The aim my coursework was to research, plan and make a music magazine that I felt could fill the gap in music magazines. As a result of globalisation, information can be distributed effortlessly, meaning people can gain knowledge from the internet rather than prints. Therefore I had to carry out much research to help me create my own magazine.
The research helped me build up my knowledge of music magazines as well as the codes and conventions of a good magazine. Firstly I read through a number of articles on declining sales so that I could gain an idea on what was creating these drops. One article I found gave me great insight on how to think about editing a music magazine was ‘Stuart Speaks Again’ as he shared his strategies for creating dominant magazines. To further my knowledge on magazines I looked deconstructed 2 front covers and a contents pages using semiotics. I also looked into the meta language articles.
While doing my research I investigated two different magazine publishers in Britain 'Bauer' and 'IPC' I examined which magazines they publish and why the magazines are successful. However I chose neither of these to publish my magazine, instead I decided to use ‘Development Hell Ltd’ would best for my magazine due to others they have published, previously 'smash hits' and currently publish 'Mixmag'. I feel my magazine is directly in the middle of these genres.
Furthermore I wrote and distributed an online questionnaire using a website named Survey Monkey. This survey was conducted to find out key information in to what genres of music is listened to what they think about music magazines, whether they purchase them, all from a wide range of ages and sex. The questionnaire enabled to gain an insight into what people think is missing in music magazines and they are no longer being purchased. Hearing the variety of thoughts allowed me to begin planning my magazine to what people would like to see in a magazine.
Subsequent to my research I began to plan my music magazine I created a mind map of ideas that I think a magazine include and that I wanted to see in my own. My questionnaire helped me decided on my target audience of 18-30. I felt that there is a large gap in the market for a magazine aimed at this age, the only other magazine that could be read by this audience is 'Mixmag' however it focuses solely on dance music I wanted to create a magazine that includes a variation of genres. Similar to 'smash hits' however when I went to research 'smash hits' discovered it was no longer in circulation, therefore I wanted to create a adult more mature version of 'smash hits'. I thought this would be a good idea as in m questionnaire results everyone listened to a verity of music.To target audience for my main image I used a young adult at a festival wearing fashionable clothes, I also used fun props. These would attract my target audience as they can relate to the person on the cover. I used a clear bold typeface for the name of the magazine on the cover making it white so that it stands out, making it eye catching to the audience along with a catchy name for the magazine. Rhythm ATTIC would appeal to wide audience making them interested in to what the magazine may contain. I chose to avoid having a CD on the front of my cover, as it would hide much of it, although the free aspect draw customers in and instead chose to have a link inside the magazine for a free legal down load site which i find fits better with today audiences.
For my double page spread I used a variety of photos, most I had taken at festivals this summer and a few I had reconstructed. The images are fun and entertaining, this was a key point made in my questionnaire, that too much text is not enjoyable. The language used in the article is fun, chatty and playful this helps create a ‘relationship’ with the reader. When being the artist again the language was chatty I also tried to include slang and used grammar to create a voice.
Throughout the development of my music magazine, I have broadened my Photoshop skills. When I started I had a small quantity of knowledge which I had learnt from my preliminary coursework. I have now broadened my understanding of Photoshop greatly. I also used a photographer’s digital camera during this project by doing this I learnt how to use specific settings so that I could construct photos of a good quality. However I feel if I were to do the project again I would like to spend more time getting to know the site blogger so that I can uses it features to my advantage making the blog more accessible and easier to view.
Altogether I feel that I have made a great deal of progress from my sixth form magazine. Not only have I learnt about how to use certain technologies are used during the process of magazines but learnt about the processes of planning needed to create a successful magazine, which results from much preparation.
Sunday, 16 January 2011
Evaluation
Saturday, 15 January 2011
Front cover
Firstly I darkened the background so that the tent (rain coat) wasn't so obvious. I did this by using the lasso tool; I then switched over the lasso tool so that I could brighten the model, making her stand out.
I then used the paint brush to make the leaves bigger and greener on the
As the model has freckles I couldn't use the heal tool as there were no areas to copy similar tones from. Therefore I used the eye drop too and brush to remove spots and some freckles.
There was a lot of reflected light on the face, so I used the same method to remove/ reduce this. After doing this I had to re outline the nose.
I then moved on to the make-up. I changed the lip colour by using a low opacity paint brush
The flash from the photograph decreased the visibility of the glitter as well as its bright colour. Firstly I tried copying and pasting a small section. I then looked through he paint tools brushes a saw that it could be scattered. I selected a pink and used a low opacity to create strips of glitter on either side.
I brought out the eyes by brightening the white. I went over the eyebrows with a low opacity black I then did the same for the eyes using a point 1 brush, adding some gentle eyeliner, as well as mascara to make the eyelashes longer and the eyes bigger.For the text I used white outline, so that it could be seen against other objects I used the blending options to drop shadow and create an inner glow, I the resterised the text text so that it became a imagae and could be distorted using free transform.
Double page spread
For the double page spread i shall use the same font Corbal that i have used in the editors letter, and contents page. For the title and subheading in the article I will use similar fonts to the title of the contents page and to the title of the magazine.
I started working on a for the background of the double page spread, however I decided to not follow this idea through as it was looking scrappy and would also make the page look to busy. So I decided to have the background a photo of a stage at a music festival from this summer.
Front Cover photos
Contents page photos.
To take the photographs for this I took a friend to the park to pose as the made up ‘Fifi Zappa. The clothes that were decided on are different and quite individual. I took some of the photos in black and white as I thought it would make them look sophisticated and others in colour. There are my favourites:
This photo 4 is one of my favourite as I think it would really good down the side of a contents page.
However, as the photo shot was for a fashion article I will use photo 3 as its in colour which is important as it shows of the clothing better. This photo graph also has one of the best angles to show off the clothing.
I edited the photograph before putting it onto my contents page. Firstly I brightened and lowered the contrast so that it wasn't so dark, enabling more detail to be seen.
I then changed the levels and hue saturation bring out the reds and browns in the photo. This gave the model more colour in the face as she looked pale before. it also made the model and the clothes stand out more from the back ground.
In addition I needed a photograph of the ‘artist’ for the reviews. I chose to use a male model to represent a DJ. I decided to use a male as I feel I have to much female representation.
The setting for this photograph was on a balcony at night with a back ground of lights London; however, the lights didn’t show much in the photos so I took them away and used the night sky as a plain black background which I liked as I could use a high resolution and contrast to make the model stand out.
I also tried a photograph with two male models in. I preferred this photo as I thought it was quite mescaline, which would help appeal to males. As it is being said that they work together I wanted to show I bond so positioned them with their arms over each other in a friendly manner.
- Step one I increased the levels of brightness while keeping the contrast the same.
- By changing the levels I brought out more purple on model 1s shirt as well as their hairlines so that they don’t bland into the background.
- I then cropped the photo so that the eye was drawn to both the models rather then the centre of the photo where there is only one model.
- Now I wanted to take away spots and blemishing, I did this by selecting the healing brush tool and Alt clicked on an area that had no blemishes and a similar tone. I did this for the spots on their faces as well as a stain on the purple shirt.
I didn’t remove all the imperfection because I didn’t want the photo to look fake and airbrushed.
After crop, before blemish removal >
finished
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
CD
Fonts
Layout Plans
For my front cover i have stuck to conventions and kept the title running across the top or towards the left. this allows room for the photo.
Layout Plans
For the double page spread the background will be a collage of photos that I have taken from music festivals or photos I have planned to look like music festivals like muddy wellies, tents ect.
Ideas and planning
I want to create a magazine that hosts an array of music. It will be targeted at people who enjoy go out. It will not focus on one genre of music several similar types from genres that can be seen in the charts like dance genres, indie and urban i will have music that can be listens to on a night out and also during the day. I have chosen this because when listening to the radio you have such variety in beats, speeds and melodies and remixes between genres that it is now becoming hard to label music. As genres are being coming labels for many other genres. I think this will reach more people increasing sales
The magazines will be published monthly, as it included club and event reviews it will allow for more to be put into the magazine and prevents readers from having to spend too much money weekly.
Publishers:
Development Hell LTD, as they currently publish Mixmag (a magazine for devoted dance music fans) and previously published Smash hits (a charts/ popular magazine). I find my magazine in the middle therefore it will be managed well.
Consumer:
Male and Females aged between 18-30 year olds, that spend time and money on going out who therefore enjoy music all day.
Free gifts:
I will included free gifts to help increase sales.
Free CD on the cover which could included:
- Live tracks from festivals
- A mix of the cover artists tracks
- Tracks from various artists featured in the magazine
Free club tickets, concert ticket and festival tickets.
Free VIP experiences
Free ATTIC merchandise
Editors letter:
The letter will be chatty and whitty whilst being informative to the issue. There will be a smiley friendly photo of the editor on the page.
Music genres presented in the magazine:
The main will be indie, dance, dubstep and pop. there will also be r'n'b, hip hop acoustic and remixes of all this music. To show the variation of genres the magazine has, I use a range of different artists.
Article ideas:
- Kid Cudi! The New Kanye West? - a article on Kid Cudi
- Fields! Fun! Filth! with Krissy K- a article of the summers festival whilst following around new start Krissy K
- Steal a Stars Style- A photo of an artist, with cheaper high street options of similar clothing next to the ones they are wearing.
- Best dressed, Worst dressed- one male and one female for both= 4 artists
- Interviews with 4 artists
- Photo album of a week with a artist, things they get up to, funny stories and quotes
- 10 questions by the readers answered by an artist
- Reviews of clubs and up coming events in Britain's main cities for the start of the university year.
- Top 10 must see videos of this month
- Music reviews, reviewed by last month’s no.1s - genre per page.
- New artists to look out for in months coming up!
- ‘Star hook ups and break ups!’ – Gossip pages showing who’s together.
Ideas for double page spread:
The issues going to be the September issue after all the festivals and Just before people get back to work and University.
1. This article will review the best clubs and up coming events in London, Leeds, Manchester, Bristol and Edinburgh. Each will have a count down of the top five with a small profile of each describing the type of music, events that are coming and who are playing, the vibes and whys it’s so good! Then the website.
2. This article will be looking back over the summer’s festival. Where Rythmatic have followed an artist to their first year of festivals as a major performer! There will be a profile on the artist explaining her music what she likes where she’s from with some funny quotes. As well as pictures of her from each festival with captions and summing up her experience three.There will be a count down of our favourite festivals, with a small profile of the line-ups, favourite stage, and favourite atmosphere.
4x original photograph ideas
- Will use a female to pose as the artists featured in the magazine, I will use clothes and props from music festivals that I have been to dress her up to give it a summer/festiv feel (x2 one for the article and cover) this will be part of a planned photo shoot.
- 1 photograph for the steal a style, this will be of a model in trendy clothes in a planned photo shoot
- I will also include 1 photograph of the artist that is doing this month’s music reviews. This will b of them looking into the camera quite serious.
- The magazine will also contain photos that I have taken at music festivals
Sunday, 9 January 2011
Mind Map of magazine
Questionaire
I have created a questionnaire using a website called survey monkey. It allows you to create a digital questionnaire and creates a link to attach to emails and web pages so that people can answer the questions. I sent mine out via email as well as putting a link on my Facebook. When the questionnaire has been answered it analyses the responses providing averages and pie chats.
Here is the questionnaire I created:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FSKY589
Results:
I sent my questionnaire out to 2
0 people ageing between 13-30. Most said that they didn't purchase music magazine. However over 70% of people asked said that they do purchase magazines more than every other month. This was a good sign as it shows people are still buying magazines.
Out of the 20 who contributed to the questionnaire only 3 people bought music magazines, saying that they enjoy them but don't buy them often or that they must have them for work. many of the responses where that they could access the information in a magazine online for free- this seemed to be an recurring answer.
As people are looking on line it shows they don't have enough time this was also said in my results therefore in my magazine I will try to keep it light and easy to read with not to much text.
These are half the response from question 6 about magazine prices. These Included the lowest £2 and the highest £5. Most music magazines on the shelf at the moment are going for around £3+, NME £2.30 as a weekly.
What is your favourite feature in magazines? and what would you like to see more of in music magazines?
Many said they would like to see more interviews and information/facts about current popular stars. one of the answers to this question was-
'I don't like articles that are too long and dont have pictures. My favourite articles are probably interviews? as long as interesting questions are asked.'
This response suggest that the magazine cant be to packed with chunky articles loaded with text. I will try and avoid this in my article. Another key point that was made was that people would like to see more fashion, and style advise. When doing my research on music magazines this was a feature that came up in very few this could be because it has little to do with music? However Artists and bands are no longer just heard but seen, therefore a link could be made between different singers styles rather than what's on the catwalk.
Responses that were more related to music explained that they would like to receive more information about different/new festivals, events, clubs and cheap concerts as well as more on new/upcoming artists, different genres for going out and during the day and more on remixes of chart songs.
These responses were very useful and linked well with the genres of music most people enjoyed listening to as there was a mix of nigh time music dub-step, drum and bass,dance, house, trance and popular daytimes music like acoustic, pop, rnb/hiphop, reggae, rock, indie.
these are genres my magazine will cater for, although they are varied I think there is a gap in the market for all this as nowadays songs no longer stick to one genre which makes it hard to classify what magazine it could go into.
Background research- Rolling stones
I shall now look at how one particular music magazine has changed over the years. To help me develop my own ideas on a front cover I will look at how the styles of languages, font, colours and positioning of covers have changed over the years. The magazine I have chosen to base my research on is Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, politics and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph Gleason founded Rolling Stone in 1967.
The first issue of Rolling Stones featured John Lennon dressed in an army outfit. The photo is very old looking and goes with the rest of the cover. The cover is in black and white this could be to save money on printing cost there is an article on the front of the magazine similar to a newspaper, this is to save money as well as illustrating the article and its importance as it is the first issue.
This issue was published in 1985 with two famous movie stars on the front. This issue looks more like a magazine as it has strap lines, headings and names of the article to draw an audience in, giving it a typical magazine layout. The font is the same as when the magazine first came out, however the magazine now has a theme that it follows white backgrounds with black font. It is a simple look which works.
The most recent Rolling Stone front cover in 2010 is a lot more modern and sophisticated than the previous ones and show Shakira looking strong and independent with a title of ‘can Shakira conquer the world?’
This image appeals to the readers as they are interested in her life and what she has done to be able to have such a bold quote, therefore making potential readers want to open the magazine and read the story.
The background colour is different shade of grey and the Rolling Stone name is white black outline to make it stand out, still similar to the 1985 cover however slightly more neutral.
The image is both appealing to men and woman as it show independence which other woman could admire and also an good-looking woman which could attract them men.
Music Magazines on the internet
I have chosen NME music magazine as a case study. NME(The New Musical Express) is a
Audience:
65% Male*
50% 16-24*
23% 25-34*
The website for NME (http://www.nme.com/home) is attractive as the layout is clear and simple, however is still eye catching, its main colour scheme is similar to the magazine as it uses yellow, red, white and black, helping it appeal to its wide target audience by keeping the design and colours simple. Although it is rather masculine it still appeals to the 35% of female readers. The layout of the website is clear and easy to use this is important as it saves the user having to spend time looking for what they want. The page isn’t too crowded to tempt an older target audience.
Rock and Indie music genres are mostly presented on the website, we can see this at first glance as the likes of ‘Blink-182’, ‘Rage Against the Machine’ and ‘Vampire Weekend’ are shown however there is some alternative music like dance but this is lower down the page.
They make extra money by selling products online as they have a NME store where you can by T-shirts, CDS, DVDS and vinyl they also have music downloads where you can download music straight to your phone. They also hold events for example the NME awards and concert. This is a good way for them to make money as lots of tickets are sold and it also connects with the readers as they then feel involved.
Fall in magazine sales
“IPC media’s weekly rock magazine NME suffered y ear-on-year circulation slump of 17.3%”
Since 2009:
Uncut down 13.3 %
Mixmag down 13.4%
With cheap internet has come downloads, for many of which means free, illegal downloads. Illegal downloads have over taken the charts and magazines as it cannot be calculated or monitored as to what is being downloaded. By being able to download your music it means many aren’t purchasing. Accumulating a drop in magazine sales as people no longer purchase magazines to help them expand their horizons about music before spending money on a CD.
Due to the recent credit crunch, magazines sales have declined as many don’t have the time or money to spend on music magazines, for instance NME cost £2.30 which is over £9 a which consumers do not have enough disposable income to use on magazines when presented with a choice of many other sources to get free information.
Can music magazines increase there sales again? And are they doing something wrong? I shall create a questionnaire to gather some ideas which I can apply to my own music magazine to help ensure its success.
Analysis of a Contents Page.
The contents page of a magazine is important as it’s what the reader looks at after the front cover to see what else they will find in the magazine. Similarly, to the magazine front covers I shall also analysis a contents page; this will help give me to learn about the key conventions of a magazine and how to display the information to help promote sales.
NMES contents page is quite scattered with nosystematic flow of order, this would be because it’s a weekly magazine and the readers no what to expect and where to find what they enjoy reading.
It has been arranged into eight sections seven of which have a photo and a quo
te from the article giving potential readers a taste of what’s inside. In the ‘Plus’ section it has a list of other article titles that can be found inside the magazine.
The fonts are clear, bold and black giving it contents a classic look. Some of the quotes are in italic making them stand out and draw your eye towards them. It is a busy page however by giving it a plain white background it keeps it looking neat.
When create my own contents page I want it to be easy to follow and understand as well as giving I bit more information and guidance on the contents.
Tuesday, 4 January 2011
Front cover deconstruction
The front cover of a magazine is very important as this is what can be seen on the shelves as well as giving potential reader’s main insight about the magazine content. Therefore it is very important for the front cover to apply to its target market and draw attention. I shall look at a number of magazines and do a semiotic analysis on them, so that I can gain an idea on key concepts and gather ideas which I could apply to my own. I will be looking at different genres of magazines.
The first magazine I shall analysis is NME (The New Musical Express) published weekly by IPC Media (Time Inc.) it is a music tabloid and bring news on music and the artist to its readers.
Along with its typical features expected on a front cover of a magazine such as the title, price, bar code and date shown at the bottom right, the front cover of NME displays a large photograph MGMT looking intensely into the camera whilst positioned on the floor.
The back ground consists of white wall and radiator which could have connotations linking to a phrase in the heading ‘madcap’ suggesting they are in a calm confined space in care. The sitting and crouching positions suggest that they are waiting for something to happen, which could be perhaps found out inside the magazine. The colour scheme is mainly black, red and white this is simple however is also eye catching. This keeps the magazine from looking cluttered therefore allowing a crazy/busy back grounds which represents the types of artist the magazine deals with.
The subtitles on the magazine also suggest the audience of NME is broad due to the different music artists like Dizze Rascal and Noel Gallagher. On the cover they have also included a chance to win tickets which draws in attention of potential readers as they are free.
Secondly I shall analysis Mixmag a British dance music and clubbing magazine. It’s published monthly by Development Hell Ltd. The magazine covers dance events, reviews a variety of dance music and club nights.
The cover has a bright yellow background in this issue, the colour of the background changes each issue but is always bright and colourful linking to the happy dance music the magazine features and suggest youthfulness.
The title of the magazine is situated across the top of the magazine where it can usually be found, its in a smooth, bold font keeping the layout of cover tidy therefore allowing it to have big crazy photography in the background which have connotations of the music featured.
The background image is in front of the text and consists of a man and woman standing close with their mouths wide open. They are not artist but link with the subtitle ‘party or die!’ this image insinuates at these two are ready to go out and party. The couples lively facial expression and positioning suggests that they are energetic and like to do things their own way therefore, rebelling against the conventions, similar to some of the genres and artists in the magazine.
The font is bold and clear colours are white, black and blue which stand out clearly against the vibrant yellow background. The main heading for this addition has a black drop from behind it to make it stand out even more and to like it to the title of the magazine making the heading seem almost as important. All the sell lines and teasers are at a slanted angle this could suggest the creators of the magazine looking at a new angle of music. It also flows with the angle the two artists featured on the cover are leaning.
The magazine gives away a free CD of specially featured music in each monthly addition this makes the magazine more appealing and helps increase sales and people are drawn to free gifts. The title of the magazine 'Mixmag' proposes that there is a range of different styles of club music. this makes Mixmag more appealing over other magazines as it is inclusive and saves the buyer having to buy three different magazine for three different genres that are similar for example like trance, house and dubstep.