MEDIA MUSIC MAGAZINE

EVALUATION

By Emily Bagridge

In what ways does your media product use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My magazine carries the typical conventions of a music magazine as I have used three contrasting colours as my colour scheme. In my opinion these colours are associated with the genre of rock as the colour red connotes energy, power and passion where as black connotes, darkness and a sense of mystery. And lastly the colour of white connotes a sense of purity and trust, leading readers to believe that the product is trustworthy and reliable. When creating my magazine I based it on the similar conventions that the rock magazine Kerrang uses. Following the similar layouts they have and eroded fonts they regularly use.

Front cover codes and

conventions

Contents page codes and

conventions

Double page spread codes and

conventions

How does your media product represent particular social

groups?The particular social group I was attempting to aim my magazine at is any young person, no

matter what class as it is reasonably cheap to purchase at the price of just £2.50, from the ages of

14-18. My magazine represents the particular social group firstly by the styling of the model used

as the front cover image. The young female dressed in gothic clothing will instantly appeal to the

“rock” audience as they could recognise their own style in the model, whether in terms of her hair

colour or hair style, or her dark clothing. In doing this, it will make the magazine sell more to the

specific target audience.

The main colours used on my front cover are: red, black and white. I felt that these colours are bold

and stand out, in order to attract readers. These three colours are also commonly used on other

already existing rock magazines so must be colours that fit the genre and appeal to the audience of

rock magazines.

I also used my masthead font in order to appeal to particular social groups as I ensured that the

font used was eroded so that it fit in with the edgy rock genre I was attempting to portray.

Furthermore the hectic layout of my contents page was done in order to appeal to the young

audience. I felt it necessary to have my contents page crowded as it was commonly used in other

rock magazines, fitting in with the genre and as a result appealing to the target audience. The

messy look is appropriate for a young audience as they are care free and wild. On my contents

page I also introduced another colour to my house style, of a pale yellow. I felt that this colour

stood out boldly against my black background and was slightly more interesting that just a plain

white background. I ensured that the page was mostly filled with images that were appropriate to

the rock genre, I purposely did this so that my young audience did not lose interest in

reading/purchasing the magazine as if there was too much writing it could overwhelm or bore the

audience.

The double page spread for my magazine needed to link in with the house style, so I had my

background black, writing white and image borders red. I feel that this worked well and made the

writing stand out from the dark background. I also wanted the band I was interviewing to be able to

intrigue readers, and perhaps appeal sexually to female readers and be idolised or inspiration by

What kind of media institution might distribute your media

product and why?The media institutions that would possibly be interested in distributing my Rock music magazine “addict”

would be either Bauer media group or IPC media.

However as I was inspired most by bauer media groups publication of the magazine “Kerrang” I believe my own

magazine would be best suited to them. Bauer has over 100 years in experience and is more than capable in publishing

music related products. The institution owns half of box television which supplies viewers with several popular music

channels, such as: kiss, smash hits, magic, heat, Kerrang etc. The group also establish their products in various ways,

for example with Kerrang , it originated as a rock music magazine but as the years continued Bauer adapted the brand

into a website ,radio station, music channel and various over musical events such as Kerrang tour, and the Kerrang

awards. The company also is the publisher of another top selling British music magazine “Q”. Q magazine appeals to a

variety of different people who have a passion in music as it supplies a great range and variety of artists inside every

issue. The Q brand has also been adapted over time into radio, music channels and musical events.

As I mentioned previously the media institution of IPC media could be another company to consider distributing my

magazine. IPC publishes one of the top selling music magazines NME. However after having researched further into

the institute I felt that they were not as experienced in regards to the music industry in comparison to Bauer media

group. IPC’s magazine products were mostly aimed at more of a niche audience, for example: amateur photographer,

cycling weekly and nuts magazine. As a result to this, Bauer media group would be a better institution to distribute my

rock magazine.