PHOTO SHOOT

Photo Shoot

View more presentations from hollybrooke.

QUESTIONNAIRE

Age? With the questions I gave the following options of: 12-16, 17-22, 23-27. This is because these ages link main groups; those in education, those who may have started their working life or are in higher education and those who are beginning to start their own life. Age is a vital factor when considering a target demographic. I wanted to see if all the people who were of a similar age answered in the same way.

Do you currently buy a magazine regularly? If people are already loyal consumers of a magazine it makes the task of getting them to buy your magazine even harder. As a new magazine going on the shelves, customers may already be wary of the product; they will not want to part with their hard earned cash for something that does not meet their needs. The magazine has to be bigger and bolder than ever in order for it to sell. An initial marketing campaign is also crucial for the magazine to not only exist but also to survive and flourish alongside other main magazines on the shelf.

What do you view as vital in a music magazine? Though I’ve offered a range of options that will most definitely feature in the magazine I want to see what the consumers view as a priority. From this I can then see where time should be spent most. It would be pointless to emphasise on one feature that consumers don’t want; when the readers’ have brought the magazine once, it is important to keep them gripped so that they continue to purchase it.

READER PROFILE

FOCUS GROUP

NAME: Amy Fry

AGE: 16

LIKES: My new Links bracelet

DISLIKES: Boring Psycology lessons

PREFERRED MUSIC STYLE: 'I rarely buy CDs now. I just download my music from iTunes which is so much easier. I'll usually buy albums off there that are in the charts because that is what everyone else is lsitening too and I like knowing the songs from the album before they are released. I get to know new songs that are released through watching the music channels on TV; rather than listen to the radio, I'll have the TV on MTV. I'm constantly borrowing your (Brooke Rayner) Hed Kandi CDs too and I put them straight on my iPod.'

NAME: Poppy Adams

AGE: 17

LIKES: London

DISLIKES: Open doors

PREFERRED MUSIC STYLE: 'Although I do listen to a bit of everything (from Bob Dylan to Beyonce), I think Florence & the Machine is better than anything. I think she is a brilliant singer and I love her music! I brought her debut album - "Lungs" - as soon as it was released. I've seen five of her concerts and gigs now and really want to see her while she it touring Europe too. She has also released a new 4-disc album that I waited for ages to buy in HMV which includes her debut album, Live in Abbey Road and a DVD too.'

NAME: Holly Dibden

AGE: 17

LIKES: One Tree Hill

DISLIKES: Clouds and the rain

PREFFERED MUSIC STYLE: 'I listened to whatever is in the Top 40 and I listen to mainstream music (nothing of the a particular genre). I do buy quite a lot of soundtrack albums, either One Tree Hill stuff or movie soundtracks. Although I have an iTouch I usually listen to music through my laptop on YouTube.'

NAME: Alice Reid

AGE: 16

LIKES: River Island

DISLIKES: Mushroom Soup

PREFERRED MUSIC STYLE: 'I like dance music as well as garage. Most of my music I listened to, I hear becuase of my older brother and sister. I've got loads of Ministry of Sound albums, and love Dizzee Rascal!'

ANALYSIS OF ROLLING STONE

Rolling Stone is an American magazine that features music, politics and popular culture and is published fortnightly. The magazine was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner – who has remained editor and publisher ever since - and music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was named after the Muddy Waters song and is well known for its controversialist manner. In the 1990’s, the magazine changed to appeal to a younger demographic by focusing more on younger popular culture. One example of the magazine’s obvious success having The Beatles (whether is be together or individually) on the front cover over thirty times.

The main feature on the front cover is of Britney Spears, one of the most famous icons from the music industry; Spears’s status in itself will immediately grab the readers’ attention because she is so well-known. This is clear when the headline next to her is ‘Britney’, even without her last name being featured most people is the Rolling Stone demographic will still know who she is. The story accompanying her photograph says ‘that kiss’; this is referring to the kiss between herself and Madonna at the last VMA’s. It has been written in this way because it is assumed that readers’ will be aware this kiss due to the publicity and media focus it received straight after.

Britney is in the centre of the photograph with the other cover stories surrounding her. Her head is covering the title of the magazine this is a usual convention for most magazines as the photograph may be ruined if the title covered it and regular buyers of the magazine will know what the magazine due to its format and style without having to see the entire title.

Britney Spears has been dressed in a pair of knickers with a shirt in front of her as she leans into the wall. Her positioning is side on to the camera to make the image compatible for both male and female readers; however if this was a magazine purely designed for men (e.g. FHM) she would most probably be directed to face towards the camera. Sex sells, so by having Britney Spears dressed this way on the front cover Rolling Stone are almost bound to have successful sales for the issue. She is in between two walls, which in the layout of the front cover, act as an ideal backdrop for the cover stories.

In each issue of any magazine, the front cover will usually include a colour scheme; the chosen scheme of this issue is blue. This may challenge expectations because blue is usually used to represent the male gender but Britney Spears, a well-known singer and possibly sex symbol, is on the cover. This might have been done because the main target audience for this issue will be from the male market.

On the left side of the cover, it publicises Spears’s interview with the words ‘on Justin, that kiss and being alone’ as well as listing celebrity names such as David Boiwe and Bill Murray. It does not explain how they have been featured in the issue, for example interviews or photographs, Rolling Stone have just depended upon their names selling the issue; this why they have probably used the more well-known names in the magazine. Below both of these, there is the cover story: ‘Martin Scorsese’s history of the Blues’. Taking in account the fact that Rolling Stone is considered music magazine, this is the only specific story related to the musical industry. Although Britney Spears is a renowned figure and is famous through her musical ability, her interview is advertised as talking about her personal life as well as recent publicity stunts.

On the right side of the cover, there is a ‘2003 Hot List’, this (similarly to the part of the left hand side) just lists names of celebrities, bands and other artists; in the hope that just the names of the names of the celebrities will sell the magazine. This may seem rather risky but our culture has now become very celebrity orientated with media being almost central in teenagers and young adult’s lives’. The last story on the front cover is about politics another regular feature of a Rolling Stone magazine.

ANALYSIS OF Q

For my music magazine analysis, I have chosen a magazine called ‘Q’. This is published by the Bauer Media Group and has been since 1986. The founders (Mark Ellen and David Hepworth) began the publication because of their dismay at the music press at that time.

The double page spread is taken from an interview with the remaining band members of the Manic Street Preachers; it covers ten pages out of the 178. This textual analysis will be mainly focused on the fifth and sixth pages of those ten pages.

The fifth page consists of a photograph, part of the interview in the question and answer format as well as a feature in the form of a hand written piece of paper. There is also a top border saying ‘Manic Street Preachers’ and the generic page number and issue date. A photo shoot had clearly been organised for this piece of editorial and the photograph is take from this collection of photographs. Nicky Wire (the man photographed) has been represented in a rather dull light in comparison to his usually loud and bold persona and lifestyle. The magazine may have done this for two reasons: to either show that the band has past its time and they are no longer young and wild, or it may purely be to challenge people’s expectations. The clothes he is wearing show that he is still into that particular sub-culture.

The next feature on the page is a ‘self-penned 14 point list to Q in full’. The list has been written by one of the band members and by putting an exact copy of the list on the page makes the readers feel as if they have seen something secretive. The hand writing makes it more personal. The list makes the interview more interesting as there is something else to read other than just the interview. The list creates a less formal structure to the 10-page article.

The writing in this page is mostly a question and answer style interview. It uses swearing in the interview (f**k it); mostly probably because the magazine’s demographic uses this sort of language, the editors are trying to publish the interview as real as possible and also for the shock value it offers. Facial expressions are also described such as ‘colossal cringe’. This relaxed feeling makes the band seem much tamer compared to how people may have previously perceived them; they seem more approachable. The interview has been written with the questions in red and the answers in black. It has been put into two straight columns and the photograph is also straight; by putting the list in a slanted position it makes it seem more casual.

The second page of the double page spread is not attached or linked to the first one in any way, meaning that there is no photograph, graphics or writing crossing over from one to the other, the photograph is of Richey Edwards (the most prominent member of the band), after he famously carved the words ‘4Real’ into his forearm. Despite the fact that it is only one photograph, the magazine can take this risk because the photograph is so powerful and effective. Usually a page would not flippantly waste on one photograph but it has done because of the impact this photo has. Another reason for the effectiveness is because of the mystery of Richey Edwards.

The interview benefits both the magazine and the band. ‘Q’ have managed to sell more magazines because they have the Manic Street Preachers featured in it, and teh band have received good publicity from it as well as a full page at the end of the interview to promote their upcoming CD that was talked about throughout the interview.