The document discusses a magazine aimed at young adults interested in alternative rock music. It describes targeting both male and female readers in their 20s. It aims to represent this audience and genre positively by showing how being naive can foster creativity. The magazine features dark color schemes, writing styles, and content inspired by alternative music and its typical fans. It hopes to attract this audience while also being open to all social classes, with an emphasis on supporting up-and-coming and working-class bands.

1. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Startingout the magazine there wasa veryspecificaimtomake sure that the prioritisedsocial group
that the magazine wasaimedat wasgeneral toyoungadultsinthere 20’s witha splitgenderappeal
due to the type of musicthe magazine iscovering,whichisalternative rock.Youngadultscanbe
portrayedas quite naive;thiscanbe considerednegative butputinthe contextof alternative music,
I believethatbeingnaïve iswhatsetsthisgenre of musicapart from otherformsof musicbecause
it’sour reader’slackof social awarenessthatallowsthemtodemonstrate theirthoughtsandbeliefs
throughalternative music.The mediaformatthathas beenusedquestionsthisideaof youngadults
beingnaïve,byshowingthatbeingnaïve can alsoshow formsof creativitywhichbandstogether
people tocreate communityinaform of music.
The differentelementsof the magazine are inspiredbythe ideaof ourtypical readerandthe music
that theywouldlistentoo.The colourscheme reflectsthe darkeredge towhatcan be foundin
alternative music,whilstthe writingisdone inawayto mirror the ideasandpersonalityof the
typical reader.Ouraudience issetapartbecause theyare not afraidto necessarilybe the person
theyoughtto be rather than the candidate forwhatsocietyexpectsapersontobe.Theyare not
afraidto voice opinionsandwill have aformof love forlive musicandmusicthat ispreformed,
writtenandproducedwiththe use of real talentand noautomatedintervention.Althoughtheymay
have theirfavourite bands,theywill still digfurthertofindnew bandsthatmaybecome another
favourite band.
The magazine isopento all social classes;evenso,there isdefinitelyaemphasismore onthe
workingclassbecause of the bigpushon giving exposure tosmall bandsthatworkveryhardto
make musicnot onlythere passion,butthere source of livingandincome.The effortthatthe smaller
bandsput into get noticedissomewhatthe ideal readertothe magazine;the hardworkerandthe
personthat can see thingstoan enddespite notlikingcertainareastowhattheyare doing.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product
and why?
The mediainstitutionwhichIwouldapproachtodistribute mymagazine wouldbe apublisher such
as Bauer Media.Despite themalreadyhavingmagazinesthatare similartothe one I have produced,
such as Kerrang!I still believe thatthe magazine wouldbe successful because of the reputationof
BauerMedia as beingaleaderof publishingmusicmagazines.Havingtwosimilarmagazinescoming
fromthe same publishercanbe advantageousinthe ideathatthe magazine thatI have produced
has focusesondifferentareasof the similarstyle of musicandevenbreachthe gapintoeven
heaviermusicthanKerrang!.The twomagazineswithinthe same publisherstillcreatesrivalrythat
pushesthe magazinestodevelopandbecome better.The twomagazinesalsomeansthatBauer
Mediawouldbe able to experimentwithone of magazinesandevenif the audience didn’tlike the
experiments,theystillhave areliable name togoto; sothere isalwayssomethingtofall backto.

2. BauerMedia have a wide varietyof magazinesundertheirpublishingname suchQmagazine and
Mojo as well asothergenresof magazines;therefore,Ithinkthathavinganothermusicmagazine
will notharmtheirportfolioandwill allow themtobe more flexible withwhattheycanput into
theirmagazines.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
WhenI startedthe initiationtothe magazine,Iknew thatmyreaderwouldbe youngadultsthat are
interestedinalternative music;there wasnogenderbiastowardseithergendersandItriedto
maintainthisideaforthe whole constructionof the magazine.However,Iwouldsaythatnow,at the
endof the magazine Ican certainlysee thatmore youngadultmaleswouldbythe magazine andI
thinkthisisdue to the genre of the magazine aswell asthe colourschemesthatgo withthe
magazine.Istill thinkthere isappeal tothe Female marketwiththe magazine,butnotas muchas I
firstanticipated;however,myfocusgroupinterviewsmightstillgive insighttoFemalesbeing
interestedinthe magazine.
How did you attract/address your audience?
For starters,I decidedtomake sure I hadthe rightequipmenttomake a professionallookingfront
coverand picturesforthroughoutthe magazine soI know that the qualityof the pictureswouldnot
be somethingthatdetersapotential readerawayfromthe magazine.Ialsomade sure that the
pictureswere takeninsettingswhichreflectedthe type of magazine thatmymagazine wouldbe;so,
for example we usedroomswithdarkenedlightingtocreate the alternative lookthatgoeswithmy
genre of magazine.
I alsocame up witharticlesthatI thinkwould appeal tomytargetaudience suchas articlesthatare
focusedonbiggerbandsas well asarticlesthathave a huge focus onup and comingbandsbecause I
believethatthe readerof my magazine wouldalsoprefertofindnew musictolistentooaswell as
readup on bandsthat theyalreadyfollow.
For the articlesthemselves,theyhave beenwritteninawaythat isinformative butalsohasa casual
mark on them.Thisisdone to make the readerfeel comfortableandnotoverfacedby massesof
unnecessaryinformationtogive volume tothe article.The article isnottoolongand voices
everythingthatneedstobe distributedtoouraudience.
The magazine alsomakessure that the same fontsare usedthroughout.Thisisdone sothat the
readerwill feel familiartothe magazine andwill alsorecognizethe fontsinfurthereditionsof the
magazine whichtheywill thenautomaticallyrealise whatmagazineitisbecause of the fonts.We
have alsomade sure that whenwe mentionabandsname,that there fontthat isusedforthe name
iskeptthe same andusedeach time the bandis mentioned.
I have alsoincludedprizesandfree merchandiseintothe magazine todraw the attentionof a
potential readersince freestuff will tendtodraw people tothe magazine.The free merchandiseis
all relatedtoarticlestocreate recognitionforthe smallerbandsbygivingawayfree E.P’sinthe hope

3. that theygetlistenedtoandpassedonif the readerslike the E.P’s.Whatthe magazine istryingto
do iscreate a place fornewmusicand new bandsto grow andturn intosomethingbiggerthanthey
are now.
How did you attract/address your audience?
For starters,I decidedtomake sure I hadthe rightequipmenttomake a professionallookingfront
coverand picturesforthroughoutthe magazine soI know that the qualityof the pictureswouldnot
be somethingthatdetersapotential readerawayfromthe magazine.Ialsomade sure that the
pictureswere takeninsettingswhichreflectedthe type of magazine thatmymagazine wouldbe;so,
for example we usedroomswithdarkenedlightingtocreate the alternative lookthatgoeswithmy
genre of magazine.
I alsocame up witharticlesthatI thinkwouldappeal tomytargetaudience suchas articlesthatare
focusedonbiggerbandsas well as articlesthathave a huge focus onup and comingbandsbecause I
believethatthe readerof my magazine wouldalsoprefertofindnew musictolistentooaswell as
readup on bandsthat theyalreadyfollow.
For the articlesthemselves,theyhave beenwritteninawaythat isinformative butalsohasa casual
mark on them.Thisisdone to make the readerfeel comfortableandnotoverfacedby massesof
unnecessaryinformationtogive volume tothe article.The article isnottoolongand voices
everythingthatneedstobe distributedtoouraudience.
The magazine alsomakessure that the same fontsare usedthroughout.Thisisdone sothat the
readerwill feel familiartothe magazine andwill alsorecognizethe fontsinfurthereditionsof the
magazine whichtheywill thenautomaticallyrealise whatmagazineitisbecause of the fonts.We
have alsomade sure that whenwe mentionabandsname,that there fontthat isusedforthe name
iskeptthe same andusedeach time the bandis mentioned.
I have alsoincludedprizesandfree merchandiseintothe magazine todraw the attentionof a
potential readersince freestuff will tendtodraw people tothe magazine.The free merchandiseis
all relatedtoarticlestocreate recognitionforthe smallerbandsbygivingawayfree E.P’sinthe hope
that theygetlistenedtoandpassedonif the readerslike the E.P’s.Whatthe magazine istryingto
do iscreate a place fornewmusicand new bandsto grow andturn intosomethingbiggerthanthey
are now.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of
constructing this product?
To produce the magazine there hasbeena wide range of technologyusedtomake the magazine in
to whatit is.Firstly,there were the DSLRcamerasusedto take the picturesas well as the lighting
usedinthe studio.There wasmany differentsoftware’susedsuchasPhotoshopandIn Designthat
were usedtohelpeditthe double page spread,contentspage andcover.
From usingthe software,Ihave realisedthatonce yougetuse to using a programme thenitgets
easiertodo whatyou wantto do withthe magazine.Atfirstitcan seemquite hard,especiallywhen

4. youhaven’tusedsomethinglike Photoshopbefore,butonce youhave useditfor a bit,thenyoucan
start to developwhatyouhave alreadyworkedonandmake the magazine lookasprofessional as
possible.
If it wasn’tfor the technologywe have available today,Iwouldnothave beenable toproduce as
higherqualitymagazine.The waythata picture froma camera can be processedthroughusing
software toturn itinto somethingmore thanjustapicture isall componentto the fact that I have
usedmanyvariationsof technologyandtheyhave all come togethertomake thismagazine.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have
learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
WhenI startedthe magazine,Ihad no backgroundresearchintowhatgoesintomakinga high
qualitymusicmagazine andnowthatI have finishedmakingthe magazine,Ihave realisedhow
importantitis to researchintoproducingsomethingbeforeyoustartto developyourplans.Ihave
learntthat itis veryimportanttotake in whatotherpeople are saying;particularlyfocusgroupsas
the magazine istargetedtopeople like them.
I have alsolearntskillsinvideoeditingasI hadto cut downthe focusgroupvideosandI furthered
my software skillsinPhotoshopbyworkingouthow to addelementstomymagazine tomake itlook
like amusicmagazine.PhotoshopIhave neverusedbeforeand Ihave learnta great deal of new
skillsthathave developedinthe course of makingthe magazine.
I wouldsay,I have learnthowto take informationfromone source andinterpretittoexplainitto
anothersource.For example,the article wasdone ona bandfrom Leedsandthere were afew terms
that the average musicmagazine mightnotunderstandsoIhave learntto bare thisinmindand
interpretittosomethingthatthe average musicmagazine readerwouldunderstand.
AnotherthingIhave learntiswhat makesa goodcover to a magazine andthiswas toodo with
research;however,there wasformsof executionintodoingthissothat the magazine doeslook
professionalandnotcheap.