Gregory McLaney

Task 5

The task is to research into similar music magazines on which you could base your magazine. Map out possible ideas for your magazine include: names, possible musical genres and ideas for the articles.

IntroductionI’ve researched in to various different music magazines. I’ve debated looking at the music magazine ‘NME’ and basing my magazine on the ‘Indie’ genre however I think this genre is too indistinguishable. So, considering this point I’m going to research in to the ‘Hip hop’ genre and look in to the magazine ‘Vibe’.

VibeA particular magazine which is popular within the hip hop genre is the magazine ‘Vibe’. In this task I’m going to research in to magazines which have a strong relationship with the hip hop genre and hip hop artists. Mainly, I’m going to research in to features from ‘Vibe’ which may be able to influence my magazine choices for

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Above are examples of ‘Vibe’ magazine front covers from previous issues.

Vibe is a music and entertainment magazine founded by producer Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip-hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down production in Summer 2009, Vibe was purchased by the private equity investment fund InterMedia Partners and is now issued quarterly with double covers, with a larger online presence, aided by the Vibe LifeStyle Network, a group of entertainment/music websites under the Vibe brand. The magazine's target demographic is predominantly young, urban followers of hip-hop culture.

The magazine owed its success to featuring a broader range of interests than its closest competitors The Source and XXL which focus more narrowly on rap music, or the rock & pop-centric Rolling Stone and Spin. As of 2007, Vibe had a circulation of approximately 800,000. Advertisers ran the gamut from record labels to fashion houses to various cognac brands. – Source taken from Wikipedia (Vibe page)

Vibe Covers Vibe Magazine was known for the creative direction of their covers. R&B

singer Mary J. Blige repeatedly made the cover of Vibe, with countless articles following her career. Trio TLC were photographed for the cover in firefighters' gear, referencing the fact that member Left Eye burned down the house of then-boyfriend and NFL star Andre Rison. The first non-photograph cover of Vibe was an illustration of late singer Aaliyah by well known artist/illustrator Alvaro; this was Aaliyah's very first appearance on the cover as well. Other famous cover subjects are Brandy, Snoop Dogg, Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Amerie, Jennifer Lopez, Keyshia Cole, Janet Jackson, Lil Wayne, The Fugees, Eminem, T.I., R. Kelly, Michael Jackson (whom Quincy Jones' daughter Kidada had dressed in hip-hop clothing, reportedly for the first and only time in the entertainer's career), Ciara, who also appeared on the cover numerous times

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and rap legend Tupac Shakur's famous cover story in which he reveals important details about his non-fatal 1994 NYC shooting (two years before his death in Las Vegas, Nevada). – Source taken from Wikipedia (Vibe page)

Vibe Contents Featured segments included the back page list 20 Questions, the Boomshots

column about reggae and Caribbean music by Rob Kenner, Revolutions music reviews and Vibe Confidential, a celebrity gossip column. Next profiled up-and-coming artists. The magazine also devoted several pages to photo spreads displaying high-end designer clothing as well as sportswear by urban labels such as Rocawear and Fubu.

Vibe made a consistent effort to feature models of all ethnicities in these pages. Former editor Emil Wilbikin was frequently credited with styling those pages and keeping fashion in the forefront of the magazine's identity during the early 2000s. Many clothing brands created or linked to hip-hop celebrities, such as Sean Combs' Sean John, Nelly's Apple Bottoms and G-Unit by 50 Cent found plenty of exposure in Vibe's pages.

In the September 2003 issue commemorating ten years of publication, the magazine created different covers using black and white portraits of its most popular cover subjects. It also contained "The Vibe 100: The Juiciest People, Places and Things of the Year."

Many successful writers and editors contributed to the publication, including Alan Light, Jeff Chang, Dream Hampton, Cheo Hodari Coker, Kevin Powell, Erica Kennedy, Sacha Jenkins, Noah Callahan-Bever and Miles Marshall Lewis. Mark Shaw was the magazine's art director. – Source taken from Wikipedia (Vibe page)

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Above is an example of a ‘Vibe’ Contents Page.

Vibe Articles

Here is an example of a ‘Vibe’ article.

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Possible Ideas For My Magazine (Influenced By Vibe)

When creating my magazine I’m definitely going to take ideas and influences from my deep research in to ‘Vibe’ hip hop genre orientated magazine. Firstly, I’m going to create my magazine based around the hip hop genre and base a name around this. I’m going to consider something that has connotations of hip hop. Just like ‘Vibe’ the name has connotations of music and bass which has a major link with the hip hop genre.

In addition to this the images, front cover, contents page and article are all going to be hip hop orientated this will be done by creating mise-en-scene which is linked to ‘Vibe’. I will do this by including attitude like images of artists and basic colour schemes like the ones created by ‘Vibe’.

Adding to this, I’m going to add various bits of information which relates to hip hop in my articles. I’m going to create a story based around hip hop artist and adapt it to fit in to my magazine and my images.

Finally, I’m going to try and aim to attract audiences that enjoy hip hop. I’ll do this by following conventional features such as graffiti and tattoos. I can do this by using photoshop to adapt my front cover, contents page and article.