A small piece of research I have done towards my AS Media Studies, the information is not my own, as I have said it's research, so the facts are sourced from the internet.

1. As part of my research of music
magazines I looked into the rough
history of 3 music magazines that
aren‟t as mainstream as brands such
as Q, NME and Kerrang. I researched
titles that weren‟t as big because I
want my magazine to suit a niche
audience and not everybody‟s attitude
to music.

2. I looked at 3 different music
magazine titles and the
connotations that they held and
their typical target audiences

3. Blender Magazine
•This American music magazine started in
1994.
•It had the first form of digital advertising.
•It was the first ever digital CD-ROM
magazine that published a print edition in
1999. - 10 years later owners Alpha Media
group closed the magazine.
It featured a lot of female cover stars which has the link to the magazine title, as
blenders are a kitchen object, and traditional stereotypes link females to the
kitchen and more household roles. The idea of households could be expanded by
saying that household names would be played whilst these women were at
home so it could be argued to be done for that reason.

4. Billboard Magazine
•Billboard is owned by Prometheus Global Media, “a diversified company
with leading assets in the media and entertainment arenas”, including:
Music, Entertainment (The Hollywood Reporter, Backstage, ShowEast,
Cineasia, and CineEurope); and Advertising & Marketing.
•With the development of the jukebox industry during the 1930s, The
Billboard began publishing music charts. Originally, there were only three
genre-specific charts: Pop, Rhythm & Blues, and Country & Western. In the
1950s it introduced a section covering the television industry, including
ratings charts for programs. It continued to carry news of fairs, carnivals,
theme parks and other outdoor entertainments until 1961 when these
departments were spun off into a new weekly magazine called Amusement
Business.
•Started publishing music charts in 1936 in three music genres: Pop,
Rhythm and Blues and Country and Western.
•Publishes more than 100 charts in such genres as classical, country, Latin,
folk, jazz and gospel.
•Its website has 2.5 million unique visitors monthly.
•Chart positions are calculated based on both sales figures and airplay
•Headquartered in New York
•Owned by e5 Global Media
The word „billboard‟ means “a large outdoor board for displaying advertisements”
this connotates to displaying and advertising large artists that are new in today‟s
music industry. This connotation comes from the size of the adverts meaning the
stars have to be big as well.

5. Spin Magazine
•It's first issue was in May 1985
•"Putting black artists and women artists on the cover was considered a
risk–potentially damaging newsstand sales. Moreover, the magazine
devoted itself to a long term set of investigative pieces on the AIDS crisis
at a time when even gay publications were concerned about losing
advertisers by doing coverage of the disease. On a cultural level, the
magazine devoted significant coverage to hardcore punk, alternative
country, reggae and world music, experimental rock, jazz of the most
adventurous sort, the burgeoning college rock and underground
music scenes of the 1980s, and a variety of fringe styles. Artists such as
the Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie, X, Black Flag, and the former
members of the Sex Pistols, The Clash, and the early punk/New
Wave movement were cultural heritage pioneers in Spin's editorial mix,
and were reviewed, featured, and mentioned constantly at a time
when Rolling Stone and other publications scarcely acknowledged their
existence." - quoted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_(magazine)
•In July 2012 it was sold to Buzzmedia, where a few months later it's
last print issue was released in Septmeber/October
The word 'SPIN' has connotations of a record player or DJ's who spin
tracks, this could link to the fact that the magazine it started in the 80's
and is quite old. It has the feel of the era within the title as well as still
feeling current as it is features a lot in lyrics for chart music today.

6. For my music magazine, I have been thinking
about how my name would relate to the
indie/acoustic genre. I want something that is
catchy, easy to remember but also fits the
association with that genre of music. I didn't
want it to sound like the genre with an
onomatopoeia for my title, but instead have
something that has meaning and connotations
that have a message as that is what connects
the indie/acoustic genre to the singer/songwriter
and the fans.