Third Draft

Third Draft

This draft is my best and is the one I shall base my final outcome on. However there are a few things I intend to change next time. I will use a range of coloured font, with 'New upcoming stars' in dark blue like the masthead. I will change the font of the tagline as it doesn't fit with the rest of the cover and is too thin and hard to read. I like the colour scheme of this magazine however, with my original colours of dark blue, white and black being used. I am happy with the positioning of the coverlines and the overall arrangement of the cover. I will now take some more photos to use for my cover, contents page and double page spread. I have also changed the tagline to 'Music is our calling'. This is because I feel it has a direct address to the audience with the word 'our' and as my target audience are people who connect with their music, the overall message of 'music is our calling' is something they would most likely agree with. 

Second Draft

Second Draft

My second attempt has better features than my previous one, however the image used is not as good and the colour scheme is not as appealing. The layout of coverlines is better and I added a white background which helps it look neater and more professional. For my next attempt I will find a better picture and use a colour scheme that uses black, white and one other colour rather than the mixed, dark colour scheme of this one. 

First Draft

First Draft

I have put together a first draft to try and work out what works and what doesn't so I can use it in the final outcome. In my opinion the colour scheme has been continued nicely throughout the cover with the main colours being white, black and purple. There is a lack of consistency in the text font which might not look good to some people. I like how the smaller images have been added over the top and the image used for the cover. The coverlines need to stand out a bit more and I should probably add more of them. I would also rather have a white border around the page to make it look neater.

Are music magazines dying out?

Are magazines dying out?

Magazines are definitely threatened as there are new, easier, cheaper ways to get the information and content they provide. The sale numbers of weekly and monthly magazines has declined in recent years and there are now alternatives available. 

The internet is where most people get their information these days and it's a much quicker way to get access to content on music. Magazines are a much slower process and cost more to produce. It's a lot harder to keep up with news in magazine form whereas the internet can have the information available to the public within an hour. A lot of people have a fear of missing out on news and gossip and need to keep up with information. The internet makes this easy and can be accessed from anywhere, whereas a magazine involves waiting for the monthly/weekly issue or going out to the nearest shop to pick up a copy. 

However £2 billion worth of music magazines are purchased every year, showing they make a decent profit. 87% of the British population read music magazines. They also feel more special than anything on the internet as they can be help and become a possession that you own. 

My vision

My vision for my magazine

My magazine's function will be to provide entertainment and information to the target audience. It will be mostly entertainment, with the content serving purely to amuse the reader and allow them to become more indulged in their music. From my magazine, they will get pleasing content made to look appealing to the eye and information that is not available to them online such as interviews and pictures.

I plan on designing an appealing cover with all the conventions and results from the questionnaire. I have chosen the name 'Siren' because it links with the dark. 'alternative' theme of my magazine and also music, 'siren' being a mythical being that lead sailors to their deaths through hypnotic song. The double page spread will feature an interview with made-up artist Jonathan Samn and will contain images. The cover needs to follow a black, white and blue colour scheme with a mid-shot, the talent being any gender. I will keep it uncluttered and neat and put the masthead in the top left corner. 

Ideally, an Indie artist should be like their audience: Creative, connected to their music, can play their own instrument, and have an 'edgy' style and personality that may consist of smoking/drinking and wearing similar fashion to the fans of the genre(Skinny jeans, vintage clothing, piercings and tattoos). I am hoping to give my made-up artist a similar style and make him appeal to the audience. To do this I plan to edit tattoos and piercings onto an image to give Jonathan the ideals of an Indie artist.

Music Publishers

Music Publishers

Two main music publishers in the UK are and Bauer and TimeInc.UK. 

Bauer was originally a small German printing company and then came to the UK, becoming Britain's third largest publisher and purchasing other companies. Publishers like Bauer conglomerate with other companies to produce all forms of media. Bauer publishes Kerrang!, Q and Mojo. These are big companies however there are also small independent publishing alternatives. Shindig! is a magazine with a niche audience and therefore it runs by itself without the help of a large company. This would be ideal for my magazine as it is aimed at a more select target audience and would be better without the influence of a big company that might alter its image. 

Shindig! is clearly aimed at older people who listen to smaller, less-known bands and love their music. The magazine itself uses a retro-looking theme, especially in font and images. Kerrang! is obviously aimed at a wider audience as it features a wider range of content and contains modern artists and also a genre of music that is widely popular, especially among young people. The font and images do not influence the magazines overall image as much as Shindig!, where it has the fixed sense of being retro and for music in the past. The cover of Kerrang! would appeal to a larger range of people than the cover of Shindig!. 

Bauer produce many things such as radio and many other magazines in a vast range of genres and because of this their company is huge. However I feel that Indie magazines are definitely more independently produced and not influenced by the reputation of a large, well-known company. This is because they're usually aimed at a niche audience and have a particular style. The whole thing about Indie is that it is meant to be less well-known, different and indie-pendent(lol). 

However the style of Shindig! would not appeal to many people, including myself, but that is because it is aimed at an older generation. In order to attract my target audience but also maybe attract members of other groups I need to make my magazine less unique and stylised to avoid having a very small readership (Like Shindig!'s 26,000 people).