Randy Denham

It uses forms and conventions of real media products through its typical use of cover lines, which persuade the reader to buy the magazine, through the use of subjects such as the White Stripes reunion and The Stone Roses comeback tour. Subjects, such as on the aforementioned artists are of particular interest in today's music culture, due to the high regard in which both artists are held within the rock and indie subcultures, respectively.

The idea of using interesting, ambiguous excerpts to persuade the reader to continue reading is also used numerous times, notably on the front cover (through the use of the quote “This tour is gonna be my biggest yet…”). This makes the reader want to read on, as they would want to know exclusively why this tour would be the musician‟s best. This is continued in the double page spread, which displays particularly significant extracts from the article, which allude to independent artists the target audience would be aware of (Oasis, The Fall, etc.) and would be interested to see how they would connect to the artist being interviewed in the article.

This also works with the idea of promoting the bands (or artist‟s) cover feature over the brand of the magazine, in this case reflected by the artist on the cover partially covering the logo of the magazine.

Other uses of such forms and conventions include the use of musical vocabulary in the magazines article, which helps to illustrate the magazine‟s type and contributes to attract my target audience, through my target audience‟s understanding of the musical terms.

My magazine also challenges forms and conventions of real media products through its simple use of text and images, such as the text placed on a basic white background, with two modestly posed photographs of the artist; which go against the more contrived brash and colourful mise en scene of more commercial music magazines such as Clash and The Top of the Pops magazine, for instance. The magazine further contrasts with these magazines through its use of colours (or, in this case, lack thereof), the signified of this being that it reflects vintage photography, and thus the vintage style of music included in the magazine.

My media product represents social groups which are serious, and far removed from the glamorous celebrities one may see in magazines such as Clash, and even in Q magazine on occasion (for example, pop singer Cheryl Cole appeared in Q). In my magazine there is no sign of the typical extreme stereotypes commonly associated with independent rock music, but instead represents a more working to middle class image, through the feature of basic, casual attire on the artists themselves, such as the simple trilby hat worn by the artist on the front cover. This, in turn, would make the magazine stand out among others such as Kerrang, and Q, which feature artists in more ostentatious clothing (such as David Bowie, or Lady Gaga)

I think that Bauer media would distribute the magazine due to its similarity in audience and genre to its other magazines, Q and Mojo (and to a lesser extent, NME). This would help to increase the company‟s popularity among the independent music scene due to the variety of their rock output.

Incidentally, the magazine may also be of great interest to Bauer‟s rival Emap, who may be interested in the potential profit from the magazine in the rock market, perhaps to act in lieu of the losses they may have encountered when selling the popular rock magazine Mojo to Bauer. The magazine‟s style is one rather comparable to Mojo, with the articles of taking a laid back standpoint, but with a broader musical range including music which I think is palatable for my target demographic, such as more obscure artists like Gary Clark, Jr.

The intended target audience for my magazine would be approximately 16-30, due to the style of music and journalistic style included. This would be a broad audience, through the use of both older and newer artists which would ensure that as many people in the target demographic are catered for as possible. The audience would generally be a more serious musical audience, which is reflected in the lack of typical commercial pop music in the magazine, and the frequent allusion to specialist music terms in the magazines articles (overdubs, melody, etc.).

I attracted my audience through

including an array of different artists

ranging across the magazine‟s genre

(which is reflected by the aforementioned

use of cover lines), as well as using a unique and recognisable style

for the magazine‟s cover.

Artists such as Jack White and Jake Bugg are likely to attract a younger audience due to their recent work, whereas older artists such as Paul Weller are likely to attract an older, more mature audience due to their legacy. I have tried to address my audience in a laid back, albeit intelligent and informative manner (as per my survey results) through the display of a broad musical knowledge in my article combined with a straightforward writing style, which ultimately acts in achieving this end, illustrated in excerpts such as: “The EP also features some of Baker‟s preferred artists such as Squeeze‟s „Up the Junction‟ and „Not Fade Away‟, a track originally performed by Buddy Holly and later popularised by the Rolling Stones”.

I have learnt that in the advent of modern technology it has now become easier to edit and finalise magazines, and how much easier it is to retrieve marketing data. This project has given me a chance to explore in further detail some of the hardware and software required to produce a marketable and popular media product.

For instance, I have made use of software such as Adobe InDesign to structure and edit my final magazine, alongside with Adobe Photoshop, to produce a final product not far removed from official magazines of the same genre. Also, I made use of physical devices such as a modern digital camera (Canon Powershot SX20 IS). Instead of the film cameras used on some of the older magazines I have looked at, magazines today would use a digital camera such as mine, which I can see is fast, and the settings on the camera are easy to modify. This would make it even easier for photographers to make stylistic choices for the music magazine quicker, meaning that more of the magazine can be finished in time. Adding to this, software such as Adobe Photoshop was useful as it allowed me to create a mise en scene which I felt was reflective of the music in the magazine using editing methods not achievable with a digital camera alone.

To present my work, I also have been using a blog on Wordpress. Through using the blog I have learnt about the importance of presentation and the amount of work that would have to be done to make the work as presentable to the viewer as possible.

I have learnt about the considerations companies such as Bauer and Emap would have to make to meet demand and thus ensure the magazine‟s survival. I have also learnt more about the presentational features which need to be considered when producing a magazine to make the design and miseen scene relevant to the magazine‟s respective genre. For example, I have learnt about the methods in which such companies may collect their data to see a potential gap in the market, and how they may brainstorm ideas. I have also learnt of the importance of this procedure due to the decline of physical magazines, which means that these companies would have to do extensive market research to ensure their magazine‟s survival.

I have also learnt about some of the difficulties in producing an effective result (with regards to the market research) with speed and ease, which in itself has implications on the amount of staff which would need to be employed, which could perhaps be in short supply (due to the decline of music magazine sales and interest).