Prelim College Magazine "College!"

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Questionnaire Results Analysis

The two charts above tell me that most of my target audience hardly or never purchase music magazines. Only 10% of my target audience buys a magazine frequently, the other 10% buy it at least once a year. This comes to show that music magazines are rarely bought by my target audience. I need to find out what my target audience are interested in, to encourage them to buy my magazine.


As you can see from this chart R&B and Hip-Hop are the most popular genre my target audience seem to be interested in, rock also seems to be favoured by 19% of my target audience but not as much as r&b and hip-hop; therefore I think the main focus of my magzine should be based on R&B and Hip-Hop, a touch of rock could be added too.


The front cover of a magazine seems to attract my target audience the most, since 77% of them chose that. The next thing that seems to draw their attention to a magazine is Free Posters. This means that the front cover of my magazine should be my main focus area, I really need to think about how I can use the front cover to draw their attention. I may also add free posters to my magazine to draw their attention even more.


I expected most of my target audience would pay from either £1.50 or less, but surprisingly most of them are willing to pay from about £2-2.50 for a magazine. This is a good price for both the consumer and producer as the consumer can afford to pay that price, and the producer would be sure to make some profits. I think I'm going to make the price of my magazine between £2 and £2.50, so probably about £2.25, to make the price reasonable.


These results are quite tricky as my target audience would to like to see a mixture of everything; however, Interviews, Artist News & Gossip and Celeb Photos seems to be the most prefferred, a few would also like to see Album Reviews. I should try and include a mixture of everything in my magazine, mostly Interviews though.


Most of my target audience would like to receive Free CD's and Free Posters with a magazine, they would also like to receive vouchers. I might have to include a mixture of the three to make my target audience satisfied.


90% of my target audience would like to read articles about upcoming artists, this means i may have to include articles about upcoming artists.

This pie chart tells me that my target audience would like to see more images than text, so i may have to include more images than text in my magazine.

Red and Black seems to be the most prefrerred colours for my target audience, this may help me decide the theme colours for my magazine.

Proposal and Questionnaire

Proposal
I am going to create a music magazine which is going to be aimed at teenagers between the ages of 15-20. The genre of my magazine is going to be based on R&B and Hip-Hop, and since everyone has their own taste in music there’s going to be a touch of rock added to it as my aim is to satisfy all my target audience.



1. Do you buy music magazines?
Yes
No

2. How often do you buy music magazines?
Every day
Every week
Every month
At least once a Year
Never

3. What type of music genre are you interested in the most?
R&B
Hip Hop
Classical
Rock
Indie

4. What draws your attention to a magazine the most?
The title
The front cover
Free Posters
Free CD’s

5. How much would you pay for a magazine?
Less than £1
£1.50
£2
£2.50
£3

6. What kind of things would you like to see in a music magazine? (tick as many as you like)
Interviews
Album Reviews
Artists News & Gossip
Celeb Photos

7. What kind of freebies would you like to receive with the magazine?
Free CD’s
Free Posters
Vouchers

8. Would you like to read articles about upcoming artists?
Yes
No

9. What would you like the magazine to have?
More text than images
More images than text

10. What colour do you like out of these 3?
Red
Blue
Black

Magazine Block Titles Analysis

Kerrang is a rock magazine aimed at rock music lovers between the ages of 14-20.
Denotation
Connotation
· Capital letters
The title being in capitals makes the word stand out; this makes it clear that that’s the title of the magazine.

· Exclamation mark
The exclamation mark at the end of the title turns ‘kerrang’ into an onomatopoeia of the loud sound a guitar makes when it’s been plucked really hard. This relates to the genre of the magazine which is rock.

· White lines
The white lines across the word represent a broken glass, which relates back to loudness.

· Black Font
The black font links to the target audience as the magazine is aimed at rock lovers who love black.

Vibe magazine is an entertainment which features R&B and hip-hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. Its target audience is young people between the ages of 14-20. The title is in big bold letters which make it stand out from any other text on the magazine. Red makes the title eye-catching and attracts its specified audience; red is colour which isn’t aimed at a specific gender which makes the colour used suitable for its audience as the magazine is unisex.

Q is a magazine title which is aimed at music lovers between the ages of 24-44, for both genders but mostly men.

Unlike other magazine titles this logo is very simple as it is only one letter, the reason for its simplicity could relate to the target audience of the magazine. The style of the font is very formal which could once again link back to the target audience being mature adults.

The letter Q is in white and based on a red background, which is almost contradictory as the two colours are complete opposites. Red is a negative colour which represents danger, power, alertness and some sense of sexual appeal, whereas white a positive colour represents peace and purity.
The colours red and white could also be chosen because it’s aimed at a British audience which relates to the British flag. The block title could relate to its target audience and may emphasise boldness, maturity and power.
The letter Q sounds like the word “cue” shortened in a catchy way, which could relate to the idea of the magazine having a list of songs.

NME is a music magazine target at male and female music lovers between the ages of 15-24.

NME stands for New Musical Express which may relate to the purpose of this magazine which is to reveal new artists and genres to the world. As New Musical Express is quite long to say it has been shortened to NME to make it sound catchy. When “NME” is pronounced it sounds like the word ‘Enemy’, this could have something to do with the fact that it used to be a newspaper with a rebellious audience.

The colours used on this block title (black, white and red) contrasts from one to the other; this could represent the contrasts of all the new music discovered in this magazine. Red and black are negative colours and this could be used to relate to the whole idea of the magazine sounding like “Enemy”, such colours could also reflect the target audience being mostly men. Whereas the colour white could reflect diversity of the new music covered in the magazine. As white represents peace and purity, the complete opposites of red and black colours, you could say that it has something to do with its female audience and the contrasts between the music. The colour red stands out more than the other colours and helps attract its target audience.

The font is a simple bold lettering, which relates to its target audience (teenagers) being bold, youth who might want to be different- new music, new style. The capitals used in the font may be to attract its audience by boldness, and the pointy centre of the letter M, could reflect the magazine having a ‘cutting edge’ to attract the youth.

Magazine Covers Analysis

We can instantly tell from the central image on the front cover that there are going to be issues and articles of Cheryl Cole inside the magazine; we can also tell from the cover lines that there are going to be articles or issues about other music artist such as 50 Cent, Snow Patrol, Muse and others.
Q is monthly magazine targeted at male music lovers around of the ages of 24-44, as the magazine usually has interviews with popular musicians and serious in-depth stories as men of this age group may be interested in reading deeper articles. The target audience of this magazine are people who do not listen to one particular type of music as the music artists in this magazine range from “The White Stripes” to “50 Cent”; this shows diversity in music type.

The central image is of a famous pop star singer - Cheryl Cole; she is using a direct mode of address by staring straight into the eyes of the reader which engages the reader to whatever the magazine is trying to put across. She is wearing a red lipstick which almost seduces the reader as the colour red attracts attention and is very eye-catching. I think the magazine is trying to put across a sexy look to satisfy their audience being men. Q wants the reader to feel as if they have a relationship with her, they want the reader to feel attached to the Cheryl and therefore feel as if they have to buy the magazine. Cheryl is on the cover due to the fact that she has recently released her first solo album, she needs to promote her singles and albums for them to be successful. Also as Q is aimed at males, Cheryl Cole makes an attractive draw for readers seeing as she was voted number one in FHM’s top 100 sexiest females in 2009.

The anchorage text says “3 words...Cheryl Cole Rocks” although this doesn’t say much about what the inside story is going to be about, it somehow makes the reader curious to find out what the story is about. The anchorage text also makes reference to the title of her new album “3 words”. “Cheryl Cole Rocks” could also suggest a change in the type of music Cheryl is known for; this could be done once again to satisfy its audience, as Cheryl is known for being a pop singer and the magazine is almost trying to detach her from that image. By creating a rock image for Cheryl, the target audience/consumers become encouraged to buy the magazine. This image suggests that Cheryl isn’t just sexy, but she can be also edgy.

The overall message Cheryl Cole gives is her sex appeal as she is licking her lips; also, the red lipstick represents sexuality and seduction. The black clothing, dark make-up, wet hair with the text “Vampire Weekend” creates a horror effect which seems like a scary movie ad, I think this has something to do with the film “Sin City” which most of Q readers would be familiar with.
Some women may interpret the red lipstick, and dark make-up as power; the ring on her finger which almost looks like a claw could back this up. The theme of the magazine is red, black and white; this could once again refer to sexuality, the rock image and the film “Sin City”.

From this front cover, females are being represented in a stereotypical way, no matter what magazine a female features on they are always shown in a seductive or attractive manner. This also stereotypes the readership as the magazine is showing us what we stereotypically want to see; males want a sexy image and females want to see someone that we can aspire to.
“The 10 Best New Acts” this makes the magazine sound exciting and makes the reader interested to find out who the 10 best new acts are, buzz words like that also encourages the reader to buy the magazine. “Previewed” could also be a buzz word as it makes the story sound exclusive, this also encourages the reader to buy the mag.Unlike other magazine titles this logo is very simple as it is only one letter, the reason for its simplicity could relate to the target audience of the magazine. The style of the font is very formal which could once again link back to the target audience being mature adults.

The letter Q is in white and based on a red background, which is almost contradictory as the two colours are complete opposites. Red is a negative colour which represents danger, power, alertness and some sense of sexual appeal, whereas white a positive colour represents peace and purity.
The colours red and white could also be chosen because it’s aimed at a British audience which relates to the British flag. The block title could relate to its target audience and may emphasise boldness, maturity and power.

The slogan for Q magazine is “The UK’s Biggest Music Magazine”; the slogan is self explanatory as it claims that Q is the UK’s biggest music magazine. The slogan itself attracts new readers as it makes them curious to find out why it’s the UK’s biggest music magazine.
Q magazine mostly uses “puffs” buzz words and their slogan to attract their audiences; they also promote big, famous artists on their front cover to attract all types of music lovers.

Q magazine tries to attract its audience by mentioning a wide range of artists in the puffs, e.g. John Lennon, 50 cent and many more, the audience are more likely to spot an artist they like in the long list. They also make the audience feel that they will be ahead of everyone else in the music world as they reveal the best acts of 2010, even before the year has fully started.

NME is a music magazine target at male and female music lovers between the ages of 15-24.
NME stands for New Musical Express which may relate to the purpose of this magazine which is to reveal new artists and genres to the world. As New Musical Express is quite long to say it has been shortened to NME to make it sound catchy. When “NME” is pronounced it sounds like the word ‘Enemy’, this could have something to do with the fact that it used to be a newspaper with a rebellious audience.

The colours used on this block title (black, white and red) contrasts from one to the other; this could represent the contrasts of all the new music discovered in this magazine. Red and black are negative colours and this could be used to relate to the whole idea of the magazine sounding like “Enemy”, such colours could also reflect the target audience being mostly men. Whereas the colour white could reflect diversity of the new music covered in the magazine. As white represents peace and purity, the complete opposites of red and black colours, you could say that it has something to do with its female audience and the contrasts between the music. The colour red stands out more than the other colours and helps attract its target audience.

The font is a simple bold lettering, which relates to its target audience (teenagers) being bold, youth who might want to be different- new music, new style. The capitals used in the font may be to attract its audience by boldness, and the pointy centre of the letter M, could reflect the magazine having a ‘cutting edge’ to attract the youth.

The main article in the magazine is about a member of the punk band My Chemical Romance which is explained by the anchorage text “MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, on their punk comeback album”; this anchorage text also mentions the interests of the target audience – PUNK; this would not estrange the regular readers from what they are accustomed. However, NME will also attract customers that have an interest in a broad genre of music as this is a ‘comeback’ of My Chemical Romance and would possibly strive to be popular in the upcoming year. There is a direct mode of address between the reader and the man on the cover as the magazine wants to create a strong relationship between itself and the reader to encourage them to purchase this magazine.

From the front cover, the magazine covers the latest news in music, there are puffs that read "Jay Reatard RIP" and "Courtney and Keef, Worst Duet Ever?", this tells the readership and potential readers that the magazine will cover the general news of the music world, particulary the indie genre. The puffs also suggest that the readership will know about indie music and non-mainstream music, you wouldn't expect a fan of The Saturdays to read this magazine. They also use the buzz word 'Plus' to give the readership the sense that they are getting more content for their money.

The central image is of Gerrard Way from My Chemical Romance, NME wants us to feel like we have a relationship with him due having a direct mode of address. However, his body is twisted away from the camera and only half of his face is on view, this suggests that NME wants to create an element of mystery around Gerrard Way, they want us to know him but not the whole of him.

There are slogan-type cover lines at the top and bottom of the magazine, both of which promote artists featured in the magazine. It is interesting how both cover-lines contain a buzz word each, i.e. “NEW” and “PLUS”; this attracts readers as it makes it seem like there is something in this issue that is exclusive and not found in others, e.g. NME was the first British magazine to include a singles chart, so they could potentially continue to surprise their audiences with new ’inventions’. The fact that the artists featured in these cover-lines are in fact not classified as punk, such as Kid Cudi, allows the magazine to function as the “New Musical Express” that it is by featuring new genres of music.

Why is the front cover so important?

The editor’s main concern is what’s on the cover, because it projects an image, attracts the audience and consumers and tells us about the magazine. The front cover is the image/face of the magazine, it establishes a brand image which makes us aware of the magazine and makes it easy for people to identify the magazine. It’s important because people are most likely to buy a magazine because the front cover appealed to them; therefore if the front cover doesn’t look good/appealing then people won’t buy it.

Although Kerrang! is a rock magazine, the editor makes sure the cover appeals to the whole of its readership by covering all aspects of music, the editor does this by having a sub-genre of music such as indie and punk.
As Kerrang!s target audience are mostly teenagers, the ‘main sells’ on the cover are the freebies such as poster, stickers, calendars, etc. They also have exclusive interviews of famous musicians and publish special edition promotion magazines to attract new buyers. Kerrang tries to draw in and keep its readers by turning their mag. into a collector’s item, e.g. collect all five covers of each member of the group My Chemical Romance.

Kerrang! features a CD on their magazines occasionally, the effect of having a cover-mounted CD is that it makes the magazine exclusive, appeals to the eye and boosts up sales. However it doesn’t always necessarily boosts up sales, because if a CD is featured all the time there would be fewer sales due to an increase in cost production which also pushes up the price of the magazine itself, people will also start to expect free CD’s all the time and might get bored of it. Mixmag magazine always features a CD on their cover because once again it boosts up sales, however this doesn’t always happen. Having a cover mounted CD on every issue is very expensive and time consuming, this obviously means costs of production increases which then affects the price of the magazine and passes on to the consumer.

There are so many areas on a magazine but the two most important areas are the LOGO and the Sweet Spot. The logo is very important because it is the brand image of the magazine; it helps the reader identify the magazine and makes it recognisable, even though sometimes the logo may be covered it is still recognisable. The sweet spot on a magazine is what draws the reader to the magazine first, it usually has words like “FREE” and “PLUS”; this is done to tempt the readers to buy the mag. The two most important things magazines try to do on their cover is to reassure you of the magazine and to show the readers something different each time so they don’t get bored.

Magazine Publishers

Development hell is a small/ independent media company, known for publishing two monthly niche magazines, Mixmag and The Word.

Both The word and Mixmag are music magazines aimed at a specific target audience but more at middle-aged music lovers.

Development Hell also acquired a website ‘Dontstayin.com’, the world’s biggest clubbing social network which links to Mixmag magazine as it is a club/dance magazine and the two magazines accompanying websites: http://www.mixmag.net/ and http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/

BBC Magazines is a television related magazine which produces a range of magazines to suit all their viewers. It is a niche publisher which aims focuses on the home, garden, entertainment and education.
They produce specific magazines which have a specified target audience to meet their needs. Their target audience includes:
· Pre-School
· Pre-Teen
· Teen
· Adults
Under these specified target audience they also have several magazines for people with a specific interest.
The BBC is known for other types of media apart from publishing magazines, which includes: 5 different TV Channels, 5 or more Radio Stations and 2 websites.

IPC Media is one of the biggest magazine publishing company in the UK. It produces over 85 iconic media brands in the uk, with their print brands alone reaching almost two thirds of UK women and 44% of UK men which is almost 27 million UK adults, while their online brands collectively reach 20 million users every month.
IPC media produces a range of magazines which fall into both the mainstream and niche category. Its magazine portfolio for both genders includes NME, Look, Uncut, TV Times, Marie Claire, Loaded, Nuts and many more.
IPC also has an official website http://www.ipcmedia.com/; this is the only other media arm they have since they are committed to making their magazines the best, focusing on one media platform makes it easier for them to improve their company and make it the best.

Bauer is a division of the Bauer Publishing Group, Europe’s largest privately owned publishing Group. It’s one of the largest consumer magazine publishing company in the UK and also a worldwide media empire offering over 230 magazines in 15 countries, as well as online, TV and radio stations. It is the company responsible for Kerrang, Q and Mojo. The company also owns 40 commercial radio stations including Magic and Kiss FM and 7 digital music TV channels e.g. The Box, Hits and many more.
Bauer media produces magazines ranging from both the niche and mainstream segment, as it is a big company the target audience is quite general and they provide for everyone.

Magazine Analysis

InStyle Magazine
Denotation
Connotation
· Head is covering Title
· This emphasises her importance; she is more important than the magazine title.

· Hand on her hips & body twisted
· This presents Jennifer in a much more softer way, than if she was facing forwards.
· The fact that her hands are on her hips also shows her confidence.

· Hair tied back
· This shows her independence, maturity and professionalism as to if her hair was let down.

· “FALL FASHION” – bold and big
· This represents the purpose of her being on the front cover; fashion.

· Red Lipstick, black and white clothing - red text, black and white text. Black, red and white are the main colours used.
· The colour red implies sexiness and seduction. The other colours black and white represents maturity and professionalism as to if a colour like pink was used. The black and white text also matches with the clothes she’s wearing and makes her look bold.

· Looking directly at the camera
· This makes Jennifer engage with the audience, it almost communicates with the reader.

· Clothes
· She’s wearing a black and white dress which shows off her body shape. Her dress emphasises maturity and professionalism. It also represents her glamorous lifestyle and star status.

· Smile
· Her smile brings the audience close to her, even though Jennifer is smiling, her smile doesn’t give her off as too friendly or laid back. It has a sense of seriousness and confidence.





Cosmopolitan
Denotation
Connotation
· Head is covering title
· This emphasises her importance; she is more important than the magazine title.

· Hands relaxed on her thighs.
· This also shows that she’s relaxed and comfortable. It also shows how much confidence she has in her body.

· Body slightly tilted almost facing forwards.
· Even though she’s facing forwards, her body is slightly tilted which also presents Jennifer in a softer way than if she was fully facing forwards.

· Colour of clothes matches with text
· The colours used on her clothes are mainly red and orange, which almost looks like fire. The fact that the dress looks like fire could relate to the text “Jennifer answers your burning questions”. The red background and red dress relates to sexiness.

· Hair blowing back
· This shows links back to the idea of sexiness; this is presented in a good way than to if her hair was tied back.

· “SEXY” – bold and big
· This represents the purpose of her being on the front cover; sexiness.
· It also matches with the dress she’s wearing and associates with the theme of the magazine.

· Revealing Clothes
· This matches with the season this magazine was made. Even though the dress isn’t formal it shows a bit of elegance and glamour in her.

· Smile
· Her smile draws the reader closer, as it gives off a warm welcome and presents J-Lo to be friendly








FHM
Costume: Jennifer is wearing a pale blue swimsuit which reveals her body. I think the purpose of this is to satisfy the target audience of this magazine, being men. The costume she’s wearing shows of her body and presents Jennifer as sexy.

Facial Expression: Jennifer is looking directly at the camera, the effect of this is that she communicates with the audience and attracts them to the magazine. She is pouting her lips; this once again projects her as being sexy and meets her purpose for being on the magazine.

Body Language: Jennifer has one hand on her hips and one hand relaxed on the sand setting. This shows her confidence in her body and shows that even though she’s relaxed she is strong and dominant. She’s also sticking her chest out, to show off her body (breasts). This presents her to be sexier. She’s kneeling on the sand with her legs bent behind her, this is also another way to project sexiness; the whole theme of the mag.

Camera Shot: I would say a mid shot is used here, even though you can see her whole body, she is kneeling which makes the shot look almost normal.

Setting, Lighting & Colour: Jennifer is sitting on sand with a blue background as if she was at a beach; I think this was done to create the atmosphere of ‘summer sexiness’, it also projects the theme of summer. The blue background makes Jennifer look cool, relaxed and sexy.






People

Costume: Jennifer is wearing a cream coloured type clothing which blends in with the background and allows the audience to focus more on the babies, which is the main topic of the magazine. Jennifer’s costume presents her as a mother; this is quite unusual as she is usually presented as an “independent woman” or “sexy”. The colour of her clothing shows maturity and peace.

Facial Expression: Jennifer has a smile on her face which makes her look friendly and heart warming, it also connects with the audience and brings them closer to her. Her facial expression shows that she is happy at what she’s doing, which is being a mother. The babies are asleep and look “at peace”.

Body Language: Jennifer is cuddling her babies and smiling, this shows the connection she has with her children.

Camera Shot: A mid-shot is used here, to make the image look like a family type photo. I think a mid-shot is also used so we can focus on the main subject or topics being, Jennifer and the babies.

Setting, Lighting & Colour: Jennifer is sitting on a couch with her two babies; I think this is done to make the image look real and natural. The main colours used in this are cream, white, lilac and blue; these are all cool peaceful colours to represent peace and purity.