Case study of the source
- 1. CASE STUDY OF ‘THE SOURCE’ MAGAZINE:
- 2. The History SOURCE’: of ‘THE The source statesfull colour hop music, culture, 1988. It is second rap behind Kingdompublication Connection. founded as a 1988. is a united based, monthly covering hippolitics, and founded in the world’s longest running periodically, United based Hip-Hop The Source was newsletter in
- 3. The Source was originally started by two Harvard University students in Cambridge, Massachusetts who were influenced by Hip Hop and wanted to give praise by devoting coverage to the rising music genre. John Shecter and David Mays decided to hire their college James Bernard (as senior director) and Ed Young (as associate publisher) and the four men immediately became shareholders in the ownership of the magazine. At the time, Mays handled duties as the publisher of the magazine and Shecter was the editor-in-chief. The magazine’s offices were moved from Massachusetts to New York City in 1990, a move that was made with the intention to expand the magazine into a mainstream market publication. The magazine featured cover stories on the crack-cocaine epidemic, police brutality, and New York’s investigations of high-profile emcees. The magazine also included many notable features, including the famous ‘Unsigned Hype’ column. The publication has over eight million subscribers worldwide and remains one of the most popular hip-hop magazines in the world. Extensions to ‘The Source’:
- 4. As the source expanded, the magazine became involved in a television programmes such as The Source: All-Access and The Source: Sound Lab. The magazine’s annual awards show, known as The Source Awards, honours both Hip-hop and R&B performers for their contributions to hip-hop. The Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest award given to an emcee who has contributed his/her time to succeeding in the hip-hop music industry. The Source also releases a compilation album of hip-hop hits. The magazine expanded overseas with a French-language version, alongside The Source Latino and The Source Israel magazine franchises. The company invested in mobile phones and ringtones The Artists who feature in ‘The Source’: ‘The Source’ magazine is a hip-hop, urban, maledominated magazine and the artists who feature in the magazine reflect this. The artists who feature in ‘The Source’ have also helped celebrate ‘black music’ and the years of hip-hop as hip-hop originated in 1970’s America when block parties became increasingly popular in New York City, particularly among African American youth residling in the black streets of ‘ The Bronx’. The Birthplace of ‘Hip-hop’ The Source is a cool, youthful, ‘ghetto’ magazine featuring artists such as ‘Rick Ross’, ‘Big Sean’ and ‘Chris Brown’. Hip-hop originated with a marginalized subculture of the South Bronx amongst black and latino youth in 1970’s New York City. The artists cleverly represent this as on the front cover of the magazine, they normally seem relaxed, calm yet dominant reflecting the subcultures of both ethnic groups which is still shown in today’s ‘Source’ magazines. , they normally seem relaxed, calm yet dominant reflecting the subcultures of both ethnic groups which is still shown in today’s ‘Source’ magazines.
- 5. Target audience of ‘The Source’:
- 6. The readerships of ‘The Source’ are 18-30 year olds with a mostly male-targeted audience. They are working/middle class and to achieve the best in life. They are fun, urban, and stylish and keep up with the latest trends. They are hugely interested in ‘Hip-hop’ music and will be part of it until they die. Hip-hop is a big part of their lives and they breathe hip-hop music. Their favorite artists include ‘Missy Elliot’, ‘Eminem’ and ‘Diggy Simmons’. They have a great sense of fashion and wear the latest trends such as ‘Vans’ and ‘Jordan’s. They are very outgoing and confident and love to set the trend by being innovative, creative and imaginative, separating themselves from the crowd. When they walk in a room, everyone has to stop and stare at them. They are dominant, youthful and very trendy. In their spare time, they enjoy hanging out with their mates and having a laugh and they also enjoy watching street dance where people freestyle dance and show their creativeness. They are also not afraid to speak their mind and never take criticism too harshly. Brand Identity of ‘The Source’: ‘The Source’ magazine maintains its brand identity as in every issue, the masthead is kept and displayed in big, block capital letters and is placed in the exact same position. This is very clever if the magazine to do as the audience is able to spot a continuous link between all of the issues allowing them to feel connected to the
- 7. magazine and to not lose connection. Moreover, on the masthead, inside the letter ‘O’ is a microphone with a hand wrapped around it, signifying both the genre and reflecting the stereotype of emcees holding the mic, creating iconography. The image of the main artist is normally displayed above the masthead, again creating a link between the issues. In addition, the UPC-A (barcode) is always placed at the bottom right hand side of the front cover. Also, the brand also maintains its brand identity by displaying a strap line full of artist’s names that feature in the magazine or important headlines which lures the reader in as this grabs their attention. On some of ‘Source’s’ editions, at the bottom center, the audience are reminded and persuaded to visit ‘THE SOURCE.COM. This allows the audience to keep this in their heads as they are invited to visit the site for more, making them feel a part of ‘The Source’ magazine community. Also, on most of their magazines, beside the main image (masthead) is the artist name (written in big, bold print) and a snippet about them as well which gives the audience a hint of what will feature in the magazine. Furthermore, all of the artists who feature in the magazine represent the brand’s identity and personality: Cool, youthful and stylish which is very effective and clever of ‘The Source’.
- 8. The conventions of the ‘Hip-hop’ genre While many genres have stereotypes associated with them, hip-hop may have the most. Not to be confused with prejudices, a stereotype is simply the consensus belief about a topic based on what people commonly assume. Whether correct or incorrect, the stereotypes associated with hip-hop include violence, drugs, money and misogyny. The lyrics of many hip-hop songs perpetuate some of these stereotypes. Many hip-hop artists reference violence in their songs, which lead to violence being a stereotype commonly associated with this genre of music. Over time, hip-hop artists such as Ice-T, Tupac Shakur and Eminem have come under fire from community groups and government agencies for the use of violence lyrics in their music. There ‘s no proof that hip-hop artists use drugs than those in any other music genre, but drugs are more likely to be mentioned in hip-hop music. Many lyrics in this style of music refer to selling drugs as a way of making a living as using drugs such as marijuana. Dr Dre’s notable hip-hop album ‘The Chronic’ referenced marijuana in its title and 50 Cent’s semi-autobiographical movie ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’ talked about his rise from a drug dealer to a rapper. While musicians in virtually every genre can achieve enormous commercial success and enjoy the wealth that comes with it, hip hop performers are known for vigorously celebrating their money and even exaggerating how much they have. Rap videos frequently show rappers showing off and holding stacks of money, wearing expensive jewellery and driving fancy cars. Additionally, many hip-hop references dealing being rich and spending large quantities of money.
- 9. Women’s groups have often criticised hip-hop music for the use of misogynistic lyrics and images. Women are commonly referred to in some rap music, while scantily clad women and are also common fixtures in hip hop videos. The stereotypical conventions found in the ‘hip-hop’ genre are guns, violence, sex, drugs and jewellery. We also tend to associate hip-hop with break-dancing and graffiti which are highly related to the genre. Stereotypes of men and women: Men are normally featured as very successful. However, they are made out to be gangsters, trouble makers and promiscuous. Women are normally seen as the property of men. They follow men’s orders and do as they say. They are displayed as ‘puppets’ as they do whatever a man tells them and are considered ‘objects’. Black people are constantly thought to be violent people, lower class, uneducated, lazy and good.
- 10. My inspirations for my magazine:
- 11. My research in music magazine conventions has hugely inspired me to create a magazine that has similar yet creative and original ideas related to hip-ho. ‘The Source’ has allowed me to figure exactly how I would like my magazine to look and what type of target audience I am aiming the magazine at. I have been inspired in so many ways. For example, for my masthead I would like one that is bold, clear and urban, like ‘The Source’s one and I would like there to be a logo which represents my magazine. For example, the Source has a ‘mic’ in between one of the letters which makes the magazine stand out from others and makes it more unique and creative. I also wish to use relevant iconography in my magazine to allow the audience to see a link and be able to identify the genre without feeling confused or lost. This will al so like my featuring artist to stand out in the magazine and to show body language and facial features which are the same , if not similar to existing and successful hip-hop magazines.