Contact Sheet for Music Magazine

These are some examples of some images I could use for my cover page. The ticks represent the images that would be suitable for the cover, in terms of: rule of thirds, direct address, facial expressions and body language. The reason I will not be using the third image along is because the arms were cut off, so the image looks less effective. I will also not be using the fifth image, because the cover star is not looking directly at the camera, which means there is no direct address; without direct address the cover page would look less professional, and will not catch the readers attention as easily.
I have decided to use the ninth image on my front cover, because it is a medium close up, so the audience can see the stars facial expression easily, and link it to the genre of magazine, also the cover star looks directly at the camera, creating direct address which will make the audience engage with the magazine better. I have also chosen this image, because the cover star is also pointing at the audience, which will draw them in persuading them to buy the magazine and want to read it.

Flat plan for dps for music magazine

Flat plan for contents page for music magazine

Flat plan for cover page for Music Magazine

Ideas for masthead

Ideas for the masthead of my chart based music magazine

 

MUSIC NOW Times New Roman

MUSIC NOW Arial black

MUSIC NOW Bookman Old Style

MUSIC NOW Britannic Bold

MUSIC NOW Broadway

MUSIC NOW Felix tilting

MUSIC NOW Goudy Stout

MUSIC NOW Haettenschweiler

MUSIC NOW Rockwell Extra Bold

MUSIC NOW Stencil

MUSIC NOW Veranda

MUSIC NOW Wide Latin

 

 

The font that I think will be most suitable for the masthead, of my chart based music magazine, is Broadway. The reason this is my final decision is because it suits the genre of magazine. The way half of the ‘O’ is black and half is white shows contrast, which could link to contrast between different music artistes, this is effective, because it links to the genre as chart based music can vary, therefore there can be contrast between different chart based music. I think this font will appeal to the target audience, because it is easy to read and because I have a younger target audience it is also a fun font, which will grab there attention immediately making them want to buy the magazine. I will use this font for the masthead of each publication to create brand identity, which allows the audience to recognise the magazine straight away from the font.

GENRE

GENRE: Genre is a category of a particular form, content or technique, for example: music magazine, gaming magazine, fashion magazine etc. An example of a music magazine is NME, an example of a gaming magazine would be x360 magazine, and an example of a fashion magazine would be Marie Claire

SUBGENRE: A subgenre is a lesser genre, for example for a music magazine the subgenres could vary from pop music (Top Of The Pops Magazine) to rock/heavy metal music (Kerrang! or NME)

HYBRID GENRE: A hybrid genre is a type of linked genre, for example a magazine could have two genres (a hybrid genre) which the magazine is based on, however there is usually one main genre. Magazine examples would be: Musicfashion Magazine (MF), Seventeen Magazine, and Pillow Magazine which are all both  music magazine and fashion magazines.

Proposal

PROPOSAL FOR MY MUSIC MAGAZINE

I plan to make a music magazine based on chart music, I will use magazines like Seventeen Magazine and Billboard to help influence my own magazine. I will use these magazines, because they are both well-known successful music magazines, which share the same genre that I would like to use for my magazine. I will have a hybrid genre for my magazine, which will be music and fashion, but I will make sure that music is the main genre. The name of my magazine will be Music Now; the reason I have decided to use this as my magazine title is because my magazine will focus on new chart based music, which is out now. My target audience will primarily be based at teenage girls, roughly between the ages of 12-19, this is because chart music is mainly pop based which appeals to younger girls, however some chart based music is based at older teenagers/young adults, who therefore may also be interested in my magazine, giving my magazine a wider target audience. I will use colours which will appeal to my target audience, on my magazine, such as purple and pink, this also connects to my influences of Billboard Magazine and Seventeen Magazine, as their house style links closely with their subgenre, therefore I will make sure that my house style also links with the subgenre of the magazine.
The company that I will choose to publish my magazine will be Hearst Corporation, the reason I have chosen this company is because Hearst Corporation publishes Seventeen magazine, which is one of the publications that my magazine will be influenced by, therefore I would like to use a company which is already successful with a chart based/pop music magazine. In my magazine I will use a variety of features. One feature that I will include will be interviews, these will appeal to my target audience, because they will want to know how the artistes/bands feel about their music, they will also want to learn more about their favourite band/artiste and interviews are a good way to allow the reader to understand the artiste(s). I will also include many reviews on my magazine, the audience will appreciate this, as they will want to know the magazines opinions and recommendations for certain albums or music videos, because they will want to know whether they should buy an album or watch a video, etc. The reviews will also help to encourage readers to buy albums or songs, which will help the music market, and could also help promote companies such as iTunes. Another feature I will include on my magazine is a letters page; on the letters page I will include thing such as: letters of the week and tweets of the week. The letters and response page will appeal to my target audience as it will create audience participation, making it more likely for the reader to buy the magazine again. By including 'tweets of the week' I will also be helping to promote Twitter, creating a symbiotic relationship between my magazine and social networking sites, which will also help get more readers for the magazine, as readers can spread positive word of mouth through social networking sites. I will also include other ways for the audience to get involved with the magazine, such as competitions. All the competitions will be linked with the genre of the magazine, and I will include prizes such as: concert tickets, merchandise and vouchers for shops like Topshop, which the audience will like as it links to chart based music and fashion. I will also include special offers/ free giveaways, for example I will include free posters for the younger readers and vouchers (for iTunes and Topshop) for the older readers.
I will distribute my magazine as a print based and online version. By using different media platforms the magazine will get more readers, which will make it more successful. I will promote the online version by including the weblink on my print based version, which will create synergy and make the audience more likely to go on the online version. I will create the online version to make the magazine more accessable, as I will also create a downloadable app, meaning that the audience can access the magazine whenever and wherever they want.
The cost of my magazine will be £1.80, because after carrying out my online survey I found that most people would be willing to pay between £1 and £2. I believe the magazine should be more than £1.50, because my magazine will regularly give out free giveaways, and therefore needs to have the money to provide them.
My unique selling point for the magazine will be that I will create an immersive world by including Music Now Radio and Music Now TV. The different media platforms will encourage my audience to engage with the magazine and will make the magazine seem more 'real' to the reader. Another way I will make my magazine unique is by getting my audience involved in different ways, such as competitions and polls, which will include prizes that will appeal to my target audience.

Summer Photography 2

I think this is a good image to use on my magazine, because the audience get to see the effects used at the gig, as they can see the smoke at the bottom of the stage. Also this is a long shot, showing the whole of the bands costumes making the concert seem more real to the audience my magazine is aimed at.

 

This is also a good image to use in my magazine, because it is a long shot of one of the members in the group, allowing us to focus on this one member, instead of the whole group. Therefore we can make the audience also focus on this one member, and see the members of the group as individuals and not just a group.

 

This is a good image to use inside the magazine, because it shows the type of venue. We can clearly see from this image that it is at a large venue, which will appeal to my target audience. Therefore they will be persuaded to erad more about the gig and will be interested in this, especially if they've been to this venue before, or are going to go in the future. However if I use this image in my magazine I will crop the bottom of the image to remove some of peoples heads which were close to the camera.

 

This could be used inside the magazine, because the lighting is effectively making the members of the group stand out to the audience. Also all of the members are involved in the image making it easier to tell the group, creating audience appeal. Another reason this image could be used in my magazine is because it is a long shot, again showing the whole costumes of the group, creating more audience appeal.

 

 

 

This could also be used in my magazine, because it shows the type of venue and shows the audience the atmosphere of the concert. The backdrop and stage are also very big, which shows how popular the artiste is. The way the camera shot has been used on the backdrop shows also shows how popular the star is, because this suggests that the arena is very big, as people from the back will not be able to see the star, therefore they need screens to show the star (so people at the back of the arena can see).

 

 

Summer Photography

This will be good to use on my magazine, because it has the name of the pop group, and all of the members. This will also be a good image to use, as it is a long shot, so the viewer can see all of the group.

 

This will also be a good image to use inside the magazine, because it shows what was going on at the concert, and shows the viewer it was a large scale gig.

 

 

This is a good image to use inside the magazine, as it is a long shot, showing the whole of the stars in the image. This includes costumes and body language, showing the audience what was going on, on stage, at the gig.

 

 

This is also a good image to use as it is also a long shot, and has different lighting than other photos. Also the singer is in mid-song giving the audience a feel of the atmosphere at the time of the gig.

 

 

This is another good image to use, because it shows all of the group together, it is also a long shot which shows the full costumes. They are also speaking to the audience, which makes the reader of the magazine feel connected to the picture

 

Survey Results

 

From looking at the results to my survey, I have decided to name my magazine Music Now. I have also decided to include artistes like Bruno Mars, and Cheryl Cole. My survey has shown that a purple and black colour scheme was most popular, so I have decided to use this as my house style in my magazine. The main special offers I will include will be free tickets and free posters, as these got the most results. In my magazine I will include features, such as interviews and photo galleries, as these were popular in my results. I will include a symbiotic relationship with a few social networking sites; the sites I will focus on creating synergy with will be: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, as these are the ones which are used the most. I will include images from large venue concerts, as these will appeal most to my target audience, as I can see from my results that these type of venues are most popular. I will include a variety of adverts in my magazine, but I will focus mostly on adverts for music, clothing and merchandise, as these are most likely to grab the audience's attention, meaning they are more likely to buy from these adverts. I will include competitions, polls and subscriptions on my magazine, as these were also popular with my audience. Lastly, I will make my magazine between £1-£2 as this is how much most people are willing to pay.

 

MindMap

Moodboard for music magazine

Analysis of Contents Page

 

 

One thing that is effective about this contents page is that the name of the magazine 'NME' has been written at the top of the page in a clear blocked font, making it easy for the reader to find and read. The reader can also easily identify that this is a contents page by the masthead 'This Week' this allows the reader to find the contents page easily, and find out what is inside the magazine this week as soon as they pick up the magazine. The page also includes a distinctive house style, which makes the magazine professional and recognisable. The house style includes specific colours and fonts which are used throughout the magazine. The contents page also has many codes and conventions which meets the audience's needs and expectations; for example the date is at the top of the page, which is what the reader expects to see, there are also many features included with the page numbers that the reader can find these features on, allowing the reader to find the features they are interested in more easily.

 

The contents page includes two images which relate to the genre of magazine, this will create audience appeal, because they are interested in this particular genre of music and therefore they will be interested in these images, by including the images the page will appeal more to the audience, because it makes the page easier to read, because it takes up space which could've been used for text, however less text means that the page becomes fun to read, making the reader more likely to enjoy reading the magazine and persuading them to read on, because they see that the magazine is fun to read. The heading also starts off a short article about the main image, this encourages the reader to read more of the magazine, because the article is only short so the reader will want to read more.

 

The contents page has also used many subheadings for the content of the magazine, such as 'news', 'radar', and 'reviews' this makes it easier for the reader to find what they are looking for and makes the page look neat. One feature that is effective to include on the contents page is the reviews, because the audience will be interested in the magazine's opinion, because they enjoy reading the magazine. The audience will also be interested in reviews, because they will want to know which albums they should or should not buy.

 

Pugs are also used on the contents page, for example the arrow at the bottom of the page. This pug is effective, because it encourages the audience to turn the page, as it is an arrow pointing to the next pages and also says 'Starts p58', making the reader want to turn to that page to read the 'gig guide'. One last thing that I think is effective on this contents page is the subscription which is advertised at the bottom. By subscribing to the magazine the audience will get updates on the latest news and will be buying the magazine regularly. The page has also included an image of the front cover, which makes the magazine link together and makes the page look professional.