Music Magazine Research- My Inspiration

For my first piece of different ideas, I thought that it would be good to create a prezi presentation as I could show all my ideas and pictures in one form of a media platform, in this presentation I have things such as pictures that I think I could take inspiration from, I also have ideas where I could take these pictures, I still have a lot to think about for my magazine, like what I will call my "artist" what her "story" will be e.g. what songs she sings, where she is from, her famous friends etc.

I also still need to think about what I a going to call my magazine, font, layout and what cover lines and graphics I will use.

Also the other people that I will feature in my magazine, I will use this post as my ideas post, that I will go back to and update with new things that I want to put in my magazine.

 

 

https://prezi.com/vceoyrff7mm7/inspiration-for-my-music-magazine/ 

Target Audience Questionnaie Analysis With Accompanying Graphs

In this post I will be continuing on with my research and planning, I will be looking over the questions that I asked through social media, analysing the results I have been given, looking over each question and the most common answer meaning that I will be trying to pin point my conclusive findings, therefore this will influence my design decisions.

Firstly I will be taking screen grabs of my questionnaire to give me a fair idea of what the final analysis will be.

 

 

 

 

The next area that I wanted to look over is the responses that I have been done throughout social media, I carefully specified the questions that would best help me as it really guides me to what I exactly want to put in my final magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread.

Question 1

From this answer I have found out that I will be focusing my magazine mostly for the female audience, this will be easy for me as I know how to best draw in female readers as I know from what I personally like and dislike being a female meaning that I can relate to my audience in what they would mostly prefer to see.

Question 2

Again as I am under 18 I can further relate to this answer as most of the audience have audience are under 18.

 

Question 3 

Most of the people who answered this question have said that they have not previously bought a music magazine, when creating my magazine I will try to ensure that I entice people that would want to buy it.  

 

 

Question 4

 As I can tell from this answer most of my audience are unemployed, therefore I will ensure that I place my price range that will be suitable for my readership.

 

 

 

Question 5

I thought by asking this question, I will have a further more clearer view on what I feel would sell my magazine, from this as I have expected, I have learned that most people answered that they would be more enticed to buy the magazine by what is on the front cover.  

 

  

Question 6 

I think that it was an extremely important question to include in my questionnaire, as if I have the wrong price it could possibly make people turn away from buying my magazine. On the other hand, if my prices are too low people might turn away from getting it.

Question 7  

when asking this question I felt it was extremely important that I included lots of different options for people to choose from, this is because I needed to get a range of topics to cover within my magazine, from receiving my feedback I can immediately see that the most popular answer is "top songs of the moment" again I wasn't surprised that this was the case as I felt it is what I personally like to see in music magazines, with concert reviews coming in at a close second, I will be sure to include these in the final magazine.

 

 

Question 8

This question is important when creating a magazine as its important that you can clearly be sure when and how often you are selling it to your readership, if you create a magazine too often, readers can loose interest, whereas if you sell it monthly your readers can look forward to seeing all the new gossip between artists etc.

 

 

Question 9 

I wasn't surprised to find that they highest amount of people felt they preferred pop/rock as their preferred genre of music, coming gin close second was vocal and with no likes blues and rap, again this wasn't surprising. I will ensure that my artist will be a pop/rock artist.  

 

 

Question 10

 in the last question that I asked I wanted to see what people would prefer to see within regards of advertisements, with both scoring 6 people who answered each evenly movie releases and artists information come in joint first, I will be sure to include both if these advertisements in my article.

 

Target Audience Questionnaire

https://www.surveymonkey.com/collect/list?sm=zDN2LG0hG%2b43vSm8NF92H3uT94%2f9B53Vqj4inxTMfkA%3d

I have designed this questionnaire to gain the knowledge of my audience. The questions I chose to ask them were relevant to how the audience would like to see the music magazine and the personality and interests of the audience. This questionnaire is going to aid how my magazine is presented and the appearance of my music magazine.

Extra Music Industry Research

For extra research to sharpen my knowledge on the music industry, I have decided that I will look further into what is currently (in) with regards to things such as the top songs in the charts, ranging across from the UK, US and worldwide songs that are making people aware of not only the particular song but the artist.
I have looked into who the highly paid artists, this would give me an insight onto who people are most preferring to listen to, meaning that when I go to further my music magazine research I will be more prepared to know the artists that have succeeded most within the past year, this will then indicate what to put into my front cover and my double page spread.

Here is the BBC charts, UK

Here is some more UK charts

Here is Some USA charts of present

Here are the Current world charts

Here are the most popular artists of 2014

Hot Press DPS Analysis

The Layout Used
The layout in this particular double page spread, is a classic easy to read, simple yet timeless look, the text wasn't spread through the entire two pages, therefore in a small yet bold impact on the 2nd page.

The Image Used
There is only one main image on this page, compared to Q magazine whereby there was 5 images spread across both pages, this could possibly be as they want to make a greater impact on this one particular image. It is edited in a black and white colour scheme which replicates the main image on the front cover of this magazine, the look that this band seem to be going for is a cool contemporary almost fresh look, possibly to show that they have been around for a long time, but they don't plan to stop. In the main image we see all four of the members, none of them seem to be looking directly at the camera, this could be for many reasons, possibly because they might want us as the readers to find out what exactly they are looking at, it could possibly be them walking onto a stage, not exactly knowing what they are looking at can make the readers extremely intrigued, this means they will want to carry on and read what in the text.

The Colour scheme used
As I have previously mentioned the colour scheme used throughout this image and indeed on the double page spread, is the matching opponent to the main image on the front cover. The colour scheme used is completely distinctive and reflective of this magazine, the black and white image of the band U2 is in keeping with the black background running across both pages and the black text featured as usual with the same font, this is spread mainly across one page but is picked up apon a white background that really makes the writing stand out on the page. The contrast between two dominant colours of black and white is evident in any issue of Hot Press, creating a dynamic edgy look that shows stylish sophisticated look that signifies the readership audience.

The Text Used

Again in the same way that Q magazine spoke about their personal life, they talk about the pressures of having a rock star lifestyle, thy heavily talk about being on lots of flights in their life time, and how they travel in style, they talk about scary flight experiences and how this has effected them, they possibbly have talked about this because they want the readers to see how they live.

Q Front Cover Analysis

The house style 

Aside from the image, colour scheme and indeed the article itself, the distinctive Q House Style is evident in the bar along the bottom of the page which features the Q logo (which is also its masthead) as well as the page number, the issues month and year and the magazines website, Facebook and Twitter sites (these three sites were cut off in the image) and subscription website. This bar is featured in all of the inner pages of Q, encouraging the contemporary readers to engage in the magazines cross-media platforms.

 

The Layout

The layout used throughout the double page is very simplistic, it fits in with the traditional look of Qs clean cut look, and so therefore appeal to regular buyers who have come to expect this.

The Images used
There was a total of 5 photographs used throughout the double page, the main image that takes up the majority of the page is an "action shot" that what seems to be taken at a gig, or concert, typically the main picture used is one that is taken on a well lit photo shoot, this picture was probably taken to give off the look that this band try to show, which seems to be rock and roll, extremely passionate about music and what they create as far as music content. The picture is set on stage with quite an orange amber lighting, thus


The colour Scheme
The colour Scheme depicted in this magazine is a typical Q colours, with the use of black and white drawn from both the text and the background, we see a classic style, that gives off a

usual, in a Times New Roman serif font. The muted tones of the striking image are then contrasted with a large red L that spans the entire size of the second page, establishing a sense of symmetry due to the fact that the image on the left-hand side also fills the page. Undoubtedly the most recognisable shade featured in the magazine, red is used for the memorable Q masthead which is featured along the bottom of every single page, as well as article titles and certain features and is therefore immediately recognisable for readers. The contrast created between the dominant colours of red, black and white is evident in any issue of Q, creating a dynamic, edgy look that signifies the stylish, sophisticated look the target audience are attracted to. Similarly, the polished colour scheme seems to reflect the fact the article is a serious journalistic piece which will also appeal to Q readers, eager to find out the latest about their favourite musicians.

The Text Used
There is an abundance of columns spread across both pages, the article centres around the Foo Fighters, especially focusing around them all individually to show the readership who they actually are, it focuses on things such as their everyday life, what they get up to, their family life, and most importantly their music career. In the article they also heavily talk about their new album, whereby they speak of such things like, why they wrote the songs, where they wrote them and who they were inspired by. The main reason why they probably wanted to speak about these things is they wanted the readers to know them on a personal level, they want people to be aware that they too have a lot going on, meaning that readers can easily relate to them, and possibly want to make sure that they are going to want to read their magazine.

HOT PRESS MUSIC MAGAZINE COLLAGE

Hot Press Contents Page Analysis

Analysing HOT PRESS Contents Page

Firstly, the reader’s attention is instantly attracted to the large teal heading of the contents page; it reads, ‘contents’ in block capitals – further emphasising the house style of HOT PRESS magazine. Under the main heading it states the vol and issue number once again however this time it gives the reader a vintage feel as the font is quite antique looking. The ‘HOT PRESS 3820’ once again shows how many magazine publications this brand has had. In doing this, the reader feels like the magazine will always been published and so will be intrigued as the magazine must contain popular and interesting articles- therefore the reader will want to read on due to this.

Furthermore, the contents page additionally emphasises the fire we see on the masthead of the magazine. The fire image on this page is in the blue teal colour with a circle of different coloured sections around it. This implies to the reader that this fire image is the magazines’ logo and so apart of the house style of the magazine.

There is only one image on the contents page – an unusual convention of a contents page. The image is once again the band U2 which again displays them in a black and white image. This image is on the bottom of the page and alongside the list of page numbers. HOT PRESS’ contents page only displays two highlighted articles within the magazine; one of which concerns music while the other, politics. The name of the article is highlighted beside the page number to give the reader clear guidance on what the story about U2 is. It then goes on to describe the main narrative of the story which helps intrigue the reader.

Diagrams of dots, in the teal colour, are seen on above and below the heading ‘contents’ and ‘HOT PRESS 3820’. These dots present the magazine in a professional and neat way which helps the reader understand what they should be attracted to – the page numbers and U2 image. The font used on this page provides the reader with an old-English presentation. In doing this the audience make a prejudgement of the mode of address in which the magazine communicates with the reader. We, the audience, can assume from this appearance that the magazine is very formal in the way it communicates and so gives off a professional feel.

The overall style of the contents page in this magazine is very sheik and vintage which further emphasises the fact that U2 is an older band. This gives us, the audience, the impression that this magazine features the older bands, the ‘chiefs of music’, and the house-hold names within the industry

Hot press Front cover analysis

HOT PRESS magazine is released fortnightly; it bases its articles on music and politics. Located in Dublin, Ireland it was founded in June 1977. The magazine title, HOT PRESS, is a pun for a common Irish term for an airing cupboard. Masthead can also symbolize the idea of paparazzi and ‘press’ in the media – they have the hot press, the ‘not-to-be-missed’ press. Furthermore, the masthead can also give the idea that the magazine knows everything you need to know about music. The title almost sounds like a gossip-centre place; the HOT PRESS. As though the magazine directly tell their readers everything – nothing is held back which creates a friendly feel to the magazine.

The magazine has a circulation of 17,179 (ABC, January – December 2012). The magazine is sold in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland which means they have a wider target audience and market. The magazine is mostly directed at individuals aged 18-35 with 90% of their audience being in that age group. 45% of this percentage is 18-25 years old while the other 45% are between the ages of 26-35. The magazine is aimed equally at both sexes with 52% of their readers being male and the other 48% being female.

The house colours for this magazine are; gold, black and grey. This helps the magazine become a house-hold magazine for its readers, the colour scheme is dark and rock ‘n’ roll like. From this house style we can assume the magazine promotes non-pop music such as arctic monkeys, Jake Bugg and of course U2. The gold and black contrast of colours suggests an award-like magazine as these colours are used in the music industry for platforms and awards. This makes us the audience assume this award-winning magazine who features award-winning musicians. All words and letters printed on the front cover are displayed in block capitals which suggest that all information is important on the cover and so the reader should read it all. The issue vol and issue number is displayed alongside the date in which the magazine is published; this helps the reader determine how long the magazine has been running and ensures they are reading the up-to-date edition. The font of this is small and printed at the side of the masthead. The layout, choice of colours and design of the front cover has created a niche audience – those interested in vintage, old-school music. This helps to create a ‘fandom’ for HOT PRESS magazine as they will have buyers who will buy every release and those who buy for their favourite band who may be featured in the magazine.

The masthead of this magazine is HOT PRESS; the O in hot is replaced by a fire symbol which further implies the idea of the word HOT – as though their music and articles are on fire, a metaphor for the best. The masthead is printed in a stamp-like fashion which connotes a homely-feel for their readers.

The main image is displayed on 70% of the front cover which instantly attracts the audience to look at U2. The use of this band helps to introduce new readers to the magazine as people may see U2 as the front cover and may be interested to read it- therefore an increase in audience numbers and sales. The image is in black and white which is in contrast to the house style of the HOT PRESS magazine. The black and white image could further suggest that the band are ‘old-school’ and so therefore a black and white image would deeply present the band as the ‘kings of music’ – to many people they may be. Not one band member is making eye contact with the camera/ reader which intrigues us to as why they do not make eye contact- this makes us believe that ‘the big interview’ may include some mistakes and secrets in which the band have made throughout their careers and so this intrigues the reader to read on. The image was taken at eye level which helps to emphasises the band as down-to-earth people – who make music. The use of this eye level angle is very naturalistic and even. Every band member is seen equally in the shot and so there is no ‘main’ singer-band member. This further gives us the audience that U2 want to create a new image- which the angle of shot helps to establish this. The main coverline is displayed in front of the main image which suggests to the reader that U2 is based on their music not their image – which is uncommon in today’s music industry.

The mise en scene presented in the main image have been carefully chosen to highlight important aspects of the band. The musicians look very relaxed – this helps the reader connect to the band on a humanly basis. The use of sunglasses on two of the musicians symbolised what they may be hiding from their past – two without sunglasses show how they’ve changed, moved on. One band member is wearing a monkey hat; which would usually see on a hard working man, such as builders or carpenters. This hat represents to the audience how hard the band have worked to get to where they are – although mistakes (sunglasses representation) they have worked hard.

‘The Big Interview’ is presented to the reader in a faint font; it is not instantly directing the reader to what it reads. Yet, as the reader is attracted to the main image it is when the look down they can notice this coverline. The wording interests the reader at once as the adverb ‘big’ is used which implies this interview is not something to be missed. Furthermore, the white writing under the coverline reads; ‘BONO, EDGE, LARRY AND ADAM TALK TO OLAF’, this line is displayed in block capitals to further imitate the house style. The magazine has chosen to print all band members’ names which is strange and interesting because most people and readers would only recognise Bono- who is the main singer. By doing this, HOT PRESS magazine are promoting the band as a new generation of themselves; because the band are older they need to become more relevant with the new generation of music.

More coverlines are displayed on the strapline of the front cover; these are printed in a careful way- where by the reader is only appealed by them once they have saw everything else on the front cover. The wording is direct and only tells the reader some of what is furthermore featured in the article. The mode of address presented in these coverlines continues with the exact wording of the main coverline. The coverlines displayed on the HOT PRESS front cover can be labelled as ‘headings’ or ‘titles’ which present the magazine is quite a formal way.

From the front cover I can suggest that HOT PRESS magazine focuses its content on mostly males – this is only based on the fact that the house-style does not represent women in any way and so the use of these colours would more likely attract male readers.

Contents Page

Contentspage

Published on a monthly basis, Q  features plenty of articles, on this particular contents page we see a lot of different articles piled onto one page, it almost seems cluttered and looks uneasy to read, as there is so much going on in one page, this may appeal to a younger audience as they can easily navigate the page, whereas an older readership may possibly prefer a more organised way of the articles being placed on the page.

This mode of quirky, fun and fresh presentation reflects that all of Q magazine  front covers  will be easily recognised as an important aspect of the magazines house style which readers have come to expect from each piece.

Similarly, the inclusion of the Q masthead and slogan aids the pages in being instantly recognisable with this further illustration of the house style creating a sense of fluency between the pages. As always with this magazine, a strong colour scheme consisting of reds, blacks and whites is evident: the dominant shades create an eye-catching impact and a sense of continuity without over-complicating the page and so succeed in alluring readers to various images and articles. Encompassing eleven images which add vibrancy and colour, the contents are divided into three distinctive sections, “Features,” “Regulars” and “The Q Review,” ensuring it is simple to navigate and understand whilst serving to further ascertain the house style.  

The readers attention is instantly drawn to the image of “the chief” noel gallagher on the  contents pages and this is primarily due to its size, as the largest picture visible it stretches across the right and centre thirds, filling a considerable proportion of the page. Thereby, readers are alerted to the fact that the band is the main focus of this particular issue of Q – taken from eye-level; the shot creates a sense of equality between the music legends and magazine buyers, encouraging them to read on.

The image depicts a mid-close up shot of the singer, providing readers with a close-up view of his plain collard perfectly fitted shirt,  which keeps a slightly polished yet edgy persona of the magazine and will appeal to the target audience. Noel "the chief" Gallagher is positioned in the exact centre of this photograph, wearing his trademark almost angry face, he is recognisable to the so called "beef" with Liam that has been in the tabloids as of recently and so will be most-likely to attract readers.

As a unique selling point, the articles page number is printed clearly onto each photo for the ease of readers. Even through the page actually looks quite messy and hard to navigate around, the page numbers are extremely easy to see, Imposed upon a red square shape, the white numbers are depicted in a bold font equivalent to that of the magazines iconic masthead which not only adds to the sense of continuity, coinciding with the house style and professional appearance but the clever choice of presentation also makes the page number stand out, enticing readers to delve into the magazine and find the article. And although varying in size, the page numbers are featured in this manner across the entire contents.

Included on the contents pages are a variety of images of different artists/music stars, such as Kate Tempest, The Foo Fighters and Prince.  Possibly giving a good mix of artists that are a variety of ages, meaning that the magazine is supporting the idea that it is aimed at a possibly older and sophisticated audience, perhaps ranging from late teens to early thirties, who love music and are interested in the latest news in the music industry today.

 The Long shot of singer songwriter Prince stands out on the page as the only image set against a white background and positioned to slightly overlap the surrounding features. His iconic clothing of the long coat/jacket to his ankles, the wacky colours, to his 80s style ruffled shirt, and his obnoxious rock star guitar,  give the cool rock look to the magazine this is to attract an audience of people that once were obsessed with his music.

 This picture completely differs to the somewhat to the close-up shot of  the English poet, spoken word artist and playwright Kate Tempest, wearing a laid back happy smile and an almost unplanned cool vibe to the prompt photo shoot, with her blonde ringlet curled hair and her baggy navy blue jumper, she gives off an almost completely different vibe to how this magazine portrays its self, its not perfectly edited with a sharp hair and makeup, its relaxed and I think perfect for this page, as it gives off a less uptight feel.

The magazine ensures that a wide variety of music fans are attracted with a mid shot of country music singer/songwriter Lucinda Williams, her photograph used gives off a cool, sharp edgy look to the contents page, edited in black and white,  sharp black eyeliner and cropped, choppy blonde hair, she seems almost too edgy to be a country singer, dressed in a black leather jacket with the collar popped, she seems to be trying to make a big statement. it gives a new and exciting element to the magazine; a distant expression and simple pose serves to intrigue and interest readers only further.

As mentioned, the colour scheme, depicting prominent reds, blacks and whites, immediately denotes the Q magazine house style, creating an edgy, glamorous appeal. For those who regularly purchase the magazine, the striking shades are familiar and recognisable and so will help to sell the magazine with new readers being attracted by the fresh, vibrant combination. Employing the colour white for the backdrop of the two contents pages, there are no clashing colours or illegible writing and so the magazine appears more professional and polished – this simplistic look also makes the inclusion of blacks and reds all the more eye-catching and effective.

In conclusion, I think the choice to place text at the edges of the pages with the corresponding images in the centre is very effective and eye-catching. Although I would not be able to emulate this idea exactly in my magazine as my contents will not be spread over a double page, I like the idea of keeping images and text separate as not only is it an effective use of space but  it makes the layout more simplistic and professional looking. The use of a dramatic colour scheme consisting of red, black and white is very striking and I may consider including such shades in my own piece as it draws attention and makes an impact. Q magazine’s house style is prevalent in every aspect of these contents pages: I would also aim to develop my own house style and employ it throughout to create a sense of continuity and add the impression of my magazine as polished and professional. Finally, I really like the idea utilised in Q of imposing the page numbers over corresponding pictures and so would hope to do the same thereby the page can be easily navigated and so would appeal to readers. Overall, I feel that analysing this magazine has been of great benefit to me, providing a greater understanding of the codes and conventions of music magazines as well as inspiring ideas for the contents page I will be creating.