Task 5 done and on blog
- 1. Task 5 Emily Sampson Research into similar music magazines on which I could base my magazine.
- 2. Possible Genres? • Rock. Strength: Rock is a wide genre with a big industry. Many people in our modern society love the Rock genre and would therefore give a wide target audience as many people of all ages are interested in the genre. Rock is very versatile and I could in cooperate other things still in the category of pop. Weakness: Rock can be controversial and therefore a specific taste which can therefore be difficult to appeal to an older target audience. Therefore, my target audience would be of a younger age, possibly smaller, not appealing to as many people as I would like. • R & B. Strength: Most of the R & B magazines out there are often very bright or very dark and scary. Therefore it appeals to different kinds of people, not just limiting to one group of people. Therefore the style an R & B magazine would have could increase the size of my target audience due to age and interests. Weakness: R & B magaziens tend to be quite adult like and therefore teenagers and older would only seem to be interested in reading an R & B magazine. This would limit me as the younger generation may not be attracted to the magazine and I could possibly not be appropriate to them for example the kind of language used like slang and swear words. • Hip Hop. Strength: Hip Hop is a subculture that originated from African American and Latino American communities during the 1970’s. From this research, it is clear that the genre has been around for years, so it is liked enough to be carried on and used popularly. Rapping, DJ’ing, breaking and graffiti are incorporated in this genre meaning there is a lot of subgenres that come under Hip Hop. Therefore, Hip Hop is a wide genre with a lot going on so if I was to use this as the genre of my music magazine, there would be a lot to add and therefore would be appealing to a wide target audience due to how much content that would be in the magazine. Weakness: Hip Hop tends to attract a younger audience averaging around 12-16. Therefore the older generation around 17+ would not really be attracted to a Hip Hop magazine and want to buy it.This would therefore limit my target audience. It also mainly appeals to boys so therefore it may not come across as a unisex magazine, again limiting the size of my target audience.
- 3. Comparison of my genre to others MY GENRE, POP I find that there are a lot of subgenres that fit into pop such as dance pop. I think pop is very versatile and will attract to people of both genders therefore reaching out to a wider target audience. There are a lot of very famous people in the pop industry of whom I can incorporate into my magazine as these people would give a good vibe to my magazine such as Taylor Swift, who is an artist who has been famous ever since she was a young teenager. If I have popular artists in my magazines, it will attract more people depending on their specific taste in the pop genre, which will then allow me to grow my target audience even wider. OTHER GENRES E.G. ROCK, R & B, HIP HOP After doing research on other possible genres I could use for my music magazine, I have found it difficult to come up with ideas to allow my music magazine to attract to a wide target audience, also of both genders. When I have looked at other magazines not of the genre: pop, it seems to be quite one sided due to the fast that it only appeals to one gender. As a female, magazines like Hip Hop and Indie did not attract to me so I think it would have been difficult to make my music magazine appeal to both genders. Due to this, it would limit the size of my target audience.
- 4. Possible Font Colours LOVE POP This is the colour I will be using for the masthead of my music magazine. Black is versatile and would therefore reach out to both male and female. The ‘O’ is pink because I have photo shopped a bubble which symbolises the ‘pop sound’. LOVE POP This masthead is very simple which I think is effective when it comes to the main thing you would see on a page full of things. It is bold and eye catching so would therefore be easy to identify when looking at magazines on the shelf at a shop. LOVE POP The blue of this masthead style is a unisex colour so would therefore attract both male and female readers. LOVE POP This masthead also attracts both male and female therefore creates a wider target audience for my music magazine. It is modern and groovy to fit in this day and age with our new young generation.
- 5. -Blender is an American music magazine that calls itself “the ultimate guide to music and more”. Blender is also known for sometimes steamy pictures of celebrities. It compiled lists of albums, artists, and songs, including both “best of” and “worst of” lists. -Blender was published by Dennis Publishing and the magazine began in 1994 as the first digital CD-ROM magazine by Jason Pearson, David Cherry, and Regina Joseph, acquired by Felix Dennis/Dennis Publishing. -In the UK, it published fifteen digital CD issues, and launched on the web in 1997. Blender then started publishing a print edition again in 1999 in its most recent form. The first digital advertisers Blender had included Calvin Klein, Apple computer and Nike. -This example that I found on the internet shows a style of a magazine that best reflects how I want my front cover of my magazine to look like. The effectiveness of this magazine is to target a younger audience of 16-20 because of the cover star used as the main image, being Taylor Swift. The colour scheme is very simple yet eye catching because the white background highlights the cover lines, mast head and draws the main attention to the celebrity. The celebrity is within the centre of the rule of thirds. -The photograph the magazine has intentionally used effective eye contact which is also known as extra diegetic gaze. It is a marketing strategy because the audience believes that Taylor Swift is looking at them.
- 6. -Blender as a music magazine company overall highlights the kind of ideas I would like to include in my music magazine front cover. I would like my target audience to be both females and males, but more females will be drawn towards it. I would think the target audiences would range between the ages of 16-24 so this will mean I will have to include features that attract both sexes and I will have to consider wisely the photograph of my magazines front cover. I will use colours that are relatively matched to both sexes, however the front cover’s image which will be a girl may attract more females than males.
- 7. -This magazine uses a similar colour scheme to what the celebrity is wearing in the main image, being purple and black against the white background that is used in every Blender issue. This colour scheme makes the magazine very eye catching which is what my aim is to do for my music magazine. The colour scheme makes it all come together professionally and allows the main image to look correctly in place on the music magazine front cover. Again, like every issue, the main cover line is the name of the celebrity in the main image which shows that she is a big part of the issue. Not too much purple is used within the front cover as a main part of it is in the main image. (her shirt) -This issue of the Blender magazine represents a good unisex colour scheme which is what I will be looking to do for my music magazine. Blues and light browns are used in the issue which is both female and male orientated. The main image of Fergie, a celebrity, is quite steamy which is well known with the Blender issues which would most likely attract a young audience such as the range I am aiming for: 16-24. Fergie is also an attractive celebrity which would possibly attract males to the music magazine, and again the main cover line is of the celebrities name to show that there is an article(s) about Fergie within the magazine. The colours against the white background stand out and are eye- catching, like what I want to do. -The issue above again represents the kind of theme I am looking to recreate in the making of my music magazine. Whereas on this one, the masthead is overlapping the main image which is what I will do as my music magazine will be brand new, and if the masthead is covered, it may be difficult to read and recognise as it is never been seen before. Again, the main image is of a female, Kelly Clarkson which is what I will be intending to do, and the colour scheme of the front cover is of unisex colours to attract a wider audience of not just females but also males. The issue is following codes and conventions as it has a white background which is what I think I will want to do.
- 10. Possible Fonts (All from dafont.com) I like this font because as my magazine name is LOVE POP, it fits into the love theme as each letter is in a love heart. It gives a sense of innocence to my magazine which I think suits the target audience of mine. I like this font as because it is block letters, it is eye-catching due to it being bold, which I think would stand out at the top of my magazine. This font is simple yet it follows the theme of love hearts due to my name having love in it. It isn't overloaded with shapes but just replaces parts of letters with a heart. This font appeals to me as it has no fill to the letters. Therefore, the masthead would then be the colour of my background so it would look good with the bold cover lines. This is the font I will be using. I have photo shopped a bubble gum as the ‘O’ in ‘POP’ as I think this adds something which symbolises the noise of something popping.
- 11. Why I Chose Pop I have chosen to use POP as my music magazine’s genre as I feel that there is a lot to put into a pop magazine with it still being appropriate for the ages in my target audience. The research I have done has given me many ideas to what I can add to my magazine and the kinds of artists I can in cooperate to attract different kinds of people with different interests. I personally love the genre of pop so it helps me with the construction of my music magazine as I can use my opinion of what attracts a 17 year old female, and use other ideas I have got from male friends and friends of different ages. I think pop is also the most effective also because it is modern and widely known and liked. From research I have done, pop seems to be the most interesting genre, especially within the target audience. So, things like artist reviews and upcoming tour dates will be used in my music magazine with appropariate artists that fall under the genre of pop that are popular and widely liked by people within my target audience.
- 12. What are the codes and conventions used for mastheads? The codes and conventions of traditional mastheads is a clear block font, placed in the top of the magazine at the centre. It is to be big to be able to spread out across the top of the page and be bold and eye-catching for the magazine to be easy to identify for example on a shelf in a shop. How does your masthead symbolise genre and target audience? It is both of colours to attract males and females (black and pink) due to the main font being black and the ‘O’ made of a bubble being pink. It symbolises pop as ‘POP!’ is the sound of a bubble gum popping. Teenagers tend to have bubble gum at school so I think it an appropriate thing to use to appeal to my target audience. What meaning/representation are you creating through the choice of names? ‘LOVE POP’ is so simple which is what I like about it. It is an easy read and very easy to understand. It is simple which therefore gives me the room to be able to use more complicated text in the double page spread and other things like the cover lines. It is short yet effective and taking into consideration the age of my target audience, it can therefore be understand by everyone.