Evaluation of my final music magazine

Evaluation of my final music magazine

1. In what way does your media product, use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My magazine uses a lot of conventions which real magazine use for example the front cover having a masthead, strap lines, a barcode, price, date, having a house style. However I also challenged these conventions with the page numbers, in my magazine they are at the top of the page instead of the bottom I did this as I thought it was easier to see and also looked a lot better as they weren’t lost in the text of the article and contents page which made it more convenient for the reader, also if it was to be published as a digital copy it would be easier for the reader to find them. I also challenge the usual age of the target market for the genre of the magazine usually a pop magazine is aimed at young people from 9-15 however I aimed mine at 16- 24 as there isn’t many pop music magazine for that age range which means that there is a space in the market for it. When I was developing my magazine I looked at magazine which are already on the market and saw what they had used, when I chose the name of the magazine I wanted to make sure it was related to the genre, I named it replay as the magazine was going over the hits of the month as if it was replaying them again. I looked closely at Q magazine as I thought it had a good style and based mine around there but changed It so I wasn’t copying it. I also challenged the usual conventions by making the price cheaper than a normal magazine as when asked it was something which the target market wanted. I also used the 3 column rule on the contents page which gave it a more simple look.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine represents the social group of the younger generations aged 16- 24 who listen to pop/ chart music. Usually the target market for this genre is younger and the bright coloured magazines don’t appeal to older people. By using a simple colour scheme and using fonts which are aimed at a more mature age it made it appeal more to older people. The 4 main colours were grey, orange, black and white. This gave a simple look to it and made it easy for the headlines to stand out while still looking mature. I also used quite mature language in the magazine which meant that they would also be attracted as the articles wouldn’t have seemed childish which would make it more appealing to the age group. I also looked at Q and billboard to see what kind of language they use and kept it on a similar level to them.

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

If I was to publish my magazine I would use IPC media which is now known as Time inc UK. It is a well-known publisher for magazines and has over 100 magazines which the publish. Each year around 26 million adults are thought to read there magazines in the UK alone. In September 2014 it became TimeInc after it was bought and rebranded by another company however it still publishing and sells all the original magazines. TimeInc sells magazine like NME, Time, essence, Now which are all popular well known magazines. NME is a music magazine which focuses in everything about music meaning it doesn’t have one genre. This means that they would be able to publish my magazine with them as they already publish a music magazine so they would know what to look for in one, they also have an advanced range of advertising skills for example they have their own website where they list their magazine. They also sell the majority of their magazines in a lot of supermarkets, corner shops and NME is sold in most Topshop's which means that my magazine would be likely to be around the target market as Topshop is a clothing shop which is aimed at younger generations. This would mean that they would be more likely to see it and want to buy it. They also advertise their different magazines in the magazine, so NME would be likely to advertise my magazine as they are both based around music. People might also be likely to see that it was published by TimeInc and then want to read it as they know that they already make good quality magazines. By publishing with TimeInc it would be likely that my magazine would be successful as many people will have ready read their magazines before meaning that they would be likely to think that mine would be good.

Example of their music magazine NME

Company logo

4.Who would be the audience for your media product?

The diagram on the right shows the audience profile for people who would read my magazine. This helps to show everything which they would be interested in. I used this to help me create the magazine because it helped to give an idea of what was needed to make it appealing to the audience.

5. How did you attract/ address your audience?

I attracted my audience by using fonts and colours which they would be attracted to. As the target market was 16-25 it needed to be more mature than the usual pop music magazine. I used black white and grey and added orange to make headlines and important information stand out more. The models also needed to be professional and serious to make it look and feel more professional. I also used headlines which made you want to read on for example the main headline was “I couldn’t have done it” which is a quote from the article which makes you want to read it in order to find out what she couldn't have done. I also made the price more affordable than the usual magazine as it was something which the target market wanted. They also have a role model within music, the article is based on realising a new album and the headline is “ I couldn't have done it” this makes the reader wonder what their role model couldn’t have done and if they are ok after they did it. They also wanted a simply layout which was easy to navigate by using the 3 columns effect I think I have done that well.

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

Throughout the planning, research and construction of this music magazine I have learnt a lot about the technologies in which I have used. The first one being blogger and leaning the ways to upload different media files like PowerPoints, word documents and images by using slide share and then embedding the link to make it work on my blog. Another programme which I have learnt more about is photo shop, I used this for the construction of all the pages which I have created and I also used it to edit the images which I used to make them look better than the original copy. I also learnt a lot more about how to actually use Photoshop. To take pictures I used a canon DSLR camera which is similar to on which a professional magazine would use. After using one of these before I felt I didn’t really learn much more but I felt I did learn a lot more about the way in which the models should be posed in order to make the pictures look a lot better. I also used survey monkey to ask the audience more about what they wanted in the magazine.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

When looking at my preliminary task compared to my final product the difference between them is very obvious. The fonts and colours which I used in my preliminary task were very plain and boring which made it look uninteresting and didn’t make you want to read it. The headlines were also very simple and boring which didn’t help to attracted the reader. The pictures were also not really related to any articles in the magazine where as all of the photos in my final magazine have a purpose. In my final product the colours and font were bright and bold which made them stand out. The headlines also made you wonder what the article was about which made you want to read it. The layout in the preliminary task was also just in a line which didn’t make it very engaging where as the final product had more of a layout which meant there was no unnecessary blank space and there was a lot more content on the contents page. I feel that since the preliminary task I have learnt a lot more about attracting the audience and the overall look of the magazine. I also learnt a lot more about how to use software and equipment better which meant that the overall quality of the magazine was better.