Question 2 of my evaluation.

1. Evaluation – question 2
How does your media product
represent particular social
groups?

2. Age
around young people who all share a passion for music. This will also help the young
readers to connect with the magazine. Stereotypes can be very hurtful, so being able
to see young people like themselves be represented so positively will make them feel
more comfortable with themselves. It’s important that young people don’t feel
discouraged from being themselves, and I think that this magazine allows them to
understand that. This wouldn’t mean as much to an older audience. It’s often the older
generations creating the stereotypes about the younger generations, meaning that
they’re less likely to understand why representing young people in this way is so
important. The media often attacks the younger generation and makes fun of them.
This magazine provides a place where young people can all come together, and an
older audience wouldn’t feel as comforted by this.
The main target age for my music magazine is between 15 and 18. This is the age range
that I aimed to target through representing them in my magazine. One way that I have
decided to do this is by using young artists in the focal areas of my magazine, like on the
main images. This resonates with a younger audience, as they see themselves in the
artists and can relate to them in a way that an older audience wouldn’t be able to. There
is also a chance that the older generations won’t know who the newer artists are,
whereas the younger generation is more likely to. The inclusion of newer and younger
artists is therefore aimed more at a younger audience. This also contrasts the way that
teenagers are typically presented. In the media, there is a stereotype of teenagers of the
current generation being lazy and not working for anything. By portraying the young
artists in such a positive light, the magazine is fighting back against this stereotype. The
magazine is challenging the idea that teenagers don’t care about anything, as it is based

3. The style and design of my magazine were also done with the age of my target audience specifically in mind. While my target
audience is young, teenagers are often opposed to being treated like they’re young, so I aimed to make the magazine look
more mature in order to appeal to them in this way. The colours I used had no “childish” connotations. If I had made the
magazine a combination of very bright colours, it may have had a more juvenile feel, and would therefore turn away my target
audience. The colour scheme used create a more mature look to the magazine, with bright colours, like yellow, being used
sparingly and intended to stand out and be eye-catching. I also used a more “minimalistic” design for the magazine pages,
trying not to overload them with information. Magazines aimed at younger people tend to have a lot more crammed onto each
page, with adult magazines being more spread out through the magazine. This is because the children are assumed to have a
shorter attention span, and won’t want to read a longer magazine, whereas adults are more willing.
Age
Kerrang magazine – median age 22
Aimed towards younger readers
Busier layout, more images, brighter colours
Q magazine – median age 34
Aimed towards adult readers
Simpler layout, one main image, more text
These two images show the
difference between magazines
aimed towards different
audiences. Kerrang is aimed at
a younger audience and has
much more going on in terms
of layout. Q magazine, aimed
towards an older audience,
looks more professional and
clean.

4. I decided to find a balance between the two. I kept my magazine pages filled with lots of information, but tried not to include
too much, so that the style would lean more towards an adults magazine. Teenagers are sometimes not given credit for their
intelligence, so I think that this will appeal to them much more than a “busy” magazine design would. The writing style of the
article also follows this idea. While it is written simply and is easy to read in order to cater for readers of all abilities, it is clearly
not written with young children in mind. Although the readers of the magazine are young, they are reading the magazine
because they’re passionate about music. I ensured that the article fully discussed the music and the artist, rather than
something not relevant to the artist’s career, as I wanted the teenage audience to feel as though their interests were being
treated as genuine. Young people often face jokes about the things that they like, so I wanted them to feel like they were being
understood. I think that my magazine challenges the way that teenagers are seen and stereotyped in the media, as it treats
them more like the young adults that they are rather than being condescending, and the artists are all aimed towards them,
with their likes and dislikes always being taken into account.
Age
Brighter colours
used sparingly
Clean layout,
arranged in
columns
Less images,
focus on
article

5. Gender
In my survey, I discovered that my audience was primarily female. I knew that these were
majority teenage girls from other questions. Teenage girls often face ridicule from the media
and the people around them. They are stereotyped and the things that they enjoy are
mocked, particularly the music that they listen to. Music for them is often labelled as “not
real music” by critics. Unless the artist reaches a wider (and male) audience, it will remain
that way. This often makes teenage girls feel like they can’t like things for fear of people not
treating them seriously. I challenged this by including female artists in my magazine. The
cover artist was the female lead of a band, attracting teenage girls to the magazine. If they
see artists that they like in a professional and respected music magazine, it makes them feel
as though they are being taken seriously, rather than facing ridicule for what they like. This
will make them more inclined to read the magazine.
I also wanted to challenge stereotypes of girls by including a variety of girls in the magazine. A
common perception is that girls are only one thing, e.g. “the smart girl” or “the pretty girl”
stereotypes, which are commonly portrayed in popular media like teen romantic comedy films. I
wanted to challenge this stereotype by showing a variety of girls who were more than a
stereotype. For example, my female cover artist, the article on female artist Lorde mentioned on
the contents page, and the female artist whose album was included in the ‘reviews’ section of
the contents page are different. I want to challenge the stereotype that girls can only be one
thing by showing them that they can be whatever they want to be.
As well as the female audience, I got a strong male response. I still wanted to appeal to male readers. Often, boys face similar
issues to girls, with the images of “the perfect man” being popularised in the media. I wanted to include a range of male artists,
just like with the females, to challenge this, and show the young male readers that they don’t have to meet this expectation and
that they can be themselves. This message isn’t often presented to boys, as the focus is often on girls, so I think that taking them
and their feelings into account will help male readers feel more understood and will encourage them to read the magazine.

6. Gender
The mise-en-scene of the shots also shows an equality between the genders. Often, the females in magazines are shot with a
more “sexy” appeal, whereas the men are shot to make them appear powerful. This is particularly shown through costume. I
chose to challenge this, and to have my characters be dressed in the way that best represents them as people. The characters are
all shown to be individuals, and aren’t dressed in a way that stereotypes them with their gender. I think that this appeals to both
genders much stronger than it would if I presented the characters in the typical way that magazines do. The photography presents
both genders as equal to each other, rather than creating a separation between them.
During my initial research and textual analysis, I realised that most of the magazine covers and
pages that I was analysing featured male artists. I tried to balance this more, by including female
artists, to appeal to more female readers. The photography style for each gender doesn’t differ.
For the images of both genders, I used similar shot types. For the cover and the main image on the
double page spread, the artists are looking directly into the camera, displaying their confidence
For some of the other images, like the main image on the contents page and the image
for the pop album, I used photos taken naturally, so that the artists aren’t posing. Again,
this creates and equal portrayal of both genders, as they both are shot in similar ways.
confidence and portraying them as powerful. This presents the
characters as equal, as they both are represented the same.
As I didn’t want to focus primarily on one gender, I tried to design the magazine in a way that would attracts both male and
female readers. One way that I did this was through the colour scheme. I deliberately avoided using colours that had gender
connotations, like blue and pink. The colours are commonly associated with different genders, so I felt that using one or the
other may alienate some readers. I kept the colour scheme gender neutral, so that readers of all genders would feel included,
and would be interested in reading the magazine.

7. Class
As my target audience are teenagers, it is harder to put them into a class group, as
they don’t always have jobs, and the ones who do tend to work part time.
However, I decided that my main target audience would be groups B, C1, C2 and
D, as they represent the largest percentages of the population. These class groups
represent a wide variety of people, all who earn different wages. I wanted to
ensure that my magazine was affordable for these social groups. The price of
music magazines can vary. Weekly magazines like Kerrang can be as low as £2.50,
but monthly magazines, like mine, often average around £5 per issue. I felt that,
while this would be affordable for groups B and C1, groups C2 and D may struggle
to be able to afford it. Therefore I lowered to magazine price to £3.50, as this was
affordable for all of my target social classes, but would also be enough that I could
produce a high quality publication. This is also affordable for younger readers who
may not earn much money and don’t want to spend too much on a magazine.
The photography included in my magazine are representative of the range of
class groups who will read the magazine. For example, in the image on the
double page spread, the character is wearing vans shoes, which are branded
and represent a more middle class background. However, the clothes of my
cover artist are unbranded, appealing more to the working class readers. I
also appealed to the working class readers through the use of competitions,
as I advertised the chance to win festival tickets on the cover. While middle
class readers may be able to afford to purchase the tickets themselves,
working class readers may not, so this appeals more to the working class.

8. Class
I tried to challenge popular media perceptions of the different classes by not focusing too much on them. In the media, people
with a working class background are often perceived as lazy and not doing much work. I wanted to challenge this by presenting
them in the opposite way. The artists in the magazine are all hardworking and determined, and are discussed for their
achievements. This presents them in a much more positive light than their usual perception.
I also tried to represent different class groups by including a range of genres. I have included a wide variety of genres to attract
all audiences. For example, rock music tends to be aimed more towards the working class, as popular song topics within the
genre include things like the struggle to earn money, and issues that the working class are much more likely to face. Those who
are more middle class wouldn’t be expected to listen to these kinds of songs, and this genre may not appeal to them as much.
While these stereotypes are not always the case, the range of genres included in the magazine ensures that people of all class
groups are included.
Pop
Pop
Alternative
Pop
Indie
Indie
Alternative
Alternative
rock
Rock
Rock
Rock

9. Social groups
I think that my magazine appeals to a range of social groups. This is represented
in the content, as the articles are written about artists from all genres. For
example, on my cover I had Taylor Swift, a pop artist, Mallory Knox, an
alternative rock band, and my double page spread was written about an indie
artist. I also included a pop album, a rock album, an indie album and an
alternative album in the reviews section. The range of genres of music
represented mean that people with all kind of music taste will be able to read
the magazine and find an article that will interest them. The magazine therefore
doesn’t focus on one particular social group.
As I wanted to focus on multiple social groups, I needed to represent the
different groups. The colour scheme represents social groups.
Throughout most of the magazine, I have used a strict colour scheme of
red, white, black and grey, in order to ensure that there was no
connotations. However, I have used colours with connotations to certain
social groups in order to represent them. For example, the text of the
artist’s name on the pop cover is pink. Pop music is usually associated
with young girls, so I used a colour with this connotation. Alternative
music is often associated with people who are “quirky” and “different” so
I used the brighter colours yellow and orange to fit in with this, and to
match the colours in the photo in background. In this way, I have
followed the media perception of social groups.

10. Social groups
The idea of social groups is that, in order to fit in to one particular kind of social
group, you meet certain “characteristics” for example in clothing. Music also falls
into these certain characteristic, as often people assume that they know the
music taste of another person based on the social group that they belong to.
However, this isn’t always the case, as people are complex, and often have a
wider music taste. I think that my magazine challenges the idea that you have to
fit into a certain social group by including articles about a wide range of genres.
However, the characters in my images do fit into their social group, which is
shown through their costume. For example, the artist on my pop album cover is
wearing floral clothes, fitting into the style of the social group associated with
pop music. While I wanted to include all genres to challenge the idea of social
groups, and allow people to explore all of their interests, I also wanted to include
the social groups in order to interest those who do feel that they’re a part of one.
The use of mise-en-scene in my photography places the characters within their
social groups, and shows the kind of artist that they are instantly.
Rock artist –
wearing mostly
black
Indie artist – looks smart
and on trend while still
having an individual style
Pop artist –
bright
colours, floral
print
Alternative rock
artists – mostly
black and casual
style