1. Music magazine evaluation
AS Media

2. Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media ?products?
My music magazine is based off a mixture of Q magazine and Indie magazine. I used a bright colour for the background to prove the Indie music inside, Indie being stereotypically bright and happy. However I didn’t want my magazine to look plain so I gave the background shadows to show texture like Q magazine. I also used a clear photo of my artist to cover the whole cover to mimic a real music magazine.

3. On my cover I used a mixture of black, white and red writing so you could see it over the background, this is important and used in almost every music magazine. I used the colour most likely to stand out against the different colour backgrounds.
Another factor to consider is the barcode and price. I wanted the price to be small so it wasn’t obvious how much it is. This can affect whether or not customers buy the magazine because if they notice the expense they might not purchase it. That being said if my magazine was cheaper I would make it a main feature on my cover.
Question 1

4. I asked the model to stand so her side was facing me for the front cover. I did this to relate to the article about her inside. Inside Becky talks about wanting to change music, to make it inspirational and happy making her different to other artists, like the front cover. It was also very
helpful that her hair was red so it was stand out from the purple background colour. This also shows she is different and out there with her style and opinions so the cover relates to the double page spread. I used my flash on the camera to make sure the face would stand out and there would be a shadow on the wall to give the cover texture and make sure it didn’t look too fake. While researching Q magazines I noticed that the artist/s on the front aren’t just standing smiling, like the cover below. I think they do this to draw attention from their target market. I put my own spin on this and had my artists face looking the other way to show her anxiety and insecurity but her body facing the camera to show she was working on it and starting to improve.

5. I used an eye - level camera angle for most of the photos because I wanted my magazine to be friendly instead of using a low angle to make the artist seem more powerful than the audience. This can also make the customers feel like they are no different than the artist.
I didn’t use much editing for any of my magazine. I wanting my magazine to feel natural and down to earth instead of fake or unrealistic. I changed the colour of the background to make the whole front cover stand out and draw attention to my target market. From my research I noticed that NME uses a lot of editing and props for their magazines to make them stand out. I decided not to edit my cover a lot because stereotypically Indie is quite relaxed and calm but editing would’ve made it extreme.

6. I am very pleased with the outcome of my magazine
I am very pleased with the outcome of my magazine. I think the most important thing in a magazine is personalising it so the readers feel comfortable reading it. I made my magazine personal by using eye – level photos throughout the whole magazine, on my contents page I used a photo of a band together looking relaxed. I also added Becky’s signature onto the double page spread to make it feel friendly.

7. Question 2: How does your media product represent certain social groups?
I aimed my magazine at female teens, one way I did this was by using light colours for the background. I also kept it bright to attract customers when walking by. Although this magazine is mainly for females, males can enjoy it too. The contents page and double page spread can attract anyone that’s interested in Indie music. I edited my photo slightly to make my artists features stand out like her lips and eyes. My artist is also wearing a lot of black dark make up to attract girls but also to show she is rebelling slightly against the female stereotype. My artist also has red hair to show she is rebelling to a girly girl stereotype because it is un – natural, red also connotes power.

8. I used some indie stereotypes in my magazine, especially with the front cover. I used bright colours to specifically attract a certain genre of people. I also used pink to attract women over men because pink is stereotypically a girls favourite colour. My artist also has her hair up and messy to show she doesn’t care exactly what she looks like. I think the fact my artist has bright red hair makes her look powerful and aggressive which makes her different from girly girl artists. This also connotes what’s on the inside of this magazine because she is giving advice which also make her more powerful than others. I didn’t want to make her look too powerful because I want my magazine to be very reader friendly so I used eye – level camera angles unlike magazines like NME. In the NME magazine they use a low camera angle to make the artist look more important than the readers.
Question 2

9. I wanted to make sure my magazine was available for all social classes
I wanted to make sure my magazine was available for all social classes. This means it had to be fairly cheap. I settled on the price £2.99 because it is still cheap enough for lower class while the magazine still makes a profit. I didn’t involve religion, status or sexuality in my magazine. I aimed for my magazine to be open for as many people as possible. From the picture at the bottom of my contents page you can see all of the artists included are friendly and all have their own style. Although on my double page spread my artist looks very serious while giving advice.

10. Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I think my magazine is best suited for the Bauer media group. Bauer specialise in printing but as well as that they own a variety of music magazines such as Q magazine. Q magazine is specifically aimed at music but Bauer do own many other pop, indie and rock magazines.

11. Bauer also make TV channels, Radio shows and even awards ceremonies out of small independent magazine companies, therefore if they own SoIndie its very likely to receive a lot more customers through publishing and overall better quality. Bauer media group also have experience with being an independent brand therefore will understand what the best option will be for SoIndie. Bauer also have a lot of different types of magazine and updates them regularly so they can keep up to date on recent news and trends.
Question 3

12. Some of the benefits of working with a larger media company are; more pay, less pressure and more advertising. Bauer have the resources to be able to advertise a lot more that what a independent media group could do. Bauer has the money to invest in magazines which gives them a higher chance of becoming successful. I could change my magazine slightly to become more like Q. I could do this by using different artists with different genres. This would make my magazine appeal to a larger range of people instead of just Indie lovers.
Question 3

13. Question 4: Who would be the audience for your product?
The ideal audience for my music magazine is a female aged between They will have to enjoy Indie music and be interesting in festivals as that’s what a lot of my magazine is about. They could be a fan of Arctic Monkeys, The Smiths, Oasis and Nirvana or some sort of band/singer in the same genre. Although the ideal age for my audience is 15, it is suitable for younger ages too. I also made a lot of the magazine about old bands and artists so older music lovers can enjoy it too. I kept the price of my magazine low so anyone can afford to buy it, even teenagers as I had in mind they don’t have that much money. Doing this means my magazine will attract a wider audience range.

14. They don’t have to be upper class to enjoy my magazine although some of the suggestions for festivals and concerts can’t be purchased at a low price therefore to be involved in some of the extra activities you may have to be upper class. This won’t affect the amount of people that buy my magazine because they can just miss out on the adverts and try for the competitions instead so they still have a chance.
Question 4

15. My magazine is suitable for any age and does not include anything inappropriate therefore is very family friendly. I aimed for it to be family friendly so parents didn’t feel the need to hide their magazine from their children and maybe pass it onto them once they have read it. This also means they have a wider range of audience so its more like to have more customers.
Question 4

16. As a part of the uses and gratifications theory I would like to have a mixture of passive and active viewers for different parts of my magazine. The main articles would be better suited for passive viewers because they can read the article, take it in and think about it. I think active viewers would be suitable for the competition and opinions page as they can read it and do something about it.
Question 4

17. Question 5: How did you attract / address your audience?
Magazine customers expect a good magazine to interest them, they want to be involved with the artists and reading genuine interviews. I created this by using inspirational quotes in my interview. This makes the readers feel like they are making a difference with the artist. It also makes the artist feel like they are improving the relationship with their audience. I also used one of the quotes as the title so when people look through the magazine they can read a part of the interview in the title.

18. In my magazine I used a competition to attract readers to my magazine
In my magazine I used a competition to attract readers to my magazine. I kept the competition relevant to my magazine’s genre and my target audience by having the winner win a day out with my featured indie artist. It is important that the incentives that I use to make people pick up my magazine are relevant to my genre so that my magazine maintains a professional style that is purely focused on music.
Question 5

19. Question 6: What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing the product?
To make my music magazine I have used my own personal camera of which I have experience using. I developed my skills with the camera when taking the group shots. I had to learn how to direct and photograph a large group of people. This included using a wide angle lens and adjusting settings like ISO, aperture and exposure to make sure that everyone in the picture appeared clear.

20. I downloaded Photoshop so I can achieve the best results possible
I downloaded Photoshop so I can achieve the best results possible. This was the most challenging part of the process. I had peers to help me learn the basics of Photoshop such as cropping the background out of my group photo. I also learned how to edit the colours, hue and saturation on the colours on my main front page image. This took a lot of experimentation and trial and error to achieve my desired look.
Question 6

21. Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
My preliminary allowed me to gain valuable experience with software like Photoshop. I learned essential basic aspects of Photoshop like how to import images and what file type to save as. This was essential in creating my final product. I developed my cropping ability in my final piece as it was not satisfactory in my preliminary. I also improved in my colour editing as the colours in my preliminary task appear washed out and dull and do not reflect the wants of my target audience.

22. The technology was very helpful while making my magazine, it made finishing touches a lot easier.
It also made making the magazine a lot quicker although it still took a lot of time and hard work.
I felt more comfortable using a DSLR camera.
The internet helped me in researching ways in which I can attract my audience.
Question 7