Market research into an existing Music magazine contents page.

Page title at the top of the page with the date of issue – ‘CONTENTS’, ‘267 | OCTOBER 2008’
‘FEATURES’ section – Continuous colour scheme throughout that section (page numbers in red with names of articles in large, black, CLEAR font.
Thumbnail – Image at the bottom of the page. Image of a man lent against a pillar with text next to the image.
Main Image – ‘THE COURTEENERS’
Quotes from various articles – e.g. ‘’He’s just showing off’’ Liam Fray’s mum…
Page number giving reference to location of articles, with the name of that particular article – 16 CASH FOR QUESTIONS, 32 MY BRILLIANT CAREER, 42 AROUND WITH… etc.
Advertisement stating what is in all magazines – ‘EVERY MONTH’
Q is distributed by the media institution BAUER. BAUER are highly successful and makes many different magazines and they know from reader research that Q readers are completely obsessed by music and rely on the Q magazine to keep them up to date with new music. They do this by keeping up the reputation  which is extended not only through the magazine but also across online, radio, TV and on into Q's unique events, which encompass exclusive, intimate live shows with major stars and the world famous annual Q Awards.

The message that Q portrays to the audience is that is a rock, indie, rebellious message by the magazine having information about latest gossip from the rock and roll world. Q conveys positive values towards the selected music genre as the image on the contents page and text are all relevant.
The audience that Q have are male dominated. Males who read this magazine are 75% to a 25% female.
The Courteeners is the featured artist on this Q magazine and their music genre is part of the wide range that Q magazine include. The main head line of this issue on this contents page is about The Courteeners. You wouldn’t find acts such as Justin Bieber or Chris Brown on or in NME as they are pop/R&B artists.

Price of my magazine and how often it's published

Usually a magazine is sold for £1.40 and is usually published every week. I will charge around £1.60 for my magazine and think this is reasonable as my target audience can afford it being in full time employment. My magazine with be published monthly as I think that there will be more to input in the magazine during that period of time.

Target audience (demographics and psychographics)

The demographics for my magazine will fall in the age group of 33-55 because the classic rock was big back when they were youngsters but will also fall into the age group of 15-24 as more young people are starting to listen to classic rock and indie. Then as the S.E.G they will fall into group B and C1 which are intermediate managerial and junior managerial. In the psychographics, in the value life styles, they will be in the group who are outer-directed because they are the people who belong and achieve. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs' you will see that students fall into the category of either social because they need to belong and be part of a group or be part of the self-actualisation group as they need to succeed, to become what they wish to become.

Market research into an existing Music magazine front cover.

Magazine header bar – ‘OASIS >> THE CURE >> TOM PETTY >> 185 REVIEWS!’ – a magazine header bar attracts the audience  and make them wonder what other reviews are inside.

Masthead – ‘UNCUT’ – the masthead is the name of the magazine. UNCUT is a world-wide known music magazine and with the text being big, bold and in capital letters is very noticeable. The UNCUT text is placed in the middle of the magazine as are stacked on shelves in stores it can be seen instantly by the public. UNCUT is specially designed typeface to be very recognisable and unique. Also UNCUT is short and memorable.

The main image – David Bowie – By using someone who is very famous and is a musical artist of a particular genre that the magazine is presenting appeals more to the target audience.

The main cover line – ‘DAVID BOWIE’ ‘the madness of the Thin White Duke’’ – this cover line in particular will attract the audience the most as it will touch a lot of David Bowie fans. ‘David Bowie’ is in block capitals and in the colour white. This stands out against the blue colour behind it and draws a reader in and is like gossip. All magazine readers love gossip.

The barcode, website, dateline and price. These are usually on the bottom left of the magazine. A barcode is read electronically and decoded into usable information.

Small images – Liam Gallagher – These small images placed next to the text, ‘OASIS >> THE CURE >> TOM PETTY >> 185 REVIEWS!’ enhance and interest the reader on the latest bands. Also not having many images force the reader to look inside the magazine for more.

The whole colour scheme of the magazine is mixed very well. The light blue and the tinted colour in Bowie’s eye create a mysterious look. This instantly attracts the eye of the target audience for this magazine. The magazine will not attract the eyes of ‘girly’ girls who love the colour pink and love pop music.

UNCUT is distributed by the media institution IPC. IPC are highly successful and makes many different magazines and they know from reader research that UNCUT readers are completely obsessed by music and rely on the UNCUT magazine to keep them up to date with new music, essential album and film reviews helping them choose what to buy, insightful features on brands/music and movies and information about classic music, new artists and new bands. Males are the dominant gender who read this magazine with the median age of 37. UNCUT is seen as NME’S older brother with music genres including Modern Indie, Rock, Classic Indie and Americana.

The message that UNCUT portrays to the audience is that is a rock, indie, rebellious message by the magazine having information about latest gossip by the old rock and roll world. UNCUT conveys positive values towards the selected music genre as the image and text are all relevant.

The audience that the UNCUT have are male dominated with their being an 86% of them with the median age of 37. 60% of those males are married/living with a partner and 77% working full time.

David Bowie is the featured artist on this UNCUT magazine and his music genre is part of the wide range that UNCUT magazine include. The main head line of this issue is about Bowie himself. You wouldn’t find acts such as Justin Bieber or Chris Brown on or in NME as they are pop/R&B artists.

Market research into an existing Music magazine front cover.

Magazine header bar – ‘2011 Line-Up’ ‘READING’ ‘LEEDS’ – a magazine header bar attracts the audience  and make them wonder what the ‘…line-up’ is.

Masthead – ‘NME’ – the masthead is the name of the magazine and stands for New Musical Express. NME is a world-wide known music magazine and with the text being big, bold and in capital letters is very noticeable. NME text is placed on the left hand side so as the magazine are stacked on shelves in stores it can be seen instantly by the public. ‘NME’ is specially designed typeface to be very recognisable and unique. Also NME is short and memorable.

The main image – Matthew Bellamy (lead singer of Muse) – by using someone who is very famous and is a musical artist of a particular genre that the magazine is presenting appeals more to the target audience.

The main cover line – ‘MUSE’ ‘’THIS WILL BE THE LAST CHANCE TO HEAR A LOT OF OUR SONGS’’ – this cover line in particular will attract the audience the most as it will touch a lot of Muse fans. The word ‘LAST’ is in a white colour. This stands out against the red colour behind it and draws a reader in and is like gossip. All magazine readers love gossip.

The magazine includes a barcode, website, dateline and price. These are usually on the bottom left of the magazine. A barcode is read electronically and decoded into usable information.

Small images – The Strokes, Friendly Fires and Beady Eye – These small images placed next to the text, ‘PLUS MORE ... EXCLUSIVES’ ‘…NEW ACTS REVEILED’, enhance and interest the reader on the latest bands. Also not having many images force the reader to look inside the magazine for more.

The whole colour scheme of the magazine is mixed very well as the black, white and red,  go together really well and  instants attracts the eye of the target audience for this magazine. The magazine will not attract the eyes of ‘girly’ girls who love the colour pink and love pop music.

NME is distributed by the media institution IPC. IPC are highly successful and makes many different magazines and they know from reader research that NME readers are completely obsessed by music and rely on the NME magazine to keep them up to date with new music. This knowledge then makes them the authority in music in their peer group. Males are the dominant gender who read this magazine with the median age of 23.

The message that NME portrays to the audience is that is a rock, indie, rebellious message by the magazine having information about latest gossip in the rock and roll world. NME conveys positive values towards the selected music genre as the image and text are all relevant.

The audience that the NME have are male dominated with their being 74% of them with the median age of 23.

Matthew Bellamy, lead singer of Muse, is the featured artist on this NME magazine and his music genre is part of the wide range that NME magazine include. The main head line of this issue is about Muse so having Bellamy on links together really well. You wouldn’t find acts such as Justin Bieber or Chris Brown on or in NME as they are pop/R&B artists.

My Selected Music Genre

I have selected the genres modern indie, rock, classic indie and Americana for my music magazine.

Conventions of a Music Magazine Front Cover

Left Third - The left third of the magazine cover is vital for sales in shops where the magazine is not shown full-frontage. It is the left hand side where the top headlines are printed.
Masthead - The magazine's title. Usually displayed in the top left corner.
Barcode - Read Electronically and decoded into usable information.
Splash - The whole magazine cover itself.
Skyline - A line of text above the Masthead.
Graphology and Graphics - Graphics on a certain text and or graphical shapes to highlight feature (s).
Colour Scheme and Colour - Specific/stylistic/thematic types.
Kicker - Is something that kicks you to a certain direction or page.
Teller - Subtitle that tells a reader what the advert is about.
Screamers - Text that 'screams' out to a reader.
Flash - A star or circle that draws a readers attention.
Cover Lines - Are distributed around the main image without detracting from it too much. A mistake often made with cover lines is that they run over an image that has a lot of colour changes, rendering the words invisible.
Sell Lines - Short, sharp description of the title's main marketing point.
Dateline - Month and year of publication, often with the price. Also weekly. Usually from Saturday to Friday and monthly is usually a month ahead.
Images - Size: CU to med CU. Ranges from one main image to x amount featuring one main image and smaller images. Helps make the page look more interesting. It can add understanding of a story and/or entice someone to read the magazine.
Price - The cost of the magazine.
Issue Number - A tally of magazines.
Teaser - One word or phrase acts as an attention grabber.
Main Feature: Headline - A phrase that may summarise the main point of the main feature. In large print, different style, bold colours in order to catch the attention of the reader.
Subtitle - Smaller headline that may summarise the feature.
Smaller Feature - Features included in the magazine.
Font - Style and size of type face.
Offers/adverts Blurb - Banner-style shape featuring free products/promotions.
Anchorage - The description and text underneath a picture stating the meaning of the picture.
Vocabulary - The words that are used.
Credit - The writing that says who wrote the article.

The Brief - Main task

The front page, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine. All images and text used must be original, produced by you - minimum of four images.

Evaluation

Evaluation

Language

Throughout my magazine I have used conventions such as an image. My image is of a pupil that attends Wyke College which directly links together. Also on my magazine I have included an issue number, price and barcode which are essential on a magazine front cover.  My masthead, ‘Wyke College’, is right at the top of my magazine and is the same colour as the Wyke College sign. My masthead is in a large font so it easily stands out and is noticeable by students. For my image I have used a medium close up and I have decided to do this as the boy in my image attends Wyke College. With my model smiling it shows a link to being happy at Wyke College. My text on my magazine is the same colour as my masthead and the Wyke College sigh which all link together. The text on my magazine links to what is published inside. The layout of the text and image on my magazine are evenly spread out, easy and understandable to read.

Institution

The kind of media institution that might distribute my media product is institutions such as television, radio and the Internet. My magazine would be displayed on the Wyke College website for a wide variety of people to view. Also the odd radio broadcast to enhance current year 11’s to come along to Wyke College.

Ideology

The message my magazine portrays is that the college is friendly and the image on my magazine conveys a happy and comfortable feel as my model is smiling. The purpose of this was to create a friendly and easy usable feel about my magazine to attract my age group of people.

Audience

My target audience for my magazine would fall in the age group of 15 -24 as most college students are within this age range.  The people reading my magazine would be interested with what is going on within the college and would read it to keep updated. Also my magazine would be guidance and show relevance to the current year 11’s from schools so then can see and make a judgement on the college itself. I attracted my audience by creating a bold, large, colourful and readable font on all of my text. Also the simplicity of the text and minimal details create an easy readable magazine for all. The Socio-economic groups (S.E.G) that my audience will fall is group E as  a people who are casual labourers and the unemployed as they not in full time employment. (People who attend college). The psychographics, in the value life styles, the group who are outer-directed because they are the people who belong and achieve would be the ones who my magazine most appeals to as students at Wyke aim to achieve.

Representation

My media texts on my magazine show positivity as there are no dull colours or draining aspects on the front cover. My magazine is not aimed at a pacific stereotypical group as people at colleges vary in many ways. I feel my magazine fits in with all these differences.

Final product

Draft of front cover

Planning and development

The three photos above could be used inside my college magazine.

The four images above could be used as my front cover.

The two pictures above can be used on my front cover.

Price and how often the magazine is published

The college magazine wouldn’t cost a penny and would be made by the students from Wyke college. The magazine would be published once a month to keep the students updated and aware of what is happening throughout the college and its opportunities.

Target Audience - Demographics & Psychographics

The demographics for my magazine will fall in the age group of 15 -24 as most college students are within this age range and then is the S.E.G they will fall into group E which are casual labourers and the unemployed as they not in full time employment. In the psychographics, in the value life styles, they will be in the group who are outer-directed because they are the people who belong and achieve. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs' you will see that students fall into the category of either social because they need to belong and be part of a group or be part of the esteem group as will have self esteem, status, respect and admiration of others.

Market research into an existing College magazine contents page.

Page title at the top of the page with the date of issue – ‘CONTENTS’, ‘267 | OCTOBER 2008’

‘FEATURES’ section – Continuous colour scheme throughout that section (page numbers in red with names of articles in large, black, CLEAR font.

Thumbnail – Image at the bottom of the page. Image of a man lent against a pillar with text next to the image.

Main Image – ‘THE COURTEENERS’

Quotes from various articles – e.g. ‘’He’s just showing off’’ Liam Fray’s mum…

Page number giving reference to location of articles, with the name of that particular article – 16 CASH FOR QUESTIONS, 32 MY BRILLIANT CAREER, 42 AROUND WITH… etc.

Advertisement stating what is in all magazines – ‘EVERY MONTH’

Identify and explaining my choice of College to feature in the Preliminary task

I have decided the college I am going to use on my preliminary task. My chosen college is going to be Wyke Sixth Form College as i currently attend it and i feel i know the college well. My magazine is aimed at current year 11's from s wide variety of schools.