2. Codes and Conventions
Front Cover
Masthead
Full Bleed Image
Plug
Sell Lines
Barcode
Price
Contents Page
Title
Images (Large or a few smaller ones)
Features
Categories (Puzzles, On the
cover, competitions, reviews)
Page numbers
Issue number
Magazine Cover
Review
Editors Comment
Double Page Spread
Title
Main image
Name of Artist
Article
Page Number
Pull Quote
Logo of magazine
3. Demographics
Audience
Most people who read music magazine are usually passionate about their music. People who read music magazines
use the magazines to retrieve information about their favourite or upcoming artists, through magazines they can
find out artists new singles/albums, reviews on them, gigs/concert dates, gossip about the artist, who the artist will
be collaborating with in future, and much more. Audiences prefer to retrieve this information in a magazine because
them all this information in one instead of searching it up on the internet. This uses The Uses and Gratifications
Theory by letting the audience find out about relevant events in immediate surroundings, society and the world. It is
also a way of self education, the audience will be teaching themselves about life events.
Music magazines allows the audience to identify and accept their niche, so in future the audience knows what type of
music magazine they wish to buy, and once a magazine gets its dedicated readers every time it is released then the
writers will soon know who to aim the magazine in particular instead of having an indirect and broad target audience.
This uses The Uses and Gratifications Theory by letting the audience identify their personal identity by finding
reinforcement for their personal values and gaining insight to their self.
Magazine's also offer the audience freebees when they buy the magazine, for example, posters perhaps even a
cd, this encourages the audience to buy these magazine because they know that when they buy the magazine they
are not only going to retrieve the information they need but will also get something free that they can use and will
particularly be interested in because the freebees will be related to the genre of the magazine, so if the audience
buys that magazine regularly they will like the genre of it. This uses The Uses and Gratifications Theory by giving
the audience something to look forward to when buying the magazine, and they could just simply by the magazine for
entertainment, giving themselves a little bit of time to escape from their problems and look at what is happening in
the music world, possibly helping them to relax after a long day at work/school.
Music magazines can help people develop relationships, most music magazine are recent upcoming artists, for
example, ‘Vibe’ is a Rap/RnB magazine, the artists and music in that magazine is all new and upcoming, therefore
their target audience would most likely be quite young, because older people tend to stick to the music and artists
they know whereas young people like to listen to something new. This helps young people interact with their
friends, in person, at school, at work or on social networking, people can develop good friendships/relationships just
because of the music they listen to. This uses The Uses and Gratifications Theory by letting the audience have
integration and social interaction, this gives the audience a sense of belonging just because they can realise that
they have found somebody else that enjoys the same thing as them which makes them feel comfortable.
Demography is the study of large groups of people and includes statistical information such
as age, gender, location, earnings etc. Most music magazines would typically aim their
magazines at the social class A,B,C1 which is people who earn an average amount a year and
more, from Doctors and Barristers to Office Workers and Students. However one particular
example of a music magazine that doesn’t always apply to this is Rap/RnB magazines.
Rap/RnB artists are usually black men/women that have come from ‘the streets’ and
changed their life around and become rich and famous but will always feel like they are from
‘the streets’, this could influence people in the social class C2 to also buy the magazine
because they could look at these artists as role models and want to be like them, if they have
a bad background in life and want to change it then they might want to buy the magazine to
find out more about the particular artists.
Psychographics
‘Psychographic’ information refers to the type of people your audience are, their lifestyle and their
values – what they think is in important in life.
There are 5 categories in
Psychographics, Mainstreamers/Conformists, Aspirers, Succeeders, Reformers and
Individualists.
Most music magazines target audiences are Mainstreamers/Conformists, Aspirers and Succeeders.
Another example of a music magazine is Rap/RnB, these magazine will target the magazine towards the
category Aspirers. Aspirers consider personal status important and aspire to a certain lifestyle, they
will be particularly interested in their fashion and image. This is particularly for audiences that are
interested in Rap/RnB because the artists care about their money, clothes and status.
4. Audience
Online vs Print
Online and Print based music magazine can have an effect on the target audience.
If the target audience is quite young the magazine will tend to have an online based magazine, or a print based plus an online
magazine. This is because most young people will only get pocket money or are still in education so might not earn a lot of
money, therefore will either want a low priced magazine to buy each week or go online and retrieve the information they want
to get from the online magazine. This is an advantage to music magazines because they can still have an average/high price
for the people who can afford it who are usually older, but can still appeal to the younger target audience by having an online
magazine.
An online magazine is an advantage to the audience because its free and easy to access wherever you are because of the
technology nowadays. Another advantage to the audience is that the news will be updated regularly so the audience wont have
to wait for the release date of the magazine to find out the news they have probably already heard about somewhere else.
5. Representation
Rap/Rnb
In this genre the artists in the magazine are portrayed in a similar way throughout all magazines.
On the front cover you will always see a large image of an artist, usually covering the masthead of the magazine.
If the artist on the cover is male he will usually be wearing a suit and looking very presentable, if not then he will typically be wearing a vest top/t shirt
and lots of bling. The reason for the artists wearing these clothes on the cover is to highlight to the audience that ‘they have made it’, rap/rnb
artists like to show off they’ve got a lot of money. The audience that is passionate with this genre of music could walk past a magazine stall and see
an upcoming male artist on the cover of a magazine wearing these clothes and be interested straight away because they know it is from the genre
that they love. Another typical habit that magazine tend to have on the covers with male rap/rnb artists is that the artist will always be looking
direct at the camera and hardly ever be smiling. The artists will always look very serious and mostly always in a close up shot but not to close so
that the audience can still see the clothes that are being highlighted, this is because they want to look powerful. Most Rap/Rnb artists are
interested in cars, money, guns, when people usually think of someone like that they will think of a ‘gangster’, someone not to be messed with, and
this is portrayed in most rap/rnb magazines. This reflects to the social class A,B,C1 because most of these people have an average earning, so will
also be interested in having a nice car and money.
If the artist on the cover is female, it will usually be a mid shot, in order to get her body into the image. The woman will be revealing a lot of skin in
order to highlight her sex appeal, this will usually attract the male audience because they will find the artist attractive. The woman on the cover will
be wearing normally black, silver or gold, these aren’t bright colours because the magazine will want all the attention on the artist not on her
clothes. The woman will either be looking seriously or smiling at it, either way the woman will be looking direct into the camera in order to try and
connect with the audience. This uses the Uses and Gratifications Theory by giving the audience entertainment because they might find her
attractive.
6. Institution
How do magazine publishers make money?
Audience – Selling the magazine to the audience for the price they have chosen.
Advertising – Featuring adverts from other companies in their magazines.
How are they attempting to retain audiences?
Attractive, bold front covers.
Well known celebrities/artists on the front cover that appeal to the audience because it could be their favourite artist.
Continuous house style and layout throughout magazine and issues to make audience comfortable because they will usually know
where everything is each week.
Freebees – including freebees for example, posters/cd’s.
Exclusive Offers – itunes voucher, discounts for festival/concert tickets, gig information.
Uses and Gratifications Theory, lets the audience find their personal identity, entertains the audience etc.
Social networking.
Price drops.
Regular features.
7. Institution
What business models are used to ensure sustained audiences?
Advertisement on TV, TV Channels, Radio, Social Networking. All of these business models are used in different ways to ensure
sustained audiences, all of these models are used in everyday lives without people even realising. For example, watching TV
before/after work, listening to the radio in the car on the way to work, checking your facebook and seeing the magazine on your
feed. The business models can be used to advertise the magazine in full for example stating all the key features, why you should buy
it etc. However, some magazine can use their advertisement as subliminal messages, for example, if someone is watching TV and an
advert of Kerrang was showing instead of giving a lot of information it could just have a quick flash of the Kerrang masthead for not
longer than even 3 seconds, this image will be stuck in the audiences head without them even acknowledging it, causing them to
think about it later in the day and possible wanting to buy their weekly copy.
What are some of magazines wider assets?
TV Channels
Adverts on TV
Radio
Social Networking
Annual Festivals/Concerts
Award Ceremonies
Stages at festivals
Posters on bus shelters/buses etc. (public places)
8. Institution – Example, Bauer Media
Bauer Media magazines includes – Empire, Q, Mojo, Kerrang!
MOJO
The Mojo Reader –
