1. By Abbie
Woodnutt
IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR
MEDIA PRODUCT USE,
DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE
FORMS AND CONVENTIONS
OF REAL MEDIA
PRODUCTS?

2.  I made sure that in most ways my magazine uses typical forms
and conventions of real pop music magazines, although in other
ways slightly challenges the conventions, to try and appeal to a
slightly older audience, rather than a typical very young target
audience.
 The areas which I did not comply to normal pop music magazine
conventions, were due to me wanting to appeal to a slightly
different target audience, to make my magazine unique and
slightly different to most on the market.
 On the whole throughout my magazine, I have used typical ‘pop
magazine’ conventions, although have focussed my content on
music rather than gossip (which is what I have found most pop
“music” magazines do, based on my research). Fitting this, I have
targeted my magazine at a slightly older audience, interested in
pop music, rather than gossip.

3.  I have featured a young, female celebrity as the
front cover, which is something many pop music
magazines, such as ‘WE <3 POP’ do to appeal to
their target audience of young females.
 Another convention that I have complied to is
featuring pop artists on my front cover, such as
One Direction and ‘Rozie Davis’; a new pop artist
in the music industry, which magazines often do
to promote new artists and current artists.
 I have included ‘5 Free Posters’ as a plug (on a
puff) which is a common convention of a music
magazine, to draw the audience in and persuade
them to buy the magazine to get a free ‘gift’.
HOW DOES MY FRONT COVER USE FORMS
AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MUSIC
MAGAZINES?

4.  In my double page spread, I used a quote as the heading, taken from the
article. I have found that many music magazines do this technique to
attract the audience about something interesting within the article.
 I also used a pull-quote, which , similarly to the heading, adds interest to
get the audience to continue reading the article. This is a very common
theme among music magazines, such as ‘TOTP’ Magazine.
 I have also included one main picture, that takes up the majority of the
right page, of the interviewed celebrity/music artist, who is featured on the
cover. Although, she is wearing different clothing/hair style, which is a
common convention of music magazines.
HOW DOES MY DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD
USE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL
MUSIC MAGAZINES?
 I have also differentiated the questions
from the answers, which is a common
convention of a magazine interview article,
e.g. I have used bright green for the
questions and dark grey for the answers to
make a clear difference between questions
and answers, similarly to ‘TOTP’, using
bright pink and grey.

5.  On my contents page, I have made clear sections for
sectioning the pages within the magazine. I noticed this as a
common technique whilst looking at other magazines, as it
gives the audience clear guidance for navigating through a
magazine.
 I have also included a picture of another popular artist,
similarly to ‘TOTP’ magazine, in the corner of the contents
page; an artist that the target audience will be interested in.
HOW DOES MY CONTENTS PAGE USE
FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL
MUSIC MAGAZINES?
 I have included the heading ‘What’s Inside…
Louder’, which is a convention I noticed in
magazines, e.g. ‘TOTP’s ‘Inside the mag’ heading.
Other magazines use this, although with slightly
different wording, which I’ve found to be more
interesting than titling with ‘Contents’.

6.  My chosen photo challenges conventions of a typical pop
music front cover, as does not include overly heavy ‘pop’
makeup, or an extravagant pose. I have chosen a more subtle
image, to appeal to my slightly older/more mature target
audience, unlike most pop music magazines.
 Instead of using headlines on my front cover that are gossip-
based, I have kept it exclusively music based, as this is what
my content will include, within the magazine.
HOW DOES FRONT COVER CHALLENGE
FORMS AND CONVENTIONS?
 Instead of using overly feminine, girly colours, I
have based my magazine front cover on a more
mature, although still feminine colour scheme. I
feel that this will appeal more to my specific
target audience, rather than the general ‘pop’
magazine target audience. E.g. I have used
burgandy/green colours, rather than bright
pinks and purples etc.

7.  My contents page challenges forms and
conventions of most pop music magazines, as
only includes content about/based around
music. Most magazines, e.g. ‘WE <3 POP’ use
general celebrity gossip within the different
headings and sections on their contents page,
as is what’s to be included within the
magazine.
HOW DOES MY DOUBLE PAGE
SPREAD/CONTENTS PAGE CHALLENGE
FORMS AND CONVENTIONS?
 My double page spread again, does not
include a particularly ‘posey’ image of my
celebrity, which most pop magazines do,
e.g. ‘TOTP’, as would not appeal to a more
mature target audience, and would not fit
in with the theme of my overall magazine.

8.  Overall, I feel that my music magazine complies to most
conventions of real pop music magazines, although I have
developed/altered some conventions, to fit with the
theme/target audience of my magazine.
 My overall target was to create a magazine targeted at
younger females, although in a more mature way, also
exclusively focussing on music, rather than general celebrity
gossip. I feel that I have achieved this well, throughout my
front cover, contents page and double page spread. I did this
within the layout/colourscheme/images used, aswell as the
article and actual content of the magazine.
CONCLUSION