Magazine Institutions

I did some research into magazine institutions and found these two main institutions that are used throughout the media.

Bauer Media

Bauer Media is an institution that deals with magazine, radio, TV and online. Some of the magazines it runs with are: MOJO, Grazia and FHM. Bauer typically aims at an audience that is slightly younger than some of the other institutions, I can tell this as most readers of the magazines they produce are ones with an audience of around 16-30. 

IPC Media

IPC Media is another institution that deals with magazines, some of those are; Marie Claire, Now and NME. IPC reach out to around 26 million UK adults and their produced websites pull in a huge 25 million views per month. This institution seems to be aimed alot at an older audience, people who would be interested in keeping their home well (Ideal Home, Woman&Home) or sports aimed at older people (Horse & Hound, Golf Weekly). 

If I could choose one of these institutions to run my magazine 'Pulse' I would choose Bauer Media due to the fact that it has such a large audience, produces more than only magazines, such as online and app's meaning my magazine can keep up with the customers needs, they will be able to read the magazine on the go wherever they are as they don't need to go to a store to buy the magazine and then carry it around all day. Also the audience that Bauer aim to is the age range that my magazine would be targeted at. Another reason why I would choose Bauer is that they produce numerous music magazines whereas IPC only produce the one, NME. Having an institution that has quite a bit of experience in music magazines can make the production and popularity a lot easier and bigger than having an institution that isn't so experienced in the genre. When it comes to Bauer's website you can clearly see that it is aimed at a younger audience as a range of colour is used, especially in comparison to IPC who's website is very plain and only blue, black and white is used. In addition to this Bauer spread to audiences other than the UK, they show their magazines in 16 countries meaning my magazine would have a larger audience.  

Survey Monkey Initial questionnaire results.

These are the results I collected from my Survey Monkey questionnaire.

As you can see, most of those surveyed said that pop was their favourite music genre.

As you can see from the results, most of those who answered the questionnaire bought music magazines.

The audience said that the price they would pay for a music magazine would be between £1.51 to £2.51+.

This result shows that the main image is what persuades people to buy the magazine the most, colour is what the least amount of people said persuades them to buy it.

100% of those surveyed said that they would consider buying a music magazine that is related to their chosen genre.

This pie chart shows the names of those who the questionnaire participants have seen live in concert, it shows that One Direction was the most popular followed by Justin Bieber.

This was the result from the question 'Who is your favourite band/artist' and it clearly shows that the most popular is One Direction.

This result shows that interviews are what readers want to see the most.

Newsagents and all of above was the most common result from the survey.

83% of those surveyed said that they feel there is space in the market for a music magazine for their chosen genre. 

NME Reader Profile

Billboard Reader Profile

VIBE Reader Profile

My Reader Profile

Proposal Forms

Type of Magazine (fashion, music, etc)	Pop Music
Name of Magazine	Pulse
Audience (male/female)	Females aged 16-30. Secondary audience: Men aged 18-35
Audience (attitudes and interests)	Interested in social media, celebrities and listens to pop music whenever possible. They are from a middle to upper class and are happy to pay for a decent music magazine.
Outlet (where it can be bought from?)	Newsagents, online, app, supermarket, concerts, music stores.
Necessary Information	The price, issue number, website and date is shown on the barcode in addition to being shown close to the masthead in the top right third
Selling Point	Original magazine, exclusives, offers, interviews, featured artists.
Theme (article)	Exclusive interview with worldwide known pop star.
Images Front Cover	The image on the front cover will be of the artist/band that the main article is about.
Images Inside	Images of the artist taken at a photoshoot, dressed for performance and casual.

Describe your idea for the brief: A music magazine that is aimed at women aged 16-30, includes interviews, concert information, competitions, exclusives etc.

Genre/ sub genre: list similar texts which have inspired your thoughts I want my magazine to be pop but not the type for younger teens and juniors (under 16’s). I am aiming for a magazine slightly inspired by Billboard.

Target audience: gender/ age/ characteristics/ behaviour Females aged 16-30, very interested in celebrities and social media, they listen to pop and chart music regularly. They enjoy shopping and going out with friends to concerts.

Major conventions I will use Main sell line, coverlines, interviews, exclusives, competitions, puff, essential information.

Conventions I may subvert/ change/ not use The colours I use on my magazine I do not want to be too stereotypical ‘bubblegum’ colours for pop music, I want it to look sleek and professional. I may also not include more than one image on my contents page as I do not want it to look cluttered.

Original images: what/ where/ what Photoshoot of the artist that the main article is going to be about. Relevant background to the image, might possibly be plain white so the image stands out from the background.

Potential difficulties/ Plan B: I may encounter some technical difficulties throughout the making of my magazine, I might also struggle with time management and keeping things on track. There could be trouble when taking images or the model may not turn up so I need to ensure that I have a back-up model and camera. The battery of the camera might die so I would have to make sure that the charger is with me. The studio might not be available for the photoshoot so I should have back-up ideas such as in an area that would work well with the genre and magazine.

Potential area where there might be a problem	How I will deal with this problem
Front cover images	I will ensure that I have a back-up model in case of a problem where the chosen model isn’t available and it is the only day I can take the images. The images may not be as good as I wanted them to be when the photoshoot is finished so another session may need to be booked in the studio with the model. It is possible that the images could be lost if for example my memory stick is lost so I will have to ensure that I save it in other places also.
Article Inside Magazine	The article may not have been written as well as I had hoped for, there may also be some difficulties with the layout of the magazine and I may have to play around, getting the layout right for a while. There could be a possibility that I lose the work that I have done to the main article so I will save it on the computer, memory stick and email it to myself so I don’t lose anything.
Images to accompany article	Too few images might have been taken and there may end up being spare space for extra images so the studio and model would need to be booked again to take some extra relevant images to put alongside the article. Again, there could be an issue with saving or losing the images so u would ensure I will save the images in more than one way such as emailing them to myself.

Billboard Magazine Deconstruction

VIBE Double Page Spread Deconstruction

VIBE contents page deconstruction

Hello!

 

 

 

 

The header of the contents page is simply 'contents' in white block capitals, this stands out against the dark grey background. The image on the contents page is of a woman lying down with her legs in the air, wearing heels, infront of the legs what is featured inside the magazine is shown under 'Features' and 'Fashion'. The colours running throughout the page are generally natural colours such as beige and taupes but the model has dark hair and the top of the page is dark grey fading into beige when it comes down. Vibe only have the one image on their contents page which is alot different to most magazines which tend to have numerous images regarding the different articles. As the model is lying down with her legs in the air her toes and point of her heels are pointing to the right, this takes the readers eyes towards the wording in the contents page which almost automatically makes you read what it says. Again, unlike any other magazines this contents page is very plain but isnt bland. It gets to the point straight away without throwing lots of images and colour at you. The contents page has a one column layout  shown on the right hands side and is set out neatly.

VIBE front cover deconstruction

Hello!

NME deconstruction

Hello! 

I am going to be deconstructing the front cover, contents page and double page spread of a music magazine.

Cover

The magazine is called NME and is shown in the top left third, it is aimed at men aged 16-30, I think this as the colours used on the front cover are colours such as red, black and white which due to them being somewhat ‘bland’ colours it would be more aimed to men as colours aimed at women tend to be a lot brighter such as blues and pinks. Also the image on the cover is of a band, Arctic Monkeys, the band look very manly and the lead singer is standing slightly in front of the other band member and he has his arms crossed and his head isn’t straight it is dropped slightly which gives the effect that he is intimidating and is looking down at you, giving off an almost ‘bad boy’ look. Men would find intriguing as if it is someone they need to stand up to or to be like. Arctic Monkeys have also been a very well-known band for years now so would be easily recognised on a magazine cover, especially by their fans. The font of the front cover is a bold Sans Serif, this font is aimed more at men than women as women tend to like curls or text that is like hand writing, whereas this is bold and plain.  The magazine has a yellow circle in the bottom right third that states the magazine have reviewed Arctic monkey’s brand new album, this might persuade the target audience to purchase the magazine as buying the magazine and reading the review would be cheaper and safer than buying the album and possibly not liking it.

Contents

The contents page is one page that is densely packed but not too packed to understand or look at. The colours on the contents page are red, black and white, the same as on the front cover meaning they have a constant colour theme running throughout the magazine. The header is in the top centre third of the page and is in a bold black serif font stating ‘inside this week’ and the publication date is shown in a smaller font just below. There are a lot of images of a few sizes on the page, the images are those of the magazines main article and the page number is also shown in large there. NME do this as it enables the audience to pick out the main articles or to quickly find the article they are looking for. The contents page features a medium size advert regarding a subscription to their magazine which is in the bottom right third, this is in bright red so is very noticeable on the white background.

Double Page Spread

The magazines main double page spread is of what is featured on the front cover, the band Arctic monkeys. The left hand side of the spread is a full sized image of the band looking happy and smiling. The right side of the spread is an article about the band and their new album, the text is small and split into three columns. “You can’t worry what people think” is used as a pull quote, this quote will pull the reader into the article as they wonder what the topic of the conversation is. “R U Ready?” is the article title, this is a rhetorical and is put there to ask the audience possibly, if they are ready for what they are about to read. There is a strap line under the article title in a smaller font which explains in brief what the article is about, key words are highlighted in red. The actual text starts with a drop cap ‘T’ in red and the rest of the text is followed in the original size in black. The article looks very good to the eyes and has no things that are too distracting to the reader. The colours black, white and red are also shown very clearly throughout this article.

An insight into Pop/Chart Music!

Hello!

In this post I am going to give an insight into Pop/Chart music. 

This is a video from the world famous boyband One Direction. This video clearly portrays the boy's personalities, in the first few minutes of the song they are all dressed up as different characters, one member Zayn is dressed as a girl. This shows their humerous side. Once the introduction has ended it shows the five of them trashing an office in Hollywood, I feel they are doing this as they are trying to somewhat 'mock' what other world famous artists are known to do when they don't get what they want, be 'divas'. The music video also shows some amateur dancing, the boys know they cant dance but they do it anyway purely because they know they aren't good at it but their fans will like it. The song itself is called 'Best Song Ever' and it has an extremely catchy tune that makes you want to sing it constantly, it is very upbeat and the singing is excellent making it easy to listen to.

                                     

This is a video from the controversial singer Miley Cyrus with her song 'Wrecking Ball'. This is a very intimate and she shows her emotion a lot, the song is clearly about a past relationship she has been in and the fact it is called wrecking ball denotes that the relationship ended badly. In the video Miley is swinging Naked on a 'wrecking ball', this suggests that the person she was in a relationship was with her when she was most vulnerable (naked) but then destroyed it all (wrecking ball). Miley is also seen kissing a sledge hammer, in my opinion this shows that she still loves what destroyed her relationship. This song seems to be very popular for those who listen to pop music, most likely because it is a slowly sang-song that has upbeat tunes behind her delicate voice.

                                     

This video comes from the singer Katy Perry singing her song 'Roar'. The video shows that she has been in an aeroplane crash in the middle of a forest with her partner, within the first 30 seconds of the video her partner gets killed by an animal so she is left to explore the forest alone. She befriends some of the rainforest's animals such as a monkey, elephant, crocodile and tiger. The song is explaining how strong Katy is and she isn't going anywhere and isn't going to back down 'you're going to hear me roar'. Katy has an unbelievable voice and this song portrays it well. Both this song and One Direction have similar beats behind the track which is very pleasing when you are listening to it. 

Overall when looking into the music videos I have noticed that the tunes behind the voice are rather upbeat and even the slower songs such as 'Wrecking Ball' have upbeat tunes behind them. I also noticed that the colours in the music videos are rather bright and in your face noticeable which pairs nicely with the upbeat sounds.

Magazine Inspiration

Hello!

I have been doing some research into pop/chart magazines and found Billboard magazine, it is based on pop and chart music. I have chosen some examples of the magazine covers and a non music related magazine, I am going to explain my thoughts below them. 

Katy Perry for Billboard Magazine 

I like this front cover a lot, the pale pink background and the lightness of her skin contrast against her dark hair and eyes. The image is direct meaning that the singer is looking at the camera thus making you feel she is looking straight at you. The singers eye and lip makeup is also bold which attracts the reader to her face, enabling them to recognise the singer. Her hair also looks very slick and neat conveying the sophisticated side of the genre, not the 'cheesy pop' look. The main image is also paced in front of the masthead denoting that Billboard is already a well known magazine therefore readers know automatically what the magazine is even by only seeing a few words. I like the fact that the cover of the magazine isn't cluttered with secondary images or numerous cover lines, it sticks with the one main cover line. I feel the lettering goes well with the main image as the singer is wearing blue eye makeup and some words on the cover are written in the same shade, liking the cover together. Although I mentioned I liked the fact that the magazine cover wasn't clutter I still feel that it was still slightly sparse and had quite a few blank spaces meaning that by looking at the front cover you don't find out much about what is held inside.

Beyonce for Billboard Magazine

This image is the cover of Billboard magazine again. The feel and look of this is a lot different to the previous cover, the image is of the singer 'Beyonce' and it is a close cropped image of her face, with her 'wild' hair filling the background. Beyonce is known to be 'fierce' and this is portrayed well in the image, she is looking directly at the image with her eyes slightly squinted and she is biting a piece of jewellery. Her make up is natural looking with brown toned eye makeup which pairs well with the brown eyes, hair and caramel skin adding to the 'wild' and 'fierce' effect, reflecting her personality well. The text on this cover is shown in white therefore it stands out against the darker image. Again, the cover isn't cluttered with cover lines or secondary images but the cover doesn't look bare due to there being no background as it is all her hair and the different tones in it prevent it from looking bland.

JLO for Glamour Magazine

This front cover has quite few cover lines covering the blank spaces, the price os clearly shown in a bright yellow circle. The masthead of this magazine is also covered by the models image, this again is because the magazine is well established and by seeing only a few letters they are able to recognise what magazine it is. The main image is of the singer Jennifer Lopez and shows her from hear head to just below her waist showing her body shape and clothing. Jennifer is looking straight down the camera and is smiling, this makes the magazine look inviting because she looks happy. Overall I think this is a good image because you can see more of the model than only the face. The colour of the text flows well throughout the front cover showing pink, black and the odd navy word.

Moodboard- Pop/Chart Music

In this moodboard I have combined a number of things that are associated with pop and chart music in addition to items I feel their audience would be interested in. I have included things such as makeup and boybands as I feel they are aimed at the target audience my magazine will be aimed at (Females aged 16-25).

Blog Introduction

Hello!

My name is Emily Bunker and this is my AS Media blog, I will be updating my blog regularly to demonstrate my research and progress of my coursework. 

The aims and specifications of what I hope to achieve on my blog are:

• enhance candidates enjoyment and appreciation of the media and its role in their daily lives;
  
  
• develop critical understanding of the media through engagement with media products and concepts and through the creative application of practical skills;
  
  
• explore production processes, technologies and contexts;
  
  
• become independent in research skills and their application.