MAGAZINE RESEARCHResearch into successful music magazines (Q and Kerrang) and the codes and conventions that made those magazines successful

Research into my chosen genre

Music Magazine – Genre ResearchMusic magazines offer readers information about different types of music and cultures surrounding different genres of music. The magazines also offer reviews and opinions by critics who comment on different genres of music and exclusive interviews from artists and musicians worldwide. Music magazines were very prolific in the United Kingdom, with the New Musical Express (NME) leading the pack since its first issue in 1952. Melody Maker (published in 1926) was another music magazine that rivaled with NME. By 2001, falling circulation and the rise of internet music sites caused many of the older magazines such as Melody Maker to cease publishing.

Magazine for my ResearchMasthead

Main image – (Star Appeal - Richard Dyer)

Main Headline

Barcode/Price/Date/Issue

Cover Lines –(Star Appeal - Richard Dyer)

Strapline

Music Magazine – Genre ResearchCodes and Conventions of a Magazine

Masthead - The title of a newspaper or magazine at the head of the front or editorial page (Example – Q or Kerrang)

Strap line - A tagline is a variant of a branding slogan typically used in marketing materials and advertising (Example – The worlds best music magazine)

Main Headline - The main story of the magazine, usually displayed in the middle of the magazine. This is what usually entices customers to purchase the magazine.

Main Image - Works in tangent with the Main Headline to show off the main story of the magazine (Star Appeal – Richard Dyer)

Cover Lines - Smaller headlines which reveal smaller stories and content present in the magazine

Barcode – A unique number which is scanned to show proof of purchase of that particular item

Price – How much the item is valued to the consumer

Date – Date of release

Issue – What issue the current magazine is

USP (Unique Selling Point) – What makes that magazine unique from the others? How will it stand out and be more successful then other similar magazines?

All these typical conventions are found on a magazine to enable it to be successful and appealing to the public.

Music Magazine – Genre ResearchWhat possible codes and conventions are missing on this Q magazine?

There isn’t a website hyperlink or information about how consumers can learn more about the magazine across the media platforms.There is no form of social-networking sites advertised on the magazine which limits them in terms of the magazine getting exposure and recognition amongst consumers. Many people use social-networking as a means of communication and therefore exposure on a platform such as Facebook or Twitter will give the magazine more of a chance of becoming successful and theoretically gain more revenue.

Target Audience

The target audience for Q can be denoted as ‘Social Climbers’ (Maslow) because consumers idolise and want to be the stars (Star Appeal – Richard Dyer) portrayed in the magazine. They are driven by the dream that one day, somehow, they’ll gain recognition of some sort and gain the popularity and wealth that are associated with the stars featured in the magazines. Readers can form a ‘Personal Identification’ (Katz) with controversial stories such as a star opening up about their troubled past or traumatic experience which can develop into the reader feeling sympathy for them (Caregivers – Maslow). Readers can also immerse themselves within stories shown ‘Diversion’ (Katz) to escape from their daily working lives. The target audience for Q magazine is young teens/adults, aged around 16-24 (Hartley). This is because the layout and design of the magazine is quite modern and young, as well as sophisticated and professional and therefore appeals to a young age range.

What is the USP of this magazine?By looking into this media product, I believe the USP is the constant use of ‘Star Appeal’ (Richard Dyer) in each issue released by Q. The example I annotated contains the lead singer of The Killers (Brandon Flowers) which immediately attracts a number of consumers who are familiar and take a liking to the star. The main purpose for Brandon being used is so that people are attracted into purchasing the magazine. Other headline acts, bands and artists feature throughout Q magazine which enables the magazine to appeal to a wider audience and essentially attract more customers.

Magazine for my Research

Masthead

Main image – (Star Appeal - Richard Dyer)Main

Headline

Barcode/Price/Date/Issue

Cover Lines –(Star Appeal - Richard Dyer)

Competition

Target Audience

Kerrang! has a niche target market due to their product being based on Rock music. The target audience for this media product probably ranges from ages 16-24 (Hartley) but as always, other consumers of other ages are usually interested too. According to statistics, 60% of readers are males, with 40% of readers being female (Hartley); whom they both classify in the C/D social class. Stars such as Hailey Williams from Paramore inspire people to become ‘Social Climbers’ (Maslow) due to their huge popularity and considerable fortune (Star Appeal – Richard Dyer). By using Hailey, the magazine offers a sex appeal to the male gender as a young, attractive woman is predominant on the magazine (Male Gaze – Laura Mulvey). Readers can form a ‘Personal Relationship’ (Katz) with Hailey because she answers questions asked by other readers and also realize similarities and differences with the star, Hailey (Personal Identification – Katz)

What is the USP of this magazine?

Through research, I believe the USP of Kerrangs magazine is the competitions they offer. They offer readers the chance to win music tickets in exchange for purchasing their magazine. This entices the audience and gives them another reason to purchase the magazine because they can get free tickets out of it. They also offer readers a free poster, luring the reader in further and offering them another reason why they should buy the magazine. Kerrang! uses music stars (Star Appeal – Richard Dyer) such as Slipknot, Metallica and Fall Out Boy to draw the attention to consumers and persuade them to consume the media text

Magazine 1) – Publisher ResearchQ has built a solid international reputation amongst fans, stars and the music industry itself for producing high quality pieces of media texts (in terms of magazine) every month which contains everything there is to know about Rock and Roll. The main reason why Q is so successful is due to them having the biggest stars (U2, Adele, Oasis, Rihanna, Radiohead, Lady Gaga) in their magazine (Star Appeal – Richard Dyer) to attract customers. Q is the UK’s number one actively purchased music magazine which can be explained by the magazine being full of quality and character. Photograph is a big part of Q, as well as the in-depth reporting which gives readers exclusive information and substantial amount of content. Due to Q having such a big reputation, readers consume information and become intrigued by what is in the latest installment of Q. Q is so popular that a positive review in Q can made a musicians career, with them covering new upcoming artists as well as writing about the biggest stars in rock and roll around the world.

(Bauer Media Publisher of Q magazine; http://magazines.bauermediaadvertising.com/magazines/detail/Q)

Magazine 1) – Publisher Research

According to the data above, the majority of the Q readers (67.2%) are males with the other 32.8% being females. This shows that the magazine is perhaps slightly targeted to the male gender rather then the female gender. Q magazine is mainly popular with years 15-24 with the information being sophisticated enough for young adults. The way the magazine is layout indicates that the target audience of the magazine is the middle class (bourgeoisie) or upper class

Magazine 2) – Publisher ResearchKerrang! is another popular music magazine which is also well established. It has over 30 years of heritage and reaches more young readers than any other music magazine. Having a younger target audience is a big The magazine also offers information on games, film and mobile technology which means there are appealing to a bigger market. Kerrang! readers are the most music consumers purchasing over 6 albums per month on average and are 8 times more likely to spend over £200 a year on albums. This indicates the level of influence Kerrang! has on readers

(Bauer Media publisher of Kerrang! magazine;http://magazines.bauermediaadvertising.com/magazines/detail/kerrang)

Magazine 2) – Publisher Research

According to the data presented, like Q magazine, the majority of readers are male (57.4%) with the remaining 42.6 being female. This indicates that the magazine is perhaps targeted targeted to the male gender, like Q magazine. Kerrang! is clearly a big hit with young adults, with 63.2% of readers being aged 15-24. This reinforces the point I made earlier, that Kerrang! is a big hit with young adults and people of the ages between 15-24. Yet again, this magazine is also aimed at the middle class (bourgeoisie).

Conventions of a Music MagazineMasthead

Main image – (Star Appeal - Richard Dyer)

Main Headline

Barcode/Price/Date/Issue

Cover Lines –(Star Appeal - Richard Dyer)

Stars (Star Appeal - Richard Dyer)

Target Audience

The target audience for Vibe magazine can be denoted as young, modern consumers who have a love for Hip-Hop/Rap. Consumers of the media text are known as ‘Social Climbers’ (Maslow) due to them seeing the main image (Lil Wayne (Star Appeal – Richard Dyer)) and choosing to ‘Inform and Educate’ (Maslow) themselves by consuming the magazine. As always, readers can build a ‘Personal Relationship’ (Katz) with the star pictured at the front of the magazine due to their story being told and similarities being identified between reader themselves and the celebrity.

What is the USP of this magazine?

Through research, I am able to come to the conclusion that the USP of this magazine is the ‘Star Appeal’ (Richard Dyer) it offers. Stars such as Drake, Eminem and 50 Cent are used effectively so that consumers will be tempted into purchasing the magazine. These stars, inarticulately Eminem carry a huge fan base with them, which suggests that fans will be willing to purchase an issue of Vibe magazine even if they don’t usually purchase it. This is because there favorite star is featured in it and followers are generally interested in information regarding stars they idolize.

Ideas For The Name of my Magazine

Note – Name clearly signifies the magazine is music related

Crochet – The connotations of this verbal code is that the magazine is straight forward and to the point. It offers information that is easy to understand and can be easily absorbed by the reader

Sound – The connotations of this verbal code is that it is solely music based. Sound can vary from loud to quiet, and like this magazine, it offers information from a wide range.

Loud – The connotations of this verbal code is that the content of the magazine is full and packed

Muted – Name clearly signifies the magazine is music related.

Ideas for Magazine Cover Image

‘Star Appeal’ – Richard Dyer

Masthead Competition

Main Image

Cover Lines

Main Title

Strapline

Barcode/Date/Price/Issue

Front Cover AnalysisMasthead – This essentially the brands image and dictates to consumers what production company the magazine is from

Main Image – Image of Dave Grohl (Star Appeal – Richard Dyer) attracts customers to purchase the product. A fire effect connotes that the music that the Foo Fighters produce isn’t ‘peaceful’ but ‘furious’ instead

Strapline – Not very effective on this magazine because it is covered but because it is a well published magazine, they can afford to cover it

Cover Lines – Interesting cover lines that uses celebrities (Star Appeal – Richard Dyer) to attract consumers and allows the audience to make comparisons and relate to stories (Personal Relationship – Katz) which can also allow them to form sympathy (Caregivers – Maslow) or gratitude towards the celebrity

Competition – “Unheard Foos Album” – Has the potential to attract a high number of customers who are fans of the Foo Fighters because it is an ‘exclusive’ win

Ideas for Contents Page

Contents

Review

Preview of Front Cover

Images (Preview)

Offer

LogoPage Number

Sub-Heading

Relevant Page Numbe

r

Heading

Page Preview

Contents Page AnalysisFront Cover – Another glimpse of the front cover

Logo – The Q Logo. This is constantly used throughout so that the reader can always have the brand image in their head

Contents – A list of the stories that will most likely gain the readers interest. The most exclusive stories

Review – Feedback from the writer in his/her opinion. Due to Q magazine being so popular, reviews have the ability to make and break somebody.

Images (Preview) – This enables the magazine to have a few images so that it isn’t just words. The images give the reader a preview what the content of the magazine is about

Offer – “Subscribe and get 37% off each issue”. If they have a large amount of subscribers, they’ll have a big fan base so trying to persuade people into subscribing is a good way of gaining more popularity

Ideas for Interview PageQuote Titl

e

Story/Interview

Image - (Star Appeal – Richard Dyer)

Introduction

Logo

Interview Page Analysis

Image – Picture of celebrity (Star Appeal – Richard Dyer)

Title – The title of the story. Gives a small insight to the reader about what the story is about

Introduction – A small paragraph introducing the main story/interview of the magazine

Quote – A quote taken from the story/interview. The most memorable words that the interviewee has said.

Logo – The magazines logo, which is included to show constancy throughout the magazine

Story – An exclusive interview that was taken out my the writer of the article. The interview is specific to the needs and wants of the reader, and has a relevance to the whole magazine