My Target audience is strictly hip hop and Rn B lovers aged between 16-30.
However I wanted the magazine to be more female based because of the lack of attention female rappers and similar artists get on male hip hop magazines such as XXL and VIBE magazine.
I have previously go on to talk about my target audience and go into depth on the original hip hop and its evaluation to to the current hip hop we know today.
my blog link to my... My target audience
This out of shoot photo shows the target audience in her nature.
the following images clearly display my stereotypical target audience for a female member.
Sabrina Carroll was the model I used as my main protagonist for my magazine as she had the look I was looking for.
She is also a student so she shows the care and responsibility free side of a reader and would be more likely to commit to a magazine such as REMIX.
This graph displays the type of music that would be used by my target audience, categorized by UKTribes; the Hipsters.
They originated in the heart of East London as well as in Harlem, New York. This style has since spread all across the world.
It shows that we enjoy fashion labels that have a ghetto quirkiness and they like to be original.Once something has become mainstream, it is quickly dumped.
They were once called Nathan Barley's, after the nature of a character from a 1980s comedy.
However this graph shows another group that would be included and would be the majority of my target audience, categorized by UKTribes: Get Paid Crew.
They originated from the ghetto areas such a New york and Philadelphia and has now spread to south east London.
It shows you enjoy fashion labels and your proud to show it, for example you leave the sticker on to show a hat new as well as have new white trainers.You want to have an empire in something and would consider yourself as someone always on the ball.
This Video shows how UKTribes have detected Hipsters and Get Paid Crew Click Here
This is an image of a group of my target audience shows their reaction to the way they see my magazine.
The magazine industry has grown to be extreme and there are both weekly and monthly battles to produce a biggest selling magazine. For a magazine to be targeted accurately and to be distributed to the target audience the magazine has to be sold through an experienced but suited publisher.
Music magazines are usually sold under the same publisher as lifestyle and other niche audience magazines so that the company is shown to have diversity, however publisher do not attend to have too many as this could deter from conventions of one magazine and put too much in another.
For my music magazine I have considered two publishers:
IPC media
IPC MEDIA is one of the nations top magazines publishing household names such as NUTS and NME.
IPC Media produces more than 60 different brands, with print reaching almost two thirds of UK women and 42% of UK, a huge total of 26 million, while their websites gain overall 20 million users every month.
The inspire is popularly a male division; selling magazine magazine that would appeal to men in both mass and niche markets. most of their magazine have a male centred focus and may not be the best for my magazine however this may give me the right gap in the publisher for the magazine to have its own conventions and would be solely focused on.
Woman's magazines in IPC Connect are all lifestyle and local fashion. their female impute to their company shows the stereotypical impute of a female and doesn't seem to challenge the conventions in any way.
This might be a hindrance to REMIX because they might not see the vision for the magazine as making an impact to the female niche audience allow the magazine to show hip hop to its niche market and might turn the magazine mainstream in time.
IPC Media already publish two well known music magazines; NME and UNCUT.
NME is the most popular magazine for IPC media to publish. NME is a weekly magazine and the title stands for New Musical Express. this already introduces the type of music that may be introduced in the magazine. It may also be an indicator of the audience they want to attract; young people.
Bauer media
Bauer media is another international magazine publisher, producing magazines such as GRAZIA, heat and more! as well as music and film magazines such as Kerraing!, Mojo and Empire.
Upon this I have decided to make this my aimed publishers for my music magazine.
Bauer Media is a division of their multinational media group. It is europe’s largest privately owned publishing company. The group is a worldwide empire offering over 300 magazines in 15 countries, as well as online, TV and radio stations.
Bauer media is also popularly a male division; selling major male magazines such as FHM and Q that would appeal to men in both mass and niche markets.
Bauer media attracts a 75% male to 25% female population (the male domination is through the increase in number in magazines moreover the late development of female targeted magazines). Most of their magazine have a male centred focus and may be the best for my magazine because it allows my target audience to be untouched and give me the right gap in the publishing company for the magazine to have its own conventions and would be solely focused on.
Woman's magazines in Bauer are mostly lifestyle but do contain popular high fashion magazines. Their female input to their company shows the stereotypical input of a female through their behaviour and even choice of music doesn't seem to challenge the conventions in any way.
This is perfect for REMIX magazine as it allows various magazines to collaborate with my music magazine with many benefits.firstly it would allow my magazine to be amalgamated with other female that may attract both mass and niche markets.
Both mass and niche market to the magazine through offers of free concert tickets and a discount on a fashion statement piece. Bauer owns more! and GRAZIA which would give REMIX a platform to break in to their target audience. Furthermore it would incorporate their individuality through breaking the stereotypical type of music that women listen to.
Synergy can also be created through the to media products of my magazine and the music radio channel. this would give me an opportunity to use many endorsement deals into their show and celebrity protagonists for further front covers for REMIX magazine.
as well as the fashion they peruse, we could
amalgamate together to create deal which would
improve the way people would see both magazines
as well as widen to mass market.
This would be perfect for REMIX because they might see the vision for the magazine within other music magazines such as Mojo and Kerrang! as making an impact to the female niche audience allow the magazine to show hip hop to its niche market. This would flourish because of its individuality, which can juxtapose to the many forms of media and the wide mass and niche market which my magazine could appeal to both. click to see kerrang's niche website as to NME'S mainstream one, targeted for the mass market
As you can see, my magazine among others fits well and looks as professional. It would also fit with Bauer media as many examples of synergy can be used between REMIX and KISS radio.
EVaLUaTIoN Question 2
I have decided to use more media terms for Question 2 like photo shop, You tube and PowerPoint in order to break down the different ways in which my front cover and contents fit the conventions of a stereotypical hip hop music magazine.
Most groups are often known by the modern society and we now try to identify themclick here
My work against PAPER magazine.
Posture
A XXL example of posture and gesture. As you can see the rapper THE GAME is very body confident and strikes a pose directing to the eyes.
angle and shot type
An example by VIBE magazine of angle and shot type as well as lighting. the lighting is directed straight at his face to create more authority through the contrast on his face.
The paper magazine:
The PAPER magazine that I have used for comparison shows that I have used both the conventions of a hip hop music magazine through the processes needed to achieve an appropriate picture for my front cover.
The magzine shows a mid shot image of nicki minaj, against a clear white background.
She is seen making a gesture by holding her hair while her hand is in the clenched position. This can donnote wealth and power and her strong adjustment into fame. This is the intention I want to give to my readers when they see my front cover.
the text is clear around her , making her the centre of attention and adding to her sense of importance.
Music magazines often have many conventions that set them apart from the different magazines such as lifestyle magazines or similar niche magazines such as gardening magazines.
Conventions such as cover lines, bold statements and colour schemes are important to show as a music magazine.
I made sure that I wanted to capture as I was making a own so that the magazine would be successful in the title, font, layout, house style and even the type of people that would be ideal to put on a music magazine.
The title
The conventions of music magazine title are supposedly different compared to the genre of the music. For example Q magazine would have a more neutral title as it covers a large amount of music genres withing the magazines however vibe magazines would not has a niche market, allowing its main priority to be the stereotypical target audience to focus on. Hip Hop magazines usually have all the conventions which is commonly and publicly shown through the music, their outer appearance and their stereotypical attitude. This is often perceived as the gangsta attitude that all magazines should have if they wanted to follow the conventional way in which the magazine is correctly following the genre.
In most hip hop magazines the title is bold and stands out from the page, showing the tougher side reflected thought the music and the stereotypical gangsta reputation. these can also be put into blocks to clash with the page or have a harsh tone to the colour scheme that may be set for that issue. The niche magazines also have the font to be very edgy;capturing the essence of the magazine being for hip hop alone showing commitment. In addition popular hip hop magazines contain titles that usually are a statement to the industry or a common phrase.
I used all these conventions to create a title which contain a sharp statement along with using bold colours. I made that the scheme still worked and that kept to the conventions of a hip hop magazine. I also had the plug put in place, conventionally put in other magazines but to stand out from competition I embedded it into the title.
CHANGE IT UP!
The date has also been added in similarly to the plug and I have given them their own colour scheme but stuck to monochrome.
The language used
The language used in a magazine is an important part of the magazine as the readers often expect different language to be spoken within the genre. Conventionally a hip hop magazine would contain slang and profanities to correspond with the erratic behaviour and gangsta lifestyle shown stereotypically and is commonly used in all media areas. Hip Hop magazines often refer to the hard edge and make the niche audience feel more comfortable when they feel like the magazine knows what they're talking about rather than making judgements and relying on what mainstream music feel about the hip hop industry.
On my cover I chose to have a coverline which uses a profanity but decide that the magazine would not contain a huge amount due to targeting a more female hip hop lover rather than using a convention for a male hip hop magazine such as XXL. The line
Its Sabrina BITCH!
was supposed to show the attitude of the artist without making her seem too vulgar, which is often a mistake mainstream music magazines contain when trying to capture conventional behaviour I have also indicated this by highlighting this in a different font.
Fonts and texts
The fonts and texts of a magazine give a sense of identity to the magazine and a used conventionally in all types of magazine whether it was lifestyle or music.
Conventions of fonts and texts are fairly simple as most magazine require a house style and colour schemes. This helps the magazines to sort out the the different departments in the magazines as well as showing the more important articles such as feature to the stories.
This image shows the
comparison between the
Internet found font
and the font found within
photoshop.
In hip hop magazine it is conventional for the font to be bold, capturing the stereotypical rough appearance. Graffiti is extremely popular with hip hop I did experiment with http://www.dafont.co.uk/ but was unsuccessful in finding a font that had a clear, crisp graffiti font with a famine touch, to match my target audience of this particular issue.
Layout and structure
The layout and structure is conventionally based around the centre of the picture. The protagonist is often seen clear with no text in the centre other than when there is a cover line nearer the bottom of the page.
Hip Hop magazines often have less info and have the cover line along with just a compact artists index. This is to intice the viewer into focusing in the protagonist as well as leaving it for the contents.
I have decided to take this approach with almost having the a border of text around the centre of the background image without breaking the convention of having less information on the cover of a music magazine than on a lifestyle.
We love POP magazine shows
an example of the clear
middle and text around the sides.
However it does have more text that
can relate more to lifestyle.
Types Colour Schemes
Conventionally in music magazines the colour scheme often change by the issue unlike the lifestyle magazine which is seasonal, and usually have a link to the artist that dons the cover. popular colour schemes such as primary colours and black connotes the aggressiveness that hip hop music magazine stereotypically have. Monochrome is also a popular colour scheme as it can show simplicity yet class which is often used to introduce a protagonist who may have high status.
Most magazines follow the BMYB code which consists of colours that determine any colour that may be printed.these are always shown, this has added to my decision to have a shade of magenta in my cover.
Because of my protagonist I have more famine colours such as fuchsia and burnt orange but are bright and bold to ensure connotation.
Types of music
The type of music is vital to be taken seriously if you want to create the successful music magazine.
in hip hop magazines the music is strictly hip hop. This conventionally allows the niche market to trust the magazine to bring the best in their music rather than becoming a more mass market magazine like Q magazine.
An example of hip hop music I would be advertising for my target audience.
The Composition Of The Front Cover
The composition of a front cover has many conventions and without them would make the magazine less realistic and would not attract the readers but look like a poster. A front cover usually has a mid close up of an artist protagonist looking directly into the camera. This allows the reader to be drawn to the magazine;mentally being pulled into the artist's eyes. This is followed by the title; typically at the top of the page in big font size so that the reader can automatically identify the magazine. The text on the cover is usually away from the centre of the page, making a clear space for the image to be seen. Conventionally the look of the artist is important as this determines whether the reader buys the magazine.
The image on the right shows how the composition can affect the way a magazine looks and how it fits the conventions of a music magazine.
The bumper sticker was also a stereotypical
addition to the front cover. I decided to use
this to advertise for a demanding artists concert.
This connotes the reader to think that the
magazine gives opportunities.
Within my front cover I have decided to follow most of the layout conventions like the image, outer text and masthead however I attempted to challenge this by enlarging two texts into the picture; popularly indicating which were more important.
Moreover I added the coverline lower than usual followed by the strapline being left lined but compact.
The model
The model is very important I needed to get the right look for my music magazine, focusing on the the perfect pose which would show the sterotypical look that is found in a female rapper. Her eyes are highlighted with her eyeliner, making them seem darker and more mysterious. We also had decided to use an eyelash curler to achieve the perfect 'stare'. Adding the bronzer helped her skin gain more shadow but deliver clearer skin. I tried to colour coordinate her nail varnish with the house style. However the best way to create a better front cover was to make the two shades to orange clash. The position of her hands were to add originality and to draw the reader towards her eyes. futhermore the positions was used as imagery for a camera or a lense of some sort. This later corrosponded to the play on words used in the strapline "shes finally let us see through the keyhole" the play on words are also convention of music magazines, but less common setting mine apart.
The image below is a prefect example into how the position of the protagonists hands and eyes can incise the viewer into looking at him.
So hows does mine compare from a REAL front cover?
the image shows the compositon
of the centre of my front cover.
As you can see I decided to have a double contents page like fellow Hip Hop music magazines, VIBE.
In my contents I decided to have two pages to make sure that all the information was properly displayed and that nothing was forgotten. I also wanted to use and challenge conventions with my own.
I used techniques with my preliminary by repeating the title of my contents on the top left hand side of the 'B Side' of my contents.
I later turned to use the conventional saying of
"THIS WEEK"
To introduce information without using too mush space, which contents would have.
For the first page I decided to use a single image as the background for my contents but removed the colour. This was to make sure that it fitted well with the second page which was black as well as go with the colour scheme used for the front page.
VIBE magazine is an example of this by creating 'A Side' and 'B Side' to their contents as well as having the single picture.
I decided to use this and use some colour and highlight the page number for my Double Page Spread.
I also used to the way they displayed contents because I thought that it was something fresh and new.
its about time really, for the past five years Ive been waitin and waitin for the time to release my music. and looking at all the shit Ive been through i deserve it.
her eyes are still closed and calm as ever, drumming her fingers on the arm rests while still in the cross legged position.
It must get too much though?
no i like the attention, good or bad they're the ones wasting away being hateful, not me.
she shifts
you know sometimes i think those nights i slept on the street or cried myself to sleep weren't enough the praise i get today. don't get me wrong i love my fans but some people are just drifters, probably just brought the album because everyone else is. and of course you get the haters who are first in line to criticize your every movement and every word, as well as the first to watch an interview on you tube and come to every tour. fuckin ironic but funny lets not lie.
Do you feel like the wrong image is portrayed about you?
her eyes bolt open and she sits up straight. her eyes pierce like knives and silence fills the room.
she bursts out laughing, rubbing her hands together with glee
haha course its not. To them im a bitch and i love it its the best thing about my apparent behavior it means i get away with what i want, when i want it. if there was more people with balls like me the industry would need saving in the first place know what i mean. as for smoking, its in my lung not theirs they should get used to it.
she goes back to her original position; calmer with a huge grin on her face.
i know who i am and i don't need the tabloids to tell me
she peeps though one of her eyes with a bold stare
write THAT down
so lets talk music, there's nothing really to describe your sound is there?
course there is its just better when i say it; take Aretha Franklin, remove the glitzy dress and ladylike attitude and throw in a snap back swag. remix her vocals with 90s blues and that's just my voice. my rapping something else leave you to use your imagination for that one.
the corner of her mouth curls to aknowledge her authority of the interview
wow a real individualist then?
what kind of artist would i be if i wasnt; a fake like all the crap thats in the charts. and yes i meant Nicki Minaj.
what going on between you and her? is it as serious as everyone makes it out?
she sits up straight and uncurls her legs and starts to whisper in a cunning voice
listen to me and listen good ok, she is nothing compared to me ; no orginality, no talent no nothing. shes scared because im better and she knows but hey thats the way the hip hop industry goes. she was only warming the seat for her successor, me.
This graph displays the type of music that would be used by my target audience, categorized by UKTribes; the Hipsters.
