'BEATZ' magazine evaluation part 2.

3. • Ethnicity- The research of magazines has proven the expected; ethnic minorities are constantly underrepresented in the media. From the
magazines, I have analysed the artists were almost all white males and females. The only single exception was the hardly noticeable picturing of:
Wiley (‘Q’’ mag), Rihanna and 5 after midnight (‘TOTP’ mag). This could be because Black African/Caribbean artists in particular tend to dominate
hop/rhythm and blues, so their genre isn’t truly for my genre of magazine. Originally in my plan I wanted to break the conventions and represent
many different ethnic groups but this came to a halt as most people available to pose as artists for my magazine were white.

4. • I did find a model to represent ‘V8’. ‘V8’ does play up to the media’s stereotyping of black males. He’s dressed in a relaxed, in a popular designer grey t-shirt
(favoured by my target audience) and has a gold chain around his neck. This use of costume in mise-en-scene tells the audience that he is a young rapper who
has a typical ‘bad boy’ reputation as well as his NVC (non-verbal communication) consisting of an emotionless stare also contributes to his presumed reputation.
Unusually in my research the black males are represented as quite friendly e.g. Wiley. This could signify a change into the image into how young black boys are
represented. It’s also important to acknowledge the underrepresentation of different ethnic females, the reasoning behind this could be that traditionally they
haven’t been idealised as much as blonde, white European females and Black men have a stereotype of holding ‘swag’ and embodying an alpha, aggressive male.

5. ‘BEATZ’ ‘Q’
Portrayal/examples of ethnicity in ‘TOTP’
magazine.

6. • Gender- Traditionally women and men are divided into performing two separate roles in the media. Men- are portrayed as dominant, heroic, and
handsome. They’re heterosexual and are seen to be relied on by women. Women- are sexualised with accessories and make-up, as well as hold fragile
and ditsy personalities.
• Unexpectedly, most pop music magazines were targeted for men but one of the one’s that wasn’t was aimed at a young female audience (‘TOTP’).
‘BEATZ’ has a 79% female readership and a 22% male readership. Thus, it followed the direction of ‘TOTP’. My audience research told me that my
readership was predominantly female, and so my readership figures were made based on this also I felt that there was more opportunity to expand,
grow and create competition within the market because the other magazines were leaders in their target audience and as a new magazine it would be
easier to break into the market of teenage girls and some boys as it isn’t heavily dominated. The ratio of female and male artists within my magazine is
slightly imbalanced as there are more photos of male artists than female artists. This was done because it is a recurring theme throughout pop music
magazines that men are featured more. Linking back to the previous information it could be since they’re targeted for men, and so the men reading
these magazines will want to see men being used so that they can have role models.

7. • Moving onto my magazine, the men pictured will be of romantic interest to the girls as illustrated in the titles (‘Snapchat me Cal, snap me’- slang phrase which shows the girls’ attraction and
interests to communicate over social media with Callum), style of photography as in particular ‘Cal’ is posed with a mischievous, smirking expression which tells the audience that he is a cheeky
flirtatious character. The colour scheme of the magazine uses pink white and black. Pink is heavily synonymous with a feminine identity, however black and white are both colours that could be
more masculine. And so, it does provide an although small, reflection of the male readership. As mentioned in the opening statement, the media does portray the same stereotypes of gender
repeatedly. My magazine has conformed to this as the men featured conform to the mentioned stereotype and there isn’t any breaking over stereotype e.g. a man in heels or make-up. Similarly,
the girls featured within the magazine do also conform to feminised identities. They’re in makeup and have had their hair done, the cover girl has her legs exposed as well as the girl group are
posed as ‘fun, loving, happy girls’ which is common as girls are favoured in the media if they’re seen to be in a state of euphoria. This information says that my audience are your stereotypical
female, they hold quite traditional views on the presentation of women e.g. keeping up appearances ‘Win! Latest Lip kit inside’ and hold a heterosexual identity. On the downside, it is unclear as to
what my magazine tells us about the male readership. Although, it could be said that the teen boys who read my magazine could have non-confirmative identities. Like the girls, they’re interested in
Pop music and Fashion, they’re heavily influenced by pop music and could hold homosexual identities due to the romanticised images of men in the magazine. Even more so they could also be
heterosexual men as aside from images, the content itself is based on the technical and background elements of pop music. Therefore, young males might read my magazine as an alternative to
‘mixmag’ or ‘Q ‘as my magazine has exclusive features such as ‘Hit of the month’ and ‘the local gig guide finder’ that are original to my magazine.

8. • Class- Using the NRS social grades the class that is predominantly represented is the middle class. Specifically (using the scale) grades B-A. This is because many artists
that have been used are established and have developed their image, toured the globe, had plenty of albums sold, have a million+ following etc. So, they belong to
the elite smaller percentage of the population. In my magazine, they’ve been presented as powerful, yet accessible, idealistic, and influential. For example, the
material possession of a gold chain and watch (‘V8’) as props connotes opulence wealth and strength as these items have a high financial value and to the target
audience money is associated with power and success. Even more so the artist ‘Cal’ advertises his tour in the contents page which as previously mentioned is a sign
of influence as this tells the audience he has a mass following as he must do tens of shows in different locations therefore he has popularity as he is known
geographically. These artists are accessible- through my magazine. On their own fans might not have the chance to get close to them as they’re such big stars that
they’re protected by security. But in my magazine, Interviews with the artist take down that physical barrier and through an article such as ‘Mainstage, microphones
and Geeta?’, ‘Access all areas’ and ‘Shawn Mendes interview’ fans have access to the stars lives as word by word an artist answers questions that the audience are
interested in. My magazine aids in idolising these artists “middle classism” is presented as a desirability. The magazine uses high quality flattering images in a
professional studio which reflect the money, time, and energy put into one image and a level of professionalism. Even the exceptions- the shot of ‘Cal’ in a slightly
distressed graffiti urban background, which frankly doesn’t connote the places that these stars would truly be seen in. Instead it reflects a fashion trend seen
throughout 2016 which aims to present the subject as cool, edgy, and dynamic. The target audience knows this as well because they’re followers of these current
trends. Reversing back to my audience research, this told me that my audience were primarily students and would be classed as working class in Bands D or E on the
NRS scale. However, these students are likely to receive money from their parents or part time jobs, and so their parent’s income potentially pushes them up into
bands C1 or above in rare cases and so there is money to purchase the magazine. We can also learn from the magazine that my audience belongs to these groups
because the magazine presents a lifestyle that is a replica of their hopes and dreams. The magazine wouldn’t have such an impact if the audience belonged to the
same grade as the artists. This is because the content such as the interviews, fashion reviews and ‘How tos’ would lose its exclusivity as they already have the money
and status to be associated with this. We can also conclude that my magazine shows off the undermined aspirations of the lower class. They are going to purchase
this magazine to escape from the everyday stresses of school, parents, relationship/friendship troubles and to think, set goals and remain optimistic about the future.

9. • The target audience knows this as well because they’re followers of these current trends. Reversing back to my audience research, this told me that my audience were primarily students and
would be classed as working class in Bands D or E on the NRS scale. However, these students are likely to receive money from their parents or part time jobs, and so their parent’s income
potentially pushes them up into bands C1 or above in rare cases and so there is money to purchase the magazine. We can also learn from the magazine that my audience belongs to these groups
because the magazine presents a lifestyle that is a replica of their hopes and dreams. The magazine wouldn’t have such an impact if the audience belonged to the same grade as the artists. This is
because the content such as the interviews, fashion reviews and ‘How tos’ would lose its exclusivity as they already have the money and status to be associated with this. We can also conclude
that my magazine shows off the undermined aspirations of the lower class. They are going to purchase this magazine to escape from the everyday stresses of school, parents,
relationship/friendship troubles and to think, set goals and remain optimistic about the future.

10. • Age- In my production plan the target age of my audience is set as 13-18. This is a very impressionable target audience, as through these teenage years’ individuals are looking for their identity and
an outlet they can rely on to feel comfort as commonly they feel misunderstood. Firstly, the age of the artists reflects that of the audience as some of the individuals I took pictures of are around
that age or older. The teenage target audience doesn’t want to see anyone younger than them as its seen as too “immature” as at this age they want to be considered as adults. Even if some of the
artists are older such as the long shot of band members Matt and James that I took at a ‘Busted’’ concert, to see other adults as explained previously allows them to get an insight as to how the
adult pop musician life works. A well as lots of pop musicians such as Taylor Swift, Shawn Mendes and Ed Sheeran are in their late teens/early twenties. The use of slang terms within my magazine
reflects a younger audience, ‘Q’ and ‘mixmag’ had a heavy use of proper English, whereas my magazine has taken inspiration from ‘TOTP’ magazine and used slang as it is much preferred by a
younger audience. I have made the mistake of not constructing a question in my audience research that asks the audience their preferred use of language. But, Once I realised it was too late to
correct this mistake I took the initiative of taking the fact that I am a teenage, female student myself who has a passion for Pop and some uses of slang would work well as I’m confident if I’d ask
other members of the target audience they’d agree. This says that the younger target audience is more laid back than that of an older audience. Another representation of young people is that
they’re fun loving and party centred. The contrasting colours in my magazine are quite bright and exciting, the text is written in funky different fonts to add to the excitement of the entertaining
material. The pictures consist of young people having fun as well as they depict young life to be attractive, euphoric and all about friendship which is particularly shown in the image of ‘WAH’ (Wild
at Heart)- a girl group who through their image depict how teenagers want to be accepted and seen as having plenty of friends. Young life is also presented as sexy and attractive through the
imagery such as the use of sensual poses from both the male artists and the female artist Rachel. Youth is to be desired and the magazine picks out the highlights (going out and remaining popular)
and displays the audience wants/needs within the magazine.