INITIAL IDEAS (HARRY SHORT)

Our group is looking to base our music magazine at the dance and electronic genre of music, artists such as Deadmau5, Swedish House Mafia, Steve Aoki and The Bloody Beetroots etc. The age range for our magazine will be around 18-21 as a lot of electro/dance festivals have a minimum age limit of 18. For the magazine we have thought of two names tat have meaning the first is laser as a lot of electro/dance festivals have a lot of laser lights, the other possible name was freefall as the music our magazine will be based on generally drags you in and zones you out from reality. Both of these names will stick into a potential readers mind as they are simple but recognisable names. the social group that our magazine will be aiming at is middle class. Due to the prices of tickets to go to certain festivals such as Tomorrow-land or Cream-fields or even individual artists concerts are quite expensive. This magazine will be aimed at both genders as the genre of music isn't really a gender based type of music.

Questionnaire

Questionnaire

1. Are you Male or Female? (Circle choice)

2. What would be the best theme colour for the magazine? (Circle choice)
   - Red
   - Blue
   - Green
   - Yellow

3. Which age category do you fall into? (Circle choice)
   - 15 – 18
   - 18 – 21
   - 21 – 25
   - 25 – 30
   - 30+

4. How often do you go to electronic/dance music festivals? (Circle choice)
   - Never
   - Sometimes
   - Often
   - Very Often

5. Do you like Magazines with freebies? (Circle choice)
   - Yes
   - No

6. How much are you willing to pay for a music magazine? (Circle choice)
   - £2.00
   - £2.50
   - £3.00
   - £3.50
   - £4.00

7. Do you like magazines with competitions to win things? (Circle choice)
   - Yes
   - No

8. What would be the best name for the magazine? (Circle choice)
   - Laser
   - Electro
   - The Club
   - Breakout

8. What type of Freebies would you like? (Circle choice)
   - Posters
   - CD's
   - Tickets to festivals

10. Would you like to hear about the “now” music artists or the up and coming artist? (Circle choice)
    - Yes
    - No
    - Both

11. Would you like to hear about tour dates and festivals around Britain, Europe and the World? (Circle choice)
    - Yes
    - No

12. Who is you favourite music artist of electronic/dance? (Circle choice)
    - Deadmau5
    - Steve Oaki
    - Swedish house Mafia
    - Avicii
    - Non of the above, please specify   ......................................

Thank you for your time

Jack, Harry and Kyle

Initial magazine ideas (Jack Burgess)

For our music magazine we are looking to aim this at the people who are into electronic/dance music, such as Deadmau5, Steve Oaki and Swedish House Mafia. The possible age range for our magazine is from 18 year olds to 21 years old. A reason why we have chosen this age range is because it is a possible audience that goes to electronic/dance music gigs in Britain or maybe around the world to see their musical icons.

A possible name for our music magazine will probably be "Laser". We came up with this name because at many electronic/dance music gigs or festivals a lot of smoke and lasers are used to get the crowd to have more fun and get more excited whilst the artist is playing. It is a simple name and ultimately it'll stick into the readers minds and won't forget it.

For our magazine, the gender were aiming at is both. Because electronic/dance music is not just liked by either male or female, both genders appreciate the music so both genders should be aimed at and just one to cause any discrimination or sexism throughout the magazine. A social group that we are also aiming at is middle class. Due to the prices of tickets to go to certain festivals such as Tomorrowland are quite expensive, so in conclusion we'll be aiming this magazine at people who are highly interested in electronic/dance music and love to go to them types of festivals. And at both genders to not cause any tension between any sexes and people who are slightly middle class.

Magazine Anaylis 2 (Jack Burgess)

In this version of Mixmag they main type of colour scheme is yellow, blue and white. Yellow stands out a lot more than any other colour on the front cover whilst the blue adds contrast. However the white makes both the blue and yellow both equally stand out, these colour make the magazine seem more relaxed with being harmonious colours. The way that the Prodigy are set up is that the main figure of the group is standing in front of the other members, this lets us know who is the main figure in the group, meanwhile every member in the group has their own third, this make us realize that no member is lower down in the group. The masthead "mixmag" is placed behind Prodigy because maybe it isn't a well known magazine or that is just the house style of the magazine that it usually places it masthead behind it's artist on the front cover.

Majority of the cover stories are placed on the right and left sides of the front cover. With this technique used it lets the audience/reader see more the artist who is appearing on the front and who the main story is pin pointed at. The magazine "Mixmag" has also used a pug. It is placed right at the top the page on the right. This maybe because of when the magazine is the supermarket, you'll only be able to see the top of the magazine along with the masthead. The lead is placed above the masthead to boost the magazine of it being the worlds biggest dance music magazine. It is in yellow to contrast with the background of blue but to contrast with the masthead itself "Mixmag". This gives it more dimension and also contrasts colours again with the masthead being the colour white and the lead a bright yellow.  

Magazine Analysis (Jack Burgess)

 In this article of Mixmag we can see that David Guetta is placed directly in the middle of the magazine. Using the middle third to make the reader knows what the main story is. There is a puff which is placed right next to him, which stands out due to the plain background and the flash being luminous yellow and pink colored. With what David Guetta is wearing, it makes him look casual, relaxed and confident. However with him wearing the sun glasses it makes him look more secretive and mysterious. The masthead "Mixmag" is placed in front of David Guetta, this could mean that the magazine isn't well known or it is just house style of putting the masthead in front of any artist that the magazine is covering

REPRESENTATION OF GENDERS AND SIMILAR PRODUCT RESEARCH (HARRY SHORT)

In western culture beauty if the main focus of women, more so then any other quality. Where as men are generalised as being dominant characters who are supposed to show off their masculinity.

Feminism has been a recognised social philosophy for over 30 years and great changes in women's roles in western society have occurred over time.

Women are often represented as being part of a context, a family, friends and colleagues as well as working as part of a team more often than working alone.

The representations of women that make it into media are all similar they are all supposed to highlight the beauty and sexuality of a women and make these two quality's seem more important than any other. In any magazine the editors seem to focus more on the sexuality of the women by dressing them in as little as possible or put the women in provocative poses and try to make them look as naturally beautiful as possible. Many magazines tend to use the women's eyes as a direct address to draw in a reader. Here is an examples of women in magazine covers annotated to show how women are represented

In this example of a magazine cover the model is looking at the camera to make direct address with the reader as well as playing with her hair in a flirty pose to try and draw a reader in.

Where as men in the media are supposed to show off how dominant and muscly they are, especially with younger men. Males are stereo typically supposed to show off their physical and intellectual power as well as sexual attractiveness, physique and independence of thought and action. Male characters are often represented as being as isolated and not needing to rely on others ( a lone hero type of figure).  However men are expected to groom themselves and look after their appearance now more than ever. Older men are expected to have a buffness to them where as younger men usually have a slight edge of geekyness to them.  

For example this cover highlights that men are kind of expected to spend some time in the gym keeping in shape as well as looking after their appearance through grooming. one of the only similarities with this cover and the cover with a women on is that they both use the models eyes as direct address to the reader.

In my chosen genre of music (electronic+dance) the artists on covers tend to hide some of their appearance leaving the reader to imagine what the artist fully looks like, some artists even cover their whole face (DeadMau5). Most males artists of this genre tend to have a geeky edge to their appearance. This music genre is predominantly male dominated so if women are featured on magazines they would focus on sexuality. 

In my music magazine i will follow a lot of the conventional representations of men or women by adding mystery to the image of a male model as well as a slight edge of geekyness. i will maybe highlight the sexuality of a female model like a lot of dance music magazines do.

SIMILAR PRODUCT RESEARCH

This magazine follows a lot of typical conventions you see in most music magazines. The mast head is located at the top of the magazine usually for display purposes. The mast head goes behind the main image suggesting that mix-mag is a well established and recognisable magazine.

The main image is located in the middle third and relates to what the main story will be about within the magazine. There is use of a puff in the top right corner giving an insight to what else may be in the magazine.
The cover stories and majority of text found on the cover intrude on the central image giving the magazine cover more depth. There is a use of AIDA through the use of two freebies on the front cover. The model (DeadMau5) has a mask on which further backs up the idea that electronic and dance music magazines add mystery to the identity of male models. The magazine uses the eyes on the models mouse head as a mode of address as well as using the models face in the mouth of the mask to catch the readers eyes. The strap line is located above the mast head so the reader can read it and recognise it whilst on display in a supermarket, the strap line is also the motto for the magazine. Most of the front cover texts are sans serif fonts which give a boldness and modern look to the front cover. This magazine looks like it is aimed at a slightly younger audience maybe 15-20 years of age because of the crowding on the front cover.

This front cover uses a lot of typical conventions you will find in a music magazine. The masthead goes across the central image probably implying that the magazine is not well established and they need the masthead to stand out more. The central image uses the rule of thirds placing the image in the right hand third and a lot of the text and cover stories in the left hand third. The writing on the front cover is angled slightly, this is to make the magazine stand out more as the text is not flat on the page. The magazine uses AIDA to grab a potential readers attention through the use of a freebie across the top of the cover, the freebie is advertised across the top of the magazine cover for display purposes. The magazine front cover also uses a lot of conventions in terms of the representation of gender as it uses sunglasses to hide some of the models identity which is usually seen when representing males on the front cover of magazines of this genre. The front cover does'nt really have a mode of address as the models eyes are covered in sunglasses, to address the reader it looks like this magazine uses the contrast of colours (pink, white and yellow). This cover uses sans serif fonts which are a typical convention in this genre of music magazine as it looks more modern and bold. The target audience this music magazine cover is trying to stand out to is probably from about 16-20 years old.

For my product I will probably use a lot of the conventions that are seen in this magazine cover as they stand out to the target market.

COLLEGE MAG CONTENTS (HARRY SHORT)

Contents page (Harry short)