Evaluation

In what ways does your music magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of existing music magazines?

My music magazine 'Ultrasound' uses the obvious conventions that any other music magazine will use for their front cover. These conventions include the Strap line, Masthead, Lure, Cover lines, date, time & bar code and lastly the Mode of address. Before I could start constructing my own music magazine, I had to carry out a lot of research on existing music magazines in order to find out which features they included, so that I could more or less do the same. The research stage of my music magazine consisted of de-constructing all the features which make up a music magazine. After de-constructing theses features, it was easier for me to analyse them in more detail. One of the main features in a music magazine cover is the Masthead. My masthead is mainly used to advertise the name of my magazine (stating the obvious) however it is also used as an objective for what I want to aim in the long-term from my magazine. This is the same for all music magazines. Carrying out secondary research helped the production of my music magazine very much as it all helped form my music magazine. It also gave me an insight on how other music magazines looked and what they featured. This was helpful as it allowed me to make my music magazine look different and unique in order for it to qualify as a competitor in the huge music magazine industry.

My music magazine includes all the generic music convention codes. All the features of my music magazine stand for something and suggest a link with the target audience. The use of new releases and top 50 artists is distraction for the target audience as it pulls them away from the typical events throughout their day. The use of celebrity stories, updates and interviews is a strategic method used to get the audience interested as well as having something they can compare their problems, dilemmas and even everyday life with. The layout and design of my music magazine is used to attract a specific target audience. The main image is a mid-shot attracting the main subject of 'this weeks' magazine. The framing used for the artist on the front cover is symmetrical as she is posing in a placed position however she is looking away from the camera. The fun and laid back artists gives off the idea that she has been 'caught slipping' which is a common phrase used by teenagers who are a percentage of my target audience. The mood the artists creates is a very funky, electro pop look, especially by the clothes she is wearing. The crazy handwriting suggests that the magazine is funky and cool and aimed at teenagers but the use of dark and bold colours suggests the target audience are slightly older. This is because my target audience are 16-24 years old. The use of 'electro pop is the next generation' at the top of my music magazine influences the audience to purchase it as it gives them the idea that the genre is becoming very popular.

The layout and design of my contents page stays consistent with the music magazine. This tends to be the same with most real music magazines. The content page also includes the name of my magazine; 'Ultrasound', the tag line; 'electro pop is the next generation' and lastly the date, which for this addition was; 'November 2009'. The font style and font colour also stays consistent. The only thing that differs on the page is obviously all the things that a contents page would consist of that the masthead wouldn't, for example, a title saying 'contents' which remains in the same font style and colour as well as all the pages and page numbers. My main aim was to make sure my magazine related to my target audience as the main way in which magazines are produced and distributed depends on the audiences life style and spending pattern.

Q.How does your music magazine represent particular social groups?
ULRASOUND represents the social group of young adults aged 16-21 who are interested in electro pop/drum & bass music. My music magazine does this effectively through the mise-un-scene as I have dressed my featured artists in clothes that represent the genre of music which relate to my target audience. By my featured artist wearing funky, trendy and retro clothing style represents that this social group have a trendy, funky and retro mode of address which relate to my target audience (16-21). For example the image taken of my featured artist shows that my intended target audience do not care about all the bad press which criticism their style. As you can see from my artist, she is very confident in what she is wearing and how she looks.

The different font styles and colours used for the font gives my music magazine front cover an artistic, unique look that relates to fun and happy young adults. On my contents page I have picture of my artist on the background which represents my page and keeps the style consistent. In my double page spread, the featured artist is showing her funky, crazy side in many of the pictures with the way she is posing and her appearance. There is one picture on my double page spread where she is facing the backwards with her head tilted towards the camera, this hugely represents youths today as they are all about having fun and enjoying themselves with all these crazy poses. The colours used on the page are all the colours from the background images I have used on featured electro pop artists. This represents the genre of my music magazine.

Q. What Kind of institution might distribute your music magazine and why?

The main institutions that may sell my music magazine would be local newsagents and HMV. I think areas like Central London, Camden Town and West Londonn will find my magazine most appealing which is why I think newsagents in these areas might distribute my magazine. As for HMV, my music magazine might be sold by all their stores throughout London. Other shops which sell magazines such as Borders may also be a good place to distribute my music magazine. This would be a huge advantage for my music magazine as it will be selling with other well known magazines which aren't only sold around the UK but world-wide. This will also be beneficial for my music magazine as I can publish news and artists/bands which aren't just from the UK but all around the world such as America. Having a link with world known magazines like in America could help the success of my music magazine because my audience will see that my magazine doesn't just consist of news and artists based in the UK. This would work extremley well because magazines like 'Vibe' (which is an American magazine) has worked it's way to selling sucessfully in the UK in many sole-traders like newsagents, corner shops etc. The reason for this is because the magazines understand the concept of psycho-graphics and demographics of their target audience.

As for train stations, I don't think my magazine should be distributed there. This is simply because kiosks at train stations maninly distribute free magazines and newpapers which feature reviews about music. So, I don't think my target audience will spend money on a music magazine when they can just find out all the latest reviews in the free magazines/newspapers.