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Music magazines presentation task
- 1. Music Magazines Presentation Task Beth Horan
- 3. The core targetaudience The target audience for TOP OF THE POPS Magazine is females aged 10-16. The use of pinks and purples on the front cover are stereotypical of the female gender. Also, the use of Britney Spears as the cover image appeals to her young fans who aspire to be like her.
- 4. Lifestyle profile/interests of the core target audience The target audience enjoy listening to the pop genre of music. The target audience like to know all the gossip from their favourite artists. The price of this magazine is £1.80 and it’s a monthly issue, so therefore the target audience are probably using their saved up pocket money to buy this magazine.
- 5. Music magazine genrecodes and conventions • TOP OF THE POPS Magazine conveys the codes and conventions of the pop genre. Britney Spears is a clean cut, youthful, white and beautiful pop star who conveys to society’s view of ‘perfect’ and she appeals to her fans and will make them buy the magazine. • Also, Britney wears fashionable clothes in the cover image which relates to the target audience as they want to dress like her. The photograph is also heavily stylised to make Britney look beautiful. • A typical convention of the pop genre is that the music is happy. This is conveyed through Britney Spears’ soft and sweetly smiling facial expressions. • The pop genre is aimed at a younger audience so therefore it is more censored; the puff at the bottom says „ANOTHER BLEEP- ING EMINEM INTERVIEW‟, the use of the ‘bleep’ also shows how censored the industry is and also shows the magazine is targeted at children. • The institutional presence on this magazine is the BBC, parents of the children reading this magazine will see their logo and know that what their children is reading is safe and incorporates the BBC core values which are impartiality, trustworthy and truth. The pop genre is also stereotypically known as ‘safe’.
- 6. The house style Themain colours from the house style are pinks and purples, these colours are stereotypical of the female target audience. In all of the TOP OF THE POPS Magazines, the layout is the same. So, the in-house style is continued throughout. They all have a similar style of font and the same stylised main image but a different pop star for each issue. The text is always on the left which makes it quick and easy for the audience who are picking their magazine.
- 8. The mise-en-scene • Boththe TOP OF THE POPS Magazine and KERRANG! share a plain background on their cover image behind the subjects. This could be so that the audience focus predominantly on the person of interest on the cover of the magazine. Also, both Britney Spears and ACDC have a direct gaze; this connects with the audience and makes it feel personal. • Britney Spears is wearing a purple top which appeals to the feminine audience because of the colour. It is also stylish so it conveys to the pop genre of clothing. Her facial expression is neither sexy nor happy, it’s in between. Yet her sexual pose and asymmetric dress emphasise her sexuality. • On the KERRANG! cover, Angus Young from AD/DC wears a shirt and tie which usually symbolises smart and sophisticated but he doesn’t so he is rebelling and subverting the use of the tie. It also looks like he is wearing school uniform which could show that they are childish. This could also be a pun on old school rock.
- 9. Layout and styleof language • The layout in KERRANG! and TOP OF THE POPS Magazine are both clear and simply laid out. This could be because the target audience for the TOP OF THE POPS Magazine is for younger girls so they need to be able to read the cover of the magazine clearly. For KERRANG!, the target audience is males and they stereotypically like things clear and to the point - this cover shows this. • The language on the cover of KERRANG! is also simplistic which appeals to the male target audience. Whereas on the TOP OF THE POPS Magazine cover, some larger words have been used which shows that it’s for older teenage girls. It also has questions as puffs which intrigues the audience. • Both the magazines use buzz words such as „PLUS!‟ which excite and attract the audience as they feel that all of the „exclusives‟ are just for them which could make them more incline to buy it. • The style of language on the different magazine covers are relatable to the magazines’ target audience. For example, on the TOP OF THE POPS Magazine cover, it has a phrase “It‟s a whopper!”, the target audience will be familiar with this phrase.
- 10. Music genre conventions •A stereotypical convention of the pop genre is that it is happy and fun; the TOP OF THE POPS Magazine cover imitates this as it is bright and the person of interest has soft and inviting facial expressions. This contrasts with the KERRANG! cover which uses dark colours as rock music is usually associated with being quite hard and I think that the use of the metallic colours show this. • The rock genre of music is well-known for being amazing live. KERRANG! magazine feature many articles on their front cover to do with tours and concerts, this conforms to the stereotype and is therefore a convention of the rock genre.
- 11. Music artists featured •The use of Britney Spears on the front cover of the TOP OF THE POPS Magazine appeals to the target audience of young females aged about 10-16. This audience would probably aspire to be as talented and successful as their idol Britney Spears and they may even imitate things that she does as they want to be just like her. They would buy the magazine because she’s on the front cover and they want to find out about what is the latest thing that’s happening in her life. • The use of AC/DC on the front cover of KERRANG! attracts their target audience of males aged 25-50. They appeal to this audience because they are fans of their music and they could be idolised as they were a huge influence on the rock genre of music so many people have great respect for them. AC/DC could also bring back old memories to their audience and take them back to when they were younger.
- 12. Special features andarticles • Both magazines give away freebees to their reader. The TOP OF THE POPS Magazine gives away badges and a poster of another desirable pop star. The KERRANG! magazine has posters of iconic and popular bands inside. This attracts readers to the magazine as the freebees are something that have been specially selected to appeal to the target audience. • The articles in the TOP OF THE POPS Magazine appeal to the target audience as they are about famous pop stars and gossip which is exactly what females stereotypically enjoy reading about. • The articles in the KERRANG! magazine are about artists of interest to the target audience as they want to find out what their favourite bands are doing. Also there are quite a lot of articles on tours; this is because stereotypical rock fans enjoy going to see their favourite artists play live.
- 13. Mode of address •These two magazines use different modes of addresses. The TOP OF THE POPS Magazine uses direct address by using words such as “YOUR” which involves the audience and makes them feel like it has been personally written to them. • KERRANG! doesn’t use direct address, instead it in quite informative and gets straight to the point and tells the reader which artists are featured in the magazine – this will also entice the audience to read it.
- 14. Techniques used tomake you read the complete magazine • By placing puffs of articles that appeal to the target audience’s interests and lifestyle inside the magazine, it teases the audience and makes them want to read what’s inside. • On the TOP OF THE POPS Magazine cover, it has questions which interest and intrigue the audience, so therefore they’ll want to find the answers inside the magazine. • Also, by using a house style throughout the magazine, it is recognisable for the audience and makes them feel comfortable and they are able to enjoy their magazine.