PitchBY OLIVER MIDGLEY

Name

The working name for my music magazine is “Outskirts”. My research showed that indie/ alternative music is a common favourite amongst those that answered, hence I wanted a name that would reflect and relate to my audience. I played around with the idea of being on the outside with other titles such as Fringe, Verge, Brink and Margin emerging. Indie music, by name, means its followers are individual and therefore not part of the mainstream hordes- they often find themselves isolated and on the “Outskirts” of society. I picked this one, out of the others because some were already taken by established magazines, but mainly because it is defined by the dictionary as being the border to a city, meaning it better emphasises the fact that it is on the outside of a popular/ mainstream/ congested area (pop music) than other titles like margin and fringe would suggest. It also has some dark, mysterious connotations which appeal to a wide percentage of indie/ alternative followers.

Genre

The genre I have chosen for my music magazine is Indie. It came out as the most favoured genre in my survey. Furthermore, it placed second and third favourite a fair number of times showing not only is it the most favoured but of interest to an even wider audience meaning there is potentially a larger demand. This is partly thanks to its sub-genres like Indie-Pop and Indie-Rock. Pop and Rock are already two genres with a large fan base so to be able to appeal to them in my magazine as well may open up an even larger market. I feel that the Indie culture is growing and there is a definite demand for it. ‘Indie’ is short form for ‘Independent’ or ‘Independence’. This has quite ambiguous implications and can very much be open for interpretation. The more people that are interested in being indie (however they interpret it), the bigger the segment I have to sell to. People could try to attain the Indie status by: discovering new music first, owning fashionable brands, following popular but Indie artists or by rediscovering forgotten, retro things. Outskirts will allow everyone to accomplish these feats. The magazine is as much about cherishing the already Indie audience as it is to help introduce and nurture newcomers who want to gain access to a desirable group.

Cover Price and Size

I will price my magazine at £3.50, I feel this is fairly cheap for a monthly music magazine which will have a lot of content. My survey showed an almost equal number of responses for how much people would be willing to pay for a magazine with £3-3.99 just beating £2-2.99. I am aware that choosing to price my publication in the middle of the winning range may risk discouraging a considerably large portion of my potential customers who may not be able to afford it, however I feel it is a necessary decision as otherwise it would be hard to financially justify and sustain this magazine. Furthermore, due to some ambiguity in my survey, there is no way of me knowing what frequency of publication respondents would be expecting for this maximum price. Obviously, one should be prepared to pay an increasing price per issue as frequency falls. Consequently, some of the responses could have stated the maximum price they are willing to pay for a weekly magazine and therefore may be willing to pay more for a monthly, lessening the importance of the £2-2.99 limits expressed by some. Another reason I have confidence in the cover price I’m charging is because the bulk of my audience are middle class- this infers their family would receive enough income (and as result enough disposable income) to afford the product. According to price elasticity of demand as well, there is less of a change in demand for products which only cost a small portion of the consumer’s income. This is because any change in price is so small it’s barely noticeable. I would regard a magazine as only costing a small share of total income so a slightly higher price (around 50p) will barely affect each consumer, but on the big scale that it applies to the publisher, they will add up and make a big difference. My magazine will contain around 80 pages. This is more than the number of pages for the average magazine, regardless of frequency of publication, coming in at around 50. As for a monthly magazine, around 100 is a common number so it falls below that, but it is to be expected for a magazine in the start-up stages as they may not have the resources or the contacts to create a fully-fledged magazine.

Frequency of Publication

My magazine will be published every month. For those who answered my survey and said they do already subscribe to a music magazine, monthly came out as the most common frequency of publication. This could be a factor that has influenced them to buy the particular magazine, so I will base my own upon these, seemingly more popular, magazines. A second source which motivates my own product is that of Q magazine- out of the three magazines I analysed, it is the one I most aspire to be like. Q, a hugely successful, fairly indie magazine, is published every month and so I want to imitate that aspect. Being a monthly magazine will mean there will have to be more content compared to a weekly or bi-weekly publication and I would expect more ‘Big’ features whether that is an interview with someone considered influential in the relevant genre of music or an exclusive that reveals a shocking personal story. With more resources come more costs however and I would have to charge a higher price to cover these larger costs and this could potentially deter customers.

Magazine Style and Attiude

My magazine will be very clean cut/ simplistic. I want to avoid using lots of boxes and outlines to separate my features and instead design a finished product that is seamlessly integrated- this could be achieved by using fade/ wipe effects on my images and gradient colouring on my text. For my cover, I will use greyscale. Black, white and grey have almost become part of the Indie brand. I think this is because colour can distract from the truth- drain the colour and you really see the picture for what it is, focusing more on the subject. This matches with the idea of Outskirts- escaping from the fake, extravagant masquerade that is society and finding the truth. Furthermore, black and white captures the mysterious, edgy theme I want too. Visually, I want to make everything in the magazine clear and definite so it is easy on the reader’s eye and just generally easy to read/ comprehend. On the other hand, linguistically I will write less explicitly, leaving the interpretation down to the reader. I will include complex sentences and ambitious vocabulary. I feel I am able to do this because my audience are predominantly middle class meaning they will have a high level of education and can understand it. Specialist terminology will also be used because it shows that the columnist is knowledgeable in his area and makes the articles more credible/ trustworthy. Finally, this language will in time rub off on the reader and aid his efforts to sound sophisticated and be an expert on the topic. Simultaneously, I want the articles to have a sharp, witty, almost conversational tone to them. This element of humour will appeal to what is a fairly young audience who prefer a bit of informality compared to constant severity.

Reader Profile

Elliott is 18 and lives in York. He is in his second year of studying A-levels at college and is actively looking for a part-time job but is fussy about which jobs he applies for. He is renowned amongst his friends and acquaintances for being a scout of new music, leading it with a torch for more mainstream, public consumption and taking great pride in doing so. He can sometimes be, unintentionally, patronising when discussing music with his peers- he is well aware of the pretentious, Indie reputation that precedes him but is able to joke about it and in some occasions play up to it. Any mention of the label “Hipster” and his playful mood soon takes a turn.He is popular amongst the majority, who are able to see past his supremacist attitude to music taste, and can instead appreciate his quick wit and sarcasm, strong political interests and chivalrous/ gentlemanly behaviour. However, he only has a handful of close friends and would prefer to just hang with them than be out partying amongst the masses (and that’s not even because of the awful, repetitious music). While his own instrumental ability only stretches as far as being able to play “Wonderwall” on the guitar, he likes to support wannabe artists by going to see a local gig every other week.His other hobbies and interests include playing a variety of sports, primarily 5-a-side at his nearest AstroTurf pitch, although he avoids anything too arduous as it does not favour his lanky physique. When it comes to gaming, there’s only one platform and that’s PS4. Anyone who says otherwise is wrong. Period. He prefers team-based games and takes advantage of PlayStation’s recent partnership agreement with Spotify to stream music from his console. Whilst trying to stay alternative, he refuses to abandon good quality brands that have now become mainstream like Adidas, Converse and Levi’s.

Mission Statement

The stepping stone for new music. Outskirts pledges to introduce upcoming artists to the vanguard of Indie/ Alternative music and then nurture them until their name reverberates around the planet. We provide quality, pertinent content about real, proper music by prioritising music recommendations and interviews above all else. While trying to develop promising acts, we by no means ignore the already established, iconic figures whom have shaped the genre influenced.