Attracting and Audience - content of my magazine

Like other music magazines within my chosen genre (HIP HOP|R&B) the content of my magazine will be focused on artists within this sector of music. Often, music magazines such as VIBE and BILLBOARD focus a lot of their attention to popular and upcoming singers and songwriters - with a feature page or double page spread of certain individuals like 'The Weeknd' or 'Rihanna'.
RENEGADE will include freebies, such as free headphones or codes to download music for free. I think that this will be a great way to attract audiences and engage and sustain the attention of my TA as they will be pleased by receiving items for free, and will make the magazine itself worth purchasing.
RENEGADE will also have a wide range of interviews with famous artists and will absolutely include a DPS of my talent on the cover - the magazine will aim not only to discuss music, but will also have an overall focus on the individuals personal life - After researching I found that many followers of the Hip-Hop culture enjoy getting to know the artists that produce their favourite songs.
Despite use of images and font, the front cover of my music magazine will also include colour, mise en scene, sell lines, a bold title, messages and values.

Active VS Passive Audience Theory

Active audience theory argues that media audiences do not just receive information passively but are actively engaged, in making sense of their personal and social contexts. No media product is produced without a thought dedicated to the audience that is going to see read or hear it. Therefore the concept of audience is at the heart of all media.

Active:                                                                                            

- Engaged                                                                                                           

- Involved                                                                                                           

- Responsive                                                                                                                                              - In control                                                                                                        

- Free willed 

Passive: 

- Easily manipulated 

- Compliant 

- Weak willed 

- Followers 

- Controlled 

- Dominated 

Uses and Gratification Model 

This suggests that what people do with the media is administered by what they need from the media and the assumption within this model is that individuals are active participants in the mass communication process. People are seen to be able to select and reject aspects of media volume in line with individual requirements. 

The thinking behind this theory is that it focuses on the long term effects of particular ideological representations on our beliefs and values. For example, media representations of attractive women have been influential in giving both genders and idealised perception of a woman and what she should look like.

David Carson 'Ray Gun' magazine

'Ray Gun' was an American alternative rock and roll magazine. It was first published in Santa Monica, California. The magazine was led by art director David Carson who was born on September 8th 1954. The magazine was highly distinctive, despite being unique in that it did not follow typical magazine house-styles. The magazine had a disorderly style, and Carson's magazine explored experimental magazine typographic design.

As you can see, David Carson has deliberately opposed the typical magazine layout and design with the title at the top, and image facing the right way round. Not only has this magazine used an entirely different form of house-stlye, but each copy of the 'Ray Gun' collection is different from the next and previous edition. 

Here are some more Ray Gun magazine front cover examples that intentionally lack consistency.

Media Terminology

In order for me to create an accomplished magazine, I will need to learn, understand and use media terminology.

Print Media Terms

• Sans Serif 
• Serif 
• Sell lines 
• Quantitative 
• Qualitative 
• Mid-Shot 
• Long Shot 
• Close up 
• Primary 
• Secondary 
• UPPER CASE 
• lower case 
• Mast - head 

- GUTTER:
In magazines there is often a double page spread, which will take up to pages in a magazine directly next to each other. Therefore, there is going to need to be a division between the two pages. The line down the centre of the page and article is known as the 'Gutter'. This thick and defined line will help in terms of presentation of the magazine.

- BLEED:

This is known as the 'margin for error'. The 'bleed' of a magazine is directly in the corner of the page and prevents any white paper showing through, as trimming machines are not as precise as printing press. This is a technique used to prevent any errors occurring at the sides of the magazine.

-TRIM:

This is simply the trimming of the magazine itself and the actual size of the page.

- MARGIN:

The Margin of a magazine is located inside the Trim area of the page.

- COPY:

This refers to written material, in contrast to photographs or other elements of layout in a large number of contexts, including magazines and books.

- TAGLINE:

This is a catchphrase or a slogan, written in a small amount of text, used to summarise news or prominent information

- STRAPLINE:

This is a subsidiary heading or caption used in magazines, it is also a slogan. This is useful to me at it will help my magazine to be easily identified and well established. For example 'Because your worth it' for L' Oreal

- PUG:

A 'Pug' of a magazine, usually looks like a sticker and is located close to the title of the magazine cover or near the side of the cover.

- PULL QUOTE:

A 'pull quote' is a quotation from an article that is used in larger text on a front cover of a magazine to highlight a key topic.

Print Media Terms from Avigill123

History of a Music Magazine - Part two

History of Vibe Magazine 

'Vibe' is both a music and entertainment magazine that was founded by Quincy Jones in 1993. It is a hip-hop and R&B based magazine and features all of the latest hip-hop artists including Kelly Rowland in the example above. The magazine was bought by Miller publishing in 1996 and the magazine is owned by 'The Wicks group' as of the year 2006.

The magazines target audience is relatively young, as many readers of 'Vibe' are urban followers of the hip-hop culture, as well as people that listen to chart music that is often played on the radio. This genre of music is often seen as 'mainstream' due to the fact that chart music is well-known, particularly by the general public because of the high amount being played on the major radio stations such as 'CAPITAL' and 'RADIO 1'. Almost every hip-hop and R&B artist has featured on the cover of 'Vibe' including highly successful singers and rappers such as, Beyonce, Kanye West, Drake and Ciara.

This music magazine offers its young audience not only the latest details about new releases by artists, but also gossip and news about celebrities of music, which shows that the magazine is highly commercialised and offers entertainment as a unique selling point. 

Despite using a different colour theme on each magazine edition, the magazine remains with the same house-style throughout every copy. With further research, I noticed that each colour scheme is adjusted to express the character of the celebrity on the cover. For example a subtle pink has been used to represent Kelly's sweet personality. 

How has the female on the cover been represented?

Kelly Rowland has been represented as a sex object rather than an empowered role model on the cover of the magazine, almost religiously adopting the concept of 'male gaze'. It could be argued that this is a negative representation of women.

This particular magazine front cover contrasts heavily with the cover below produced by the same magazine company. Despite maintaining the house-style of the cover, below, rapper T.I has been portrayed as a positive, powerful and respectable being. Looking at first glance, connotations of success and humility come to mind. Unsurprisingly, the way that male artists are represented is juxtaposed with the way female artists (such as Kelly) are conveyed. Only women are viewed by the 'male gaze' and the way they are illustrated under this concept may have an unfavourable and adverse affect on the audience. This variation created by the same company portrays the difference in representation in relation to objectifying and to some extent dehumanising women, for the success of a magazine.

Vibe magazine analysis presentation from Avigill123

History of a Music Magazine

History of 'Kerrang'

'Kerrang' is a well known classic rock magazine that was first published on 6th June 1981 by a man called Geoff Barton. It was originally a one of addition in a British newspaper ('Sound') which was a fortnightly magazine, which soon became weekly.'Kerrang' gradually earned its title as the best selling British music magazine by the early 2000's.

'Kerrangs' initial targeted audience ranged from ages 16-25, however over the years the ages of the readers have dropped as more teenagers tend to purchase the magazine. The audience age drop may be partially to do with the regular feature of younger/well known or 'new' bands that the younger generation tend to listen to, as opposed to the slightly older audiences who started off reading the magazine because of its classical rock features. Examples of bands and singers that are often featured on the cover of 'Kerrangs' are 'Green day', 'You Me at Six' and 'Biffy Clyro'. 'Kerrang' has an average of 294,00 buyers per week making it the world's biggest selling weekly rock magazine. Majority of 'Kerrangs' readers are below the age of 35, which portrays that this magazine has a relatively young audience.

Like any other magazine it is clear that 'Kerrang' s aim as a magazine is to please its readers. This has been achieved by including distinct factors that the typical audience for this magazine would want to see such as the latest about new and upcoming albums, free posters, as well as information about interviews from the latest current, most popular artists.
The style of this magazine front cover is also suited to its audience. The title itself at the top of the page has a 'smash-effect' which reflects the rebellious attitude that both the music genre (rock) and the magazine have a reputation for. The choice of colour also suggests the 'disobedient' outlook as the connotations of the ill-lit house-style illustrates a turbulent reaction which is both fitting for the genre of the music and potentially fulfilling for the audience.
Stereotypical audiences for this magazine are assumed to be 'gothic' or 'emo' like social groups, this is due to the dullness in the house-style of the magazine and the insensitivity that is conveyed through the people on the covers and the 'loudness' that is communicated.

As you can see 'Kerrang' magazine has developed significantly over the years, although still manages to maintain a consistent house-style. I think that consistency is vital in magazine production because it allows producers to form a relationship with its readers, a form of almost guaranteed meet of audience expectation, with a potential result of loyal customers. An example of this consistency is the main font of the title of the magazine and the capital letters that are used on every edition, producing connotations of danger and untidiness. 

Gender and the 'Male Gaze'

The theory of the 'Male Gaze'

Every musical genre has a concomitant ideology.

The theorist Laura Mulvey argued that most media reflect 'Male Gaze'. The camera acts as a 'male eye' where women are looked at and men are the 'lookers' therefore making the assumption that women are 'objectified'.

In 1975 Mulvey wrote an assignment which she named 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema'. In this essay she claimed that a patriarchal society is reflected in films and the camera acts as a 'male eye' where everything is viewed from a male perspective, which effectively means that women were identified in a rather externalised way. Mulvey referred to this as 'Woman as image, men as the bearer of the look'. Mulvey thoroughly communicated her argument by use of dynamic language such as 'a world ordered by sexual imbalance' and 'she holds the look, plays to an signifies male desire'. While this was increasingly factual at the time is was published, when Hollywood advocates were largely male, the conception of men as watchers and women as the objects being watched unfortunately still applies today, regardless of the fact that there are more female protagonists in films today.

Issues with the 'Male Gaze' 

• Dehumanising women, viewing them as things rather than human beings 
• Impact on society forever more. Not only to men view women as objects but women change their own perception of themselves, impacting society even as the years go on.
• Element of sexual inequality, making one gender seem more powerful/authoritative than the other
• Pressure on female society, to look a certain way - could be the root cause of illnesses such as anorexia etc. 

The ideology of this magazine featuring 'Beyonce' is satisfying the demands of the male population by being viewed from a men's gaze. This is a typical example of  one of the many 'male gaze' magazine front covers clearly portraying the aspects of the female body that are most 'looked' at and these types of magazines attract the largest groups of people.The GQ magazine is a prominent example of a magazine industry that promotes male gaze in order to please its audience and sustain their attention.

All of the women on the various magazine covers above have been amplified in order to look more attractive to men and therefore have been adopted by the concept of 'Male Gaze'. It is not surprising that 'Rolling Stones' magazine has used Jennifer Aniston in an objectified manner, because of the 'rebellious' and 'sexual' reputation that the magazine withholds and sustains throughout its many copies. In fact, the continuing success of the magazine itself may be a consequence of the 'Male Gaze' concept. However it is also interesting to see other magazines that do not have a 'dirty' status or association with illegal substances use the male gaze concept too. For example, Vibe magazine is known for its great Hip-hop reputation and source of pleasure for dedicated urban followers of Hip-hop. Although some may argue that Hip-hop has a similar reputation to the 'Rock' genre, it is intriguing  to see other musical genres chose 'Male Gaze' as a selling point. 

Although 'Male Gaze' is a brilliant way for magazines to be successful financially, I do not think that idealising women is good for society and I will not promote the concept of 'Male Gaze; in my work. This false perception of women could be dangerous socially as girls from younger generations may be heavily influenced and strive to look like the woman on the magazine, when in reality the woman on the magazine doesn't even look like the woman on the magazine. When I make my magazine front cover I will ensure that the cover does not objectify or dehumanise anyone, for the benefit of influence on society.

Music and Ideology

An ideology is a belief. Every musical genre has an accompanying ideology. Often genres divide along binary opposition or dichotomy.

Pop

- clean
- calm
- non-sexual
- Euphemistic
- No drugs or alcohol
- Happy/upbeat
- Professional / 'good' singing and playing
- Fake, artificial
- Money, success  

Rock 

- Dirty
- Aggressive/loud
- Sexual
- Literal
- Drugs / alcohol
- Angry / unhappy tone
- Appears to be less competent or concerned about professionalism (could be questioned)
- Authentic 'for real'

Hip- hop 

- Misogynistic (women hating) 

- Drugs 

- Women 

- Sexism 

- Swearing 

- Guns / violent crime

Images and Camera Techniques

Images play a huge role in the production of magazines, without them magazines would be less interesting. This is why it is crucial that I become aware of the different camera angles that can be used for the cover of a magazine.

Here are some basic images portraying the various types of angles that a photo can be taken from, including the different sizes of shots that I have found. 

Research Methods

Primary Research - This is research that I carry out myself. Examples of this are: interviews, questionnaires, surveys, internet forums and textual analysis.

Secondary Research - This is research that somebody else has conducted or previously carried out. Examples of this are: Websites, search engines, books, blogs and even journal magazines.


Quantitative Research: This is research that is of concern with data, identification of patterns and trends. For example, 'more men than women read 'KERRANG' ' or if more women than men read fashion magazines.

Qualitative Research - This is research consists of idea and opinions of people, including their thoughts and feelings. An example of this research could be an interview.

My research methods I intend to use will be interviews and surveys. I think that this will be the most effective as this will enable me to receive information about my magazine quickly and the data I receive will be up to date. I may also use textual analysis as I may compare my magazines to other magazines that have previously been successful. An element of quantitative research may also be included as I would like to find out which groups of people like particular music magazines.

The Four F's

Magazine Culture 

When I make a magazine, I will need to be acquainted with what people consider the 'Four F's' to be.

Format: This is the design and layout of the magazine itself. All about the appearance of the product; the logo, the heading and subheadings, the size of the magazine as well as the cover lines. A magazine is a 'periodical publication containing articles and illustrations' 

Formula: This refers to the critique of the magazine, the pictorial approach and analogy.

Function: What is the job of the magazine? - Before the occurrence of the internet, magazines served a much greater purpose than they do today. This is why it is important that magazines keep up to date.

Frame: Margins and gutters of the magazine -these are vital in any form of publication design, as they contribute to the overall representation of the magazine and how it will communicate to its audience.

When making a magazine it is extremely significant that the house style remains persistent, as well as the quality of the magazine itself. This is so that readers are never disappointed and remain satisfied with the same/similar look and quality of the magazine that attracted them to the very first issue.

Semiotic Terminology

Here is some media terminology that I have learnt recently.

Denotations are words. Co- notations are the words that we use in association to denotations.
For example: 'She's an eager leader = 'enthusiastic' or 'impatient'.

Semiotics:The study of signs
Signified: The concept that the signifier refers to
Signifier: Any material thing that signifies (what we use to illustrate the thing)
Sign: Anything that can be used to communicate (even false information)

School magazine contents page

After I had created this I realised that there were many changes that I could have made to improve the look and content of this contents page. The first thing I noticed was that the text should have been spaced out and a greater size. I say this because now looking back I have realised that there appears to be too much extra space on the page, whereas all of the previous examples that I had looked at filled up the entire page to a T. Not only do I feel as though the size of the font should have been bigger, but I also noticed that the type of font itself should have been plainer, despite it having a feminine look to it which would be highly appropriate for my targeted, female audience. Next, the school logo that I have included at the bottom of the page could have been repositioned and a smaller size. i say this because I feel as though the logo itself takes up too much of the attention of the contents page, whereas the focus should be completely on the writing informing the reader about what the magazine includes. Then, I noticed that the colour of the background is a faded grey rather than a more prestigious white. Even though I have always said that plainer is best, I now think that white is the way forward. Finally, I think that including images would have been a good move too. I have learnt that images really enhance the look of any front cover or contents page, if they are used in the correct way and do not over power the presentation. 

All in all I have learnt that a contents page that is carefully created along with the correct use of font, logos and colours is the best for crafting any magazine element. I will be taking all of these things into consideration for my next coursework tasks. 

Having a contents page in a magazine is vital, as this is used to inform the audience/reader about what is going to be in the magazine itself. This also makes the magazine easier to use as page numbers tell the reader exactly where to go for each particular topic. For instance, with my school magazine, a reader may only want to find out information regarding the new lunch menu. By using the contents page, the reader will be more successful in quickly being able to find the pages that they need rather than having to go through the entire magazine.

School magazine front cover

Here is my school magazine front cover for my first media preliminary coursework task.

When creating a school magazine I found that having a simple, white (if possible) background was best for making the cover stand out. As you can see I have used consistent colouring for my various texts. For example I have used all black for any major titles or headings, a deep red to match the colour of the uniforms of the students in the photo, as well as a splash of purple to brighten up the cover and make it look both interesting and appeal to the audience. At the very bottom of the cover I thought that it would be a great idea to include the school logos, because the students at my school will be familiar with these logos, and it adds to the overall competent look that I was going for.

I am highly satisfied with this magazine front cover, as I feel I have achieved all of the personal goals that I was aiming for, particularly when I was comparing current magazine examples.

If I was to change anything about this front cover I would have made sure that the text on the right hand side of the cover was not overlapping the image in the centre of the cover as this is something that I had picked up on previously.

After taking a second look, I feel as though the magazine looks rather formalistic to be a student magazine, so I think that I could have also improved this by ensuring that the students are looking at the camera smiling, rather than being stuck in their books!

Target audience for my school magazine

When I create my school magazine I will need to substantiate who will be reading the magazine, in terms of age. I go to an all girls school, with boys submitted into the sixth-form. The students ages vary from 11-18 so I need to find out which students within my school are most likely to read a school magazine, so that I can adjust the magazine front cover to meet the age specific requirements. After carrying out a survey I found that the years most likely to read a school magazine were years 7 and 8. This group of people are the youngest in the school so I will try my best to make this magazine front cover appeal to them.
In order to achieve this, I thought I would take a look at other school magazines that have tailored their magazine content to please this specific age group of people. Some elements that I found were popular:


- Stationary
- Prizes
- Games
- Stickers

I will be taking all of these preferences into consideration when thinking about the content of my magazine.

Looking at other school magazines

To start carrying out my first AS media coursework task, I thought it aid me in the process of making my magazine if i was to look at other magazines and see what they have included on their front covers for inspiration for when I produce my own. This time I focused specifically on school magazines.

The first magazine I chose to analyse was this 'FFH' school magazine front cover. 

A few positive points about this cover is the consistent colour scheme. The way in which the title colouring matches the maroon coloured jumpers of the happy looking students helps the readers to associate the magazine with happiness and positivity which is reflected through the students facial expressions. In addition, this helps to create cohesion.

The text is a simplistic choice of a serif font, and therefore appeals to all people, particularly students whilst looking formal but in a fun way. 

The camera angle used on the photo on the front cover is a medium long shot, which is highly appropriate because it is less intimidating and makes the cover look more appealing on the whole, which is another element that makes the magazine appeal to the younger generation.

The bold title is written in capital letters to heighten the sense of shouting and excitement which is an instant selling point as it attracts the attention of the buyer straight away, and is very memorable.

Although this school magazine uses many effective techniques to appeal to people, there is a lack of information provided on the front cover. Personally I think it looks quite bare and for me this is not as appealing as when looking for a magazine to read, I like ones that are bold and busy that contain lots to read.

I then moved on to look at the following magazine front cover: 

On the other hand, this school magazine front cover is overly busy with an in-persistent colour scheme that over laps the text. In some cases this is effective in bringing the magazine together, however as you can see the row of images that have been included at the top of the cover, seem to cover up a part of the students head, which looks amateur and not thought through. 

 Despite the magazine being able to illustrate a few images on the cover, the positioning of the images themselves do not seem appropriate along with the colours which clash. A faint red font has been used too, which also overlaps the image of the person. This makes the cover look messy and unprofessional, appealing to less people.

I can now take into consideration when producing my own magazine to not rush it, and carefully think about where I will be placing images and what colours I shall use to maintain a theme and keep it looking professional but also friendly and interesting for students.

The title of this magazine does not appear to be very appealing to any potential buyers or audiences in general and portrays a level of informality. In order to improve the appearance of this magazine, the deep purple/blue background could have been a lighter shade so that the dark text used on top of the images would have stood out much more clearly. Another thing that I would have done if I were to have produced this magazine could be to embed the school uniform colours into the magazine to create familiarity with students making it look more adept. 

From first glance, this magazine front cover is brilliant. The pure white background paired with the splash of bright pink was a great contrast and makes the front cover it self look masterful. The mid-shot of the happy young girl with the blurred out background consisting of other students \is great because it allows the focus to be on her only. The title is very clear and the various subheadings are unblemished because of the different colours and fonts used to separate them. This front cover is simple, high quality and attractive.

All in all I am pleased that I decided to compare current examples of school magazine front covers because I have learnt that when creating a school magazine front cover, its important that you use colours that work well together to ensure that the readers attention sis focused on the right things. Most of all, I have learnt that less is more and the simpler the front cover, the more appealing it will be.

AS Media introduction

This blog will allow me to create and present all of my AS media studies coursework that I  will be working on this year. I will be keeping up to date with all of my set tasks.

The first task that I have been set is to create a school magazine. I will therefore need to create both a contents page and a front cover.

Some elements that the front cover for this task will need to include:

• A logo 
• A title 
• A mid-shot of a person 
• An eye catching title 
• A significant slogan 
• News that will catch a readers eye

In my next posts I will be carrying out this task.

To help me understand exactly what I need to feature on my magazine to draw in readers and make it look professional and as effective as other magazine prototypes, I annotated a front cover of the famous magazine 'Radio Times'. I chose this magazine because it is more likely to fit in with the genre of school magazines, where information is key in the contents of the magazine.