Preliminary Task.

Music Stereotypes, Image.

Music Stereotypes.

Music Stereotypes:

Pop: Boy bands, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Chart music.

Goth: Evanescence, poetic, dark, depressing, a lot of black.

Indie: Acoustic, random bands that nobody has heard of, misunderstood, feel left out, isolated.

Rock: MCR, A7X, B182, Green Day, SWS, PTV, BMTH, BFMV, AA, YM@6, 30STM etc.

Punk: Sex Pistols, out of time, aggressive, anarchists.

Country: Acoustic, out of tune, hillbillies, songs about loss or relationships.

Rap: Black people, gangsters, hood, growing up in harsh surroundings.

Classical: Posh, orchestras, suits, older people, piano.  

Link: These stereotypes all fit into society in the way that they form subcultures and groups of people tend to be attracted to each other based on similar music tastes and styles. They can form groups based not only on age group, seen a lot in the pop and rock genres, but also within the style of music that can appeal to a secondary audience of older people, such as goth and punk.

NME Contents Analysis.

NME Front Cover Analysis.

Alternative Press Contents Analysis.

Alternative Press Cover Analysis.

Mast Head: The mast head here is using the abbreviation of ‘AP’, meaning Alternative Press and complies with the well-known codes and conventions of magazines that are widely recognised. This is shown in how the main image covers the mat head, meaning that the name of the magazine isn’t a major factor, it’s that recognisable the fans of the magazine ill be able to differentiate it from other magazines.

Sell Lines: There is a slight break in the typical codes and conventions of music magazines, as there are barely any sell lines on the front cover as aids to try and attract the target audience. The main sell lines are relevant to the main image and there are only a limited number of sell lines about related bands across the other side. This may give the magazine a unique selling point in terms of using other forms of marketing to sell itself.

Price: The price isn’t portrayed on the main front cover as shown, another break in the typical codes and conventions of music magazines as even though they are sometimes hidden in a small corner, this isn’t actually shown on first sight at all.

Layout: The layout is typical of any magazine, having the mast head being the largest area of text in order t inform of which magazine it is and to establish itself as a recognisable name. However, there is a cover line which is usually seen to be an exclusive, Kerrang also share this convention with Alternative Press, suggesting they both stick to a unique set of conventions. The main image is the central focus of the page and takes up almost the whole page, in order to try and sell itself to the target audience.

Typography: The typography here are much like the typography seen within both Kerrang and NME, using bold and bright colours in order to appeal to a target audience of teenagers, and a secondary audience of the parents of those teenagers. Having these as agents for selling itself, it gives Alternative Press a place in the market that is portrayed as professional yet unique.

House Style: The house style here seems to be similar to NME in terms of using a lack of bright colours, but using a very attractive model to gain the attention of its readers. By using black and red colours in the text, it sticks to a typical convention seen within music magazines; using colours that are the most dramatic for effect and that are easiest to show against a background that is blocked with colours such as white or black. However, something tat breaks the conventions seen within music magazines is having the sell lines at the very bottom of the page, this would mean that the main aim of the magazine is to sell rather than inform its readers.

Main Image: The main image here is relevant and a direct portrayal of the main sell line being ‘Sleeping With Sirens’, having the front man of the band, Kellin Quinn to attract attention to fans of the band and those who may becomes interested due to knowing who he is. The direct address seen from the model allows for the reader to become more consumed buy the story and the band itself, establishing a more intimate relationship between the magazine and the reader.

Music Magazine Planning.

Music Magazine Planning

Title ideas:

·         Kick!

·         K.

·         F*ck This.

 

Unique Selling Point:

·         Christmas edition.

·         Special offer on subscriptions.

·         Tickets for a meet and greet with a band of your choice.

·         New bands.

Font styles and colour schemes:

·         Bold.

·         Block font.

·         A unique, possibly drawn font.

·         Black and red.

·         Bright colours.

·         A running theme of red.

Ideas:

·         Cartoon combined with real life.

·         Using my boyfriend’s band as models.

·         Using friends to create a fake band.

·         Christmas themed.

·         New band (Louise, Mollie, Shelby)

·        

 

 

Audience Questionnaire Results.

Results from my Audience Questionnaire:

I asked a total of 12 individuals to answer my questionnaire.

The gender of people I asked was split down the middle at 6 male and 6 females, I believe this would give my results more validity and not focus on a gender specific genre or set of results that are generalizable only to males or females.

11 out of 12 of the people I asked were ages 16-20, and I had 1 over 25 participants. I think this allows for me to focus on a specific target audience and work on trying meeting their needs more so than a secondary audience.

Out of the people I asked, I had 4 people considered ‘working class’, 6 people considered ‘middle class’, 1 person considered ‘upper class’ and 1 anomaly. This could suggest that a certain genre or target audience would be suitable for my ,magazine, combined with the knowledge of ‘rock’ and ‘punk’ being associated with those belonging to the working class part of society.

I asked 12 people about their favourite genre of music, upon gaining my results I found that 3 preferred pop/rap, 3 preferred rock, or a variant of specific rock, but 6 were more general and didn’t have a preferred genre of music in which they listened to or focused on. This would suggest that I would need to include a mixture of different genres in order to appeal to a wider audience, however, for my target audience it would be more appropriate to focus upon the rock genre, as not only do I have my own previous knowledge to help but I know more about this subject than others.

When I asked what people considered ‘old music’ I had1 specific mention of ‘jazz’, 1 person who considered old music to be the music people listen to when they are young and then it changes with age, 9 people considered Classical to be old and I have one anomaly of someone who didn’t answer. I think this can tell me what kind of bands I could include and how I should write in order to be suited to my target audience, meaning using more modern slang and models that are more attractive to the younger/ teenage target audience.

There was a mixed response coming from the question concerned a favourite artist or band, as 4 people said they preferred a single artist, 5 people preferred bands and 3 people had a wider range of general flitting between favourites that aren’t set. This would suggest a fluid movement between which artists or bands are important at what time I would have to include things from recent occurrences in order to make my magazine, not only relevant but actually enticing to those wanting to see the changes within certain bands and artists.

All 12 of the people I asked aren’t subscribed to magazine and nor do they wish to be. I would assume this is not only because of the price of certain music magazines but also because there is a lack of interest since social media and the access to the internet is a more approachable way to find out information about music and bands, the only enticing thing I can image coming from a music magazine would be the posters.

Of the 12 people I asked, only one person expressed that they read a magazine of some kind possibly once a week, this shows that there is a clear lack of interest in the teenage market concerning reading music magazines and there is something which needs to change in order for music magazines to become interesting for that age group again, for slightly younger people (ages 11-14) it would be more suitable as the novelty of posters and having something to collect is enticing to them, but college students may struggle to find the time to read music magazines as well as still maintain an interest in them.

Audience Questionnaire.

Audience Questionnaire:

1.       What gender are you?

Female/Male

 

2.       How old are you?

Less than 10   11-15   16-20   21-25   Older than 25

 

3.       What is your social status?

Working class   Middle class   Upper class

 

4.       Why do you like a certain genre of music?

 

 

                              

5.       What do you consider ‘old’ in terms of genre of music? Please specify.

 

 

 

6.       What is your favourite genre of music? Please specify.

 

 

 

 

7.       Do you have a particular favourite artist/ band? If so please specify.

 

 

 

8.       What do you look for in a music magazine? Please specify.

 

 

 

9.       Do you buy any music magazines/ are subscribed to any music magazines? If so, please specify which and why.

 

 

10.   How many times a week do you read a music magazine?

Less than once   once   twice   3 times   4 times   5 times   more than 5 times