Details For My Own Magazine.

Before I start creating my own magazine I need to properly plan and design what I would like my magazine to look like and how this will achieve my target audience.

So for my magazine I would like to base it on the style of Modern Music / Chart Music, the new sounds that are out at the moment. This means I need my cover to be very futuristic and modern. The artists that will be included will be the latest in the charts at the moment, for example:

I would like to create the idea of my magazine being the latest in the top music of today and will be almost like the magazine version of radio1.

Looking into the designs of my magazine, I would like to look into the design of the masthead, this is important because it needs to look and connect with the style of my magazine so the readers can visually see what the genre of music is. I have thought of the name NewSound. I feel this works well because my magazine is looking at the new songs and artists that are in the charts and NewSound is catchy and simple and very clear on the genre of music my magazine is focused on. I have found 4 designs that I feel would work well with my magazine styles and 1 in which I would like to actually use as my masthead for my magazine.

I went on a website called http://www.dingbatty.com/ that had many different styles of mastheads. I scanned through and have found these masthead styles...

Ordner normal :

Unsteady oversteer:

Underground graffiti :

Toy Soldiers :

These fonts I liked and thought would work with my magazine and it's genre but I have found one more masthead font design that I feel is perfect for my magazine...

 Sidewalk:

This font called Sidewalk I think is the best masthead font design for my magazine because it is slightly like graffiti which can connect to modern and futuristic style. Also the 'messy' style makes the masthead stand out and almost seem like unique as if the style doesn't want to follow the rules as in staying neat and tidy. This gives the magazine a vibe that stands out and readers are interested in. This can like to the genre of my magazine because graffiti is seen as 'The peoples art' and the chart music is 'The peoples music'. Graffiti is created by people and the charts are created by people as the number of downloads a song gets indicated where it ends up in the top 40 charts. As well as this, the font being quite rough can scare away ages groups such as 14year olds and show that the magazine is targeted for the older age group from 17-20 year olds.

This is a good start with the creation of my own music magazine because I am now sure on my title and the name of my magazine and now I am able to develop and work around what I already have to make my magazine cover. Here I have shown research into the genre of my magazine and what is expected of a modern/chart music targeted magazine genre, such as the type of look the magazine will take on including the look of the text included. I have also thought into what my target audience would expect and like to see, and what would be more relateable to them as a youth. Again, for example the writing style type and what effect it would have on my audience, we don't want to give anyone the wrong impression of the magazine.

Regulation Research

Editors’ Code of Practise:
 The Editors' code of Practise is a set of rules in which give a publish or writer the information of what is allowed and not allowed when it comes to writing in magazines and publishing them. The code 

sets the benchmark for those ethical standards, and there for protecting both the rights of the

individuals and the public right to know. This can stop any future complaints by members of the public.

Main Points of The Code:
Accuracy: The press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, including pictures. If significant inaccuracy in information or a misleading statement is recognised it must be corrected straight away. A publication must report fairly and accurately the outcome of an action.   

Privacy:  Everyone is entitled to respect for his or her private and family life, home, health and correspondence, including digital communications, and so if any editor intrudes in someones private life without consent they are asked to justify their intrusion. It is unacceptable to photograph individuals in private places without their consent. Note - Private places are public or private property where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Harassment: Journalists must not engage in intimidation, harassment or persistent pursuit. They must not persist in questioning, telephoning, pursuing or photographing individuals. Editors must ensure these principles are observed by those working for them and to not use information from other sources around them.

Children: Young people should be free to complete their time at school without unnecessary intrusion. A child under 16 must not be interviewed or photographed on issues involving their own or another child’s welfare. Pupils must not be approached or photographed at school without the permission of the school authorities.


This can effect the type of material that can or cannot be used within my own magazine. This informs me that my information must be valid and true and must not cause any harm or hurt towards any members of the public. In my magazine I wish to include information on the latest music and songs in the charts, looking through the Editors' code of Practise, I can see that this should not be a problem as this is not individually targeting a person and not looking into their personal lives but only looking into what is already in the public eye.

ASA Code:

There are two versions of the ASA code, the CAP code which is for non-broadcasting advertisements like newspapers and magazines etc, where as the other BCAP code applies to broadcasting advertisement such as teleshopping, self-promotional television channels, television text and interactive television advertisements.

CAP Code: Looking at a few of the general sections that are included in the code, I will research what is allowed when publishing a magazine on that certain subject.

Starting with Children and we are looking into the rules of Harm...

•Children must not be encouraged to enter strange places or talk to stranger

•Children must not be shown in hazardous situations or behaving dangerously except to promote safety. Children must not be shown unattended in street scenes unless they are old enough to take responsibility for their own safety.

•Children must not be shown using or in close proximity to dangerous substances or equipment without direct adult supervision.

Another section is Privacy...

•Marketers must not unfairly portray or refer to anyone in an adverse or offencive way unless that person has given the marketer written permission to allow it.

•Members

The last one I will look into is Misleading Advertisement and then looking into the general rules of the topic.

•Subjective claims must not mislead the consumer; marketing communications must not imply that expressions of opinion are objective claims.

•Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.

Having these codes give me an idea of how I would like my magazine to be seen as in the public as well as making sure my magazine is comfortable for members of the public to view on shelves. 

 

Doing this I can now see what is expected from a magazine. There are rules to making a magazine and you need to keep them in mind. For example, I need to keep my magazine clean and so no offencive language is allowed in my magazine text. If so this would be breaking regulations and there for cutting off my magazine. I have looked into the main points in which seems to be of more importance such as Harassment and Children. Looking into the children section could link in with my magazine as I look for a younger age range for my target audience, so although I have no trouble with my magazine, just reading and doing the research gives me the professional mind and knowledge of a real magazine producers and so will make me seem more professionally minded.

Institutional Research

The Media is produced by small groups of companies, or institutions. These can include advertising agencies and magazine productions houses. All of these help in the production of a magazine.
The company I would produce my magazine with would be Hearst Magazines UK, Hearst magazine is one of the UK’s leading media companies with 24 magazine brands and 22 digital assets, all with a variety of female and male target audiences, for example; Good house keeping and Elle for the female target audience and Men's Health and Digital Spy. This would be good for me as my target audience is a between Male and Female, but is more towards Female, which is the same as Hearst. The majority of their magazine and female orientated.
Hearst Magazines UK is the trading name of National Magazine Company Ltd, established in 1910. Its major interests include magazine, newspaper and business publishing, cable networks, television and radio broadcasting, Internet businesses, TV production and distribution, newspaper features distribution and real estate.

Although my product works well and connects with Hearst target audiences as well, my magazine has a very different genre to the magazine advertised with Hearst UK. My magazine is on the music genre of Modern music and The Charts. This does not connect to any of the genres in which are connected to Hearst UK.

If I was to produce and sell my magazine I would advertise my magazine in music shops such as HMV and ZAVVI. I would advertise and sell them in these stores as they are very clear and popular music stores that are world wide. This would open up my magazine to a wide variety of locations and there fore building up my magazines reputation.

Not only would I advertise and sell my magazine in stores I would also do this on the Internet. To make sure my magazine had presence on the interest I would have advertisements on the side of music websites and on the websites of HMV and ZAVVI I would create a link that showed that these stores are in partnership with my magazine. My magazine would have an online website that would show the editions that were available and could be bought online, as well as sampled online. The website would also include advertisements of the stores we are in partnership with and would include details on out company Hearst. Opening up my advertising on the Internet would open up my audience and would again increase dramatically my magazines reputation as it would soon be known as the new interest magazine interest.

Here I have looked into the institution I would produce my magazine with, I have looked in to the types of magazine they already produce and the types of audiences and genres of magazines in which they already create and produce. As well as looking in to the background research and history of my chosen institution.

Doing this gives me an idea of how I would like my magazine to be published as well as giving myself some more back ground information of the production of a magazine and what may need to be done in the process of creating it. This gives my magazine more of a professional view on it and starts to create an idea of it's placement in our society today.

Audience Research Film

final video from Lucy Gosling on Vimeo.

Here I have gone around and asked a variety of people what they think of when I say Modern Music and filmed them. With my footage I have then created a short film that comes together to describe 'Modern Music'.

From this I have learnt what my target audience think about the genre of Modern Music, my target audience being the age range of 14-20 year olds and a mixed gender means I have gained information that can help me create an attractive magazine for my target audience that includes the information and features they are familiar with the genre of Modern Music.
For example, from this I have learn that Modern music can be seen as not just one genre but a variety such as aacoustic and R&B. This puts pressure on me as a magazine maker to spell out the genre in which I will dedicate my magazine to. This then tells my readers what they are buying and what the magazine will be about. The film tells me Modern Music can be seen as most popular chart music. This is what i will focus on, I will include interviews on the number ones of the week/month and include information on there albums or other songs in which they have made.

Audience Targeting

My main target audience for my magazine is…
Age: 17-20
Gender: Mixed Gender
Interests: Music, new music in the charts.
Socio-economic classification: C2DE
 
Age:  ‘17- 20 year olds’
The main reason I have targeted this age range is so I can connect more with my readers as they would be in my own age range. Being able to connect more with my readers will help me create a magazine my readers can understand and enjoy.

Gender:
‘Mixed Gender’
I feel my magazine will be able to connect with both Males and Females, I feel this because the colours are not connected with either of the genders for example Purple, this can be connected to both males and females, but the gender could be seen quite female as the artists included in the magazine may be more female orientated.

Interests: 
‘Music, new music in the charts.’

My readers need to have an interest in music and artists including new artists that are coming into the music scene. This is because my magazine will focus on the new sounds, as well as their own lives and interests as an artist.

Socio-Economic Classification:
'C2DE'
C2DE is the skilled working class including the unemployed, students would range in the C2 area, and this is where my target age range begins. My magazine would be suited to this classification as it would be cheap and so accessible and affordable to all.

Here I have looked into the my target audience.I have looked in depth with what kind of social class they are put into and there interests, this will help me create my magazine. I will need to make it affordable to my target audience as well as designing it as in the social class of my target audience, for example, higher class will buy glossy magazines where as the lower class will buy paperback magazine. 

Doing this gives me a secure idea of who I would like to focus my magazine on, which is 14-20 year olds and a mixed gender maybe slightly more feminine. It gives me a focus on how I will create my magazine to reach my target audience. I will make sure that my language is chatty and excitable for my readers and will include images that makes it easy on the eye, also i will keep my colour scheme mixed like blues and purples but including a bit of 'gossip' will push my gender to a bit more feminine.

Music Magazine Research

Music Magazine Research

Introduction Research

Here I am going to research music magazines to give myself an idea on what types of magazine music types there are and what features each include.

Genres

There are many different types of Music…

n     Techno

n     Minimal techno

n     Tech house

n     Hip-hop

n     Urban

n     Dub / Dub step

n     Pop

n     Rock and roll

n     Rap

n     Indie

n     Instrumental

n     Drum and Bass

Regular Features

•Information on new upcoming bands and artists/general news

•Interviews

•Concert and tour date information

•Editors letters

•Images including the main feature/artist of that issue of magazine

•Cover stories/ EXCLUSIVE interviews

•Merchandise

Adverts

•Advertising new artists and bands

•concerts/tour dates

•Festivals

•Offers/vouchers to advertise clubs or events connected to the magazine

•Merchandise

•Advertising films

•New CD’s a and album covers

•Musical equipment

Images

•Big main image for the main artist or feature of the magazine/ Exclusive photo shoot

•Recent Festival images including the festival logo

•Band/artist images in action, concert/gig images

Offers and Giveaways

•Free merchandise

•Chances to win, Cd’s/ concert tickets/ Band or Artist merchandise

•Vouchers on offers (Money off the next issue you buy)

Special Edition Features

•Back stage exclusive interviews

•Reviews on the latest festivals and concerts

•Introduction of new upcoming bands and artists

Front Page

•Main image of who may be the main feature of the magazine

•Hints that include teasers of stories that will be included inside if you buy the magazine

•Date and bar code

•Title of the magazine

•Little list of features of artists that will be featured inside

Conclusion

From this research I have learnt about the vast genres and feature that are included in music magazines. This gives me an idea of what I may want to include in my own music magazine and the features that will engage my reader.

Here I have looked in to the key features a magazine includes and looked into the many different ways in which a variety of magazines have each show them. For example, some magazine include special editions that include top secret gossip stories that everyone needs to know about, and then some are more music based and like to include competitions on winning new albums or interviews with the artist.

Doing so, teaches me how I can keep my magazine different and individual but still including the main features I need to include for the genre I choose. So, if i do the modern music genre i need to include interviews with the number one in the charts at that moment and include the new singles that have entered the top 40. This will show my genre clearly.

Music Magazine Reseach

Here I have looked into the different types of music genres and looked into two main genres which are classic rock and R&B/Urban. These genres are very different, but I have analysed their similarities and differences, for example; the classic rock magazine MOJO relies upon images and information on new songs and Cd's their artists has, where as the R&B magazine VIBE relies more on the stories that can be seen a slightly 'gossip' styled. As well as this I looked into the way each of the genres main magazine covers have made the genre clear and engaging to the reader.

I have learnt that the cover is very important and needs to show clearly the genre in which your magazine is based around. Doing so, by including popular artists that are famously known for that genre, the language connecting to the genre as well as the stories and information included inside, such as interviews with artists, maybe including brands that connect to the stereo-typical readers and connect with the genre.

Content Page Music Magazine Analysis

Here I have now analysed a content page. Content pages are usually very crowded and so include many features that can influence and engage the reader into the magazine. These can be images of the band or artists that are featured in the magazine, as well as chatty and outgoing language that will make the reader read on.  

From this I have learnt the key features that I will need to include in my own content page of my magazine, such as images, snippets of stories included inside and hyperbolic language that excites the reader into continuing reading. The content page informs the reader of everything that is included in the magazine. Having an interesting and engaging content pages effects the readers opinion on the whole magazine.

Front Cover Magazine Text Analysis

Here I have analysed two magazine front covers, Q and VIBE. I have analysed the main features that are visible on the front cover such as mini headline that include stories featured inside. I have thought about the effect and influence it may have on the reader when making the decision to buy the magazine or not. If there are artists featured on the outside of the magazine that the readers are interested in they are more likely to pick up and view the magazine, therefore potentially buying it.  

From this I have learnt the key features in which I will need to include in my own Magazine, for example large headlines including stories feature in the magazine, catchy and engaging language such as 'shocking' to make the reader what to know what is included as well as including such things as sneak peeks to engage the reader and want them to read more.