The document discusses conventions of pop music magazines. It notes that pop magazines typically use vibrant colors, include many images to attract younger audiences, and feature artists looking confidently at the camera. The document also discusses conventions for the front cover, including using colorful backgrounds and mastheads, prominent cover lines, and a main image of an artist. For double page spreads, conventions include a heading linking to the cover, an introduction, the magazine masthead, and pull quotes connecting to the article.

1. IN WHAT WAYS DOES
YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT
USE, DEVELOP OR
CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL
MEDIA PRODUCT
Thomas Ngai

2. What are the pop conventions
 As I am going to produce a magazine with the genre of pop, there
are certain conventions that I will need to either meet or challenge it.
 Artists should gives put personal identity and positive ideologies to the audiences,
this is because pop is a mainstream genre and most of the mainstreamers are young
people which most of them are still going to school and studying, so that the positive
ideologies can be influence the audiences as an inspiration to the young people. On
my magazine the artists are showing the positive side to the audiences as my
magazine is aiming at 18-24 years old teenagers, therefore my magazine should
gives out positive ideologies to my target audiences
 Artists will always looking for new style or new ideas to get the attention from the
audiences, as pop is a very huge mass market which have many other artists who
are competitive with each others, therefore artists can keep having their own fanbase
as well as attracting more fanboys. On my front cover one of the artist Josh
Macqueeen has wore some ‘special clothing’ which made him more stand out. As
Josh is portrayed as a rising pop star, it can helps him to get attention from the
audiences
 Male and female artists are portrayed stereotypically masculine and feminine.
However some of the them will challenge the stereotype (E.g. Lady Gaga). Alina is
portrayed as a empowered female artist, which can apply to David Gaunlett’s theory

3. What are the pop conventions
(Cont.)
 Mostly there will be elements such as love, relationship and friendship within
the pop music. This is due to the market of pop as pop music are mostly
targeting to young audiences, which they are always hang out with friends and
looking for a partner(Hegemonic)
 Most of the pop songs will last around 3-5 minutes, which there will be
consistent beats and structure. This could appeal to the target audience
because the lyrics might link to relationship and friendship, also the chorus will
be repeated, so that the song will be easy to remember for the audience.
 Within a pop music video, there are always vibrant colourful background or
clothing, and it connotes young power and energy. Moreover it can appeal and
attract more audiences as young people are unsophisticated and easy to be
distracted.
 New artists will always make themselves more stand out, this is because they
want to attract audience and become famous. However most of the
experienced singer, they are more likely to wear normal clothing (E.g. coloured
but without any pattern, which is slightly mainstream) as they are already
famous, which connotes the authority of the artists. On the main focal image,
Alina doesn’t need to wear ‘outstanding’ clothing as she is already an
experience artist.

4. What are the pop conventions
(Cont.)
 New music are usually published on radio, magazine or television
programme (Eg. Capital FM, Billboard magazine and MTV channel
on SKY TV), so that audiences can listen to the new music in
different media platform as they are digital natives.
 In the world of pop, companies and the artists will always follow the
trend of what people like the most, this is because they are
mainstreamer and they are not willing to try any new style as they
are still passive audiences. However as I mention before some of
the artists will break through the convention to try something new
and make themselves famous.
 The messages of the songs will be conveyed within the music video
through the lyrics, the setting and the actors.

5. Conventions of form (Front
Cover)
 Background
 There are always colourful background within a pop music magazine, this is
because the vibrant colour connotes young power and energy, as pop is a
mainstreamer genre and always targeting at young people. Moreover the
colourful background can attract the attention of the audiences as young
people are slightly unsophisticated. However, some of the background is
due to the style of artist, for example Taylor Swift had a white background on
the Billboard magazine because it connotes simple and young. On my
production I have met the convention as I have used blue background which
can get attention from the audiences and the colour connotes empowered
and mature, which is suitable for Alina as she is a experience artist.
Cover lines
 Cover lines are used for telling the audiences a particular events or
information on the front page, some of the cover lines will have different
colours as the background which can appeal and attract to the audiences.
Also cover lines might be shown in different size due to the importance of
the content so that there will be more space for larger size of cover lines
which might be the USP of the magazine. On my production I have met the
conventions as I have made three cover lines on the font page which talking
about different stories, and each of them have the same colour but different
sizes, so that the audience can know more about the stories in the magazine.
The coverlines re effective on my magazine as I have used different size due
to the importance of the magazine and it is helpful to gain audience’s
attention. Also the colour can attract them as well as letting them to be
interested about the stories

6. Conventions of form (Front
Cover)
 Main Focal image and headline
 On each magazine there must be a main focal image which contain the main
subject (or USP) of the magazine. For pop magazine, there are must be an
image of a artist or a band, so that the audience will know who the magazine
featuring. The artist on the image should be relevant to the genre and target
audiences and there should also have a big headline which is supporting the
image. The article should look direct address to the audience, which connotes
confident on their career. On the front page of my magazine I have used a
medium shot of Alina Tebbutt as the main focal image as I am talked about her
on my double page spread. I have also added a big headline near the bottom of
the page which has written ‘Alina Tebbutt, The road to success’, so that my
audience will know my magazine is talking about Alina. Moreover the image gives
out the connotation of strong woman and successful role model
Other images
 There are also variety of images on the front page apart from the main focal
image. They are all placed in different places on the page, the small images can
tell the audience what inside the magazine and what other stories are talking
about within the magazine. The images are usually relevant to the cover lines
which due to their importance of the story and the images are usually direct
address to the audiences. I have made 3 cover lines which placed separately on
the front cover and these images are all relevant to the cover lines, also these
images have given out connotation of positive confident artists, so that the
audience might interest on how they become success.
`

7. Conventions of form (Front
Cover)
 Masthead
 The masthead is used for letting audiences to recognise the brand of the magazine,
it usually places at the top of the page. I have placed my masthead ‘POPCORN’ at
the top of the page, just below the skyline, so that my audience can know about my
magazine. I think the name of the magazine has fit into the pop music convention,
as it shows that it is is a pop magazine and ‘popcorn’ gives out connotation of joyful
and happiness.
 The masthead should always the same every time when the magazine is published,
as letting audience to remember and recognise the brand is very important to a new
magazine brand, so that the same logo can help audience to appeal to their mind.
On the other hand some of the famous magazine brand such as Billboard or Top of
the pops might add slightly different colours on their masthead so that it can get
audiences attention as they are already a well known brand, therefore audiences
should be remembered the brand even though they changed the colour. As my
magazine is a new launched magazine brand, so that it is important that I don’t
always changes the shape and the font type of the masthead.

8. Conventions of form (Front
Cover)
 It should be more stand out and against the background of the front page,
so that it can appeal to their target audiences and it needs to be eyes
catching. Some of the pop magazine which aiming at young audience will
have a more stand out masthead (e.g. big size pink masthead with white
background). This is because colourful masthead can attract the audience
as well as getting their attention. Moreover they should be all in bold, so
that it can make it looks more ‘strong’. For my masthead I have used
another slightly ‘immature handwriting’ font type instead of house style font
type and make it in large size, also as the background of my magazine is
blue and I have painted the hole of the ‘o’s in green and light blue, so that it
may gives out entertainment to the audience as it is painted in colour.

9. Conventions of form (Front
Cover)
 Text
 The text on the page are representing the genre of the magazine. The font type
and the colour are usually indicate the type or the importance of the stories. For
example using stand out font type with stand out colours is usually representing
big news or important information, as it can get audiences attention. On the other
hand some of the magazine which aiming at elder audiences will have more text
on the front page and usually they are all in the same colour, this is due to the
target audience of the magazine, as unsophisticated audiences will always be
distracted by those colourful text or special font type and sophisticated active
audience will care more the style of the magazine rather than the colour and the
font type, as they are more sophisticated. As my magazine is aiming at 18-24
audiences, so that I have used 4 cover lines with 3 of them are in the same
colour and font type, this is because the audience are sophisticated than the
secondary mass audience of 12-16 and they don’t need colourful text to get
attention.

10. Conventions of content page
 There are usually few images on the page, so that the audience can know more
about the stories/ information within the magazine, this is especially for young fox
thinker audience as they are slight unsophisticated and they will prefer more image
than text, therefore magazine such as Top Of The Pops and We Love Pop will have
a lot of images on their content page. I have challenged the convention as I have
only used 3 images on the page, as I am aiming at 18-24 audience who are slightly
sophisticated and older than the secondary audience. However as the genre of pop
is more mainstreamer therefore it makes the audience ‘less sophisticated’.
 The name of the magazine should be mention again or the masthead should be
appear on the page again, this can let the audience to remember the name/the
brand. I have put the masthead on the top left of the page again, as I want audience
to remember my brand.
 There are normally introduction for the stories as it can let the audiences know what
inside the magazine. I have put a introduction for all the stories on the page,
although I didn’t list all the page out as there are not enough space, but I have tried
to let the audience know more my POPCORN magazine.
 Page number should be stand out and clear, so that the audience can find the page
easily. I have painted the page number in red and the normal text in black, so that
audiences can find out the pages.

11. Conventions of content page
 Apart from the introduction and the page number of the content,
there might be also some other information such as online version
and events that will be shown on the content page. On my
production I have written some additional information which is about
the social media page of the magazine and some coming music
events. However I didn’t really meet the convention of the content
page on the coming events part, this is because it normally shows
inside the page of the magazine and not the content. The reason I
put the part in the content page is because I feel it is very important
to remind the audience those events, as a music lover it is always
the best to go and watch a particular concert with family and friends,
so that every time when the audience look at the content page and
it can make sure they don’t miss any of the events.

12. Convention of double page
spread
 Text
 There should be an article which is relevant to the artist of the main focal image
on the front page. However the size of the article will depends on the type of the
target audience as sophisticated audience are more likely to read more text than
unsophisticated audience, as young foxthinker might think it is boring to read. My
magazine is aiming at teenagers who are just graduated from the university or
just finished study, therefore they are might be slightly unsophisticated than the
elder 30+ audience and I have only a short article for them so that they won't find
it very boring. However there aren’t that many images as my target audience are
more sophisticated than the typical younger mass audience.
Heading
Usually the heading will be relevant to the headline on the front page. On my
double page spread the title of the page is ‘Work hard and Play hard’, which is
linked to the splash on the front cover which saying ‘The road to success’. The
heading is effective as it go straight and tell the audience what is it about, also it
gives out personal identity to the audience as the target audience are working
hard and try to be successful and earn more money.

13. Convention of double page
spread
 Introduction
 There should be an introduction of the article, so that audiences can know what
is the article talking about. I have added few sentences in the introduction box
(That red right angle triangle box) so that apart from the title the audience can
know more about the article.
Masthead
 The masthead of the magazine should appear again on the page, this is because
the audience can remember the logo/the brand. I have added the masthead of
‘POPCORN’ on both page, because I want more people to remember and
recognise my brand as ‘POPCORN’ is a new brand, therefore it is important to let
the audience to remember.
Background
 The background of the page should be the same as the front page, as it
represents the Continuity of the magazine. For my magazine I broke the
convention as I have used blue background on the front page and white on the
double page spread, this is because I think white background can the audiences
to read the article as it is more comfortable to read.
Page number
 Page number must be used as it helps the audience to find the right page that
they want to read. I have put the page number on the content page and the
double page spread, and I have also used the same font type as the masthead

14. Convention of double page
spread
 Pull Quotes
 Pull quotes is used for link the quote of the interviewer to the article, so that the
audience can know what this paragraph/sentences are talking about, also it can
attract their attention as pull quotes are usually paints in different colour and in
different sizes. I have made 3 pull quotes in total across the pages, these pull
quotes may help me to get attention from the audiences as well as linking to the
paragraphs. Moreover I have used the third pull quotes on the second page is
used for create personal identity and social interaction to the audience as it is a
motivation to the audiences to tell them to be strong.
Website
 The website is used for telling the audience about the online version of the
magazine. I have made a a line which saying ‘Check out more on
www.POPCORN.CO.UK’ , as my target audience are young and teenage, most
of them have their converged devices so that they can assess to other media
platform very easily as they are digital natives. Therefore the audience can check
more on the Internet to know more about Alina’s story.

15. Images
 The artists must be relevant to the headlines or the cover lines on the front cover as the
images are used for attracting the audience’s attention. The artists should be looking at
the camera which addresses the audience directly address as it connotes positive and
confident, which will be very suitable to my target audience as my target audience are
still young and they will need a positive ‘icon’ to motivate and inspire them. Moreover
choosing the right model is also very important for the magazine, this is because the
artists are representing the genre of pop, they can’t look like they have been randomly
chosen and also make sure the artists will not bring any negative message which might
effect my audiences.
 In my magazine I only picked 3 artists who are Alina, Josh and Kristy, they are all
represented as a positive artists and the role model as they look confident in the image ,
so that it creates personal identity to the audiences as they can learn from them
through the artist’s experiences and also the clothing and the age is similar to my target
audience. Therefore the audiences can be inspire and motivate by the artists so that
they can set their target and try to do what they want to do. I didn’t challenge the
convention because I think that my target audience will need to be more confident to
face the challenge that they might deal with as they are just graduated and just began
to work.

16. Theory that I have been used
 David Gaunlettt’s empowered female theory
 I have used David Gaunlett’s theory on the images of Alina and Kristy as they are
portrayed that they worked hard and become success, which challenged the
traditional stereotype of women are weak. However this is because my magazine
is aiming at primary audience of 18-24 and secondary audience of 12-16, so that
I don’t want to sexualise any of the artists as some of the audiences are still in
the young age. Also because of the target audience are still young and
unsophisticated, the magazine should gives out more positive ideologies more
than negative, therefore I didn’t use any of the Mulvey’s (Women in male gaze)
and Winship’s (Nation of Complicity) theories as they are passive audience and
they are easy to be influence . Moreover this theory mention about controlling in
their gender as I have made Alina and Kristy to become an experiences
successful singer, so that the audiences (especially female audiences) can be
inspire by these artists and achieve their dream/the things that want to do.

17. Dyer-star theory
 The theory is about the stars are constructed and artificial image, stars are
constructed by the media to serve a particular purpose. On the main focal image of
my magazine, Alina and Kristy are described as a successful artist who worked very
hard everyday and became famous, the medium shot of Alina and Kristy connotes
how confident they are, the target audience will be interested in their road to become
success as most of them are just finished studies and they are looking for jobs to
start earning money. These will gives out personal identity to the audience as they
will think about ‘Work hard and achieve more’, as Alina and Kristy can be influence to
them. Moreover as they have been constructed that they are successful, so that they
can to build the ‘brand awareness’ of themselves to the audience as the audience
then will recognise them.
 On the other hand Josh was portrayed as a talent young star, his pose in the image
on the front cover connotes his talent and his confident on his future. The theory will
constructed on the aspirational of him as he is a rising star and many people want to
follow his path even though they are still in young age, but the example of Josh
would create personal identity and social interaction to the audience.