yolo

1. Researching Genre (Indie Rock)
By Lewis Maguire

2. Genre
• ‘Genre’ is “a style or category of art, music, or
literature.”
• A genre identifies pieces of music by putting them into
categories that share different conventions and types
of music.
• There can be more than one type of genre in a piece of
music (for example pop-punk) many artists are trying
to create a sub genre because it will attract more
people and will have a much larger target audience.
• This also links to hybrid genres where there is more
than one genre in a type of music, this also has a larger
target audience, therefore attracting more people.

3. My Genre (Indie Rock)
• Indie Rock is a genre of alternative rock.
• It is extremely diverse and originated in the
United Kingdom in the 1980s.
• Indie is now used to describe a type of music,
however it was originally used to describe
record labels.
• Indie Rock used to be used alongside
alternative rock.

4. Examples of Indie magazine covers
Here are some examples from the
front covers of indie magazines. As
you can see, they share many of the
same conventions even though
some of them are completely
different magazine companies.

5. Three Colour Pallet
The front covers from the magazines that I have
researched and put on this PowerPoint, they all have the
same ‘three colour pallet’ that mainly consist of the same
three colours: black, white and red. In every single front
cover. Red is also used as the third main colour on each
magazine, this is used to show the passion and rebellion
shown by indie artists. The colour is used to emphasise
the passion as the red will mainly be on a black and white
background, therefore it will stand out much more.

6. Clothing
• All of the artists are wearing black and white; I need to make sure that I
stick to these conventions when I complete my own magazine front
covers. The reason they wear these colours is because it’s known as the
‘indie style’ as they don’t usually wear bright colours and stick to the
simple black and white. Indie artists are also known to wear simple
clothing, such as plain white T-Shirts and black skinny jeans, usually
ripped. I need to make sure that I stick to these conventions when I make
my own music magazine.
• The clothing also fits in with the facial expressions. All of the cover
examples that I have used show very similar facial expressions. The facial
expressions used are very serious and rebellious; this reflects well with the
red colour and the muted colours they are wearing.
• The props included are usually musical instruments that indie artists use,
for example a guitar or drums, however on the examples I have used,
there aren’t many props shown. The only prop used in any of the
examples is a cigarette, which also links in with the ‘rebellious’
connotations of indie artists.

7. Summary of what my work should
include
My work needs to include all of the main conventions seen in these magazine
front covers. For example the colours used, black and white need to be the
main colours of the photos, maybe using a black and white filter, as the photo
should cover the background of the page. Moreover, with the clothing used, I
need to make sure that whoever is on the front of the cover is wearing black
and white clothing. In addition, the main colour for the text should be red as
this is used on most indie magazines; this shows the passion and
rebelliousness of the artists. These all link together to give a very rebellious
look to the character on the front and the whole magazine. It shows off the
personality and conventions of a typical indie magazine as the main
connotations of an indie artist is rebellious, but also passionate about their
music. I should also use a musical instrument so that the reader immediately
knows it is a music magazine. The main reason why my examples don’t
include magazines are because it is a familiar character on the front, for
example Alex Turner; most indie fans will recognise Alex Turner as the lead
singer for Arctic Monkeys, so therefore don’t need a musical instrument to
show to the reader than it is a music magazine.