By Charlie Roberts

Front Cover

The key conventions of a music magazine are, this is what a normal front cover of a music magazine would include:

• Masthead

Cover lines

Price

Eye catching picture, often a medium close up but not always

Bar code

banner

I have included all of these on my front cover as you can see have a clear mast head on the top left hand side of my magazine. I have cover lines on both sides of my magazine in grey, black and red. I have a clear banner in grey that goes across my magazine saying “the new pixie lott”. The bar code is in a relatively normal place, in the bottom right hand corner where most magazines have their bar codes, either on the back or front. My picture is quite eye catching and it is definitely the first thing that is seen on the front cover. I think I followed the criteria of a music magazine quite well on my front cover, I used every resource above that was meant to be on the cover.

Contents Page

The key dimensions of a contents page of a normal music magazine are:

Letter from the editor

What the magazine includes

Pictures

Page number

Different colours

heading

I have included most of these in my contents page, I have a clear heading across the top right hand side of my magazine in a bold grey which stands out from the rest of the contents page. I have included a letter from the editor beneath the heading in clear red writing. Then you can see what the magazine includes under features, live, reviews and news. I have 3 pictures which all stand out from one-another on the page. The page number in in the bottom right corner with a red background and in a big bold black which stands out well. I have included 3 different colours in my contents page which were the same as the colours that I included in my front cover.

Double Page Spread

The key conventions of a double page spread in a normal music magazine are:

Pictures

Interview

Quote from interviewee

Different colours

Different symbols

In my double page spread I have included a number of different pictures, one that covers the whole of one side of the A3 sheet and two which spread across the bottom of the right hand side A4. I have included three different symbols to make my double page spread more than just an A3 page with pictures and an interview on it, I have included the first letter of my title in the bottom left hand corner as a symbol for “pulse”, then I have a box and a arrow with writing inside to show where the interview is and then I have a plain arrow underneath the interview and above the third picture. I have a quote from my artist on the bottom right of the left side of the picture to add more to the double page spread. I have included a number of different colours in the page, for example the blue writing for the questions and then the red writing for the answers, the white writing in the symbol saying where the interview is and then the red in the symbols. My interview is on the right hand side of the page and includes a number of different questions and answers that I have made up.

I have represented my age group as 18-25 year old, this means that most of the people who the magazine is aimed at will either be a student at university or working. I also made my clients out to like going clubbing, so most of the music will be mainstream music, the target audience are made out to like mainstream music.

I have used pictures of quite fashionable, good looking people who are quite young. I have used normal language how most students or people in full time work would speak, sophisticated but still quite slangy.

My ratio of text to pictures is quite fair, neither one of them out ways the other, so there is still an interesting read and good pictures to look at but there isn't too much of either so people wont get bored and will still be interested in the magazine when they are reading it. I believe that the representation of the age group is a fair one as I found from my research that most people this age liked mainstream music because it would be what they would hear most of the time, for example when they are revising, or when they are in a club or when they are driving. Also the age group that I have used listen to mainstream music as they like to keep in touch with what is going in the celebrities and music idols world by using social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. The representation is neither positive or negative as it does not say much about the social group, it does not praise them, neither does it criticise them. however the social group that has been used is not a representative sample off all 18-25 year olds as there are some different social groups that listen to different types of music and wear different types of clothes, however the majority of 18-25 year olds listen to mainstream music. This tell us about their age that they some of the group may seem to be so called “sheep” as they follow the crowd and the media, as most of the mainstream artists are in the public and media eye quite a lot.

NME and DJ are companies that already make music magazines like mine, featuring mainstream artists and news about fashion, sport etc.

The type of places that will distribute my magazine will be places that the all ready make the mainstream type of music magazines or play the mainstream music, also the type of places that will distribute my magazine will be places where the age group that is targeted go or hang out. For example some of these places would be University bars, Clubs that are mainstream so your average night club that you might find in your local town or village. Pubs or football grounds mist distribute it. Also news agents and supermarkets would distribute my magazine because they would be selling it to the local public, however the clubs might agree to sell it if they are mentioned in the magazine.

A company would want to sell my magazine because it offers different things that other magazines don't, it has sections about new artists that are new to the business and are upcoming so it leads readers know to look out for them or maybe to search them on YouTube to see what they’re like and to see if they like them. Also a company would want to sell my product as it includes advice from celebrities about how to look good at prom, what they think is in fashion and what they do to relax and chill out! Furthermore we have celebrities that tell us the latest gossip among the industry, so in “PULSE” the readers get exclusive tips on how to look good and chill out, also get told what is going on behind the scenes that not many people know about.

I believe that my magazine is a gap in the market because it includes things that no other magazines include, it has a new way of seeing things and explaining them. Also my magazine offers free CD’s and posters so the buyers get the magazine and all of its information and gossip but they also get free items that they might want. The free items come in every weekly edition of the magazine.

The age group that I have gone for is 18 to 25 year olds. As they are students and also legal to drink in Britain so most of they would like to go out clubbing. Both males and females can be included in the people who would be interested in my music magazine. Students have to study quite a lot hence the picture there. I have represented both genders by including a picture about fashion which mostly girls are interested in. and a picture about the Barclays premier league which mostly boys have are interested in. I have also included a picture which shows that the age group is generally interested in chart music as this is what is usually played in clubs and pubs! I have shown a image of the Brit awards because the audience usually like to keep in touch with what is going on in the media.

I included an eye catching picture on my front cover to attract the audience, the picture will attract both genders, males will be attracted to picture as a good looking girl is on the front. Females will be attracted to the picture because she has a nice figure and girls would aspire to be like her as she looks like she is in a world of her own. The front cover has an attractive mast head which will catch the readers attention, the banner which says “THE NEW PIXIE LOTT” because of the target audience and what music they listen to this might encourage them to read more about it because they might like Pixie Lott. I have included a number of different cover lines which explain what the magazine is about and what the magazines best bits are, the cover lines are interesting and should attract the target audience because it involves topics that are spoken about in this genre of music. I have also included a Free CD and “6 FREE POSTERS EXCLUSIVE HERE!!”, I have also got a lot of audience feedback to make sure that was I producing is attractive to the audience. When the audience see’s that there is free gifts involved it is more likely to persuade them to buy the magazine instead of putting it off. My magazine talks to the audience by telling them what's involved in the magazine and telling them about what they get out of the magazine.