Evaluation so far

My music magazine 'Rapmeister ' uses the obvious conventions that any other music magazine will use for their front cover. These conventions include the Strap line, Masthead, Lure, Cover lines, date, time & bar code and lastly the Mode of address. Before I could start constructing my own music magazine, I had to carry out a lot of research on existing music magazines in order to find out which features they included, so that I could more or less do the same. The research stage of my music magazine consisted of de-constructing all the features which make up a music magazine. After de-constructing theses features, it was easier for me to analyse them in more detail. One of the main features in a music magazine cover is the Masthead. My masthead is mainly used to advertise the name of my magazine (stating the obvious) however it is also used as an objective for what I want to aim in the long-term from my magazine. This is the same for all music magazines. Carrying out secondary research helped the production of my music magazine very much as it all helped form my music magazine. It also gave me an insight on how other music magazines looked and what they featured. This was helpful as it allowed me to make my music magazine look different and unique in order for it to qualify as a competitor in the huge music magazine industry. 

My music magazine includes all the generic music convention codes. All the features of my music magazine stand for something and suggest a link with the target audience. The use of new releases and new artists that will be upcoming. Interviews with the bands about their past and stories , updates and interviews is a strategic method used to get the audience interested as well as having something they can compare their problems, dilemmas and even everyday life with. The layout and design of my music magazine is used to attract a specific target audience. The main image is a mid-shot attracting the main subject of 'these weeks' magazine. The framing used for the artist on the front cover is symmetrical as he is posing in a standing position however she is looking away from the camera. The laid back artists sitting down with his hat on gives a hood vibe and gives off the idea that she has been 'caught slipping' which is a common phrase used by teenagers who are a percentage of my target audience. The mood the artists create is a street look, especially by the clothes she is wearing. The crazy handwriting suggests that the magazine is street/graffiti and cool and aimed at teenagers but the use of dark and bold colours suggests the target audience are slightly older. This is because my target audience are 16-24 years old.

The layout and design of my contents page stays consistent with the music magazine. This tends to be the same with most real music magazines. The content page also includes the name of my magazine; 'Rapmeister', and lastly the date, which for this addition was; 'November 2010'. The font style and font colour also stays consistent. The only thing that differs on the page is obviously all the things that a contents page would consist of that the masthead wouldn't, for example, a title saying 'contents' which remains in the same font style and colour as well as all the pages and page numbers. My main aim was to make sure my magazine related to my target audience as the main way in which magazines are produced and distributed depends on the audience’s life style and spending pattern.

Q. How does your music magazine represent particular social groups? 

Rapmeister represents the social group of young adults aged 16-21 who are interested in rap/pop and hood. My music magazine does this effectively through the mise-un-scene as I have dressed my featured artists in clothes that represent the genre of music which relate to my target audience. By my featured artist wearing baggy clothes and hoodys clothing style represents that this social group have a trendy, funky and retro mode of address which relate to my target audience (16-21). For example the image taken of my featured artist shows that my intended target audience do not care about all the bad press which criticism their style. As you can see from my artist, he is very confident in what he is wearing and how he looks.

The different font styles and colours used for the font gives my music magazine front cover an artistic, unique look that relates to bad youths and dangerous young adults. On my contents page I have picture of my artist on the background which represents my page and keeps the style consistent. In my double page spread, the featured artist is showing his angry and hood side in many of the pictures with the way he is posing and her appearance. There is one picture on my double page spread where facing the camera with his chain and has confidence, this hugely represents youths today as they are all about having fun and enjoying themselves with all these crazy poses. The colours used on the page are all the colours from the background images I have used on featured b boyz artists. This represents the genre of my music magazine. 

Q. What Kind of institution might distribute your music magazine and why?

The main institutions that may sell my music magazine would be local newsagents and HMV. I think areas like Central London, Camden Town and West London will find my magazine most appealing which is why I think newsagents in these areas might distribute my magazine. As for HMV, my music magazine might be sold by all their stores throughout London. Other shops which sell magazines such as Borders may also be a good place to distribute my music magazine. This would be a huge advantage for my music magazine as it will be selling with other well known magazines which aren't only sold around the UK but world-wide. This will also be beneficial for my music magazine as I can publish news and artists/bands which aren't just from the UK but all around the world such as America. Having a link with world known magazines like in America could help the success of my music magazine because my audience will see that my magazine doesn't just consist of news and artists based in the UK. This would work extremely well because magazines like 'Vibe' (which is an American magazine) has worked its way to selling successfully in the UK in many sole-traders like newsagents, corner shops etc. The reason for this is because the magazines understand the concept of psycho-graphics and demographics of their target audience.

As for train stations, I don't think my magazine should be distributed there. This is simply because kiosks at train stations mainly distribute free magazines and newspapers which feature reviews about music. So, I don't think my target audience will spend money on a music magazine when they can just find out all the latest reviews in the free magazines/newspapers. 

Q. Who would be the audience for your music magazine?

The main audience of my music magazine will be a youthful and mainly male audience. The reason I say this is because mostly boys like rap and grim music, this is because mostly boys like to idea of hood music so they can show off what they think of other people around the area. It is very rare to find girls that like rap music and would spend money on buying a music magazine about rap. I have also chosen a youthful audience because Rap music is mostly listened to by young people. Mainly from the age of 12-25, this is because older audience tends to listen to more constructive music rather than rap.  By aiming it at this audience I will have played against my strong points. This should make my music magazine very popular amongst my targeted audience. From what information I have gathered I have picked the right audience to be targeting because that where i will make most of my profit from. This will guarantee me my full profit.

Q. How did you attract/ address the audience for your music publication?

My music magazine attracts and address’s my targeted audience in a number of ways. The front page of my music magazine is very modern and stylish which appeals to young people as soon as they see it. I also have a picture of a young youth, representing the idea of my magazine by having him on the front so that the audience can see it. This gets them interested into the magazine; it also shows what my magazine will be about because the picture I have used on my magazine is a young person with jewelry and dark clothes with a hat on which is how hood and rap artists wear. And my strap lines and images are also very interesting from a youthful audience. This is because I have many interviews with young people’s role models and the latest and greatest rap artists.

Q. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I have learnt many things while using the different types of technology to create this magazine. On the software’s I have used is Photoshop, this is a very complex and professional piece of software which professional use. At first I found it hard to work with it but after a while I got the hang of it. I have learnt how to use Photoshop to edit, create and maneuver images. I also have learnt many ways to make text and images more successful and attractive to the human eye. I have also learnt how to present information in different ways by using the internet. Before I started to the creation of the magazine I knew very little about Photoshop, this has helped me gain more skills for future references.   

 

Q. Looking back at your preliminary task, of designing the front page of a school magazine, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

When I first practiced into making a magazine was with the school magazine which we had to produce a magazine on the school. At first I didn’t know how to make the magazine very effective and professional looking because I was not aware the type of software I had in front of me, I also did not know how to use Photoshop very effectively which made it less of a chance to make the magazine look professional.  After we was allowed to play around with every software to see how they work and how we can use them to make are magazine look even better, this helped me a lot because I became familiar with each type of software, which became very useful to me when it came down to creating the real magazine. When I first started to create the magazine on Photoshop I was still unsure about how to use it properly, but after a while with working with it I got the hang of other features like having my front picture glow so it makes it stand out more and grabs the audience’s attention.