Music Magazine

Preliminary Task

Evaluation Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task (the school magazine task) what do you feel you have learnt in the progession from it to full product?

I have learnt so much since I did the preliminary task because when I did the first task I was so inexperienced and unfamiluar with the programmes like Photoshop and Indesign but after I have been using them regularly for a few months I feel I know the programmes quite well. I feel that I have learnt more about the media industry as I now understand that the audience is the main theme behind any media product as you have to provide the right genre for the right audience.

I put a lot more work into my music magazine and had to do a much greater amout of research into music magzines to become more familiar with them and understand how they work etc. In my research I used different ideas from various music magazines such as Qmusic and NME I used them for the layout of my front page and contents page.
I did a lot of planning before actually arranging my magazine all screen as I wanted to achieve the highest grade possible and I learnt from the lack of planning that I did for the priliminary task, I hope this shows when my magazines are being graded. I saw the priliminary task as a piece of work that was just a preparation task for the music magazine, allowing us to become familiar with using Photoshop and Indesign. My research consisted of reseaching music magazines front pages and contents pages. I also researched what bands look like to see what sort of clothing I would need my models to wear.

I have definitelty noticed a clear change and difference in the quality of my work, from my priliminary task to my music magazine which I am very proud of seeing the change as it shows how much I have learnt and progressed over the course since September.

Evaluation Question 6

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

Programmes I used:

I used Photoshop edit and improve my photos.

I used Indesign to create and plan out the structure to my magazine and used it to add the text on the front cover, contents page and the double page spread.

I used Blogger to display all of my work and research. And it was a useful way to record the progress i've made over the year.

I used Dafont.com in my reseach to experiment with different tittle ideas for my magazine.

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted my audience through my bold vibrant tittle and different images displayed across the page. By using bold and vibrant colours, allows my magazine to stand out from its competition. The structure I used for my magazine was clear and easy to follow, read and understand. I did this by spacing my text out on the page and used a clear font that was easy to read.   

My contents page was set out how professional contents pages are set out, it was full of information and I though it was very easy to understand what article is on what page for example.  The expression given off in the picture on my front page, is of Lewis Gare  ('Louis Turner') who is a right now successful, on top of his game artist who has returned home from touring in America, I got my model to really pose for this photo but remain looking casual, cool and relexed so just a mellow picture of a successful artist.  

I drew my readers in by using the up and coming summer music festivals Reading and Leeds to draw the Indie dominated audience to want to read the magazine to see the official line up and read articles and reviews on the bands perfrorming.

Evaluation Question 4

Magazine Questionnaire

1.  Circle your age:

0-10          11-15          16-25           26-39           40-59           60+

2. Circle sex:

Male                                Female

3. Do you read magazines regularly?

Yes                                          No

4. If yes, what type of magazine do you read?

Sport          Gossip         Music          Cookery          Hobbies and past times         Other

If circled other please give more details:………………………………………………………………..

5. What genre of music do you most enjoy listening to?

Classical      Electronic       Indie        Hip Hop        Pop        R&B        Jazz       Folk       Other

If circled other please give more details:………………………………………………………………..

6. Do you enjoy going to Gigs and Festivals?

           Yes                                           No

7. Do you enjoy reading reviews and articles in magazines?

           Yes                                           No

8. Roughly how many pages do you like your magazine to be?

1-40         40-80           80-100          100-150         150-200            Other   

     If circled other please give more details:………………………………………………………………..

I got thirty people of mixed ages and sexs to fill out my questionnaire.

My results concorded that my magazine would be suitable for both gemders and the 16-25 and 26-39 age groups would be the media audience to my music magazine as the majority of that age group stated that they read music magazines regularly, are into Indie music, enjoy going to festivals, enjoy reading reviews and articles and are choose thr 80-100 page bracket which is how long my magazine would be.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

I conducted a short questionnaire to work out what my target audience would be and what age group my magazine would be catering for.

Evaluation Question 3

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

After researching popular music magazines and their publishers i came up with these results and statistics:

Kerrang is the most successful music magazine that is published weekly with a circulation of 104,544 per year.

Mojo is the second best selling music monthly recording sales of 97,772 for the month.

NME recorded a circulation of 400,948 between January and June in 2009 according to IPC Media.

VIBE recorded a circulation of 800,000 sales in 2007 according to Quincy Jones.

The media institution that I would like to distribute my media product would be Bauer Media eventhough they already have a successful rock/indie magazine, I think they would be the best company to publish my magazine. Due to the fact that they are a very successful media publishing company. I also noticed when researching that the magazines that they are publishing are quite old so this could mean there could be a gap in the market for my magazine as it is fresh material something new! I think with my modern twist on ideas and ways of publishing along with Bauer Medias knowledge and experience in the market along with their finances we could form together and create a very successful team.