Evaluation of my final music magazine

1. Evaluation of my final
music magazine

2. 1. In what way does your media product, use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real media products?
My magazine uses a lot of conventions which real magazine use for example the front cover having a
masthead, strap lines, a barcode, price, date, having a house style. However I also challenged these
conventions with the page numbers, in my magazine they are at the top of the page instead of the bottom
I did this as I thought it was easier to see and also looked a lot better as they weren’t lost in the text of the
article and contents page which made it more convenient for the reader, also if it was to be published as a
digital copy it would be easier for the reader to find them. I also challenge the usual age of the target
market for the genre of the magazine usually a pop magazine is aimed at young people from 9-15 however
I aimed mine at 16- 24 as there isn’t many pop music magazine for that age range which means that there
is a space in the market for it. When I was developing my magazine I looked at magazine which are already
on the market and saw what they had used, when I chose the name of the magazine I wanted to make sure
it was related to the genre, I named it replay as the magazine was going over the hits of the month as if it
was replaying them again. I looked closely at Q magazine as I thought it had a good style and based mine
around there but changed It so I wasn’t copying it. I also challenged the usual conventions by making the
price cheaper than a normal magazine as when asked it was something which the target market wanted. I
also used the 3 column rule on the contents page which gave it a more simple look. The direct mode of
address on the front cover is a usual convention on a magazine as it speaks to the reader however on my
front cover although she has the direct mode of address her head is to the side which shows the rebellion
of the target audience.

3. 2. How does your media product represent particular social
groups?
My magazine represents the social group of the younger generations
aged 16- 24 who listen to pop/ chart music. Usually the target market
for this genre is younger and the bright coloured magazines don’t
appeal to older people. By using a simple colour scheme and using
fonts which are aimed at a more mature age it made it appeal more to
older people. The 4 main colours were grey, orange, black and white.
This gave a simple look to it and made it easy for the headlines to stand
out while still looking mature. I also used quite mature language in the
magazine which meant that they would also be attracted as the articles
wouldn’t have seemed childish which would make it more appealing to
the age group. I also looked at Q and billboard to see what kind of
language they use and kept it on a similar level to them, I do this as it is
aimed at a similar target market which means that they have all the
conventions which my magazine will need. The direct mode of address
on the front cover helps to represent the social group as being
rebellious as she is looking into the camera but her head is facing more
towards the left which means that although she is following the
conventions she is doing it in her own way which is very similar to what
people within the social/ age group do. On the contents page there is 2
people making the mode of address and one who is looking away
which helps to show that although some may rebel there are also
people who follow the rules but also do it in their own way.

4. 3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media
product and why?
If I was to publish my magazine I would use IPC media which is now known as Time inc UK. It is a well-known publisher
for magazines and has over 100 magazines which the publish. Each year around 26 million adults are thought to read
there magazines in the UK alone. In September 2014 it became TimeInc after it was bought and rebranded by another
company however it still publishing and sells all the original magazines. TimeInc sells magazine like NME, Time,
essence, Now which are all popular well known magazines. NME is a music magazine which focuses in everything
about music meaning it doesn’t have one genre.
This means that they would be able to publish my magazine with them as they already publish a music magazine so
they would know what to look for in one, they also have an advanced range of advertising skills for example they have
their own website where they list their magazine. They also sell the majority of their magazines in a lot of supermarkets,
corner shops and NME is sold in most Topshop's which means that my magazine would be likely to be around the
target market as Topshop is a clothing shop which is aimed at younger generations. This would mean that they would
be more likely to see it and want to buy it. They also advertise their different magazines in the magazine, so NME
would be likely to advertise my magazine as they are both based around music. People might also be likely to see that
it was published by TimeInc and then want to read it as they know that they already make good quality magazines.
By publishing with TimeInc it would be likely that my magazine would be successful as many people will have ready
read their magazines before meaning that they would be likely to think that mine would be good.
Example of their music
magazine NME
Company logo

5. 4.Who would be the audience for your media product?
The diagram on the right shows the audience
profile for people who would read my
magazine. This helps to show everything which
they would be interested in. I used this to help
me create the magazine because it helped to
give an idea of what was needed to make it
appealing to the audience. In order to meet
these interests of the target market I made sure
that the magazine was affordable in order to
meet the needs of the lower class, I made sure
it appealed more to females by using female
models and stories in order to make sure they
feel like they can relate to them. The music
interest was about chart music and artists and
gossip about them which meant that I made
sure that the articles and genre matched up to
this. To meet the lifestyle I made sure that the
articles were mainstream. The beliefs was that
they had someone to look up to which meant
that the articles needed to be something which
people could look up to and be proud of.

6. 5. How did you attract/ address your audience?
I attracted my audience by using fonts and colours which they would be attracted to. As
the target market was 16-25 it needed to be more mature than the usual pop music
magazine. I used black white and grey and added orange to make headlines and
important information stand out more. The models also needed to be professional and
serious to make it look and feel more professional. I also used headlines which made
you want to read on for example the main headline was “I couldn’t have done it” which
is a quote from the article which makes you want to read it in order to find out what she
couldn't have done. I also made the price more affordable than the usual magazine as it
was something which the target market wanted. They also have a role model within
music, the article is based on realising a new album and the headline is “ I couldn't have
done it” this makes the reader wonder what their role model couldn’t have done and if
they are ok after they did it. They also wanted a simply layout which was easy to
navigate by using the 3 columns effect I think I have done that well.

7. 6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of
constructing this product?
Throughout the planning, research and construction of this music magazine I have learnt
a lot about the technologies in which I have used. The first one being blogger and
leaning the ways to upload different media files like PowerPoints, word documents and
images by using slide share and then embedding the link to make it work on my blog.
Another programme which I have learnt more about is photo shop, I used this for the
construction of all the pages which I have created and I also used it to edit the images
which I used to make them look better than the original copy. I also learnt a lot more
about how to actually use Photoshop. To take pictures I used a canon DSLR camera
which is similar to on which a professional magazine would use. After using one of these
before I felt I didn’t really learn much more but I felt I did learn a lot more about the way
in which the models should be posed in order to make the pictures look a lot better. I also
used survey monkey to ask the audience more about what they wanted in the magazine.

8. 7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have
learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
When looking at my preliminary task compared to my final product the difference
between them is very obvious. The fonts and colours which I used in my preliminary
task were very plain and boring which made it look uninteresting and didn’t make you
want to read it. The headlines were also very simple and boring which didn’t help to
attracted the reader. The pictures were also not really related to any articles in the
magazine where as all of the photos in my final magazine have a purpose. In my final
product the colours and font were bright and bold which made them stand out. The
headlines also made you wonder what the article was about which made you want to
read it. The layout in the preliminary task was also just in a line which didn’t make it very
engaging where as the final product had more of a layout which meant there was no
unnecessary blank space and there was a lot more content on the contents page. I feel
that since the preliminary task I have learnt a lot more about attracting the audience
and the overall look of the magazine. I also learnt a lot more about how to use software
and equipment better which meant that the overall quality of the magazine was better.