Planning : Features and Articles

Before I can start my magazine, I need to know what features and arcticles my magazine shall have. This way when I start to create my magazine I will have a  better understand to what I need to include in it. Also I have conducted a questionaire to help with my planning, so I know what the public preferes to see in a music magazine.

Contents Page

• Editors Note : for example  "hey everyone thankyou for choosing ...... magazine, etc "
• A Features section : All the main stories and cover stories will be in this section
• A plus section : So show extra pages inside.
• A main image : This might have a short paragraph with it to attract the reader to the page. I most probably only have one image on the page. The main image will be quite bold and also probably to the right hand side- but this might change depending on the layout I finally choose.
• I will have the name of the magazine at the top of the page.
• Typical stories I would have in my magazine are :
  - Interviews with up coming bands/singers
  -Reviews on new music, Gigs, concerts and New albums out
  -concert dates
  Ideas for the name of my magazine
• MM (massive music)
• Dirty dubstep
• 
  Music genres i'm considering for my magazine are
• Indie
• Alternative
• Rock
  or
• Dubstep/Dance
  I came to this decison because this is the music I enjoy listening too (which makes it easier for me to write about this genre) and also the majority of people voted on my questionaire that they would prefere to read a Indie and alternative music magazine then any others.

Coverlines

Before I can start my magazine, I need to think of some coverlines that would be suitable, this will make it easier for me when i come to making my magazine.

I will probably keep the cover lines brief , for example just use the singers names, bands names.

Research: Codes and Conventions

To help me in the best possible way achieve a well created magazine, I need to make sure I use all codes and conventions and also make sure they're right. To do this I'm going to focus on magazines of the same genre to see if they use the same codes and conventions. 

INDIE GENRE

• Both magazines include a bold masthead, which uses the same colour scheme red and white. Also they have both located it at the top left hand side of the page.
• They include a 'plus' section on the front cover, with this they both only simply include band and singer names, there isn't any other detail in the plus section other than that. 
• There main cover story : Their images have both been placed in the middle. Also again they both keep the colour scheme simple with blacks, whites and reds. 
• In this issue NME have included that there is a 'free poster' section within the magazine. Q also does this. Both magazines have been known to have freebies or include posters or demo CD's to atract the buyer. This is something I would consider including for my magazine. 
• Both use bold fonts for everything to make the words stand out. 

ROCK GENRE

Research: Contents Page Analysis

Every magazine, no matter what genre it is, has a contents page inside. This is too help the reader find particular stories and pages they want to look at inside the magazine. This is helpful and also makes it easier for the reader to find what they are looking for. By researching other magazines contents pages, it gives me an example of how mine should look. 

INDIE GENRE

• Both these magazines keep their colour theme simple, with dark reds, greys and blacks. 
• The layouts are pretty similar, as both have the majority of the page filled with writing and also pictures. They both have a main image, which they caption with the page number- this helps draw the attention of the reader to that page. 
• Both contents have been broken up into sections such as 'Review' 'Features' etc This would be something to consider when making my own magazine. This gives more information to the reader.
• Also both have bold headings at the top indicating that the page is a contents page, with added captions like 'NME this week' or 'Q Contents'. Within the bold heading, they both have included the date.
• NME includes a short article about the picture they have included and also advertisement. 

I like how busy the page looks, to me it suggests that there is a lot in the magazine, which I feel helps to sell it more. It gives me the impression that you get a lot for your money.

RAP/ HIP-HOP/ GRIME GENRE 

• This is the complete opposite to the indie/rock magazine contents pages as there is only one image, which I would say is quite prerogative. This creates a different look to the other magazines, how ever I feel it matches the genre of this magazine very well. 
• I would say they're isn't a lot of writing, I personally don't think this is a good thing, as it suggests they're isn't much in the magazine itself. 
• The heading is in white and bold, which stands out on the grey back ground. I like how they used a outline of the letter 'v' behind the word contents and the females feet, it represents the name of the magazine and also acts as a sort of logo.

Overall I would say I like this contents page less, I feel that for my contents page I will be including a lot of page information, writing, editors note etc. Rather than nothing at all or very little information. 

Typical features found in a music magazine are : 

• Posters and competitions
• Interviews with singers or bands. 
• Tour or Concert dates
• Singers/bands/artists reviews
• Introducing bands or singers (based on the genre of magazine)

Research: Media Magazine Companies

I've started to research media companies to help me understand which companies would publish my magazine. With this research, it gives me an understanding into what media companies look for and why they publish a particular magazine.

IPC MEDIA

IPC Media own a large amount of magazines of various genres, for example

• NUTS Magazine
• NME Magazine
• Teen Now Magazine
• Look Magazine

The main reason for researching this company is other than publishes magazines from a wide range - starting from sports to beauty to more importantly music. IPC Media publishes NME magazine, which is important for my research as it shows that they could ideally be interested in publishing my magazine.

Bauer Media

Bauer Media also publishes alot of magazines, some examples of them are

• Zoo
• Closer
• Kerrang!
• Q Magazine

As this company publishes two music magazines - Kerrang! and Q - i feel that this would be the better corporation to appeal my magazine too. Also both Q and Kerrang! are based on the same genres of music, this shows that as mine will too be based on alternative, rock or indie music, they might consider publishing my magazine. 

Research: Music Genre Magazines

Before I create my own magazine, I need to research music magazines that are already around, this helps me with creating my own as I have a better understanding of what conventions and typical music magazine features I would need to include in my magazine

NME Magazine

Genre: Indie, Rock and Alternative

Audience: Teenagers, Young adults (older adults might be interested in

this magazine, if interested in these particular genres)

Management

Eric Fuller: Publisher

News/JournalismConor McNicholas

James McMahon
( management information found on http://www.mediauk.com/)

This magazine shows:

Bold Masthead: Used to make the magazine stand out. NME wrote in a bold colour, empathises this. Placed in the top left hand corner makes it easier to see/find for the buyer. The only bad point about the masthead is that 'NME' is an abbreviation of the name 'New Musical Express' some people might not know this.

Main Cover Story: Takes up the majority of the page, bold coloured writing to attract reader. Picture based on genre of magazine. Mainly 'unnusual' images are used to give the magazine edge.

Cover Lines: In this example, they use a colour theme of red and white. This gives you an impression of what will be in the magazine, which attracts the buyer. Normally catchy phrases or a few words would be used to grab someones attention. 

This magazine would compete with other magazines such as Q or Mojo as they both focus on the same music genres and also the same audience. This magazine would be one of the main ones I would focus on as I plan on basing my magazine on the same genres. 

Q MAGAZINE

Genre: Indie, Alternative

Audience: Teenagers, Young adults (typically all fans of these genres of music
Editor: Paul Rees

This magazine shows:

• Bold Heading : However the one letter heading with a bold box around it makes it quite brief but also very effective when it comes to standing out. I like this idea a lot,  I might incorporate this idea into my own magazine.
• Main Image: The main images is very bold and quite out there. This particular image is quite prerogative, this creates a 'out there' look and may add a unique feel to this magazine. A disadvantage to this effect is that some people may find it offensive or too revealing.
• Language: The type of language that has been used is easy to understand and also quite humorous.I have found that most music magazines use a lot of humour in their writing. 
• Font : Bold, Simple font - makes it easier to read.

Q Magazine is a magazine that would compete against NME. As they are both based on the same music genres, they show a lot of the same compounds. I would definitely look at these two magazines in more detail, to help me with the production of my own magazine.

VIBE

Genre: Hip Hop , Rap, Grime

Audience : Teenagers and Adults. People who show an interest in this genre of music. 

This magazine shows : 

•  Masthead : The masthead has been placed in the upper middle part of the page, just behind the main picture. This positioning makes it easier to see,which attracts the buyer.  I think the masthead is boring and plain, but the main reason for this is to make it easier to read, which in the long run is better. 
•  Font : Bold and simple. 
• Layout : There is a main picture ( like most magazine covers ) I feel as if this cover is quite boring. In my opinion I would say this wouldn't attract my attention or make me want to buy it.

This magazine is different to the above ones. For starters it shows a different genre and also it appeals to a different group of people. I personally will not be focusing on this genre for my print work.

TOP OF THE POPS

Genre : Pop

Audience:  Children, mainly female.

This magazine shows :

• Masthead: Hardly visible, if you are familiar with this magazine you will know what the name is.
• Layout: The layout is quite busy, your eyes don't focus on one particular images. Although there is a main images, your eyes are drawn away from it because of the masses of writing. This gives you a hint of the age range/audience the magazine is appealing to. 
• Font: Bubble writing for the masthead creates a younger more childish effect to the magazine. The other fonts that have been used are quite plain and easier to read.
• Colour Themes: Girly colours have been used, mainly yellows and pinks. This type of colour themes, I will not be including in my magazine.

Prelim

For my prelimitry task I was asked to create a front cover and a contents page, for a school magazine. This task gave me an idea on how i would create my final task and also it gave me an understanding of the codes and conventions of a magazine.



Above is my prelim front cover; as you can see I included a mid shot photograph of two college students and I also included typical magazine conventions.

Above is my prelim contents; the brief was to simply make a layout of the page, with no details needed.

Brief

I have created this blog to help with my As Media Studies Foundation Portfolio

• I have decided to create a print for my project. This means I will have to create a music magazine and conduct research to help me understand the codes and conventions of them, show planning of my  magazine and also create a prelim to show i understand magazines- this also gives me practise before i create my final product.
• For my prelim i had to create a school or college magazine, this had to consist of a front cover and also a mock up of a contents page. The front page had to show a mid shot image which i had taken myself and also main magazine conventions. This gives me a understanding of how my magazine should look.