For My Music Magazine

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? For my final task I designed a music magazine based around the Hip-Hop and R&B genre. I looked at various front covers of this genre to see what different conventions hip-hop and R&B magazine’s have. My products follows the conventions of a real media magazine which includes: a masthead, barcode, plugs and teasers and a main image which links with my double page spread article. I feel that I challenged the conventions of my media product by having a image of girls on my front cover, the angle which I used on my front cover is a high angle. Some might say that the high angle shows the camera looking down on the girls and may cause issues. However I was trying to create a image which shows the camera sneaking up on them which is shown by them looking up at the camera. This image would have attracted my target as it has the idea of them doing something bad. I also feel that I challenged my media product by using girls on the front cover. One of the convention of a Hip-Hop magazine I found whilst conducting my research was that most front covers used men, it was clear to see that the hip-hop and R&B genre was mainly dominated by men, therefore using girls challenged the forms of conventions. Another way I challenged the conventions was by using a brick wall as my background instead of using a plain background. I used this as I wanted to create a urban culture which would reflect my genre. The Mise en scene and representation of the hip-hop genre has been portrayed by the use of the brick wall as a background this represents a urban and outside feel which the genre is familiar with and can be associated with..

How does your media product represent particular social groups? The aim of my media product was to represent youth and urban culture which has been created through the Mise en scene. The choice of clothing which the artists on the front cover are wearing is a key aspect. When researching the conventions of a music magazine I found that the representation of men’s clothing used on the front cover were presented as wearing baggy clothes, trainers, caps however the clothing items which the artists on the front cover were wearing was all black with lots of jewellery. The jewellery was trying to represent “Bling” which I found most of the men wore. The angle which I have taken my front cover image which a high angle (h/a) representing a powerful image for women. Some may suggest that this image could be seen as showing women having a lower status however from my own perspective this image was trying to show women as powerful and strong. I was also trying to show that women are capable of being as successful as the men in this industry. For my contents page I used a long shot to try and show their whole outfits this contrasts with the lighting used in the shot as it shows a positive lighting which can reflect on the image and the magazine. The graffiti typeface used throughout the magazine also portrays the youth and urban culture. The graffiti typeface can be associated with the social group which I am trying to represent. Graffiti connotes the vandalism on the street walls which is stereotypical. The predominate colours I have used for my print work are black, red, white and yellow. The red and black suggest power and strength and the yellow connotes with the summer edition of the magazine. All these connotations show how my social group are being represented by my media product.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? Most music magazine would be sold paper base however as time changes technologies changes and can therefore now produce magazine more advanced such as the internet. Music stores such as HMV and Virgin could distribute my magazine, also book shops such as WHSmith which have a music section in their store could also distribute music magazine. Independent shops that are aimed at hip-hop such as niche markets. By selling this magazine the store would make a profit as my target audience would regularly buy the magazine.

Who would be the audience for your media product? The factors of representation are; gender, age, race, socio economic status and disability and many more. My media product is aimed at both girls and boys aged I decided which age group my music magazine would be targeted at through my market research. This age group will be interested in this genre of music. The factors which determine this can be language which I used in my magazine such as slang words for example I used the word “gonna” as going to be on my front cover. I have aimed my media product at a specific social culture which is a young hip-hop culture with the interest of music.

How did you attract/address you audience? I targeted my audience by using various methods such as conducting a questionnaire to find out what they preferred on magazines. This helped me to address my audience as I had an understanding of what would look best on my magazine and what would attract my target audience due to the questionnaire. Another way I addressed my audience was through peer feedback from the people around me, this helped as they were a similar age group of the people being targeted in my magazine. I took their feedback into consideration and altered or added things to my magazine. This enabled me to make a successful and productive magazine. I also carried out market research which did consist of my questionnaire. After conducting my questionnaire I wrote up my findings and used them when producing my magazine. My findings helped me to determine what my target audience want, who they are, what sort of colours to use etc.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product? I originally was unsure on how to use Photoshop but as I started to cut out my images on Photoshop I became more aware of Photoshop which allowed me to create my whole magazine on Photoshop. I also used a digital camera to take my photo’s for my music magazine. I took a variety of photo’s using different shots this allowed me to gain the best possible photo which would reveal my genre to the target audience. Photoshop allowed me to change the look of my images for example make them look sharper and to change the look of my background.

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 helped me develop my work and ideas which allowed my music magazine to look professional as I was able to use Photoshop more comfortable as I was aware of what to do. I have developed my work as my preliminary task was made on Microsoft Publisher but my music magazine was made on Photoshop. By doing this I was able to produce a higher quality professional magazine. By conducting my preliminary task it allowed me to get feedback from my teachers and others which helped me design a successful final product.