Mrs Doggart!

I don't have any way of contacting you, so I had to make a post, please can I have your college email so I can send you one because I have been ill. Thanks.

Feedback

This is beginning to look Better, Jess. You need to keep chipping away at this research in your own time but you also need to get cracking with the planning and get on to the taking of your photos and your journalism.

Try to use the label box at the end of each post and remember to present your work in a  variety of ways - think about making your posts more visual!

Content pages for music magazines normally have the main artist featured on the front of the magazine as one of the main pictures for the contents page, it also includes the page number next to people so the reader can quickly turn to the page they would like to see. There may be more than one main story so if the main story on the front page doesn't interest them they can turn to another article. Also on the contents page there should be more than one photo and something that appears every week.

The front cover of a magazine normally has the picture of somebody who has recently been in the limelight or has done something which will make them more famous e.g releasing a new album. Sometimes their head will go in front of the title of the magazine to show they are more important than the magazine name because of who they are. The main person on the front of the magazine will most likely be the main story for the magazine, although this magazine doesn't show this, a lot of magazines that use women on the front cover usually have the women portrayed for sex appeal. Because my magazine is for girls, I would like my boy-band to look good looking so girls would be more interested in buying the magazine. The main image normally always has a caption nearby referring to them. 

A logo for a magazine is normally something that will stand out to people when they look at the magazine, just glancing. i would like my name to be the logo and I will set it out a bit so then they look at it and easily recognise which magazine mine is. 

The masthead is normally the title of the magazine and this never changes. The only things that ever change are the stories and the background. It is important to keep changing the background and the stories to keep readers interested although there has to be something in the magazine that people see every week, e.g puzzles. 

The barcode and price is normally situated in the bottom corner of the magazine, it is smaller so it doesn't obstruct the main photo. The price is normally smaller because if it was big people would see it straight away and maybe decide not to buy it because it is too expensive. The price has to be somewhere on the front cover but by making it smaller so people can't see it as much will make it more likely people just pick the magazine up without considering what the price may be.

The issue number of the magazine is important because people will then be able to know which issue they are currently on if they collect it and also if there is a lot of issues the magazine has sold it is sort of boasting to other magazines that they are a good magazine because of how many copies they have produced.

USP

The music magazines that are currently available are;
NME
Kerrang!
Q
BBC Music Magazine
Top Of The Pops

Most of the above are indie and rock magazines. obviously 'Top Of The Pops' is for people who like pop but mainly young children. I want a pop magazine for an older audience because I have noticed that there isn't a lot for an older audience. I think this is a good idea because if there is so little of pop magazines for an older audience and then people see that a new pop music magazine is selling, they will want to buy it because it interests them.Publish Post

Music Magazine Publishing

NME is produced my IPC MEDIA, a large publisher in the UK.
Because this is a large name it would be a good idea to use them for my magazine to show that a successful magazine is produced by the same publisher as my magazine.
This will make people more interested in my magazine because of the publisher, it has to be a good magazine otherwise they wouldn't produce it.

Idea's For Name Of Music Magazines

After researching into the different kind of music magazines. I have noticed that the names are short and catchy. Therefore I need a name that will stand out to the audience and is something they will easily remember and isn't a mouthful to say.

Already existing magazine names;

- Kerrang!

-NME

-Rolling Stone

-Spin

This is why I have chosen 'Pop 'n' Mix' as my magazine name.

I conducted a survey to see which names, fonts and colours appealed most to be people. Here is what people liked most. This is what I will use for my magazine front cover, contents page and double page.

I

The most popularly voted are the ones I am going to use as my fonts although I have seen a font on www. dafonts.com that appeal more to me, therefore I will use that instead for my main title instead of the one that was chosen. Although I will still use one of the fonts for my main text on the front cover of my magazine. The name of my magazine 'Pop 'n' Mix' will stand out I think because it is short and 'catchy' and easy to remember.

Research Feedback

Jess - there is some basic research here but you need to achieve more focus in each post - they tend to jump from one thing to another and leave the reader a bit muddled. Have a clear idea what you are investigating in each post and stick to that topic only please.You still have some gaps in your research and would do well to use my comments on each post to improve what you have already done. Well done on completing and uploading your prelim task.

Band Images (posters, CD Covers etc)

I find that Westlife show how many typical boybands look.
They all dress similar to show they are all part of the same band.
I would like the audience to be a large audience consisting of both male and female, mainly female because of the sex appeal for the older audience. But also the younger audience where they look up to the band members and want to look like them or meet them.
On my front cover I will have the boyband, all positioned in a certain way, wearing similar clothes. Around the artists I will have a headliner to attract the readers attention and want to buy the magazine to read the story about the boyband and then have other artists features on the front cover to how the magazine isn't just about the band. My contents page will consist of on the cover articles with pictures. My double page article will be an interview with the main band and consist of photos of them. All the font will be bold and attracting to the reader. I will use colours that don't apply to just one gender, this will show the magazine is for boy audiences.

This is another boyband and shows that they also dress very similar likewise to the other picture. In this photo they are all portraying direct mode of address, I will have two of my members posing indirect mode of address. The direct mode of address leers the audience in to want to read but the indirect mode of address also makes them want to read because they want to know what they're looking at. Most boybands don't have instruments so my boyband won't have any to fit the stereotypical fit. Most of the time the setting is a studio based setting with a plain backdrop. All members wear complimenting colours or contrasting to show the different personalities of each band member but they normally have something in common, eg the footwear

Target Audience

My main target audience is girls, from the age 15-25 years old. I would like to use artists like Jls and Taylor Swift. They appeal to a very wide audience. Although I would like my audience to appeal to boys also I think girls would be the real benefiters. I would like a multi ethnic audience. Also the socio-economic status should be widespread although I don't think group A would buy a magazine like mine. My magazine will be different from magazines like 'top of the pops' because it will have language which applies to the older audience more than the younger and some of the people featured will be the people that appeals to the older audience.

This is Laura, she is 17 years old. She is female. She goes to college and would be an ideal person to use as a fan for my band because she works therefore has a disposable income and would buy tickets to go and see them live. She likes to watch reality TV so if my band ever decided to do their own show she would watch. She also buys music off itunes and in stores. Her interests consist of; shopping, listening to music and watching tv. Defining and knowing your audience matters because then a band will know how to develop their image for the audiences taste and approval, also they will know what kinds of things their audience like and what songs they would prefer to listen to.

Popular Music Genres and Audience

Quite a lot of the songs in the top 40 are pop songs. I have decided the age I would like my target audience to be is 15-25 because the young/young adult audience listen to the top 40 a lot and decide on their favourite genre from the top 40. Because pop is a popular music genre, this means my magazine would sell quite well because it is aimed at those who like pop music. Also if they don't like just boybands which will be my magazines main feature, they could still enjoy the magazine.

 I have now decided to do my magazine for the pop genre not just boy-bands, although the magazine will have the main featuring band as a boy-band, it will feature other artists that fit into the pop genre. E.g Taylor Swift.

The Journalistic Styles And Structure Of An Article etc

The language in most music magazines is positive and promotes the band it is talking about. The language is informal and is mainly addressed to the ready directly and will ask the reader questions rhetorically. Also the reader will be able to have their own say, this is because magazines allow people to write in and comment on whatever they like in an article as long as it is appropriate. The headings are there to catch the readers attention in a bold font, the sub heading explains more about the story and is still captivating.
Here is an article from the music magazine 'Top Of The Pops'

'Lily Allen
Now we're talking - every Big Brother, whether celebrity or civilian, needs a firebrand, and that's where Lily comes in. Reading her celebrity smackdowns on her blog are all well and good, but how could that possibly compare to the brilliance of seeing them live(ish)?'

This shows the informal language of magazines and the use of rhetorical questions, also they include pictures of the celebrity they are talking about.

Audience Survey/ Circulation Figures

Top of the pops------ NME------ Kerrang!-----BBC Music magazine
11  1                              111              111                     1


This shows how many people like each music magazines. All the different magazines apply to different target audiences.

Most people said they would be willing to spend no more than £2.00 on a music magazine. This helps bevause I know what kind of magazine to make and who to feature in it and I also understand what an audience would be willing to pay therefore could make a profit but still sell at a reasonable price.
BBC Music 42,810 (45,144)*
Classic FM 32,534 (35,751)*
Classic Rock 71,242 (70,301 / 70,188)
Computer Music 17,427 (18,261)*
Future Music 10,862 (10,860)*
Gramophone 32,313 (34,628)*
Hot Press 18,394 (19,387)*
Kerrang! 41,125 (43,253 / 52,272)
Metal Hammer 41,777 (46,004 / 50,269)
Mixmag 26,116 (30,159)*
Mojo 98,484 (97,722 / 100,507)
NME 38,486 (40,948 / 48,459)
Q 94,811 (100,172 / 103,107)
Terrorizer 11,641 (13,786)*
Top of the Pops 107,576 (119,739)*
Uncut 75,518 (76,526 / 87,069)
Word 26,555 (34,280)*
Empire 194,236 (194,016)
Sight and Sound 19,842 (19,733)*
Total Film 81,029 (85,031)
These are some of the selling music magazines, I think this shows that music magazines are still selling therefore would still be viable. I think it would be a good idea to have a website for the magazine for fans to look at and talk to other fans

Completed The Preliminary Task & Reflection

I have completed the preliminary task. For the preliminary task, I went and took a photo of somebody from my class in a studio because I wanted a studio like setting. Then I updadted the photo onto my computer and put it on photoshop, from there I cropped the photo so there was no background. After this I saved my photo and then put it on InDesign, where I then began to edit it. Here I created boxes to give the article a magazine look. I struggled with some of the things on InDesign but now I know how to use it better therefore will understand it more when it comes to the main project. Also it has helped me understand how a real magazine will look more.

This is my preliminary task of the front cover of a magazine. I now understand how to make a magazine look more like a magazine as this doesn't as much, therefore for my main project I will know how to use all the different computer programs to make the magazine look like a real one. Also by looking at different magazines I now understand the language used in a magazine and on the front cover. I also understand that i need to use brighter colours to catch the readers attention and use captivating head lines that would make the reader think "I want to read that"

This is my contents page for my preliminary task. For the main task, I would make sure it looked more appealing and would set it out a lot differently.

Preliminary Task

For my preliminary task I am taking a photo of somebody from my class and creating a magazine front cover with them on it. I will edit the photo and the cover in InDesign.

Initial Thoughts and Ideas.

For my media task, I have chosen to do a boyband. I have been inspired to do this because, I think it would be fun to get some boys together and create the boyband image.
I find that Westlife show how many typical boybands look.

Introduction To Project.

I am Jessica Miller and I am an AS student. For my Media Studies project I have chosen to do the print project which consists of doing the cover, contents page and a double page spread out for a music magazine.