WHY I CHOSE THIS POP AND RNB MAGAZINE

For my media coursework, the genre I have chosen is pop/R&B because I felt that this genre I had more knowledge of. I think that its one of the hardest to do unlike rock or hip hop magazines but you get to be more creative when designing pop magazines.

Pop magazines are a few magazines that feature versatile artists from country music stars to also hip hop stars. This magazine I think that it would give me more of an edge than doing other genres of magazines because I will find it interesting to do with all the known superstars it features. Pop/R&B magazines can target a lower market like ages 14+ unlike hip hop or rock magazines that mainly target to an older audience.

Pop magazines have been around for a decade. They have become so known to the public as they are no like any other magazines. They give the public a different taste with their new issue every week.

TOP 10 POP MAGAZINES

Blender was an American magazine which named itself the most “ultimate guide to music and more”. Its best known for its best of and worst of lists. The magazine first began in 1994 but as a CD-ROM magazine but later on changed to a printed edition. The magazine is published by Dennis Publishing.

Vibe is a music and entertainment magazine. This magazine was founded by a man who is also the producer of the magazine, Quincy Jones. It was founded by Quincy Jones who is the producer of the magazine. The magazine devotes to music artists (hip hop n RNB), actors and other entertainers

Rolling stone is another American magazine which focuses in three main areas: music, politics and pop culture. Its first issue was in 1967 by Jann Wenner and from there it was history. Both publisher and editor of the magazine is Ralph J.Gleason.

Billboard magazine is an American magazine mainly for music fans. It’s mostly recognized for its billboard charts with the most popular songs and albums of the week. It’s mostly regarded as the most unbiased and most relevant magazine for information from the music industry. That’s why it’s considered as the ‘hole grails’ in the entertainment industry.

The masthead is Vibe and is placed at the top of the magazine. Its in a clear, big font which makes it stand out. The colour is very bright and

is very eye catching.

The model placed on the cover is a popular Pop/RNB singer. The red colour of his t-shirt connotes a sense of romance and passion that can be viewed through most of his songs like “take you down”. The chains connotes power,

fame and wealth.

Chris Browns head covers part of the title so that the readers can be drawn to the main artists. Also another reason for this is because the masthead

is already familiarised with the audience.

The background is of bricks or concrete. This can be associated to how much effort he puts into

his music for his fans.

Sell Lines don’t override the main model or his sell line as they are in a lower font size

Barcode is placed at the left hand side of the magazine

Medium Shot of the main model is used to get the full view of the model

For my genre of pop/R&B I have decided to create a profile for the person who is going to be featured on the cover. It’s going to be a female, Leanda Jones, who has just braced the music industry with her soulful voice. Born April 20, 1986, Leanda Jones attended Christ the King Covenant School in Paris. Whilst a teenager she started to do her own profession which is to write songs for open mic nights at clubs in the city. She also appeared in musicals and plays while in high school and from there she went to the Princes School of Arts to study and perform drama. In 2004, when she turned the age of 20 when she finished studying and graduated with a degree of pharmacy she knew that this was not the career path she wanted to follow. So in 2007, she went back to Calibre records and she was signed by Timmy Clarkson who is the producer of Calibre Records and from there it was history. Leanda Jones loves to have a good time with friends. She is a very bubbly, confident person but little bit shy when she meets new people. Her fashion sense wise is more of a classy trendy look but also edgy and sexy at the same time.

In what ways does your media production use, develop or challenge forms of conventions of real media products?

Most music magazines usually feature the main masthead on top of the magazine, the main artist on top of the cover with an inside exclusive interview about their music, lifestyle and the recent gossip buzzing around, a quote from the main artist themselves in bold on the cover, the inside feature always includes pictures of the artist with their interview, a contents page is featured to show what is going to be inside the magazine; same colour scheme consistent throughout the magazine and underlying gossip, upcoming albums, recent tracks and stories from other artists and competitions for interested readers.

For the magazine I created, uses these conventions: magazines masthead, an image of the artist featured in the cover, an exclusive interview, a quote from the artists themselves on the cover and a contents page to present to the audience what will be featured in the magazine. This proves that the magazine I created does use the form and conventions similar to a real media production (music magazine).

The blender magazine looks very natural and is more appealing to the audience than the PRESS magazine. Although both magazines represent women differently, they still give that sexy appealing look. The blender magazine has got that kind of hip edge buts its not too wordy drawing the readers which can put the readers off. This contradicts the PRESS magazine. Although PRESS magazine still looks less worded, but it has much more writing than the blender magazine; this can be viewed as and advantage and a disadvantage. The advantage is that the writing won’t appear too cramped up and might be destructive for the audience and there would be less concentration on the main kicker of this magazine; however having less writing on the cover means that the reader won’t be able to know what’s inside the magazine leading to disappointment.

The quote from Naomi Hearts on the cover of the magazine “music is what sound feels like” shows how far this singer has come to reach this kind of standard. She is giving her fans and readers a general view of how she feels when she is recording or listening to heir music. Her main aim is relating to peoples feelings and touching their hearts. If she has achieved that aim then that’s the main answer for her to continue going forward with what she does the best; writing music. I used this quote because many artists try to relate to other peoples feelings and that’s what I wanted Naomi Hearts to feel when she is relating to her own fans. Many artists just want to be real to their audiences and write their songs according to their own experiences; however with Naomi hearts she is writing music according to her audience so I think this is developing and challenging music conventions because not only does the quote relate to the audiences but it also touches the audience’s hearts.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

For my media product, music magazine is mainly aimed for women and that’s why I only featured a woman on the front of the cover. The woman posed on the front of the cover accentuates attitude but also sexiness. This dominates the dominant ideology that most artists featured on magazine covers look appealing, formal but sexy at the same time. This is what I was trying to accomplish with the pose and the movement of the body.

The female model featured on the cover is fully dressed; however sexuality and attitude emerges through the shot composition, the pose and the mise en scene. The shot is a mid shot which reveals most of her body accentuating her curves from her waist to her hips.

For the contents page, I used a different model to represent all females however her shot composition is nearly the same as the first model. The model is dressed in a see through top revealing some of her abs; adding to the fact that women in the music industry want to be sexy and confident to a certain limit so not put the readers off. The pose of the model is that of her leaning towards the side with one arm up on her head giving the audience different taste of sexiness that emerged on the front cover. A long shot of the model was used but the model still looked formal and confident at the same time.

For my inside exclusive interview of the artist, emergent ideology is viewable on both the front cover and the double page interview. Shot composition of a close up was used for the model to provoke her innocence and pureness she has within. This contrasts to the shot composition on the front cover as a mid shot was used emphasising confidence and attitude. However, for the double spread, it reveals how two shots can reveal two different personalities of the model.

BLACK

PINK

WHITE

GREY

The font used for the magazine is century gothic. It looks very formal and simple which can attract a wider audience. The colour scheme used is grey, pink, black and white which reflect most of my target audience; females aged 16-25. Pink might be found as stereotypical as it targets females mostly than males so this represents a particular social group.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

For my music magazine my main target audience was for ages 16-25. this is because I felt that the connotations used within the magazine would appeal more to this age range than for other ages. The vibrant colours used are intentionally used to mainly stereotype this type of target audience.

I believe that the connotations used within my magazine attracts a fun lively audience with the colours and pictures used for the magazine. Connotation of the colour pink presents a feeling of feminist but also a sparkling energetic vibe that will attract a lot of people. However combining black with pink kind of brings down the connotation of feminist and relates to males. This in return creates a centre of attention to a wider audience for my magazine.

The language used in my magazine especially in the interview is formal but at the same has an amusing side to it. This shows that the artist puts a lot of effort in what she does also she enjoys her profession like performing in tours or award shows.

In addition my magazine is a low cost budget so its not too expensive to put the readers off.

Formal Language used

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Technologies from the process of constructing this product were:

•Photoshop

•In design

•Microsoft PowerPoint

•Digital camera

•Internet Explorer

I have learnt a great deal about these technologies and they have helped me a lot during the process of my music magazine. I have also included part of this question in my blog where part of this answer is available.

I used the digital camera to take the finest pictures for my music magazine. It was really useful because it wasn’t like a traditional camera where the pictures turned up blurry and also the digital camera had a lot of options like the settings. The digital camera also conserves large amount of space which enabled me to take many pictures as I like and at the end I would be able to chose what kind of pictures stand out. This was useful because I was able to see how the pictures look on a wider screen and then I can alter the settings like camera angles or lightning and take more pictures.

Digital Camera

Pictures Taken For the Cover

I used a mid shot for all the photos of my front cover because I felt that the mid shot can accentuate the beauty of the model from her face down to her knees or legs. I most of the photos I wanted the model to show attitude but at the same time sexy.

Pictures Taken For The Feature Page

I tried to use different types of shots. In the feature page I used a close up to show the comparison from the front cover to the inside cover. The close up is used to connote natural beauty of pure innocence within the model

I used Adobe Photoshop to edit and manipulate my pictures so that they can look real and professional. If my pictures were left original like before they wouldn’t look as professional for a global music magazine.

Adobe Photoshop

I used In design to make the actual look of the magazine. Most of my magazine was made by this technology because it includes all the appropriate tools.

IN DESIGN

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word enabled me to prepare my interview of Angie Stone as I had to redraft it before I placed onto the actual magazine in In design.

I also used this to draft my blog posts so that they made sense before I put them to the blog poster.

Microsoft PowerPoint was really useful because it was used for my evaluation and my planning. I used this tool because its easier and its more interactive than using Microsoft Word. Its more enjoyable and engaging using Microsoft PowerPoint because on each slides, there isn’t a lot of information.

Microsoft PowerPoint

Looking back at your preliminary task, from the progression to the completed product, what have you learnt?

The angle of Naomi’s face is tilted on the side, only showing part of her body. The face insinuates confidence within her.

This displays the date of the issue. My magazine will be issued every beginning of the month.

Black was used for the background to reveal how dark and cold it is for the singer

I used the red as well as a background because red is for heat.

This is the price of my magazine. I didn’t want it to be too high or too low to make it look cheap. That’s why I chose a price of £3.50I placed the barcode at the left

hand side of the magazine so that it can be visible

The dress code by the singer shows the sophistication and class. She looks formal.

This was going to be one of the inside covers for the magazine. I used a different font because it was one of the biggest gossips looming around. So people who are interested in Rihanna will be eager to find out what has happened since her last incident.

This is the name of the magazine. I came up with this idea because it sounds like paparazzi. This contemplates with the name because the press is all bout taking photographs of celebrities

Improvements from the previous magazine cover

EVALUATION OF THE ACTUAL MAGAZINE

Masthead: The masthead is the title of the magazine “PRESS”. The title has been placed on the right hand side of the magazine because that’s the main area where titles are placed and it would be unrealistic if my title was placed on the left hand side of the magazine. The title is in capitals which make it stand out even more with the fill of white font. It emerges from the grey background and doesn’t take over the image.

Selling line: The selling line is beneath the singers name and it states “THE UKS BIGGEST POP AND RNB MAGAZINE”. The text is in all capitals which makes it become manifest from the rest of the writing on the cover. It’s in white which is very similar to the font used for the masthead. The reason for this is because the white is a very innocent colour and as with any colours, white goes well with anything. The text is in bold and in a very sophisticated font “century gothic” which exemplifies confidence and convincing to the readers. Having such a statement on the cover would definitely catch anyone’s attention.

Main image: The main image is of an R&B/pop singer named “Angie Stone”. The hair slicked into a ponytail shows sophisticated ness and the attitude and confidence needed to be in this kind of industry. The singer is dressed in a formal outfit of a pink shirt and a short tight dress which epitomizes her shape and the curves. The formal dressing correspond to her hair that is tied back to reveal her beautiful features of her face. The image is a mid – shot; this allows the singer to be perceptible and clear in the shot and is close enough to reveal detail in the image. The lighting of the image is bright on her face down to her right hand.

Colour scheme: The colour scheme of the magazine is grey, white, black and pink. The singer is dressed in a flesh pink that is not too bright (can be very destructive to the readers) or too dark. I think that this type of pink (flesh) is very sophisticated when combined with black, Gray and white. The colour grey is the main background colour and it gives the magazine its mixture of feminine and masculine side. In addition, having grey as the main colour gives the magazine that cool, traditionalist look that rarely evokes strong emotions. However, other people’s perceptions might be that it seems like a cloudy or moody colour. All the main text is in black and white, keeping to the colour scheme and complimenting the masthead being white and pink.

Kicker: As this is a music magazine, all the kickers featured on the front cover are of brand names. This will attract a wider audience as they are all informed of who is going to be featured in the magazine. All the popular and famous R&B/POP singers that are going to be inside the magazine will cause a controversial between the audiences as they would want to find out more of the recent competition and who is at number one at the moment. The reason for this is because in every music magazine competition between singers is getting rather high and that’s what draws magazine readers to the magazine. The main kicker is situated on the right hand side of the magazine at the top in large font making it stand out from the rest of the text. The kicker is the singers name and this is imperative as they are the main concern and feature of this magazine and so they have been highlighted in capitals and bold.

Explanatory: The explanatory text consists of quotes from interviews and the catchy phrases featured on the magazine. Having the use of quotes will instantly let the reader know that the magazine will include interviews from the singer and also it will give the reader that connection to the singer immediately before even reading the magazine. The quote on the magazine “MUSIC IS WHAT FEELINGS SOUND LIKE” enables the reader to become engaged and involved of what the singer feels when writing or performing her music. It also gives the reader that personal and exclusive touch to the singer so that the singer is not left alone as she is going through this journey with all her readers beside her. Font: There is only one font used on this magazine and that is “century gothic”. This font was used because it’s a formal font than any other font.

EVALUATION OF TWO SIMILAR MAGAZINES

The blender magazine looks very natural and is more appealing to the audience than the PRESS magazine. Although both magazines represent women differently,

they still give that sexy appealing look.

The blender magazine has got that kind of hip edge buts its not too wordy drawing the readers which can put the readers off. This contradicts the PRESS magazine. Although PRESS magazine still looks less worded, but it has much more writing

than the blender magazine; this can be viewed as and advantage and a disadvantage. The advantage is that the writing won’t appear too cramped up and might be destructive for the audience and there would be less concentration on the main kicker of this magazine; however having less writing on the cover means that

the reader won’t be able to know what’s inside the magazine leading to disappointment.

I asked a questionnaire to ages 16-25 people. I made a small questionnaire which wouldn't be time consuming for the audience. This questionnaire was mainly targeting women however I also interviewed men for their response so that it may not turn out to be biased.

I found out that my type of genre is very popular with a lot of people.

I have realised that many readers aren't interested in buying albums which means they would be more interested in winning free stuff like concerts

This price range matches the readers views. That’s because they prefer expensive magazines than cheap magazines

However, the price range really surprised me because I thought that the majority of people would want to buy a cheap magazine however they all preferred an expensive magazine.

Comparison of front Covers For The Music Magazine And School Magazine

Comparison of the Contents For The Music Magazine And School Magazine

Looking at both magazines, progression can be made straight away from the layout to the fonts and to the colours used.

My skills have developed from my school magazine to my music magazine. I developed my school magazine in desktop publisher because I had little knowledge on the advanced technologies like Photoshop or in design. Straightaway, the editing of both images differs in numerous ways. The school magazine clearly looks like it was just placed on the cover without no editing involved. However in my music magazine, the image looks professional like it would be found on a normal music magazine.

The layout for my school magazine is inconsistent and doesn’t appeal to the audience that well because it might be found very distracting. For my music magazine the layout is very consistent and looks appealing and engaging to the readers

The colours used on the music magazine are pink, grey, black and white. These colours give a feeling of fun and enjoyment whereas the colour brown used on the school magazine has a dull appearance to it.

This shows that I have improved a lot from my school magazine to my music magazine.

FLAT PLAN FOR MUSIC MAGAZINE

FLAT PLAN FOR SCHOOL MAGAZINE

Evaluation Of The School Magazine

BLOG FOR PRESS MAGAZINE

I used blogger on the internet because I wanted to use different means of technology and show the use of ICT. This is a progress Blog of what I have been doing for the past 4 months on my music magazine

http://www.blogger.com/profile/01719988279697228775

Reviews Of The Music Magazine