Magazine name and fonts.

 As I've stated in my previous posts, a magazines name is very important. As is the fonts that the title is written in and the colours. It helps make the magazine stand out, and also, it helps the reader to know what sort of magazine it'll be, before they even read the rest of the magazine. It should be short and catchy and easy to remember.

Below are some images of pop magazine logos.

 Top of the Pops and Popstar! are magazines focused all about pop music, and Billboard and Rolling Stone magazines are a hybrid genre magazines, focusing on chart music or music in general, although the  majority of it is pop music. 

 The names of each magazine are short, sharp and easy to remember.  The colours of the magazines are very bright, using colours like the primary colours, such as reds, yellows, blues and also pinks. The fonts used are modern and eye-catching. Top of the Pops and Popstar! logos look very 'poppy' and definitely aimed at pre-teens/teenagers and at girls. This is because of the colours and the style of writing. Billboard  and Rolling Stone look like they're aimed at both genders and an older teen market. 

 My magazine name should be simple, and short. I have decided to aim my magazine at modern pop and classic pop music. Therefore the title should reflect this as should the colours and the font. 

  I think for the name of my magazine, I have a few ideas;

• AGPop or AGP magazine standing for 'all genre pop'.
• Classic Pop
• Hollywood Tonight
• Jam
• Pop Junkie
• Pop Life

 The names are short and simple and easily remembered. Like Rolling Stone magazine, some of the names are from songs or a play on words, which I think fit in perfectly for a music magazine. I will chose a range of fonts and then do a survey to find out what people find the most attractive

Institution

Magazines always have companies that will publish their magazines for them. This is because they can get lots of copies of the magazine printed very quickly.
 I have searched some pop magazines and found out who publishes their magazines;

• Smash Hits Magazine. Publishing company: EMAP Metro. EMAP Metro is a British media company. They have published other magazines such as Nintendo Official Magazine.
• Top of the Pops magazine. Publishing company: BBC Magazines. BBC Magazines published other magazines such as Girl Talk and It's Hot. BBC Magazines publishes magazines ranging from adult interests to pre-teen interests.

• Billboard magazine. Publishing company: Prometheus Global Media. They have published magazines such as Film Journal International. They publish a range of magazines, not just music magazines.
• Rolling Stone magazine. Publishing company: Wenner Media LLC. An American company.They've published other well known magazines such as Men's Journal and  US Weekly.

 It helps to have a big publisher because they will have all the equipment needed which helps to get copies printed quickly and also they will have a lot of money so they can advertise the product well. I think that with my magazine, I would look to BBC Magazines to publish my magazine because they have the most experience and knowledge when it comes to my target audience; they have specialized magazines for teenages and pre-teens, so I think the BBC Magazines would be the best option.

 The BBC Magazines are usually based on existing television programmes, so I think if BBC Magazines were to publish my magazine, they would make a programme to do with it. For example it could be the new Top Of The Pops or another music programme. If there is an existing programme that is to do with my magazine, this could give my magazine a bigger audience and more people would be interested in buying it.

 I think having failed that, Wenner Media LLC would be a good publisher to have. This is because they're an American based company and they'd be able to give my magazine a wider audience. So my magazine would appeal to English, Americans and other countries around the world.

Music Charts. Top 40- 28th November 2010.

 These are the UK top 40 singles in the chart this week. The charts will help me see how much of my music genre is in the top 40 and where abouts in the chart they come

1. X-Factor Finalists- Heroes
2. Ellie Goulding- Your Song
3. JLS- Love You More
4. Olly Murs- Thinking Of Me
5. Rihanna- Only Girl
6. Take That- The Flood
7. Far East Movement- G6
8. Katy Perry- Firework
9. Adele- Make You Feel My Love
10. Rihanna- What's My Name.
11. The Black Eyed Peas- The Time
12. Cee Lo Green- Forget You
13. Mike Posner- Cooler Than Me
14. Bruno Mars- Just The Way You Are (Amazing)
15. McFly -Shine A Light (feat. Taio Cruz)
16. Alexis Jordan- Happiness
17. Nelly -Just A Dream
18. P!nk- Raise Your Glass
19. Cheryl Cole- Promise This
20. The Saturdays- Higher (feat. Flo Rida)
21. Westlife -Safe
22. will.i.am & Nicki Minaj- Check It Out
23. Tinie Tempah -Written In The Stars (feat. Eric Turner)
24. B.o.B -Magic (feat. Rivers Cuomo)
25. Jessie J -Do It Like A Dude
26. Duck Sauce- Barbra Streisand
27. Tinchy Stryder -Game Over (feat. Chipmunk)
28. Gyptian -Hold You
29. Brett Domino -Gillian McKeith
30. Swedish House Mafia Vs Tinie Tempah -Miami 2 Ibiza
31. The Wanted -Heart Vacancy
32. Taio Cruz -Dynamite
33. Usher -More
34. The Wanted -All Time Low
35. Michael Bublé -Hollywood
36. Eminem -Love The Way You Lie (feat. Rihanna)
37. Gorillaz- Doncamatic (feat. Daley)
38. The Beatles- Let It Be
39. Olly Murs -Please Don't Let Me Go
40. Kylie Minogue -Better Than Today

 The majority of these songs are pop songs. With only a few other genres, but even these other genres still have a pop element in them. This shows me that pop songs are the most popular type of music in the charts, therefore my magazine will do well because lots of people like and listen to pop music. Also, the song Let It Be- The Beatles is in the charts, showing that even classic pop music is still getting in to the charts.
 Although my previous post shows that the numbers of magazines being bought has gone down, this shows that pop music is still being bought and listened too. This is because pop music is for a mainstream audience, so if I did a magazine on pop music, it would be a much safer option than if I did more of a niche audience magazine because I'd always have a relatively large audience.

Music magazine circulation figures July 2010.

 These are the current circulation figures for music magazines from 6 months ending June 2010. Some magazines post their circulation figures yearly, whilst others do it every 6 months.

Doc2

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 From these circualtion figures, I have found out that only Kerrang! has made a profit of 1.8% (and Classic Rock hasn't made a loss or profit), and the rest have made a loss of a considerable amount since last year;

• Metal Hammer has lost 4.3%
• Mojo has lost 6.2%
• NME has lost 17.3%
• Q has lost 10.7%
• Uncut has lost 3.2%

(source:

http://dezji.wordpress.com/2010/08/19/july-2010-music-magazine-circulation-figures/)

These are rather large losses, especially for leading magazines such as NME and Q. Although this isn't my music genre, this shows that magazines aren't doing that well. This could be down to a number of issues, for example, the genre may not appeal to a lot of people any more, their price may be too high and people on low incomes may not be able to afford the magazines or that they've simply lost interest in the contents of the magazines.
 This is important for me because, even though this isn't my music genre, pop genre magazines may be going the same way (and it'll be unknown until they publish their curculation figures) so when producing a magazine I must find out the risks of what made these magazines lose numbers and see if I can stop it happening to my magazine.

 Seeing as magazines aimed at my genre haven't yet posted circulation figues, I will look at the last two previous years figues to see if they have made a loss of profit.

• Top of the Pops magazine. In December 2008 its circulation figure was 119,739 however, in December 2009 it's figure had dropped to 107,576.
• Hot Press magazine. In December 2008 its figures was 19,387 however, in December 2009 it had also dropped to 18,394.
• Rolling Stone magazine. In 2004 its figures were 1,267,110 and in 2005 that had risen to 1,309,117.

This shows that pop music magazines had gone down in figures between '08 and '09. Although, you cannot be sure if their figures have risen or fallen since 2009, I still need to take in to account that they have in fact lost sales. However, Rolling Stone magazine had in fact risen in 2005. This may be because Rolling Stone magazine is a mixed genre magazine because a lot of its focus is on chart music, and although most of that is pop, there is other elements in there also. I haven't been able to find figures of 2009 onwards for Rolling Stone, so I cannot be sure that they have still risen in figures. Also back in 2005, people had slightly more money to spend because the world wasn't in recession so recession plays a big factor in to whether a magazine is still doing well or not.

(sources:

http://dezji.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/uk-music-magazine-circulation-figures-to-dec-2009/ 
http://www.magazine.org/CONSUMER_MARKETING/CIRC_TRENDS/16117.aspx)

 This means that my magazine will be competing against things like the internet. People are turning to the internet for music information because it's quick to access, free and simple to understand. Also, if your first language isn't English you can translate it over the internet, which you cannot do with a magazine.
 Ways magazines get around this is by;

• Putting their magazine online. So not only is their a magazine you can buy, you can go online and get more up-to-date information.
• Having freebies in the magazines.
• Having 4 magazines for the price of 1. For example, OK magazine has three extra magazines inside it's main magazine.  
• Making their magazine cover look attractive and interesting and making sure they have interesting subjects inside their magazine. People would buy a magazine if it was the latest news which the magazine claims can only be read in their magazine.

 

Journalistic Style

 Journalistic style is the way in which journalists write and report their article. Whilst writing, they take in to account things like; vocabulary, sentencing, the information given and the tone in which they write to make sure it's suitable for their audience. They also use the 5 W's when writing; Who, What, Where, When, Why and also How.
 A magazine artical will always consist of this sentencing structure;

• Heading. The headline is usually short and sweet and an incomplete sentence- for example "Obama Seizes Historic Win"
• A subheading. A sentence or two giving a short teaser about the artical.
• The story. The artical usually starts with what is called a "lead" or "intro". It is the very first sentence in an article and it is used to sum up the whole of the article. There are two types of leads. First there is a "hard lead". Where they write a comprehensive thesis, which tells the reader what the article will cover. Or there is a "soft lead", which is a more creative way of starting the sentence. If the writer uses a "soft lead" then they will usually follow this by using a "nut graph" which is facts. Once they have written their lead, they then go on to the rest of the artical. The lead is important because it is what grabs the readers attention and gets them to carry on reading.

  Before writing an article, the journalist must determin what is the most important thing to say first, and what is the least important which may be left to last or scrapped all together. The thing that they see as most important is "the hook" and is what draws people in to that artical. If they don't get the right "hook" then they may lose the readers attention and they may not bother reading the article.

Kanye West Billboard Album Review.

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 This is an album review of Kanye West's new album "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" from the website of Billboard Magazine.  The review isn't very long, as this keeps the attention of the readers. This review uses a "soft lead" to open the review up. It starts with the line; "Fresh off his media-storm-induced hiatus that followed his now-infamous hijacking of Taylor Swift's acceptance speech..." It starts with something that is irrelevant to his album, but something that will catch the readers attention. When Kanye West  interrupted Taylor Swift at the MTV awards in 2009, people will always refer Kanye to this incident. Therefore, journalists start an artical mentioning this and automatically the reader reads on.
 The tone of voice used in the text is friendly, like the writer is talking to you personally. And also the words used aren't too hard to understand. This is because of the audience it is aimed at. It is aimed at teenagers and early 20's, so they have written it like you are being spoken too by the writer personally because this appeals to them the most.
 No article is ever random there is always a point behind it. The point of this article was to review Kanye Wests new album, drawing attention to it, and in this case, it was good attention.
 There is also no spelling or grammar mistakes in this article, which is very important. This is because they get editors to check the article before it is printed or published.
 This has helped me when writing my own article, I will make sure I get straight to the point so the audience know what and who I am talking about. I will try and get the right tone of voice for my audiece, so it appeals to them and that they'll want to read it etc. Also, I will make sure someone proof reads my article to make sure there is no spelling or grammar mistakes.

Target audience questionnaire

To fully understand my target audience, I have devised a questionnaire. This will help me understand my TA and with their answers it can help be make my magazine suitable for their needs and wants.

I gave out the questionnaire to 10 people, out of the 10 there was;

• One 12's
• Two people aged 13-14
• Three people aged 15-17
• Four people aged over 18

 From the results of the questionnaire, I have found out that pop is the most popular genre with 6 out of the 10 people asked. There was at least one person from each age category that chose pop as their favourite genre. The most popular age group that chose pop was the over 18 category (3 out of the 4), which did come as a surprise as I thought the 13-14s would chose pop as their favourite. However, pop wasn't the only genre chosen. As well as pop, people ticked soul or indie as their favourite genre of music. This shows that people have a varied music taste and like more than one type of music. But it does show that pop music is popular.

 When asked if they bought music magazines; four people left the question out, two answered "no" and four answered "yes". The reasons the two answered no was because:-

• of lack of availibility
• couldn't find a magazine that appealed to their music genre preference
• didn't have their favourite artist in that often

The four that answered yes was because:-

• They like reading reviews of artists they like and they like finding out about new artists
• Music is their life, so they enjoy reading about all aspects of music
• If they see something on the cover that is interesting, they'll buy it.
• They like knowing what's going on in the musical world and like being up-to-date

 This shows that music magazines are still being bought, as people like to read about their favourite artists or like learning about new artists. Also, people like being kept up-to-date with everything that's going on and that if the cover of a magazine looks interesting, then some people will go and buy it. However, it does show that perhaps magazines aren't easily accessable everywhere, whether that's to do with where they live or if magazines don't get distributed to their local shops. Also, that perhaps magazines don't show enough varied artists. Some magazines show the same artists in a magazine each time which can put people off from buying a magazine.

 When it came to the question with price, everyone who answered said they would pay over £2 for a magazine. This did come a shock, as I thought everyone would want to pay as little as possible. However, they said that if it was something they really wanted, they would pay whatever the price is. Having said that, I think it's still important not to set the price too high as this could put off people who doesn't have a high socio economic status. And also, if my magazine and another magazine have the same person on the front, they would go for the cheaper magazine of the two, which is another reason to set the price pretty low.

 The parts of magazine people said they liked were things like;

• Reviews of up-coming albums
• Everything
• Articles on artists, mostly new up-and-coming artists
• Pictures
• Interviews
• Charts
• Quizzes
• Gossip pages

Things they weren't too keen on were things like;

• Advertisements (although they recognised they were essential)
• Lack of variety
• Price
• Giving unfair comments to artists that are just starting out
• When they write about an artist or band, without doing their research
• Horoscopes

 This shows that to make my magazine successful, I should include features that people enjoy about the magazine; pictures, interviews, reviews etc. And should try and not include things that aren't as popular, such as having a lack of variety and being bias on artists.

Additional comments:
These are what two people said would make them buy a magazine;

"It’s important in media to cover the whole spectrum of music. From mainstream to underground from past to present. If I saw everything in different genres as well as mainstream through underground and like past interviews of ‘old school’ artists maybe with like, an update too. Variety sales because people now a days are interested in so many different views, plus more ‘walks’ of life would buy a music magazine too."
and
"Something free in those pages."

 So, again, variation is important to many people who have an interests in many music genres. Also, people like free gifts in their magazines, which may be the difference between someone buying your magazine or a magazine with a free gift.

Target audience.

I will try and identify my target audience by using GRASS.
Gender: Mostly girls.
Race: All races
Age: Pre-teens and teenagers/young adults (early 20's)
Socio-economic Status: It can range in to different categories. If they don't work then they'll fit in to the D's and E categories. If they have a part time job, they could fit in the C categories, and if their parents work then they could again fit in to the A-C catagories.

Ideal reader:

• In the age range of 11-20
• Living at home with parent/s/guardian
• Like pop music. Current artists as well as older artists.
• Buy CDs, music DVDs, download music via iTunes etc.
• Attends concerts, although doesn't have to.
• Likes films like teenage rom-coms
• Likes TV shows such as reality TV shows, music chart shows.
• Spend their money on my magazine, their favourite artist/band merchandise

  It's important to know your audience as you need to know how to present and market your product. Depending on their interests depends on what channels you advertise the product, which magazines they get advertised in, who promotes the product, and who'll be featured in the product.

 This is what my ideal readers would look like, any ethnicity or teenager (13-18) reading it. They'd have posters of their favourite artists in their rooms, read the magazines alone or together with their friends etc.