Location planning for photoshoot - AS media

For the front cover of my music magazine I will be using a picture of the fictional artist in a woodland or field, being in a woodland or field gives the impression of peacefulness and serenity that the singer-songwriter genre is known for. Also being in a woodland matches my colour scheme of wood colours (brown, oranges, and yellows). 

For the contents page, I will have many pictures such as the fictional artist in the woodland again, this will relate back to the front cover picture, but it will be a different picture but in the same woodland, this will be the only picture on the contents page that I take however, because for the other pictures I will use pictures of other singer-songwriters from the internet, and pictures of festivals and instruments that I have gotten from the internet as well.

For the double page spread I will use a picture of the fictional artist again in a woodland, however I haven't decided whether I will make the background of the picture a solid beige colour or leave the background as the woodland. The original picture will be similar to the cover photo where the artist is in the woodland with their guitar.

Music magazine sketches - AS media

Typography for music magazine - AS media

Equipment list for photo-shoot - AS media

Camera

Tripod

Clothes (costume)

Guitar

Artist

Photo-shoot plan

First draft of story for double page spread - AS media

Artists name: Daniel Brooks

Main story: interview with rising artist

Questions with artist:

- What’s the sudden rise to fame been like for you? How have you been coping?

- Your newest song ‘Runaway’ went straight into the top 10 in the first week of release, this is the quickest any of your songs have gotten into the top 10. Why do you think this happened? What is special about this song in particular?

- Leading on from your answer about ‘Runaway’, was there anyone in particular that this song was written for? And what is the meaning behind it?

- Many people have been comparing you to artists such as Ed Sheeran, what has that been like for you?

- So do you think its right for you to be compared to Ed Sheeran? How similar do you think your music is to his?

- You grew up in a countryside village, and now you are living in an apartment in the middle of London. How have you been coping with this massive change and are you liking it there?

- You just finished your first UK stadium tour. What was it like performing in front of hundreds of people all over the country?

- Your first tour sold out in 2 days. What was your initial reaction to this news?

- You have been spotted a few times with other British musicians such as Harry Styles. How many celebrity friends have you made?

- Finally you have hinted at releasing an album in the summer, but you’ve been very hushed about it. What are your plans for this upcoming album?

First paragraph:

From singing on street corners to selling out stadiums tours Daniel Brooks hasn’t quite had time to adjust to his instant fame. He’s the artist with the voice that the ‘world has been waiting for’ says his friend and manager Simon Cowell. Recording sat him down and got an exclusive interview with the UK’s newest heartthrob.

Flat plan of my music magazine - AS media

Survey Monkey audience research - AS media

https://www.surveymonkey.com/analyze/PuL2fS1U4XrqqWq2DWwTq0BU1Cw73zX6eoQucln_2Fiq0_3D

Representation of men and women in the Singer-Songwriter genre - AS Media

In the singer-songwriter genre there is more men than women. This is mainly in the more mainstream singer-songwriter artists. Internationally this is seen with artists such as Ed Sheeran, John Mayor, and Jason Maraz. However in the UK we have lots of female artists such as Gabrielle Aplin, and Duffy, as well as male artists such as George Azera, and James Morrison.

In the singer-songwriter genre there are mainly men if you count for the past few decades as there have been artists such as John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, and Billy Joel. However in the past 10 years we have still had a male dominated singer songwriter genre with artists such as Ed Sheeran, James Morrison, Robbie Williams, and Paolo Nutini. This is both in the UK and international as Ed Sheeran is very popular in many countries around the world. Other artists that are popular internationally are Jason Maraz, John Mayor, and Coldplay.

There are not many female singer-songwriters over the past few decades, however the most famous would be Kate Bush and Sinead O'Conner. These artists music is very well known in the UK as well as in other countries such as countries in Europe. However in the past 10 years we have had other female artists such as Duffy, Gabrielle Aplin, and Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift has been popular all over the world for her mixture of country, pop, and singer-songwriter. Other artists such as Gabrielle Aplin and Duffy are mainly popular in the UK but do have singles and albums released in other countries.

Mood board Ideas for music magazine - AS media

http://uk.pinterest.com/hulbert2026/ideas-for-music-magazine-as-media/

Magazine and title ideas - AS media

Audience research - AS media

http://www.slideshare.net/jadehulbert/audience-research-42086574

NME Insitution research - AS media

Bauer Media group Institution research - AS media

IPC Insitution research - AS media

Picture of music magazine in a shop

The magazines in the middle are more eye catching than the ones around the outside. This would draw peoples attention from the people walking by. Also the magazines in the middle are more mainstream than the ones around the outside, this make readers see the mainstream ones first and are more likely to buy them.It is important to have more central magazines to be more eye catching as it will make people that do not often read magazines consider reading these magazines, this would bring in more income for the shop and the company that sells that magazine.It is important to make a magazine eye catching when designing a magazine as it will make regular and non-regular readers more likely to want to buy the magazine.

Music magazine comparison - NME

NME was first published in 1952. In the first decade of being published artists such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were featured on the cover.

The genre of NME is generally rock, alternative, and indie but has had a variety of artists such as Rihanna and Jay-Z in more recent years. This shows that NME is able to adapt to whatever is popular in the music industry at the time.

NME was first published as a music newspaper then changed to a magazine format in the 90s and has always been released one a week.

NME also has a chart list, however the NME chart is in the magazine.

The masthead for NME is the letters ‘NME’ and then the brand ‘new musical express’ this gives the magazine a link to its traditional roots of early years after publishing as it was originally called New Musical Express but was abbreviated to NME to be more catchy to readers. The masthead is very clean around the edges compared to the Kerrang! logo, this could show that the magazine is proper and is a clean magazine.

The main story is usually in much bigger font compared to the other stories, this emphasizes the story and the main story is usually linked to the artist that is on the cover, this makes it easier for the reader to understand what will be in the magazine most, this helps them decide whether they will want to buy the magazine.

The cover of NME is usually just the main image and the titles of the story around the edge, this means that the reader wont get confused when they look at the cover and they will be able to understand very quickly what the stories of the magazine will be.

Much like Kerrang! there are stories on the cover that are not about an artist, but are about music as an example there is ‘The state of music today’ this addresses the issue of music changing and whether that is good or not.

Music magazine comparison - Kerrang!

Kerrang! was first published in 1981. when it first was published it featured acts such as Bon Jovi, Slayer, and Poison on the cover.

The theme constantly changes but started as thrash and glam metal, but in the mid 90s changed to grunge.

In the 2000’s the genre changed again to become emo and metalcore, however this was criticized as they emphasized on it so much.

When Kerrang! was first published, it was in a magazine format and was released once a month, but soon changed to once a fortnight, then changed again to once a week.

Kerrang! started their Rock chart list in March 2012, however it is not featured in the magazine itself and is featured on Kerrang! TV and Kerrang! Radio.

The masthead for Kerrang! is the name ‘Kerrang!’ with cracks around the edge of each letter and lines going though each letter, the cracks around the letters could be the magazine suggesting that we are all corrupted and are starting to show cracks much like the letters in the logo is. The masthead also has an exclamation mark at the end of the word ‘Kerrang’ this could be because the genre they cover is more exciting than other music magazines around.

The main story titles on Kerrang! are usually right in the middle of the page, this would attract the readers attention better than having them at the side or at the bottom of the page, there is also more emphasis on the main story as it is usually in a different font to the rest of the stories.

There is almost always a lot going on on the cover of Kerrang! this could be because it makes the magazine more exciting than others that are on the magazine stand so would stand out more. They also have competitions advertised on the cover, if the competitions are exciting then this could make readers more likely to buy the magazine as they have a chance to win something.

Most of the time, the stories on the cover of Kerrang! are about artists in the genre, however it is common that the stories are sometimes about activities to do with the genre of music, for example they have had a story titled ‘Can moshing kill you?’ this is relevant to the genre of rock as at rock concerts moshing is an event that can occur regularly.

Analysis of music magazine contents pages

Analysis of music magazine covers

Q magazine timeline

                            It offered higher quality printing than other magazines at the time.  

          It was targeted at older audiences at an audience of all genders around the age of early 20’s. This was because people of these ages have paid jobs so the price of the magazine can be raised more than a magazine with a younger target audience.

          Q was first published on October 1986 in the UK.

         





        1980's - It was originally called ‘cue’, but was mistaken for a snooker magazine many times, so on the 200th edition 
          was changed to just the letter Q.

        Originally the colour scheme was plain, mainly black and white, this would have made the font and main picture stand out more on a magazine stand.

        The titles and sub-titles are yellow and white, so this 
          makes them more obvious and easier to read than if 
          they were a darker colour.

        In the main photo, the women in the picture looks
          happy and looks like she is enjoying herself, this gives 
 the impression that the magazine is enjoyable to read.

         1990's - When the name changed to Q so did the colour scheme.

        It changed to a red background with the Q being white in contrast to the red. This makes the magazine stand out on a stand compared to other magazines as red is a bright colour that was brighter than other magazine covers at the time. 

        Q also had a better printing quality, this would mean that the red would appear even brighter than other magazines.

          2000's - In the new millennium Q tried to make their magazine stand out more by adding block background 
          colours such as yellow, with the red logo, this would make 
          the magazine stand out and catch the readers eye more
          than any other magazines at the time.

         They also start giving out free gifts such as posters with 
         their magazines as it is advertised in the top right corner, 
         this would make readers more likely to buy the magazine as they have a chance of winning prizes.

         The main image is Chris Martin from Coldplay with his 
         mouth wide open, this makes the magazine look fun  and 
         that the cover will reflect the inside of the magazine.

          2010's - By the middle of the 2000’s and the 2010’s Q started making the titles bigger to bring attention to the artists names, this made the readers that liked those artists more likely to want to read the article.

          The background is also plain white now with pictures of artists generally dressed in black clothes to make the cover stand out more compared to other magazines, and give the magazine a more mature look so that more of the target audience will buy it.

Preliminary task - sketch of school magazines

Preliminary Task - School magazine

 While planning my magazine, I wanted to use a main full image so there wasn't too much on the front cover, this also made finding a colour for the font easier. The main photo gives the magazine a professional look as it has the head teacher on it.
For the colour scheme I decided to keep it white to make the cover seem more like a white sheet of paper that you would usually see in a school, this gives the magazine the impression of being an obvious school magazine instead of a business magazine.
The logo on the cover is the school logo which gives the impression that the school is proud to be Epsom and Ewell high school.
The font for the cover is very much like a font you would find in a high school, this shows that the magazine is an obvious high school magazine instead of an older one.






Similar to the front cover, I wanted to use a full main image instead of lots of little ones, this helps the readers attention stay on the text instead of lots of pictures around the page.
The text is all green, I did this because it goes well with the school colour scheme which is green, blue, and yellow, this gives the impression that the school is proud to show off its school colours.
The logo on the contents page is the school logo which gives the impression that the school is proud to be Epsom and Ewell high school.
The font for the contents page is very much like a font you would find in a high school, this shows that the magazine is an obvious high school magazine instead of an older one.

Analysis of school magazine covers