Planning

To find out the typical conventions of a music magazines I carried out some secondary research by analysing Rolling Stone magazine, NME magazine, Vibe magazine and a contents page from The Word magazine to have a look at what they use

Rolling Stone is a United States-based magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner (who is still editor and publisher) and music critic Ralph J. Gleason. Rolling Stone magazine is designed to appeal to a range of personality types and tastes. This is the front cover of a rolling stone magazine; it is centred on one of the current most popular stars. Taylor Swift is a country and western singer who at the moment is also a major tweenage pop artist; this shows that rolling stone has a wide target audience. The magazine is well organised with a neutral colour scheme, having the main subtitle to the left and lesser articles down the right side of the page. The subtitles give an insight into what is in the magazine before the reader decides to buy it; there are a range of articles some which do not relate to music and some articles on artists. So this also suggests that rolling stone isn’t generalised to a particular audience as there is something for everybody. They use a mid-shot of Taylor Swift with a guitar which is relevant to the magazine. The picture dominates the page which is most common in music magazine and looks like it has been enhanced. It is shown to look like it has been taken on and old camera or taken in the 60’s or 70’s, this is to go with the theme of the magazine .In my magazine I could look at enhancing the picture to give a different effect and use a particular theme. In the picture Taylor’s head covers most of the masthead of the Rolling Stone logo; they can get away with doing this as they are a well established magazine who consumers will recognise instantly. There is a hierarchy of text with the logo being the largest and most identifiable and the subtitle is around the same size as it’s the most significant article in the magazine. The other articles along the side are all the same size but smaller than the main titles as they are only a preview of the magazine. They use a barcode on the magazine this is known as an optical Morse code, it is a piece of electronic equipment that can read printed barcodes. Barcodes are used to manage and track a wide variety of items in shop and have a Universal Product Code allocating numbers to each product. A barcode scanner uses a lens, light source and photo conductor to translate optical impulses to electrical impulses. Another thing I would have to include onto my magazine would be the date and price. The date is useful for collectors of the magazine or whether you are reading the most recent edition. They also put the website onto the magazine to advertise the brand. A problem with Rolling Stone magazine is that is doesn’t really have a contents page for the readers to quickly flick to the pages they want to read. This could be a good idea as it could stop readers picking the magazine up in shops and reading the selective articles, rather than buying the magazine.

This is an article out of rolling stone magazine on an actor out of gossip girl which is one of the most popular American TV dramas around at the moment. This is shows that Rolling Stone always gives the audience the most up to date information on what they want to know. The article is giving the audience personal information on the actor which is exclusive to Rolling Stone, when making my magazine I will need to consider whether my article is giving information which makes the reader feel that they must read it. They use an extended mid-shot as it is only focusing on her knees upwards but showing her on the bed which suits her ‘girl next door’ image. The image covers the whole of the page showing how important the article is taking up a main part of the magazine; it also carries on throughout a number of pages. They use low key lighting in picture to go with the theme of the actors darkest secrets, the dark background helps the actor to stand out in the picture focusing purely on her. In ‘Gossip Girl’ Leighton Meester is portrayed as a sophisticated young lady born into a high society. Showing her in a low cut vest, revealing her bra is a contrast to the character that the audience know in ‘Gossip Girl’.

The New Musical Express (better known as the NME) is a popular music magazine in the United Kingdom which has been published weekly since March 1952. It was the first British paper to include a singles chart, which first appeared in the 14 November 1952 edition. The magazine's commercial heyday was during the 1970s when it became the best-selling British music magazine. Their target audience was originally fans of punk rock and attempted to broaden their target audience however it is still seen to sway towards fans of indie, punk and rock. The current editor of NME magazine is Krissi Murison and it is published weekly.
On this cover they have used a mid-shot of ‘The gossip’ gazing directly into the camera to make the reader feel like they are looking at them personally. The cover highlights that there is a hierarchy in the band as the lead singer is shown standing in front of the other two, who you can almost barely see. The lead singer is also wearing black clothes on a white background to stand out more than the other band members who are wearing white to blend into the background. They use a bold subtitle for the article which is bigger than the masthead. NME use alliteration with ‘sex, skins and standing in the way of control’ which is catchy for the reader. Like any other magazine there is a barcode, price and date and website of the magazine.
Like the rolling stone magazine the artists head covers the masthead of the NME logo showing that it can do that as they are an already well established and recognisable brand. Other titles on the magazine are the subtitles of other articles in the magazine that are less important and aren’t as noticeable that the main article. Unlike Rolling Stone magazine they have pictures from the articles as a preview for the reader, NME magazine is also a lot busier than Rolling Stone magazine with a lot more information on what’s in the magazine. They stick to a red, black and white in every magazine because of the colours of the logo making the brand more recognisable to their audience. On the other hand they use yellow sub-sections; this is for advertising V fest and the article on album verdicts to stand out from anything else on the page.
NME has a busy but well organised magazine, with the articles separated into different coloured sections making it easier for the reader to flick to the pages they want. As well as the contents they have an index of bands so that the reader can find the information they want on their favourite bands. Alongside the band index are highlights from bigger articles making it even easier for the reader to find what they specific articles. In the contents page there is no certain colour scheme as they have combined the red black and white with different colours to section the magazine off. The kind of thing in the magazine is information on new bands, music reviews, interviews, news on artists, gigs etc. They have a picture of the main article at the heart of the page with a quite giving a quote from the article. Like they do on the front page, they use a mid-shot of the magazine with the artist looking directly into the camera. They also include pictures from other significant articles from the magazine and an insight into what they are about with the page number. Another thing they use the contents page is for advertising, they are advertising for a subscription to NME but making it cheaper for the reader as it is only 20p a magazine.

This article is an interview on an up and coming band called The Teenagers; they use a box of information to sum them up to the reader before they decide to read the article. Across half of the page, they use an extended mid-shot like in the rolling stone magazine; this is to give a bigger first impression of the band. They use low key lighting in the photo with a light shining from the right to make it look like it’s a natural window light. The band has an individualistic look which matches the reputation of NME. As well as the main picture they have a picture of the singer in action identifying that he is the leader of the band.
The Teenagers is the main title on the article in black and blue as they are using a black blue and white colour scheme. Another subtitle in the article is a quote from the interview which is common in all magazines. They use two columns which making it look like there isn’t too much writing on the page which may put the readers off. Other than ‘The Teenagers’ interview there is a separate section on the page titled ‘everyone’s talking about..’ this stands out in black and is a regular thing in the magazine. It shows similar bands to ‘The Teenagers’ and a brief paragraph about them with smaller pictures. This is giving the reader more choice rather than saying that ‘The Teenagers’ are the only band to listen to. Again they advertise NME.com, pushing the brand name.

Launched in 1993 Vibe is a music and entertainment magazine founded by producer Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip-hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. Issued quarterly, the magazine's target audience are urban followers of hip-hop culture. Vibe magazine is very plain and simple but well organised. Unlike the other magazines that I have analysed the masthead 'Vibe' stands out the most on the page and covers the artist’s hat as it may not be as well distributed as other magazines. They use a close up of one of the most popular R’n’B artists at the moment, T.I, in black and white standing out from the white background. This is going against the typical mainstream magazines design which could because of the particular target audience interests. They use left and right aligned subtitles which are all the same size, this is odd for a magazine as usually there is a hierarchy of text. However rather than the subtitles being different sizes they show the hierarchy by separating articles having the more important articles highlighted in red and the lesser parts in black. There is no price, barcode or date on the magazine but they still include the website to advertise the brand.
Like the front cover the contents page is well organised and simple. They use one picture across the whole page as the main attraction, which is an establishing shot again in black and white matching the colour scheme on the cover. ‘Contents’ is the main title on the page in bold standing out from the background. The actual content takes up a small part of the page in two columns, it is sectioned into three parts called departments, seen and style which only the target audience may understand. They also include the cover on the contents so that they reader can see what find what they wanted to read from the cover. Articles In vibe magazine consist of regular articles which they vary every week like inbox with fan mail, interviews, playlists, news on artists etc. They are kept as short articles to make the contents looks simple to use.
This is an article from vibe magazine on one of the current most popular R’n’B artists. Unlike the other magazines I have analysed the text from the article takes up most of the page looking more like an article from a newspaper. It is very well organised having an introductory paragraph in larger bold text to open the interview to give some background information before the reader decides to read on. Other larger texts are quotes which are in green and white rather than the black used in other text; this is again to give a reader an idea of what the interview is about. Dissimilar to last two magazines they have the page number at the bottom of the page linking into the contents page as well as advertising the website again. The picture they use in a log shot of the artist using natural light, showing him to be down to earth and like anybody else in Washington.

This is a contents page from The Word magazine. It was launched in 2003 in the UK and is still published weekly with Mark Ellen being the editor. Like Rolling Stone magazine there is a broad target audience and have something for everybody. The picture is a main part of the contents page, they use is an establishing shot of The Mighty Boosh which as it is the main article of this particular magazine. In this magazine they have a section for the editor to have his say on this particular issue which I haven’t came across in the other magazines I have analysed, however it is common in a lot of other magazines. Although it is similar to NME magazine as there is a section for readers to subscribe to get issues regularly cheaper, this is so that they have loyal customers. There is a hierarchy of text with ‘The Word’ standing out the most trying to get the brand name across along with ‘contents’. In smaller text along side is the content of the magazine which is well organised and sectioned off from the rest of the page. It includes the articles and an insight into what they are about. The contents page sticks to a constant colour scheme of orange, black and blue.

After looking at other magazines I've came to the conclusion that a lot of the conventions are similar to those in the school magazines that i had anaysed. The masthead is the biggest piece of text on the page and from then on theres a hierarchy of text with the main article being the largest and least important things like the date is the smallest. There is a midshot of somebody looking into the camera and a plain background to make them stand out and sometimes smaller pictures of other important articles down the side. They use a colour scheme usually related to the logo throughout the magazine so that colours don't clash with each other. The contents page are seperated into different sections which make it easier for the reader to find which pages they want in particular. Then there is a double page spread with usually a large picture again with a midshot and then an article which doesn't make the page look over crowded. So when making my magazine i will need to include these in order to be following the typical conventions of music magazines.

After seeing what the other music magazines use i carried out some primary research by creating a questionnaire asking others what they would like in a to see in a music magazine.

Music Questionnaire

I am carrying out research on music magazines for my AS media coursework. Could you please take a minute to complete my questionnaire?

1. Are you male or female?

Female Male

2. How old are you?

Under 16

17-25

25-50

50+


3. Do you read music magazines?

Yes No

4. What genre of music would you be interested reading about?

All genres

Dance music

R’n’B

Rock/Indie

Classical

Pop

Jazz

Other

If other state which


5. If you read music magazine which magazines do you read?



6. How often do you buy music magazines?

Once a week

Every two weeks

Once a month

Less than once a month

Only when travelling


7. Do you buy magazines for reading purposes or collecting purposes?

Reading

Collecting if so which?


8. When reading a music magazine do you prefer the magazine to be entirely on music and the artists or also about the latest gossip?

Entirely on music and the artists

A combination

9. How much would you be willing to spend on a music magazine?

£1:00-£2:00

£2:01-£3:00

£2:01-£4:00

£4:01-£5:00

10. which name do you prefer for a music magazine?

Compilation

Eclectic

Anthology

MyTunes

Results



To make my questionnaire fair I made sure that I used the same amount of females and males. So the questionnaire isn’t gender bias there were 15 males and 15 females taking part in the questionnaire and giving their opinion on their favourite genres and what they would like in the question.

My target audience are mainly young adults aged 17-25 as these were the main age group that I had to ask, I could have improved the research by asking a wider range of people. However now I will make my magazine for young adults as I have more information on what they prefer in a magazine. Some of the results are also for a few under 16’s and 26- 49’s but only one 50+ , so the magazine I create may not be suitable for them.

Everybody that I asked reads music magazines even if it isn’t often so the research is relevant for every age group and gender. When then asked which music magazines the main magazines were Rolling Stone magazine, NME and kerrang. Both Rolling Stone magazine and NME have a broad target audience with no specific genre, so I could create a magazine with different genres of music instead of focusing on just one.

From the sample that I questioned the two favourite genres of music chosen were pop and all genres. Other favourites were R’n’B, rock and indie and classical. None of the participants wanted to read a magazine on dance music and jazz or any other genre. So from the research I will need to make a magazine on either all genres or specialise in pop music

None of the people that I questioned read music magazines every week so they aren’t regular readers. Most people that I asked read magazines less than once a month and only on long journeys. This means that the magazine I make will be a monthly magazine giving an overview on the most important topics of the month, rather than for regular readers.

None of the 30 people that I questioned collects music magazines meaning they use the magazines purely for reading purposes. This means that it wouldn’t make any difference if i was to use a theme for the magazine or have a special edition. This also shows the audience that I would be targeting because people don’t collect things such as magazine like they used to.

When people read a magazine most prefer the magazine to not be completely on music. So when making my magazine i will need to think about including articles that aren’t purely on music for example fashion or information on celebrities and so on.

Most people have agreed that they would spend £2:01-£3:00 on a music magazine which about the same as main magazines. So if i was to be creating a music magazine for those with no preferences to what music they like it would need to be an affordable and a lot of people said that they would only spend up to £2:00.

For a magazine people prefered Eclectic which would go with a magazine with no specific genre or even a rock/indie magazine.

Following my research I have decided to create a music magazine called ECLECTIC with a broad target audience. It will be for 16-25 year olds who like no specific genre of music and enjoy a bit of everything as it has information on all sorts of artists. It will be more like Rolling Stone magazine, NME and The Word including a range of different artists having something for everybody. It needs to include anything from any chart genre’s like R’n’B, hip hop, indie, rock, pop including Tween pop, country and western and more.

People that have a broad taste in music would constantly be up to date with what’s going on in the music industry. They would use numerous methods to listen to music like on the radio, watching the music channels, downloading legally and illegally, buying CD’S, programmes like spotify and many more. A place that a broad target audience would find out about a new music magazines now would be social networking sites such as facebook as they have groups for new products like this where consumers can become a fan. Other ways would be in local newsagents, on the TV and radio and so on.

After discovering that the image on the cover of my magazine needs to be a mid-shot I've decided that i want to have a male solo artist. So I looked at example pictures of other male solo artists to give me some ideas

Ideas For Pictures I Can Use In My Magazine

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