The pitch for my music magazine.

1. Magazine Pitch

2. Title
Magazine names usually have a meaning behind them. For example,
the magazine Kerrang was named after the “sound of a power
chord on an electric guitar.” This relates to the magazine as it focuses
on rock music, and electric guitars are used in rock music. I want the
name of my magazine to relate in a similar way.
As my magazine isn’t going to focus on one genre specifically, I don’t want the name
to be specific to one genre either. I need the name to be more general of every genre.
Therefore, the title of my magazine is going to be Demo. When an artist first records
a song, they record a “demo” version, before creating the finished song. I’ve chosen
this name as it suggests to the audience that the magazine contains the newest music
and is current and up to date, which will encourage them to buy it. This is a general
name that’s inclusive of every genre, so the audience will know that the magazine is
inclusive for everyone’s interests.

3. Genre of magazine
My magazine isn’t going to have on particular music genre. Instead, it’s going
to be a combination of various genres, similar to Q magazine. My main focus
will be on rock and indie/alternative, as I got the most responses for these
genres in my survey. Pop will also have a large focus, as it was very close
behind in responses. This is just a basis for the magazine, as both genres
have various subgenres. In order to attract as wide of an audience as
possible, I need to include as many of these subgenres as possible, as not
everyone is interested in every aspect of rock and pop music. Some people
only like specific subgenres, and I don’t want to alienate them as readers by
not including articles for them. Including a combination of different genres
and artists could also be beneficial to readers who are only interested in
specific subgenres as they may discover a new artist or genre and find that
they like it. My survey showed that people really enjoyed being able to
discover new and upcoming artists, so this will be useful for them.

4. Sales information
Frequency
The magazine will be published once a month. This will allow for a better quality publication, as there will be more time to take
professional photos, as well as being able to use high quality paper. There will also be more to discuss than if the magazine was
published weekly, as more will have happened, so there’s more to write about. This makes the magazine more appealing to the
audience, as they won’t want to pay money for a magazine which is quickly thrown together with little information. The
publication date will be the first Friday of each month, creating a schedule so that the readers don’t forget to buy the magazine.
Price
I want the magazine to be affordable, as my audience is mostly young people, and therefore won’t have money to
spare on a magazine. In my survey, “£2.01-£3” received the most responses when people were asked how much
they’d be willing to pay for a magazine. However, as the magazine will be published monthly, I will need be able to
charge slightly more in exchange for a higher quality. Therefore, I’ve decided to charge £3.50 per publication.
While this is still affordable, the readers will be willing to pay slightly more, as it’s only once a month, rather than
weekly, and the magazine will include a lot of information.
Location
The magazine will be sold in large stores, like Tesco and WHSmith, as well as local newsagents, alongside other music magazines,
in order to reach a wider audience. It will also be available to purchase online for people who can’t reach their local store, both
on the magazine’s website and the website of stores that it is sold in.

5. Contents
The contents of the magazine will be based on the audience responses. A variety of different articles will be included in order to
keep the readers interested, and to provide for everyone.
The most responses were for interviews, so I will definitely include interviews in the
magazine. The interviews will be with larger, more well known artists, as well as
smaller artists, as I had responses showing audience interest in both.
I also had a high response for reviews, so there will be a section in every edition of the magazine
dedicated purely to reviews of the singles, albums and music videos released in the previous
month. All three will be featured as I want to appeal to every reader. For example, some readers
don’t buy full albums, and will be more interested in the singles reviews. By including reviews
focusing on each one, I will be able to interest everyone.
My survey showed a high response for event information. Therefore, a few pages of the
magazine each month will focus on the latest events and tours announced, as well as
information on how to get tickets. News about both well known and unknown artists received
almost balanced responses, so I want to have a few pages that focus on this area. There will also
be a few pages of posters, as, while they didn’t receive a high response, there was still some
audience interest, so I don’t want to exclude these readers by not featuring their interests.
These sections will always be on the same pages of the magazine each month, in order to create
consistency, and make it easier for the readers to find what they are most interested in and
want to read. Competitions and free gifts received the least responses, so these won’t have full
pages dedicated to them. Instead, they’ll be included as a part of other articles.

6. Style
In one of my survey questions, I asked about the design of the cover. Some of the responses
were a “clean layout” (similar to Q magazine) or a “busy layout” (similar to Kerrang!). The
option for a clean layout received just over double the responses than a busy layout, so that
is the style that I want to focus on for the magazine. I want the pages to contain lots of
information, but to look tidy. To do this, I’ll make sure that the information is spread out on
the page, rather than having too much in one small area.
I also want to have consistent fonts for some aspects, like for the body text of articles, so
that the magazine appears professional and complete, instead of looking like completely
separate articles that have been thrown together.
While I had a higher response from female readers, I still had a strong response from
male readers. I don’t want to focus too much on appealing to one gender and alienating
the other, so my colour scheme is going to be gender neutral. I won’t include colours
with connotations of specific gender (like blue or pink) as, despite finding that some
readers wouldn’t be put of by this, I don’t want to put forward the idea that the
magazine is intended for one gender over the other. This may also push away readers
who don’t identify as either male or female, although I had a very small response from
them. Therefore, I’ve chosen to have the main colour scheme be red, white, and black.
These colours have no gender connotations, and will therefore appeal to every reader.

7. Mission statement
Music has been important for as long as our world has existed. Over
time, it has developed and changed, but it has never lost its value
within our lives. Demo is dedicated to releasing all of the latest news
about the newest music. With a wide respect for all genres and artists
of every kind, everyone can find an article that they enjoy within the
pages of this magazine. Readers can look forward to discovering new
artists, while gaining new information about artists that they already
know and love. Demo prioritises the music, and connects fans from all
over the country. They share a love for music, and we want to be able
to share the love with them.
“Demo contains everything that I love about music. It’s the best
magazine for all the latest music!”
- Laura, 19