Music Magazine Evaluation

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By Carlene St Matthew Daniel

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Transcript of Music Magazine Evaluation

Page 1: Music Magazine Evaluation

By Carlene St Matthew Daniel

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I researched the following magazines Vibe, RWD and Hip Hop Connections to see the forms and conventions that are used on their magazines. This helped me to understand the conventions that they used. While looking at these magazines I thought about how certain conventions could be used on my media product. I thought that this would help my front cover of the magazine look more professional.

I used various forms and conventions on the front cover of the magazine as I have used a barcode. This is located at the bottom left hand side of the front cover, the music magazines that I have looked at usually place their barcode in that position I thought this would make my magazine look more professional as I have thought about where things should be laid out. I have also added the following to my music magazine the date, issue, cover price, masthead, cover lines and a cover image. The date, issue and cover price have been printed on the front cover twice, once underneath the masthead which is located at the top of the magazine and the other one by the barcode. I have positioned the established artists on the left hand side of the front cover and the upcoming artists on the right hand side as these won’t draw in the audience attention as much as established artists.

My music magazine was created for a the Grime and R&B genre. While looking at other music magazines, Vibe magazine in particular, I realised that they mostly use close up or medium shots. I decided that I would use a medium close up shot for the image on the front cover as this is a standard size for a music magazine. The image I have used on the front cover of this magazine links to this genre through costumes as the artist on the front used

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cover is wearing a plain black vest top. The cover stories are located around the cover picture some of the text overlays the image this conventionally creates a professional looking front cover. I have used the colours black, white and blue on the cover of this magazine and also on the contents page, I used these colours because most magazines used the colours red, white and black, I wanted to step away a little bit from the norm of a music magazine. I also used the colour blue because the colour red is associated with danger whereas blue is peaceful . I thought using blue would stand out on a shelf as most of the other magazines would use the colour red, so therefore people would be attracted to my magazine firstly because of the colour. I decided to use blue and black for the masthead, I also used these colours for the sub headings on the front cover but as I didn't think that they stood out as much by themselves I decided to add a glow to the text so the colour contrasts off each other. I thought about how I was going to make the cover artists name stand out so I decided to make this the only text on the front cover white. The font I used for the masthead was Amsterdam Graffiti then I used Old Sans Black for the subheadings. I carried these fonts through the magazine but I also used Century Gothic for the body text.

For my contents page I looked at various amounts of different layouts. I finally settled on following the style of RWDs contents page as it was simple and easy to understand as it had two sections regulars and features. Their layout seemed simple and looked refreshing instead of busy like other magazines I looked at, it also allowed me to add images to the contents page without looking weird. I also added the masthead and date on the contents page. Adding the masthead on the contents page challenges the forms and conventions of a real magazine as this wouldn’t usually be seen on this particular page. Therefore this would be the first thing that my audience would see when they open the and it wouldn’t stick out.

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magazine to this page. For my double page spread I decided to use red, black and white as I thought the colours

of the double page spread shouldn’t be the same as the front cover and contents page. This may look a out of place but if I was making a full magazine this would blend in with the other articles and interviews therefore it wouldn’t stick out. The double page spread follows the forms and conventions of a real magazine as I have set the page so that it is in three columns, I have also added page numbers to the bottom of both pages so the consumer can clearly go to this page or establish what page they are on. I also added the website of the magazine by the page number at the bottom of each page.

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The media product ‘Wavey’ represents particular social groups as I’m appealing to youths. Firstly, the masthead of the magazine ‘Wavey’ appeals to youths as this is the new terminology that is used amongst youths today. The language that I have used throughout the magazine has been informal but standard English, I haven’t used much slang in the magazine. I have targeted my music magazine predominately at 15 – 23 year olds but it can also be consumed by anyone with an interest in Grime and R&B .

The image I used on the front cover is of an upcoming artist as he wouldn't be very well known he obviously isn't an iconic character. The colours I have used (blue, black and white) make the magazine seem to be a bit more relaxed and calm. To help me target my social groups I looked at RWD and Vibe as these magazines have roughly the same target audience as my music magazine. I decided to follow the forms and conventions of these magazines as this helped me to make my media product represent my social group.

On the contents page I thought that I should use mostly female artists as I used a male on the front cover. I thought about how the images should look very carefully as I wanted the magazine to still have that professional look. The layout of the contents page was very important as I wanted it to reflect the social group I was targeting. I thought

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thought about different ways of laying out the contents page, but the way I have it now seemed to be the best suit my magazine.

On the double page spread I decided to change the colour, so that it is different from the front cover and contents page. I did this as this would look professional if I had produced the full magazine. In my double page spread I used informal language throughout the interview as this relates to my audience because if I had used formal language this wouldn’t represent the particular social groups I am trying to attract. The images on these pages make my music magazine ‘Wavey’ look professional Therefore my double page spread represents my particular social group by the way itis laid out and the context it is written.

http://www.slideshare.net/guest9220aeb/question-two

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Choosing the right media institution was very important as the institution would have to think about factors like how much is the product going to cost to print and is their really a audience out their that would want this product. To help distribute my media product I thought about the following two kinds of media institutions Harris Publications and Bauer.

Firstly, Harris Publications; in 1983, Harris gained the assets of out of Warren Publishing. In the early 1900s they briefly revived in comic-book form, these were the companies well known horror magazines Creepy and Vamiprella. Harris Publications is a consumer magazine which is located in New York. This publishes over 75 titles including: XXL, Juicy, Start your own business, Men’s Workout, Celebrity Hairstyles and many more. Harris Publications may be interested in distributing my magazine as my magazine is about Grime and R&B. This is different from the other magazine that they produce so there would be much competition with their existing magazines.

Secondly, Bauer Media, this institution may consider distributing my magazine as they haven’t got any magazines with this genre of music. The music magazine that they produce are rock magazine like Q and Kerrang. Potentially, my music magazine wouldn’t have a direct magazine to compete with as it would be the only magazine that is mostly about Grime and R&B.

Having Bauer Media distributing ‘Wavey’ my music magazine will be very beneficial because of the cross media ownership. As Bauer Media is able to advertise my product on various types of media this will reach a wider audience, therefore this should create a solid fan base.

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The audience for my music magazine would predominately be 15 – 23 year olds, with 60% being male and 40% being female. The cover price of the magazine would be £2.49 and this would be distributed monthly. The magazine would be based in the UK. As most of my audience would be students the social class of my magazine would be C2 and below. The audience would mostly be black but anyone who has an interest in Grime and R&B would also be part of my audience. My target audience would shop in shops like JD Sports, Foot Locker, Nike, New Look, H&M, they may also wear Gucci, Ralph Lauren, etc. This magazine would be suitable for my target audience as the magazine would have a variety of different articles meaning that their would be something that teenagers would like and also the young adults.

My media product also targets people who want to get into the music business as it features an upcoming artist on the front cover. This also makes people think that they could one day be on the front of my magazine as it is an upcoming artist.

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My magazine attracts and addresses my audience as it features a young upcoming artist on the front cover. The front cover draws my audience in as the artist is looking directly at you. I have thought about different magazines that have the same target audience as my music magazine. I used other music magazines such as RWD to help me think of ways to address my audience. The masthead addresses my audience as it relates to the terminology that youths use today. When my audience sees the masthead it will draws them in instantly as they would want to no what it is all about. The image on the front cover also attracts my audience attention especially upcoming artists as they would want to know what he (Yardish) is all about.

The contents page attracts and addresses my audience as I have made a balance between professional and youthful. the contents page is straightforward so it gives off a more relaxed feel as it doesn't look busy and crammed with lots of unnecessary information.

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I was able to use a variety of technologies while producing ‘Wavey’, my music magazine. I used software such as Adobe Photoshop CS4, Adobe InDesign CS4, Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Word. I also used various types of hardware to produce the my music magazine. I used a digital camera to take the pictures that I used in my magazine. On some of the images I had problems as the quality of the picture decreased I worked aroud this by incrThen used a Hp computer so that I was able to create my media product. I used the software available to edit my pictures so that they looked more professional, therefore making the overall magazine look professional. I added different textures and glows to the images, I made sure that the pictures didn't make the person look too PhotoShoped as I didn't want them to look fake.

I also used Blogger to show the production element, presentational research and planning of my work. This helped to show the stages I went though during my work. At the beginning of the product I didn’t upload much information onto my blog. I later added the essential stuff to my blog and write the dates that I roughly had done the work. This helped me to develop skills and experience in using blogs.

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how to really use Photoshop well. I have learnt from the preliminary task to be able to produce better pictures. I have learnt that where you place your image is very important. The images that I have used in my main task have improved as I have really thought about how the image should be displayed, the clothing they should wear and there body language. Whereas in the preliminary task I didn’t think about these factors I just took a photo of a fellow student and placed it on the front cover.

From the preliminary task I have also thought about the Preliminary Task Main Task

I learnt a lot from the preliminary task to the main task as I was able to develop my skills, I feel that I have improved tremendously. The language I have used has changed slightly as I have used a bit of slang in the main task (music magazine) whereas in the preliminary task (college magazine) the language that I would of used would of been just informal but standard English. I had more of an understanding of my audience in my main task as I researched the audience more. I have developed my skills in areas such as Photoshop as I am now able to add different effects to my images whereas before I didn’t know howdid’t

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about the body language of the person featured on the front cover.From the contents pages you can see that from the preliminary task to the main task I

have I improved on my skills. The main tasks contents page layout looks more planned out than the preliminary tasks contents page.

Preliminary Task Main Task