Alex KinghamMedia AS

In what ways does you media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

When starting this project I looked at magazines ‘Billboard’ and ‘NME’. These have been big influences in my own work. Keeping a foundation on the genres of music Magazines, I along with my group developed our own. Therefore some of the forms and conventions I have used have come from those as well as others. On my front cover I used a dominant central image and a large a large masthead. This is a common convention used by many mainstream magazines. This is used to grab the attention of potential readers.

‘Muzik’ also has extra images on the front cover to show other content in the magazine its self. This is also a popular convention within mainstream products as it helps to provide a snap shot of the entire publication of the cover to give the audience a glimpse of the product with out them having to pick it up and flick through the pages. Conventions of a front cover include a large masthead and one large eye-catching photograph. Other convention that I have included are; that the double page spread should include a large, bold heading and different size photographs. The overall image of the artists is positive in order to promote their music. He comes across as a very down to earth person which is appealing to the audience. The appearance of the featured artist is dominant in the magazines representation; he is very casual looking, which helps to convey the message of casual reading for casual music fans.

Front Page• The purpose of a front cover is to sell to your target market

and to inform what buyers what the main features of this particular issue. The front page features a full picture of the pop star of which my main article is based around. This will directly appeal to the musicians' fans and followers as well as the people who have not come across his music before. The picture of him shows him slumping back in a trendy chair with a guitar lying loosely across his lap. This stylish chair, coupled with an equally stylish two toned background, help to show the potential buyer the quality and style of the magazine as a whole. As soon as the readers’ attention has been drawn to the magazine by the large, bright and bold logo, they find themselves being drawn to the word 'Exclusive'. The effect this has on the reader in the shop is that they want to pick it up and read the rest of the page. The front cover conforms to media conventions of real music magazines in a number of ways. My magazine has a simple slogan that reflects the premise of the magazines s point, ‘Get to know your... Muzik’. The price and barcode is also in the bottom right hand side of the page, on most magazines it would normally be there or just below the title on right. The pages has a simple and un-cluttered design with only 3-4 colours used, which is important as if there is to much to read or look at then people will be overwhelmed and the overall message (the main article) could become lost.

Contents Page• The aim of a contents page is simply to direct the reader to

the various articles and features. I have chosen once again to keep it relatively simple. This page has everything that is expected from a contents page; Issue date, information and pictures. For the main features that were also on the front page I have put them in coloured boxes so that they are easier to find on the page. For each of these I have also written a small description of the full article. For Bubbles I have given up about one third of the page as his feature in the magazine is its main selling point. For the rest of the stories and articles I have listed them under their category i.e. Artists, News & Reviews, Charts and Reader’s Section, in a similar style and font to other magazines. Also I have created brand logo or identities of both; Air Strip One (bottom left) and Bubbles (middle right). These brand identities are often used by bands or artists on album artwork or for other promotions.

• I have also included a feature that it very common in magazines, which is the advert trying to get you to subscribe to all future issues. These subscriptions often offer some sort of discount or free gift, I have chosen to offer 10 free iTunes downloads as this directly appeals to any music fan as they can buy any album then want with this. This fits with the ethos of the magazine as ‘Muzik’ is about all types of music and not one set genre.

Double Page Spread• The double page spread features an interview

with the made up musician ‘Bubbles’. The title of the interview is called ‘The Inside Story’ this suggest to the audience that the ‘truth will out’ or that this is a genuine interview with a genuine star. For both the questions and answerer I looked through five or six different music interviews of all genres.

• When looking through these I noticed that a lot of the questions were basically the same for each artist, for example when interviewing a band they are often asked how they first met. Also almost every interview I read asked a question along the lines of “so what does the future hold for your career?” Like wise the answers m the musicians were often similar and had a certain conversationally and chatty flow about them. This page also follows conventions in that it has a small quote m the interview larger and standing out more than the rest of the text. The effect this small quote has; is that people will read that and then will hopefully be interested by it, then will want to read the rest of the article. The language used is very casual and stereotypical of a music magazine; this helps to create a well flowing and attractive piece of reporting.

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

•Similar magazines to my own include ‘MNE’ and ‘Billboard’, two leading music magazines. ‘Time Inc. ’ publishes ‘NME’ whereas ‘Nielsen Company ’ publishes ‘Billboard’ in the US. I think ‘Nielsen Company ’ would be most likely to fund my own magazine, as it is more similar to Billboard and this is not currently published in the UK. Both include independent artists and features on live concerts. Although the basis of the magazines are similar, mine has a different appeal as it is based on all types of Pop music not just R’n’B. Time could also be a potential institution for Muzik as the only similar magazine they distribute is ‘NME’. Although Muzik is competition to ‘NME’ and so could sell along side it and compliment it nicely as resources could easily be shared. As the music style is different it could gain more customers for the company giving them greater sales and bigger influence.

•General store such as WHSmiths, supermarkets and newsagents would sell my magazine as there is a real gap in the market for a universal music magazine, in addition this would make money for the stores who decided to sell the magazines as people often buy more than one item from a store. I also have a subscription option, this is advertised both online and it the publication itself, so that the magazine can sell without the need for the store to sell them. This is a win win situation as we would get more money due to the fact they is no middle man, plus people will never miss an issue. Also selling the magazine online, both virtually and by post means that we have access to a world wide market.

•In addition it would also be a good idea to sell these magazines in music shops such as HMV as this would be a prime location to maximise sales due to the fact that HMV customers are also my target market.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

•Before I started to construct my magazine I had to choose my target audience as that would be the most significant factor to bear in mind whilst putting together the whole thing, from the type of music my magazine would be based around, to layout and images used. I have decided my target audience would be both male and females between the ages of 16 to 25. This is my target market as I intend to make it easy for anyone to read, not just music fanatics.

•The types of articles such as the 'chart positions' and ‘interviews with artists' would typically appeal to 16-25 year olds who are either fans of the artist or aspire to be as successful as the artist they're reading about. These fans are likely to want to know where in the charts there favourite artist is. People of a slightly older or younger age may still be interested to buy the magazine every now and again depending on the content of each individual issue.

•It seem counter intuitive to aim the magazine at any particular musical genre as this would restrict the readership and there for its sales. This is a broad audience so I will need to make sure I include plenty of things to accommodate for all audiences within this spectrum. The design as well as the content will decide who will purchase my magazine. My target audience is anyone aged 16-25, as traditionally this is the age group that buy this type of music and music magazines.

How did you attract/address your audience?•My target audience is anyone aged 16-25, as traditionally this is the age group that buy this type of music and music magazines. This is my target market as I intend to make it easy for anyone to read, not just music fanatics. I aim to appeal to this target market in a number of ways. Firstly I will have articles and exclusive interviews with the people and bands that fans and general music lovers alike want to know/read about. The music magazine will also from time-to-time have free giveaways such as insightful music documentaries on DVD or discounts at leading retailers such as HMV. Some music magazines include a free album of music (usually a compilation of tracks by various artists), known in the publishing industry as a covermount. The magazine will cover every aspect of the music business, from radio and television to CD, DVD and music downloads. It will feature charts, news stories and opinion polls.It will also have a website, Muzik.com; which will also features video programming, including artist interviews, performances and event coverage. A web site is important for any type media of outlet today as it appeals to different audiences and can help provide a more rounded media experience for readers. For example in the printed publication there may not be room for a 5 page interview, so for the people that are interested in reading the full transcript can go to Muzik.com and read the rest. The website would offer full coverage of breaking music news and music chart toppers to music fans. Muzik will be the best print and online music magazine for in-depth music business news and access to an array of digital music, and music videos. Search Muzik news articles about your favorite artist or research evolving trends in digital music. Keep coming back to discover new music, read exclusive interviews and watch new music videos from unknown and chart-topping artists. Readers will be rewarded if they visit each day as it will be updated daily so they can see what new song releases made it to No. 1 on the music charts. Online magazines such as this can generate revenue based on targeted search ads to web-site visitors and banner ads to retail web sites, classified advertisements, product-purchase capabilities, advertiser directory links, or alternative commercial purposes. This will mean that my Magazine should be just as commercially profitable as its website. The website would also feature facebook, MySpace and twitter integration. An online presence is very important as the 16 -25 age group are traditionally very PC literate and regularly use social networking.

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

Part 1During the production of this coursework the main problem that I and the rest of my group had was the pictures. As the brief that we have been given to create this magazine meant that we had to take all the pictures ourselves. We soon agreed that we would have to star in the magazines as we didn’t think we would be able to book a photo shoot with real pop stars. This was a problem as it was going to be hard to find locations and costumes to make it seem as if we were pop stars. I over came this obstacle in a number of ways. To put this magazine together I used Photoshop, this meant that I could manipulate and alter my pictures to make them more believable. For example on the double page spread, the London picture is made up of thee elements, the picture of Tower Bridge, a picture of my friend Josh then thirdly the guitar and strap as we did not have this at the time when we needed it. There was also a similar situation with the front cover, the chair that you see was not the one that he was sitting on when the photo was originally taken, I cut him out then put him onto this more stylish chair then added the two toned backdrop. Then another problem was presented to me, he just didn’t look old enough. This was easily solved by adding on with Photoshop a beard and moustache; this helped not only by making him look older but it made him loo far more rock and roll.

• During the making of this project I have put to use my photographic and photo-composition knowledge along with image manipulation to help create what I believe to be a relative professional looking product. I have also had to study my target market and their wants and needs for a music magazine. The photography is simple but affective in interesting the content of the article and is successful piece of rounded music journalism, as it is similar to those on the market today.

• Whilst creating the magazine I used Photoshop. Prior to my magazine I had not used it much, I only knew the basics. However after using it for a few weeks, of time I began to get the hang of it. As a result my magazine has turned to look relatively realistic. This I believe is partly due to the fact that most magazines now use Photoshop in real life. For my very early drafts of the magazine I used Microsoft word to create a mock-up using pictures from online. Looking back now I can see just how much my use of Photoshop software has improved the over all quality of the finished work. By creating my own music magazine I believed I my skills have advanced. Whilst making and perfecting this magazine I have learned just how much effort and time goes into the production of a magazine.

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

Part 2

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

•By comparing my preliminary task of creating a school magazine and my music magazine, I think it is clear to say that media skills have become much more professional in terms of content layout and quality. I am now much more conscious of the research that must go into projects of this nature, it is a lot more that I initially thought. I now am able to select the appropriate font and layout, due to my research of other music of this type.

•Also when I created my first (school) magazine, I didn’t put as much thought into the images as was perhaps necessary, For instance I now understand how important the Mise en scène is, i.e. the props, clothes and the expression of the person. I also made sure that the people in the images were in tidy school uniform, I also had them with a bag to signify that they were students. However I did not focus on the rest of the shot, the background image looked like just an old building, I should have made it look more typically school like. I didn’t take notice of the expressions of the people; which, looking back now seems to send all the wrong messages. They were both moody looking.

•As a result in my music magazine my artist was made to look casual and cool-looking by dressing accordingly and having an appropriate facial expression for a pop star of a photo shoot. All these little details combined give a professional magazine front page. I knew this was important as the magazine itself would not stand a chance of selling if the front page isn't up to scratch or doesn’t stand out.