Audience research (pre-production)

Before starting work on my music magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread, I conducted a survey to get an idea of the type of things my audience would find appealing in a music magazine.

1) Of the 20 people that answered my survey, 10 were male and 10 were female. I done this deliberately so as to ensure my survey was as fair as possible.

2) The vast majority of people that answered my survey were from my college hence there were no over 22’s. I asked this question to see if there were any correlations between people’s ages and their answers. I made sure I asked around randomly so as to not be biased as it is important for me to get an idea of my target audiences feelings and views, so I know what attracts them to music magazines.

3) The number of people that claimed they were generally not really interested in music magazines were the small minority of my sample. 8 people said that they were interested in music magazines, whilst another 8 said that they were sort of interested in music magazines.

4) I asked this question so I could get more of an idea of the type of music magazine I’d be making. These results were really interesting as I knew that the type of music magazine I’d be making would have to be of a genre or genres I am interested in. There were many genres people were interested in including Rap, Rhythm & Blues, Hip hop and Rock. Someone even made a comment stating that they were also interested in Dancehall (that being a genre of Jamaican popular music). Another person even added that they were interested in all the genres I listed! The main genres people selected would not be difficult to incorporate into one magazine.

5) The total percentage of this question does not total 100% as I made this question a multiple answer one so people could pick more than one thing. Generally, the topics and articles that proved most popular were celebrity interviews (which were the most popular), new music and new artist reviews. I will make sure I include all the features my sample audience have chosen especially the most popular ones.



6) Unsurprisingly, of the 20 people I asked only 6 would be willing to spend between £3 to £4 on a music magazine. The other 14 people would only pay between £2 to £3 on a music magazine. Therefore my music magazine will have to be really good so that I could make it up to £4 and my audience won’t mind.



7) The majority of my audience (12 people) would like to receive their music magazine monthly. 6 people would like to receive it weekly, and only 2 people would want to get it fortnightly. I think I will make my magazine a monthly one as this seems to be most popular.

8) I asked this question to discover how frequently people buy magazines to get an insight of the chances there are of mine getting bought. My results show that most people (12 out of 20) rarely buy music magazines, 6 people sometimes buy them whereby 2 people never even buy music magazines. The people that said rarely mean that once in a random while they pick up a music magazine and buy one in contrast to the people that said never. Asking this question has re-iterated to me that making a magazine very appealing is vital. 

9) I asked this question to see how loyal people were to music magazine brands. 30% of the people I asked stuck to the same magazine which is a bit of a disadvantage, as it means that they will probably not look at others magazines i.e. mine. However, fortunately 40% of my sample audience said that they bought whatever looked interested to them.

10) This question was imperative as I needed to find out what it was that attracted my audience to buy magazines. The reason the percentage total does not equal 100% is because I made this question a multiple choice one. The three things I thought would be popular were the ones that people picked the most, price, freebies and artist(s) on front cover. These elements tend to always be found on the front cover of magazines.



11) I asked this question to get an idea on how my sample audience would prefer to receive their music magazine. This was useful as I’ve seen that my audience are interested in the various ways of distributing my magazine, I will make my magazine available through all these sources.

12) The results I got from asking this question were not surprising to me. I knew that if there were to be any selectors of ‘no’ it would only be like one or two people. Generally people like free things. My magazine will definitely include some free giveaways.

13) Asking this question was helpful so I know what type of tone to incorporate into my magazine. My target audience would definitely like a light-hearted, amusing read so I will make sure I integrate such qualities into my music magazine.

14) This is also another question that I felt was important to ask as I will be making my own music magazine double page spread. By finding out my sample audiences views on double page spread, it will help me decide how to lay mine out when I create it.

15) I felt it was very important for me to ask this question as the front cover of a magazine is extremely important as it’s what a potential purchaser sees first. The front cover of a magazine, book etc can be a determining factor as to whether the item is bought or not. I will make sure that my magazine front cover includes both established artists and upcoming artists most frequently, established artists sometimes and upcoming artists once in a while.

My music magazine double page spread drafts

My music magazine contents page drafts

My music magazine sketches

Textual analysis of a double page spread

Textual analysis of a music magazine double page spread

This is a double page spread from Vibe magazine featuring Solange Knowles. As the demographic of the magazine will recognise, the woman posing is an American recording artist, actress and model who is the younger sister of renowned singer, songwriter (amongst others)- Beyoncé Knowles.

The double page spread possesses some conventional traits of a double page spread; however it also has elements that are rather unconventional. The layout of the article via the use of columns is a convention of a double page spread also as they are usually laid out in two to four columns, this double page spread has not broken any rules. Also, the stand first is printed in a large, bold, capitalised font. It is in a grey colour but the subjects name is highlighted by the use of a baby blue colour.

In this article, a different type of drop capital is used. The article starts with the sentence ‘Solange Knowles is an easy target’ which is in bold and capitalised. This is done so that it draws the reader’s attention and makes them want to read more. The use of this hyperbolic statement evokes some emotion from the reader if anything; the reader will be a bit interested.

The singer’s name in the stand first acts as the strap-line as she is the subject matter of the article, thus emphasised with the use of bright blue (a different colour) font colour. The double page spread has a cool, regular, contemporary yet old fashioned look to it. Solange Knowles’ is wearing a bright red dress and the rest of her ensemble is also very eye-catching and modern. The colour red connotes many things both good and bad, but here they connote positives. Danger, hotness and passion (love) are the key things that I think are evident. Solange Knowles’ is someone to look out for so she must be a ‘danger’ to other female singers out there, she is attractive and many men will think so too also the red represents the love she has for music and what she does. She looks directly at the camera, this adds to her sex appeal and it highlights the fact that she is in control.

Nonetheless there is a noticeable contrast with the background and the main image of the subject. The colour scheme of the background is a black and white effect; this makes the singer look traditional and also old-school. Contrastingly, Knowles bold, bright and flirtatious demeanour in the main image of her conveys her fun, sexy and youthful character and music but it also suggests she appreciates music from the past. Demographic that know her will know that this echoes through her music.



Textual analysis of a music magazine front page

Textual analysis of a music magazine front page

The music magazine I have chosen to analyse is ‘Vibe’. This magazine was founded by the legendary producer Quincy Jones in 1993. Vibe is a music and entertainment magazine that commonly features R‘n’B and hip-hop music artists, actors and entertainers. The magazines main target audience are young, urban followers of the hip-hop culture. This is definitely conveyed by the posture of the model on my chosen publication. The model, who is the main (and also the only) image on the front cover is ‘Chris Brown’. He is a very famous American R‘n’B singer, songwriter amongst others. The model leans back with a hard facial expression and he is looking directly into the camera. He has a fair amount of ‘bling’ on (chains, bracelet, earrings, belt and Rolex watch) and is leaning back on small wall. Chris Brown has his hands in his pockets while his right hand does a gangster-like sign. Typically, he also has visible tattoos on his arms and hand.
The background is blurred so that the artist is the readers’ main focus.
Even though the image is a medium shot of the artist, we can imagine that the jeans he is wearing are baggy and he has fashionable, expensive trainers on. Also, the artists’ hat is the renowned American New Era baseball cap, without even being told, immediately you can guess the genre of music this artist communicates.

The layout of the magazine itself is very bold and defiant, with a regular colour scheme of white, green, orangey-red. The orangey-red puffs colour co-ordinate with the artists t-shirt and this works well. The magazines main cover line is white and after the masthead ‘VIBE’ it is the next biggest size. The fonts remain standard all over the front cover. The main cover line asks a question ‘IS THAT CHRIS BROWN?’ As it is so big and eye-catching (just like the image) we know straightaway that the model on the magazine must be Chris Brown. The fact that ‘that’ has been put in italics makes us look at the image to verify whether or not the image is of Chris Brown insinuating he has somehow changed. The consistency of the white and green font contributes to making the cover look ‘cool’ (just like the artist) but yet it still manages to stand out at the same time. The yellow on the puffs connote danger but also the use of it is to get our attention (as yellow is known to enhance concentration). The yellow on the puffs helps draw our attention to them but most importantly the information on it. The puff in the right bottom third of the magazine says ‘CDS ARE DEAD’ in yellow, this makes the colour choice a good one as yellow is known to connote danger and red anger.

Under the main cover line, there is a quote in black but with the word ‘VIRGIN’ in red and the word ‘YOUR’ in italics. This is also done strategically so that the reader/consumer is drawn in and wants to know and read more. As the quote is under the artists’ name, we assume that the quote is from Chris Brown and as it is a personal subject, this can be very enticing to the reader. The word ‘VIRGIN’ is not only in red but it is also in bold, thus drawing even more attention to it. Putting it in red was done intentionally as it relates to what the colour connotes both its positive and negative connotations. For example, love, passion and sexiness are all positive connotations whereby war and danger are some of its negatives. The ellipsis ‘...’ after the word virgin indicates that there is more to come, it gives the reader time to gather their thoughts and it also slightly depicts the artists’ views and personality. Putting ‘YOUR’ in italics is done so that the reader knows and feels like Chris Brown is talking to them, making it feel more personal.

On the right hand side of the magazine front cover there is another set of cover lines indicating what can be found inside. The standard colour duo of green and white is used with the key names (of other celebrities and the most important) in green. The artists’ names included are those of rappers and R‘n’B and hip-hop moguls who are all big names in the genres. 

The magazine cover is unique and very suitable for its target audience even though its layout is pretty much conventional, for example the placing of the barcode, website link and dateline in the bottom left third of the magazine cover. However, this magazine does not have a re-occurring selling line; across the top of the magazine it tends to just have names, key words or phrases relating to articles that can be found in that particular publication. One thing that I have noticed that is conventional of Vibe magazine is that most of the time on the front cover of the magazines there is only one famous face.

These are images of past Vibe magazine front covers.

Introduction and methodology

Introduction

For the coursework section of my AS Media course I have been required to create a music magazine of my choice. Not only do I have to make a music magazine front cover, but I have to also make my very own contents page and double page spread. My blog will record my progress.

Methodology

Step by step proposal of what I intend to do:

1.      When I have decided what kind of genre my music magazine is going to be, I will look at various magazines and websites similar to my chosen type. Looking out for conventions of the magazine types and also to get rough ideas of what my magazine should look similar to.

2.      Next I will be creating an audience research questionnaire, aimed at my target audience. The information I gather from this questionnaire will hopefully enable me to be able to create my own magazine effectively.

3.      When my results are in, I will create graphs and analysing what my results show.

4.      Subsequently, I will then do a textual analysis of a music magazine front cover and double page spread. Doing this will help me look out for things that work and perhaps do not work, so I know what’s best to include when constructing my product.

5.      I will start drawing rough sketches of what I want each of my pages to look like.

6.      Then after I have chosen my models, I will give them a briefing of what I what them to do e.g. their costumes. Accordingly I will book two slots for the studio to take my pictures, the second slot just in case I need to take different pictures.

7.      After I have made necessary edits/ alterations to my images I will then start creating my magazine.

As I go along, I will add more work to my blog as this is just a rough outline of some of the things I need to include.