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.