2. The genre I have decided to base my magazine on is Hip-Hop and RnB, as I am
interested in these particular genres.
Hip-Hop is a music genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly
accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted. It
developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic
elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching, break dancing, and graffiti writing.
Contemporary R&B has a polished record production style, drum machine-
backed rhythms, an occasional saxophone-laced beat to give a jazz feel and a
smooth, lush style of vocal arrangement. Electronic influences are becoming an
increasing trend and the use of hip hop or dance-inspired beats are typical,
although the roughness and grit inherent in hip hop may be reduced and
smoothed out
3. The target audience for my magazine would be young people around
the ages 16-30, as I believe that this particular music genre has listeners
between these ages, and also those people are most likely to buy a
magazine. It will be a magazine that will appeal to both male and female
buyers and will sometimes appeal to man or a woman depending on
who is featured on the front cover of the magazine.
For example this Magazine
cover would appeal more to
women as it has a shirtless
image of Trey Songz
This Magazine cover
would appeal more
to men
4. A survey in July 2008 showed the current readership of XXL buyers
Male: 78%
Female:22%
As XXL will be one of my main competitors, I need to make sure my magazine betters most
of their stats. As XXL is mainly read by and appeals to males, I want to make my magazine
appeal to both men and women.
Statistics also showed that majority of people who read XXL range between the ages 26-
28.
I want to aim my magazine at people between the ages 16-25, I need to make sure the
content and style is suitable for these ages.
5. My magazine will include:
the latest news updates about certain Hip-Hop and RnB artists- As I believe this is one of the main reasons why
people buy music magazines
New and popular songs and albums- As the idea of a music magazine is to keep you updated on music
Latest pictures of artists-Pictures are a key element and are the reason why magazines sell
Photoshoot and Interview with some artists-Usually whenever an artist is featured on the front, they are the main focus in the
magazine with their pictures on every other page. Every time an artist is featured on the cover, they do an interview and even other artists
not featured on the front might have a small interview too
Promotions for bookings and tour dates-Sometimes DJs put their advertisements and contact details for bookings as it
being a music magazine, people who are genuinely interested in music are more likely book them and same for tour dates
Competitions-Every magazine has a competition within, and depending what kind of magazine it is, depended what the prize of
the competition is, for instance for a competition in my magazine I would have the prize as tickets to see Kid Ink live for instance.
Advertisement for Fashion related to Hip-Hop Culture e.g. Chains and snapbacks-Advertisements are a
way for a magazine company to get more money as they are paid to advertise certain brands and objects
6. Magazines always include news
and updates whether they are
music magazines or not.
In music magazines particularly,
they talk about the latest artists or
events in which artists have
attended.
Pictures are always used when it
comes to news and updates, in fact
pictures are used on every single
page of a magazine.
7. New albums are always
included in magazines too, the
whole purpose of buying a
magazine is to keep up to date
with new music and information
and that includes promoting
music itself.
The actual music tracks and
singles aren’t always promoted
in magazines, but they usually
have a few. You will always find
album promotions. For my
magazine, I’m going to make
sure I have both album and
song promotions
8. Magazines usually have the
latest pictures of celebrities
whether they are
photoshoots, paparazzi
pictures, selfies of
photographs. Some
magazines have a whole
double page spread full of
pictures of celebrities
throughout the week. Usually
categorised as ‘must see
pics of the week’.
Even though this is from a
website, the same thing
would apply to a magazine
9. Here is a video from a Photoshoot and interview with Chris Brown
10. Here is a video from a Photoshoot and interview with Tinashe
11. There are always promotions
in every magazine on nearly
every single page, for lots of
different things like, music,
artists, albums, shows, gigs
and tours.
There is usually always a page
with tour dates for a
particular artist, like the
picture on the left that shows
the tour dates for DJ Khaled,
and the one on the right
shows the dates for Nicki
Minaj. Magazines usually only
show the tour dates of one or
two artists maximum.
12. Every magazine also has
advertisements, Hip-Hop magazines
have adverts especially for clothes
and jewellery like the picture on the
left.
Depending on what kind of
magazine depends on what is
advertised, as this being a Hip-hop
magazine they are advertising thing
that Hip-Hop artists would wear like
on the pages to the left.
13. Most Hip Hop magazines have a colour theme of red as shown below;
14. For my magazine I am going to use two main theme colours, Brilliant red
and Royal blue.
Red is a powerful
accent colour, It is
very bright and can
catch people’s
attention
Blue is a strong
and reliable
colour, this
particular blue
gives off n
impression of
honesty and
loyalty
15. XXL Magazine- £3.95
Hip-Hop Weekly- £3.00
Vibe Magazine- £3.84
Because XXL and Vibe are so heavily packed with information and pictures and only come out
monthly they can charge more. Whereas Hip-Hop weekly comes out every week, it is bound to
have less information and the quality is definitely not on the same level as XXL and Vibe. Hence
they charge less for their magazine. However these magazines are aimed at people who work
hence the price.
My magazine price will be £2.99 as my target audience are of younger age, they need to be
able to afford it.
These are the prices of the other magazines within the genre
that I chose.
16. I have picked two different artists I would like to feature on my magazine,
because the genres I have chosen are Hip-Hop and RnB I need to make
sure I have artists, both male and female, that fall under both genres.
As well as having the popular and well known artists on the magazine I
also want to feature new and upcoming artists too, because even though
magazines with Beyonce or Jay-z sell quite well, a lot of magazines do this.
I want my magazine to be different.
My well known artist I have picked is Chris Brown, he does both Hip-Hop
and RnB music.
My new and up and coming artist I have picked is Tinashe, she does RnB
music.
17. TINASHE
Tinashe Jorgenson
Kachingwe, also
known as Tinashe, is
an American singer,
songwriter, multi-
instrumentalist,
dancer, actress and
former model. She
began her
entertainment career
at the age of 3 when
she began modelling
and acting.
18. Magazines can be distributed through the mail, through sales by newsstands, bookstores, or other vendors, or
through free distribution at selected pick-up locations. The subscription business models for distribution fall into three
main categories. The category I am going to use is Paid Circulation.
Paid circulation
In this model, the magazine is sold to readers for a price, either on a per-issue basis or by subscription, where an
annual fee or monthly price is paid and issues are sent by post to readers.
Non-paid circulation
This means that there is no cover price and issues are given away, for example in street dispensers, airline in-flight
magazines, or included with other products or publications. An example from the UK and Australia is TNT Magazine.
Controlled circulation
This is the model used by many trade magazines (industry-based periodicals) distributed only to qualifying readers,
often for free and determined by some form of survey. This latter model was widely used before the rise of the World
Wide Web and is still employed by some titles. For example, in the United Kingdom, a number of computer-industry
magazines use this model, including Computer Weekly and Computing, and in finance, Waters Magazine. For the
global media industry, an example would be VideoAge International.
