Conventions of a music magazine; contents page.

 This is a contents page from Vibe magazine. A contents page is important as it gives away some information on what will be featured in the magazine and where. The contents page can help a person decide on whether they will or wont get the magazine because it enables them to have a quick glance at the magazines format and contents and if they do not like the majority of what is featured in the magazine, they can put the magazine back and not buy it. Therefore it is important to give away enough information to attract and interest the reader, but not give away the whole of the contents entirely.

  The colour of the background is grey and this carries on the theme from the front cover of the magazine, as does the colours of the text. Ciara who is on the cover and featured in the contents page is also wearing grey to match the theme of the magazine and complement it nicely. The colours grey, black and white are simple but effective. This is a contents page and although it has to match and carry on the theme of the front of the magazine, it doesn't have to be 'over the top', but also it can't be too boring. In this case, I think, that simple is best and the use of colours work really well, especially with each other.

  The text of the contents page is also quite chatty, much like an article in a magazine for example it uses words such as 'gasp!' and 'CrazySexyNasty'. The use of colloquial language and onomatopoeia makes the reader become relaxed because it is like someone is talking to them or reading it out loud to them and talking to them on their level. It isn't too sophisticated language and it's chatty and friendly. Also, the size of the text and style of font is important. The word 'contents' is written in large bold white writing to attract your attention and to show you that this is the contents page. There are headers such as 'features' and 'fashion', these are in a different font to the 'contents' font as to keep attention and to not make it look boring. There is then a sub-heading and page numbers which are the same size. The sub-headings are written in capital letters as this attracts the eyes of the reader to look at it. Sub-headings are usually puns or play on words to add humor and interest to the article. There is then a small paragraph of information under the sub-headings explaining what will happen on each page. Also, in this particular magazine, they have stated who has written the article, the person who has photographed the artist or model and who has styled the person/s in the article. For example, Ciara was photographed by Simon Emmett.

  A contents page usually contains a photograph or photographs of people who will be featured in the magazine. Usually, the person who is on the front cover also appears in the contents page. This is to help show the reader that they are the main focus of the magazine and will probably have an interview close to the front of the magazine. The pose of the artist is much like the front of the cover, which is suductive and can been seen as inviting. She has her legs in the air and isn't wearing much appart from a leotard also she is looking dead into the camera with her eyes squinted and lips pouting, which helps her seductive image. The seductive image would probably mostly appeal to men, and her clothing and jewelry would appeal more to the female audience.

 This has helped me decide what to do on my magazine contents page. It should be kept simple, but not boring and not give too much away about what will be featured in the magazine. The colouring is also important as it should be continuing the theme from the front page, which will then carry on to the rest of the magazine. The artists or artist featured in the contents page is also important.

Conventions of a music magazine; Double page article.

 This is a double page article from NME magazine featuring an interview with Lily Allen. There is a quote from the interview on the first page, taking up half of the page, with the text written below, and on the other side, is a photo of Lily Allen, which takes up the whole page.
 The quote is something Lily has said, and the writer usually puts a quote in large lettering, especially if it's interesting, funny or rude in some way. The quote looks like newspaper clippings put together to make a sentence, and this carries on from the theme of the front cover.
 There is a drop down letter at the begging of the text, which is a common theme in most magazines. It attracts your attention and makes it look and seem important. Above the text is a short introduction about Lily and what is going to be spoken about in the interview to give the reader a brief over-view of the interview. Although it is important not to give all of what has been said in the interview away in the opening lines, it should be interesting and contain enough information to gain the interest of the reader for them to carry on reading it.
 Lilys body language in the picture can be taken two ways; inviting or in-your-face-couldn't-care-less pose. I think it is a mixture of both. Lily is putting her upper body forwards which is inviting to the reader as it is like she is friendly and telling you to 'sit and read' the interview and also she is looking into the camera which helps her connect with the reader. However, it also could be the second pose. Her arms are on her hips and her head is faced away from the camera. This reflects what is being said in the title 'people think I'm an attention seeker but I'm just honest' and her pose looks like she is coming across with 'an honest but hurtful' attitude.
 The language is very chatty and informal, as they use such words as 'nips' and 'squawking' and also there is frequent use of swearing. The writer goes through step-by-step what happened when he first arrived at her home and writes it as if he was describing it to a friend or someone they were talking to; "all this scene needs is for the Christmas tree to fall on her attendant personal assistant's head."
 For my magazine, I should adopt an informal tone of writing, as this is the norm for most music magazines. It helps the readers to connect with what is being said and written and also makes it seem less formal and serious. Although, at the same time, it shouldn't be too informal and use too much vulgar or inappropriate language.

Conventions of a music magazine; front cover

 Every front cover of a magazine has a title. The title is one of the most important parts of a magazine cover. It can help tell a person what sort of music the magazine specializes in or if it’s an ‘all genre’ magazine. It also needs to stand out so people will be able to see what magazine they’re buying and also so that it is your magazine they see first, not someone else’s. Also, the title 'Billboard' can suggest this this magazine specializes in chart music and this would appeal to pre-teens or teenagers as they are the age group that usually listen to chart music. The colours on the Billboard are mostly primary colours; red, blue and yellow. This can appeal to the target audience of the magazine as bright, pop colours would interest and attract teens and pre-teens. This is also because chart music is mostly made up of pop music therefore this is why those colours would be appropriate.

  The name of the artist appearing in the magazine usually goes on the front as to let people know who will be featured in the magazine. Sometimes they will limit the name to just the person on the cover, or sometimes they write which other stars will be featured in the magazine. This is to gain interest from the public as they will know who will be in the magazine and can buy according to if they like the stars featured or not.

  The date is always printed on the front so people know that it is current and up-to-date. Also, the price is usually somewhere on the front of the magazine, the cheaper the magazine, the larger the text advertising the price.

 Every magazine has a front cover of someone famous or popular at the particular moment in time. They chose to do this as it gets people interested and they want to read about famous people and people they like. Usually the picture is a close up shot or a medium close up, however sometimes they do have full body shots. They do this to attract the reader into looking further into the magazine and make it look inviting.

  There are different fonts and sizes of text used on the front of the magazine, as to make it look more interesting and not boring and to make it stand out to different magazines. Also, the slogans used on the front of a magazine is important, ‘in this issue’ shows that this particular artist will be talked about, and most likely has done an interview which is featured in the magazine.

  The colours the artist wears on the cover, usualy matches and corresponds with the colours and theme of the magazine. For example, the artist on this particular cover- Michael Jackson- is wearing black and white which corrosponds nicely with the magazines black and white writing and background of the magazine. Also, his skin tone complements the colours used in the text-the reds and whites etc, nicely. This is important feature as it makes the magazine look profesional and sophisticated, but it also makes it look interesting and appeals to the magazine target audience.

  Also barcodes are always on the front of a magazine.

  These features are common on the front of magazines and I will use these features when I am producing my own magazine cover. It is important to appeal to your target audience but still make your magazine cover look attractive and presentable, which may pursuade others to look at and buy the magazine.

Unique Selling Point

A unique selling point is something that makes a magazine stand out from the others.  Many things can be classed as a magazines 'unique selling point'. Such as cheaper price than leading magazines or they may always have popular artists featured in their magazines.
 There are a lot of pop music magazines out in the public domain, so I will need a good USP to make mine better than the leading magazines out there.
  I think that my USP will be the fact that my magazine focuses on not only current pop music, but also older, classic pop music. This will help my magazine gain extra interest from people who like older music, but also current up-to-date music. Also, I think it'll interest the readers who want the magazine for the current pop music, because it'll teach them about classic pop and introduce them to 'new' music.

Initial Ideas

 After careful consideration I have decided to do a Pop genre magazine for my project. I feel this would be a good option because I like pop music and I think it would be the best option to do as I would find it easier getting people for the magazine and who would look like 'pop artists' rather than Soul for example.

Initial Ideas, continued.

Below, I have put pictures of artists that have inspired me to chose my chosen genre. Because I am still confused as to which genre to chose, I have put pictures of three artists from each genre; Soul, Pop and Folk.

Soul:

This is James Brown on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. James Brown is known as the 'Godfather of Soul' and he and others (such as Motown artists) have inspired me to look at Soul and R'n'B genre. I like this cover, the colours used are dark colours such as blues and blacks. I think it makes the artist stand out and also the picture is taken from a high angle shot, making us look up at James, which I think is an effective shot to use.

Pop:

This is Michael Jackson also on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine. Michael Jackson is known as 'The King of Pop' (or The King of Rock, Pop and Soul) and he has inspired me too look at the Pop genre. I also love this cover, and I think it would be good to use for my front cover. The colours used are bright, such as yellows to make it stand out and catch you attention. Michael's body language is leaned in towards the camera and he's looking dead into the lense, like he's looking directly at you. It's also a close up shot which is also a good shot to use on a front cover.

Folk:

This is Leonard Cohen on the cover of MOJO. Leonard Cohen is mostly Folk genre, but also Rock/Folk Rock and he's been known as 'Rocks greatest poet'. I don't like this cover as much as the other two, although I like the pose of Leonard, how he's looking in to the camera, I don't think it stands out as much, I like the gray colour element but I think there's too much gray and that the red doesn't read well on it. This would probably be a cover I'd steer clear from and not produce.

Preliminary Task

 The preliminary task for print is a college magazine, for it I will need to do a front cover with a student in median-close up with a story line and a header. Also, I will need to do a mock up a contents page and a double page spread. The mock up will be done on paper. I will then analyze my magazine.

 This is my front cover of my magazine I did for my preliminary task. I did a preliminary task to help me decide what I should do differently when I produce my actual magazine. 

 There are many things I would do differently when I produce my magazine. For example, I think the colours are pretty boring and isn't very attractive. Although, I do think the colours white, blues and yellow work together nicely. Also, I've only used two different types of fonts, and although I've varied the font sizes, I think it looks pretty boring using the same two fonts all the time. I chose the fonts to attract the audience who would read it, which is teenagers. So, I think the font I chose works pretty well for my target audience. 

 I also think I've over-used capital letters. I tried to make it stand out which is why I wrote everything in capital letters. However, it doesn't look professional with everything in capitals because on a magazine cover, not everything is in capitals. They use different methods to make their magazine stand out, such as colours and fonts. So I think I should focus more on those aspects to help make the magazine look interesting and make it stand out, rather than writing everything in capitals.
 I think I should also add more texts and pictures on the front, as to not make it look empty and 'not finished'.
 The titles pretty boring, and I think I should come up with something more creative when I produce my actual magazine.
 The barcode is in a good place, I think, because magazines tend to have them on the front. Also, I like the placing of the date, price and issue number at the top of the magazine.

This is a mock up of my contents page. It will include around six pictures. One large main picture of whoever is on my front cover and then underneath smaller pictures of other people featured in the magazine. I have placed the contents page at the top of the page and it'll be in big letters. On the left hand  side of this, there will be text describing what is in the magazine, and perhaps one or two pictures next to the writing. The images will be a mixture of black and white and colour, making it look interesting and varied. The font of the text will be in different sizes and probably a mixture of two fonts. Again, making it varied and interesting. 

 I need to think about more detail such as colours and what will be written in the text. Also, I should do more research on contents pages to see if this is a good idea for a contents page and whether this looks like a contents page which could belong in a pop magazine.