What I have done for my music magazine

I have now begun my music magazine so far deciding the title and other details in my last post, I have also taken my pictures which will be uploaded at a later date.
My model for my photo shoot was Ella and I am now editing the photos using adobe photo editor to remove any shadows, I have done this by using colours from the background and colouring over them.
Once I have chosen the other photos I want and edited them I will start on my magazines layout, for this I will have to create a draft, I will also make the barcode as I cannot just use one from the Internet.

Comparison of two double page spreads

Looking at the two articles 'A Round With Biffy Clyro' from Q magazine and 'We Love Tulisa' from We Love Pop. magazine I can see lots of similarities but also some differences, apart from the obvious such as colours and fonts there are also other features that create their own individual style on layout, technique, questioning etc.

For example, each article focuses on different points, the Tulisa article asks all about what is happening to her right now, where as Buffy Clyro are being asked very different sorts of questions, this gives the Q magazine a more playful tone to it. This makes Q seem more laid back and relaxed, but makes the Tulisa article seem like they are asking more about the professional side of things.

The idea of asking more about the groups personal life rather than their professional life allows the reader to be entertained in a way they wouldn't be entertained in other magazines, this focus allows the reader to see into the groups personal life and what happens off-stage. However the Tulisa interview asks more of what her views are on certain things, taking the quote at the top of the page for example  "People are so judgmental  There was nothing creepy about Harry and Caroline at all." The fact that these two people have nothing too do with Tulisa proves my point, they have been asked probably on the basis that they are involved in the similar music genre and so the reader would then read this article to see what her view on the matter is.

The style of questioning isn't the only thing that is different in the articles either, the Tulisa article is pretty much a Q&A style layout however Q magazine  have laid theres out like a script with only initias to tell you who is talking, this makes the article much more of a quick read unlike the Tulisa interview which is more like a long talk to get everything out of her.

In conclusion each magazine approaches the interviews very differently using different techniques, layouts and colours to catch the audiences attention, the only similarity the articles have is that they are interviewing a musician and are both in fairly informal text. I would like to use this tone in my double page spread as it makes the interview seem quite relaxed and also provides a good image for the musician and also the magazine.

Publication Plan

Name of magazine: The Alternative

I have decided to use this as my magazine name as not only does it label what exactly you are getting within the magazine and the genre, it also gives the idea of ‘try the alternative’ as in ‘buy this instead this week’.

Font of name:

Rosewood Std Regular 

or

Got heroin?

I would either choose ‘Rosewood Std Regular’ because it reminds me of the circus, where people go to be entertained and when people pick this up they will be entertained, it is also very different to any of the other fonts that are used in magazines at the moment, or I would choose ‘Got heroin?’ because it is quite edgy and eye catching, it looks almost like a ransom note, just slung together but also reminds of fonts you may have on album covers, whatever one I do choose the other will be used within the magazine.

Positioning statement: The No. 1 selling alternative music magazine in the world

Frequency of publication: Monthly

This is to give time for more CD’s and tours to come out, also allowing time for artists to be interviewed and to ensure the magazine is not rushed, the reader also then has time to finish the last issue.

Price: £3.99

I have put my magazine at this price as it is, I think, an appropriate price for a monthly magazine, each issue comes with a free gift as well and so this will ensure a profit for the manufacturer but also money well spent for the reader/buyer.  

Distribution: Only in large brand newsagents, like WH Smith, as this magazine is quite specific to a certain audience.

Rationale: I thought this style of magazine would be a good idea as their isn’t really a lot of magazines that focus on this style of music, most are either rock, pop or just general.

Style: The style of this magazine is to theme it all around the idea of alternative music, the features will be specific to this type of music and will focus equally on the music as well as the artist.

Regular content: Regular content will include a page of tour dates for different bands, a review of CD’s released that month, a fashion page for both men and women, the contents page, a word from the editor, a puzzle page at the very back, the alternative iTunes charts and also a section for readers to write in to have their say on the previous issue.

Feature content in your issue: These will include interviews with different artists, these are usually harder to get and so will be a sort of treat for the reader.

House style: Reds, Blacks, Greens, Pinks, The colours will vary depending who the article is for, what they are wearing etc.

The fonts used inside the magazine will be either Ariel or Carbon copy with a bold font for the title.

Photo Ideas

As we have now begun to think about taking photographs for our music magazines, I have drawn up some ideas that I may use when taking my pictures:

My Preliminary Task Completed

I have now completed my preliminary task of a school magazine and have put it below, the colours are the same as the schools, I have five photos and one of a student in mid-shot:

The front cover looks a lot better now, I have got a picture of a student in mid shot and also other photos around it to make the page look bust, but in a positive way.
The contents page has the same amount of information on it as the last draft, however it is now spaced out a lot better to allow for less white space.

My Results

These are my results from my questionnaire, I will use these when it comes to putting things in my magazine:

I asked more men than women but not many, this gives me a balanced selection of answers.

 



I asked from a range of 8 through to 27 however my main participants were in the 13-17 range.

 



This shows that on average people have been too about 2 concerts, showing that they are not a regular thing but more a treat.

 



When asked what their favourite album is, most people stuck to quite popular artists, most from the same rock/pop genre.

 



When asked what peoples favourite artists were, everybody gave current singers, Florence and the Machine was the highest, at the same time a lot of their songs are in the charts shwing that people may be influenced by others tastes.

 



When asked if they owned an iPod or MP3, nearly everyone said yes, showing music is downloaded by almost everyone.

 



When asked whom their least favourite artists were, people tended to pick people from similar genres.

 



When asked what their favourite genres are, the two most popular were altyernative music and rock music, this gives me some more ideas of what sort of magazine mine will be.

 



People tended to choose songs over the actual artists.



 

People kept up to date with music through various types of media, mainly through iTunes, TV and radio.

My Questionnaire

Before I start my music magazine, I need to know different details like what artists to include, concert dates, what types of music etc. and the only way to know that is to ask. Below is my questionnaire that I have asked 25 different people to get some results:

Music Magazine Questionnaire

I am currently studying A-Level studying A-Level media and have been set the task to create a music magazine. I would be grateful if you filled this questionnaire out as it would give me a better idea when creating my music magazine, thank you.

1.       Are you male or female? (Please circle)

Male                      Female

2.       How old are you?

8-12                       13-17                     18-22                     23-27

3.       What type of music do you listen to the most?

R&B                       Alternative                         Rock                      Dance                   Pop                        Rap

Other................................................................................

4.       Who is your least favourite artist?

..........................................................................................

5.       What is your favourite album?

..........................................................................................

6.       Who is your favourite artist/band?

...........................................................................................

7.       How many concerts have you been too?

1                              2                              3                              4                              5                              6             

7                              8                              9                              10                           11                           12

8.       Do you own an iPod/MP3?

Yes                         No

9.       How do you keep up to date with music?

Magazines                          YouTube                              TV                           iTunes                   Friends

Radio                     Other................................................................

10.   Are you more interested in an artist or the artist’s songs?

Artist                     Songs                    Both

My Preliminary Task Draft

My front cover I feel still needs a lot of work on, as you can see there is no student in mid-shot, this is because the photos need to be edited more, and the space isn't being used to the best of its advantage. This draft does not look like the previously drawn copy as I think I over estimated how easy the programme would be to use, however I did keep the idea of one large R to cover both Ruislip and Reader. 

The contents page is also very plain and needs more detail but I like the fact that I have put the page numbers over the pictures and stuck to the original draft.

Compare the covers of two music magazines

Looking at the two music magazines, Q and Total Guitar, theyare both monthly and have quite a wide music range, there are lots of pointsthat can be analysed. The target audiences, although slightly different ingenre, are very similar in target age, both probably aiming at 20 onwards.

The presentational devices used in the magazines varies, forexample Total Guitars colours are plain black and white with splashes of strongneon colours too catch the attention of the reader, highlighting the yellowguitar in the central picture and neon pink too highlight articles. Although Qhas similar colours they do not come in small hints but are instead all overthe cover giving it a livelier look.

The cover of Q is made of two separate tabs, one covers justover half the page designed to hold the free CD (this is a good selling point),displaying title and featured articles but no photos, it does however feature aquote from the main article. The second cover has a large photo of U2 taking uppractically the whole page, this leaves no room for other photos and just a fewwords showing different artists featuring inside.

Total Guitar has a lot more photos there main one has beenedited to make the artist look like he has been stencilled on with spray paint,spray paint and graffiti is usually associated with vandalism giving the covera rebellious look. The other photos however are much smaller and boxed in, thisshows that they are not the main article. There is also a cut out of a guitaron the right of the cover, highlighting the products being reviewed inside.

Both main photos make the artists look serious or have anattitude, this could be to make them look cooler.

There is also the fonts shown on each cover both havedifferent sizes, colours, types etc., Total Guitar is all written in capitalsapart from the title. However Q is all written in capital letters and nearlyall in different fonts, bands and artists are written in one type of fontwhereas quotes are sort of scribbled on, this makes the quote look like it hasbeen hand written like it is personal to the artist.

I have learnt by looking at these two covers that differentfonts highlight artists etc. and by looking at the handwritten quotes and thestencilled picture it seems stylish to make things a bit messy and, notnecessarily misplaced, but look like they have been slapped on. It is also agood idea to put your main photo in front of the magazine title as for regularreaders it is easy to recognise the magazine anyway. Also using features like‘Europe’s best-selling guitar magazine’ is a good selling point and willencourage people to buy.