For my piece of Media coursework I chose to do a print product music magazine

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

For my music magazine I carried out much research into generic codes and conventions of existing products. From doing this I found all the concepts that make magazines successful in the market.

for instance they all have large striking headlines usually in the middle of the page, and large feature picture covering the majority of the cover and a catchy bold name for the magazine, these three things are the most eye catching on the front page

Also on the cover page it will include complimentary colours to look attractive, strap lines and easy to read.

Finished product

Existing product

The genre I chose for my music magazine was the indie genre. I chose this because it is music that I am very much in to myself and can relate to my target audience first hand. The indie genre is not the most popular genre with music as I gathered from my research but the magazines are quite popular.

These popular indie/rock magazines follow the same conventions as I followed with my magazine. For instance they each have a large feature picture, title and headline. This all catches the eye.

The magazine industry is very hard so it is important when producing a new magazine that it has a unique selling point. A unique selling point is having something different in your product than other competitors.

In my product that I made. I went through much research and decided to stick with the classical music magazine with gig/album reviews etc but include more information on the celebrities. My magazine was a mix of a gossip magazine such as heat and a music magazine such as NME.

This would be appealing to both male and female audiences as it would give them an insight on more personal life and information they may want to know about.

Life stories

Bold title of magazine

Large feature picture

Large bold heading

strap line

Large feature picture

Large simple text on a feature article

Stating clearly what page of the magazine this is

Information on what will be included in the weeks issue

Stating brand name

Reinstating the name of the magazine

Information on future magazines

Feature picture and information on the weeks issue

News box on latest information

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Stating who the pictures were taken by

Main feature band picture

Quote boxes to become more attractiveFeature article

Feature articleMain feature picture

Name of magazine

In order to see what other people thought of my finished product I created a questionnaire to fill out. From this questionnaire I could gather what they thought the age range of my magazine was for and what genre they thought it is. From my questionnaire I gathered the exact results that I wanted. The people in which I asked could tell straight away that it was an indie/rock magazine from the main picture on the front amongst other aspects. They also thought That it was based around the male teenage audience which was also who the magazine was aimed at. This gives me great perception that I followed the concepts of my genre well.

Feedback of my magazine was very good people made quotes such as “The title suggests that it’s fun and exciting to read”

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Stereotypes and social groups are always represented in the media whether it is for good reasons or bad. Within my product I based my social groups on teenage indie males. For young males in the media it is usually portrayed in a bad way with ‘hoodies’ but not for the indie/rock type genre.

The male indie stereotype has evolved over the years from the classic punk rock era to todays Brit pop scene. This evolution inspires such things as different hair styles and clothing.

From these pictures you can gather a stereotypical look to the indie male. Which is usually scruffy laid back clothing with messy hair styles.

To get the right indie look for my magazine I carried out much research in the indie concepts. I decided to pick the clothing in which they wore and added props such as guitars so that it would be easy for the audience to gather the genre of my magazine. Throughout other magazines such as NME and Kerrang! This is the type of thing that the celebrities would be wearing. Both of my characters in my magazine front cover represent this in what they’re wearing. Jonny Brown is wearing the very typical hoody which is very laid back. Austin in the centre is just wearing a scarf and tee whilst playing the guitar which is very good indie look.

On my double page spread and contents page I have kept with the indie genre. From these pictures you can see that they are wearing laid back simple clothing and looking quite scruffy. This is the exact look that I was aiming for in my magazine.

3.What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Media institutions are vital within media brands. This is because they print and distribute media products. For any media product they need to be distributed well to go out in newsagents and supermarkets to reach their target audience

I feel that IPC would be best suited in distributing my magazine as they already work with NME magazine something that I did a lot of my research on. It is a magazine that is very similar to mine in the genre. I feel that within the market there is space for my magazine. IPC produce a range of weekly and monthly magazines. As mine is a cheap weekly magazine that not only contains all the music information but also celebrity information as well which gives ‘supersonic’ high audience priority.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

For my media product i took many things into consideration on my target audience using GRASS.GenderRaceSocio – economic Status

Target audience – •Male•14 – 20•Indie/rock fans•SNERT – Snot Nosed Egotistical Rude Teenager•KIPPERS – Kids In Parents Pockets Eroding Retirement Savings

I set my target audience around this as many teenage males do listen to this type of music. I researched the UK top 40 to gain knowledge of the genre of music in the charts. I found that although the majority of the music is pop, it is really the female audience that listen to it. The main number of teenage boys in todays society listen to the indie rock or brit pop. Taking that into consideration I think that the audience is set well for my magazine. However girls will also be interested in my magazine because of bands such as Paramore with female influences. To make my magazine more appealing to other audiences I added more of a celebrity twist on it to make it more knowledgeable. Also the colours I chose were a mix between the classic dark colours but also with bright colours just to make it that more attractive for the audience.

5. How did you attract/ address your audience?

I decided to chose the title ‘Supersonic’ because at first instance when you see it you will think to yourself that it’s an exciting new magazine just from the name

The strapline on the top of the magazine includes acts the magazine will have inside.

This box is bold and attractive to people looking at it too catch their eye and purchase.

This main picture is a classic indie rock picture with a guitar so it is clear of the genre straight away

Picture of other acts in the magazine to keep interest

Prize give a ways and text boxes to give you an insight to what the feature article is about,

Stating the issue number and date of the magazine with the title Supersonic just to keep the audience aware

Text boxes to show what the issue will contain on certain pages.

Large picture of a feature page

Bold writing in which to describe the picture below

Showing information on gig news and a large clear text stating the page

Colourful pictures of the feature band in a very indie way

Feature article based on one half of the page in a basic layout for the reader

Added information on who took the pictures

Quotes in colourful varied text to split the page up and make it more enjoyable to read

6. What have you learnt about technological from the process of constructing this product?

During the course of this subject I have worked with many programmes and technologies such as cameras, InDesign, Photoshop and blogger.

I started off my creating my own personal blog on blogger.com to store all of my work for my portfolio. This made it simple for myself and my teacher to go on and visit my blog to check my work. It kept it neat and in order.

I used cameras in capturing photo’s for my final product. I used a digital camera to take the photos then up loaded them on to the camera for editing.

To do my product I used InDesign. This is a programme in which I can design my ideal format for the magazine and design it in my own way. To get a grip with the programme I used a tutorial which helped me a lot to work the system.

I had never used Photoshop before but found it extremely effective for my pictures. Once the pictures were uploaded, I simply cut round them to have either a background or just cut the image out so it was just a person

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

From looking at my final product and my preliminary task I have made significant progress. The final piece is much more detailed in what is on the page. The colour patterns and the range of fonts are improved. You can see that the title Supersonic is much more eye catching to the audience. There are more pictures on my final piece to make it more eye grabbing. I have produced a better product from what I have learnt from the different programmes.

Simple boring heading

Unattractive picture

Simple plain text that doesn’t catch the eye

Overall I am relatively pleased with the final outcome of my media product. From starting out on this product to finishing it I have made great progress. This is my first effort at producing a section of a music magazine but I feel I made a great effort at it which I am proud of. I thought that I got my point across of the genre and target audience of the magazine from the pictures in which I captured and the colour scheme I opted for. The pages were very bold and striking to the eye to catch the audiences attention so they would purchase. I did this by varying the colour patterns and fonts. However there are many aspects in which I would change about my magazine. Firstly I feel that I could have filled my pages up with more information, font or pictures this would have made it more established on the rack. The pictures that I took could have been set in a different setting with more props this would have attracted the indie reader. Secondly I feel that I did not include enough writing on my feature article which is a problem as that is the main aspect of the magazine. But I do believe I have made great strides in completing a professional looking media music magazine.