Final Music Front Cover

I have taken several photo's of my featured artists, The photo shoot contained very conventional music items such as stereo's and headphones. Although I have taken a variety of poses and angles of my featured artists, I will not be using them all as some of the pictures I took don't fit the atmosphere of my magazine. However the picture below will be the picture on my front cover.  I have chosen this particular picture as I believe it portrays attitude and defiance but at the same time has a vulnerable and feminine feel to it which will appeal to my potential music magazine readers.

Research into magazine names

I have had many idea's on what to call my music magazine, Originally I wanted my music magazine to refer to a musical  atmosphere such as 'Vibe', Or 'Base' but I thought this was unoriginal. The other names I contemplated on were also not suitable as they weren't eye catching and were also too long to say. However I decided that my music magazine would finally be called LM magazine. which stands for love music. This is catchy and original. I have also decided to use block font, which is large and extra bold so it can stand out.
for example:
'LM magazine'
the magazine part will be in a more swirly and cursive finish and the LM will be more thicker and bolder.

Research about headline's and lures

My magazine is going to have a variety of articles and categories, however they will be mainly orientated around fashion and music and trends involving music such as dance crazes, and music accessories such as headphones and earphones. I am going to use a  lure based on my interview with my featured artist, although I haven't decided what exactly this lure might be it will be enticing and eye catching. However the strap line on my magazine will be giving further information about the headline of my magazine.

Photography Research

I  have researched many front cover's and main images that I could potentially use in a similar way in my own music magazine front cover. I would like my main image on my front cover to be either a long shot image or a mid-shot image. I would also like the camera to be taken at eye-level, this will symbolize that my music  artist is an equal to the readers of my magazine, and not superior or inferior. My contents page  may however be taken at a bird's eye level just to vary the amount of shots I have and to make them not all look the same. I would also like the lighting in my main image for my front cover to be mainly artificial lighting, so the attention is directly on my featured  artist. Artificial lighting will also eliminate any distractions such as shadow's and objects etc.

Contents Page Research

I have also  researched content's pages from music magazines. This is the content's page from Bilboard magazine. I have decided to use some of the techniques and idea's from this contents page. For example I  have decided to make a space for some musical related information, perhaps a mini album chart of the bests selling albums in that month. The use of colour is also effective as the colours used in the masthead are also incorporated in the design of the contents page. The consistency of the colours makes both  the front cover and contents page unique and stand out.

Contents page research

Although Bazaar is not a music magazine, I have decided to do my contents page in a similar style and layout. I originally intended to use my featured artist as only the main image for my front cover and double page spread article, However I have changed my mind and decided that I will  use my featured artist as  the main main image for my contents page as well. This will  emphasis the importance of my featured artist, especially as one of the strap line's on my front cover will say ' world exclusive'.

Research into average prices of music magazines

I have researched a few music magazines and the prices they are sold at. Vibe magazine is sold at £2.99 it is issued on a monthly basis. which is quite cheap and afford for all types of readers and age groups. Kerrang msuic magazine is however sold on a weekly basis at £2.20 a week. This is also a cheap and affordable magazine, although the age group that can afford it may be for an older audience such as 16+. I have decided that like Vibe and Kerrang my intended audience will be for young adults and older teenagers, preferably from the age  16-19 years old.

Research into double page spread article's

I have researched a double page spread article based on the music artists the 'Jonas Brothers'. This article has used many magazine conventions to make the article eye catching and desirable to read. One of the many techniques used is bright colours. The colours used in the double spread magazine are eye catching, the use of light pink and light green contrast with one another. it also gives a girly feel to the magazine article which is appropriate as the article's from a girl based magazine 'MIZZ'. The article also uses graphology and anchorage to anchor the pictures used in the article, 'Brother love' is a relevant anchor as the group of musicians are brothers.

Research into Mastheads

Bilboard magazine's masthead is usually of a white, large, font. The magazine's known for having the colours red, yellow, and blue embedded in their font within the letters of b,a, and d. This is iconic as readers will know that the magazine's bilboard. The white colouring of the font also contrasts with the usually bold, and bright colours in the background which is in this case a light brown that fades into a beige colour at the end of the page.
Although this masthead is eye catching and stylish I haven decided not to use this type of font as its it too thin and doesn't represent the type of message I would like to portray in my magazine.

Research into Mastheads

I have researched different kinds of mastheads, straplines and bylines used in front cover magazines. Different magazines may use a different type of font to represent their magazine as the main headline can emphasis this. for example the kerrang masthead is in really large, extra bold blocked font which is eye catching to readers. the blackbackground used in the masthead contrasts with the white font which also makes it stand out. The use of effects is also illustrated, this is shown as in the font there is a usage of barbed wired/shattered glass which is symbollic.



the online magazine of 'Yoraps' is another Rnb/Hiphop related genre. researching online magazine's I have come to discover that in order to catch the attention of online viewers the content of the website has to be colourful, bright and eye catching. which is shown in the bright mixture of colours just below the masthead. Gimmicks such as a music waves have also been used to portray that it's a music site. There are also devices in which you can listen to music and watch. The online magazine also includes lures such as ' are you the next breakthrough artists in Hip-hop or RnB'? which entices the reader into reading the magazine as they may want to enter the competition.

I have researched several different genres of music magazines which have helped me to understand the concepts and target audiences for different types of music.

Flavour Magazine for example is an Rnb magazine targerted for specific fans of this genre. Researching magazine covers has enabled me to distinguish how the magazine caters for different audiences for example Flavour magazine entices readers to buy magazines as on the bottom of the magazine it displays featured artists that Rnb fans may be interested in reading about.

Planning and Research

Music Press

This magazine caters to a very specific audience. The magazine's mode of  address is mainly promoted for young girls mainly from the age of 9-12 years of age. 
The usual appearance of the male artist's featured in Top of the Pops is of a casual, laid back style, converse/high top trainers, new era baseball caps, leather jackets, and sometimes aviator sunglasses.


The usual female appearance of the female artist's featured in top of the pops consist of the wearing of lots of jewelery, headbands/head scarves, make up, hair extensions, acrylic nails/ nail varnish.


The lifestyle and entertainment choice  of the readers of this magazine may include mainstream hobbies such as cinema, bowling, shopping, dancing, sleepovers, spa days etc. they are also likely to follow the trends of the artists in the magazine.
The typical song content of Pop is usually about love, and  heartbreak which most young girls can identify with. The song content of pop also can consist of rebellion, freedom. Also romance, partying. The pop genre also has a tendency to contain lyrics of a sexual nature which are disguised so young girls can't understand fully the artist's true meaning.






                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Introduction to media

My name is Katherine, I am currently studying my A-levels at LaSwap. One of the subjects I am doing is Media Studies. I have decided to create a blog and make a fictional music based magazine. I have made no decisions regarding my musical magazine's name, the only decision I am sure on is that it will be an RnB based magazine