Mock up of front cover (borrowed images)

When producing my mock up I stuck to the conventions of a magazine by including the mast head, cover lines, headline, main image and bar code which are the elements that makes it look like a magazine. I stuck to a particular colour scheme of red, yellow and black which was to ultimately reflect the genre of the magazine - alternative/indie. In this mock up, I don't think the genre of the magazine is being shown as much as it could be, therefore in my future drafts I could include images such as musical instruments like acoustic or electric guitars, drumkits etc. On the far left of the cover, the empty space stands out as there is nothing there. In my  future drafts and for my final front cover I should make sure I fill the space completely with more conventions such as more images, cover lines, call outs or pull quotes from an interview with the model in the main image. I could also look at more fonts so I could choose one that reflected the genre of my magazine and looked appealing to the target audience.

Focus Group

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPHgQRTlpDU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK4QEN-UvPU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz-wFOAf3C8

Here are all three clips showing my focus group. By carrying out this focus group I have found out that people don't want to spend too much money on a magazine and will only buy one if it's at an affordable price. My target audience will be interested in reading the magazine if it has a bold and interesting layout and if it includes interesting features and stories, they mainly want to know about famous bands that are around at the moment and not so much of any newcomers. An interesting point that I picked up from the focus group was that people prefer it if the questions for competitions that the readers can enter are hard instead of being so obvious. This is because they think that it is a deliberate scam to make money so they get lots of entries and therefore they would be less likely to have a chance at winning any of the prizes. From the focus group I have learnt that my target audience are interested in upcoming events such as festivals and concerts, so one of the features of my magazine could be a line up for a upcoming festival etc.

Music Magazine Mood Board

By looking at the mood board it is evident to me that my target audience looks up to role models in the music industry that enjoy alternative rock music and love playing to their fans. When looking at the different images the different bands are all dressed quite casually and have a unique style such as tattoos, dark or coloured hair, some men are even wearing eye makeup in these images. The expressions of all of the models' faces are very serious, some will only ever have a slight grin on their faces, this shows how all the different acts are trying to come across as cool and show off their image of being serious about their music. However, the grins on some of the models' faces shows their relaxed and laid-back nature.  In the different magazine covers they all tend to use an upper case font so it is clear and easy to read. This also makes the cover lines and headlines look bold and stand out to the audience so it draws them in and makes them interested in the different stories the issue of the magazine may feature. It is clear that the mood board is a music magazine board due to the images of CD's, guitars and a drum kit, which still reflects the genre of alternative rock. Using this mood board to help me, I will model my magazine on this selection of images and take them into consideration when taking my photos and producing the layout of my magazine cover.

Some of my Initial Ideas when planning my magazine

Uses and Gratifications Theory

During the 1960s, it became increasingly apparent to media theorists that audiences made choices about what they did when consuming texts. The Uses and Gratifications theory presents the idea that audiences are made up of individuals who actively consume texts for different reasons and in different ways, usually for their own gratification and pleasure. The theory demonstrates that the audience have the power as it is up to them whether they buy the text or not, whether it be in this case a magazine, film or television show. It is essential that the producers of a media text meet the needs of an intended audience. The consumers have wants and desires, they consume the types of chosen media for individual needs. For example, with a music magazine the producer should make sure they meet the needs of the niche audience who like that particular genre of music they are focusing on. When producing my own magazine I could do this by including artists, features and articles which are specific to the alternative genre. My target audience would gain gratification by reading a magazine which catered for their needs specifically. For example, if they read an article about a rock band's new album.

 In 1948, Lasswell suggested that media texts had four functions for individuals and society. These are: surveillance, entertainment, correlation and cultural transmission. Bulmer and Katz expanded the theory in 1974 and said there were four main reasons as to why audience may want to consume media texts. This may be for diversion, escaping from a person’s regular routine and everyday problems; personal relationships, using media for emotional interaction such as substituting soap operas for family life; personal identity, finding yourself as an individual reflected in media texts or learning behaviour and values from texts; and surveillance, finding out information which could be useful for living such as weather reports, financial news and holiday deals. My target audience in this case would use my magazine for diversion, they may feel that it helps themselves to show their individual personality by reading about alternative music and feeling like a part of a group.

An example of the Uses and Gratifications Theory which has immersed quite recently is the social networking media, Facebook in particular. The desires and needs of people who use social networking websites are socializing, entertainment, self seeking and the need to find out different information. Students are interested in talking and meeting other people to achieve a sense of community and to be able to feel a part of a group if they are talking about a topic to do with the social networking website. They find that engaging with people on these sights provide a source of entertainment and by doing so they can find out their personal status as well of those of their friends through participating in social networking.

Producing a music magazine should fulfil my target audience’s needs as they will want a magazine which informs them about music so they can talk to their friends about this topic. Readers will want to find out about the particular genre of music that they like, which in this case will be alternative rock music, this fulfils the reader as they want to find out about what their favourite rock bands are doing and any new music which is coming out.

The theory can appear to be quite simplistic and limited in relation to the complexity of how we the audience/reader actually work with a text. The theory assumes that media texts identify desired needs on behalf of the audience and provide material to gratify them. Another interpretation is that the audience creates the desired needs as a response to material provided by the media. Many of the uses and pleasures can be seen as ‘making the best’ of what material is available or being given and putting it to our use which could be different from what the producer originally intended. 

Demographics

Demographics are characteristics which can be measured of media consumers such as age, gender, race, education, income level, and interests. A business's target demographic captures a group of people at which their products/services are aimed.

 It is important to understand demographics when it comes to music magazine consumption as it needs to be aimed at a particular demographic in order to sell any copies of the magazine. People who are part of quite a scientific profession such as medicine are more likely to buy a New Scientist magazine or an issue of The Lancet than OK Magazine. Or if someone was an estate agent they are more likely to buy an issue of Property Drum than a copy of BBC Top Gear. However a person’s hobbies and interests can turn someone in a different direction when it comes to their choice of magazine. For example, if someone was interested in Golf they may buy Today’s Golfer. However, someone who liked Golf would be expected to be come from the Upper Middle Class or Middle Class demographic as it is seen as a wealthy and sophisticated person’s sport. Therefore, this would affect the price of the magazine since the editors of the magazine would expect their readers to have a large disposable income. Someone of Middle Class or Lower Middle Class is more likely to buy an issue of Empire magazine as it costs £3.99 an issue, people of this particular demographic will have higher disposable income and would be more likely to spend it on a magazine within this particular price range. Whereas someone of working class is more likely to spend around £2 for an issue of a particular magazine since they will have lower disposable income.

Demographics may affect the consumption of my magazine, since if I aimed the magazine at a particular demographic,  including things that a group of certain people may be interested in and gave it a price which someone from this particular group couldn’t afford, then no-one would buy the magazine. Kerrang magazine, which I am going to base my own magazine on is aimed at mainly students either in full time education or who have low income jobs, this is reflected in the price per issue which is £2.20. The demographic which I am going to aim my magazine at will be students who come from all sorts of backgrounds, particularly teenagers who are more in to music than adults are. Students who go to university will have most probably come from the A B or C1 demographic, but school children will have come from the full range of demographics, this makes it hard to say which demographic I am aiming the magazine at. This is why, when producing my magazine I need to keep the price to around £2 since students from all backgrounds will not have a high disposable income and would be less likely to spend over £4 on a magazine. The issues will be weekly like Kerrang and will include stories on what many people’s favourite bands are getting up to, as well as newcoming bands. Competition advertisements will give readers the chance to win tickets to see a particular band at a gig, or to win backstage passes to meet that band, or even to win band merchandise. The magazine will be sold in newsagents and chain stores such as WHSmiths since students will be looking in these shops to buy magazines. It will have around 100 pages so readers can flick through the stories and features that they are interested in and it will be fairly easy reading for them as well.

Reader profile

The majority of Kerrang’s readers are male coming between the age of 15 and 24 at 69.5%, showing that the magazine is full of youth and masculinity. However, the magazine does account for the older readers as well, 12.8% being between the age of 25 and 34 and 9.3% being between the age of 35 and 44. Kerrang’s readers being the heaviest music consumers are also active consumers of media, fashion and computer games.  On average a Kerrang reader will buy 6 albums a month, being 8 times more likely to spend £200 a year on various albums and they are 5.5 times more likely to attend a rock gig as all of Kerrang’s readers love rock music. The magazine is very young so this makes it perfect to advertise film and mobile technology since this appeals to the majority of Kerrang’s target audience. The magazine has a readership of 378,000 people and circulates 42,203 copies per issue (January-June 2012).

Jim, 22 lives and breathes rock music 24/7, he engages with music from the minute he wakes up to the minute he goes to sleep. It informs his choice of friends, leisure time, hobbies and attitudes to fashion sense and lifestyle. When he is not listening to music or watching music television, he talks to friends about the music he loves, he attends rock gigs and dreams about being a rock star. Jim, being like most other Kerrang readers is sharp and switched on, he has strong morals and is proud of his own individuality. He sets fashion trends in his peer group, but is also heavily influenced by well-known musical icons and scenes. The bands he supports he is extremely loyal to and trusts them. Jim is a reader which sums up all of Kerrang’s readers, who simply love rock music.

By looking at the reader profile of Kerrang’s readers it has helped me in planning my magazine as it has helped me come to conclusions about what my readers are like and how devoted they are to rock music. Kerrang is the magazine I am going to base my own magazine on and it will try to appeal to a broad spectrum of readers just like Kerrang does. Kerrang’s readers are interested in what their favourite bands are up to, music festivals and just listening to music, this is what should feature in the magazine that I produce. However, it should give project the message of rejoicing in individuality and being unique since this what Kerrang particularly celebrates. Kerrang’s readers are loyal to their favourite bands and are quite happy to pay money for their albums, singles and tickets to go see them play.