Evaluation

Evaluation of my Music Magazine

For my media coursework, I have created a music magazine, which contains the front cover, contents page, my two page spread which includes original images, and an article which I have written myself consisting of more than 500 words. To evaluate, I need to answer a number of key questions.

1) In what ways does my music magazine Use, Develop, or Challenge forms and conventions of existing music magazines?

As part of creating my magazine, I researched several existing music magazines which were from the range of genres that I personally prefer. The two which I concentrated on the most were VIBE and XXL. As a particular layout is used in each magazine I chose to focus specifically on VIBE, which I like better than XXL. I deconstructed a front cover and contents page of the magazine as to find out the key conventions e.g. where the masthead goes and how big it usually is. For the contents page, I annotated where the main features go, how much information each story has, and how many pictures they commonly use. I looked at different front covers and contents pages, and one old issue of VIBE and established that the only features which do not change all through the magazines are the main logo and use of only one main image on the front cover and contents page, also the style in which ‘Contents’ is written. The colour theme on the front page tends to change, depending on the main artist, the contents page usually consists of a grey plain background, occasionally changing and article pages consist of little colour. The recognisable logo on the front page tends to change colour and in some issues an effect was added. I chose to develop this convention, by making my logo dark blue and adding a starry effect, representing the use of American music and artists being featured in my magazine.

I produced a similar constant to VIBE, as not a lot of colour is found on my 2 page spread. My contents page only consists of one main image and a plain background. This was done to create familiarity for the readers, therefore making it easier to read and not overwhelm readers by the use of too many different colours. I also considered other conventions that are used in VIBE, because we would share a similar audience, and can for that reason appeal to the defined audiences of the genre. One of the conventions I used was naming my magazine BASE which is a short and catchy name that is hard to forget, and only consists of one syllable like VIBE. I think this name is appropriate as I was inspired by the channel MTV base which is a popular music channel to name my magazine BASE. As a result I think this makes my magazine give the impression that it will only contain good, appealing music in it. The photo I took for the front cover partly covers the masthead of my magazine like those in VIBE. This makes the cover seem more organized. Also similarly to VIBE I included a small explanation of what each feature was about so even if the reader doesn’t know who the person is, it would still appeal them. I didn’t really challenge any conventions, only used and developed them.

2) How does my Magazine represent particular social groups?

In rap and hip-hop music, stereotypically, you would not find many White singers or rappers. Also, the musicians are all expected to dress in a certain way for example male hip-hop artists usually wear baggy clothes. The women however usually are represented as overly sexualized objects and their outfits tend to be quite revealing.

I have decided to focus on a single female artist who is one of the most influential female rappers in the hip-hop scene and is well known for her curvaceous figure as well as her music. Therefore, when I took my photos, I responded to this artist by using a girl with a similar body. I bought a wig to use for my photos and applied her make up in a certain way so that she would bare a stronger resemblance to the artist, Nicki Minaj. Minaj is also known for calling herself a ‘Barbie’ and is often pictured wearing a necklace with the same ‘Barbie’ logo as the necklace I got for my model to wear. The photos that I took for the magazine were all taken in the same setting with a plain background, and then edited in the same way using photo impact, so like VIBE, they are all alike and consistent. The poses within the photos are very similar to some of the poses seen in VIBE and are all typical Nicki Minaj poses. I took various types of shots including close ups, mid shots and long shots. I also used a range of different poses and had her wear something similar to what Nicki Minaj would characteristically wear. The poses within my front page, contents and 2 page spread are quite seductive. This responds to the way she is always presented not only in magazines but in any aspects of the media.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX8mTo2ih70

3) Who would be the audience for my Magazine?

The Music represented within my magazine consists mainly of mainstream hip-hop/rap artists and the music is similar to that of VIBE and XXL. Therefore, my main target audience would be young adults that follow the hip-hop culture. Because of the limited genre of music in my magazine, my audience may not be as wide as other magazines such as Rolling Stones that include various different types of music. The magazine is priced at $4.99 in the US and £3.10 in the UK, which is also how much VIBE costs. This price may not be affordable for people younger than 18 who are not yet earning money. Most of the things advertised in my magazine are quite expensive, such as cars and high end brands of clothing, make up, and perfume. Alcoholic beverages are also advertised. Therefore, my main target age of readers will be over 18 year olds as my magazine offers more features appropriate for this niche audience. My magazine also includes horoscopes. A range of people believe in and enjoy reading these and if it’s known that horoscopes are featured in each edition, readers may be more willing to buy it. As for the look of my magazine, I have chosen to use a more stand-out masthead than that of others in the same genre. The reason for this is that people will usually pick a magazine based on the familiarity of their layout. If I were to make my masthead like VIBE’s nothing would differ from VIBE as my layout is very similar and no one would choose to purchase my magazine as it would just be a nonspecific copy.  I wanted to make my magazine stand out and known for the same blue masthead which has a stars effect to make my magazine unique and more recognizable, This also represents the dominance of American music. This gives my magazine its own identity even though I have used some conventions of VIBE.

4) What kind of institution might distribute my Magazine?

The two closest magazines to mine are VIBE and XXL. These two magazines are produced by different companies, InterMedia Partners, and Harris Publication. Therefore these two companies would be the most suitable to produce and then distribute the magazines to the shops. InterMedia Partners would probably be more suitable, as VIBE have better subscription deals that XXL which would make readers be more willing to buy my magazine as it would have the same sort of exclusive deals as VIBE. Another reason is that InterMedia Partners relaunched VIBE again after it shut down in 2009 improving it so much that sales increased drastically showing they are a good producing company. As for which shops that would distribute my magazine, it would seem right for shops like HMV, and other shops that specialize in music to sell it as this is where my target audience will most likely go to shop for anything associated with music. Also, as many people use the internet, buyers would be able to order and subscribe online from the magazines website which is on the front cover of my magazine. This would make the magazine cheaper and more convenient.

5) How will I attract/address the audience for my Music Magazine?

I created a questionnaire and handed out 20 copies to my target audience, I aimed to give it out to people who fitted the stereotype niche audience of my magazine and that didn’t attend my school as my magazine is aimed at over 18’s. By finding out more about my audience I was able to make my magazine include more things that would appeal to them. For example, the majority of readers wanted to see interviews and horoscopes so I included various interviews and a horoscope page. I also did 2 page spreads on the artists the majority of my audience preferred instead of just a single page interview. This will attract the audience by giving them more of what they like to see. As for how I address the audiences, I made sure not to use extremely formal language as hip-hop music doesn’t really consist of it. This makes my magazine seem like it relates to the hip-hop genre in more than one way. However, I also tried not to use slang as it doesn’t seem professional and if I did use it I knew my limits. This shows my magazine isn’t aimed at young teenagers, who are known as the age group that uses slang to an extreme extent. Advertising is another way which I would be able to attract audiences. For example the use of expensive items advertised in my magazine may make the reader feel the magazine is sophisticated which may appeal to them.  

6) What have I learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

As I usually use Photo Impact on my home own laptop, compared to Photoshop at school, it was hard knowing how to edit pictures the way I wanted them to be when I was in school as I wasn’t used to it. However, once I got the hang of these differences and realized Photoshop is actually quite similar to Photo Impact, it became easier to work both at home and in school and therefore edit the my photos in both places.  Learning to use the clone stamp tool in Photoshop Elements meant that I could get rid of any marks on the wall behind my model making it look more professional. By changing the brightness and contrast of my photos I made the wall brighter, so it looks almost white. I cropped out all the furniture that was visible in the pictures I used for my magazine such as the light switch, floor and cupboard. Because my background was suitable I didn’t have to cut around my images. I used Photo Impact to create my masthead and add the starry effect to it, I then, using the rubber tool, rubbed out some of the masthead so it wouldn’t overlap my models picture but it would look as if it was behind the photo instead. I did the same sort of thing on my contents page but, using Photo Impact again made the B transparent.

This process also helped me improve on how to use digital cameras, as while I was taking the shots I was gradually realising what was working at what was not in terms of poses. Blogging websites are also another part of technology I learnt to use during the making of my magazines. The significance of this technology has risen in recent years with the introduction of social networking sites, where numerous magazines are making pages themselves and posting various updates there. It was a well-organized way of presenting my work.

7) Looking back at my preliminary task of designing the front cover of a school magazine, what do I feel I have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

The school magazine I had to produce was a good choice of preliminary task as it gave me an idea of what I would have to do when it came to doing the main task. The research I had to do into existing school magazines helped me know what to include in my magazine and understand how different conventions should be used in magazines. This assisted me in recognizing which conventions I could use or develop in my music magazine. I think I have learnt a lot since designing my school magazine in terms of how to edit photos as I didn’t edit the photo I used for my preliminary task, however the task of designing the front page layout and editing text definitely prepared me for the main task. I think that both my preliminary and final tasks follow the conventions and represent their genres effectively. All in all I think my project has been a success.