Target Audience

I have come to the point in my research in to music magazines and genre, where I need to decide on my target audience for my own product. This is important as I will be starting to gain an idea of what I should include in my magazine to ensure that the audience I am directing it to enjoys it. To complete and do these stages later on I need to have a clear idea of who my target audience is. Therefore I need to choose who I will focus my magazine on.

From looking in to the genre of Pop it is clear to see that a large proportion of the fan base are female, because of this I will ensure that my target audience is girls/women. The age of pop fans vary depending on the artist, however I will be focusing this down slightly and target fans aged 16-23, as I believe I can do a better job targeting girls of these ages. Another reason I have decided on these ages for the target audience is because I believe being a seventeen year old girl myself, that I understand what girls of these ages may want in a pop magazine, and by using this target audience I will make the best product (music magazine) that I can.

Annotations using uses and gratifications theory

In this task I was asked to apply my knowledge of Blumlar and Katz theory to a real life magazine.

In conclusion, i found this task to be more successful than i initially  thought, and i knew a lot more about the uses and gratifications theory than i thought when applying it to a pop music magazine. This task was useful because i got to see how the theory actually worked and it proved to me that it is true and also how i will be able to incorporate the theory into my own magazine to appeal as much to my target audience as I can.

Uses and Gratifications theory

For this task I am going to be looking in to a theory that was created by Blumler and Katz, to find out what people uses the media for and the things that they get out of the different publications and parts used in the media. This will help me as it will give me an idea of what types of things should be included in my magazine front cover to help the audience enjoy it and hopefully fulfill some of their other needs.
I will make a go animate so that the information I find out can be seen and viewed very easily in one place. This will ensure that everything I need such as the key pieces of information from the theory is accessible to me very quickly and simply. 

https://goanimate.com/videos/0kKs-djDefVc?utm_source=linkshare&utm_medium=linkshare&utm_campaign=usercontent

From doing this research in to the uses and gratifications theory, I have learnt a lot about what should be presented in different articles and media outlets for the target audience to ensure that they enjoy what they are reading. For example from this research I have learnt that a lot of people use the media to find their personal identity, this shows me that people can sometimes gain their own morals and values from reading about people they look up to and can identity with, this can mean that people also like to have information and like to gain a sense of social interaction without interacting but gaining and reading about some aspects of different situations and people. All of this will help me as I will now hopefully be able to include these different aspects and ideas of the theory in to my production work and it will also be a key feature to remember during the stages of designing and creating my front cover, contents page and double page spread as it will ensure the most attraction to my target audience.

2 double page spreads analysis

In this task, i was asked to analyse two double page spreads of music magazines of my chosen genre (pop).
In conclusion, i found this task useful because it was the first time i had looked into double page reads in depth and analyse them in depth. I now have a much clearer and better idea on how i will be able to produce mine an i also know how they appeal and attract a target audience which i can try to incorporate in my own wherever possible.

Two contents pages of music magazines analysed

In this task i was asked to analyse two contents pages of two separate music magazines that related to my chosen genre (which is pop).

In conclusion, from this task i have learnt apt as i hadn't gone into a lot of detail with contents pages of music magazines yet and so i learnt what codes and conventions were used in contents pages and how they both attract and appeal to the target audience. i also learnt what mine should roughly look like as i analysed contents pages that came specifically from my own music genre.

2 pop music magazine covers analysed

In this task I was asked to analyse two music magazine covers that showed relevance to my genre of music (which is pop).

In conclusion, i found out some more about this genre of music magazine specifically as i hadn't gone into this much depth with my analysis on pop music magazines specifically. This task has helped me because i know all of the codes and conventions that should be included on a pop cover and why these should be used and how they are effective and appeal, attract and draw in the target audience.

Subgenres and Angles

In this task i was asked to research into a specific sub genre of my chosen genre that i am using for my own music magazine.

In conclusion, i chose the sub genre 'bubblegum pop' to look into in this task, i chose this because i had never heard of this sub genre before so it interested me and i thought it could potentially be a sub genre that i choose to use for my own, it was part of the pop genre which is the genre i am using for my own magazine and i liked how the magazines looked and the target audiences that they appealed to. From doing this task i learnt a lot on this subgenre such as the history, some of the main artists and stars, target audiences for both the magazines and the music and this can now help me when choosing my own sub genre and will especially help me if i were to choose bubble gum pop.

Competitor research

In this task I am going to be doing some research into different pop magazines to get an idea of how the layout they tend to follow and generally look at first glance without looking to specifically into them. For this task I will be using both magazines on shop shelves and the internet to see what pop magazines are on offer. I will then put all my finding into a word cloud that isnt using the programme wordle as i have already used this programme but it is a good way of showing findings in a colourful easy way and an easy way to remember what you have learnt as by looking at the word cloud should trigger memory of what was researched. This task will help me later on because I will have an idea on the kinds of names to call my magazine and some more idea on how it should be laid out.



In conclusion, from doing this task and the research that was involved in this task I have found out alot about my chosen genre, this will then help me when I come to creating my product and start to think about possible names that I could use for my own magazine.

Mood board for pop genre

For this task I have made a mood board in the style of a video using final cut pro, to demonstrate key features of the genre of my chosen genre which is pop. The video will include pop artists and fan pictures to give an idea of the usual fans of the genre, concert arenas pop music will play and what they look like during the concert as well as magazines already existing that are focused on pop music, producers of music and also instruments most commonly associated with the pop music culture. From making this video I have learnt a lot of interesting knowledge on the genre, the artists I found ranged from many years ago all the way to this years most popular pop artists. This video has enabled me to look at how many existing pop magazines there are no matter what the readership or circulation size is. This will help me later on in my coursework as it will have provided an even clearer base of knowledge for when I start designing and creating my own music magazine, even though it hasn't been the task to give me the most information on this it has still helped slightly to give me more knowledge. The aim of this video was to find out more information and details of pop genre as well as people, instruments, venues, text style and producers linked to this genre. In this video I was also able to look in to similarities and differences of pop artists e.g. make up styles, clothing styles, hair styles, music made and also types of instruments used in the songs. From looking in to more pop magazines and articles it has become apparent to me that to interest the target audience into buying the magazine there needs to be articles that could have scandal in them, or a competition running in the magazine linked to a popular musician that will appeal to many. Overall from looking at all these different aspects of the pop genre it has started to form a clear idea of what my magazine front cover should look like, from pop artist style, to the colour schemes and texts associated with the genre.

Presentation on genre research

In this task i am going to be researching into the specific genre that i have chosen to create my music magazine. By doing this I am going to gain a great knowledge of the genre and the conventions that most commonly used within. In this task i will also look into th general meanings of some key words such as genre to understand what will be part of the pop music genre. In conclusion, from doing this task i have now gained the knowledge that i need to have to understand and know about the pop genre. From doing this research i have more understanding of what should be put onto my front cover and included to fit the pop genre (my choice of genre). This research is going to help me when designing the front cover and also will help me analysing future magazines when seeing what is most common and effective in pop magazines and on covers.

Mass Vs Niche publications

In this task i have to look into a mass magazines and compare to niche magazines. To present my research i will be using powtoon. I will use hard copies from shops but also the internet for definitions and to check that the research is correct etc. In this task i will look into target audiences, circulation, reach, look, style and contents. By looking into these different aspects i will gain more understanding on similarities and differences between niche and mass magazines. From doing this research, i have learnt how both niche and mass magazines have different target audiences and how they appeal to there separate audiences, as well as finding out what conventions both type of magazine would usually use. This research will help me later on in my work as i now have a lot more knowledge about niche and mass magazines and what one i could make mine and then how to make it realistic to that type of magazine.

Summary of what I have learnt so far

Summary of my work so far

So far, I have completed 7 tasks during my research project in to the (music) magazine industry, in this summary of what I have learnt so far, I will go back and reflect on all the research I have done so far. I will reflect on everything I have learnt so far from all my research and use it to help me later on in the course when I’m producing my own magazine cover, contents and double page spread.  These tasks have also helped me to learn how to use new computer programs which I mag have not even heard of before such as powtoon, slide share and final cut pro etc.

1.     Introduction to me and the brief- In this task I investigated the brief to find out exactly what was wanted from me and what was expected for me to achieve throughout the course. It gave me an insight on what I would be learning and how I would be learning it. It also gave me a good idea about what to start thinking about and what to look out for in places such as shops before I had even started working in class towards this project. 

2.     Magazine industry context- from doing this first blog task, I started building some knowledge on the magazine industry in general but also more deeply into the music magazine industry which I didn’t have any prior knowledge about. This helped me in many different ways because I really got to know what the course was about and gain a deeper knowledge into the industry rather than skim over the brief, which I did in the task before. 

3.     Key concepts applied to a music magazine- In this blog task I started to learn about the actual hard copy of a music magazine (rather than the industry), some of the conventions that they involve, how they appeal to there audience through concepts like genre, audience, institution and representation, I also learnt more general facts about (music) magazines such as the history and the differences between newspapers and magazines. This research task again added to my knowledge on what we are studying and topped up the knowledge that I had been gaining throughout the tasks I had completed to this point.

4.     Analyzing magazine covers and there similarities and differences- in this task I analyzed 6 different magazine covers in depth, this task therefore helped me to start gaining knowledge on how magazine appeal to there target audiences, attract there target audiences and therefore generate profits. This task helped me to begin to understand what is needed to create a successful magazine as well as show me what type of music magazines already exist. I then compared the codes and conventions used throughout all of these different magazines to know what I should try and use in my own magazine cover. This task really started to broaden my knowledge on music magazine codes and conventions and why the author/illustrator/publisher???? Uses these conventions.

5.     Music magazine names- in this task I researched into the names of music magazines that already exist in the industry, I did this by using both the internet and going to shops and seeing what music magazines were on offer to buy so I could use the names of them for my research. With all my findings I then put all the information on music magazine names into a wordle, this is a way to show my finding in a clear, organized way. I found this task to be very useful because when I come to making my own name I have a really good idea on what is already on the market and so not to use one of those but also what makes a good magazine name and what people tend to go for to make my magazine as popular as it could be.

6.     Music magazine publishers- in this task I did research into two different music magazine publishers, one being bigger than the other however they both produce music magazines that sell well/have a large circulation (bauer) but anthem had a smaller circulation. This task helped me to understand what type of people and companies are behind music magazines. This information that I have gained from this task will help me when I am creating and designing my own music magazine later on as I will have gained understanding of what is needed and what is common on a music magazine for the companies to produce and sell them.

7.     Music iconography- in this task I created a mind map of different music iconography for all different genres. For example I found in the rock genre lots of artist are very serious in photos and color schemes include darker colors. This connotes the danger sometimes associated with the music. The way I created my information was clear and precise and so will help me later on as its not hard information to understand. I enjoyed learning about all the different music genres and this research will help me later on when choosing the genre to use for my own magazine.

Im really enjoying this project so far, and im looking forward to furthering my knowledge in this area of media but also technology (from using my blog) as it is something that I have never looked into in this much depth before but is a subject that I really enjoy and look forward to learning about in both lessons and independently in my own time.