The task set was to create 3 parts of an

English music magazine; a front

cover, contents page and double page

spread. We were to also take our own

images, which we then edited to create

our final publications.

As I continued to produce and improve my music magazine, I made

sure to always keep it similar enough to a certain degree to the

‘standard’ music magazine’s that are popular and commonly

distributed. I felt that it was of extreme importance that, while my

magazine would be unique and not a direct copy of other well

established music magazines, it should also reflect the typical look of a

music magazine. I have ensured through the layout of my music

magazine front page and cover that this has been well reflected. On

my front cover, I used a close up of my female model, which- through

my research- I found to be the most common way to represent a single

female artist. In my contents page I also made sure to use different

columns with different headings, for example; Features, This

Month, iNiche –which I thought would be a good way to incorporate

different media’s into this magazine, seeing as we are living in a

technological era and a lot of established companies heavily rely on

the use of internet now a days- I also included several small images

along different areas of my contents page.

As for my double page spread, I have made sure to include an organised layout, through my research I found that the most common way to organise large chunks of text in a double page spread, would be to use columns. This ensured there was plenty of space available for the text, and that the magazine wouldn’t bore the reader or scare them with a huge block. I also made sure to include the title as a quotation, which also seemed to be a rather common way in other music magazines.

1) In what way does our media product

use develop or challenge forms and

conventions of real media texts?

My magazine represents high class and social power, this magazine

represents these two social groups through various ways.

The name itself, ‘Niche’ suggests to the reader and represents that this

magazine isn’t for anybody, it is for the select few who qualify to be

part of this niche and elite group.

Adding to that, my tagline –‘The Best for The Best’- further reinforces this

ideology. It represents the magazine as one of superiority and gives

the reader an idea that they themselves- the targeted audience- are

that of high status too.

Furthermore, pricing my magazine played a big role as well. Although

many average music magazines are priced around the range of

£2.00, mine is priced at £3.00 for the purpose of adding that extra

touch of superiority. This magazine is for the best, and only the best

can afford it.

Baeur Media-

I believe this would be the best institute to distribute my media product, for various reasons.

First of all, this institute is one of the most popular, not only in distribution, but in the music industry as well. It is the distributor of various popular magazines such as ‘Q music magazine’ which is very similar to what my own media production is, along with various other famous and well established magazines such as Kerrang (although this does not relate to my genre).

Adding to that, Baeur media reaches an audience of over 3 million every week, increasing the audience of my own magazine and hence increasing awareness and profits- resulting in the overall success of my magazine also increasing.

The audience for my magazine would be girls around the ages 14-17 as I believed a

range any larger would have been too wide for all ages to be satisfied with my magazine content. Adding to that, my audience are girls of high social class and status. Almost ‘Gossip Girl’ but in England. These girls are most commonly found to be living in the rural areas of London, in great mansions with expensive cars and people to carry out every job they need to get done. These girls like to stay on trend, but not just any trends, the best quality, most expensive trends. Their wardrobe consists of only designer labels of the season, and they’d rather be dead than be seen in anything else. Parties and social hangouts are a must; they will always be

either planning a party, or attending one. Their parents love to spoil them, and although they are given a hefty sum for their allowance, their parents will always spend more money on them and for them. As looks play a big part of their lives, they must always be seen at their best, for that reason they have entire collections of mac make up and other likewise famous expensive brands, they also tend to be on crazy animalistic diets to ensure they maintain their figure.

Their dressing room is the size of a small ‘normal’ bedroom, and likewise, their walk in wardrobes are almost as big as a - again- ‘normal’ bedroom.

Relating all of this to the music industry, these girls will pride themselves in buying and paying the full price for all their music, from well trusted -not pirated sites- such as iTunes on the latest brand of iPhone or Macbooks and other related apple products. Their taste in music is centred mostly on relationships, or relationships ending, as this plays a rather big part in their social image.

More details on my audience can be viewed here, at my audience profile.

Through the use of my title, and the typography and

colour of it; the word ‘niche’ itself means small

market or a small group that is unique. This suggests

to the audience that they are the small elite group.

Adding to that, the gold colour and lettering infers

money, or gold, or wealth; items my target audience

pride themselves in having plenty off.

Furthermore, my strapline ‘The Best for The Best’

further supports the previous points, it merely clarifies

that this is for you, the best out of the other girls.

Throughout the course of this project I have learnt to use different technologies

that I have not frequently or ever used. The prime example here would be

my use of Photoshop. This is a programme that I have never used before in

my life, admittedly I found it quite challenging but after my preliminary

task, everything that followed seemed to become much easier, and I am

now a lot more confident in my use of it. A few examples of what I have

done with photoshop are; cropping images- sometimes there is too much

background for the image to be of good sutability for my

magazine, cropping was essential as it allowed me to redirect the main

focus of my image to the area required (which in almost all cases was of the

models face). Airbrushing is also an essential technique. One of the

requirements of the mark scheme is for the magazine to have a ‘high quality

finish’; now seeing as a majority of us teens have been unfortunate enough

to have imperfect skin, my images and my magazine cover had to portray

a healthy looking, radiant model who seems perfect. The various techniques

that I learned to use to airbrush my models skin took a lot of practice but in

the end I believe I managed to get the desired effect across. My last

example regarding photoshop would be that of feathering, this technique

allows you to fade or blend in the edges of the image with the

background, this effect is not visible on the front cover, however I have used

it on an image in the double page spread and I believe it gives the image a

good finish.

Another technology I have come to use is blogger. I am new to the concept of blogging so it seemed strange at the start, however, as time through the task progressed, I found that I was becoming more and more familiar with the concept and that it really wasn’t that difficult to use. It has helped me to plan and provide evidence of important work, it also acted as a quick and easy way to store all my work in one place and helped me quickly jot down ideas before I forgot them. Over all I believe it helped me become more organised.

Throughout this task I have progressed greatly from the beginner level that I was at during my preliminary task. I now

know how to use Photoshop correctly and appropriately to

ensure that my magazine comes out looking professionally

finished and containing all the correct codes and

conventions of a UK music magazine.

Looking back at the preliminary task I have realised that I now

understand the correct codes and conventions required. In

my preliminary task, my front cover seemed to be too

bare, with only four other cover stories on it, however I know

understand that there are other various conventions that I have missed out in my school magazine.

Likewise, in my preliminary task, my contents page lacked a lot of the requirements that were needed, as I progressed to the full product and did more research I came to realise that there were missing codes and conventions, and made sure to improve my work accordingly.

Following on to that, I have learnt various technological skills leading up from my preliminary to my full product. While I was constructing my school magazine, I was aware of the minor basics regarding Photoshop, however, with more practice and gradually increasing knowledge on the software, I become more comfortable with it and was able to put in a lot more productive effort into improving my magazine and giving it a good finish.

Likewise, in my preliminary task, my contents page lacked a lot of the requirements that were needed, as I progressed to the full product and did more research I came to realise that there were missing codes and conventions, and made sure to improve my work accordingly.

Following on to that, I have learnt various technological skills leading up from my preliminary to my full product. While I was constructing my school magazine, I was aware of the minor basics regarding Photoshop, however, with more practice and gradually increasing knowledge on the software, I become more comfortable with it and was able to put in a lot more productive effort into improving my magazine and giving it a good finish.

In regard to all that has been mentioned previously, I feel like I have learnt and progressed greatly through the course of this assignment. I have learnt how to effectively use new software's and technologies, and that sometimes, computers aren’t always the most reliable (learnt that the hard way!). I found that even though at times this task was particularly challenging, with good practice and patience I managed to get it all done.

This has also opened my eyes to just how much work goes into making a music magazine, and I understand the process involved much better than if I were to simply be taught it in a classroom.

I hope you have enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed creating it!

Thank you.