Evaluation

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

My media music magazine uses and develops conventional ideas already currently used within media products; other popular music magazines such as NME, Sugar and Bliss. I also used the conventional ideas of having the title as the masthead at the central top part of the front cover and also including the barcode and price on the cover. As well as this, I have used one main photo of a music group on the cover with smaller pictures to represent the features. This is therefore conventional to that of other existing music and general magazines.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My music magazine represents its target audience of female teenagers who enjoy pop music. Pop music is a genre of music that is usually associated amongst teenagers and has a mainstream style which i will represent in my magazine by bright and bold colours and images.The features will also be relatable to this age group. As well as this, the content and interview will also relate and represent the social group of female teenagers who enjoy pop music as they can relate to the interview of the young female music band.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

IPC would publish my music magazine as 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. Other popular magazines such as NME and Look are published by IPC media and therefore, my magazine would be published alongside magazines of the same genre as well as their audience gender of females.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my product would be female teenagers of age 14-17 that enjoy pop music; my magazine is catered to this age audience by its features, colours, photos and type of language. Pop music is usually aimed at a teenage audience because it is the age group that this genre of music is specifically popular amongst; Pop music is music with a noticeable rhythmic element and catchy melodies, alongside a conventional structure and mainstream style.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I have used colours and photographs that appear aesthetically pleasing and inviting on my cover to attract the female target audience. As well as this, i have included features that will attract and address my target audience and in addition to this, i have 'advertised' some of the features on the cover so that this will appeal to my target audience.

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

From the process of constructing my magazine i advanced my skills and knowledge with technologies such as photoshop and digital cameras. made my magazine in photoshop and when making my magazine i did not come across any particular problems with photoshop. I used a digital camera to take my photos and the problem that i came across when doing my photos was the lighting of the images. In addition to this, i also came across some problems with 'sunspots' within my photographs meaning i needed to retake some to make the brightness and colouring better.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

When looking back at my preliminary task and comparing it with my music magazine i can see that i have made progress in making a magazine appealing to my audience as my preliminary task looked formal whereas my music magazine appears less conforming and more laid back; therefore more appealing to my female target audience of age 14-17. In conclusion, i am overall pleased with my music magazine and feel that the pictures, text, colour and features will be appealing to my target audience. I used the information from my focus group and questionnaires to know what features and competitions to include to also make it appealing.I feel that i have worked well within this project and have produced a magazine that would gain and retain an audience of females age 14-17 interested in pop music magazine.

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

Music Magazine Questionnaire

Questionnaire


Name:……………………………….. Age:………

1. Do you read magazines? Circle 1 answer Yes No

2. What type of music do you like to listen to? Circle answers
Pop Rock R’n’B HipHop Acoustic Rap Classical
Other……………………….

3. Would you read a magazine just based on your favourite type of music? Circle 1 answer
Yes No

4. What magazines do you currently read?
…………………………………………………………………………….

5. How often do you buy magazines? Circle 1 answer
Weekly Fortnightly Monthly Annually Other………………….

6. Would you read an online version? Circle 1 answer
Yes No

7. Is a free gift important to you? Circle 1 answer
Yes No

8. What would you prefer on the cover of the magazine? Circle 1 answer
A band/artist Magazines logo Readers photos Photo of a music event

9. How much would you pay for a music magazine? Circle 1 answer
50p-£1.00 £1.01-£2.00 £2.01-£2.99 £3.00+

10. What would attract you to buying a particular music magazine?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Reader Profile

Mood Board

Mood Board for Music Magazine

For my music magazine i will design and create a magazine for teenagers that is just about music, not also about television like pop music magazines such as 'Top of the Pops'.

On my mood board i have included pictures of some popular pop music artists that are well known amongst my target audience, this include; McFly, Jonas Brothers and Girls Aloud.

As well as this, i have included electric guitars that add a modern dimension of music to the magazine. Therefore, the photos on my mood board represent the type of music that will be featured within my magazine and the style of a magazine: a pop magazine for female teenagers.

A Case Study of a magazine

A Case Study of 'Top of the Pops' magazine

Background and Ownership

Top of the Pops magazine is a glossy magazine that is published monthly by the BBC Worldwide. It was launched in February 1995 whilst the popular TV show was launched. When it was first produced, it was described as a 'missing link between Smash Hits and NME magazine'. However, the TV show is in cancellation but the magazine is still being produced even though it has less music content inside it than it has when it was first launched. The magazine is part funded by the licence fee revenue and part f the profits are returned to the BBC for the benefit of the license fee payer. There are also free gifts and posters with every issue.

Content and approach to music

Top of the Pops is published monthly is appealing to female teenagers. The layout of the magazine resembles other magazines that are aimed at the same target audience such as 'Smash hits'. The magazine is an 'offshoot' of the once popular television show version of 'Top if the Pops'. The main musical emphasis is on chart pop music with well known and popular acts such as McFly, Girls Aloud and Rihanna. As well as this, the magazine also focuses on movies and television shows that are aimed at the same audience as read the magazine; for example, 'High School Musical'. These shows and music types appeal to the teenage demographic. The magazine tends to focus on discussing the private and love life of these celebrities. Therefore, the 'Top of the Pops' magazine has a bigger approach to the celebrities themselves and does not really mention how they are known; for music or television shows; unless on reviews and lyric pages. The emphasis is off the music stars as recording artists and tends to focus on them beyond this with their love lives; however, there are some features that do focus on bands and television stars on what their celebrity profession is. In this particular issue, there is an interview with the 'Jonas Brothers' but he questions are focused on their personal and love lives. The interview does not talk or focus on their careers in the music industry. The main feature that is shown on the cover of this issue is called 'The boy issue'; it writes about 'blush free advice', 'kiss confessions' and 'hot pics'. Therefore, this does not focus on the music and television careers of the popular stars shown; Joe Jonas and Zac Efron.

The main features advertised and expected within the magazine are beauty, fashion and celebrity boy based. As well as this there are real life stories that tend to be shown as sitting 'shallow mock scandals facing celebrities'.

Editorial Content: 'opinion leaders' and reader interaction

'Top of the Pops' magazine offers information on celebrity lifestyles as well as knowledge on the genre of popular chart music aimed at the target audience. By doing this, the magazine dictates the taste and needs of the target readers. Many artists are out as cover stars as they are popular amongst the age group and are also recognisable. This attracts more people to the magazine if they see someone they like or someone they recognise on the front cover.

Throughout TOTP magazine, there are opportunities for the reader to interact with the publication through letter pages that offer prizes for the 'star letter'. These letter pages give the reader a chance to write in about their favourite celebrities and send in photos of the reader with a celebrity they have met. This is different to the opportunities in magazines such as Kerrang! and NME that offer chances to give feedback and opinions on new music releases and events on pages such as 'feedback' and 'rant of the week'.

Promoting the industry and other products

Top of the Pops magazine uses cross-media with the BBC and radio 1. The radio show offers the pop acts shown in the magazine a similar demographic. The magazine also often tends to recommend BBC television shows such as 'Doctor Who'. They do this with features about the programme and interviews with the cast and sometimes give away free gifts that relate to this.

Competitions within the magazine also show cross media references of pries of HMV vouchers, mobile phones (videophone, Motorola) and Nintendo and PlayStation game players. Other big prizes include tickets to cinemas for free screenings and tickets to premieres of new release films. In this way, this also promote the films, for example 'pirates of the Caribbean' and 'Just my luck'. Just my luck, was a popular film and starred popular music acts, McFly, which made it easy to cross-promote media techniques within the magazine.

The use of free gifts with TOTP magazine allows the female teenagers to feel that they are getting as much as possible for their money; for many, their hard earned pocket money. A main 'freebie' with the magazine is free posters of popular celebrities as well as stationary sets and charm bracelets.

Advertisements are also included within TOTP magazine and many are based with an emphasis on female beauty and hygiene. As well as this, there are also adverts placed in the magazine for child line and the NSPCC, this reminds the audience and reader that the publication can show and provide a service beyond celebrity narrative and lifestyle stories.

Fanzines

The definition of a Fanzine is a non-professional publication that has been produced by 'amateurs'. The intended purpose of the publication is to share a common interest with other people such as popular culture phenomenon's. 

Media fanzines were originally written by science fiction fans. 

Music Magazine Research

Magazine Research

NME Magazine Cover

NME (New Musical Express) is a British magazine that is published weekly by IPC Media.

Every issue of NME magazine follows the same theme and layout style. Each issue also uses bold colour and thick and bold text.

This particular cover uses a basic yellow and red coloured theme. These are neutral colours and so therefore appeal to both males and females.

NME are most known for being closely associated with punk rock music.

The main photo of the cover is of a popular band; The Automatic. The photograph used is creative and adds a fun and appealing edge to the magazine cover.

The Red and yellow colours are used as a contrast to the black and dull colours of the band's clothes in the main photo. This makes the cover more eye-catching and appealing. The magazine uses appealing and interesting features to 'advertise' on the cover to give an insight into what the magazine contains in the particular issue. The features are outlined in red and are in large and bold lettering with a small image to make the cover more visual.

The magazine cover for NME follows some typical magazine conventions such as having the barcode, price and date on the cover. However, in many magazines it is a typical convention that the title and masthead of the magazine is central to the top of the page to make it eye-catching. However, NME Magazine puts the title in the top left corner and this challenges the typical conventions of a central masthead.

The text and language used on the cover is non-conforming and the sentences are shortened and abbreviated. This makes the text easy to understand and will therefore attract more people as it can be a light read for the audience.

Therefore, the cover of NME magazine is appealing to both males and females but from extra research, it can be believed that NME magazine is more popular amongst males.

Smash Hits Magazine Cover

Smash Hits magazine was a popular music magazine aimed at a young teenage audience of females. It mainly focused music but also has fashion and television aspects included.

The cover of this particular issue is mainly in pink which makes it appealing to the female audience. There are more pictures than text on the cover which also makes it more appealing to the younger audience as the pictures are more visual and colourful; therefore more appealing.

The language used on the cover is non conforming and this is also appealing. It uses laid back language such as ‘stars exposed’. As well as this convention of a magazine aimed at a younger audience, it also includes the date, price, barcode and the masthead/title on the cover.

The masthead is central to the top of the page which is also a typical convention of a magazine.

The layout of the cover is very simple and it uses photos of popular celebrities that are well known amongst the target age group. Different fonts also add a variety to the cover and make it appealing.

The cover gives indications to some of the features within the magazine so that the readers and target audience will have an idea of what to expect from the magazine and will also make them want to buy it if they know that there are features in the magazine that they are interested in.

'Top of the Pops' magazine Double page Spread

By analysing a double page spread in 'Top of the Pops' magazine it is clear to see that the magazine does not fully focus on music. The double page spread is an interview with the pop band; McFly. The questions asked in the magazine are not music based although the magazine is known as a music magazine due to it's name from the television show; 'Top of the Pops'.

Questions that asked and answered are more general and personal based rather than talking about the music. There is one main picture as the background of the page and the band are smiling which makes the page seem 'happy' and non conforming.

The interview uses non conforming language and uses a lot of colour to make it visual. The use of vocabulary such as 'Exclusive' and 'cute boy alert' is language that will attract and appeal to the readers of the magazines target age group. The layour of the interview is different to normal interviews and does not follow the typical conventions. At the end of the interview, it promotes new release singles by the band and their website and this is a typical convention of interviews with music bands and artists.

Evaluation

From carrying out all of my research and designing flat plans of a sixth form magazine, i have created a front cover and a contents page that would be suitable and appealing towards Sixth form students. I have used non-conforming language on both the cover and the contents page so that it is appealing towards the students. I have used photographs and colour for visual aspects of the magazine. When i was analysing existing school magazines i found out that the most popular school magazines were magazines that used many visual aspects. Therefore, i used this technique to make my magazine as appealing as possible to the students in sixth form.

When doing my research on existing school and sixth form magazines i came across problems in finding school magazine covers on the internet that i could analyse. When producing magazines on a school size it can work out expensive and time consuming and therefore many schools may not have a school magazine and this is what i came across when looking for school magazine covers to analyse. I came across more school magazine covers on the internet than i did Sixth form magazines and so therefore i decided to make a sixth form magazine that i could make and challenge typical conventions of a media magazine.

My magazine audience is students in years 12 and 13 at Southend High School for Girls. The sixth form at this school is a mixed sixth form with both males and females; however, the majority of the students are girls. To make sure that i was attracting my magazine as much as possible to my target audience i used a focus group. For my focus group i chose three students, 2 females and 1 male, that i could ask more in-depth and precise questions about magazines in general as well as my own media magazine.

My magazine will be produced in school, will be issued monthly, and will be free of charge as from my questionnaires, most people said they would have the magazine if it was free of charge. Therefore by having it as a free magazine i will be able to attract a wider audience who would not necessarily want to pay for the magazine.

My magazine challenges typical school magazines as well as using some existing conventions. The existing conventions that i used on my own magazines are having the schools name on the cover and the photograph and masthead as the main features on the cover. On my questionnaires i made a tick box question with four title names and i asked my focus group which title they liked the best; the result was 'Insight'. This title can connote 'Insight' into school as well as social aspects and students lives. After this research i also asked them questions about what magazines they read and what they would be interested in reading in the magazine.

After i had carried out all of the research with my focus group, i started to take photographs for my magazine. I began with taking my front cover photograph in medium close up. However, i came across some problems when doing this. My photos had sun spots on them and i also could not find a suitable pose and frame for the photo. I wanted a casual pose that would look non-conforming on the cover. The photograph that i used is casual as my model is smiling and as she is looking away, it appears as though she is on her way to do something; very much like everyone in school is. She also has her ipod headphones in and this adds a laid back approach to the front cover.

For my contents page i took a series of group photos as well as some singular photographs. However, some of my group photos still had sunspots on and so i retook some more photos without direct sunlight onto them. I used 3 posed pictures on my contents page and 1 unposed picture. I used males and females in my pictures so that the magazine is appealing to both genders. I took one photo on self timer to try out different techniques. Media magazines tend to use a posed photo on the front cover and so i challenged this convention by making my photo more casual, laid back and 'spur of the moment'.

My media product represents different social groups because i have used people from different religions and races, therefore showing that the school is ethnic.

When making my magazine, i came across new technologies such as different types of camera that i had never used before. I learnt new techniques for using these cameras and how i could use different lighting to make my photos of good quality. I used photoshop to create my magazine. However, when making my magazine cover in photoshop i came across some problems. one major problem was when i was producing my front cover in photoshop, i came across my magazine file becoming corrupt. Therefore, i had to re make my magazine cover, and this was more time consuming as the file that was corrupt was a completed front cover. From this i have learnt to always back up my files of work so that i never come across a major problem like this again when producing other work in the future.

Looking back at my preliminary task i feel that i have learnt a lot in the progression from my research and analysis to my final front cover and contents page. I have learnt what makes a school magazine appealing to the students so that they are attracted to it rather than it just being aimed at their parents. In addition to this i have also learnt how to use different types of cameras and how to use lighting differently within different pictures.

If i was to make the sixth form magazine again, i would probably ask more general questions to my target group and focus group so that i would gain a better insight into what they like and would want to read so that i would know even more features that i could include in the magazine.

Inconclusion, i am pleased with my final product and i feel that is does appeal to my target audience of students, both males and females, attending sixth form at Southend High School for Girls.

Contents Page

Front cover