1. Magazine research
For my A2 preliminary task we have to create a music magazine cover. I have decided to
create a ‘pop’ magazine as that is the genre I am most familiar with so I feel that I would
most suited to creating a magazine of this genre compared to ones I am less comfortable
with. I hope to be able to create a cover that would attract an older female target audience
than ‘pop’ magazines usually would such as the age range of 14-21 years old in comparison
to the usual audience of 8-14. To do this I am going to avoid a busy cover and go to a more
elegant and arty theme such as the cover from Clash. The covers of clash include a bold and
clear masthead with the main artist looking dominantly into the camera using a direct mode
of address. The shot included portrays each artist individually and represents them
accurately with elegance and style. They also have one main cover line which is in bold on
the page to draw the reader’s attention to it and there are also a few mover cover lines on
the right hand side of the page. However there is only ever one main image and minimal
colours to create a clear minimalistic house style which makes the magazine look clean cut
and sophisticated. I hope to avoid a conventional ‘pop’ magazine style such as ‘we love pop’
as it appears too busy making it attract a younger target audience. I will avoid this by
sticking to a clear and concise style by having one well photographed image, minimal writing
and cover lines, just a few different colours and no advertising on the front cover.
My magazine would focus on the artists life and works without including cheap gossip and
paparazzi pictures. Instead I will include important stories and exclusive interviews and
reviews of the latest music which will intrigue the target audience as they will want a
platform they can trust thus creating a loyal fan base.
I believe there is an opening in the market for this type of magazine as there is not much
variety for a chart music lover who is in their late teens and who wants to avoid the
overrated boy band hype and predictable gossip