Evaluation of music magazineBy Hannah Thomas

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Front Cover My front cover has the magazine name in the top left hand corner, ‘Country Chords.’ It’s bold and in a large font to show it’s an important feature on the page. This title is specific to the type of music that the magazine is representing. It is eye catching to the audience and lets them know what type of music will be inside. The second largest text on the cover is the name of the artist who features in it, ‘Cassie Mcurdy.’ This follows the typical conventions of a real media product, for example, in ‘Q’ magazine, the name is in the top left hand corner and ‘Lily Allen’ is in a large font going spaced across the cover. This shows that it’s the main story of the magazine. Another convention I have used is the three main colours of text, (a colour scheme,) I have chosen pink, black and white. ‘Q’ use red, black and white.

Like this NME front cover my magazine has all the text aligned on the left hand side. The text includes the articles inside and also which artists are featured. This shows the audience what type of music is in the magazine. It also has a ‘WIN!’ ‘balloon’ near the name of the magazine so it is one of the first things the buyer will see. This factor will encourage people to buy the magazine because they would like to win the experience in the ‘balloon.’ Also included in both magazines are a barcode, the price, the date of release and the number of the issue.I have developed the feature of a banner along the top of the magazine and have put that on a diagonal in the bottom right corner.

Contents Page

My contents page follows the conventions of a typical musical magazine by having the title of the page, ‘Contents,’ in the top left hand corner. It is also the biggest font used on the page; the name of the magazine, the date and the website is included in both, ‘Q,’ and my, ‘Country Chords,’ contents pages.

I have listed the features and articles down the left hand side in numerical order with corresponding page numbers. Each section includes different subheadings, the subheadings, ‘Features,’ and ‘Every Issue/Every Month,’ are also shown on the contents page of ‘Q.’ Both magazines also split the information under different subheadings.

The images I have used are related to my magazine as they have the country theme. I have also used two main images like ‘Q.’

Other convention I have used is the, ‘Editors Letter,’ and, ‘Subscribe’ section, which is common are a common feature in many magazines. The Subscribe section has its own section on the page so that the it can be easily seen by the reader to show them how easy it is to subscribe and why it would be an advantage to them. This is to persuade the audience to sign up by showing them how much money they could save.

Double Page Spread

I have used a large picture that covers both pages. There is a main image of the artist on the left side that covers the whole page. Jamelia is also filling the page which shows the artist to be the main point of focus. The models are both looking directly at the reader which is also a common convention of a magazine. ‘Cassie Mcurdy’ is the largest text on the page because it is the heading and it needs to stand out. I have also used a large quote next to the image just like the Jamelia interview. The quote will stand out to the reader encouraging them to read on.

The idea I have followed for my double page spread is the interview with Jamelia. It includes a box around the text that allows you to see through to the background. This feature makes the page more extravagant and appealing whereas a plain white box would be boring and unimaginative. Therefore the audience would not be attracted to read the interview which is the main feature of the magazine.

I have put the questions and answers in different colours so that what is being said can easily be seen and recognised. The interview is not in big chunks of text so that it is easy to find certain parts of information. The question I have used at the top acts as a subheading and the paragraph before the interview is a short summary to introduce the artist and their background.Conventions I have followed are the page numbers and the name of the magazine in the corners of each page.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

• Country Chords magazine has an audience of 15-20 year old girls. So my social group would be teenagers and young adults. This has had an influence on the colour scheme, the three main colours I have chosen are pink, black and white. Pink represents the female audience and would be eye-catching to them when buying a magazine.

• My model is a female and so also represents the target audience because she is a the stereotypical country singer that the audience would choose to listen to.

• In these two magazines the model is also a young female which represents the audience. There is also pink and yellow text on the Country Music magazine and the Country Weekly magazine which are known as girly colours.

• The audience would be fans of and those who are interested in country music both modern and from previous decades. This is because of the artists who are advertised and featured in the music magazine. For example, Taylor Swift is a modern artist whereas Billy-Ray Cyrus and Dolly Parton are country music legends.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

• American Media Inc are the institution that could publish my product. This is because it also publishes a popular country magazine; Country Weekly. Both magazines feature famous country artists and stories therefore have a similar style and genre.; they could also share information.

• Country Weekly is the worlds number one selling country music magazine. American media inc also publish magazines such as, Playboy, Men’s Fitness and Star. Because of the wide spectrum American Media Inc supply this will provide great publicity for my magazine Country Chords. For example Country Chords is displayed on the internet with its own website.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

How did you attract/address your audience?

Country Chords magazine has an audience of 15-20 year old girls. So my social group would be teenagers and young adults. The gender of my target audience is female. All aspects of the magazine a based on the target audience. For example the price relates to the fact that the audience who will be buying the magazine are middle class. The price is £1.99 and therefore is not too expensive to pay once a month. The colour scheme (pink) and the fact there is a female model all encourage girls to find the magazine more appealing and so are more willing to buy it.

The fact you can win Folk Festival tickets attract the audience, teenagers and young adults, because they would enjoy and like the opportunity to attend a festival.

I have also used techniques in language to address my audience. Using the term, ‘us’ builds a relationship with the reader, because it shows we are both interested in the same feature. I have also used the term ‘you’ to show I am speaking directly to the audience.

The language I have used is informal and some slang words are used to relate to the teenage/young adult audience. For example, ‘Xmas,’ is used on the contents page. I have also not chosen complicated lexis.

The colour scheme attracts the female audience, pink, white and black.

My magazine is aimed at a younger generation and therefore I have a young model on the cover to attract my audience. Whereas if an older model was used teenagers/young adults would be less likely to buy it. The model is also female to represent the female target audience.

The price of the magazine is £1.99 and is therefore affordable for girls aged 15-20.

Competitions and free gifts are also included which the younger audience would enjoy.

The fact there are multiple country artists featured inside will attract the fans of country music because they are interested in the country charts.

To address my audience I did a survey to find out what they really wanted. I asked two important questions to fifteen girls with ages ranging from 15-20. These are the results...

What model would you prefer to see on the front cover and double page spread of a

magazine?

Young femaleOlder femaleYoung maleOlder male

What price would you usually pay for a monthly magazine?

99p£1.99£3£4

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

• Whilst creating my magazine I used Adobe Photoshop and learnt many new techniques which I applied to my magazine to make it more appealing. These include:

• Changing the opacity percentage so that the background can be seen through a text box or image.• I used text effects to make the heading and the rest of the text stand out on the page and not be unnoticeable because of

the background. • The effects include, - drop shadow: creates a shadow behind the text

-stroke: creates a outline around each letter.• I have learnt that all layers must be in order of which you would like to appear. A layer you would like to appear in front of

another would have to come before it in the order.• I have also learned how to change the contrast on an image so it can appear brighter so it can stand out more.• I used the Nikon Digital SLR camera to take my pictures because it is important for the images to be focused and clear. On

the camera I could use different settings including Macro shot and Zoom.• I have used the website www.blogspot.com which once I got used to, made it easy to publish my work.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

• My preliminary task has been greatly improved on and developed when it comes to my final work.

For my prelim I have not thought about how the genre would affect the appearance of the magazine. So on my final front cover the genre of country has influenced the outfit of the model and the setting of the images. She is wearing a checked shirt with is common for a country artist to wear. The setting is in a field to emphasise the country theme.

On my prelim I have used the basic font of, ‘Ariel,’ which does not stand out and does not look appealing. In my final magazine piece I have used a variety of fonts. The name of the magazine is the bold, ‘Show Guide,’ font which attracts the attention of the reader.

Another feature I used to make things stand out are the conventions on Adobe Photoshop. In my prelim I did not know about these features but for my final piece I was able to learn skills such as, stroke and drop shadow. Stroke creates a border around each letter which I can control the thickness of. Drop shadow creates a shadow of the text behind it. These two help the text stand out on the page.