Kerrang is owned by a company called 'Bauer Media'. Bauer Media seem to be quite a substantial institution, they own a large variety of magazines, from men's magazines to cookery magazines. Bauer Media also own Q magazine, which is another magazine in the same sort of genre as what i am looking to do. Therefore, i do not think Bauer would be a good choice of publisher for my magazine.
Another big magazine company IPC Media. The main music magazine that they publish is NME, as this is one of the best selling music magazines around, not just in the rock genre, but altogether i do not think it would be a good idea to compete with this. IPC also own Guitar and Bass, this is another major selling magazine, although it is aimed more at the musician than the fan.
The publishers MusicMags would be a good publisher for my magazine. Although they publish a few magazines that I would be competing with, they do specialise in the music industry and I think this would be useful for my magazine.
Sunday, 12 December 2010
List of Features and Articles in My Magazine.
- An article from an up and coming local band, from Britain. This article would give a summary as to what the band are like, their influences. A little it about the band members themselves and maybe a guide as to where they will be playing in the near future. This is always appealing to young people looking for new and fresh bands, and the fact that they are British also seems more interesting to the British reader.
- Album reviews provide an insight as to what's good and bad. If a well known artist has a new album out, people are always inclined to see what the critics think of it before the reader invests in the album.
- I often read through interviews where fans have sent in their own questions to the artist or band. These features tend to be a bit more playful, with people questioning rumoured on tour anecdotes or questions about an artists habits, for example. This is always a good way of keeping the magazine fun.
- The main feature article of the magazine will of course be the cover story. It will be a double page spread, and include an interview with the artist. The questions will be on the artists work, personal life and other interesting stories. I feel this is what my target audience would be interested in knowing about their favourite artist.
Research into Target Audience
My magazine is going to attract a certain audience, and I would've thought it would be late teens to people in their late twenties. I don't think my magazine will attract one sex more than the other, although, i am going to be using black as a main font throughout, which may appeal to males more than females.
Certain magazines use specific colours to attract their demographic. Kerrang use a scheme of yellow, red and black to make certain things stand out. Kerrang has a very loud look about it, that could attract a younger audience. Whereas NME uses white as a background a lot more, a quieter and more sophisticated look.
Certain magazines use specific colours to attract their demographic. Kerrang use a scheme of yellow, red and black to make certain things stand out. Kerrang has a very loud look about it, that could attract a younger audience. Whereas NME uses white as a background a lot more, a quieter and more sophisticated look.
Monday, 29 November 2010
Deadlines
Finish Research and Planning 22nd November
Take Pictures 30th November
Articles and Headlines finished 5th December
Finishing touches 7/8th December
Project finished by 9th December
Take Pictures 30th November
Articles and Headlines finished 5th December
Finishing touches 7/8th December
Project finished by 9th December
Monday, 22 November 2010
List of Features and Articles in My Magazine.
- An article from an up and coming local band, from Britain. This article would give a summary as to what the band are like, their influences. A little it about the band members themselves and maybe a guide as to where they will be playing in the near future. This is always appealing to young people looking for new and fresh bands, and the fact that they are British also seems more interesting to the British reader.
- Album reviews provide an insight as to what's good and bad. If a well known artist has a new album out, people are always inclined to see what the critics think of it before the reader invests in the album.
- I often read through interviews where fans have sent in their own questions to the artist or band. These features tend to be a bit more playful, with people questioning rumoured on tour anecdotes or questions about an artists habits, for example. These questions/answers usually provide a few laughs, as my magazine is aimed at people in the late teens to late twenties, i think it is necessary that there is a bit of laughter.
- A detailed gig guide. This could possibly take up three to four pages. It would include the best bands to look out for live, reviews on live shows and dates and venues listed. I think this is critical in helping my magazine appeal to the demographic i am aiming at. Young people are often keen on going to concerts, and this could prove very helpful in guiding them towards the right show for them.
- A photo special. I could use this feature as an extra on my cover. Possibly, i could say 'Festival Photo Special', this makes it sound as if the feature is a one off and will never happen again, making someone more inclined to buy the magazine.
List of Possible Names For Magazine
Connotations with Alternative/Rock Music
Guitar
Loud - Crash, Heavy
Bass
Pace
Explosive - Charged
Riff
Music
Guitar
Loud - Crash, Heavy
Bass
Pace
Explosive - Charged
Riff
Music
Amp
Acoustics - Echo
New Music
Noise - Buzz, Blare
I have chosen a few words that reminded me of rock/alternative music (which is what my magazine is going to be based on). Once i was happy with my list of words i then used a thesaurus to help me expand my ideas.
The two in yellow are the two i'm considering for my magazine. Echo has a musical sound to it, and also sounds quite elegant and sophisticated, which is what i am looking for.
Crash sounds a bit more aggressive and vibrant. Both names could be used for my magazine, but one may attract a slightly older/younger audience.
I am going with 'Echo', it has broader music connotations than 'Crash', which sounds heavy and will pin the magazine down to one genre. Whereas 'Echo' sounds a lot more general, although i will be focusing on one genre i am not limited to only featuring one specific genre.
I am going with 'Echo', it has broader music connotations than 'Crash', which sounds heavy and will pin the magazine down to one genre. Whereas 'Echo' sounds a lot more general, although i will be focusing on one genre i am not limited to only featuring one specific genre.
Monday, 15 November 2010
Content Research
Each magazine has a certain house style. This can be trademark colours, logos, fonts or the language used. I'm trying to find what sort of conventions are used, and how they target their audience.
http://www.nme.com/ - NME are recognised for their use of the colours black, red and white. If they used varying colours for each issue, a potential consumer may not pin point the NME magazine. They obviously use the font and colour for the masthead each time, if they changed this the audience would be very confused as to which magazine it is. I am going to have to select a 2 or 3 colours as my whole magazine theme, and a general font that runs through.
NME have quite an up front style of writing, they are not scared to use expletives, which may isolate some readers. The ratio of image to text is about even, the text used always includes the most important facts/quotes, sometimes they elaborate on their stories. When it comes to interviews though they tend to stick to the story. From this evidence you can start to see that NME is not aimed at a reader that wants the ins and outs of the musical melodies, but just to know a bit about the artists inspiration and the artist themselves.
http://www.kerrang.com// - Kerrang use a mixture of different colours along their cover. But, the font for the more important information generally tends to be yellow or white. The background for the cover is liable to be black, or at least dark, reasons being that it is more recognisable and suits the theme of the magazine.
The font throughout the Kerrang is constant. It is always worn and ragged looking, with everything in capitals.
The actual content of Kerrang is a bit more light hearted than Q or NME magazine, in the sense that it doesn't have as much text and although the articles can be serious they tend to edge on the side of fun. There are a lot of images in Kerrang compared to the image count of some of it's rivals.
I think i prefer the style of NME, there is less on the page to look at, and the use of a maximum of three colours, which gives it a more sophisticated look. Although, i do like the style of the constant worn font that Kerrang uses the whole way through their magazine.
http://www.nme.com/ - NME are recognised for their use of the colours black, red and white. If they used varying colours for each issue, a potential consumer may not pin point the NME magazine. They obviously use the font and colour for the masthead each time, if they changed this the audience would be very confused as to which magazine it is. I am going to have to select a 2 or 3 colours as my whole magazine theme, and a general font that runs through.
NME have quite an up front style of writing, they are not scared to use expletives, which may isolate some readers. The ratio of image to text is about even, the text used always includes the most important facts/quotes, sometimes they elaborate on their stories. When it comes to interviews though they tend to stick to the story. From this evidence you can start to see that NME is not aimed at a reader that wants the ins and outs of the musical melodies, but just to know a bit about the artists inspiration and the artist themselves.
http://www.kerrang.com// - Kerrang use a mixture of different colours along their cover. But, the font for the more important information generally tends to be yellow or white. The background for the cover is liable to be black, or at least dark, reasons being that it is more recognisable and suits the theme of the magazine.
The font throughout the Kerrang is constant. It is always worn and ragged looking, with everything in capitals.
The actual content of Kerrang is a bit more light hearted than Q or NME magazine, in the sense that it doesn't have as much text and although the articles can be serious they tend to edge on the side of fun. There are a lot of images in Kerrang compared to the image count of some of it's rivals.
I think i prefer the style of NME, there is less on the page to look at, and the use of a maximum of three colours, which gives it a more sophisticated look. Although, i do like the style of the constant worn font that Kerrang uses the whole way through their magazine.
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Researching Names of Other Related Magazines
To try and find a name that will not only entice a potential consumer, but also set my magazine apart from the other competing magazines, I have conducted some research into magazines to unveil what works and what doesn't. I looked into magazines that are heavily related to the genre i would be interested in using.
http://www.kerrang.com/ - This magazine is one of the most established music institutions, not just as a magazine. Although, the magazine is primarily what it is best known for.
The theory behind the name comes from the sound of playing a power chord on an electric guitar. There are obvious connotations with the electric guitar and rock, and the sound an electric guitar makes.
All over the world people recognise the name of Kerrang to be coincided with rock music. Another vital trademark of the name Kerrang is that of their font. The font is very edgy and ragged, just like that of the bands in the magazine. The font is influential in informing the audience about what Kerrang is all about.
http://www.nme.com/ - NME stands for New Musical Express. NME is aimed at a wider audience, compared to some of it's peers. It is generally aimed at alternative music fans, but it does regularly feature heavier rock bands or pop artists.
Where as other competing magazines have used names that are a little more out there and controversial, NME has used the initials of the three words that defines them. Although NME isn't as loud as some of the other titles it is quite hard to forget. NME have gone for a more conservative feel and look with their magazine and this is portrayed with their title, it sounds more sophisticated and grown up, this reason being, they want to attract a more mature audience.
The font chosen by NME is very simple. They decided that there was no need for unnecessary affects on their font, and stuck to a bold, red and ultimately recognisable banner.
http://www.rocksound.tv/magazine - Rock Sound magazine is a magazine that focuses rock, punk and 'emo' music. Rock Sound is aimed at a younger audience.
The name Rock Sound is a clear statement from the magazine to the reader, of what the magazine stands for, rock music. The name is very simple, but in this case i don't think it is notably affective. The name doesn't really catch on, and could be confused with other magazines. Besides what i think about the title, the magazine cover obviously works as a whole, as Rock Sound is one of the top selling rock magazines, so i will have to focus on this later on as i progress.
http://www.chartattack.com/ - CHARTattack is a Canadian Rock, Pop and Indie magazine. It seems to be aimed at a variety of different age groups, that are of course interested in the specified genres.
The name CHARTattack sounds a lot like the phrase 'heart attack', therefore it instantly hits you. The word Chart obviously tells you something about music, and attack sounds more aggressive. So they are almost sitting on the fence, in that they don't want to sound too young (which would alienate older readers), but at the same time they want to sound too conservative. This is also apparent in the magazine's content. I like the this technique of balancing things out as to keep a wider audience, and am keen to use it when deciding upon a name for my magazine.
I have learned a lot from just simply finding out about the background of magazines titles and what is best to suit a specific audience. I will definitely relate back to this research later on in my planning.
http://www.kerrang.com/ - This magazine is one of the most established music institutions, not just as a magazine. Although, the magazine is primarily what it is best known for.
The theory behind the name comes from the sound of playing a power chord on an electric guitar. There are obvious connotations with the electric guitar and rock, and the sound an electric guitar makes.
All over the world people recognise the name of Kerrang to be coincided with rock music. Another vital trademark of the name Kerrang is that of their font. The font is very edgy and ragged, just like that of the bands in the magazine. The font is influential in informing the audience about what Kerrang is all about.
http://www.nme.com/ - NME stands for New Musical Express. NME is aimed at a wider audience, compared to some of it's peers. It is generally aimed at alternative music fans, but it does regularly feature heavier rock bands or pop artists.
Where as other competing magazines have used names that are a little more out there and controversial, NME has used the initials of the three words that defines them. Although NME isn't as loud as some of the other titles it is quite hard to forget. NME have gone for a more conservative feel and look with their magazine and this is portrayed with their title, it sounds more sophisticated and grown up, this reason being, they want to attract a more mature audience.
The font chosen by NME is very simple. They decided that there was no need for unnecessary affects on their font, and stuck to a bold, red and ultimately recognisable banner.
http://www.rocksound.tv/magazine - Rock Sound magazine is a magazine that focuses rock, punk and 'emo' music. Rock Sound is aimed at a younger audience.
The name Rock Sound is a clear statement from the magazine to the reader, of what the magazine stands for, rock music. The name is very simple, but in this case i don't think it is notably affective. The name doesn't really catch on, and could be confused with other magazines. Besides what i think about the title, the magazine cover obviously works as a whole, as Rock Sound is one of the top selling rock magazines, so i will have to focus on this later on as i progress.
http://www.chartattack.com/ - CHARTattack is a Canadian Rock, Pop and Indie magazine. It seems to be aimed at a variety of different age groups, that are of course interested in the specified genres.
The name CHARTattack sounds a lot like the phrase 'heart attack', therefore it instantly hits you. The word Chart obviously tells you something about music, and attack sounds more aggressive. So they are almost sitting on the fence, in that they don't want to sound too young (which would alienate older readers), but at the same time they want to sound too conservative. This is also apparent in the magazine's content. I like the this technique of balancing things out as to keep a wider audience, and am keen to use it when deciding upon a name for my magazine.
I have learned a lot from just simply finding out about the background of magazines titles and what is best to suit a specific audience. I will definitely relate back to this research later on in my planning.
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