Research

Research task into minor and major magazine publishers:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxomfnMn010kYU9femNRQ3NGaU0/edit?usp=sharing

If the link doesn't work click on the image below to enlarge it. 

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Extensive textual analysis of a music 

magazine- NME:

Our task was to complete a extensive textual analysis of a current music magazine.  This has to consist of an analysis of a front cover, contents page and article from my chosen genre of music magazine which i plan to create for my final product. We had to include a summary of how our chosen magazine conforms to/ subverts its genre’s conventions. 

Here is the link to my finished textual analysis of current music magazine NME. 

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxomfnMn010kcWg5ZzM3SnNWNmc/edit?usp=sharing

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Summary of findings from the case study: 

We had to create a 'Go Animate' animation to summarise our findings from the case study we have analysed.

Here is the link to my go animate video.

http://goanimate.com/videos/08c44Zks8oMk?utm_source=linkshare

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Genre mood boards:

This task was to create a mood board for four different genres of music magazines. I looked at Rock, Rap, Pop and Indie Alternative genres. I collected images of front covers, contents pages and articles from music magazines within each genre and I also looked at particular bands that fall into these genres. I put up a few images of the 'lifestyle' that stereotypically follows each genre, with concerts/festivals/gigs and fashion styles taken into consideration. Next week we are going to be creating a podcast about the conventions of these genres.



Pop Music mood board

Bright colours are stereotypical and appeal to pop’s primary teenage female audience. They commonly use bright colours such as pink and purple and pastel colours also as they are stereotypically soft and feminine. Another dominant colour is yellow as it is bright and eye-catching meaning it grabs their target audience’s attention. Pop is dominated by independent Caucasian female artists between the ages of 17-25 who are seen to be role models by young female fans with Example’s such as Katy Perry, Jessie J and Beyoncé. They wear lots of these bright and pastel feminine colours which are up to date with the latest trends and fashions and have long styled hair. Teenage Boy bands such as One Direction, The Wanted and Lawson are typical of the pop genre and have been around for years- such as Blue and Take That etc. before them. The males are dominantly Caucasian between the ages of 17-25 and wear clothing such as t-shirts and jeans with a casual look. They dominantly have short styled hair. Some examples of pop music magazines are Smash Hits, We heart pop and top of the pops. Pop music magazines are often hybrids with other genres such as fashion and gossip. However these conventions are sometimes challenged. Exceptions to these conventions of Caucasian pop are black pop artists such as Michael Jackson, JLS and Whitney Houston as although they follow some conventions of pop their music is a hybrid of pop and R&B. When a genre of music becomes a hybrid with another these conventions are most likely to be broken as guidelines to genre are fluid. Pop artists are represented in the media to be extremely controversial such as Justin Bieber in his recent argument with the press, One Direction and The Wanted’s twitter feuds and Britney Spears’s prison convictions and are criticized for this as are expected as a convention of the pops genre to set an example for the young primary target audience. Pop is ever increasingly becoming a hybrid between R&B and Hip Hop with artists such as Nicki Minaj, Dizzle Rascle and Chris Brown breaking onto pops music scene. The front covers of pop magazines stereotypically have a very informal layout with lots of lures, pugs, photos and a sans serif typeface. Countries best known for their pop music are the United Kingdom, the USA and Korea with k-pop recently exploding into the pop charts with artists such as psy reaching the no. 1 spot in the charts. Pop artists are known to be singers rather than musicians as they tend to not play their own instruments.

Rock music mood board

Rock is a Caucasian dominated genre as rock originates in America, soon followed by Great Britain- the white ethnicity dominates. It is also greatly male dominated due to aggression being key to the genre as aggression is socially deemed as being a stereotypically male behavioural trait. Rock music magazines conventionally use dark colours such as black and red which have connotations of danger and passion. This reflects the darkness of the genre and the passion the artists have for their music. Rock as a genre has many different sub genres such as Punk Rock, Alternative Rock and Classic Rock and the style of a magazine is dependent on which sub-genre it falls under. Alternative rock magazines such as NME keep in line with the rock genre’s recognisable generic colours yet have a more formal and linear format with a unique modern edge. This is consistent with the rock genre’s rebellious representation. It also reflects NME’S primary target audience of teenagers and young adults- age 16- 28 as it is important for that age group to be unique. Classic Rock magazines such as Q use formal language, a serif typeface, a formal linear layout but also uphold house colours black, red and white which is reflective of their primary target audience being adults age 30-60. Punk rock music magazines such as Kerrang however are more rebellious with their layout using many lures, pugs, banners and photos on their front cover to draw their audience in. They use informal language and most images use direct mode of address to address their target audience of teenagers and young adults age 13-23. Rock artists and fans are known to have extreme, mainly long hair styles. They have many tattoos, piercings and wear casual clothing such as denim jeans, boots and band t-shirts. Rock fans are represented in the media as being in social groups such emo’s, Goth’s and punks whom are represented to be aggressive and rebellious which conforms to the genre of music. Rock artists dominantly are bands rather than an individual. They also dominantly play their own instruments such as electric guitar, 
bass guitar and drums and are singers also. Most fans also play an instrument also. 

Indie/ Alternative music mood board

The indie genre is a hybrid of many different music genres, for example I have featured NME covers is on both rock and indie genre mood board due to indie/alternative music a fluid genre and generally meaning a unique and individual talent different to anything else. This can be represented through the fact that indie music can feature different electric guitars- associated with rock, acoustic guitars- associated with country and saxophones which are associated with jazz meaning the walls of genre are fluid and the indie/alternative genre demonstrates this. The house styles and layout of the publication covers, contents pages and articles are simpler and colours used are more neutral. Researching music magazines led me to find that there aren’t any dominantly indie/alternative genre magazines available to purchase. NME is a hybrid of indie and rock genres and The Fly is a free magazine which is only distributed to a niche market due to cost to print. Representations of the genre portray many concerts and festivals and both fans and artists taking great pride and care about their appearance and fashion being unique and individual. The indie genre is quite colourful in comparison to the other genres I have picked with many bold prints and colours used in album covers and magazine articles whilst keeping a gender neutral and summery appearance. Summer is important to the indie and alternative genre as that is when festivals such as reading, t in the park, Glastonbury etc. are all in season and that is why I have featured photos of bands performing live, crowds at festivals and festival posters in my mood board.

Rap mood board

The rap genre is stereotypically listened to and performed by black males who supposedly dominate the rap charts. However rap is evolving and female artists such Azealia Banks, M.I.A and Nicki Minaj and white artists such as Iggy Azealia, Plan B and Eminem challenge this stereotype. The females in rap are generally portrayed as sexual objects wearing little and revealing clothing with flesh on show. They are also connoted to be powerful and independent women. Males in rap are portrayed to be rich, powerful and sexualised also with many male artists being topless showing their muscles and power. They often are portrayed with a serious expression, wearing sunglasses, smoking and photos are often taken in an urban area. The rap genre often mentions swearing, money drugs, sex and gangs in its songs which match representations of rap artists in the media. 

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Initial audience research into music magazines:

We chose five questions that are relevant to the topic and created a survey on website www.surveymonkey.com

This is a screenshot from my survey into music magazines

from website survey monkey.
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Sharing my Survey:

We then shared the URL for our survey on social networking sites and asked people to fill in the survey.

Screenshot from Twitter

Screenshot from Tumblr

Screenshot from Facebook

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Survey Monkey Results:

37 people have completed my survey.

Question 1- 

I found from my results that Rock and Alternative/Indie
were the most popular genres however as there isn't
currently a magazine that serves solely the Alternative/Indie 
genre so i aim to create a music magazine of this
genre for my final product.

Question 2-

I found from these results that the majority of my target 
audience buy music magazines occasionally, this result 
means I will have to make sure my magazine's front cover
and contents are appealing so that my primary target 
audience of 14-20 year old readers are interested in buying 
my issue. Also a huge percentage said that they never 
buy a music magazine, yet in other questions said 
certain qualities of a magazine would mean that in 
future they would.

  

Question 3- 

It is evident that the most important feature of a music
magazine is that the contents of the magazine contains
an recognisable artist who is popular. Free gifts such
as posters and vouchers are also important to readers. 
These results have helped influence what I will feature on
my front cover of my own music magazine so that
I can lure my target audience to read the issue.

Question 4- 

This survey's results could be bias towards the 14-17 age
group due to most of my friends who I asked to fill out the
survey being of a similar age to me. However as that age group
of my target audience have the most disposable income
which means they are most likely to be able to afford
a music magazine. To further validate this questionnaire I
would have to target an older group of my target audience
so all ages across my target audience get their opinion across.

  

Question 5-

This questions results have helped me figure out a suitable
price for my music magazine. I think I will price my
magazine at around £2.50.

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The History of Music Magazines:

In this task I had to complete a timeline of music magazines taking into account the audience of the magazine and again giving brief information and analysis of the history of the magazine.

This is the URL to my final product- 
http://prezi.com/weoledwjifek/the-history-of-music-magazines/

Screenshot from my Prezi on the history of music magazines.

Screenshot from my timeline on my Prezi.

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