Magazine Analysis
I anaylised two music magazine front covers, a contents page, i did this in order to give me an idea of what i should be doing with my magazine and sets me in a direction of the processess i need to be undertaking in order to create my magazine.
I chose to use this magazine front cover as it had many areas that i could analyse and talk about in detail. The celebrity 'Leona Lewis' is the main focus of the magazine cover, i can see this as she's placed in front of the title of the magazine. Which indicates that company is well known so they don't have to show the whole of title because it can easily be identified. The colour of the background, grey, contrasts with her clothing which is black, by doing this it again makes her the main focus as she stands out from the background. Also, on her dress there is a feature that is grey, which is the same colour of the background, which perhaps indicates to us as the audience that she is part of the magazine. The way in which she is presented shows her as a sex symbol, her body language indicates this. The photographer as done this with purpose to make her look appealing to the male gender who wouldn’t normally magazine. By doing this it gives the magazine a range of audiences as this is quite a female magazine, however, having that type of sex appeal picture on the front cover, it may interest the males which results in the magazine being brought by them.
This magazine front cover appealed to me to analyse because the colour representation interested me, the use of colours were adapted to give an affect. The title of the magazine is a light blue, the celebrities name is also the same colour, which shows a sense of importance to the star. Furthermore, the stars bra strap is shown coming slightly off her shoulder, which interestingly is the same colour as the title of the magazine and her name. This links them all in together to suggest that the star is part of the magazine and that she represents importance. Expanding on from this, the stars hair is covering the magazines title 'Rolling Stone' again this suggests her importance and shows that the magazine contents has detailed information about that particular star. Also, her clothing is the colour black which contrasts with the white background, again making her the main focus and eye catching. Also, her eye make up is black and bold, also contrasting with the background, which could show that she is unique and different, and in some depth, as she’s the opposite colour to the background, could go on to represent the fact that she is rebellious and does the opposite to the expected norms. This could also be shown through her tattoos which are clearly shown as she’s wearing a sleeveless top, they could also be seen as a rebellious factor.
I chose this magazine contents page as it had a unique look to it, through the use of the pictures i could see that the main theme to this magazine was drumming and the theme was a rock style. The use of the pictures were to create a theme to the magazine and to allow for the readers imagination to conclud
e what the magazine is about. The colour theme of the magazine is quite dark and black, which could be a connotation to a rocky dark style which could be represented to the audience through the representation of the colours. Also the colour red is used as a main colour throughout the contents page, this could be a connotation to red meaning danger which could blend with the dark theme. The main heading 'DRUMMER' is in capital letters which suggests this is an important factor within the magazine, also could be the main theme. As the main pictures are of drums it creates a connection to the heading and the images which the audience could connect to also and relate the drums to their interest in music. This contents page includes a teaser as it says 'EXCLUSIVE' this teases the audience and makes them feel special as they have an insight to the magazine that others might not have. Furthermore, this will make them want to purchase the magazine which is a profit for the company.
Audience Research
I produced a survey which i sent out to a range of different people to give their opinions on their interests of music. I decided to ask a lot of open questions within my survey so i gave the participants a chance to put their point and interests across. By doing this, i also get more detailed information on the opinions of the popular music and reasons for these opinions. This sets me ideas of what music people like and most importantly why they like it.
1. I asked this question to find out whether people actually purchased music magazines, and if so then how often. The results showed that many people 'never' purchase music magazines, this may be due to the fact that they don't have interests in music or perhaps they simply just listen to it and use other sources such as the internet rather than a magazine. Also, this could be that the age of the respondants could be of the younger generation where they tend to be surrounded by the newer technology which means that they dont have to go out and buy the mucis magazines as they have other sources where they could find the information that they are looking for. However, a section of the results showed that people do purchase magazines, a small section answered 'once a week' suggesting that people do enjoy reading them and often purchase them. This may be that the respondants who answered 'once a week' may have a real interest in a certain music magazine and dont find using other sources as interesting and like the thrill of exploring through a magazine and having the latest gossip. It all determinds on how interested they are in music and what resources they choose to use to follow their interest.
2. I then asked what the participants ages were; 85.7% answered 16 followed by 14.3% who said other.
The results showed that the average age of people that answered my questionnaire were 16, this could affect the outcome of the questionnaire as at this age, most teenagers are discovering themselves and their music interests, which may mean they do not use music magazines as these are very specific within styles and genres, which results in them using the internet to research music instead as this is a popular source for people of that age. As being part of the younger generation, they tend to be fans of using the newist technologies in day to day expierences, which means that if they wanted to find out things within the music industry then they have many more resources to use which saves money. As being of this age they are not particulary going to have a great deal of money, which may put them off buying music magazines when they can search for this information via the internet.
3. I asked this question to simply see the proportion of the two genders that were completing this questionnaire. In this case there was a larger proportion of females answering this than males, this could have an affect on the outcome of the questionnaire as females aren't necessarily highly interested in music, and the bands they like will differ from bands that the male gender would like. This makes the results gender bias which means that the results could not be generalised saying that the respondants opinions would not be the same for everyone.
4. For the next question i asked 'what genre of music do you listen to?.
I asked this question to find out what type of music people enjoy listening to and to see if the answers differed from one another. From the graph you can see that 'R&B' was the most popular music style that people listen to. This could be a result of the ages of the participants that answered this survey as they were all similar which could show that R&B is popular within a certain age group. Finding that most respondants were age 16 it sets a catorgory of what type of music they listen to, although there is differences within style of music interests. The respondants who answered this may have a similar interest in one type of music which has been shown through the results. In this case, the respondants interest in a particular style was R&B.
I asked this question to find out what type of music people enjoy listening to and to see if the answers differed from one another. From the graph you can see that 'R&B' was the most popular music style that people listen to. This could be a result of the ages of the participants that answered this survey as they were all similar which could show that R&B is popular within a certain age group. Finding that most respondants were age 16 it sets a catorgory of what type of music they listen to, although there is differences within style of music interests. The respondants who answered this may have a similar interest in one type of music which has been shown through the results. In this case, the respondants interest in a particular style was R&B.
5. The next question asked 'What is your favourite band?' the responses were a range of different bands, including JLS, the killers, the kooks and some more.
This answer gave a variety of different bands who all have very unique styles, its interesting as all the participants who answered this survey were all of a similar age, and their interests in music differ alot. I asked this question to see what interest is in the music industry and the sort of style within it. As i got a range of answers it may mean that their are interests within many genres and of all age groups. Having these results ranging from another, it shows that people whether their in the same age range they could still have different interests within music. Music is explanatry and at the ages of the respondants (16) they are starting to create their personalities and find themselves, so their music interest may differ alot or in some cases may be the same. However, this is good to use for my magazine as my target audience could vary and doesnt have to be so specific as people may have an interest in my music with also having interests in other genres.
This answer gave a variety of different bands who all have very unique styles, its interesting as all the participants who answered this survey were all of a similar age, and their interests in music differ alot. I asked this question to see what interest is in the music industry and the sort of style within it. As i got a range of answers it may mean that their are interests within many genres and of all age groups. Having these results ranging from another, it shows that people whether their in the same age range they could still have different interests within music. Music is explanatry and at the ages of the respondants (16) they are starting to create their personalities and find themselves, so their music interest may differ alot or in some cases may be the same. However, this is good to use for my magazine as my target audience could vary and doesnt have to be so specific as people may have an interest in my music with also having interests in other genres.
6. The next question i asked 'What is your least favourite band?' the responses again were a range of different genres, including N-Dubz, Mcfly, JLS and some single artists names were given such as Lady Gaga.
I asked this question to find out what bands in the music industry people dislike, i did this to find out what types of music people don't enjoy listening to so i didn't base my magazine on those genres. Some of the bands names that were given were within the same type of style, they were based on a 'pop' theme, suggesting that this is the least favourite style of music indicating to me that other styles such as rock or Indy may be more popular in todays industry. Also, by having negatives for bands it suggests to me why poeple dont enjoy listening to certain types of mucis, which lets me create my music to the interests of others. As my style of music choice is soft rock it gave me an advantage as people were going to be interested in exploring this style which would populate my music magazine.
I asked this question to find out what bands in the music industry people dislike, i did this to find out what types of music people don't enjoy listening to so i didn't base my magazine on those genres. Some of the bands names that were given were within the same type of style, they were based on a 'pop' theme, suggesting that this is the least favourite style of music indicating to me that other styles such as rock or Indy may be more popular in todays industry. Also, by having negatives for bands it suggests to me why poeple dont enjoy listening to certain types of mucis, which lets me create my music to the interests of others. As my style of music choice is soft rock it gave me an advantage as people were going to be interested in exploring this style which would populate my music magazine.
7. The next question i asked 'What celebrity would you like to see on the front of a magazine?' the responses included, Aston from JLS, Lady Gaga, Cheryl Cole and many more. All the celebrities chosen are of the younger generation and follow a similar genre.
I asked this question to see what people would like to see on a magazine front cover, by doing this it sets ideas for my magazine and to see what would interest the audience into purchasing it. Also, it gives me insight to what type of people they want to see on the front cover, suggesting that they find these features interesting and points them in direction of my magazine.The answers were all about the bands that are famous for their appearance and good looks which suggests that people look for these certain stars as they like to idolise them and use them as a base to set up their own identity. People use the stars from the magazines as role models which gives me an idea on what to base as the look of my characters on the front cover. I want to create a sense of attractive features through the front cover so it appeals to the audience and catches their attention through my pictures.
9. The next question i asked 'Do you like to go to music festivals?' the results were, 42.9% answered 'yes', 42.9% answered 'never attended' and 14.3% answered 'don’t know'.
I asked this question to see whether people explore music through an exotic way which is different to the usual concerts. This gave me an insight to whether people enjoy these types of festivals so i could maybe include this in my magazine or feature’s of this for my settings of my natural pictures that i could create. It gave me an idea to what extent the younger geneartion enjoy music and whether they take their interests further than the internet or music magazines.
10. The next question i asked 'what would you like to see in a music magazine'?
The responses showed that the audiences would like some kind of discount for festivals or for items within the music industry. Also, people would like to see the newest music and to have updates within events that are happening within the music industry lately. This gave me the idea of an interview with a band for my magazine as this would give the readers an insight that they may not get from other sources. This also singles out my magazine and makes it 'exclusive' which attracts people to it making them interested on whats beyond the front page.
What is a Music Magazine?
Many people read magazines, however music magazines are produced so that people enjoy reading them and some may continue this as a hobby and collect them.
These are great magazines as they are all different and unique in their own way, there are so many different types of these magazines. Each magazine follows a genre, for example NME is a rocky genre of music. The magazines are made to follow the norms of a genre so that people who are interested in that type buy it, this helps the company’s profit as the magazines can appeal to a whole range of audiences.
Having different genres for all music magazines puts their companies at advantages because they are bound to appeal to specific groups within the audience with their magazine. The magazines all appeal to a certain type of audience, ranging the population so one type of magazine will suit a targeted group.
From the celebrity on the front cover of the magazine you can determined what type of a music magazine it is, this is done for a reason, to represent the genre through the front cover. This allows the audiences attention to be drawn to that certain magazine, also it allows the reader to relate to the star on the front cover and maybe to use them as an icon to their personality. Also, it is a way of attracting the readers to that magazine and interests them in the content of the magazine al through the front covers appearance.
Many people read music magazines to idealise a band or single artist and to get tips off there appearance and interests to create themselves. There is a lot of depth in these types of magazines than just information about music artists and bands, as many people use these to create their own style and learn about themselves. They could take examples from such magazines as rolling stones, NME and many more. Within doing this it allows them to experience what the star does and to see it as if it is them, which creates a sense of realism for them.
Music magazines have a lot of meaning to people and have a sense of discovering identities which makes them extremely popular in today’s society as difference is a main factor of life. It gives people a chance to explore different cultures of music and it allows them to see what sub-culture they fall into and to see what one is best fitted for them, music magazines give much help for people to do this through many different techniques.
Magazine institutions
In this essay I am going to describe my findings on my chosen institution. I chose to research IPC Media as this was already known to me and I wanted to apply my knowledge and expand on it.
From what I have learnt about IPC Media is that it is a huge and successful company, these statistics were taken off their website which reflects their popularity in today’s world. IPC Media produces over 60 iconic media brands, with print alone reaching almost two thirds of UK women and 42% of UK men – almost 26 million UK adults.
IPC Media is very diverse , it is clear that they own a whole range of different magazines which results in different audiences and different types of music. By doing this it makes the company become world wide as it gives a taste of everything within all industries and it is all linked to the same company.
IPC Media publishes a huge range of magazines and websites across many different sectors. Some of the music magazines include; NME, Marie-Claire, The hottest TV news, Look and many more.
By doing this it allows the company to cover all industries which comes with many advantages. The company will be well-known and world-wide, more magazines will sale resulting in more profit for them, they interest a whole range of audiences and they are different from any other company. Having this unique selling point allows them to be one of the top institutions and means they will not have too many other magazine companies in competition with them as they are so different.
IPC's diverse print and digital portfolio offers something for everyone, with a focus on three core audiences: men, mass market women and upmarket women.
The men's portfolio (IPC Inspire) comprises a wealth of leisure brands including Country Life, Horse & Hound, Rugby World and Decanter, as well as lifestyle brands including Nuts, Mousebreaker and NME.
The mass market women's division (IPC Connect) comprises famous women's weeklies including Look, Now, Chat and Woman; TV entertainment brands including What's on TV, TVTimes and TV & Satellite Week and, online, the goodtoknow network.
The upmarket women's division (IPC Southbank) comprises luxury fashion brands including Marie Claire and InStyle, lifestyle brands including woman&home and essentials and home interest brands including Ideal Home, Livingetc and housetohome.
Again this represents all the different types of magazines they produce and distribute within IPC Media and reflects the reasons for their popularity within the magazine industry. This company properly influences many magazine companies with its high individuality and unique selling points.
IPC Media is a good institution to research as it has many unique selling points which I could apply to my magazine, with further research I could use some of techniques they use and make them my own to expand on and this will reflect in my magazine.
From what I have learnt about IPC Media is that it is a huge and successful company, these statistics were taken off their website which reflects their popularity in today’s world. IPC Media produces over 60 iconic media brands, with print alone reaching almost two thirds of UK women and 42% of UK men – almost 26 million UK adults.
IPC Media is very diverse , it is clear that they own a whole range of different magazines which results in different audiences and different types of music. By doing this it makes the company become world wide as it gives a taste of everything within all industries and it is all linked to the same company.
IPC Media publishes a huge range of magazines and websites across many different sectors. Some of the music magazines include; NME, Marie-Claire, The hottest TV news, Look and many more.
By doing this it allows the company to cover all industries which comes with many advantages. The company will be well-known and world-wide, more magazines will sale resulting in more profit for them, they interest a whole range of audiences and they are different from any other company. Having this unique selling point allows them to be one of the top institutions and means they will not have too many other magazine companies in competition with them as they are so different.
IPC's diverse print and digital portfolio offers something for everyone, with a focus on three core audiences: men, mass market women and upmarket women.
The men's portfolio (IPC Inspire) comprises a wealth of leisure brands including Country Life, Horse & Hound, Rugby World and Decanter, as well as lifestyle brands including Nuts, Mousebreaker and NME.
The mass market women's division (IPC Connect) comprises famous women's weeklies including Look, Now, Chat and Woman; TV entertainment brands including What's on TV, TVTimes and TV & Satellite Week and, online, the goodtoknow network.
The upmarket women's division (IPC Southbank) comprises luxury fashion brands including Marie Claire and InStyle, lifestyle brands including woman&home and essentials and home interest brands including Ideal Home, Livingetc and housetohome.
Again this represents all the different types of magazines they produce and distribute within IPC Media and reflects the reasons for their popularity within the magazine industry. This company properly influences many magazine companies with its high individuality and unique selling points.
IPC Media is a good institution to research as it has many unique selling points which I could apply to my magazine, with further research I could use some of techniques they use and make them my own to expand on and this will reflect in my magazine.
Audience Profile
This is the logo of the magazine NME, the colours used black white and red make the logo stand out and be bold. This could represent the magazine and the contents within it.
From doing research on the magazine NME i discovered that it is one of the biggest magazines in todays music industry. As the style of this music is a rocky genre the audience will have a strong interest in this style and may idolise the stars within it.
This is a front cover page of NME music magazine; from this i can see that the theme is a soft rock. This could be represented through the colours that are used; the name of the star on the cover is in black and white, which could represent a unique style and the theme of difference. Also, the star on the front cover is Lily Allen, she may have been used as she is an idolised star who people look up to and want to be her, she is also known as having a rebellious character, this could represent the types of bands within this genre. Also, the stories that are included in this magazine about the stars are about rebellious things that have occurred in their lives.
The nme audience is made up of key demographic groups that can be difficult to target through other media:
- 65% Male*
- 50% 16-24*
- 23% 25-34*
- 79% ABC1*
NME, could be a useful magazine to research and use some of their features to base my ideas on for my magazine as i want to use a soft rock genre for my magazine.
My magazine-
The Target audience that i will be aiming my music magazine will be of both genders as this would create more worldwide fans. They will properly be of ages 15-25 as the music will have a sense of young style to it. My music style will be a soft rock as this is a very different type of music within the industry in today’s day and age. The people within my audience will have imaginative characteristics as this allows them to relate to my music, also being outspoken and loud as this is very like the character of my music.
My magazine-
The Target audience that i will be aiming my music magazine will be of both genders as this would create more worldwide fans. They will properly be of ages 15-25 as the music will have a sense of young style to it. My music style will be a soft rock as this is a very different type of music within the industry in today’s day and age. The people within my audience will have imaginative characteristics as this allows them to relate to my music, also being outspoken and loud as this is very like the character of my music.
Logo Anaylsis
This is the logo to 'rolling stone' magazine, it is a very well-known magazine, and the logo is easily recognisable. I chose to annotate this logo as it has striking factors which has a effect on the audience. The colours used are bold red with a white thin border around the letters with a 3D style with black lines filling in the shadow of the shaped letters. The colour red may be a connotation to the theme of anger and power which could represent the type of music within this magazine. Also, the black stripy lines suggest oldness within the music, maybe representing traditional rock music, it could also represent an American dinner look which could give a view on the music style within this magazine. The writing has been put in an american themed font as this genre of music is known as 'rock n roll' as this genre originated from america. By using this style font it allows for the audience to relate to the music from the style of writing used. The logos name is a unique one and no other music magazine has a similar logo, this is an advantage to the magazine as it will populate the magazine through having such a unique name that sticks in your mind. The use of font and colours give the logo an american diner look, like something from the movie 'Grease', this could attract many people as it looks appealing. Also, this gives the impression that it is a soft rocky style that themed in Grease, by doing this it allows the audience to relate to this. The word 'stone' in the logo could be connoted to the stone being a rock which represents the hard theme of the rock style music, which again allows the audiences imagaination to explore the difference of this style music.
This logo of Q magazine is an interesting logo as it is just one letter which makes it bold and outstanding. By using one letter it suggests that the music magazine is unique and different as not many music magazines have a logo that has just one letter as the name. Furthermore, this could also represent the style of the music making it seem basic and showing that the audience of this magazine could be quite simple and targeted at one particular group rather than a variety of groups. The red background makes the white letter of writing stand out which is probably the purpose of using these colours being used together. Also just by using a simple frame and theme it allows for the logo to be recognized more easily than other magazine logos, for example 'rolling stones'. This again gives the magazine a more variety of audience and allows them to spread their music world wide by using such a simplistic logo. In this case 'less is more' so from a small logo the magazine gets a big audience.This could be useful to use and helps give me ideas for my magazines logo, as i would like it to be quite simplistic like this. however because this logo is very well known id feel like i would be copying this idea rather than coming up with my own if i used this.
