2. BRAINSTORM IDEAS
• The downfalls/downsides to the music industry:
o Independent artists in the music industry.
o Being a woman in the music industry.
o How artists can be trapped by their record label/ contracts, or limited
creatively.
o How damaging the music industry is.
• How social media is becoming more fast paced.
3. WHO TO INTERVIEW
• Ex managers
• Artists that were previously stuck in a bad record label
• Independent/smaller artists
• People previously employed by a record label
• Music lawyers
• Artists who left the music industry
4. OPPORTUNITIES AND LIMITATIONS
Opportunities: I will have the opportunity to find out lots of information
about the music industry and its downsides. I will also have the
opportunity to speak to people that work in the industry and find out
about their experiences. I will get to create a different style of magazine,
allowing me to improve my skills on Photoshop.
Limitations: There is a possibility that I may not be able to contact anyone
listed for an interview. If so, I may have to change my topic to be more
social media based so I have more interview options.
5. FINAL IDEA
My final subject idea is to create a magazine about the downsides of the
music industry. I will be researching about the music industry, looking at
artists that have experienced a rise and fall to fame, also record labels and
contracts and how they can be creatively limiting causing the artists to be
trapped in a contract and/or overworked. For interviews, I will be trying to
interview ex managers or employees at these record labels, I could also try
interview artists that have left the music industry that can talk about their
experience. I will also be researching about independent artists, and how
they can struggle to gain popularity in the music industry.
6. WHAT IS A FANZINE?
A fanzine is a type of magazine produced by people who are fans of a
particular topic. It is usually displayed in a more creative way in
comparison to magazines made by professional journalists.
7. Fanzines don’t all follow the same style and layout, they can
have different colour schemes and designs depending on the
subject. This is one example of a style of fanzine. The first
fanzine more closely follows magazine codes and conventions.
It includes a masthead, header, cover image and edition. It’s
colour scheme mostly consists of black and yellow. This makes
the text stand out from the background. The image is also
drawn in a cartoony style. The title of the magazine is ‘Punk’
which tells the audience what the fanzine is about and is able
to attract that target audience.
The second magazine is drawn in that same cartoony style. It
includes a title and cover image. The title is ‘Grimes’ so the
audience knows that this zine focuses on this person. The
colour scheme is pink, black and white. The white background
makes the black and pink image stand out.
8. This style of fanzine is in a more old fashioned style. They both
have a masthead, header and cover image. These images have
also been drawn for the front cover. They are drawn in a
cartoon/comic-book style. ‘Creem’ magazine eventually evolved
into a professionally published magazine.
This style of fanzine is more modern and colourful. The
masthead is in block writing. It is more minimalistic in
comparison to the other magazines. The pictures are in colour
and a mix of black and white. The topic of these are also music,
and this is made clear on the cover lines so their target audience
will be able to notice this.
9. FANZINES
Overall, fanzines can be in different styles and layouts depending on the
artist and topic. They are much different to regular magazines as
magazines are usually made and published by a team of professional
designers and journalists. They usually have a clean, organised look and
they mostly have similar connotations. Fanzines are usually a more creative
style as they are not usually made by professionals that have a layout to
follow, they are usually made by one person or a small group. This allows
more creative freedom and expression. They are usually bold, colourful and
vary in layout, images, font and more. Also, magazines are easier to find
and purchase in comparison to fanzines. Magazines often have a broader
target audience. Fanzines have a more specific target audience depending
on the topic the zine is about, they are also a lot harder to find and more
likely to be found and purchased online rather than in stores.
10. DIY Magazine is a UK based music magazine that is released monthly. They originally started out as a fanzine named
‘This Is Fake DIY’, named after a song by an indie pop band, and was made by a freelance team. It then became a free
online based magazine later on. Every month they have a different cover star, the one on this image (see left) is the
lead singer of indie-rock band ‘Pale Waves’. The artist is the main focus of the front cover and overlaps the masthead.
The colour scheme of this cover is purple, black and white. The purple co-ordinated with the artists makeup and what
they are wearing. Purple can have connotations of royalty, independence and extravagance. The artist is also holding a
megaphone with the word ‘represent’ across the side. This links together with the use of purple on this front cover, as
that colour has connotations with independence and extravagance. There is also a cover line with a quote from an
interview with the artist. She spoke about finding a voice for LGBTQ+ people. This also links well with the megaphone,
it also gives the audience a first look at what the interview with the cover star will be about. The front cover also has
this ‘wrinkled paper’ effect in the background, as well as some of the edges having a ripped effect revealing the colour
purple once again. Having this distressed effect on the cover can also give it more of a home-made look. It can also
make it look more edgy, which is fitting with the cover star and their bands genre. There is also a sticker placed that
lists the other stars shown in this magazine, informing the audience of who they can expect to see. The target
audience of DIY Magazine is music fans, most likely in the 18-25 age bracket, but would also attract the audience of
the artists featured on the cover and within the magazine.
Existing Products: DIY
Magazine
Within the magazine is a variety of images and interviews with a variety of musicians. This one shown is an
interview with Lauren Auder, a British-French singer-songwriter. This double page spread includes two enlarged
images of the artist, one has the blue sky as the background whilst the other has a sunset forest background. It also
features colours on the magazine of pastel yellow and pink. The colour pale pink can be associated with love,
femininity and relaxation. Pastel yellow is also a gentle colour that can also be considered as delicate and warm.
This is a much softer style than the front cover, which is very bold and stands out. This suggests that perhaps the
music style of this singer is a lot softer than the cover artist. The left page is almost entirely covered by an image of
the artist, along with text telling the audience who they are. The text on both pages is quite small in comparison,
and is kept on the outer edge/ centre of the magazine, allowing the images to be the main focus. On the right
page, there is an enlarged quote from the interview placed with the image. This is so the reader can have an idea
on what the artist is talking about without having to read the whole thing. Instead of a ‘questions and answers’
format, the interview is written as if the artist is just speaking to the interview, there is description of their
surroundings throughout the interview which creates imagery, this can make the reader feel more immersed in the
interview. There are also direct quotes from the artist with quote marks (‘’) so the interviewer can reference exactly
what the artist was saying whilst they talk about their music and inspirations. The target audience of this article is
11. Existing Products: Crack Magazine
Crack Magazine is an independent monthly music magazine founded in Bristol, UK. It was founded in 2009 by
graphic designer Jake Applebee and journalism graduate Thomas Frost, and is now distributed across Europe.
This cover star for this issue is British singer-songwriter FKA Twigs. The cover image and layout has been kept
quite simplistic, there is a plain white background with the model in the centre. With the text of both the
masthead and cover lines being a brighter white, the colour that stands out is from the models’ jacket. This is
done so that the focus is fully on the model, suggesting that within the magazine there will be a lot of focus on
this artist. The bright colours on the model amongst the plain background could also suggest that this artist
stands out and is unique. The cover lines have the name of the artist ‘FKA Twigs’ listed first next to the model.
Then, the other features within the magazine are listed slightly smaller. This could suggest that they may only
have smaller articles of mentions in the magazine in comparison to FKA Twigs. Overall the magazine cover looks
very clean and professional. The target audience of this magazine is music enthusiasts, as well as fans of this
artist and the other artists listed.
In the magazine there is a variety of photos of musicians, interviews, music recommendations and concert dates.
For the FKA Twigs feature, the article is spread between 3 double pages (including photos). The screenshot I
included (see left) is the double page layout I would be inspired most when design the pages for my own
interview. The left side is entirely filled with a picture of FKA Twigs. The left side is not interrupted by any text or
other images, this lets the audience know that she is the main focus of this article. The model is also looking
directly into the camera which addresses the audience. The right side is filled with text. In the top left corner, in a
bolder writing and box there is a quote from the artist, this gives the reader an idea of what they are talking
about in the interview, it could also say that their music is very personal to them as the quote includes, ‘If you’re
self-conscious, then you’re not giving yourself’. The first half of the text speaks about reviews for the artists’
latest project, there is then writing about how she started out to introduce the interview and to give the reader
insight into who this singer is, if they don’t know her already. For the second half of the text, the interview is
written. It is formatted as the reporter describing their experience meeting the artist and their conversation.
There is lots of description to provide imagery and creating the atmosphere, this allows the audience to feel
immersed whilst they are reading. The colour scheme is also consistent with the front cover. It is a plain white
background, except with black text, and the only colour that stands out is from the model and their outfit. This
article is targeted to fans of this artist, as well as music fans who would like to discover a new artist.
12. Existing Products: Loud and Quiet
Magazine
Loud and Quiet magazine is a monthly music magazine that feature a range of new indie, alternative and rock bands and
artists. It was founded in 2005 and originally had a homemade fanzine style that were published in independent record
stores in London. For the June 2013 issue, the cover star is American singer Solange. The cover image is centre of the
front cover but not overlapping any other text. Solange is in the centre posing in front of a wood background. The rest of
the cover has a plain white background, allowing the cover image to be the main focus and pop of colour. Solange is
photographed wearing a green outfit. The colour green can symbolise balance, prosperity, freshness and growth. This
could convey to the audience that this artist has fresh new music being released, or it can even have connotations to the
artist and their music overall. Brown and green are both earthy tones that go well together, this makes the image stand
out and also be visually appealing for the audience. The masthead is at the top centre of the magazine in a bold font with
the issue and price listed in smaller writing underneath, this is similar to other magazines that follow this layout with their
magazine covers. The cover lines are placed on the cover image, ensuring not to overlap with the model. The list of other
artists and topics within the magazine are in white font, whilst the other text is in black. White font stands out more over
the background than the black, this colour font is used to catch the readers eye after already noticing the cover
image. Overall, the front cover has a neat polished look. This front cover and magazine is targeted to music fans or
Solange fans, it can also appeal to people interested in Primavera festival, as this is also a topic listed with the cover lines.
Within the magazine, it continues to keep its clean and minimalistic design style consistent with the front
cover, leaving the images to add the bold pops of colour throughout. These pages (see left) show part of the
interview with the cover star 'Solange', these are part of a 4-page spread. This interview is written more as a
descriptive piece. Instead of the Q&A format that other magazines may have, the interview is told almost like
a story of the artists career so far with speech and quotes in between. These pages have images of the model
placed at the top of the page, not interrupting the interview below so at first glance, even if the reader had
not heard of the artist, they would know from the images that this is an interview with the cover star. This
interview would be targeted to music lovers and fans of Solange.
13. Existing Products: Tom Tom
Magazine
Tom Tom Magazine is a New York based print magazine and website that is released quarterly. Founded in 2009, it is
mostly based on female drummers, music and feminism. They are known as the only magazine and media company that is
dedicated to female drummers. The cover star for this edition is Syd (or Syd tha Kyd). Syd is an American singer-songwriter
and producer previously known for being in the band ‘Odd Future’ and founding band ‘The Internet’. The colour scheme
for the masthead/logo is a coral-orange tone, the artist is in casual clothing and the background is coloured with more
neutral-earthy tones. This magazine is the summer issue, the colours of the tree in the background contrast with the
magazine title, it has an overall summery colour palette. The artist is centre of the magazine and slightly overlaps the title,
ensuring that they are still a focal point of the cover. This magazine cover has a more casual tone as opposed to more
formal magazines that commonly have just a solid colour background. There is not much about the magazine revealed on
the cover, there is only the masthead, barcode, cover image and the name of the artist displayed. This leaves it a mystery
to the audience for what the magazine will contain, all that is revealed is that there will most likely be an interview and
more images with Syd, as she is the cover star. The tagline of this magazine is ‘ Drummers, Music, Feminism’. For the target
audience, this magazine is catered to women, music enthusiasts and producers.
Throughout the magazine, there is a variation of images, information and interviews with different musicians and
instrumentalists. For this article (see left), there is an interview with a female producer and drum pedal maker. This is
fitting with their tagline and also caters to some of their demographic who are drum players or producers. On the left
side, there is an image of the person they are interviewing (Aisha Loe), this helps keep the reader drawn in, as they are
able to familiarise a face to the person answering the questions in the interview, allowing the audience to feel more
immersed. On the outer edge of this page there is an image of a circuit board, this gives an effect that the circuit board is
hidden underneath the page, this is fitting to the theme of this interview as the person is talking about how they mix
music and design drum pedals. It is an interesting image and adds extra detail to the page instead of it being a plain
white background. The font is also different on the title ‘pedal head’, the ‘pedal’ font differs as it has a more tech style
and feel to it. On the left page, the interview and photograph is credited to the correct people . There is then a short
description of the musician which describes how they started and what they do with their job. The right side of the page
has the interview, this takes up almost all of the page space. The interview is written in a ‘questions and answers’ format
where it tells the reader what questions the interviewer asks, and how the musician responded. The questions are written
in a bold version of the font, this is so the reader is easily able to differ which of the two is speaking throughout the
interview. In the bottom left corner there is an image of a pedal right beneath the musicians description of one, this is the
audience that isn’t familiar with this topic can understand the description better. The text from another question also
wraps around the outline of the image. There is also a quote enlarged which talks about how the musician compares
cooking to making music. This also acts as a brief summary for any readers quickly skipping through to understand what
the interview is about without reading the whole thing. This interview is directly targeted to drum players, makers and
14. SUMMARY
What I have learned from my existing product research is that fanzines can be made in a variety
of styles and layouts. There is lots of creative freedom and each one looks different. As I
researched mainly music magazines, I found that the colour scheme of the cover often matched
with the musicians style or music style. For example, DIY Magazine had a edgy style with colours
that were bold and stood out, whereas Tom Tom Magazine had more neutral colours to show
that the artist on their colour had a more laid back feel and style to their music. Also, for the
double page spread an interviews, there is most often an enlarged image of the artist they are
interviewing, whilst the majority of the interview is on the opposite side.
15. INTERVIEW REFLECTIONS
What did you enjoy about conducting the interview?
I enjoyed learning more information about music production as I didn’t know much information about it previously.
Discuss 3 things you think went well.
What went well was that I was able to ask broad questions about music production in general, this would be helpful for beginners that don’t know anything about
music production and don’t want to be flooded with too much in depth information. I was able to find out more about the subject and what the person I interviewed
enjoyed most about music. This would keep the audience interested when reading in a magazine as they feel like they are getting to know the person and the subject
as well. I also asked questions that allowed the person to speak in detail about their topic as opposed to ‘yes’ and ‘no’ questions.
Discuss 3 things you think didn’t work well.
What didn’t work well is that I didn’t know much about the subject prior, this held me back when trying to think of interesting questions to ask which explains why my
questions are quite broad to the topic. I also think I should have asked more questions so I could learn more information about the topic. Overall it was a good
interview and the questions were answered in lots of detail.
Outline at least 3 points you have learned from this and can apply to your project.
What I have learned from this interview is that when preparing for the interview for my project, I will make sure that I do some research about the artist and the topics
that we will be discussing prior to the interview. This will allow me to come up with more interesting and in-depth questions.
What was it like being interviewed? How has this informed your process for when you interview someone else?
When I was interviewed, I found it could be a lot of pressure to be on the spot and asked questions about a topic without knowing the questions prior. However, I also
enjoyed talking about a topic I enjoyed. When I interview someone for my magazine, I may give them a brief overview about the types of questions I will be asking
before the interview so they can be more prepared as well as make sure the questions are about the topic and how they are involved in the topic.
