go to the college, because it says Student Life. Therefore, I imagine this will be informing people what life is like at college. The magazine also shows the different contents what will be in the magazine and these are shown in different colours which makes it easy for you to understand where to find particular contents. The magazine would be published on the internet and would be sold as a magazine in the college. Moreover, the man on the front of the magazine is happy, which would suggest that college/student life is good. This magazine has other basic things too such as a barcode and a price tag to show how much the magazine will cost.These are things what you would expect to see on any magazine.

Even though this magazine cover doesn't contain any writing, it still shows college life is good. This is shown by 2 people in the photo smiling. The ideology of this photo is that college will make you happy and is a good place to be. The photo concentrates more on the 2 people in the photo because it shows that at college you can make relationships, with both genders. In my opinion I believe this magazine is aimed at trying to get people into attending college, because it doesn't have any writing or information on the front cover, just a photo. The institution of this front cover was the college because the photo is set on college sites, as you can tell by the classrooms and the bike shed in the background.

This magazine front cover has lots of sell lines which make you want to buy the magazine so you can read more about the stories. Moreover, the front cover also has other conventions on it too such as the barcode, and a headline which is 'City College Craze.' The institution of the front cover is the college because the title shows the magazine is specifically related to college and the girl has folders in her hand which suggest she has been doing work at college. In addition to this, the ideology of this photo is that 

The Brief

Preliminary exercise: using DTP and an image manipulation program, produce the front page of a new school/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead. Additionally you must produce a mock-up of the layout of the contents page to demonstrate their grasp of DTP.

Main task: the front page, contents and double page spread of a new music/magazine. All images and text used must be original, produced by you - minimum of four images.