Pitch document1
- 2. Working title: What will the name of the magazine be? PANDEMONIUM I had wondered about many titles for my music magazine a lot, having many in mind, a mixture of typical ones and different types for it. With the genre of my magazine having been chosen to be an alternative/rock/indie magazine I had to base a name associated with those things. I thought something with the word ‘Rock’ in it may sound good and so I tried pairing words up with it, for example ‘Rock Life’. However I didn’t think a name like that would attract much of an audience as it is too typical and not very inventive or creative. Therefore I decided to look more at words associated with rock that held a big statement and were inventive, something that didn’t need to have the word ‘Rock’ next to it to show off the genre of the magazine. This is when I came to the name ‘Pandemonium’. I think that this word explains a lot of things associated with rock and so it holds the genre very well. Many rock gigs and rock band music seems to be messy and very loud with a big statement and I think that ‘Pandemonium’ does too. Also this title is very different to a lot of other rock magazine names, it doesn’t include obvious associated words and it is something that people don’t hear every day, yet a word that screams the genre at the audience. It also contains heavy letters like ‘D’ which can be seen as the sound of a drum or the heavy music that the bands inside produce. I think that it is quite an exciting name and it will get the audience excited to see and read what is inside. It will intrigue them beyond the cover page and so they will want to read the magazine. It will make the contents of it seem more exciting than a typical and uninventive name. The word itself suggests that there will be a lot of excitement inside because of the meaning of it and the context it tends to be used in. I decided on just one eye catching word with a big statement as that is what the audience will remember; it will be the first thing to come to their heads. It is quite a big word which means that it could be quite a mouth full for the audience and potentially annoying for them however it is a word which can take on abbreviations and I think that would draw the audience as they could refer to it as what they wanted.
- 3. Magazine genre The genre of my magazine will be a mixture of rock, alternative and indie. I think that mixing a few genres of music together that are already widely associated with each other and other music genres too will add a bit of something for everyone to enjoy and so it would expand my audience. If somebody doesn’t like rock music but likes indie and alternative then they would most likely buy it but if somebody doesn’t like indie but likes rock and alternative then they would most likely buy it. Also I think many music magazines overlap in the genres so my magazine would follow the same procedure of other magazines. A reason I chose these genres is because they are genres that many people enjoy listening to. It is something that was popular but wasn’t listened to so much but then recently became more popular from people like Arctic Monkeys and The Beatles that many people started listening to more and more and so the genre became popular again. This means that people will tend to read my magazine a lot more and so my audience will be bigger. Also in my questionnaire the majority of people chose these genres compared to others and 2 people out of the 3 that I interviewed answered with these genres and so this made me realise that more people would read a rock magazine rather than a pop or rap magazine. Having these genres means that there will be variation in my magazine and there will be lots to talk about a lot of different things will be valid to be in my magazine as it will come under at least one of the genres of my magazine. This will make the magazine continuously interesting to the audience so people will keep buying and reading it. Rock/Alternative /Indie
- 4. Cover price and frequency of publication- How often will it be published and what will it cost? I will be releasing my magazine fortnightly. On my questionnaire people chose fortnightly as the most popular and so I decided to go by what my audience wanted and to release it fortnightly. I felt that weekly would be too much and people would tend to buy it weekly. The magazine would be smaller and contain less information and there may not be so much exciting information as a week doesn’t give much time to find the exciting stories for people to read and to be able to enjoy. It would also have to contain less as there wouldn’t be enough to put in in one week. One up to weekly would be the cheaper price but it would work out cheap to only buy 2 a month rather than 4. Fortnightly gives more chance to find the stories that will excite the audience and make them want to keep on buying the magazine. It will also be bigger and contain more stories for people to read and so people would think it is more worth buying. Another thing is that it would cost more but it would be cheaper than buying it weekly. However people may think it would be better to just buy a monthly magazine and so the frequency of my publication may change at a later date. My magazine will be released on the Friday of each month. I think that this is the best day to release it as it is the day many people break up for the weekend and so they will want to buy it ready to read at the weekend. My magazine will cost £2.99. The questionnaire results told me that people would most likely spend £2-£3 on a magazine and so I chose the middle price between this. I thought that £3+ would be too much as I am publishing the magazine fortnightly and not monthly and £2 would be too little as my magazine isn’t going to be published weekly. Rock sound is published monthly and it costs around £5. This shows that I have chosen a good price for my magazine as it isn’t near the same price as a monthly magazine however it is only 98p extra for another magazine rather than one a month.
- 5. Attitude of my magazine: What is the personality of the magazine? I want my magazine to represent the masthead very well. The masthead gives off a bold vibe and it holds a statement of drama. Using this type of attitude for my magazine will have an effect on the audience as it will stick in their mind and it will add some type of relation to them or potentially inspiration. This attitude will also emphasise everything which means that it will add more drama and more entertainment. The colours I chose for my music magazine are not all set out and definite. The colours I want to use are going to be with the contrast or dark and bright. The bright colours will still be based on darker colours but they will be made to seem brighter. The main colours I want to use are black, purple and white. These colours will work for my masthead and headlines etc. For the backgrounds and article pages I will tend to add the brighter colours in. I think that adding a range of separate colours will add emphasis and show the audience what the magazine is really about. It will emphasise the bold and fun attitude and give a statement. The colours will also mix in with articles if the images have any bright colours in them as bands tend to have this. I want my magazine to show off the genre and so it will have a rock vibe and so it will have a grunge and edgy attitude. This will pull the audience in as this is what they are wanting from the magazines they read. This will be shown by the bright vibrant colours that will be used throughout as it isn’t the basic colour scheme that every magazine has. In each article there will be a different layout and the colouring will be different and there will be different elements to add in an extra vibe to enhance the attitude of my magazine. It will also be shown by making the quotes from musicians brighter and bolder, using different and stylish fonts. This will be different and it will add more emphasis and also show the artists love for the music and their attitude towards it. In my magazine there will be different types of images. For example from gigs and festivals or photo shoots or studio images. This will show that my magazine follows every aspect of music and show it is an all around music magazine instead of just focusing on one thing. This will entice the audience as it will therefore include articles about all of these things instead of just one and this adds to the attitude of being bold yet laid back.
- 6. Style: What is the style of my magazine? This magazine will be made to be different to other magazines, containing many different features. It will however have the same features as other magazines so readers can relate and so that it isn’t too different that it will make the audience not want to read. The difference to the other magazines will draw the attention of the readers as it will be striking to them. The content of the magazine will contain articles about musicians from gossip, to information to interviews. It will also contain information about gigs and festivals etc. This will provide lots of variety and intrigue the reader as it wont be boring and contain lots of the same things in it. Using different layouts for each other these provides some kind of excitement for the reader and it dramatizes each of the articles as it isn’t the same as everything else and it is something new to look at. It will also make the reader want to read the bigger sections of text instead of looking over it and getting bored. Also there will be many different subjects for each of the interviews and articles, providing more insight to the artists they are into and the music they listen to. This will make them want to buy the magazine again. Having my magazine not based around the same layout or particular articles will mean they won’t get bored and they will want to read the larger sections of text more as it gives more of an insight to the musicians lives and it allows them to engage in them and feel closer and more like they know them etc. My magazine will also include exciting sections that will draw more attention and add extra drama to the magazine and also enhance the attitude of the magazine. For example it will include sections like ‘Top 10 songs’. I think that this would draw attention as it isn’t an average article and so it would intrigue the reader and possibly make them want to buy the magazine for things like this inside. These types of articles wont include much text and it will publicise the songs and the artists and also the magazine and so this will excite the reader. It will also make them want to buy the albums or the songs of the musicians. The magazine will also include competitions for the reader to enter as this gets them involved and it provides something exciting in the magazine and it will make people want to purchase the magazine a lot more. For example ‘Rock Sound’ is a very popular music magazine and they include many different competitions and giveaways and this includes the reader and the giveaways makes them feel like they are getting a reward for buying the magazine. This is a good marketing technique for magazines as people love getting free things and so they will buy the magazine more. Also each time the reader buys the magazine the competition and giveaways will be something different, this would add a surprising element and excite the reader- an example of what the giveaways could be is a CD or a poster or wrist bands etc. Things they could win in the competitions could be signed merchandise or concert or festival tickets. Each magazine will contain something new and different so it is unpredictable and enticing the reader.
- 7. Reader profile Imogen is a 16 year old college girl. Her style is very unique and grunge and her average weekend would be listening to music with her friends. The music she tends to listen to is rock and alternative. Rosie would be the type of person to buy my magazine as she has the same attitude and style as my magazine and it contains information about the types of things she is into. Imogen tends to listen to music on YouTube or using her phones music player. She listens to artists that she hears about from her friends or from magazine articles, but mainly she hears about them from the suggestion section on YouTube. She is always on top of the latest rock trends, but she also listens to quite old rock bands as it is what she was brought up on, having parents into the same music interests as her. Imogen says music is her go to for everything. She listens to it when she is bored or when travelling and doing work. She says ‘it is one of the few things that can be used in any situation and can entertain anyone easily’. Imogen is the type of person who isn’t afraid to be herself and listen to who she wants to and dress how she likes and she acts how she likes to without worrying about being judged and I think that this is something that my magazine needs as she is bold and she makes a statement, just as I want my magazine to. She is one of the many people who would be able to relate to my magazine if it has the same attitude and style as she does. This shows that a relation to the reader is very important as if she began to read something that contained information about a pop artist and had a very quirky and girly vibe then she wouldn’t enjoy it. Imogen explains herself to be alternative, fun and amazing. The are the things that she expects to find in things that she reads and listens to as she thinks that she needs to be able to relate to the music she likes. The fact that she explained herself to be alternative shows the type of person she is and it also shows that she isn’t afraid to be herself. It also shows what type of music she is most likely to listen to. Imogen loves going to live gigs and festivals and she has always wanted to go to download festival. It is the one that has all of the bands that she enjoys listening to and it has the type of atmosphere she’d love the be apart of. She says apart from gigs and festivals the things she would spend her money on would be clothes and food and her favourite band is the Gorillas closely followed by My Chemical Romance. She enjoys hearing about new music from the bands she enjoys listening to and she also likes to learn about them and their lives and also gossip about them or their latest music. Music is a very important part of Imogens life as she sees it as some kind of escape, as many people do. Some lyrics are very inspirational and she loves listening to them. She says she doesn’t know where she would be without it.
- 8. Mission Statement This magazine will contain many different bands from rock to indie genres. It will contain anything needed to know about the bands people love. From interviews to gossip and release dates of their new albums, there won’t be anything they don’t need to know in this magazine. Pandemonium will contain and cover all of the bands people like. It covers the smallest artists and their gigs and it also covers some of the most popular artists in the world. Pandemonium doesn’t just focus on rock bands, but it also focuses on solo indie artists and alternative duos. It doesn’t seclude anything or anyone. Pandemonium gives out all of the information. It tells the reader about tour dates and provides competitions to win tickets to these tours. It contains interviews which gives insight to the musicians lives and provides some kind of relation between the reader and the musician. It also contains gossip about your favourite bands, updating you on the latest in their lives. Not only those but the exciting pages filled with the best new songs by new and old artists and popular and small artists. It gives you the top 10, it tells you where to get the best deal on their albums. On a few pages it will even include ways to participate with competitions and ways to communicate with other readers or even writers. We also provide live gig experiences, using small bands wanting to get out there, we provide them with a space and advertise those gigs in this magazine which allows the readers somewhere to go and enjoy live music. We also give pages of photoshoots of the readers favourite bands, giving them images of who they enjoy listening to and also providing them with the entertainment of it as not every shoot and image will be serious. This provides them with entertainment as well as information and things they need to know about their favourite musicians. Pandemonium isn’t just about one particular topic in the industry, its about everything included. It doesn’t focus on just the musicians or just the gossip, it focuses on every element. It also focuses on the reader. Pandemonium has the element of relating to the reader and getting them involved and providing them with what they want, from content to design and layout. The readers opinion matters and this is what keeps them coming back for more and buying it every fortnight. Pandemonium provides the readers with what they want to hear about and their favourite band gossip or tour dates and the top 10 list, and they provide us with the support needed. It is something that keeps each side involved and keeps the readers feeling happy and content with the magazine. The readers show what they want, and Pandemonium is where they get it. PANDEMONIUM includes everything needed.