Double Page Spread

Contents Page

Front Cover

Publishing my magazine

I will publish my magazine with IPC media.
IPC media is a leading UK consumer magazine publishing company. Statistics show that about 2 in 3 uk women and over 45% of men read a magazine published by IPC media.
Magazines published my IPC media are magazines that seemed popular to my target group from research that i have done and from my questionnaires and focus group. These magazines include; Look, NME and Marie-Claire.

Research Summary

I have found that by doing lots of research for a music magazine, it has helped into designing my own music magazine that will be appealing to my target age group of females of age 14-17.

I began by analysing front covers and double page spreads of existing music magazines so that i could see what conventions they used to make the magazine appealing. Many magazine follow typical conventions on the front cover of the magazine and this attracts more people as they feel 'safe' with the layout.

Many magazines use a typical colour scheme and fonts for each issue so that the cover is recognisable to the particular magazine and so that the audience can recognise it. A typical convention followed is having the masthead in the centre and top of the front cover.

I made a questionnaire for typical teenagers of my target age group and form these made ideas for my magazine. As well as this, i made a focus group of 3 people between the ages of 14-17 and asked them more in depth questions about my magazine to gain a better insight into what teenagers of this age group would want from a pop music magazine.

From my research, i found out that many existing music magazines such as NME and Top of the Pops magazine also have features on television programmes and films and therefore, i would challenge this convention by producing a magazine that is just based on music.

Inconclusion, my research has helped me to find out what i would need on my magazine and what features to include so that it will appeal to my target audience.

Focus Group Feedback

I asked my questionnaire to all of my focus group and i accumulated the results in order to gain my a better insight into what would attract my target audience towards my magazine.

The majority of the focus group said that they would not mind whether it was a male or female artist on the front cover.

Ellen said; ''I would not mind if the person on the cover was male or female. Bands would be good on the front, such as McFly or a girl band such as The Saturdays.''

Cassie said; ''The magazine would appeal to be more if there was somebody on the cover that i liked and was a fan of; bands such as The Script or McFly. But i would not mind if it was a male or female artist, as long as the cover was appealing and looked as though it was aimed at my age group.''

The majority of my focus group would prefer a colour scheme of a light colour and a dark colour such as light blue and dark blue or green.

Hannah: ''i think a blend of light and dark colours would be appealing . Colours such as blue, green and pink would make a nice contrast on the cover and on the pages of the magazine.

Existing magazine layouts that appeal to my focus group are covers from magazines such as NME and Sugar/Bliss magazine. Therefore, i will use this particular feedback to design my cover so that is following the typical conventions of these layouts.

I would design my music magazine to be released monthly and it will include monthly competitions as from my focus group i learnt that competitions will attract them to the magazine. As well as this, each issue of the magazine will not just be about a certain artist/band; they would be about a variety of music artists.

My results were mixed for having a letter page in the magazine that would have interaction between the readers and the magazine; but i will include something similar so that they can send in readers photographs and photographs with celebrities.

In conclusion, i will use the information from my focus group to make my magazine appealing to my target audience.

Questions for Focus Group

I will ask my focus group a variety of questions in order to get the most information about what they would want, as well as other people of their age group, from a pop music magazine. The questions that i will ask will be more in depth than the questions that i asked in my original questionnaire, as from this questionnaire, i will want to gain a closer look into what my target age group would want to read and see on my magazine.

Questionnaire:

1. What name do you prefer for the magazine?

JukeBox One for the Radio ------ -----

2. For the front cover of the magazine, which would you prefer?

A Band Readers photographs Male Artist Female Artist

3. What colour scheme would you prefer for a magazine that is aimed at females?

Blue & Green Red and White Light Blue & dark Blue Yellow, Red & White

Other.......................................................

4. What existing magazine layouts appeal to you the most?

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

5. Do you like to read? Yes/No

6. Would you want particular issues of the magazine to be based around features of a certain artist/band, or would you prefer a variety of different pop artists/bands each issue?

_______________________________________________________________

7. How often would you want the magazine to be released?

Weekly/Fortnightly/Monthly

8. Would you want competitions to be included in the magazine? Yes/No

9. Would you like a section of the magazine that would be for your interaction with the magazine? eg. Letter page

Yes/No

Focus Group

Ellen Franks, 14, Southend-on-sea

Ellen is a 15 year old teenager who is currently studying her GCSE's at Shoeburyness High School. She is studying Art, Textiles, Dance and Geography. Ellen enjoys listening to music and tends to buy the latest music releases and music magazines. Ellen enjoys listening to all types of music, especially pop and r'n'b. She uses her computer to get some of the latest music tracks and tends to bluetooth them to her phone so that she can listen to her music wherever she is. Ellen regularly reads magazines such as Heat and Sugar. She tends to dress in the way that is 'stereotypical' of her music taste and hobbies; she shops in popular shops such as New Look, Miss Selfridge and H&M. Ellen also reads music magazines such as 'Top of the Pops' but this music magazine is also about television and from past conversation, she would like to read a magazine that was just about music aimed at teenagers.

Cassandra Morrison, 16, SouthWoodham Ferrers

Cassie is currently studying her A Levels at Southend High School for Girls. She is studying English Language, History, Government and Politics and Theatre Studies. Cassie loves listening to music, especially on her ipod. Cassie also plays music herself- she sings, plays the piano and clarinet.

Cassie regularly reads magazines such as Sugar, Bliss, heat and Ok. These magazines are not fully music based but do contain some musical features such as concert/event reviews, interviews and posters that can attract people to the magazine.

Hannah Wallan, 15, Southend-On-Sea

Hannah is a student currently attending year 10 of Southend High School for Girls. She is studying History, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Music. Hannah enjoys listening and playing music and regularly buys and reads music magazines. Hannah enjoys all types of music, especially music from musicals. However, as well as this, she is a big fan of latest pop releases and regularly buys and downloads the new releases from itunes for her ipod. Existing magazines that Hannah reads includes Sugar and Shout. Both of these magazines have some musical interest within them.

Audience Profile

Audience profile

I am going to produce a pop music magazine that is aimed at female teenagers of age 14-17. There is not currently an existing pop music magazine that is aimed at this age target audience. 'Top of the Pops' magazine is a pop music magazine aimed at young teenagers but also includes television news on programs that are popular with their target audience. therefore, to make my magazine different and unique i will use modern pop music as the main feature, and will not include features about television e.t.c.

Music Magazine Questionnaire Results