Harrison Cole 2030

Contents • Publisher research• Purpose• Form and Style• Content of magazine• Meanings• Genre• Target audience• Frequency• Process• How is my magazine published?

Ideology

Rock sounds strap line denotes “New Music First”. This verbal code connotes that they have all the new and up to date music that’s new and improved in the genre of rock.

Publisher research

• More facts on the publisher • Rock Sound Ltd is a Private Limited Company registered on 27

October 1998.• Private Limited Company• Publishing of consumer and business journals• Patrick Napier is the head director of the company.

The denotation of the publishing institution behind Rock Sound magazine is Rock sound Ltd, which was put together a year before the magazine was published. The website of the magazine is advertised by a company called Open Company. The Open Company advertise media business via the social websites such as Facebook and even through video sharing media products such as Youtube. Rock Sound Ltd wanted to be apart of the media group so that they can become more well known. –so joined the website of the Open Company. This then increases their business because they become well known on the social media websites.

Source: https://www.opencompany.co.uk/company/03657331/rock-sound-ltd

Rock Sound• ROCK SOUND is a monthly magazine published by Rock Sound Limited, an independent

publisher that started on 27 October 1998.• ROCK SOUND also has a website managed by Sonic Publishing.• ROCK SOUND is a British publication that champions rock music. The magazine tries to be more

“underground" and less commercial, while also giving coverage to more well-known acts. It focuses on the pop, punk, pop-punk, emo, hardcore, post-hardcore, heavy metal and extreme metal genres of rock music, rarely covering indie rock music at all.

The denotation of the verbal code of the strap-line is "For those who like their music loud, extreme and non-conformist" this explains the target audience of the magazine. The genre of the rock is mentioned on the front cover to attract people who are into this type of music. Although aimed at the British market, the magazine is also distributed and sold in Australia, Canada and the USA.

Source: http://www.rocksound.tv/

This image has been taken from sonic publishing website. This is the company that makes the rock sound website. Here on the sonic publishing website you can see how they advertise rock sounds website via the sonic publishing company.

Genre• The genre of the magazine is pop, punk, pop-punk, emo, hardcore, post-hardcore,

heavy metal and extreme metal rock which is suggested by the dark colours the magazine uses. The magazine is of a type that should not be shown to kids as the images are only targeted at the teenagers that are into heavy metal rock. The magazine highlights the type of music that it aims to promote which is the rock. They do this by simply highlighting the tittle of the product which is called rock sound. I have gone through the magazine and found images that are aimed at the type of music that I have mentioned. Bellow I have taken a photo of what the image links to the genre of the magazine. As the images are what the reader is going to see first so making the images linked to what type of magazine actually is , is very important.

This is a screen shot of what I have emailed to the magazine company. They have not responded so I have simply proved that I have tried to get information of the magazine.

Purpose • To ‘inform’ (Katz’ Uses & Gratifications theory) the target audience of what is happening

in the World of rock and update the reader on concerts, album releases, album reviews, and gossip.

• With a monthly circulation of 13,220 it can be considered one of the smaller publications although it showed a healthy profit in 2012 of £187,000. (source: credit safe.com )

• To promote the products that are sold in the magazine that have the link with the type of rock in the magazine.

• The Magazine employs around 80 people including journalists, word smiths, photographers and advertising sales people.

• The denotation of the strap line of the magazine is: "For those who like their music loud, extreme and non-conformist“

The verbal code “non-conformist” connotes how they intend to attract peer groups who believe they are rebelling against society, which is what the magazine aspires to do as well.

Source: The magazine itself, creditsafe.com.

Employees• The Management Team– Editor:

Ryan Bird – Overall responsibility for editing and production of the magazine – Deputy Editor (also handles features / Exposure):

David McLaughlin – responsible for the assisting the editor, this is the member of staff that I have contacted by phone and email for some information about the magazine but have not yet had a reply

– Reviews Editor:Andy Biddulph – responsible for reviewing the magazine and then deciding on any more editing that needs to be done before review

– Digital Editor:Andy Ritchie – responsible for the editing of the website and software publishing for the magazine

– Designer:Dominique Marshall – responsible for the design of the magazine to look good and catch the eye of the readers

– Business Development Manager:Ben Crudgington – is responsible for any business development that may help rock sound improve, for examining new markets, increasing circulation and revenues from advertising

– Editorial Assistant:Jess Johnson- responsible for assisting the management team

– Publisher:Patrick Napier – responsible for publishing the magazine and logistics so people can access the magazine in the store

– There are also a number of employed and agency reporters andf photographers who provide probabhly the most important part of the magazine…. the content.

Source: https://www.opencompany.co.uk/company/03657331/rock-sound-ltd

Form and style • The brand identity of the magazine is a common theme of the Rock Sound ident in black across the top of

the front cover with a photo of the pop group or individual featured in that particular issue. This distinguishes the brand in the consumers mind from other similar magazines. The layout and design of the magazine is always similar, and follows the same order each month, namely:

– News and regular features– Exposure of new groups– Features / interviews– New Albums– Gig reviews

The form of my magazine is rock style as the front cover presents rock music features such as the dark colours with the crazy text which relates to the music style. This ‘informs’ (Katz) the reader that the magazine only cover the crazy style of rock, as the front cover connotes the colours that only symbolise the artistic rock font style. Black is used as the head mast to represent the mood of the music being quite dark and moody unlike the bright pink you would get on the cover of a pop magazine in binary opposition (Levi Strauss). The form of the mag is presented with the band on the front cover with there own rock style. The front cover then has to adapt to using the right colours. Measurements for the magazine are 8 3⁄8” x 10 7⁄8.

News and regular features

News and regular features

Aimed at regular readers and subscribers to keep them up to date with what’s happening

Exposure of new groups

Aimed at readers who want to experience new bands providing dark music and also to expose new groups.

Features / interviews

New Albums

Gig reviews

Provide an insight into stars personal lives and encourages readers to identify with the individual behind the facade

Aimed at people who want to keep up with the latest sounds and entices the reader to purchase albums

Aimed at concert goers and the more social side of rock. Readers can see another persons view of a gig they were at or get information on what they may have missed

Content of the magazine • Rock Sound magazine mainly covers the individual lives of the singers and make sure that the readers know

all they need to know about the stars. The magazine also covers a lot competitions to get the readers more interested. The competitions are related to the rock music by giving away free tickets to the lucky winner to go and see this band. Like every magazine they bring one out every month which means that they need a new star or band on the front cover. They have made on the front cover who they are going to show their main focus on in the main story. They cover in the story exclusive info about the secretes that the fans may not all ready know. The magazine also uncovers all the facts and figures about the star to give the reader a good idea of where they are in todays charts and popularity rank. As the magazine is based on the rock the mag gives out free rock posters which cover the different features of rock. This way the rock fans get to read about what they love that’s related to rock. So for example they cover the guitars and what kind of band would use them. They then link them to the gigs the ads go to. The reviews also are very important because then the reader would know if the band is worth to go and see perform live at a gig.

Content of the magazine • The contents is similar in all issues of t magazine. It is :

– Laid out with two columns, images relating to a feature article– Prior to the contents page there is an editorial summarising the particular issue, together with named

employees and magazine facts such as circulation, ownership and contact details– Structured - page numbers on the images which anchors to the written contents– Regular features are highlighted

• The contents page uses the same, simple colour scheme as the front cover

• The contents page – is divided into categories and headings used to identify each feature. – Main categories – news and regulars written in the same conventional way– Page number– 1or 2 words which could be the artist’s name or ambiguous text to intrigue the reader in bold type and

often capitals– Sublines - giving more specific detail about what the articles are about

• The language of the contents page could be considered quirky, often changing tense mid way through a statement and clearly trying to draw the readers eye to particular articles

Website analysis • The rock sound music

magazine has the perfect website for finding out when the latest gigs are. They are presented underneath the navigation bar. The navigation bar gives you many features such as looking at all their new videos and photos that they keep in their gallery of all the bands that they feature in their magazine. Reviews and compotation's are also kept in the navigation bar. This is to make the viewers more interested.

Contents page

Here all the content of the magazine is kept here that I have mentioned in the previous slide.

MastheadThe denotation of the mast head is the heading is large and bold with a white back ground. This makes the text very eye catching. Has a mixture of colours including green, black and white to make the masthead more bold. The verbal code for the music magazine “Rock Sound” connotes the genre of the magazine being rock. They want the sound to resemble the rock being heard through the magazine.

Main imageYou me at six band has been put in front of the masthead to make sure that the front cover is all about the band

Main head line Goes with the main theme green which also makes it look very bold and eye catching.

Cover lines that give nick names to other stories but use a different text to make you me at six more visible and important

Meanings

Barcode

‘Social climbers’ (Maslow) would appeal to the exclusive new CD because it is an opportunity for purchases of the magazine to own a CD that may not be available through other outlets

The gender for this magazine would be aimed more at the men due to the front page displaying a boy band. There is a higher amount of boys who are into the band you me at six than there is for the girls.

Due to the style of the band members the age group would be aimed around young adults

Meanings

Here the main image has been presented by being placed in front of the mast head to make the band stand out.

Here the main head line for the bands name has been made bright green. This makes the text stand out a lot better. This colour has also been used as part of the bands style. Green can be symbolised as being quite messy and stands out. This make the image of the band therefore stand out.

The light shade of light on their faces to make them appear in the rebellious attitude they want you to see.

The magazine wants to make the quote bold by using a black back ground and white text. Then the red text at the end of the quote is the name of the singer that made the quote. This makes the singers name look important as the text is in a different colour which also stands out.

Meanings

These boxes have been provided for the interview on questions and answers. The questions have been put in red and the answers have been answered in a smaller and darker text. This then makes it a lot more easier for the reader to understand what is going on In the interview.

Using the black back ground connotes the dark and rebellious attitude.

The headline of the spread page have a good contrast of colours due to having the bold red colour makes the text very bold and eye-catching

The main image takes up the whole page to show how the main subject is the band that the text is mainly based on. The image matches the tone of the text. The image is quite dark and mean which then matches the colour red.

This image is how the band converts there style over by using the back ground and the types of clothes and colour of the picture which then again also matches the text which is red.

Pull-Quote from the singer, here we have the captions that the singer had said to the magazine editor.

Meanings

Target audience • The target audience for the Rock Sound magazine is teenage rock fans between the age of 15 to 22. Using Katz’ Uses

and Gratification theory, the target audience can relate to the musicians and bands within the magazine and feel a close bond with the subjects. This enables the audience to escape from reality for a while, giving the publishers an opportunity to educate and market to the target group.

• There is an argument that the target audience for “Rock Sound” are ‘social climbers’ (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs), driven by improving their status in society and using the magazine to exist virtually in a fantasy world. This is evidenced by the way in which the narrative is directed at the reader

• Dissecting the target audience using Hartley’s subjectivities, the target audience could be considered as:– Aged 15 to 22– Predominantly male (the articles and photographs are predominantly male biased)– Predominantly middle class (the advertisements and “gig” calendars identify price points suitable for middle income individuals)– Gothic in style (the photographs and fashion comments suggest this)– Predominately from native America (the origins of rock)

• As rock is a very loud and grown up kind of music the magazine is not for young children due to some of the images of the rock stars in their make up. This may scare children due to the images being inappropriate to them. Some rock stars in the magazine wear make up and have body piercing. Some like to give the image as a very dark and casual look with facial hair. As the tone of the rock period is moving on , different types of fashion are coming in to place. The magazine is therefore targeting young adults that like to keep up to date with the rock fashion. As make up and piercings are going out of style, the magazine wants to introduce more and more different types of rock fashion.

FrequencyThe magazine is issued monthly with each month a brand new interview on the front cover. I found an image on the publisher of the magazine sonic publishing. This is official because it was from the website. The image bellow has been taken from the company that maintains and controls the website for the company of rock sound. They have the information about what the company do monthly, so this is a reliable source.

Process

Distribution Date of publication

Editorial and budgetary decision The company will decide what will go into the magazine . This a good chance to think about who will feature in the magazine. They can decide who to interview, what the necessary budgets are etc. They will plan several issues ahead.

Managing the scheduleThe company sits down and discusses the schedule for when the dates of certain parts of the magazine has to be completed by. This way the company can have a good idea of when they need to have information and interview done for the magazine. This also gives the company a good structure to the work they need to produce for the rock sound magazine.

Content AcquisitionThis step is considered to be important as this will make an impact of the buyer. They will look at the graphics before they start reading so they need to make sure that the magazine looks presentable. The illustration will be put at its best as they will make the magazine look very professional and therefore make a lot of money

Sub-editing In this step they will brush up the finishing touches to the rest of the steps. Meaning they will make sure that everything is spelt correctly. They will also make sure that the grammar and the punctuation is correct.

Page Layout This is where they make sure that they know where they are going to put everything that they have worked on in the magazine. For example they will work on where they are going to place the advertisement and the pictures.

Proof readingThis will test all the other stages for how the magazine will look as the first copy will be printed out so that they can see if the magazine is able to be read correctly. If there is a problem they can then open the documents and then change what they need to so the magazine can be read easily without any errors.

File emailed to printer Once they have checked what they need to check they will print of a few more copies and then send them of to the editor , they will then be checked again and sent back to say they are okay before they print thousands of copies.

This is the final step of publishing the magazines , the magazines will be packaged then sent of to the warehouse where the copies will then be delivered to the shops where people will then buy the magazines.

How is my magazine published ?• I have tried to contact the magazine both by telephone and emails (

david.mclaughlin@rocksound.tv). I did personally speak with David who promised a response but none has been received to date.. My assumptions on process are:

• PRE-PRODUCTION• Create a publication timetable to include:

• Editorial content• Photographic content• Advertising sales schedule

• PRODUCTION• Ensure all content, advertising space and photographs are received at least 2 weeks before

publication to allow for editing, formatting, magazine design and sign off before going to print and distribution.

• POST PRODUCTION• Gain feedback on the publication through readers comments, distribution figures, costs and

income.

LO1 Mojo

• Harrison Cole • Candidate number- 2030 • Centre number- 64135

Purpose of the magazine • The strap lines denotes “The music magazine”. This connotes that this magazine is

THE original magazine. This is the magazine that gives you the best. Saying good bye to the musicians that brought us the classical music. They are known by the music magazine.

• In the market position Bauer have one of the largest publishing companies in Europe. This allow the magazine to become popular and a problem for the competitors.

• You are able to purchase the magazine online for the price of £17. for the hard copy the price of the magazine is £4.99.

Publisher • The publisher for this magazine is Bauer. They are one of the largest publishing companies in

Europe. They publish over media products. They have TV guides that they cover for courtiers. They have food magazines along with puzzles that they produce. They have more than 517 magazine that they have produced. This is why they are the leaders in Europe.

• Bauer slogan – “We think popular” this connotes that Bauer are the ones that are the most popular. In the media industry being popular is very key to being successful. Bauer want to connate that they are the popular ones.

Source: http://emergingspaces.co.uk/bauer/

Form and style • 297mm x 210mm which is the normal size for the A4 that they used for Mojo

magazine.

Form & StyleThe colour scheme for this magazine uses dark grey colours to connote the meaning of the genre of the magazine. The magazines genre is classic rock as I have reached. This is why the front covers colour scheme is black and grey. To represent the past pf rock you can then tell that the genre is rock as the classic rock legends are placed as the main image on the front cover. The mast head is then kept with the white colour to make the text stand out over then main image so people know that this is the MOJO magazine. The font style has been kept as big as possible to stand out. The style of the text is based on making the text the most important feature on the page.The image is engulfed around the black background to make the image look bold with the dark colours.

Contents page • The content of the Mojo covers a lot of

classic rock features. Features from the reviews of the old time bands to the great reunion of Fleetwood mac. What are the top ten classics for today? Mojo cover it. Along side this they will write pages of how the classic rock bands are doing today.

• In other sections they have competitions such as the chance to go back to a concert that a classic performer is playing. The last sections of the magazine shows you the cover story of what the magazine is featuring in the issue.

Contents page analysis

High angle shot of the main image – connotes that the classic performer is still there. Mojo magazine has his story covered in the magazine looking over his story.

Sections indicated by different colours

The main text is bold with the blank background to make it stand out

The quote gives the readers an idea what the magazine content is about when they feature certain stars.

Bold text to catch the readers eye. Followed by the description under the main text.

The featured star wears bright colours against the blank back ground to make him stand out to the reader.

Genre• The denotation of the genre of this magazine is classic rock because every issue

has the front cover of a classic rock band or solo artist. Below is a few pictures from google on what the front cover looks like. In all the pictures you can see that they all have the classic photos on the front cover as their main image. Most of the images that they have on their website is based on the past with the black and white effect. As you can see below are the images that you can find on the website.

Audience Theories • The target audience for the Rock Sound magazine is teenage rock fans between the age of 15 to 22. Using

Katz’ uses and gratification theory, the target audience can relate to the musicians and bands within the magazine and feel a close bond with the subjects. This enables the audience to escape from reality for a while, giving the publishers an opportunity to educate and market to the target group.

• There is an argument that the target audience for “Rock Sound” are ‘social climbers’ (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs), driven by improving their status in society and using the magazine to exist virtually in a fantasy world. This is evidenced by the way in which the narrative is directed at the reader.

• Dissecting the target audience using Hartley’s subjectivities, the target audience could be considered as:1. Aged 15 to 222. Predominantly male (the articles and photographs are predominantly male biased)3. Predominantly middle class (the advertisements and “gig” calendars identify price points suitable for

middle income individuals)4. Gothic in style (the photographs and fashion comments suggest this)5. Predominately from native America (the origins of rock)

• As rock is a very loud and grown up kind of music the magazine is not for young children due to some of the images of the rock stars in their make up. This may scare children due to the images being inappropriate to them. Some rock stars in the magazine wear make up and have body piercing. Some like to give the image as a very dark and casual look with facial hair. As the tone of the rock period is moving on , different types of fashion are coming in to place. The magazine is therefore targeting young adults that like to keep up to date with the rock fashion. As make up and piercings are going out of style, the magazine wants to introduce more and more different types of rock fashion.

Frequency • The magazine is sold every monthly and goes on selling along with the

subscriptions that the magazine has. The company likes to describe themselves to be obsessed with what they do for the readers. So far according to the website they are the leaders in the magazine industry. They are the “experts in music” as they have all the classic music that everyone loves.

• Not only do they distribute the magazines to super markets and news agents they also make sure that they have copies online so people are allowed to download them. This then increases the sales that they have every month.

• Source: http://magazines.bauermediaadvertising.com/magazines/detail/mojo

Production Process

Conclusion • In conclusion in this LO1 I have analyzed my magazine of inspiration and

have know got a good idea of what content my magazine should have. I will take the content such as the purpose and ideology of the magazine. I have researched the target audience demographics of the magazine to then give me a good idea of who I should be aiming my music magazine at.

• In LO2 I will be looking to put my ideas together for the music magazine that I want to produce. Using the analysis of the magazine of inspiration to lead me onto how the layout and structure of the music magazine should be like.