Flat plans

(i need to scan the images in)

With the cover, i plan to make it look very busy and have some cartoon like effects (inspired off kerrang tv etc.) such as the lightening bolts coming off the amp. I have called my magzine feedback because it is an effect that happens on the guitar amp and is well known in this genre, also it does a lot of reviews and 'feedback' on albums and artists. I have also included the word 'exclusive' and 'free' in the cover to catch the eyes of readers. I am going to keep it quite a neutral, simple colour scheme but the actual content in the cover is going to make it look busy.

(scanned image)

For the contents, i am going to write in a fairly small font and simply make it informative about where everything is in the magazine. I will have a featured and regulars section to make it easier to understand and quicker to get to where you want. I will also include an image like most other professional contents pages just to make it look more interesting. The descriptions of whats in the magazine will be quite brief however they will be more indepth than on the cover.

(scanned image)

For the double page spread i will have on one page a large title and picture of the band with a quotation and then on the next i will have the full interview. I will have the image overlapping into the interview slightly to show they are together and to give it that 'ratty' feel to the magazine ( like in most metal magazines).

Photoshoot Planning

( i just need to scan the images in)

As you can see from the planning, i will use a studio with a large white background. I will also use high key lighting on the subject in the photo. To do this i will have two large flashes that will go off when the camera goes off. They will be at opposite sides to ensure that liughting is equal. I may also have the background looking a bit ratty if i can do this without vandalising it. This will give it a good effect that im trying to create in my cover.

Photoshoot images

These are the images i took in the photoshoot. I am happy with the result and i think i will use some of them. However, I feel i need to do another photoshoot as there are still gaps, for example i still need a contents picture and a picture for the 'postors' advert thats on my cover.

Evaluation - How did you attract/address your audience?

I purposly created my product to attract the intened audience. I used a range of different techniques and basically geared everything towards the intended audience. I only used bands in the magazine that the intended audience would enjoy and listen to. I also kept the music quite underground (like most hardcore music and metal music that this audience would enjoy) and i did not make the music in my magazine too 'general', as this would defer my target audience. I used common conventions that the tribe i intend my magazine to be for. For example, the logo for kerrang in an eroded font. I also made it look quite busy on the cover like most metal magazines on the cover. I made the cover artist look slightly 'crazy' so that it would catch the eyes of the intended audience. Also the language used in the magazine. I used slang when needed and didnt use languauge that is too 'posh'.

Evaluation - Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my product would be people into underground metal/metalcore and hardcore. I found from my audience research and by going to live shows etc. that these people are usually between the ages of 17 - 27. There are lots of aspects of my intended audience. Stretched ears and tattoos are a popular aspect and are often embraced. There are also a lot (compared to other genres) of people that are straight edge that fit into this genre. Straight edge has developed through punk and into hardcore and started off as a direct reaction to the sexual revolution, hedonism, and excess associated with punk rock.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUD3MhRpOPg - Have Heart - unbreakable. This is a good

example of classic hardcore music (this

band is also an influencal straight edge

band.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oINZPAo67OE - Azriel - Versus. This is a good example of

hardcore music linked with metal music

which is what my magazine would include

a lot of.

These bands usually play at small venues which are also bars, for example, josephs well in leeds. Therefore a usual place to see this potential audience is in these bars/venues even when there are not shows on. A lot of these potential readers are also part of the hardcore scene where they live. Because bands like this usually play in small venues the scene for hardcore in most cities is quite tight and everyone knows each other. Other places potential readers can be seen is skateparks, music related bars, music shops etc.

Most of the intended audience for my magazine will also be quite passionate about music. Hence the reason they will like this kind of music. It is all about the passion and love for the music etc.

Article Planning

For my article (double page spread), the main focus will be to entertain the reader. The style of the article will be as an interview with the band 'livelovelearn'. It will be entertaining as the band will hopefully reveal some funny stories as they are on tour, and some entertaining stories of them getting larger and finally getting a record deal. However the article will also be informative. However it may not seem that way because its not boring facts. It will be mainly to entertain the reader and show them perhaps a new band they have not heard before or to entertain a fan of the band who is reading the article because they like the band. However it will still be informative and tell the reader about the band, what they have been through, the kind of genre they are and the route they took to get a record deal. Therefore it could also be large help to artists who think they have got what it takes to get a record deal.

The narrative will be in 3rd person. This is because as i will script the interview as a conversation between the interviewer and the band. For example;
interviewer: what did you have for breakfast this morning?
band: toast
I feel that this is the best and most simple way to record an interview. I feel that if there is any humour in the interview it will be shown best this way and the whole interview when wrote down flows better like this.

As it is an interview, when it is written down it will be seen to be quite formal with basically a question then answer, but it will actually be more like an informal conversation with the band. Even though it is generally question and answer, the band will develop on some questions and it will become more of a conversation than a strict question/answer interview. For example, when more than one band member contributes to an answer and it develop's from there. However just so its easier to read it will be kept quite formal in the magazine. I feel that by keeping it as more of a conversation will get more out of the band members and allowing them to develop more on the questions brings out more humour and more information.

The language will be kept at a good medium between using 'slang' and keeping it grammatically correct. So that it's easier to read it will generally be kept gramatically correct. However sometimes so that the reader can get a sense of an accent or a joke etc. Slang will be used. For example; using 'cos instead of because. I also think that this will help the reader relate more to the band because if it seems they use 'posh' language it might defer the reader a little bit from the band as opposed to if they spoke like the reader. I also think that slang should be used for example if someone says something such as chillin' or cruisin', just to add to the effect of what whoever is saying it is trying to achieve and to make it more humerous.

Intended audience with Uk tribes.

I have used the website http://www.uktribes.com/ to try and show what my intended audience is.

As you can see here, there is a link between the group 'skaters' and the group 'metal heads'. This will be the same as in my magazine. There will actually be quite a large range of music but as they can all link up like this (stereotypical skating music links with 'metal head' music) fairly easily. The group 'metalheads' is also very large and covers a large genre of music. Within metal (which is quite a generic term) there are also loads of sub genres, such as hardcore, punk, metalcore, melodic hardcore, death metal and the list goes on. This means that i will only attract my magazine to a number of these sub genres otherwise my magazine will become to much of a mainstream general metal magazine. I will concentrate on old metal (metallica, iron maiden etc.) and hardcore (lots of which takes influence from the old metal).

Proposal of ideas

I intend to create a music magazine in print format. I intend the target audience for this magazine to be between the ages of about 17-27 (i found from my audience research and by going to shows etc. that it is approximatly this age that are into this genre of music) who are interested in hardcore/metal music and are passionate about it enough to look for music, buy magazines, go to shows etc. As this genre of music is not mainstream, the vast majority of readers would be passionate and interested in music and will search for music as this genre is primerily quite underground. The purpose of the magazine, like other music magazine's is to inform and entertain the reader. To inform them with news on albums, new artists, dates for shows etc. and to entertain them using interviews with bands etc. Therefore my cover includes advertisments for interviews and album reviews etc. The main reason people buy magazines is because they are interesting to read and entertaining. Because it is about the type of music the readers listen to, interest will already have been generated. For the cover of my magazine i will have a large picture of the artist i will interview in the magazine. I want this artist to look a little big crazy, on the edge and also superior to the reader. I will also use free postors and exclusive's to try and draw attention and put my magazine above other's of the same type. I will also advertise what else is inside with the name of the artist and a brief description. In the contents i will use a small font to try and fit all the information needed onto the page. I will have a picture surrounded by information of whats inside the magazine, including the magazine regulars ( letters etc.) and the interviews etc. The double page spread will include a picture of the band on one page and an interview in a small font on the next. The picture will overlap a bit to form more of a bond between the interview and picture. However i want my product to be origional. Therefore because my magazine is more hardcore than it is metal im going to stick to a simple format instead of making busy. This will make it look clean which is unconventional for a basically metal magazine. I will also keep to basic colours. Black and white will be the main colours along with the colours within the pictures i will take. I got my inspiration for this from my textual analysis. Whilst it was mainly indie magazines that had simple designs and colour and metal magazines with busy designs, for the double page spread i preferred the look of a simple design and the idea of trying something new. However i will keep the cover with a fairly busy design to draw potential readers to this magazine. Also, metal/hardcore is a very wide range of genres but all the genres take influences from one another so they will be relativly easy to link together. This magazine will also be quite cheap. This is because with hardcore music, things are done for the love of the music not entirely for the financial profit. I will also have the artist on the cover looking at the camera. I think this helps form a connection between the cover artist and the reader.

Evaluation - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In the research stage i analysed other professional products. By doing this i noticed conventions that were used in most and even all the magazines that i analysed. One of these was that all the magazines used large mastheads at the top for the name of the magazine, usually with a motto underneith. For example, Kerrang 'life is loud'

This was used in all the magazines. In my magazine, like most metal magazines, i also used a distorted/eroding kind of font to go with the feel of the magazine. I also called it feedback because this is an effect that can be heard on the guitar a lot during metal shows etc. The magazine also gives feedback on albums etc. Therefore it had a multiple meaning.

All the covers also had an influencial band or artist on the front cover, which relates to the genre of the magazine. For metal/rock magazines the band/artist was also usually looking 'cool' with the camera looking up at the them, making them look more superior with the audience looking up at them. On mine i had a single artist from a band holding a broken T.V. This gives a sort of 'on the edge', 'what will they do next' crazy kind of feel. Which is apparent in lots of metal magazine covers. I also had the camers looking up at the artist. This shows superiority as the reader will feel like they are looking up to the artist. Which is apparent in lots of metal magazines so that the artist looks 'cool' and so that they can become the role models of readers etc.

All of the magazines i analysed also advertised what was inside.

In most cases it was advertised like this. With a column of headings and short descriptions about what will be in the magazines with interviews, album reviews, live reviews etc. Therefore i used this technique in my cover. Some magazines also use features such as 'exclusive' interviews, free postors and free cd's etc. To attract attention. I could use this on my cover as i had an exclusive interview with live love learn and i also added free postors. However the free postors in mine are not origional photography. I also saw that another convention of metal magazines was catch lines. For example in the kerrang cover above, its things like 'the worlds most dangerous bands'. I also used this is my magazine.

In the front cover i also saw that it was mainly quite large fonts. This is because there is not much text in it therefore the text could be big so that its easier to see, for example, on the shelf to grab potential readers attention. I used this convention in my magazine and tryed to keep the font large in the cover.

In the contents, i noticed straight away that the fonts had gotten smaller. This is a popular convention and was used in every magazine i analysed. This is because there is a lot of information to fit in the contents. I also had to follow this convention as i had to fit a lot in the limited space i had. All the contents i analysed were crammed with information about whats in the magazine and where it is, along with pictures of the main article('s). They all basically used this format, therefore i followed this convention in my contents. I had a picture of the exclusive interview with live love learn and i crammed in the information about the articles withtin the piece around this. I also noticed that most of the contents i analysed used the same or a similar font in title of the page (contents). For example, even if the font was not the same it would still have the 'bodge job' sort of feel. I also felt that like the cover, the contents for metal magazines were generally very busy and significantly busier than contents pages for other genres. I also found that the information about articles in the contents were kept quite breif, therefore i followed this convention. It also helped me for space and trying to fit it the information into the page.

For the double page spread, i noticed in all of the professional products there was a similar format. This was a large title (name of the band etc.), a large picture of the band/artist (taking up about 1 page) and an article with a small font (because by this point they do not need to grab the attention of the reader because they have looked up the artice and therefore are already interested). I stuck to this convention in my product and kept it to the usual format of an interview on the right and a large picture on the left. I also noticed that most of the double page spreads i analysed overlapped a little bit. Therefore i made the picture in my article overlap into the interview.

In my article i tryed to keep the colours a bit more plain. Although i still wanted it to look busy, i realised that a lot of tshirts etc. of the kind of metal/hardcore that i was trying to represent used plain black and white colours. Although i feel now that i should have added more colour, because it would not as it is now, attract the attention of potential readers.

However i wanted my product to be origional. Therefore i did try and challenge some conventions. I did this in a few aspects. With the double page spread for example, i used a simple format and colour scheme. I found that this is a typical convention of indie magazines but not metal. I found that metal magazines for the vast majority of the time, very busy and crammed. However i preffered the simple look and went for that and because its hardcore music not metal in this interview i think it works quite well. I also used much simpler colours. For example, in the cover i used black and white because i liked that simple colour look. However i still made the cover busy to attract the eye of a potential reader over other magazines of the same kind of genre. However i do not feel this worked as much as a colour cover would have and i am somewhat dissapointed with how it turned out.

This is a cover i found on google and it shows the black and white kind of look i attempted.

Mood Board

This mood board shows the style of music i will be writing about in my magazine. It shows a cross between hardcore, metal and more mainstream rock/metal (to attract more people of the target age). By doing this mood board, i have been able to play around with photoshop a bit and learn some of the basic skills. It has also allowed me to have a play around at trying to show the messy, used kind of feel like magazines such as kerrang use. I did this by placing the images in the mood board so there not perfectly alligned etc. make them look messy and put some at angles etc. I also think it also looks like a wall of a room of the target audience would look like, with randomly, crammed postors overlapping each other etc. I am going to try and put this effect into my magazine so it was a good oppertunity to play around with the type of effect. I also made the mood board black and white. Thats simply because i think it looked more appropriate to the target syle of music in black and white rather than in colour.

Defining my target audience

My target audience is going to be for the age range of 17-25 year olds. This is because in my questionairre i found it was this age that was most interested in music and because if i aim it any lower, the prime age im targeting at will not like it as much. Likewise if it is aimed a little bit higher.



My music magazine is also going to be about rock/metal music. In my questionairre this is the most popular genre. I will make it for more underground music because if i make it target it also towards more popular music, people into more underground music will go off it and the target age that im aiming it at are into more underground artists than major artists.

Textual Analysis - Contents analysis

The purpose of a contents page is to let the viewer know excatly whats in the magazine and where in the magazine it is. for this reason, it is usually kept generally formal. There are also usually pictures of the content of the artice, for example a picture of a band.

This contents page is very busy. This represents the style of music as being very busy and 'loud'. Although it is busy, it takes a relativly standard layout. With a title (contents), a column that describes the artice and tells the reader the page numbers and it uses a lot of the space to show pictures of bands and shows that are featured artices in the magazine. This is standard of a contents page for a music magazine, but this contents is made busy (like metal music) by cramming the information into a small amount of space, ( for example there is a border around the text and pictures, that they could have filled so we can see its delibarate). The pictures are also typical of a rock magazine. We can see that the pictures are either of live shows or pictures of the band, making the band seem superior and cool. The way the page is presented is also done deliberatly to attract to the target audience. For example, the pictures on the page look as though they have been stuck down and the left side of the page looks 'used'. This is very typical and fashionable within the music that the magazine shows. Thats why the kerrang logo also looks shattered. It goes with the image of the people reading the magazine (ripped jeans etc.) The top of the page also looks photocopied etc. This is to show this 'used' rock image and perhaps to also show that it has been almost made by hand. This attracts to the audience as lots of the readers are against 'corperate' and major labels, and if they have the magazine proffesionally copied etc. on a big machine this suggests that the magazine itself is corporate. If it looks like its been simply hand photocopied it also suggets that the music within the magazine is quite underground, (for example, if it was a popular genre music the company would have a purpose to have it copied on a big machine as they would be selling a lot) most of the readers like the fact that what there listening to isnt mainstream and popular, even though most of it is in this particular magazine. this page also uses a bright colour scheme of yellows and reds. The yellow text boxes may represent things such as 'warning', as it has black writing within it, it suggests the same kind of thing. This is also popular within the genre of music. We can also see that it is targeted at young people as all of the people in the pictures are young and the words are generally short but striking.

This music magazine, is a pop/indie magazine, as opposed to the former rock magazine. We can see very obvious differences. For example, this one is a lot more formal. The layout is very neat and tidy opposed to the kerrang contents. It also only uses colour to make certain bits of text to stand out to the reader, not to make it look busy. Although there is about the same amount of information within this contents as the kerrang contents, this contents looks a lot more tidy and it looks like everything fits, its not all crammed in like it looks on the kerrang contents. It also keeps to a fairly standard layout with a title (contents) and a column of the articles and the page number and a lot of space devoted to featured articles. Although instead of mentioning lots of featured articles, it features only one. This makes the page seem more neat and tidy and also suggests that the nme genre of music and style is a lot more chilled out than the rock style of cramming everything in and making it busy. Its also all colour coordinated into red for bits that want to stand out, i.e the name and page numbers and keeps the rest of the text black. Although it also uses yellow on the 'subscribe' box, probably to attract the readers attention to the subscription offers because if it was just in black text it would probably be overlooked a lot. However there is a twist in the colours on the left column named 'band index' where the red text is the bulk text and the black is used to make the page numbers stand out. This suggests that the style of the genre is not always formal and is mixed up and different. It also shows that the music that the magazine reports is underground is by the 'radar' title, this suggests that the magazine shows new, unknown artists, which helps people of the style find new music that is underground, which is something that is liked within the indie genre. The reason it is neat and tidy is to also fit with the indie 'topman' image of smart clothes made to look 'cool'.

This contents page is from Q magazine. Q magazine is an alternative/indie/pop magazine and attracts people that like popular music, but maybe something a bit different as well. The layout of this is also very standard with a title, column of articles with page numbers and pictures of featured articles. It also sticks with the 'neat and tidy' look. Using colours only to make certain text stand out, such as the subtitles and the name 'Q'. The main featured article of this magazine is the courteeners interview. It shows a large picture of the band looking cool ( use of glasses and hands in pockets etc. and the use of the camera looking up at them) behind a country side backround. The band look not to bothered and are made to look very cool, which shows the style of the genre of music being about coolness etc. There is also an 'oasis special' which would attract probably a large audience who would buy the magazine just for the oasis. This may also attract an older audience to who usually buy the magazine.

Audience Research

-To make sure my product will meet the expectations of my audience I am going to carry out some research. To get the most effective results I will need both quantitative and qualitative data. To get quantitative results I am going to carry out a questionnaire, and to get qualitative, I will ask several people the same questions.




Here is the questionnaire im going to produce and distribute:



Questionnaire
Gender:
Male Female
Age:
15-18 19-20 21-25 25+
Do you read music magazines?
................................................................
Do you prefer simple designs or more busy designs?
...............................................................
Do you prefer more pictures or more text in a magazine?
...............................................................
What’s your favourite musical artist and favourite genre?
................................................................ ................................................................
What is your favourite music magazine?
...............................................................
Would you prefer more expensive, higher quality magazines, or cheaper, lower quality magazines?
...............................................................
Would you prefer weekly or monthly magazines? (There would be more content in a monthly magazine)
................................................................
Would you be more interested in magazines if there were free gifts? (It may make the magazine more expensive)
.................................................................
Would features such as ‘world exclusives’ make you more interested in buying a magazine?
..................................................................
Do you tend to ‘stick’ to one magazine or read various music magazines?
..................................................................
Thank You



This questionnaire will help me find out what my target audience like from a magazine and this will help me design a magazine that will attract to my target audience. I focused my questionnaire mainly, on people aged between 15-25. This is because it is the age i think are most interested in new music of the genre that i intend to write about. I have also based all the questions around what the target audience would want to see within a music magazine with a rock or indie genre.

Male/ Female. It is 70% male and 30 % female.

Age grouping: 50% of the people i asked were between 15-18, 30% were between 19-20, 21-25 was 10% and over 25 was 10%

this graph tells us that 80% of the people i asked read music magazines, however 20% do not buy them but still said they sometimes take interest in them.

This graph tells us that 50% of the people i asked prefered simple designs and 50% prefered complex designs. this chart tells us that 80% of the people i asked actually prefer lots of text, however most say they also like pictures as well.

This chart is about the artists and genres. There was a wide range of genres, but the most popular was metal/rock with 30% other genres included pop, drum and bass, dance etc.

This chart is for faveroute music magazine. The majority of 60% said kerrang magazine ( a metal magazine) and the other 30% said NME (indie, rock). Only 10% choose Q magazine (pop, indie).

This tells me that 70% of the people asked prefer higher quality, more expensive magazines and 30% prefer cheaper, lower quality magazines.

This chart tells me that 60% prefer monthly magazines with more content and 40% would prefer weekly magazines with less content. However it seems monthly is now more popular because people can hear about immediate news on the internet so dont use magazines for immediate news. This also ties up with the last question. Monthly magazines are more likely to be more expensive and higher quality than weekly magazines.

60% said theyd like free gifts even if it made the magazine more expensive, wheras 40% said they wouldnt.

80% said that features such as world exclusives would attract them more to a magazine. Wheras 20% said they wouldnt be bothered.

70% of people asked said they stick to 1 magazine and only 30% said they read various magazines and 'skip' around.

Write up:

I asked 10 people aged between 15-25 tom complete my questionnaire. I found out that all of the people i asked are interested in music magazines, even if some may not buy them.


The most popular genre i found out was the metal/rock genre. I found this from asking the target audience for their faveroute artist, faveroute genre of music and what musical magazines they read. Therefore i could find out what exact genre they like most, but also what else they like. I also concluded that the people more into metal tended to prefer busy desings and the people into the more indie genre prefer simple designs. I also concluded that there seems to be more of a market for the indie genre as that was the most popular genre in my questionairre. However, as there is still a market for the rock music, i think i will make my magazine attract audiences from other genres as well as the metal genre. However it primerily attract to a metal audience.

I also found out from this research, that my target audience tend to prefer a cheaper, weekly magazine to keep on top of news etc. (like kerrang). In general i also found out that my target like free stuff such as postors, stickers etc. but not large free stuff that would increase the price of the magazine. Also i know that things such as world exclusives etc. Attracts the target audience and maybe other potential readers that are not particularly the target audience.

To collect qualitative data i held a focus group with young people, of the age that my magazine is going to be targeted at. I asked the group to discuss what they would expect to see on a magazine cover and in the content of a magazine and also asked them what they like in a magazine. These are the results:

Write up:

The discussions went successfully and i managed to gain some good answers and information that will help me attract my magazine to the target a little bit more.

Textual Analysis - Front Cover Analysis

I will next analise three front covers. Again, the front covers i will analise will be from uk rock/indie magazines so that i can study the design and structure of similar products. Front covers are used to attract the target audience and are the first thing the audience will see; therefore it is the front cover that will grab their attention. The aim of a front cover is also to keep loyal readers, who buy all the magazines, and to grab the attention of new readers and attract to them.

The kerrang front cover is targeted at a hard rock and metal audience. Everything within the cover is targeted at this audience and draws this audience in. For example, the logo (as explained before) and the large picture is of avenged sevenfold, a very popular metal band. This picture portrays the band as being cool and this may make some of the audience buy into their ‘cool’ in the picture. The front cover is also very busy. This may attract to the target audience and may represent the busy in metal songs. (Metal songs are very busy). It also mentions lots of bands around the cover. This may be to attract to as many people as possible (there are many different kinds or rock and metal, the magazine may be trying to attract to as many as possible). For example, Iron Maiden, trivium, machine head and red hot chilli peppers and panic at the disco. It targets people of all different genres within metal and rock. It also says ‘free’ poster. Therefore the audience feel like they’re getting more than their money’s worth. The way it mentions lots of bands also suggests to the readers that their getting their money’s worth. It also uses hard edged words such as headbangers, dangerous, intense, violence, loud, sex, drugs to attract the target audience. The slogan also attracts the target audience. ‘Life is loud’ suggests to the reader that their lifestyle is all about metal etc. And the readers may buy into this.

The name, kerrang, represents the thrashing of a guitar. This represents right from the start, the genre of the magazine and who it will relate to. The capital letters and explanation mark also make the magazine stand out. The name is also shattered, to represent a smashed window from the sheer sound of the ‘kerrang’ from the guitar. This shows the rock stereotype, being loud and noisy. The purpose of this being that it represents the style of the magazine and will attract the target audience.

The NME front cover is used to attract the target audience and is the first thing the audience will see; therefore it is the front cover that will grab their attention. On this front cover, the main picture is of Morrissey. Morrissey is an influential person for the target audience, therefore when they see him on the cover; it will attract their attention (especially since he is not in magazines very much anymore). It also uses sell lines, such as the free posters (of band members that target audience will like) and by saying ‘free’ in big writing, it makes the reader feel they got more than their money’s worth, or that they will get more than their money’s worth by buying the magazine. It also has band names scattered about the magazine, some of these bands are targeted at the indie audience, and others are into more pop or pop rock cultures, to perhaps try and attract a larger audience and sell more magazines. It has live reports for panic! At the disco and fallout boy, this means that anybody going to see them live will be attracted to the magazine as they will perhaps want to know what to expect or know how good they are live. It also has an ‘exclusive’ interview with the Kaisers. The use of the word ‘exclusive’ tells the audience that they can’t read it anywhere else; therefore they will be more attracted to the magazine and may think it’s more worth buying. The band is also liked by many different types of people. This front cover also shows morrisey (an iconic figure of the genre of music of the magazine) on a personal level by saying 'when in rome get drunk with morrissey' this is typical of indie music by not showing the band as being superior, as opposed to metal where the band is almost seen as more superior than the reader.

The nme logo is also used to stand out to the target audience; the target audience for this magazine is for people into indie, pop rock etc. And is the prime magazine for many popular musical genres today. The logo is very simple. This is very much to represent to the indie audience. For example, indie music is very simple and what they wear is very simple etc. It also uses a bright colour to stand out to the audience and that is also something else that appeals to indie audience (it stands out) and everybody loves the smiths. Underneath it also says ‘new musical express’ which is what NME stands for. This also attracts to the indie audience because it says ‘new’ and suggests underground, unknown bands etc. This is also another thing indie people are into, underground bands.

The metal hammer cover attracts to the metal and hard metal audience. It also sticks to the metal audience and is not as varied. This is to perhaps keep all of the metal readers interested as if it was more mainstream they would go off the magazine. The main picture is of Phil Anselmo, the lead vocalists of pantera, which is a very big and popular band within the metal genre. This will attract the target audience. It also says world exclusive, which suggests that they can’t read about Phil Anselmo's view on Dimebag Darrel’s death anywhere else. Everybody in the metal scene was also distraught by his death and probably wanted to read about Phil Anselmo’s view and feelings about it. The cover is also very busy and represents the music, as metal music is very busy. The magazine also comes with a free cd with many popular bands within the musical genre this is targeted at. This means that the reader will feel they’re getting a great deal and are defiantly getting their money’s worth (the cd is also exclusive to metal hammer). They even get free stickers and posters. All of the little pictures etc. Within the cover also attract the target audience. For example, guitar picks swords, guitars and guitar knobs etc. Where it says ‘the big four tour, is it one?’ it also suggests that the answer is within the pages and the audience needs to buy the magazine to find out. This will also be very affective towards people that are anxious to find out whether that tour is on. It also uses quotes to draw the reader in and make them want to read the articles and buy the magazine. For example, “I was a wounded animal striking out at everybody’ (Phil anselmo presumably talking about the death of his former band member and friend being shot). This creates anxiety and makes the reader want to read the whole article.

The metal hammer logo is designed to attract the target audience because of its use of typical metal, weird shapes and sharp edges etc. It may also suggest the same look of a guitar used frequently in metal music (flying v guitars for example).

I can conclude from these front covers that the front covers are all about grabbing the attention of potential readers. It does this by using sell lines, large pictures (of popular bands to the potential audience) and free gifts etc. How busy the cover is also seems to depend on the kind of music of the magazine. For example, the metal/rock magazines are very busy and it represents the kind of music. Wheras the indie magazine has quite a laid back, simple design and this also represents indie music. I have also concluded that in all of these, the picture of an artist is the main attraction of a front cover and takes up a large proportion of it. I can also see that most of the magazines have picutres of the whole band.

Textual Analysis - Double page spread analysis

I will first analise three double page spreads. These are from three different magazines that all concentrate on modern culture music. The purpose of this research existing products similar to the style and structure I intend to use for when I design a double page spread. Because it is going to be modern indie/rock music from UK magazines that i will be making, i will look at magazines made in the uk and magazines that primerily look at rock or indie music.

The first double page spread I have decided to analyse is from the magazine NME. Its a very pop/indie orientated magazine and its audience because of this, is typically teenagers and ranges from about 15 to 25. We can see this in the article, for example the first thing we read on the page is the word ‘teenagers’ this may have been used to involve the reader and relate to them, if they think the article is directed at them, they will become more interested and will want to read it more. The product is also trying to relate to the stereotypical lazy teenager. We can see the band representing the lazy teenager and there all slumped on a bed in a stereotypical ‘teenager’ way. It also says ‘NME loves’ before it says the band name ‘teenagers’ to suggest that NME loves teenagers and this is their target audience. The lighting on the shot of them slumped on the bed is also very light, contrasting to maybe what the stereotypical view is of a teenager in a dark room. This may suggest that teenagers are not subject to the typical view and that there’s a lot more going on in their life than the stereotypical view of a teenager shows. It also shows that since there in a light room, there not trapped in the teenage stereotype, even though as we can see in highlighted parts of the interview, they play along with that stereotype (perhaps to interact and relate to the target audience). For example, a highlighted part of the interview is a quote from one of the band members. It says ‘of course were a sexual band. Were the teenagers and that’s what we think about’ shows that there trying (hard) to stick to the stereotype and relate to the stereotypical teenager. The photo also shows lots of pictures of nights out and girls which suggests the teenage stereotype and may try to relate to the target audience. At the top, underneath the word ‘radar’ it says the phrase ‘the best music’ This is very direct and suggests to the reader that the type of music they listen to is the best.





This double page spread is from the magazine called ‘kerrang’. Kerrang is mainly a rock magazine and we can see that the main, large picture in this double page spread portrays this. It shows a typical rock band on stage and shows them as being very ‘cool’. It also does this by the camera angle. The camera is looking up at the band, suggesting that they are more superior. This is very typical of rock music, having a band that is very cool and the fans often look up to them. This picture also dominates the double page spread, perhaps showing that the music is what’s important to the band. It also has a section called rated: live and the picture is of the band playing live, this shows that the band do play live and do play the instruments. This is very typical of rock music as opposed to new, pop music. The look of the band members is also typically ‘rock’ style, for example Mohawks, tattoos and usual clothing (t-shirt, shorts etc.) as opposed to the ‘show’ put on in pop shows where people dress up. This also suggests that the band is more about the music than the image. This magazine probably does not have as much of a fixed target audience, but is probably more aimed at the younger rock audience. For example, the band is more of a pop rock band. This is probably for people into more mainstream rock for example, a younger audience or people that aren’t so interested in music that they actually search for music. The word ‘rated’ also takes the typical rock look. For example we can see that the word looks broken up and ‘used’ Which relates to the rock style of distressed t-shirts, ripped jeans etc.

This double page spread featured in kerrang magazine. This double page spread could be considered an advert to my chemical romance, by the way it says 'the best' and advertises the new album with the new track section in the top right corner, where it uses words like 'epic'. By the way it says its going to released 'next spring' also adds a sense of anticipation for the fans and makes them think it must be worth waiting for. This adds to the entertainment of the artice and promotes the band.

The rock influence is also very apparent fromt he large picture. The singer is performing live which is typical of rock music and the choice of clothing (denim jacket, jeans and long hair) which is very typical of rock music. This may be trying to show the audience that my chemical romance are a 'real' rock band as theres accusations that there not. However it also appeals to the 'emotional rock' audience subtly, by the way his head is down in the main picture and his body language shows vulnurablility (way we cant see his eyes is also typical of emotional image) and in the smaller picture were he seems to be singing in an emotional manner, almost crying even. This may be so that it appeals to both audiences, it appeals to the 'rock' audience that would not usually opt for my chemical romance and it still keeps the audience that like my chemical romance for the emotional aspect. The main picture also shows superiority towards the main singer. It does this by the way it is a low angle shot, therefore the viewer is looking up at the singer, this shows that the lead singer is 'superior' to the audience. The lead singer is also seen as 'mysterious' by the way we cant see his face. This atractts to the emotional audience as well. Within kerrang, the majority of band members are male. This suggests a 'male superiority'.

It also says 'world exclusive' at the top of the article. This tells the viewer that it is not avaliable anywhere else and suggests that kerrang is the best magazine. We can also see that the band is very involved with the music (also typical with music of this genre) as we can see a picture of them in a recording studio.

All three of these double page spreads have inspired me and from this research i have concluded that in typical rock magazines, there are large pictures that represent the band a lot more than we first realise (very subtly) and that there are with quotes in large font and in bold etc. I can also see that the double page spreads are all quite busy. In all of the double page spreads i have analised, there has been a large picture taking up a large proportion of the artice and a lot of writing in a very small font. Along with large quotes and other pictures etc. This means i may also have to make my double page spread busy as i will have a large picture but i will also have to fit the same amount of information as other, similar products. Otherwise readers may not feel it is worth the money compared to similar magazines. I will also have to make it exciting, which also coincides with the double page spread being busy. It does this by having