Music Magazine Evaluation

Cori Clarkson

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

The main image is always dominant to all the other images and features on the front cover. This shows the audience that the main article is on the person who is on the cover.

The masthead and strip lines try to draw the audience in to tempt them to buy the magazine. Mastheads are normally at the top of the page and is the largest title on the cover page. The strip line is also underneath the masthead and convinces the audience to buy the magazine. I have decided to use a bold font and used the colour black because it stands out and represents to heavier music in my magazine. Also I have decided to draw lines around the ‘O’ in volume to emphasise the beat you can feel when you plug a guitar into an amp because my magazine is called ‘Amp volume’.

Freebies are a perfect way to draw attention to audiences and to hook a certain target audience.

My magazine has the typical barcode which is normally place in the bottom right hand corner. This is a real feature a magazine will have. By adding a bar code my magazine looks more professional and real.

Strip LineMasthead

Front Cover

Cover lines are conventional codes and they are needed on the covers of magazines to show the audience what else the magazine has to offer and the other stories which are featured on other artists. My cover lines are different from some of the conventional cover lines. I have added pictures to my cover lines which gave my magazine a unique style however the magazine ‘Kerrang’ sometimes use the technique with the cover lines and pictures.

The top and bottom strips will either advertise various things to the audience for example discounts, or to win exclusive things like backstage pass at concerts, or to be able to download free music from the magazine website. Or they could tell the audience about what else is featured in the magazine like bands or artists that are also inside the magazine. On my magazine cover I have decided to use the top strip for advertising and the bottom strip for showing who else is featured in the magazine.

I learned that next to the masthead the largest text should be the band or artists name which is featured on the cover. I decided to make the text white with a black outline, the reason for this is because I thought that the white stood out in front of the image which is placed behind the text. The font that I chose is bold and I also stretched the text to make it stand out more. When I was doing research for my cover the headline is a conventional code which is used in every magazine. It is important because it shows the audience who the band or artist is and who is the main feature of the magazine in that week.

Another convention that I think is important, is a quote from the artist. Normally the quote is placed underneath the headline, I think the reason its so important is because it tells the audience a bit about the artist and how they are as a person, also it involves the reader because it is wrote as if the artist is talking to you directly.

Contents

My contents page does not follow the conventional magazine because I do not have a main image. Many magazine have a main image of the band or artist they have interview or who is featuring in the magazine. I have followed the theme of ‘Kerrang’ magazine. However I have a main image at the top of the page which I have used to show the audience what my magazine consists off, which it focuses on live performances. In the top main image I have layered two smaller images on top, one is of the artist who is on the cover and who the magazine have interviewed and the other of another band that features.

Whilst I was researching contents pages, I noticed that most have contents wrote on the page and the issue number and date therefore this is a conventional code. This is to make sure the audience can identify the issue and keep up to date with the magazine releases.

Another convention I had to remember whilst producing my contents page was a subscription box, this is so the audience can buy the magazine monthly, this also involves the reader and promotes the magazine

Most magazines have an editors section where the editor summarises what’s inside this weeks issue and maybe a small section on what it was like to meet the band or artist that is featured on the cover page. This is another convention

The most critical part of a contents page are the cover lines and the featured articles. Without these convention the music magazine does not exist. As I did more research on contents pages I had to make sure that the audience knew where different things in my magazine where, so I had to make sure that my headings were clear, I thought that six different headings was appropriate I named them ‘News’ which is all the breaking news about different artists in the magazine. ‘Posters’, ‘Win’, ‘Live review’, ‘Gig guide’ and ‘Features’ this is the most important because this is everything that is on the cover advertises. I think it is very important to have headings because it makes it easier for the audience to navigate and find the articles and features they want to read. I have decided to use bright colours of red and orange and an outline of black to make the headings stand out to the audience and it grabs peoples attention. I have also stuck to the colour scheme of red and orange throughout my magazine.

Double Page Article

In most double page articles images and quotes are conventional and are most important as they tell the audience a lot about the artist they are reading about. When I was creating quotes I wanted something that was inspiring to the audience and made them think and that’s what I think my quote does the quotes also represents the artist and what they stand for. I wanted to create a sense of belonging for the audience as they are all fans of the same type of music genre and they should stick together. I decided to use white and orange text with a black background to make the text stand out and grab the attention of the audience. By putting a larger quote in the middle of the interview it highlights the importance of what is being said, most magazines that I have researched have used this technique.

Throughout the research that I carried out I noticed that most of the images that were placed on double page articles could portray a lifestyle or market a different target audience by how the model or artist was posing or how they were dressed. The images also represent the type of music they create. Most magazine have a large image and a smaller one somewhere else on the page these are the codes and conventions.

The most important thing on the double page spread is the main feature article, and it is the most important ingredient for a music magazine. I made my article have an autobiography theme, because it was about how the band started, and I think it had more of a personal feel, this is better for my target audience because it shows you how the artist thinks and feels about being in a band, also I wanted the audience to keep interested. I think an interview is the most important thing about a magazine because if the article was good then the audience will remember it and want to read next weeks issue to read the good interviews, it is also the advertisement of the magazine. I used the colour white on top of a black background I did this so my text would stand out and be as bold as it could be, also I used orange for the questions that were asked so the audience knows where each section starts and finishes.

The introductory comment are also very important and are conventional codes in magazine interviews. They are important because it sets the scene for the audience and hooks them as readers, it also tells you a little bit about what might be involved in the magazine.

Page numbers are a very basic convention in magazines which makes it easier for the audience to locate specific pages

House Style

A house style is keeping a constant continuity all the way through the magazine, this is so it looks from the same magazine, its so people can recognise it’s a certain magazine. Whilst creating my magazine I noticed that the house style colours that I have used are orange, red, black and white. I used these colours because they stand out and gives the magazine l more of a pop-punk feel and style.