Circulation Figures....

As of June 2009 circulation figures for Music Magazines show that the best selling magazine is Q sales figures show sales have decreased from 113,174 to 103,107, before dropping to 100,172. Despite suffering a fall of 5860 from 106,367 to 100,07 and recently to 97,722, sales figures for Mojo have been high.NME is also amongst those suffering with circulation figures, falling from 56 284 to 48 459 and as of June 40 948. Other music magazines such as Kerrang, Metal Hammer and Uncut are suffering from a fall in circulation figures too; however, Classical Rock has seen a rise in its circulation figures as they have risen from 66,362 to 70,188 and finally to 70,301.

In regards to music magazines which are similar to the one I am going to produce we see that as of early 2009, Vibe had a circulation of approximately 800,000, however recently this has risen to 851,224. This shows that music magazines of this genre are definitely quite popular, and since it would be magazines such as vibe which my magazine would be competing against on the music magazine market, I feel that my magazine would have success as it would bring a new edge to the genres that have not been addressed by other music magazines which have already been widely addressed and it would introduce people to the genres which have not been addressed by the music magazine market. When Looking at circulation figures, I found that XXL has also had its share in high circulation figures; as of June 2009 it stood as 312,203. Beginning of 2009 XXL's figures stood as 598,230, from then till now it has suffered a decline but not as much as other magazines have suffered.

This shows that there is most certainly room for a new magazine in the market. considering the genres my magazine is going to follow, we see there aren't many magazines in circulation like mine therefore showing that there's a gap for this kind of magazine and considering its competitors would be vibe I feel my magazine would affect their sales and circulation figures as from looking at the results I received from my questionnaire it would be fairly popular and have good sales figures.

Any buyers??

Following my decision to create a magazine focusing on, New Jack Swing, R&B and Soul, I decided I would create a questionnaire just to be sure that my magazine would be successful and would be bought by my target population and maybe also by those my magazine isn't aimed at. The questionnaire i produced was not only so that I know if my magazine will have buyers but also to see up to how much they'd be willing to pay for a magazine etc. Another purpose of my questionnaire is that I get a little insight as to what the readers of my magazine like, dislike and also a little of how they are as a person's taste in music tells a lot about a person.

These were the questions which I asked on my questionnaire:

What type of music are you into?
Is music a major part of your life?
Do you buy Music magazines? if yes do you buy them regularly?
Would you buy a music magazine if it featured articles on artists such as LL Cool J, Mary.J.Blige, Aaliyah etc?
Who's your favourite artist?
How much would you be willing to pay for a music magazine? please circle the appropriate answer: £1.80 - £3.00 £3.80 - £4.00 or a little more
Are you more likely to buy a monthly Glossy of a weekly Normie?
What Kind of stuff do you like to read about in the music magazines you buy?

I distributed my questionnaire to those in the age range which I am hoping to have my magazine bought by and also to some people who are older. The responses were as follows:


What type of music are you into?
98% answered R&B, 2% answered Hip-Hop.

Is music a major part of your life?
98% answered No 2% answered Yes.

Do you buy Music magazines? if yes do you buy them regularly?
80% answered Yes - Weekly. 20% answered No.

Would you buy a music magazine if it featured articles on artists such as LL Cool J, Mary.J.Blige, Aaliyah etc?
90% answered yes, 10% answered No.

Who's your favourite artist?
Various answers i.e. Mary.J.Blige etc.

How much would you be willing to pay for a music magazine? please circle the appropriate answer: 1)£1.80 - £3.00 2)£3.80 - £4.00 or 3)a little more
35% circled option 1. 65% circled option 2. 0% circled option 3.

Are you more likely to buy a monthly Glossy, a weekly Normie or either you're not too bothered as long as it has good articles?
70% answered a monthly Glossy. 25% answered a weekly Normie. 5% answered that they aren't too bothered...

What Kind of stuff do you like to read about in the music magazines you buy?
Various answers many revolving around celebrities, lifestyle, others included chart reviews etc.

Based on the answers of my questionnaire I am going to do my ultimate best to create a magazine which goes with what my readers would want. I am pleased to know that my magazine would have success.

Feedback 6.12.09

Zaibaa, you are doing a lot of detail for each piece of research, which is good to see. However, you do need to speed up! You should by now have completed all the research and planning and be starting production work. In lessons this week, I'd like to see you work on planning and starting production. Any other pieces of research you have still to do can be done at home or in free periods and added. We will still see your progression through the work even if it's done in this order.

Mrs A

What's next? Ah yes my magazine cover analysis etc...

As part of my research, I analyzed the cover of an issue of Vibe magazine. I chose to analyse Vibe as it is somewhat like the magazine i hope to produce for my final piece. I analysed the magazine cover using InDesign. There isn't really much I can say about the analysis of the cover as if you take a closer look at it speaks for itself.

Before now I had no clear idea of which genre of music my magazine is going to follow however,finally, i've come to a descision which genre it will follow. I've decided to base my magazine on a mix of genres which have played a big role in my life. through out my childhood i was tucked under the wing of my aunt Sam - thank god she loves music - if it werent for her i wouldnt be as cultured with music as I am today. because of this i have been introduced to music from, Soul, New Jack Swing and R&B background, from looking at the music magazine market i have seen that there aren't any magazines which are dedicated to these three genres together, R&B has been addressed by many but accompanied with Hip-Hop. I have despise Hip-Hop and how people always assume i like R&B and Hip-Hop when I don't. If I were to make a music magazine which focuses on these three genres it would be completely unique and orignal as like I said they've not been covere, New Jack Swing in particular. Beacause of this my USP has now changed as I am going to create a magzine targeted at individuals like myself who have been fortunate enough to listen to songs created by talented musical geniuses such as Boys ΙΙ Men and Shai. My magazine will be aimed at those between the ages of 16-25, however this magazine could appeal to older generations too.

To inspire me in creating my magazine i created a mood board on which i've cut out various styles of lettering and article headings which are the kind of articles I may use in my mood board magazine. The cut outs on my board have also inspired me of the colours I may possibly use in my magazine ansd also what i would like for my Contents page to consist of.

Magazine Conventions and much more....

In the magazine industry, whether they are...

• Lifestyle magazines e.g. Marie Claire
• Fashion Magazines e.g. Vogue
• Games and Computing magazines e.g. Xbox Live
• Music Magazines e.g. Vibe.

...They all stick to the same conventions.

Image, Logo & Header.

The image on the magazine must fit in with the content of the magazine and the target audience; this is fundamental as after all when people are in shops it's the cover of magazines which grab their attention and make them want to but the magazine. If the cover doesn't appeal to the audience it's aimed at it isn't going to drawn in readers the magazine is going to lose a lot of revenue. Also if the person on the cover is someone well known and someone who appeals to the target audience this will cause the reader want to read the magazine and see what it is that's said about the person on the cover. The header of the magazine must also do this as it also contributes to drawing in an audience. It's also very important that the colour scheme fits in with the content and target audience as then this becomes the house style of the magazine; which once again helps to draw in an audience. The logo of the magazine must also appeal to the target audience as after a length of time people learn to associate logos with the things they like and later depend on the logo to help them find what it is they want. If, from the very beginning, the logo of a magazine looks appealing and stands out it'll become pronounced to the audience and when they see the logo it'll make them want to see what's in the current issue and are more likely to buy it.

Mode of Address(MOD).

What is Mode of Address?

The Mode of Address is the way in which a text creates a relationship with it's audience. however the Mode of Address can also refer to the written text in magazines and how it addresses the reader - usually in a friendly and informal manner.

In magazines it is common for the MOD to be DIRECT ADDRESS - this is when whoever it is that's on the cover is looking straight out of the magazine, making it look as though they are looking right at you, thus enticing the reader to but the magazine. However even though Direct Address is the most common MOD, many magazine covers have used INDIRECT ADDRESS - where the person is looking away. This isn't a convention of music magazines but it has still been used on covers.

Stars and Celebrities.

Usually, Magazines include stars or celebrities on their covers as this helps boost sales therefore increasing their revenue. Stars and celebrities are used as they are admired and seen by the public as aspirational characters of society and seen by some as role models. They are included, conventionally, on music magazine covers simply for the purpose of selling the magazine as it is mainly cue to their popularity that people will but the magazine as they'll want to know why it's that particular star/celebrity on the cover.

Magazine Covers.

Magazine covers have many purposes; they're the main form of advertisement for the magazine because of this the cover has to represent the magazine as a whole. In retrospect magazine covers should be bright, interesting and eye-catching, without being any of these the cover is highly unlikely to draw in readers to buy the magazine. however considering this the colours should not only be bright and eye-catching and attractive, they should also in someway reflect the target audience and also in the case of music magazines, represent the genre of the music which the magazine follows for example if it were a rock magazine red and black would be appropriate etc.

Even though colour is a key concept of magazine covers it's also the fonts used on a cover which make it interesting, visually. We tend to see on covers a variety of fonts enabling the cover catch and hold the interest of readers, we see this throughout the entire magazine however we don't see hundreds of different fonts we see the same ones from the cover reappearing throughout as even though the magazine is striving to be interesting and eye-catching, at the same time it has to maintain a House Style. In the magazine industry House Styles are very important as they atop the magazines from looking amateur and shabby, and also because after a while consistent readers of the magazine begin to rely on the House Style of the magazine to catch their attention when on the shelves, making it easier for them to spot it. All this amounts to AIDA(S). AIDA(S) is the acronym used in marketing that describes a common list of events that is often undergone when selling a product/service.

A- Attention (Awareness): Attract the attention of the customer

I - Interest: Raise the customer's interest by focusing on a few key points

D - Desire: Make the customer desire the product and leading them to feel that buying the product will satisfy this desire.

A - Action: leading the customer to purchase the product.

S - Satisfaction: satisfy the customer so the they become regular buyers of the product.

Magazines do this through the type of articles that feature in them, the colours they use on the cover, the image on the cover and in the case of some magazines they offer freebies to the buyer e.g. Marie Claire has offered free bags to its readers repeatedly in the past.

Conventionally on the cover of any magazine it must contains the following components:

• Title/Header: this is usually at the top of the page, this creates the brand image of the magazine and will be instantly recognisable to the audience.
  
• One main model/star photographed: this image is usually either close up (a head & shoulders shot) or a medium shot using Direct MOD - on music magazine covers conventionally the main image can be of a solo artist or a group.
  
• Leading Caption: the leading caption usually dominates the page and stands out. The main focus of the Leading Caption is the feature article and should 'anchor' the cover story.
  
• Subheadings: the subheadings on the cover should indicate to the reader what the other main articles of the magazine are and advertise these stories to the audience. The subheadings usually appear on the right /left hand sides of the cover.
• Straplines: Straplines are usually found running along either the top or the bottom of the page. They highlight other stories/stars which appear in the magazine.

Even though it isn't one of the main conventions of magazine covers, sometimes we see a slogan used beneath the header to explain the magazine's content or to make it stand out against its rivals. On all magazines, regardless of what type they are, you will always find the date and barcode, now usually with a web address to entice readers to go on the magazine website. On the cover, usually somewhere close to the barcode you will find the price of the magazine. Magazine prices fluctuate between themselves depending on the quality of the magazine and also dependent on how often an issue of the magazine is released e.g. Monthly 'Glossy' magazines such as Marie Claire etc, are usually more expensive; they tend to be printed on glossy, high quality paper whereas weekly magazines are cheaper and are printed on low quality, normal paper e.g. NME.

Contents Pages.

Just like covers, magazine contents pages should also be bright, colourful and interesting - encouraging the reader to keep reading. Typically the page should be dominated mainly by images rather than text, helping the reader to browse and look through for what they want, images with page numbers are also included on the contents page. Again in regards to the images direct MOD is used. The title/header appears, usually on every page at the top of the page, but sometimes it is used at the bottom of the page. On the contents page there is always a list of what is in the magazine, the contents of the magazine are usually grouped according to what section everything comes under e.g. quizzes, reviews etc.

Feedback 24.11.09

Zaibaa,

You have completed your inital post and now need to ensure you upload your preliminary task front page and mock up of contents page and then reflect on them. Consider what's successful or unsuccessful about them. What have you learnt from the task? Consider use of technology and design ideas. What will you do again or not? Then you need to get going with your research. Find magazines to anlyse key pages, outline the conventions of music magazines, produce an audience questionnaire etc. See checklist.

Mrs A

Incoming! It's the first hurdle...The Preliminary Task....

The aim of the Preliminary Task was to create a college magazine cover and to produce a rough draft of the contents page so that those of us who were not familiar with the software could gain some experience from this task with In Design and Photoshop. Before I began my Preliminary Task, I did a few other quick tasks so that I could familiarise myself with the computer software; In Design and Photoshop so that I could use them efficiently and to the best of my ability when it came to producing my music magazine.

I'm glad I've had the opportunity to perform those quick tasks and my Preliminary Task because not only have I gained some experience with the two main pieces of software which I will be using to create my music magazine. Not only that, but also because it's triggered off a chain of ideas for my final product in my mind, which is proving to be useful as now, I have a clearer idea of what I would like my final piece to look like.... Now all I need is to think of a decent colour scheme and I doubt that's going to hit me any time soon (You'd think that after doing two years of GCSE Applied Art I'd have a keen eye for colour and be a confident about my choice but unfortunately... I'm not; one thought comes to me, I think it's good but then another hits me, I think that's better and it blasts the other out my head.. it's quite discouraging but it's something I'm just going to have to get over if I ever want to get my final piece how I want it). However - back to what really matters - as well as giving me ideas for my final design, it's also pointed out to me my mistakes giving me the chance to acknowledge my mistakes. To be completely honest, I've got to admit, even though I'm quite pleased that I've been able to get a firm grasp on the software I'm going to be using, I don't like my Preliminary Task much. I thought I could probably make a decent looking College magazine cover but now in hindsight, the sketch of my contents page looks better to me than the actual cover does.

From looking a my Preliminary task it's plain to see that I have in the past had absolutely no experience with In Design and that I've had a little with Photoshop but not much. Despite the disappointment I feel about my cover it isn't complete and utter disappointment; I know that when it comes to producing my final product I can extend the skills I've acquired on Photoshop and In Design and improve them so that I can use them to the best of my ability to ensure that I create my final piece the way I want it. Because of the lack of experience I have with In Design, it took me a while to get used to the software and a while longer to feel confident or even comfortable using it.

As the software was new to me, when creating my Preliminary Task, I had initially decided to have the background white with a bold mast head that stands out, at first I had originally thought of keeping the mast head black however when I was creating my cover I played around with a few colours so that i could see which was the best option for my mast head. I looked to see if blue was a good colour for the mast head but it didn't quite stand out as much as I had intended for the mast head to. I changed the blue to black and i was fairly pleased with how the mast head stood out but before making a definite decision to keep it black I changed the mast head red and saw that this stood out too against the white background as well as the black did. I decided to keep the mast head red as its not very often you see magazine mast heads in red, even on college and school magazines. I felt that because it's out of the norm for a mast head to be red if I were to keep it that way it would bring more originality to my magazine and grab the attention of onlookers more than if the mast head was black as we often see black and white but not very often that we see red and white and when looking at it intrigues the onlooker of what it is and so grabs attention that much more than black and white. On the original plan of the cover of my Preliminary task I had actually decided to keep the font in which "SMC Shout Out!!" was written the same however I changed my mind and decided to have "SMC" in one font and "Shout Out!!" in another as I felt that on my mast head, the words "Shout Out!!" should stand out more than "SMC" . Therefore I went on the www.dafont.com and looked at the many fonts they have to offer, I decided "SMC" should be written in a more schooly kind of font so I chose the font 'Marcelle Script' as to me it looked like a font you'd find on the letter head of an old school due to the slightly faded top of each letter. In order for my mast head to stand out i chose to have the main title in a font named 'Varsity Regular' a font I found on the same website. I chose this font because once again it shows that SMC is a learning institution, however at the same time it also shows that it's something for students, containing the sort of stuff they'd want to know about. I feel i made a good decision to colour the mast head red as it jumps out and grabs the attention - not on that, it also symbolises shouting out and the concept of being loud as red is a fairly loud colour.

As for the images I don't think i can really complain that much as I did an alright job of taking suitable pictures for the magazine cover. Except I do feel as though the Image on the left is a little dark - well obviously because he's wearing black but - if I'd have used auto correct then I think the image would look a little lighter and better. I'm pleased with the pictures I took before starting to do my Preliminary Task as I had intended to take pictures of students when they're at their best and just well being typical students e.g like the other image I've used on my cover, I like it as it just shows a glimpse of how students are in the cafeteria when they're surrounded by friends. I had taken other images but, like I said because I didn't have much experience with InDesign or even Photoshop, it took me a while to get the swing of it so most of the time I had to create my Preliminary task was - I'd say wasted because well naturally in any case when you have a deadline one would say wasted but it would be a blatant lie if I did because it wasn't, most of the time we had to create our Preliminary Tasks was spent getting a hang of the new software.

As for the articles which I chose would feature in the college magazine, it took me a while to think of suitable articles which could feature in the magazine, but I got there in the end =D . I'm pleased with the kind of article's I have chosen as I think they are appropriate and will appeal to the target audience; college students. Posted at the top of this post are images of: the plan of my magazine cover, the sketch of my contents page and the magazine cover I produced using InDesign and Photoshop.

Now to face the daunting task which is Coursework....

For my coursework I've chosen to make a music magazine. I chose this option as I love music and I know that I'll enjoy making a music magazine much more than I'll enjoy making an opening sequence for a film, even though i do love films. another reason why i chose this option is because, as much as everyone says they hate it, I on the other hand quite enjoy writing, especially if it's purely for creative purposes and the print option presented me with the perfect opportunity to get creative and have a little bit of fun.

When it comes down to deciding what genre of music my magazine will follow, my thoughts were at first quite jumbled. I, myself, don't have one single genre of music of which I can call myself a fan of as I like many different artists all of which are of different genres; one moment I'm dancing away to Sean Paul and the next thing you know I'm jumping on my bed singing with Fallout Boy at the top of my lungs. Its because of this I have many ideas in mind of which genre I would like my magazine to follow, I know that once I start taking a closer look at different music magazines I'll be able to make a decision more easily.

Considering that the music magazine market is so popular, I know it's going to be quite hard to find a Unique Selling Point (USP) as so many genres have already been covered from different angles already by many music magazines. Looking at music magazines, most appear to be male dominated e.g Kerrang. However not all are male dominated; there are magazines which are aimed at a unisex audience but even then it is generally males who tend to purchase these music magazines more than women. After deciding on which genre my magazine will follow, if I were to produce a magazine which draws in a female audience, it could include articles which give the latest celebrity gossip, secret celebrity style tips etc. This could possibly be my USP; I think by bringing in a bit more of the feminine side of the music industry in line with the public eye, it could make my product quite successful. however there are many possibilities of what my USP could be. Again I think once I make a final decision of which genre my magazine will follow it'll be easier for me to think of a definite USP.

Before I making a solid decision on which magazine I am going to produce, I'm going to have to conduct some research so that I can specify who the target audience would be for my music magazine. In order to this I'll make a questionnaire looking at popular music magazines and also Internet research. before I even begin to think of producing my product I need to finalize my idea; to do that I'll need to carry out in depth research of music magazines and also I'll have to confirm my product will have an audience, in order to do that I'll produce a questionnaire which will not only give me an indication of who my audience would be but also of what my audience would like to read about in my magazine. Also in order to ensure my product success, I'll look at magazines like my own and analyse their strengths, weaknesses and look closer at what it is that makes them successful.