Unit 1- Analysing Media Products and Audiences

OCR –
Level 3 Cambridge Introductory Diploma in
Media
Unit 01:
Analysing Media Products and Audiences
Evidence
Name: Harrison Cole
Candidate Number: 2030
Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic School
Center Number: 64135
Set Brief - Print
Project/Brief –
Music Magazine & Promotion
Publisher Logo HERE
Magazine Product Logo HERE

Content
• Focus published and product
• Ownership structure - LO1- 4 – 25
• operating model -
• Bran ideology -
• Technological convergence -
• Associated products -
• Market position -
• Competitors
• Publisher Competitors -
• Meanings -
• Genre -
• Purpose - LO2- 27-47
• Genre -
• Purpose -
• From and style -
• Content of magazine -
• Production process - LO3 - 49-55
• Audience theory -
• Demographics -
• Secondary research -
• Primary research -
• Legal and ethical - LO4- 56-73
• Press complaints commission -
• Copy right and Trade marks -
• IPSO -

Focus Publisher and Product
Publisher
• Rock sound magazine had their first published
magazine in March 1999. They have been
known to have always include a free CD with
every magazine that they produce.
• Rock Sound speak exclusively to Gerard Way
about the past, the present and the future in
the newly published magazine.
• Rock Sound have gone up in sale by 24% year-
on-year with 10,218 copies sold.
• The magazine has always have had completion
of selling the magazine over Kerrang who sell a
similar type of magazine in terms with the type
of the rock music which that they aim to
publish.
• Source-
https://plus.google.com/+rocksound
/posts
• Rock Sound Ltd is a Private Limited
Company registered on 27 October 1998.
• The institution specialise in publishing of
consumer and business journals
• Patrick Napier is the Head Director of the
company.
• Rock sound LTD are part of a business
group called the open company. The
open company bring the business that
are a part of it to people. So for example
they post information on the website
about the companies that are part of
their group, so rock sound become better
known.
Product
Source:https://www.opencompany.co.uk/compa
ny/03657331/rock-sound-ltd

Associated products
Sonic Publishing publish other Music
magazines of similar genres of music.
As you can see from the screen shot
of the website, it shows the other
magazines they publish. One
magazine being called “Rock louder”
which is very similar to “ Rock
Dance”. This is also a magazine that
gets published once a month. This
will therefore have a similar target
audience within the publications.
Source:
http://www.sonicpublishing.co.uk/tit
les/

Ownership structure
This company is part of a group called ‘Open Company’. Open company is a group that
helps to promote companies. They do this by advertising them on their website and by
putting them on the social media websites. This way people will know about the
publish company. The company first started the publishing 15 years ago. The
publishing company is a private limited company so therefore has an ownership
structure from the secretary to the directors. The company has different nationalities
working for the company. Some of the employees are British and some are French.
The company is local and not global and according to the website they also do not
have a sister company. The rock sound magazine’s website has been made by a
company called sonic group. They are a company that provide companies with high
quality websites. Rock sound paid the sonic group to produce their website.

Technological convergence
• Does the magazine have a website?
• Social media sonic
• The magazine has a company called rock sound who makes the publishing company's website
look really professional. The sonic company that make the website also advertise the
company on there own sonic website which makes a link. The link is based on the sonic group
that advertise the companies who they make websites for, through the social media. The
website for the magazine has a page for the videos that link the web page to the you tube
channel. They also have many other links such as twitter, where they keep all the followers
up to date with what they are going to promote and bring out the monthly magazine.
This screen shot was taken
from the website rock
sound.
http://www.rocksound.tv/vi
deos

Associated Products
• Economic factors, how much money does the company earn
The magazine promotes the fashion
company Fashionably Great, these
products sell from the magazine from
£100 for a jacket. The magazine is
using the fashion of rock to draw the
target audience in. Favourite band
names who appear in the magazine
are sold on T shirts in the magazine.
Here we have the price of the products that cost
the customer for a monthly subscription. They
charge £37.99 for a month. They sell around
14,000 subscriptions a year.
Source:
http://www.rocksoun
d.tv/

Market position
As I was unable to locate the magazine in the market position, I will relate it to the Kerrang!
magazine. The Kerrang! magazine is very similar to the magazine that I am researching called rock
sound. They share the same genre which relates to the magazines genre being quite popular in the
market position. I have sent an email to the publishing company to give me the market position for
the magazine but I have had no answer. As you can see on the table that the Bauer publishing
company have their two magazines in the top 3.
Source:
http://www.ppa.co.uk/marketing/research/abc-figures-january-to-june-2013/

Competitor analysis
54%
24%
22%
Publisher Comparison
Bauer Media IPC Media Ltd Music and Media Solutions Group Limited
21%
45%
34%
Magazine Comparison
Kerrang! Mojo Q
The pie chart connotes that Bauer dominate
the music magazine genre. They also
produce the most popular magazines.
Source:
http://www.ppa.co.uk/marketing/research/abc-figures-january-to-june-2013/

Competitors- Magazines
There are many other magazines that are competitors to Rock Sound such as
Kerrang! and Mojo. They are in the top 3 for the market position. They do share the
same style and font because they have the same target audience. The front covers
both have the dark colours which shows how the magazine share the same
connotations. Both of the magazines - Mojo and Kerrang! - both publish their
magazines monthly and have up to date music on them. The images that you can see
bellow display the rock features on the magazine. I have even taken a screen shot
from Mojos website which denotes the classic related rock that they present.
Market position for
magazines
Mojos website

Competitors
Kerrang!
website Rock sound
magazine
Below I have presented the comparison between Kerrang! magazine and Rock Sound
magazine. They share the same style of rock which then becomes a problem as they
therefore aim for the same target audience. So even though the magazines are
similar they have the objective in the market. The publisher therefore has to make
sure that the magazines are well known by promoting them through social media
sites.

Publisher competitors
• BAUER
• This publisher company are located in Germany in Hamburg. They manage and publish more than 600
magazines. They have over 400 digital products along with 50 radio and TV stations. They started in the
year 2008 in January. Bauer have the following values “Our values create a sense of shared identity,
defining what we stand for and how we do things. We have four key values – Respect, Collaborate, Create
and Challenge”.
Rock sound Ltd
• Rock Sound Ltd is a Private Limited Company registered on 27 October 1998.
• The institution specialise in publishing of consumer and business journals
• Patrick Napier is the Head Director of the company.
• Rock sound LTD are part of a business group called the open company. The open company bring the
business that are a part of it to people. So for example they post information o the website about the
companies that are part of their group, so rock sound become better known.

Masthead
The heading is
large and bold with
a white back
ground.
This connotes the
importance of the
main image and it’s
‘Star Appeal’
(Richard Dyer) as
its behind the
image and not in
front.
‘Star Appeal’ (Richard
Dyer) this connotes the
size of how important
they are within the
genre and will appeal to
a pass along audience.
Main Headline this
relates to the main band
which connotes its a full
out mad band.
“Confessing their sins”
‘signifies’ (De Saussure)
their rebellious attitude
and how they will be
‘informed’ (Katz) of
something exclusive inn
relation ton their ‘sins’.
Cover lines that
give nick names to
other stories but
use a different text
to make you me at
six more visible
and important.
Meanings

‘Social climbers’ (Maslow) would appeal to the
exclusive new CD because it is an opportunity for
purchasers of the magazine to own a CD that may
not be available through other outlets.
The gender for this magazine
would be aimed more at men
due to the front page displaying
a boy band. There is a higher
amount of boys who are into
the band you me at six than
there is for the girls.
Due to the style of the band
members, the age group would
be aimed around young adults.
Meanings
Here the main image has
been presented by being
placed in front of the mast
head to make the band
stand out.
Here the main head line for the band’s
name has been made bright green.
This makes the text stand out a lot
better. This colour has also been used
as part of the band’s style. Green can
be connote a quite messy, carefree
attitude and stands out..

The text has been based on the
mood of the character that the
magazine has interviewed
The red and black
features of the
page ‘signify’ the
band want to
base there image
on negativity
which also links
to what the band
said in the
interview.
The magazine wants to
make the pull quote
bold by using a black
back ground and white
text. Then the red text
at the end of the quote
is the name of the
singer that made the
quote. This makes the
singers name look
important as the text is
in a different colour
which also stands out.
The band name goes with
the style of the spread
page. The bands name has
Electricity in it which can
relate to being quite scary
and dark. This is then
linked with the storms
that can be dark and
rough. This is why they
have made the second
page black with the band
members appearing in the
shadows.
Meanings
These boxes have been provided for the interview on questions and answers. The questions
have been put in red and the answers have been answered in a smaller and darker text.
This then makes it a lot easier for the reader to understand what is going on in the interview.

Contents page
Categories
are split up using
the colours and
shapes to
separate the
sections.
Main image
bands. The
biggest picture is
the one
featured, making
it look the most
important
Dark and light colour’s
used to spilt the page
in half.
Music description of
the genre made bold
with the white text on
a dark background
Messy text style to connote the genre
of rock
Features telling
you what
articles are in
each section
Pictures of all
the bands that
are featured
within the
magazine.
Page numbers
located on the
side in a small
size

Genre
• The genre of the magazine is pop, punk, pop-punk, emo, hardcore, post-hardcore,
heavy metal and extreme metal rock which is suggested by the dark colours the
magazine uses. The magazine is of a type that should not be shown to kids as the
images are only targeted at the teenagers that are into heavy metal rock. The
magazine highlights the type of music that it aims to promote which is the rock.
They do this by simply highlighting the tittle of the product which is called rock
sound. I have gone through the magazine and found images that are aimed at the
type of music that I have mentioned. Bellow I have taken a photo of what the
image links to the genre of the magazine. As the images are what the reader is
going to see first so making the images linked to what type of magazine actually is ,
is very important.
This is a screen shot of what I have
emailed to the magazine company. They
have not responded so I have simply
proved that I have tried to get
information of the magazine.

Purpose
• To ‘inform’ (Katz’ Uses & Gratifications theory) the target audience of what is happening
in the World of rock and update the reader on concerts, album releases, album reviews,
and gossip.
• With a monthly circulation of 13,220 it can be considered one of the smaller
publications although it showed a healthy profit in 2012 of £187,000. (source: credit
safe.com )
• To promote the products that are sold in the magazine that have the link with the type
of rock in the magazine.
• The Magazine employs around 80 people including journalists, word smiths,
photographers and advertising sales people.
• The denotation of the strap line of the magazine is:
"For those who like their music loud, extreme and non-conformist“
The verbal code “non-conformist” connotes how they intend to attract peer
groups who believe they are rebelling against society, which is what the magazine
aspires to do as well.
Source: The magazine itself, creditsafe.com.

Form and style
• The brand identity of the magazine is a common theme of the Rock Sound ident in black across the top of
the front cover with a photo of the pop group or individual featured in that particular issue.
This distinguishes the brand in the consumers mind from other similar magazines. The layout and design of the
magazine is always similar, and follows the same order each month, namely:
– News and regular features
– Exposure of new groups
– Features / interviews
– New Albums
– Gig reviews
The form of my magazine is rock style as the front cover presents rock music
features such as the dark colours with the crazy text which relates to the music
style. This ‘informs’ (Katz) the reader that the magazine only cover the crazy
style of rock, as the front cover connotes the colours that only symbolise the
artistic rock font style. Black is used as the head mast to represent the mood of
the music being quite dark and moody unlike the bright pink you would get on
the cover of a pop magazine in binary opposition (Levi Strauss).
The form of the mag is presented with the band on the front cover with there
own rock style. The front cover then has to adapt to using the right colours.
Measurements for the magazine are 8 3⁄8” x 10 7⁄8.

Form & Style
The colour scheme for ROCK SOUND is in binary opposition (Levi Strauss) to MOJO, who use dark
grey colours to connote the meaning of the genre of the magazine. The magazines genre is classic
rock as I have reached. This is why the front covers colour scheme is black and grey.
To represent the past pf rock you can then tell that the genre is rock as the classic rock legends
are placed as the main image on the front cover.
The masthead is then kept with the white colour to make the text stand out over then main
image so people know that this is the MOJO magazine. The font style has been kept as big as
possible to stand out. The style of the text is based on making the text the most important
feature on the page.
The image is engulfed around the black background to make the image look bold with the dark
colours.

Content of the
magazine
• Rock Sound magazine mainly covers the individual lives of the singers and make sure that the readers
know all they need to know about the stars. The magazine also covers a lot competitions to get the
readers more interested. The competitions are related to the rock music by giving away free tickets to the
lucky winner to go and see this band. Like every magazine they bring one out every month which means
that they need a new star or band on the front cover. They have made on the front cover who they are
going to show their main focus on in the main story. They cover in the story exclusive info about the
secretes that the fans may not all ready know. The magazine also uncovers all the facts and figures about
the star to give the reader a good idea of where they are in todays charts and popularity rank. As the
magazine is based on the rock the mag gives out free rock posters which cover the different features of
rock. This way the rock fans get to read about what they love that’s related to rock. So for example they
cover the guitars and what kind of band would use them. They then link them to the gigs the ads go to.
The reviews also are very important because then the reader would know if the band is worth to go and
see perform live at a gig.

How is Rock sound magazine
published ?
• I have tried to contact the magazine both by telephone and emails
(david.mclaughlin@rocksound.tv). I did personally speak with David who promised a
response but none has been received to date. My assumptions on the process are:
• PRE-PRODUCTION
• Create a publication timetable to include:
• Editorial content
• Photographic content
• Advertising sales schedule
• PRODUCTION
• Ensure all content, advertising space and photographs are received at least 2 weeks before
publication to allow for editing, formatting, magazine design and sign off before going to
print and distribution.
• POST PRODUCTION
• Gain feedback on the publication through readers comments, distribution figures, costs and
income.

Process
Distribution Date of publication
Editorial and budgetary decision
The company will decide what will go into the magazine . This a good chance to think
about who will feature in the magazine. They can decide who to interview, what the
necessary budgets are etc. They will plan several issues ahead.
Managing the schedule
The company sits down and discusses the schedule for when the dates of certain parts of the
magazine has to be completed by. This way the company can have a good idea of when they need to
have information and interview done for the magazine. This also gives the company a good structure
to the work they need to produce for the rock sound magazine.
Content Acquisition
This step is considered to be important as this will make an impact of the buyer. They will look at the
graphics before they start reading so they need to make sure that the magazine looks presentable. The
illustration will be put at its best as they will make the magazine look very professional and therefore
make a lot of money
Sub-editing
In this step they will brush up the finishing touches to the rest of the steps. Meaning they will make sure that
everything is spelt correctly. They will also make sure that the grammar and the punctuation is correct.
Page Layout
This is where they make sure that they know where they are going to put everything that they have worked onin
the magazine. For example they will work on where they are going to place the advertisement and the pictures.
Proof reading
This will test all the other stages for how the magazine will look as the first copy will be printed out so that they
can see if the magazine is able to be read correctly. If there is a problem they can then open the documents and
then change what they need to so the magazine can be read easily without any errors.
File emailed to printer
Once they have checked what they need to check they will print of a few more copies and then
send them of to the editor , they will then be checked again and sent back to say they are okay
before they print thousands of copies.
This is the final step of publishing the magazines , the magazines will be
packaged then sent of to the warehouse where the copies will then be
delivered to the shops where people will then buy the magazines.

Audience Theories
• The target audience for the Rock Sound magazine is teenage rock fans between the age of 15 to 22. Using Katz’
Uses and gratification theory, the target audience can relate to the musicians and bands within the magazine
and feel a close bond with the subjects. This enables the audience to escape from reality for a while, giving the
publishers an opportunity to educate and market to the target group.
• There is an argument that the target audience for “Rock Sound” are ‘explorers’ and ‘social climbers’ (Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs), driven by improving their status in society and using the magazine to exist virtually in a
fantasy world. The magazine clearly encourages an element of rebellion as well.
• Dissecting the target audience using Hartley’s 7 subjectivities, the target audience could be considered as:
1. Aged 15 to 22
2. Predominantly male (the articles and photographs are predominantly male biased)
3. Predominantly middle class (the advertisements and “gig” calendars identify price points suitable for middle
income individuals)
4. Gothic in style (the photographs and fashion comments suggest this)
5. Predominately from native America (the origins of rock)
• As rock is a very loud and grown up kind of music the magazine is not for young children due to some of the
images of the rock stars in their make up. This may scare children, along with some of the themes such as
“Suicide” (See above right) being covered in the magazine. Some rock stars in the magazine wear make up and
have body piercing (See above right). Some like to give the image as a very dark and casual look with facial hair.
As the tone of the rock period is moving on, different types of fashion are coming in to place. The magazine is
therefore targeting young adults that like to keep up to date with the rock fashion. As make up and piercings are
going out of style, the magazine wants to introduce more and more different types of rock fashion.

DemographicsThe demographics graph denotes the range of people in
the various demographics. This can be from people in
higher management positions to unemployed people or
casual workers.
Rock-sound magazine is (stereotypically) aimed at the C1
demographic for people who are skilled to work and earn
a average wage, enough to be able to afford to buy the
magazine in the first place.
The magazine also presents the artists wearing clothing
that may cost a lot of money. From the screen shot on
the right, the featured band are wearing designer glasses
and hats. This will influence the target audience to
purchase the designer clothing.

PsychographicsAccording to the psychographics table
the audience would fit into the
categories ‘Aspirers’. ‘Explorers’,
‘Strugglers’ and ‘Reformers’. This is
because all of the categories
stereotypical younger people who want
to seek escape and care about their
persona and fashion.
Due to the current minimum wage for
teenagers and younger people and the
magazine costing £3.99. The class c1 are
ideal due to the amount of income they
bring in. The featured bands in the
magazine are wearing designer glasses
and hats. This will influence the target
audience to purchase the designer
clothing.
From ‘Explorers’ it says that the
individual seeks energy. This is referring
to the excitement. Rock Sound magazine
features festivals with the top rock
bands at the top venues. This contains a
lot of energy for the individual.

Spending power
• As the magazine has the cost of £3.99 it will enable the target audience to be able
to afford the magazine as the target audience falls into the C1 section of the
demographic graph. This is for the skilled manual workers that get paid above
minimum wage. This means that they are able to afford the magazine that comes
out monthly. You are able to subscribe to the magazine on the website for £5
which will give you 5 months of Rock Sound.
Source:
https://subscribe.rocksound.tv/subsc
ribe

Associated products
Sonic Publishing publish other Music
magazines of similar genres of music.
As you can see from the screen shot
of the website it shows the other
magazines they publish. One
magazine being called “Rock louder”
which is very similar to “ Rock
Dance”. This is also a magazine that
gets published once a month. This
will therefore have a similar target
audience within the publications.
Source:
http://www.sonicpublishing.co.uk/tit
les/

Website analysis
• The Rock Sound music magazine has the
perfect website for finding out when the latest
gigs are. They are presented underneath the
navigation bar. The navigation bar gives you
many features such as looking at all their new
videos and photos that they keep in their
gallery of all the bands that they feature in
their magazine. Reviews and competition's are
also kept in the navigation bar. For example
the review section where the fans can
produce reviews of the featured bands on the
website. This is this an example of ‘citizen
journalism’ (Gilmor – 2004). The reviews page
is conducted by the journalists of the
magazine.
The magazine website also contains
some evidence of synergy with…..

Social media
• This feature (Timeline) within this social
media product gives its users all the up to
date news on rock music. The Timeline
also gives the users what bands and solo
artists will be featured in the next
edition. The social media product can
give the target audience the direct links
on the Facebook page to new rock album
songs that are able for download.
Pictures and other videos are posted on
the wall so the users can see their
favorite artists and bands in action.
• The social media product will provide all
this exclusive to the Facebook page that
Rock Sound have.

News and regular features on the magazine pages
News and regular features
Aimed at regular readers
and subscribers to keep
them up to date with
what’s happening
Exposure of new groups
Aimed at readers who
want to experience new
bands providing dark
music and also to
expose new groups.
Features / interviews
New Albums
Gig reviews
Provide an insight into
stars personal lives and
encourages readers to
identify with the
individual behind the
facade
Aimed at people who
want to keep up with
the latest sounds and
entices the reader to
purchase albums
Aimed at concert goers and the
more social side of rock. Readers
can see another persons view of a
gig they were at or get information
on what they may have missed

Magazine pages/Target Audience
The magazine pages that Rock Sound magazine produce make sure that they have
certain aspects that appeal to the target audience such as the use of images. The main
images on the front cover and the DPS are used to capture the target audiences eye.
The images are the featured bands used in the magazine, the magazine choose the top
best bands and artists within the genre of rock. Rock Sound magazine also use exclusive
interviews with the featured bands that appeal to the target audience. The target
audience wants to hear what their favorite rock bands have to say in the interviews. The
magazine uses pull quotes from the interview to catch the readers eye which may
appeal to them.

Products sold in the magazine
The magazine promotes the fashion
company “fashionably great”. These
products are sold by the magazine
from £100 pounds for a jacket. The
magazine is using the fashion of rock
to draw in the target audience in.
Band names in the magazine are sold
on T shirts in the magazine.
Here we have the price of the products that cost
the customer for a monthly subscription. They
charge £37.99 for a month. They sell around
14,000 subscriptions a year.
Source:
http://www.rocksoun
d.tv/

Secondary research
For this magazine it was very hard to find any form of rating. The closest I could find was that the
company post the ratio of how well they are doing on Facebook. They also gave the reviews to the
subscription websites that they want their magazines to be on and most of them say this magazine
is very good for people into heavy metal or just rock in general. They then let iTunes have their
copy so people could download them onto gadgets to read on. The iTunes customers have given a
4 star rating. On Facebook they have the chart below which basically covers all the likes and people
who are talking about the magazine socially.

Primary Research
So by giving away a free CD and Poster with the magazine, it would increase the
sales of the magazine. Most people have chosen the option of yes having the free
CD would have an impact on buying the magazine. The free CD and poster has
caught the customers attention and encouraged people to be more interested in the
magazine.

This connotes how most of the people that have filled out the survey would be more
interested in reading a much older age bracket magazine. This means that they would
want to see a magazine having better images, the use of text and house style. Only a few
people have selected the 14-16 which suggests seeing a magazine that has more
appropriate images and use of text within my magazine. As the majority have selected
the 17 + I will therefore make sure that my magazine has more images and stronger use
of text and house style to make it more interesting for the readers.

Here you can see that the majority of people have gone for the pop magazine.
My magazine is going to be based on the genre of rock because I have
exclusive access to a band that is within this genre of rock. The genre of pop is
very popular for this day and age because the pop stars appear everywhere on
social media and TV. The classic has come last in terms of having the least
amount of votes due to people wanting to listen to the brand new music that
comes out today.

This connotes that the font style does have an impact on the reader. This could be in terms of the
front cover having an impact as this is the first thing that they will see before they open the
magazine. The font style that I have chosen will make an impact on the reader because of the
colour use and choice of text. The text will encourage the reader to then go on and read the
magazine because they will know that the effort has been made to make the magazine look good
so they will then look inside the magazine. A few people have said “no” so this could mean that
the front cover in terms of colours and pictures will be more appealing.

This connotes you that most people prefer to look at the images in the
magazine. This can be understood as the images are one of the first things that
the reader will see. The images have a very big impact on the reader in terms of
the style that they produce. Only a few people have said text because they
think that the magazine is all about what the magazine produces in terms of the
information.

Here you can see that most people have gone for the monthly magazine
because the monthly magazines seems to hold more information than the
weekly ones. This is because the magazine has time to put in more stuff over
the month of producing the magazine. This is the magazine that I am going to
be producing.

As you can see here the results have shown me that the exclusive news has been the
favourite. This is because the news sounds more exciting to people when they read the
magazine. People get to read some information that most other people may not get
the chance to read. I will have this on the front cover of my magazine because it
seems to have made an impact on the reader.

Here you can see that the main image on the front cover is the best because
the most people have selected it. This is the first thing that people see on the
magazine front cover. People are judging the magazine by the main image.
This is probably because the main image usually tells people what is going to
be within the magazine.

The interviews in the magazine has been given the most votes because
people find the interviews more interesting to read than the other
area. People can get to know the music bands a lot more better. The
interviews also prove to the readers that this magazine is very popular
and successful due to the fact that a famous band has come to them
for the interview.

This connotes how popular the magazines that are out today are. At
the moment most people suggest that the Kerrang! magazine is the
best. This is good to know because Kerrang! produce rock which is
the same genre of the magazine that I am going to be producing.

Product Advertising and Distribution
Rock Sound magazine can be found advertised over a few different subscription websites. The subscription
websites advertise different music magazines all over the country. You can find the magazine in the category
section under rock. Here you can see examples of how the subscription websites advertise the magazine. It
gives you full details about the magazine such as the price and when it comes out in the month. The website
also gives the customers a reviews of the magazine itself, the website rates the magazine out of stars. The
image is bold and shows the whole front cover of the magazine to catch the customers eye just like it would do
on the retailers shelves. They have also made the price of the magazine bold to show what good value the
magazine is.
https://itunes.apple.com/g
b/app/rock-sound-
magazine-for-
very/id634889531?mt=8

Retail outlets
• Countries where you can purchase the magazine
• USA
• Canada
• South Africa
• Australia
• New Zealand
Source: http://www.rocksound.tv/news/read/where-to-buy-rock-sound
Where can you purchase the magazine in the UK?
You can purchase the magazine in WHSmith as they offer the subscription to the magazine directly. You can
also purchase the magazine via the apple store. You can read the magazine on your smart phone or tablet.
Source-
http://magazines.whsmith.co.
uk/Rock-Sound-Magazine-
Subscription.cfm

Frequency
The magazine is issued to circulate monthly with each month having a brand new
interview on the front cover. I found an image on the publishers website of the
magazine sonic publishing. This is official because it was from their website. The
image bellow has been taken from the company that maintains and controls the
website for the company of rock sound. They have the information about what the
company do monthly, so this is a reliable source.

Distribution channels
• The magazine has a cost of £3.99 which enables the target audience to be able to
afford the magazine as the target audience falls into the C2 section of the
demographic graph. This is for the skilled manual workers that get paid above
minimum wage. This means that they are able to afford the magazine that comes
out monthly. You are able to subscribe to the magazine on the website for £5
which will give you 5 months of Rocks sound. This would get you 5 Issues of the
magazine.
Source:
https://subscribe.rocksound.tv/subsc
ribe
This tells you that if you
pay for this option you will
get 5 issues over 5 months

Distribution/Media Platforms
• This music magazine is advertised at the electronic stage meaning that you will find the
magazine being advertised on the internet through sites such as Facebook and on the
subscription websites that you get that I have also mentioned in this presentation. The
magazine likes to be on the internet as I have seen on iTunes they are selling copies of the
magazines. This means that people can have a copy of the magazine on their iPads. They
keep all their news up to date on Facebook and advertise where they sell the magazines and
when the next magazine will be coming out. This is the main method they use unlike Kerrang!
as they have their radio station where they like to broadcast their magazine news and even
music. This may be due to the market position they are in at this time - using the electronic
method is a lot cheaper than using the broadcast method.

Marketing - Above or Below the line
• The magazine is advertised below the line due the financial position they are in. The
publisher advertises the magazine below the line due to the money they need to save. The
advertisement is mainly put on the social media sites such as Facebook and Youtube. On
Youtube they advertise what is happening during the day with the bands that they interview
so rock fans can see all the bands in front of a camera instead of just seeing them on a piece
of paper. Instead of broadcast, poster advertising or TV they like to put the magazines on
Itunes which is a way of making people download their magazine. Then if they like the
download they can buy the magazine from the stores.
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/rock-
sound-magazine-for-
very/id634889531?mt=8

Stereotypes
• Reader profile - The stereotypical reader of the magazine will look young with a wild sense of fashion. This
includes non-verbal features such as piercings, rebellious hair styles, tattoos and dark clothing. This magazine is
based on the genre of rock so has a stereotype look which is “wild”. From the images below you can see that the
females and males both enjoy the rock vibe at concerts. This means that the stereotypical readers would look
something like this.
• As you can see from the stereotypes that are below, they share the same sense of style such as exhibiting
tattoos and wild hair styles. There are a couple of expectations and stereotypes to be challenged such as the
make up and the hair colour, with some of the dark colours connoting their rebellious attitude.

Representation
John Berger (1972) “men act, women appear”
Within Rock Sound magazine the representation of males is a lot more prominent than women. The majority of
the front covers that Rock Sound produce have male artists on the front. The males according to the theory like
to act tough and bold which is shown on the front cover of the magazine.
Rock Sound magazine, in contrast, tent to objectify women on the front cover or within. Rock Sound magazine
present the females on the front cover in the heavy metal culture. This culture is different to the “ Male gaze”
theory as the female on the front cover doesn't’t fit the stereotypical look to what the theory is referring to.

Representation
Laura Mulvey (1975) ‘Male Gaze’
In addition to the points raised on the previous slide, Rock Sound conforms to the “Male Gaze” theory by Laura
Mulvey where men will find the female artists on the front cover attractive and appealing to look at.
For example front covers that present the females within the heavy metal and hard rock culture theme are
represented as heavy metal artists. The majority of the front covers that have been published that feature
female artists are presented in the heavy metal culture. There are however front covers of females that males
will find more pleasurable to look at such as the screen shots shown below.

Target audience
• The target audience for Rock Sound magazine is teenage rock fans between the age of 15 to 22. Using Katz’ Uses
and Gratification theory, the target audience can relate to the musicians and bands within the magazine and feel
a close bond with the subjects. This enables the audience to escape from reality for a while, giving the publishers
an opportunity to educate and market to the target group.
• There is an argument that the target audience for “Rock Sound” are ‘social climbers’ (Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs), driven by improving their status in society and using the magazine to exist virtually in a fantasy world. This
is evidenced by the way in which the narrative is directed at the reader
• Dissecting the target audience using Hartley’s 7 subjectivities, the target audience could be considered as:
– Aged 15 to 22
– Predominantly male (the articles and photographs are predominantly male biased)
– Predominantly middle class (the advertisements and “gig” calendars identify price points suitable for middle income individuals)
– Gothic in style (the photographs and fashion comments suggest this)
– Predominately from native America (the origins of rock)
• 1. Content that would NOT be appropriate for a younger generation such as using words on the
front cover such as “Suicide”. This is something that young people should not be exposed to the
younger target audience of the magazine. This would create a bad influence if the younger
audience used words like this within society.
• 2. Iconography and/or props that ‘signify’ (De Saussure) the rebellion associated to the genre
include piercings, Dark Make up and wild hair styles. Therefore the magazine creates a rebellious
attitude towards the audience.

Influence on individuals, mass
audience Target audience
• Within Rock Sound, there are many images that will have an impact on the audience. Most of the
influences are based on the guitars and make up that many of the rock stars convey. The content talks
about the gigs that mainly take place but that is not the main attraction because many people who are
into rock already go to gigs. The magazine talks about how the rock music has been produced so therefore
influence the audience to understand how the music is made and in a way what goes on behind the scene.
How the stars get their make up on, where they get there guitars from. They all have an influence on the
audience who may try to do their make up and hair the same way that the rock stars do theirs.
• The hair and the rebellious make up may have an impact on the audience of the bands who may want to
mimic behaviour. The fans look up to the features artists and bands such as the ‘stars’ (Richard Dyer) often
included in the magazine such as bands called Linkin Park and You Me At 6. There are some negative
effects on the audience such as the use of language and imagery presented to the audience. On the front
cover there is an example of the bad language used such as “Suicide”. This has a negative effect on the
audience as it gives a bad influence on whoever reads it. Below you can see a screen shot of the use of bad
language on the front cover.
• http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/how-types-of-group-norms-influence-individual-
behavior.html#lesson

Legal and Ethical
• When producing the magazine there are many things that the magazine has to be aware of before they
can start to sell the magazines.
• Copyright is the main issue within the magazine industry today. Copyright is illegal because in basic terms
it means that you are stealing media pictures or even text from other sources of the media. For example
taking a picture of a celebrity and not asking for permission would be classed as copyright.
• Copy and pasting text from an online magazine and then putting it in your magazine would then be
classed as an infringement of copyright. The ethical issues that stand today within the magazine is to do
with race. For example if you were to put on the front cover of your magazine a white or black person,
then using words that are offensive to that race would then be illegal. People could become offended and
then have the right to sue the magazine. So the magazine company's have to be very careful what they are
writing because this could be the result of getting into litigation.
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/copyright
On the Rock Sound website they have stated on their
terms and conditions page about the use of copyright.
As this magazine is interested in new bands featuring
in the magazine, Rock Sound explain how they keep
the data safe from Copyright. As you can see on the
left I have taken a screen shot of their privacy policy.
This is part of the data protection act that they follow.

Copyright and Trade marks
• This is when a piece of work created by someone has the right to own it and therefore cant be copied. For example you cant
take someone's song that they had written and then make another version of it. The original artists has the right to own it and
therefore cant be taken. If this is the case of taking a song then selling it the artists then has the right to take the legal action
that is required.
• Trade marks are things such as names, slogans ands designs of a product. Once they have been produced for the business they
then belong to the business. If the trade mark has been made and then registered and checked it will then have a ‘®’on top of
the trade mark. In the magazine industry making sure that you have all the rights covered is important. The law is in place to
make sure that the magazine will not lose the money because of other magazine’s taking the originals magazines idea.
• Source- https://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/intellectual_property
•
• Rights covered: The law gives the creators of literary, dramatic, musical, artistic works, sound recordings, broadcasts, films and
typographical arrangement of published editions, rights to control the ways in which their material may be used. The rights
cover; broadcast and public performance, copying, adapting, issuing, renting and lending copies to the public. In many cases,
the creator will also have the right to be identified as the author and to object to distortions of his work.
• International conventions give protection in most countries, subject to national laws.
1. Types of work protected
1. Literary song lyrics, manuscripts, manuals, computer programs, commercial documents, leaflets, newsletters &
articles etc.
2. Artistic photography, painting, sculptures, architecture, technical drawings/diagrams, maps, logos.
3. Typographical arrangement of published editions magazines, periodicals, etc.
• The Copyright (Computer Programs) Regulations 1992 extended the rules covering literary works to include computer
programs.
• The magazine would have to ensure that they do not inform any laws above.
The magazine (See image above) is a registered trademark name so use of the ident
and use of this would require permission from the institution and publisher.

Press complaints commission
Here you are also allowed to be able to make the complaints about what the magazine has
in anyway had any offence on you. They deal with things such as the pictures, text and even
colour for the magazine. This is where you would make a potential complaint about the
magazine.
They then explain when you will hear back from them and talk about how they are able to
deal with the situation. This is based in the UK and as I have shown using evidence of
screen shot in previous slides that its free to use. Therefore if the user is offended by Rock
Sound magazines this is how they can make a complaint. One code could be accuracy which
means that when I publish my magazine I need to make sure that the information that has
been published is accurate. Publishing incorrect information goes against the code in IPSO.
http://www.pcc.org.uk/c
omplaints/makingacompl
aint.html

IPSO
• This is a company that handles complaints about the media that may in any way have offended you in any w ay of
from. This could be classed as being racist or even being too stereo typical toward people . IPSO give you the voice so
that you can be heard for the complaints' because of it being a huge company. They offer you the guidance and
support for your concern about the editors that you have been offended by. You have to fill out this form that you
provide online so that they know what they are dealing with online before that go through the process of the
complaints. They are based within the UK and are only there for the public. The overall objective for this company is to
make sure that the media have the standards at the correct level for the public. Bellow is the screen shot of the
website and the information that I used for this assignment.
• 1. Initial assessment
2. Referral to the publication
3. The investigation
4. Adjudication by the Complaints Committee
5. Remedies
6. Review of the process
7. Complaints which are not pursued
8. Unacceptable behaviour by complainants and vexatious
complaints
https://www.ipso.co.uk/IPSO/index.html

IPSO- Legal & Ethical impact Rock
Sound
• Accuracy- when Rock Sound publish their magazine they need to make
sure that the information that has been published is accurate. This will
include information such as publishing wrong GIG dates in the magazine.
People would then go to the IPSO website to make an complaint about the
incorrect date.
• Confidential sources- The journalists for Rock Sound need to make sure
that they are getting the correct information from reliable sources. For
example when interviewing a band member. The journalist has to make
sure that the band member is the actual band member.
• Discrimination- The magazine must not have any reference to an
individual's, race, colour, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation
or to any physical or mental illness or disability. This can be shown through
images and other quotes within interviews.
• Source : https://www.ipso.co.uk/IPSO/cop.html

Potential complaints being made
about Rock Sound
Potential complaints that could be
made about Rock Sound could be
the use of accuracy in the interview.
An example would be that the
featured rocks album will be
released by Christmas. But in the
interview the rock star says that it
wont be released till the summer.
This can annoy people as the
magazine is therefore not accurate.
This IS against one of the codes by
IPSO. People would then complain
to IPSO saying my magazine is not
accurate in what it says about the
release of a music album.

Protecting the IP for Rock Sound
• Making sure that the IP for Rock Sound magazine is very important to make sure its
been protected. This is a very valuable commodity to keep safe from copyright. A
website called Intellectual property magazine allows you to create your own
account. Within this account you can keep safe all the registered trade marks and
copy rights. This website is in use of the EU which means that Rock Sound are able
to use the website to keep the IP protected. You will be given a 7 day free access
when you set up your account. Within the sign up to the website they give you a
detailed guide to how you should be protecting your, Trademark, Design and
strategy.
Source:
http://www.intellectualpropertymag
azine.com/patent/protecting-ip-in-
the-cloud-110081.htm

Terms & Conditions/Copyright info
from the Rock Sound website
• Rock Sound magazine have a terms and conditions page on their website. The terms and
conditions page states the privacy policy that they have. The policy explains to the users how
they have a policy to making sure that the data that has been collected is safe. They explain
why they need to collect the personal data from you, who else they will tell about you and
their commitment to keeping it safe. Rock sound have presented this information because
the website is for users to apply to be featured in their magazine. Rock sound like to hear
about potential bands that could make within the music industry of rock. The website allows
the users to get recognition from Rock Sound magazine to then have a chance to be
reviewed. I have taken a screen shot of the terms and conditions page below.

IP Permission for Logos
• Within Rock Sound magazine there is social media idents placed around, which will
be to help promote Rock Sound on social media and encourage viral marketing. To
use a social media logo that isn't legally mine I have to either buy the rights to
have it or ask permission. If I used Facebooks ident without permission I would
then be facing fines and possibly prison. directly to see if I'm allowed to use their
logo in my magazine.
• https://www.gov.uk/using-somebody-elses-intellectual-property/overview

How to get Permission to use
Facebook’s Logo
Rock sound use the Facebook logo in their magazine they need to get some
permission to use it. To do this you simply type into Google “permission to use
Facebook’s logo”. This will then take you to a page as displayed below on the left
hand side of the slide. You must first choose an option for how you would like to
use the logo. For example, having it downloaded online or having it printed off.
The next step is to read the guide lines that have been written out by Facebook.
The guidelines explain what you can do and what you cant do with the logo.
Once you have read this information you are able to download the logo by
clicking download.
Source: https://www.facebookbrand.com

Register Trade Mark
• If you have made a design or a logo and what to legally own it you have to register
it on the www.GOV.uk website. The government have a intellectual property office
to assess your application. The office will be able to tell you if the application you
have sent them meets the rules for the registration. The cost of this registration
will cost £170. If the application then meets the rules and regulations then the
government will send you the rights for you to own the trade mark. This will mean
no one can legally copy Rock Sounds logo design.

Water Marks
• This is when a piece of work created by someone has the right to own it and therefore cant be
copied. For example you cant take someone's song that they had written and then make another
version of it. The original artists has the right to own it and therefore cant be taken. If this is the
case of taking a song then selling it the artists then has the right to take the legal action that is
required. Rock Sounds magazine doesn't use water mark images in their magazine. A possible
reason that Rock Sound might not use water marks is because its something that doesn't’ belong
in the image. Watermark images are distracting to the human eye.
• Source- http://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/content/pros-and-cons-watermarks
• Source- https://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/intellectual_property

Conclusion
From this Unit I have understood the media products and the institutions that produce
and distribute them to the intended target audience.

Unit 1- Analysing Media Products and Audiences

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Editor's Notes