This document provides details about the music magazine "Vibe" and its publisher SpinMedia. It discusses Vibe's target audience, format, distribution channels, and viral marketing strategies. Some key points: - Vibe targets young, urban music fans aged 16-25 interested in hip hop and R&B. - It has faced challenges with its quarterly publication schedule and aims to expand its digital presence. - Viral marketing tactics include video clips on YouTube and social media to generate interest in full interviews. - Distribution occurs through both traditional magazine sellers and online retailers to maximize access. - SpinMedia also operates other music and celebrity-focused websites and magazines under its brand.

1. OCR –
Level 3 Cambridge Introductory Diploma in
Media
Unit 13:
Planning and Pitching a Print based Media
Product
P1 Evidence
Name: Sonu Johny
Candidate Number: 2069
Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic School
Center Number: 64135
Set Brief - Print
Project/Brief –
Music Magazine & Promotion
Magazine Product Logo HERE

2. Contents
• 1 – candidate information and
course
• 2 – contents page
• 3 – LO1 introduction page
• 4 – Publisher & Product facts
• 5 – Vibe magazine contents
• 6 – Vibe magazine contents
• 7 – ownership structure
• 8 – operating model
• 9 – technological convergence
• 10 – technological convergence
• 11 – purpose
• 12 – genre
• 13 – format
• 14 – target audience
• 15 – socio-economic needs
• 16 – primary research
• 17 – secondary research
• 18 – advertising
• 19 – viral marketing
• 20 – distribution
• 21 – viral marketing
• 22 – viral marketing
• 23 – viral marketing
• 24 – consumer competition
• 25 – above the line marketing
• 26 – the frequency of the product
• 27 – circulation
• 28 – product analysis
• 29 – process of production
• 30 – front cover analysis
• 31 – front cover analysis
• 32 – double page spread analysis
• 33 – double page spread analysis
• 34 – form and style
2nd magazine of inspiration
• 35 – 2nd magazine of inspiration
intro
• 36 – purpose
• 37 – publisher
• 38 – from and style
• 39 – from and style
• 40 – from and style
• 41 – content
• 42 – target audience
• 43 - target audience
• 44 – genre
• 45 – target audience
• 46 – frequency
• 47 – distribution

4. Publisher
• Founded by Antony Batt (CEO)
• The company reduced its staff to 200 to focus on advertising
• On March 19, 2009 it raised US$12.5 million in funding from venture capitalists
• SpinMedia was known as BuzzMedia before
• SpinMedia publishes many different magazines, TV channels and websites other than vibe.
• SpinMedia focuses more on publishing online such as www.vibe.com , http://www.fanpop.com/ and
http://www.buzznet.com/ .
http://www.spinmedia.com/
Product
• Vibe was originally called Volume
• Vibe has had many popular R&B artists
come on such as snoop dog, Niki Minage
and many more.
• Vibe is based in New York

5. • The vibe magazine contains exclusive
interviews with people such as Drake, Kanye
West and other artists including Bruno Mars.
• Vibe also have advertisements for many
different companies including McDonalds.
• The Vibe music magazine also has lots of links
in the poster linking to the their own
webpages such as http://www.vibevixen.com/
and www.vibe.com
Contents of Vibe

6. Contents of Vibe
• “The magazine vibe covers a range of content. It
cover’s a range of popular brands advertising
their products, usually they are clothes and other
trendy wear”.
• On the back page contains 20 question the
magazine asks to the reader like a quiz. It also
contains a variety of reviews on different types of
music varying from reggae to rap. Not only does
it give you updates on the latest gossip but also
gives information on the Vibe awards.
www.vibe.com

7. Ownership Structure
• SpindMedia was founded by Anthony Batt, however back then it was know as Buzz Media.

8. Operating Model
Dale W. Strang | Chief Executive Officer
Scott Southron | Chief Financial Officer
Sunny Walia | Chief Technology Officer
Tom Morrissy | Chief Revenue Officer
http://www.spinmedia.com/the-team

9. Technological Convergence
• Vibe magazines website allows you to see the latest headlines and read them online
• The vibe magazine website allows you to read latest headlines and stories which you could find o n the magazine. It is also frequently updated along
with the magazines releases. The website also gives you information on what editions and stories they might talk about in their next edition so like
teasers. The website also gives you buttons which link you straight t their Facebook pages, twitter accounts and other.
• The new CEO of SpinMedia Stephen Blackwell said “Vibe is not going to stay a print publication, no. The quarterly publication schedule has ceased.
Vibe’s doing great on the digital side -- we’re doing six or seven million a month and I’m sure we could make it bigger if we focused all our resources
on the .com. That’s the direction we’re headed in” http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/6251409/spinmedia-ceo-qa-with-stephen-blackwell . This
shows how the development of technology has a major impact that people aren’t buying them rather they are reading it on the web for free. This is
one of the reason why my magazine is going to be releasing more frequently so that I can keep my customers wanting to buying however if I leave
big gaps between each release they will start forgetting about how good it is.
http://www.spinmedia.com/

10. Technological Convergence
• One reason why Vibe magazine has decided to team up
with social networking sites such as Twitter and
Facebook is because of their bad publishing dates and
their failure to have a frequent release date. Also by
Vibe magazine teaming up with popular social
networking sites allows Vibe to extend it’s reach on it’s
target audience because Vibe has a young target
audience and social networking sites are filled with
teenagers and young adults who use these social
networking sites on a regular bases. This is a great idea
because not only does it get Vibe more customers it is
also free to use and therefore even if teaming up with
them doesn’t make a big difference they will suffer no
losses because they are not putting any money into it.
• On the social networking sites they are able to post
regular updates on what's happening and link to new
articles. On Facebook they are able to post links to their
own sites so that they can still get customers on as many
of their sites as possible. They also use phrases which
lure you into wanting to go onto their sites and find out
more. This is an example.
• They also use pictures of popular celebrities in to lure
people in as well such as fro this page they haven't used
a picture of their brand or their brand logo, instead they
have used pictures of three iconic stars.

11. Purpose
1) Mission Statement: “The new SpinMedia also shook up its
leadership team, promoting Steve Hansen to CEO and
naming former Buzzmedia CEO Tyler Goldman Executive
Chair of the Board. As part of the new initiative, the company
is planning to make changes that will attempt to further
engage its audience across a number of platforms, and
closed a $15 million round of funding toward that goal.”
http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/branding/1554
416/buzzmedia-rebrands-itself-spinmedia

12. Genre
• The genre of my magazine will be focussed on rap, chart
music and hip hop. I’m following the same genre as Vibe
because I think that these groups of music groups are the
most popular so I will have a larger target audience that may
show an interest in my magazine. This genre will appeal to my
target audience because my target audience is a young age
group which probably would be interested hip hop because
hip hop and chart music are the most publically viewed and
broadcasted.

13. Format
• My background of my magazine will be grey with by
Masthead being pale yellow so it can contrast with grey. This
will make the masthead stand out really well and seem like
it’s the most important thing on the page. Vibe has used this
technique because all the covers of VIBE uses they either
tinted colours or they use a darker tone of the same colour.
By doing this can help determine your target audience to
your buyers without even look at the content because if the
colour scheme is too dull and you use colours like dark green,
you are more likely to old people and if you use bright and
bold colours you will be attracting young children. So it is
important that my magazine is between both because my
target audience is for young adults so it needs to be bright
bold and little dull at the same time through pale colours.
• My font style will be Linkin park font, this is because I want
my font to be unique so that when someone starts reading it
they don’t think that it’s the same old font all magazines use.
So then when they start reading my article they will be like
oh look it’s a different font I can’t believe that the publisher
has put in so much effort even make sure the font is a bit
unique and stands out.

14. Target Audience
• The magazine target’s “predominantly young,
urban followers of hip-hop culture”. This could
be said as an age range between 16 and 25.
Hartley’s 7 subjectivities Katz’ Uses &Gratifications
theory
Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs
According to the Hartley’s 7 theory is
targeted at teenagers between ages of
16 - 25. this is because the magazine
uses a lot of modern slang which elder
people will not know the meaning ‘s of.
Also because of this uses of modern
slang also suggests that the magazine
target’s middle class people.
The magazine contains lots of interviews
and opinions of people so it is really
‘informing & educating’ people, however
it does keep you updated on events that
might be going on such as when an artist
is performing live and where it is.
However it does ask there reader direct
question such as on one of the Vibe
magazine cover it asked a question “are
you a racist?”. This immediately ‘informs’
you that the magazine likes to get very
personal with its audience.
Looking at Maslow's hierarchy of needs
Vibe magazine seems to be intended fro
two groups; ‘explorers’ and ‘social
climbers’. This is because the magazine
has a lot of advertisements of lots of
materialistic goods which cover whole
pages. This suggest that it could be for
people who want to be a bit flashy as the
advert itself is flashy by being so large in
size. It also targets explorers because
usually it shows celebrities wearing the
material goods in the advert so people
will automatically think that because a
celebrity is wearing that sort of stuff
must mean that it is trendy.

15. Socio-economic needs
• the target audience for Vibe magazine looking at
the Socio-economic needs will fit into the
categories C1 and C2 because the magazine uses
somewhat formal writing and the layout is neatly
arranged together. So someone who is semi
employed or un employed are unlikely to read such
magazines. Another reason why my target audience
fall in these categories is because the magazine
itself is quite flashy in a way because it advertises
expensive and designer products which people who
are unemployed or studying will not be able to
afford.
• The magazine also goes into a lot of depth when it
has it’s main interviews and it is a lot to sit and read
which I think people who are perhaps a bit young
would not be quite interested in.
• the main reason why I think is because SpinMedia
has lot’s of pictures of teenagers rather than adults
or people of a higher or lower ages. This indicates
to me that they have a set target audience which
are teenagers due to there pages being felled with
teenagers having a good time.
http://www.spinmedia.com/

16. Product target audience - Primary
research
I used a survey to see how many people within
out of the 15 people that filled out the survey led
Vibe, this is useful to understand which is the
best suited target audience or Vibe because the
people in the survey were ranged between 15 to
25.
This graph shows that Vibe was the most
common music magazine people preferred to
read. 40% went for Vibe which means that 6 out
the 15 people who answered the survey went for
Vibe. This will help in me decide on my genre of
the magazine because the other magazines in the
options are of different genres which means that
because most people went for Vibe it shows me
that hip hop and rap are the most popular sub-
genres cause Vibe’s sub-genre is hip hop and rap
music. This also shows me that vibe is staying
ahead of its competitors XXL in popularity and
preference because the least likes where given to
XXL and the most to Vibe.

17. Secondary research - Vibe reviews
The audience also feels that vibe magazine has got good content and its only drawback was its
long waiting periods for people to be able to purchase the product. However think that they
have made a good choice by being available online because this means that they can publish
stories faster because they don’t have to go through the whole production process saving them
time and giving customers frequent updates. The audience also feels that Vibe has good content
which means that it would have certainly have been more successful although people clearly
didn’t appreciate how they couldn’t deliver this great content frequently.
http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews62140.
html

18. Advertising
• Vibe doesn’t not advertise use gorilla marketing because they mainly operate online and
there for it is more beneficial for them to advertise online by sending adds through email and
putting up adds on other websites. Another reason why this is more beneficial for Vibe is
because Vibe isn’t a greatly successful product and therefore it wont be a great idea for them
to spend money on putting up posters and billboards. Also because Vibe releases its product
on a quarterly schedule so advertising a product which will only release a few times a year
isn’t hugely beneficial as people will not recognise the brand and wont bother trying it out
and therefore the advertising will only be a waste of money.
• Vibe advertises the Vibe awards on TV where they also advertise the product, however the
Vibe awards have yearly gaps between and between that time no advertisement of the
products will not be shown through TV. So it is also not a great idea for Vibe to advertise their
products through TV because again of the products poor record of closing and opening.
• I think the best way for Vibe to advertise will be on the web because most of it is free and
Vibe already operates mostly online.

19. Below the line advertising – Viral
marketing
Vibe doesn’t not advertise use
gorilla marketing because they
mainly operate online and
there for it is more beneficial
for them to advertise online by
sending adds through email
and putting up adds on other
websites.
This is one of the ways Vibe
advertises itself by allowing
customers to buy their product
from other websites such as
Newsstand and magazine
subscription. This helps the
magazine sell more of their
product because it is available
in more than one place.
http://www.newsstand.co.uk/555-Urban-Music-
Magazines/5313-Subscribe-to-VIBE-Magazine-
Subscription.aspx

20. Distribution
http://www.magazinesubscriptions.co.uk/kids-magazines/teens-young-
adults/vibe?affiliate=GoogleShopping&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=Global
The magazine uses
online ecommerce sites
such as this to distribute
their produces through.

21. Below the line advertising – Viral
marketing Guerrilla marketing is the use of
unconventional an low cost
marketing strategies to raise
awareness of a product.
Viral marketing is an example of
this. Such as Vibe magazine has it
own YouTube page where they
advertise short teasers for the
interviews included in the Vibe
magazine. This allows Vibe to draw
in customers by getting them
interested in an interview a popular
star and then after a minute of
footage they stop. This leaves you
at a basic cliff hanger and you want
to know what happens next and
the only way to do that is to buy
the magazine.
Also on their YouTube account
SpinMedia even link you to some of
their other publications, so they
advertise more than on of their
publications at the same time.
https://www.youtube.com/user/vibemedia

22. Vibe has a lot of social networking platforms where they advertise their product on, an
example of these are Facebook and twitter. They advertise on social networking sites
because they have a young target audience and in these modern time most young
people use the web more than any other age group. This will help the magazine get
easily noticed and these two websites are prime examples because of the high number
of followers. Vibe also uses these social networking sites to advertise what content will
be included in their magazines.

23. Not only does Vibe use YouTube to show sneak peaks at interviews it also posts short videos of the interviews
on their social networking site to so that more and more people are aware of the interview and therefore will
want to know what happened during the interview. Vibe also puts little captions next tot their videos to get
you interested even before seeing the video. Within the captions they give you cliff hanger answers such as ‘ It
turns out someone gave him a new nickname’. They don’t tell you what the nickname is but want you to find
out by watching the video and even when you watch the video it doesn’t tell you the full story so then you are
forced to go to Vibe’s website and see the full interview on their website. They even give you a link bellow the
description directing you to their page.
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152627046352964&set=vb.123
159412963&type=3&theater

24. Consumer Competition
Vibe also advertise themselves by putting up
competitions through social media sites. This
type of marketing strategy allows people to
take part in the competition and then get to
know the brand because they will learn a bit
about the brand when taking part in the
competition by seeing their logo or
questions in the competition being linked to
the magazine. Also Vibe puts out to the
audience who their target audiences are by
using words such as ‘dope’, this tells us that
they are looking for people who have been
changing with their modern society and who
follow trends but also they asked people to
take pictures with their graduation caps
meaning they are targeting educated people
who want to make an impact in the world.
Also by Vibe holding competitions where
you can win products like the Galaxy S5,
people wont care if they like the magazine or
not they would dive right into it by hearing
that you can win an amazing prize.
https://www.facebook.com/vibe/app_448952861833126

25. Above the line Marketing
Vibe holds an awards shown called Vibe annual awards,
this is an open event which people can physically take
part in. The awards show is also aired on the American
channel UPN. This is a way in which vibe advertises
itself to a large audience by making people aware the
brand exists through these award shows sponsored by
vibe.
Also in the award shows you can see billboards with
the vibe logo on it advertising the brand. By airing the
awards show they are able to reach a wider audience,
which are people at home who then see it and
recognize the logo on the magazine and would be
interested in buying it.

26. The Frequency of the product
• Vibe magazine is released Quarterly, which means it releases 4 times in a year.
• Because of this the price is also higher than usual magazine brands. However Vibe keeps it’s prices the same as it’s greatest competitor
XXL. Both magazines are sold fro £5.34 http://www.newsstand.co.uk/555-Urban-Music-Magazines/5313-Subscribe-to-VIBE-Magazine-
Subscription.aspx .
• However due to it’s low frequency rate vibe magazine, posts stories on their webpage for people to read for free on the website. The
website also updates itself daily so there are new stories everyday. So because people can access the content inside the magazine from
the web for free they wont be willing to buy something which only releases quarterly. This causes Vibe to loose out on a lot of profit
and that’s why the new CEO of SpinMedia Stephen Blackwell announced “Vibe is not going to stay a print publication, no. The quarterly
publication schedule has ceased. Vibe’s doing great on the digital side -- we’re doing six or seven million a month and I’m sure we could
make it bigger if we focused all our resources on the .com. That’s the direction we’re headed in”
http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/6251409/spinmedia-ceo-qa-with-stephen-blackwell .
www.vibe.com http://www.spinmedia.com/

27. Circulation
• “Vibe said it is guaranteeing advertisers a paid circulation of
250,000 and that it has applied to be audited by BPA after
withdrawing from the larger circulation auditor, the Alliance
for Audited Media, earlier this year.”
http://adage.com/article/media/spinmedia-
continue-vibe-magazine-a-quarterly/244198/
This is a article
written by John
McDermott

28. Product analysis
• Mission Statement: “The new SpinMedia also shook up its leadership team, promoting Steve
Hansen to CEO and naming former Buzzmedia CEO Tyler Goldman Executive Chair of the
Board. As part of the new initiative, the company is planning to make changes that will
attempt to further engage its audience across a number of platforms, and closed a $15
million round of funding toward that goal.”
http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/branding/1554416/buzzmedia-rebrands-itself-
spinmedia
• The products genre is focused on rap, pop and hip hop. These are good genres to go for
because they are the most popular types of music. Also by them having more than one genre
they can always keep their readers interested by advertising into different genres instead of
always talking about rap.
• The magazines largest competitors are XXL this is due to their similarities such as genre prise
and target audience.

29. Process of production
• Step one is to plan out how your magazine and design the front cover.
• Step two is to decide on your editors choice. So to decide which story is going where and how
much of it is going in.
• Next step is to decide on the sub editing and make sure that the magazine is up to good quality
and if not add thing to make it to a good quality.
• Then it's time to proof read and make sure everything is in place and have no errors.
• After you print and produce the product you have to do a quality check on the product to
make sure no faults where made when producing the product.
• The you have to decide the price your are going to sell you product for.
• then finally launch the product.
http://hosbeg.com/the-
magazine-production-process/

30. Magazine Logo HERE

31. The mast head is few of
the only things in the cover
that has colour and it is
also the largest object with
colour this could show
how the brand brings
colour to a magazine and a
artist. However the
dullness of the cover might
indicate that the story
might be a bit chunky and
go more in-depth.
‘The year Drake became king’
this might suggests that the
main story is about Drakes past
because rather than saying
Drake has become or is know,
the publisher has used past
tense to show that it’s not a
resent fame
The main headline is written in
almost a sharp text this could be to
suggest that everything is straight to
the point and kept simple about the
artist.
The main image is zoomed
into the artists face so this
could represent that the
magazine is zooming more
into the life of Drake and
the image is a resemblance
of how it is going to be like;
sad, serious and intense
because his face is so
serious with sad eyes.

32. The images of the
artist takes up a
whole page this
could be to show the
artists importance in
society and to show
how he is of a higher
status.
The heading is in a
bolder and bigger text
size and in a different
font as well. It also uses
the same colours in the
photo, this could be to
show that it’s all about
the artist and he should
always be the centre of
the attention.
The magazine brings in brand awareness
by putting its logo on every page almost
hidden as a bar code. This could be to
make sure that the reader can recognize
the logo any where so they keep popping
it into there head fro them to keep
remembering it.
The text itself if
very blocked
together, this
could suggest
that it’s supposed
to be very formal
and target at
middle aged
people and not
for children.

33. The drop down capital is in
same font and size as the
one used with Mr Freeze.
This could be to draw in
the reader to the chunky
text. So by the ‘S’ being
the same text as Mr Freeze
might influence them to
carryon reading from Mr
Freeze
The main image stretches onto
the second this makes the page
look a little bit more interesting
because all the text is very
blocked together and rather dull
because it hasn’t got much
colour to it.
The colour contrast- as you can
see there is a white background
with Mr Freeze wearing black
clothes to contrast to the
background and this makes the
artist seem important.
Mr Freeze is all written in capitals,
this could be to show how he is a
highly respected and prestigious
artist.

34. Form and style
• My magazine will be in a A4 size with a basic
colour scheme of grey, yellow and white
similar to the front cover of Vibe shown in the
image.
• I will also make my font similar to the ones
shown in the image of Vibes front cover
because I think the contrasting colours help to
be able to read the text better while also
giving it a faded effect by using different
shades of grey.
• I also like how the mast head is in a different
colour to the content and the background,
because this makes the masthead seem more
important because it’s the only thing on the
page with the most colour.

35. 2nd Magazine - XXL

36. Purpose
Strapline
The purpose of the strapline in XXL is to give the artist
a grand entrance. Such as the image shown if the
magazine in this slide shows DR. DRE, and strapline
under that is “Yes, detox is coming. The master of the
board finally returns to the games”. By saying this
they are not only making him seem like a living legend
because they are referring to him as a ‘master of the
board’, which connotes that he is an amazing
musician because they could be connoting the board
to be music and so they are basically saying a great
artist is returning to his profession. However by using
words such as ‘master’, ‘board’ and ‘game’ makes the
artist seem like more of a legend than a professional.
Also by having the artist ion the main image playing
chess fits right in with the strapline referring to the
master of the board returning to game.

37. Publisher
The publishers of XXL are Townsquare Media. On the Publisher website it is
stated that, “Townsquare Media is a diversified media, entertainment and
digital marketing services company that owns and operates radio, digital and
live event properties”. The company’s assets include 310 radio stations and
over 32 local companions websites , a national portfolio of music and
entertainment digital properties having over 50 million visitors form the US
every month, of which includes; Taste of Taste of Country, Diffuser.fm,
Ultimate Classic Rock, ScreenCrush and PopCrush. They also host 500 live
music and non-music events annually. Townsquare Media also controls and
runs Townsquare Cares, which is a “non-profit organization that seeks to
better the lives of troops and their families. Funds managed by Oaktree
Capital Management are the Company’s largest equity holder”, as stated on
the Townsquare official website.
http://www.townsquaremedia.com/about

38. Form and style
XXL is A4 size with 7 1/2″ W x 10″ H dimensions and contains
mostly slang due to my target audience being young
teenagers who are less alliterate. My magazine will have
contrasting colours of both dark and bright because it want
the background to be a drack colour such as black and I want
the text to be red so that it really stands out and is easy for
people to read. Also red is the colour which is usually used to
indicate danger so by people taking this of the shelf and
reading it connotes to the reader of being rebellious. My front
cover will contain few words because I am aiming at people
who are young teenagers who some maybe illiterate, it is
easier if there are fewer things to read and more pictures to
focus on and view their idol stars.
http://mediakit.nationalpost.com/magazine/st
andard-specifications/

39. Form and style - front cover
XXL mainly always keeps its front cover
backgrounds white or white with shaded
areas, this is so that when a colourful
image is shown on the dull and plain
background it will stand out more and will
bring more focus onto the main image.
Also the white background helps to read
the black and red text easier. Furthermore
XXL always places the main image in front
of the masthead this could be to connote
that XXL values the artists more that the
brand and has respect for the artist.

40. Form and style – double page spread
The content of XXL is commonly interviews with artists or of
stories about the artists life. The content is mostly slang and also
contains swear words, this is because the target audience is
stereotypically targeted at black African American people who
may be in gangs or illiterate people. By using swears within the
content will make the reader feel as if the magazine isn’t holding
anything back and showing the audience the magazines true
colours. Also the image of the artist is commonly place don’t the
right hand side page without any text.

41. Content
In my magazine I want the content to be of a article explaining the life of the artist so
that people know what hardships they had to go through to achieve the level of
success they have gained. Also like I have mentioned XXL’s target audience will consist
of people in the D and E group of the social-economic table, therefore this could be
because they dropped out of school to join gangs or just left school because they got
board. So by telling them about the hardships their idols went through might convince
them to make better choices in life to also achieve something or make their loves
more easier and avoid the hardships, by educating themselves.
Also looking at Hartley’s 7 subjectivities, the target audience of XXL would be between
18 to 35 because the slang and swears within the content is most likely to attract
young adults, whereas elderly people or children might be repelled when they see
slang and swear.

42. Target audience
My target group will be included in groups D
and E because my magazine contain slang
swears which are least likely to appeal to
skilled office workers or teachers. However
students and unemployed manual workers
are more likely to like it because they will
probably hear it around them, because
manual worker do not have to act
professional in their job therefore they are
free to swear and use slang, whereas skilled
office workers are required to act
professional and therefore they avoid using
slang and swearing.

43. Target audience
Hartley’s 7 subjectivities Katz’ Uses &Gratifications
theory
Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs
According to the Hartley’s 7
theory my target audience will
be young adults between the
ages of 18-35, this is because
the content in my magazine
will contain slang and swears
which, young children or
elderly people will most likely
be repelled by this. Therefore
my target audience will be in a
group between those two
which are ok with slang and
swears.
The magazine will contain
interviews and stories filled
with interesting updates of
artist and their backstories
which, young people will be
interested in if their idol stars
are present in the magazine.
Looking at Maslow's hierarchy
of needs the magazine seems
to be intended for ‘explorers’
because it targets explorers
because usually it shows
celebrities wearing the
material goods in the advert so
people will automatically think
that because a celebrity is
wearing that sort of stuff must
mean that it is trendy.

44. Genre
The genre of XXL is hip hop and was founded in
1997. I know that XXL’s genre is hip hop because
mainly all of the artist shown in XXL are all hip
hop artists there for the music magazine hosting
all these people must be a hip hop magazine.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/townsquare-
media-acquires-xxl-king-184500606.html

45. Target audience
https://shanaaeebrooks.wordpress.com/2013/10/27/73/
As my magazine follows the same genre as XXL I have
decided aim for the same target group as XXL.
This table shows that XXL is commonly targeted at
African Americans and also none of their target
audience are white, this could be because they think
that stereotypically all white people are more illiterate
than the coloured people therefore a magazine full of
slang and swears might not appeal to them, so
therefore they aim for young and black people who
are commonly in gangs and aspire to be gangsters like
some hip hop artists them might admire. This table
also shows that it is mostly targeted at males than
females and so this is also an example of stereotyping,
showing that men are more fears so therefore they
will be more comfortable with reading swears and
slang whereas some females find it disturbing with all
the swears and slang to read it.
Furthermore the average targeted age is 29 could
connote that it is targeted at gang members because
usually they are the ones who are illiterate and have
no jobs, so they find it hard to read massive chunks of
text .

46. Process of production
• Step one is to plan out how your magazine and design the front cover.
• Step two is to decide on your editors choice. So to decide which story is going where and how
much of it is going in.
• Next step is to decide on the sub editing and make sure that the magazine is up to good quality
and if not add thing to make it to a good quality.
• Then it's time to proof read and make sure everything is in place and have no errors.
• After you print and produce the product you have to do a quality check on the product to
make sure no faults where made when producing the product.
• The you have to decide the price your are going to sell you product for.
• then finally launch the product.
http://hosbeg.com/the-
magazine-production-process/

47. Frequency
The frequency of XXL is only 12
issues per year this means that
they release one issue every
month at the price of £3.99.
http://pocketmags.com/viewmagazine.aspx?catid=
1037&category=Music&subcatid=229&subcategory
=Other&title=XXL+Magazine&titleid=1959

48. Distribution
http://www.newsstand.co.uk/555-Urban-Music-Magazines/1944-Subscribe-
to-XXL-WORLDWIDE-Magazine-Subscription.aspx
XXL is available in local stores such as WHSmiths, Sainsbury's,
and in some small local corner shops. It is also available online
such as on Newsstand and pocketmags.
http://pocketmags.com/viewmagazine.aspx?catid=1037&category=Music&sub
catid=229&subcategory=Other&title=XXL+Magazine&titleid=1959