Music Magazine EvaluationMusic Magazine EvaluationRebecca HallisseyRebecca Hallissey

1.) In what ways does your media product use, develop or 1.) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Header

Masthead

Coverlines

Barcode and date of issue

Footer

1.) In what ways does your media product use, develop or 1.) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

• On my front cover I have used several conventions of music magazines.

• I have used a header to advertise features in the magazine, (interviews, contests etc.) and I have used a footer to advertise bands featured in the magazine. Both these features are commonly seen in magazines such as Kerrang! and NME. This sort of feature enables the audience to quickly see what is featured in the magazine.

• I have used one main image on the cover. Using one large main picture on the front page of a magazine is a convention of most magazines.

• I have obeyed the rule of thirds and placed the barcode with the price and date of issue as well as some main coverlines on the right side of the cover so they can easily be seen when the magazines are stacked.

1.) In what ways does your media product use, develop or 1.) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

“Contents” Title

Message from the Editor

Images relevant to articles

Page number of articles advertised by image

Contents listing sorted by category

Contents listing

Advertisement for magazine subscription

1.) In what ways does your media product use, develop or 1.) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

• On my contents page I have followed many conventions of music magazines. I have included a note from the editor which is usually featured in Kerrang! And Smash Hits. Teenagers are naturally curious about how things work and so would be interested about how the magazine is made.

• I have used several images related to the featured articles and the page number for the respective feature is displayed on the picture so the audience can easily find the feature. This is because I have found out that modern day young people prefer to look at images than read large blocks of text.

• I used a flash to advertise subscription to the magazine. Subscriptions to the magazine are appealing to the reader and displaying it as a flash helps it to stand out. This would definitely appeal to the target audience because most of them do not have much income and are attracted by the idea of free things.

• Subheadings for contents listing have been used to easily find where an article or feature is, categorized by genre of feature. This is because modern day young people do not like to spend a long time searching for something and prefer to be able to find it immediately.

1.) In what ways does your media product use, develop or 1.) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Title of article

Main image

Quote from interview

Main body of text (interview)

Introduction to article

Columns

1.) In what ways does your media product use, develop or 1.) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

• For my double page spread I used one main image behind the text of the interview. I then made sure the colour of the text made it readable over the image. This makes the page look more “busy” and reduces the amount of plain white space which is unappealing to the target audience.

• I used columns in my interview to make it easier to read. This is because teenagers are put off by the idea of large blocks of text and the columns make the text look more accessible to read.

• I used main quotes from the article as drop quotes to increase the reader’s interest in reading the article. These will attract attention because they are controversial or humorous points and will engage the readers interest.

• I included a short introduction to the interview explaining who the person was and what the interview is about. This helps the reader decide immediately whether they wish to continue reading the article or not.

2.) How does your media product represent particular social 2.) How does your media product represent particular social groups?groups?

• I think my magazine represents young people in a fairly positive light.

• It describes young people as ordinary people who enjoy having fun but nonetheless are hard working and dedicated individuals.

• I have chosen rock music as my genre, a genre that is commonly looked down on as it associated with rebellion, but portrayed it in a more positive way than it usually is throughout the media.

2.) How does your media product represent particular social 2.) How does your media product represent particular social groups?groups?

• In my surveys I asked people in my target audience what genre of music they like listening to the most. The most common answer was rock music, so rock music is popular among young people.

• When asked what music magazines people in my target audience read, most said Kerrang! or similar magazines.

Genres Pop

Rock

R&B

Rap/hip-hop

Classical

Electronic

Metal

Other

Magazines

Kerrang!

Q

Mojo

Top Of The Pops

3.) What kind of media institution might distribute your media 3.) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?product and why?

• I think that IPC would be a good choice because although they distribute NME magazine, which is a similar genre to my magazine, NME is generally aimed specifically at men, and has a slightly older target age than my magazine. Because they publish NME, they have experience in the genre of magazine and would be able to effectively promote my magazine.

• Although Bauer Media would also be suitable for my magazine, Bauer Media already distributes Kerrang! Magazine which has a

similar target audience to my magazine.

3.) What kind of media institution might distribute your 3.) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?media product and why?

• IPC distributes a wide variety of magazines such as Beautiful Kitchens, Cycling Weekly, Golf Monthly and What’s On TV but they only distribute two magazines covering music (NME and Uncut) and only one magazine covering music specifically (NME).

• Because of this I feel they could benefit from distributing my magazine because the target audience of my magazine is different to the one of NME (NME targets men aged 17-30 and my magazine targets both genders aged 15-26).

• My magazine also covers a different genre than NME, with NME focusing on mainstream rock and Britpop and my magazine focusing on alternative rock, metal and indie.

3.) What kind of media institution might distribute your 3.) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?media product and why?

• Bauer Media currently distributes several music magazines including Q, Kerrang! and Mojo. Because of this I feel they would not have much interest in distributing my magazine.

• Bauer Media’s magazine Kerrang! is very similar to my magazine in terms of both genre and target audience so I think it would be unwise for Bauer Media to distribute two magazines so similar to each other.