Dragon's Den pitch - media
- 1. How did I come up with this idea? After researching many other magazines I settled on a design and theme that I would like to use. I found the formal, clinical style that Q incorporates to be very visually appealing, as the clear white-on-red colour scheme allowed the covers to be both aesthetically consistent and doesn’t bombard the reader with a plethora of unwanted information; it is far more clear cut. My concept • My magazine will be an informative one, it will dabble in all manner of music genres and artists. Its aim is to select the best of the bunch. In order to do this it will be mainly based around album and artist reviews. • My magazine will appeal to the older generations because many of our issues will have featurettes looking back at some of the ‘golden oldies’ that are considered to of played a pivotal part in defining the music industry that we know today. But at the same time our younger audience will love our in depth forays into the more obscure and lesser known names in music in order to bring them the fresh sounds they’ve needed in their playlists, all included in our ‘Hidden Gems’ section. • Rock, Pop, Indie, Alternative, male, female… Whatever you want you’ll find here; there’s something for everybody. • Mission statement: We are very much aware that the average music listener does not restrict himself to a single genre of music, so why should a music publication do the same? We are the No 1 source for the music you don’t know you want but can’t live without. ‘Hum’ brings you intel from all corners of the music scene, redefining your opinion of music, one article at a time.
- 2. Market Because of the nature of my magazine, my audience should be quite large and diverse. Although the ‘something for everyone’ mentality should attract this audience in theory, it is likely that the more dedicated music magazine audience wouldn’t be attracted to it if they didn’t believe that they would read something tailored to their preferences on every page. To counter this I plan to do the occasional special issue that are dedicated in part or entirely to a single genre. That being said, I still believe that my biggest competition would be Q because of the similarity in content provided (e.g. reviews). However, my magazine’s focus is mainly on unearthing new artists, rather than retreading stories and scandals of famous artists we already know too much about. This distinction sets my magazine apart enough to create a perfectly reasonable alternative that I’m sure people would enjoy reading. Target Audience My target audience is really anyone even vaguely interested in music. Due to its impartial nature, my magazine doesn’t force it’s readers to pursue a lifestyle or aspire to be like the bands or artists featured in the articles. Nor does it glorify any of their actions. My readership do not need to become anything different than who they are in order to enjoy reading the articles or listen to the music we recommend. It is a magazine for people who love music, and want more music to love. In terms of quantifiable statistics; I predict the gender of my readers to be more male than female, even if slightly, only because that’s what the patterns show. I hope to attract a varied age range, but in reality it is the younger generation; late teens to late 20’s, that are the ones with the most disposable income and desire to purchase music.
- 3. Pictures I plan on taking My cover picture will depend greatly on it’s subject. If it is a band I will likely use a close up. I would use a white backdrop, and have them all line up behind each other with the sides of their faces being visible. This unusual angle and setting as well as the crisp, detailed up-close images will set us apart from the other magazines on the market. In order to achieve a sophisticated look to my magazine, I plan to not use any other images on the cover, and any other text (pull quotes, magazine features etc.) will be in a thin, sophisticated font along the bottom and sides of the cover; possibly skewed or warped to fit in some kind of pattern alongside the images. The contents page main image will be another, different picture of the band/artist on the front cover, likely a medium close up. I will also feature some more images alongside synopsises of other notable articles, whether that be reviews or other band interviews. The amount of images included in the contents page will vary greatly on whether I make it spread across two pages or not. My double page spread will feature the band being in the centre of a wide angle shot with the text in columns surrounding them. Because of my unique plan to only have one central image for this article I will need to have a picture that truly captures the ethos of the band. It must therefore be of very high quality, with a clearly realised setting.
- 4. Front Page The front page will have a picture of the cover band predominately visible with text wrapped around them. They will be positioned and fashioned in a way that tells the reader something about them, using what they are wearing or their stance to create something for the reader to relate to in order to make the band more appealing and portray the relationships the band members have with each other. Of course the logo of my magazine will be clearly visible, as well as the title; ‘Hum’. I will include the other codes and conventions such as taglines and mastheads when and where they are appropriate. Contents Page The contents will have editors notes, and the majority of the text will be in boxheads to easily discern between the different articles. Page numbers will be attached to every article summary and some pictures of the more notable articles that may of been mentioned on the cover will have pictures next to them. Borders and a simple colour scheme will differentiate them and will highlight those of importance. Double page spread The article will be on the cover band and will feature either a string of pictures of them in different poses and such or just one central one with all the members included. A lot of pull quotes will be used, and I may have a Q and A with the band take up a section of the page. It will probably be detailing the band’s rise to fame and how they garnered their following, as well as any funny stories about them that would give the band personality and make them more relatable with the readers.