Evaluation on Music Magazine

By Monica Deol

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms

and convention of real media products?

Front cover

For the front cover I ideally tried to meet the traditional conventions of a music magazine. This was demonstrated in

many different ways, which included; the layout design, the structure and the choice of colour scheme. For example;

through my analysis of teen music magazine‟s I found that the vast majority did not choose to feature a symbolic

masthead which is conventionally shown in more hip- hop magazines, such as; “Q magazine”. Although most Pop

magazines such as; “Shout” and “Pop” just have a simple bold, catchy masthead. Ideally I wanted to create an iconic

symbol to represent the magazine, but through my research I decided that it would be a more effective cover if I kept

to this convention. I focused on creating a catchy, distinctive title for the magazine that would be effective and efficient

in attracting my target niche audience. Through my process of planning I had come up with the title: “Popolicious.” I

found that this phrase successfully fitted my criteria for the title of my magazine. This is because it specifies the genre

of music the magazine is focusing on clearly; “Pop-olicious”, which makes it easier for my target audience to

distinguish it when put across on a shelf in stores. For the main title of the magazine I followed the typical convention

of music magazine‟s and placed it on the top of the magazine cover. I chose to only use a limited amount of colours on

the cover because once again through my research I learnt that almost all music magazines only have a maximum of 4

different colours on the cover of their magazine. Moreover, I wanted to create a professional neat cover and I think if I

used a lot of different colours on my cover it would look messy and be irritating to the eye. Therefore, I chose to use

the colours; yellow, pink and black and had a white background. I specifically choose to do a white background

because I believe that the contrast with the font colours would allow the cover lines and masthead to stand out more

and attract people‟s eyes towards the magazine. The masthead was written in bright Yellow font, this was done

because yellow is a colour which represents excitement, alertness and is very effective in attracting people‟s attention.

This is because the uses of bright, bold colours immediately draws your focus and are “in our face” colours.

Moreover, I chose to use a soft rounded font for my magazine. This was done in order to appeal to my target audience.

With soft rounded primary colours it attracts my audience as a younger audience appreciate bright colours, and is

welcoming to a younger audience as it is feminine. Sharp pointy font is seen to be more aggressive and intimidating,

which would be used in rock and rap magazines. Once again, to reinforce the conventions of a music magazine I

created a slogan to feature on my magazine too. I saw through my research that almost all Pop magazines aimed at a

younger audiences that a short catchy slogan to be representative of the message they are trying to advocate in their

magazine. I came up with “Teenage dream” I thought that this was appropriate to use for my magazine as it was

aimed at a younger audience and could be related to them.

Furthermore, the image itself is of a stereotypical image of a young, pretty , feminine teenage. This is representive of

all young teenage girls as all young girls aspire to be like her one day.

In regards to the layout and design I wanted to keep it simple and effective as because I was targeting a younger

audience it would be more effective to keep it simple. The information is presented by three main cover lines on either

side of the magazine cover and the barcode was represented on the bottom left corner. All the information regarding

what will be inside the magazine has been mainly presented on the right hand side of the magazine cover. This is

because when magazines are stacked in stores the information can be seen easily and efficiently and there is a straight

forward layout which makes it look more professional and more understandable to read.

When regarding the pricing of my magazine I analysed the current pricing of most teen

magazines. This differed from; a minimum of £1.50 to £2.99. I also based my pricing on

the amount of advertisement that was given in the magazine which also contributed to the

costing. Therefore this influenced me to make my magazine cost; £1.99. Parents of the

target audience will primarily be the ones who decide whether or not their teens should be

allowed to buy the magazine. For this reason I didn‟t want to make my pricing too

expensive as that would mean that the majority of parents wouldn‟t spend over £2 on a

teen magazine. Moreover unlike the other pricey music magazines mine didn't have a vast

amount of page numbers therefore it made sense to not price it extravagantly.

I most definitely thought that the front cover image met the conventions of an ordinary

front cover main image as it was a medium shot and the person in the image had direct

eye contact with the lens. By having direct eye contact with the camera it is an effective

way of attracting people‟s attention because it makes the reader feel more engaged in the

image and makes them feel as though the person in the picture is directly looking at them,

which makes it more personal and lures them in. Moreover, body language is also key in

engaging an audience; the girl in the image is standing confidently and gives off positive

body language. This is a sufficient way of catching audience‟s attention because

confidence is always approachable.

Contents page

On the contents page of my magazine I tried to meet the conventions of a ordinary music magazine. This was done is

many ways which ways which included; the layout, the information provided and the structure of the page. To begin

with, through the process of planning whilst creating my flat plan I firstly was going to make the contents of my

magazine and double page spread. However, through my analysis of teen music magazines I discovered the vast

majority of them only used one page for the contents. I had kept to this convention, because as I stated before my

magazine had many different pages of advertisements which contributed to the costing of the magazine. For this

reason on the opposite page of the contents page I would feature an advertisement as shown in my flat plan.

The layout and colour scheme is simple, professional and uses bright primary colours. Likewise, the colour scheme is

repetitive of the front cover. This is done because all magazine have a distinct colour scheme that they keep to

through out the whole magazine. Furthermore, only two different colours are used in the contents page. This is

because if various different fonts where used it would look messy and wouldn‟t look professional. This suggests that

there are clear specific colour scheme in my magazine. I used bold font to highlight the titles “On the cover” “Top

reads” and “Regulars”. This was done to make it easier for the reader to identify what they wanted to read. The page

numbers written in chronological order, and the page numbers were written in a different front compared to the

other information provided on the contents. This was done to make the page numbers clearly identifiable for each

different feature in the magazine. This would make it easier for the readers to flick through and find the article that

they want to read, and makes it more efficient for the reader. Moreover, the fonts used are neat and easy to read.

Moving on, through the analysis of music magazines I had noticed that magazines such as; “Q magazine” and

“Sugar” had a small print screen image of the front cover in their contents. I choose to feature a print screen image in

my contents because I thought for my younger audience it would be a simpler, easier way to present information by

referring to the main cover lines on the cover. In addition it would be a quick, efficient way for the reader to locate the

page number of a specific feature from a cover line on the front cover. Moreover, I had on the main “Contents” title I

had written the date of this month‟s issue. This kept to the convention because all magazines specifically show the date

of each issue.

The dominant image of Tukhida.R on the bottom right on the page. This is done because Tukhida‟s article is the main

feature of the magazine, and most of the reader‟s would probably want to read about her first. Therefore, I chose to

have take a medium shot of her so readers can distinguish who she is easily and easily go to the page number

indicating which page shows her feature in my magazine. The image of her shows her is once again like the front cover

image looking directing at the camera.

Double page spread

On the double page spread once again, I tried to keep to music magazine contentions. I done this by demonstrating my

knowledge on my layout and design on a double page spread.

Firstly; the footer contains a website address “Popolicious.com” and the page number. This was done to promote my

music website, in order to broaden the amount of people who go on my website. Moreover, the page numbers were

stated on the left hand side of each page, which is how it is conventionally presented in music magazines.

On the left page of the double page spread, there is a medium body shot of Tukhida, who‟s interview is presented on

the right page of the spread. I thought it was essential part of my double page spread to allocate a large photograph of

the person being interviewed. This is because in all double page spreads there always is a large image shown on the

artist which is being interviewed.

Moving on, on the top on the left page there is a short introduction which sums up

what the reader will read in the interview. This is given in different font compared to

the interview on the opposite page. This is done because through my research and

analysis of music magazines it became clear to me that all introductions of articles

were written in larger, bold font. This attracts the reader„s attention and persuades

them to read the interview. Underneath the introduction there is a short fact file on

the artists. This is also a convention I followed from teen magazines. This was done in

order to relate to my target audience, as they would probably be interested in finding

about a few things about this new Pop sensation.

In addition, in the interview, the questions are written in black and the answers in

pink. This is done because in the majority of magazines; such as; “Q magazine” and

“Sugar” its the convention to write in different colours for the questions and answers.

Moreover, the structure of the interview is also conventional of teen magazines. This

was by each different question being blocked and spaced out from one and another.

This was done in reference to benefit and target my audience. The younger audience

appreciates layouts which don‟t have loads of continuous pros of writing. Likewise, in

the centre of the page there is a quote from the interview written in larger bold

yellow font, compared to the rest of the interview. This meets many typical magazine

layouts such as; “Q magazine”. The bold writing in the centre of the article is done to

attract readers to an important and interesting thing that Tukhida has said in the

article.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

From my research on Pop magazines it had become clear to me that there is a clear lack Pop magazine‟s which aim

towards targeting young teenage girls. Therefore, I produced a magazine which mainly focused on attracting the

younger generation of teenage girls‟. Popolicious defines their audience as; “positive, free spirited and all round sassy

girls. Music is their passion, they all want to know the latest gossip on their fav stars! But still get tips on fashion of

course! It’s not just about the music but the whole culture of Pop! The age range varies from ages 10 to 16, girls who

range from just approaching early teenage years and studying a high school.”

The social group my magazine would target would range from; C2 to E. This is because our magazine targets teenage

girls primarily but it is up to their parents to provide them with the money to buy our magazine, so therefore, they

would have to be able to afford to buy a monthly copy. Through my research, I found that language was an essential

factor that would be key in engaging with my audience, which would be the play a large role in whether on not it was a

success or not. On the cover of the magazine I tried to keep the language simple, but effective. Therefore, my main was

to use simple English, which would thus, make it easy for my target audience to understand and relate to what is said

because it is written in a familiar, straightforward way. My double page spread was the predominant feature that I

used to demonstrate my knowledge on teen language. Firstly, in the introduction of the interview I used phrases such

as “New hot teen sensation” and “bringing you the vibe you can’t get enough of!” This sentences were specifically

created to target my key audience through the language used. This was done by the use of adjectives “hot” and

“sensation” where used to make what I was saying more exciting and energised. This consequently, attracted my

audience's attention and persuaded them to read on. In particular I used the word “vibe” in the sentence as forth

mentioned is a kind of young slang, this was used in order to be relatable language to the target audience. In

Tukhida's personal profile I was very particular in choosing information about her that would be relatable to the

audience, as well as being interesting facts. Her favourite phrase; “ I‟m loving it” shows reference to a girlly, happy,

confident young lady who isn‟t afraid of conveying her opinion. The images used in the magazine was also key is

attracting a specific social group. In the front cover image; the girl in the image is standing confidently and gives off

positive body language. This is a sufficient way of catching audience‟s attention because confidence is always

approachable. Furthermore, the image itself is of a stereotypical image of a young, pretty , feminine teenage. This is

representive of all young teenage girls as all young girls aspire to be like her one day. In this image I instructed

Tukhida to wear the pink strapless dress. This was done for many reasons; firstly, the dress itself is representive of

youthfulness because of its bright vibrant colour.

It‟s feminine and sassy, which helps target the young female audience. The dress is very flattering to her figure and

shows her beauty without showing too much sex appeal, which would beneficial in the consumption of the magazine as

parents are the primary consumers of the magazine because it is their choice on whether or not their daughters are

permitted to read the magazine. Therefore, I had to advocate the appropriate message.

On the contents page there is also an image of Tukhida. This engages with the reader and

shows reference to the image shown on the cover. In this image I had specifically wanted to

show Tukhida‟s confidence which I think was shown successfully in the body language. She

is looking directly at the camera and has her hands on her hair. This was done to show that

Tukhida is a confident girl, who is comfortable in her own skin and is feminine. This

reinforces my main focus to target young teenage girls as they find confidence appealing

and many would inspire to be like her. In comparison to the front cover image, she is

wearing a white top, with a gold jacket. I believe that this choice of clothing was symbol of

the pop culture. It is bright and vibrant like the dress and gives off a positive and

fashionable appearance.

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

Moreover, through advertisements related and aimed a young teenage girls and “Pop culture” would also be a

contributing factor to the cost of my magazine as I stated before. I‟ve shown in my flat plan the vast amount of

advertisement that I would hope to promote in my magazine. This is because advertisements in my magazine would

mean large cost savings, as most of advertisements is a result of the costing of the magazine

Bauer Media group is a reputable publications company, this shows that it is a reliable company that would show

promise in successfully advertising my magazine. The reason that it not only is a publication for music magazines,

but also promotes companies and brands online, on TV and on the radio, shows me that it would definitely be the

key factor which would successfully promote my magazine to a large scale of audiences. On the double page spread

of my magazine; on the footer I promote my online music magazine; “Popolicious.com”, with Bauer Media groups‟

cross media production, it would allow my magazine to be recognised and endorsed online too.

Through my analysis of the music magazine; “Q Magazine”, I found that Bauer Media group was

the publication company which helped fund, promote and distribute their magazine. I believe that

Bauer Music group would be the most suited publication to use for my magazine. This is for a

number of reasons such as; this publication distributes a range of different magazines which

appeal to a range of different audiences with different interests. Popolicious is a Pop magazine

aimed at young teenage girls. Through my own research I found it increasingly difficult to come

across a current music magazine which was a specific Pop magazine, aimed at young teenage

girls. Therefore, in my opinion my magazine would be success and beneficial to Bauer Publications

as it allows them to once again broaden their audience.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

From my research on Pop magazines it had become clear to me that there is a clear lack Pop magazine‟s which aim

towards targeting young teenage girls. Therefore, I produced a magazine which mainly focused on attracting the

younger generation of teenage girls‟. Popolicious defines their audience as; “positive, free spirited and all round sassy

girls. Music is their passion, they all want to know the latest gossip on their fav stars! But still get tips on fashion of

course! It’s not just about the music and the whole culture of Pop! The age range varies from ages 10 to 16, girls who

range from just approaching early teenage years and studying a high school.”

The social group my magazine would target would range from; C2 to E. This is because our magazine targets teenage

girls primarily but it is up to their parents to provide them with the money to buy our magazine, so therefore, they

would have to be able to afford to buy a monthly copy.

In regards to the demographics of were I would distribute my magazine, it would primarily be aimed at major urban

locations. This is because in urban areas such as; London, Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham there are societies

that have technology such as computers, televisions and radios which allows them to keep up with trends, fashions and

global interest. This means specifically most young teenage girls are socialised into this “Pop culture” which will

means there will be a greater interest in buying my magazine.

How did you attract/ address your audience?

Moving on, as I said before the layout design and language on the cover is very simple yet effective as it gets to the

point and makes it easier for a younger audience to relate and understand what would be in the magazine, which thus,

makes it appealing to them. In addition, I was particular in choosing the right colour scheme that was used through

out the magazine, I believed that the colours; pink, yellow and black were key in attracting my audience. Younger

audiences are more appreciative in regards to bright, vibrant colours. Yellow in particular represented excitement and

alertness this would allow people to pick it out of a group of other magazines on shelves. This is because the uses of

bright, primary, bold colours immediately draws your focus and are “in our face” colours. Moreover, I chose to use a

soft rounded font for my magazine. This was done in order to appeal to my target audience. With soft rounded

primary colours it attracts people as they are welcoming to a younger audience as it is feminine. Sharp pointy font is

seen to be more aggressive and intimidating, which would be used in rock and rap magazines.

Furthermore, I created a slogan to feature on my magazine too. I saw through my research that almost all Pop

magazines aimed at a younger audiences that a short catchy slogan to be representative of the message they are trying

to advocate in their magazine. I came up with “Teenage dream” I thought that this was appropriate to use for my

magazine as it was aimed at a younger audience and could be related to them. Teenage girls are often as an age where

they inspire and dream of future ambitions, thus this is why the slogan is appropriate and appealing to my audience.

I tried to attract and address my audience in many ways in my magazine. On the front

cover, on the top left hand corner is a small star shaped symbol that represents the

advertisement of a free lip gloss inside. This would definitely appealed to my target

audience, as it suggested that if you brought my magazine they would get something out of

it. Lip gloss or any kind of make up would be successful in attracting young teenage girls

particularly, as at early teen years young girls are always exploring different kinds of make

up.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing

this product?

I found that in this section of work I have learnt a vast amount of information and different techniques which have

allowed me to progress on to different stages of construction on my magazine. Although I had come across various

different technologies that were very new to new and I came across some obstacles in grasping the techniques I believe

that all in all I have learnt a lot of things that will be beneficial to me in future.

During my research I had to use the internet as a secondary resource. I used “Google” as a research engine as I

allowed me to research information within a global network. I used Wikipedia a great deal during my research as it

gave me solid information which was beneficial to my knowledge and backgrounds of music magazines and genres.

Through the research I had learnt that print base magazines and traditional hard copy magazine were actually very

different, in regards to the structure layout and information given. This showed me that it was initially difficult to

distinguish between both.

Moving to arranging the interview with the Pop artist I initially used face book to contact her, however I found that

this piece of in social networking was unreliable as it was efficient enough in giving me a quick response. Therefore, I

chose to ring the artist up and spoke to her on the phone, which allowed me to have a quick interview with her which I

recorded on my phone, which I later typed up and allowed me to finalise the photo shop day and time. I learnt that it

was easer to talk to the artist verbally on the phone was then you gave a clear verbal reply and I believe it also made

more personal and friendly and when I met her on the photo shop it was easier to get started and be acquainted. For

the photo shop I chose you use the college‟s professional camera. This was because I was advice that this camera

would give me a clear better quality images compared to my average digital camera or my phone camera. Initially to

start off with it was difficult for me to use the camera was it was the first time I used a professional camera. However

I quickly grasped how to use it. What was most difficult in taking the images was learning how to focus the camera so

the picture wasn‟t blurry or out of focus. I learnt the way to do this was to hold the camera with my arms bent and

pressing against my chest and holding the camera straight. When I grasped how to take the image I when had to take

in some fundamental issue that would need to be acknowledge if I wanted to create an image which was acceptable to

use for a front cover. I had to check the lighting was correct, take the picture with a plain background so I could easily

effect it on photo shop and take a medium shot with direct eye contact. In the end of the photo shoot I found it

enjoyable and would say I am now confident to do something like that again in the future.

Moving on, what I found most difficult to grasp in this whole process was how to use In design and Photo shop. As a

person who was completely new to software such as; In design and Photoshop, I would now say I have mastered basic

skills and techniques which helped me creating my magazine. I had planned to use In design to create my magazine on

however, through the first few days of trying to master the program it became clear to me that I was not grasping this

was quickly as I intended to and was making me increasingly frustrated and more and more intimidating to use.

Finally, then I decided that as I only had a minimal amount of time I would try to use Photo shop as well to see if I

found that any easier. Fortunately for me, I had got the hang of that much more quicker and decided that this was

the program I would use to create my magazine. Now I would say understand the basic technical skills to use this

program, I learnt how to layer different pages in order to create cover lines, images and other fundamental

information that all magazine should have. I have learnt how to lay out contents, front covers and double page

spreads to meet the average conventions of music magazines .

In addition in this piece of coursework I have also been using “blogger” to provide a dairy of my progression in this

course. Blogger in an efficient network that helped to illustrate my growing understanding and knowledge of media

in music magazines. I also used “slide share” to easily access PowerPoint's on the blog, which I found difficult to do

and the start of the course but gradually got the hang of it.

Finally, I have learnt a great deal of knowledge in this course, which has allowed me to before more familiar and

confident this technologies I have never used before, and all in all I would say I will definitely use this techniques again

in future.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt

in the progression from it to the full product?

I would say that I‟ve learnt a vast amount of information and different techniques. Through the beginning , when I

done my preliminary task to now where I have finally created a music magazine. To begin with I was very

apprehensive and intimidated to use the new technology which I needed to create my magazine, such as; Photoshop

and In design. As It was my first time using both programs I found it difficult at times to use both programs, however

I would say I am now much more confident and will use these programs again.

My preliminary was a very basic font cover and contents page. I showed no knowledge of representation,

understanding of conventions of music magazines or showed a clear target audience I wanted to aim at. In my final

music magazine I would has it was successful in showing those things. It was taught me how much power the media

industry has in influencing audiences and how important it was to position my audience to see the images and

information I showed in my magazine. Likewise, it was shown me the importance of having a clear distinct audience

as not everyone likes the same thing. Therefore that is why the magazine industry is always trying to reach out to all

members of society which a range of different audience.

To conclude, when I started this course, I would of never of though that Media is so influential to individuals in

society, and how cynical is was into manipulating and representing different kinds of images to promote a certain

ideology and message. I have definitely learnt a number of things that has made me much more aware of the influence

media has on society. I am also more knowledgeable in regards to representation and how it is a process of mediation

which can be re-presented by a third person which can make what it biased and thus, not reality. So now I don‟t

believe and question everything I read in the newspaper and in magazines.