My Music Magazine Moodboard

My music magazine is going to be based on the popular music genre, hence the name 'Total Pop!' I tried to make this come across in my mood board by making it brightly coloured, which I think are associated with pop music. I also included relevant popular artists, and features that will be included.

     I chose to base my magazine on pop music as it is the music I usually listen to and therefore I will be able to know the artists, include features that are usually found in pop music magazines, and also give honest opinions if I decide to give an example of a review.

     In my magazine, I will include; new releases, reviews, gossip, 'get the look' fashion pages, advertisements/posters, and also include exclusive interviews with pop artists.

     I want this magazine to be aimed at anyone who has an interest in popular music. I don't want the magazine to be taken too seriously, as in a want to write it in a friendly tone but still get vital information across. I want people to enjoy reading the magazine weekly whilst still gaining knowledge of their favourite artists, receive opinions on new music, and know up and coming release dates.

Music magazine mood board from rebeccamilesmedia

Comparing Two Music Magazines Covers -ESSAY

There are many different music magazines available based on the different music genres. The two magazine covers I will be comparing are ‘Total Guitar’ and ‘Terrorizer’ Both these magazines fit into the rock music genre, however rock as many sub genres which these two magazines do not match. For example ‘Total guitar’ aims at tame and general rock fans, whilst ‘Terrorizer’ falls into the heavy metal genera. This means that these two covers will use slightly different techniques to advertise to their chosen target audience.

                             The first magazine I am going to analyse is ‘Total guitar.’ The title, firstly, is a bold, plainly coloured title which could reflect the seriousness of the magazine, meaning they may take their music seriously. The title follows a font scheme that is used in all issues. This may be to make it easy for a regular reader to find this specific magazine. The main feature of this issue is a Green Day interview. This is made clear by the fact that the green day logo is the first thing people will see, even before the name of the magazine, by placing it in the centre of the page in bright, bold lettering. The band is associated with bright pink colours and the fact that the magazine have used this colour to highlight other features on the front cover could indicate that the band are so important and successful that they are taking over the magazine and destroying their serious look. At the top of the magazine, other bands are mentioned and this could make the magazine appeal to a wider audience and in the long run make more profit. Also a free gift is advertised, which could encourage someone to buy the magazine even more. 

                          With the ‘Terrorizer’ magazine, the name of the magazine in a font that looks like it is dripping, which could be associated with blood and appeal to the target audience. The main picture is of a member of a band, who is wearing dark colours and is showing an angry facial expression which again could advertise the magazine to the target audience. There is little writing on the sides of the magazines, and this may be to show the background more clearly. The background is a gloomy sky affect, linking into the mood and tone set by other features of the cover. The colour of the writing is a white/grey colour, looking like a stone, which reflects the tone of the music, which is a hard rock. Two bars are seen going across the top and bottom of the page, which is seen on news channels showing breaking news, so this could show that their news is update and is a must to know and extremely important which again makes the reader one step closer to purchasing it.

                           From looking at these magazines, I have gained some ideas on how to layout my music magazine. For example I know to stick to a particular colour and font scheme which may reflect the genre of music the magazine is based on. I also know to advertise the main feature more than focusing on making the title clear, as I have learnt that people are attracted the magazine based on the main picture/title. An idea that I saw on the ‘Total Guitar’ magazine was to use a certain type of language technique, such as using pro nouns like ‘your’ to relate and connect with the potential reader.

Magazine Publishers

Magazine publishers are the reason for magazines being successful. They are responsible for managing circulation, sales, production and editorial. Some publishers act as an editor to a magazine, but most like to leave initial ideas to other employees. Here are some well known publishers:

Bauer Media

 Bauer is now the largest consumer magazine publishing company in the UK, playing a primary role in the Women’s Weeklies, Women’s Interest, Women’s Lifestyle, TV Listings, Puzzles, Men’s Lifestyle, Music & Film and Specialist magazine markets. They have roughly 400 magazines, more than 100 websites and around 50 radio and TV programmes They produce magazines such as 'Take A Break', 'Bella', 'TV Choice', and many puzzle magazines. Their main ethos is to continue to innovate, driving its business and the ever-evolving magazine market forward. The main business of the Bauer Media Group is print business. Nevertheless, the company is reacting to the growing importance of digital media at home and abroad with investments and has established a position over the last few years with a broad range of digital products.

Source: http://www.bauer.co.uk/

National Magazine Company

The National Magazine Company is responible for Hearst Magazines UK.Its major interests include magazine, newspaper and business publishing, cable networks, television and radio broadcasting, internet businesses, TV production and distribution, newspaper features distribution and real estate. Hearst Magazines UK publishes 20 consumer titles in the UK: All About Soap, Best,Company, Cosmopolitan, Country Living, ELLE, ELLE Decoration, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s Bazaar, House Beautiful,Inside Soap, Prima, Red,SugarScape, Real People, Reveal and Zest. The group publishes three magazines, Men's Health, Runner’s World and Women's Healththrough Hearst-Rodale UK.

Source: http://www.hearst.co.uk

Future Publishing

Future publishing is an international media group responible for Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Digital Camera, CrossStitcher, Total Film, T3, Digital Camera, Computer Arts, Windows: The Official Magazine and Guitarist. Founded in 1985 with one magazine, today they have operations in the UK, US and Australia creating over 200 specialist publications, apps, websites and events.The publishing company hold market-leading positions in thier core sectors: Technology, Entertainment & Video Games, Sport & Auto, Music and Creative. Future attracts more than 38 million monthly unique visitors to thier digital properties websites; and they deliver over 100 digital editions and bespoke apps on tablet devices.They sell 2.2 million magazines every month, and export or syndicate to 89 countries, making them the UK's number on exporter and lisencer of magazine content.
Future is the Association of Online Publishers’ Consumer Digital Publisher of the Year.

Source: http://www.futureplc.com/

IPC Media

IPC Media is repsonible for magazines such as; Soaplife, Now, Teen Now, TV Times, Style at home, Shooting times, Pick me up, Uncut, TV Easy, NME, Look, Boat Owner, In Style, Ideal Home, Marie Claire, Horse and hound, Good to know recipes, Essentials, Feelgood Games, Golf Monthly, and cycling weekly amongst many others.IPC Media is committed to working in partnership with its consumers, advertisers, business partners and employees to deliver exceptional value, service, innovation and creativity. 

Source: http://www.ipcmedia.com/

Conde Nast 

Responsible for magazines such as; GQ, Vanity Far, Glamour, Vogue, GQ style, Tatler, Easy living, Brides, Love, Weird, Conde nast Traveller,  The world of interiors, and other magazines,Conde Nast is home to some of the world's most celebrated media brands. Conde Nast Combines the power of their brands, the passion of their people and their broad consumer reach to help support meaningful change in the community and the world. 

Source: http://www.condenast.com/

BBC Worldwide

BBC Worldwide is the commercial arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). We exist to maximise the value of the BBC's assets for the benefit of the licence fee payer by creating, acquiring, developing and exploiting media content and brands around the world. We also focus on creating value from BBC content and showcasing British talent both in the UK and international markets. In the past five years the company has invested over £1bn in the UK's creative sector making it a major supporter for this increasingly important part of the 'UK plc'. We also sell programmes and formats produced by more than 200 different UK independent producers. In 2011/12 the company saw sales rise by 5.4% to £1085m - exceeding the £1bn mark for a fourth year.BBC Worldwide's total returns to the BBC rose by 19% to a record £216m in 2011/12, taking the returns to over £1.3bn since 2004. In April 2009, the company was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise recognising the company's substantial growth in earnings over the past three years. BBC Worldwide operates under the BBC Charter and Agreement, which sets out the following four commercial criteria with which our activities must comply. BBC Worldwide must:

• Fit with the BBC's Public Purposes as set out in the Charter;
• Be commercially efficient;
• Not jeopardise the good reputation of the BBC or the value of the BBC brand;
• Comply with the BBC's Fair Trading Guidelines and avoid distorting the market

Source: http://www.bbcworldwide.com/about-us.aspx#about 

Hachette Filipacchi 

Hachette Filipacchi was founded by Louis Hachette in 1826 when he purchased the Librarie Brédif. Hachette was purchased by Matrain 1980, a firm associated with Tenot & Filipacchi. Hachette Filipacchi was nationalised in 1981 but remained a publicly traded firm.In France, Hachette Filipacchi Media publishes 47 magazines, including Action Auto Moto, Elle France, Entrevue, France Dimanche,Ici Paris, Joystick, Le Journal de Mickey, Parents, Paris Match, Jeune & Jolie, Pariscope, Photo, Première, Télé 7 Jours, Top Famille Magazine and TV Hebdo. It also publishes dailies La Provence, Nice-Matin or Corse Presse. HFM also owns 25% of Éditions Philippe Amaury, which publishes Le Parisien, L'Equipe and other sport magazines. 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachette_Filipacchi_M%C3%A9dias




 

My Preliminarly Task 2nd Layout Idea

Layout of school mag from rebeccamilesmedia
I have created a new idea on how to set out my school magazine front cover and contents page. Although I have posted a plan before, this plan has pictures included.

Introduction to Photoshop

 In my last lesson, I started practising using Photoshop, and I created a film poster (see link) To be honest, I'm personally not all that proud with the finished product, as I had trouble with my desktop. However I do understand what I did wrong and know the basics of Photoshop even though it doesn't show strongly.  
                     Firstly, I added the needed background, and 'Rasterised' the layer. Then I changed the gradient to give it a faded look. I did a similar process to this on the 3 pictures of the actors and the effective image, but I also cropped these pictures so it didn't have a white background, and therefore looking like it blended in. I then added text, which included the title of the film, and the actors names. Then lastly, I added the film credits and the age certificate of the movie.
                    Although it doesn't come across very well, I understood the process and I put the fact of my disappointing work down to the problems I had with my desktop. So in conclusion, I feel relatively confident about using Photoshop in the future.


                                   

Task Ideas for My Preliminary Task

Following on from my last post, I also have to begin gathering up my ideas for my articles which will be advertised on both my title and contents pages. Again, these need to reflect the school theme of my magazine and link to the community feel I want to achieve. The articles I wish to use include; 
'How to handle the amount of work'
'Where to go for what?'
 'Where to study within school'
 'common facts of the sixth form' 
'What to Wear'
' Whats going on around school'
'Whats been Happening?'
'Notices'
'Agony Aunt'
I will include more articles to advertise, but I know that when I get onto the task of taking pictures (refer to last post) I will get more inspiration for further articles to include in my preliminary task. 

Uses of Photographs in my Preliminary Task

Ideas for my Photographs to use in my Preliminary Task
For my preliminary task (Ruislip High school Sixth Form magazine) i need to use a vast number of photographs. One of these must be of a student at work in a medium close up shot. For this, I was thinking of including a picture of a fellow student completing work on a desktop. Before i take my photographs, i wanted to gather up some ideas of what sort of photographs i need to personally take. 
                           As my magazine is school based, the pictures must reflect this theme, as well as bringing the article's information to life. This means that my pictures will be taken around school. One of my magazine's articles will include life as a sixth form student, so i will take pictures of;  the reception area and the office (so students know where they need to go if they have a query with something in general), pictures of the study room and LRC (to show students places for quiet study) pictures of the common room and outdoor area (to show students where they can socialise) and pictures of classrooms around school (so students know where the majority of their lesson will take place.) These pictures will be used on my front cover and contents pages to advertise certain articles. Whilst i have a strong Idea of these pictures, I will take at least around 50 pictures so i will have more than enough when it comes to completing my ppreliminary task.
 My Photographs     
Here are some of the photos I took around the sixth form area to use in my preliminary task.

 One of the criteria's that I need to meet is to use a picture of a student working in medium close up. Here is the picture I intend to use.









Here is a picture of the outside area where students can socialise. This will fit in with the topic I plan to advertise on my contents page which is 'where to socalise' or something along those lines.

  
Here is a picture of the entrance to the sixth form part of the school. I'm thinking of maybe including this on my front cover. As the door is open, it implies a 'welcome' feel and may encourage the reader to read the magazine.  

Detailed Description of Ideal Readers and Themes of My Preliminary Task

Write up of Lesson

* Describe your ideal reader:
my ideal reader is an 16-18 year old sixth form student who attends Ruislip High School

* Describe your reader's typical day: 
My ideal readers day consists of: preparing for school which includes organizing homework or folders for that day, then they should try their best in understanding all pieces of new information. Socialising with friends is a common part of everyday life, and when they come home, they should hopefully get on with homework/extra work. My magazine will help them have a simple timetable for the day and gives ideas on how to manage these key events of everyday life.

* Sum up your magazine in one word:
essential

*Write a pitch to advertise your magazine:
My school magazine is a survival guide to the Ruislip High school sixth form. It answers questions on life in this sixth form, gives ideas on what to wear, how to manage work,  tells the reader what events are happening/happened around school, and also has an advice column for social or work problems. This magazine is an essential item for life as a Ruislip high sixth form student. It also gives the school a strong sense of community whilst also focusing on personal achievements.